Arrived in Rome

Hi, I love Rome! It's fantastic here, older than Vienna and so
interesting. We got lucky with an amazing tour of the coliseum and the
forum, I loved it. The coliseum was surreal, it was so weird to
actually be there. I've been to the Trevi fountain both tonight and
last night, and it was amazing. So crazy to see these thousand year
old statues, not to mention they were on Lizzie Mcguire...you guys
didn't get to the Trevi fountain did you? I wish you could've. Also, I
didn't think gelato could get any better, but Italian eis is even
better than Vienna eis. I got stracciatella and this chocolate cherry
hazelnut kind, and I'm still wanting more. I'm considering opening an
eis shop in Provo. Business would be great. Tomorrow we are going to
the beach...bring it on. Well im on the ipod, and it's taking forever to type.
Oh I found the others ok and were all in the same room in a nice
hostel so things are fine. I'll write tomorrow hopefully. I'm sure
I'll have a chance. Love you!

The Opera - Troubadour

Hey, thanks for emailing me. I'm ready to leave in about 45 minutes, and Krystle's up so I'm using her computer. The opera was cool, did I tell you it was in Slovakia? So now I've been to three countries -- Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, and I'll be in Italy tonight! The opera was called The Troubadour, and I'd never heard of it before. We read the summary, but it was still hard to follow because it was in Italian and the subtitles were in Slovakian or whatever the language is. I think I would have been able to understand it better even if the subtitles were in German. I'm really behind on pictures, sorry. I haven't even got the pics from Dorfgastein posted, so I'm going to have some catching up to do when I get back from Italy. Can you believe we're halfway through? It's so weird. Also, can you believe I only have a month and a half left of being a teenager? I'm not sure how I feel about that. Well I hope you guys are good. Maybe someone should send me some pictures so I can see what everyone is up to! How are girls camp plans coming? Are you expecting a good turnout? Tell everyone hi for me.

I'll be safe, thanks. I love you!

Vienna, Sneak Peak at Dorfgastein!

I'm sorry everyone, I've gotten behind on my picture posting! I'm going to be in Italy for the next 10 days, so I won't be able to post until I get back. Here is a little peak at the fabulous weekend we spent in Dorfgastein, a tiny town in the Alps.

Trips to Salzburg & Dorfgastein

Hi Mom,

I'm sorry about my little freak out the other day. I didn't mean to just be in a whiny, hot tub of self pity. Bad day I guess. I'm still trying to figure out my sleeping situation for a couple nights in Italy, I'm going to get it done tomorrow at school. If the internet quits like it did today, I'll have to go to Burger King or McDonalds where they have free wireless.

Tomorrow is our last day of German 101! Our final is on Friday, so maybe pray a little prayer for me. We've learned a lot though, and I'm glad to be learning it. I'll send you our plans for the 10 day trip, I'm not sure if I'll be able to contact you at all during it. I might bring the iPod, and that way at least I could send you an email every other day or something to let you know where I am and how things are going. We're all trying to pack super light so we don't break our backs and so we don't have to worry about things getting stolen. I'm going to try to fit it all in my backpack...

I got the letter from Dad, Cady, and Porter in the mail yesterday! I was so excited to see that fat envelope next to my breakfast plate where our Frau put it. Thank you! For some reason real paper letters are so great. I love hearing about all the things you guys are doing and the silly things going on around the house. Dad, I've asked a few people about skiing. I've heard that it's not quite as popular within the huge cities, like Vienna. I asked a man in Graz about it and he said, "Here, you're born with skis strapped to your feet." Mostly they downhill, and people of all ages do it. The older woman who works at the institute and took us around Dorfgastein last weekend said she's downhill skied all her life, but recently she has done more cross country because her knees are bad...she's in her 70s.

You also said to visit the Coliseum and eat pizza. We will most definitely be going to the Coliseum, and I've made it a goal to eat pizza every place I go. Probably not the healthiest tradition I've come up with, but rewarding all the same. We go to the international ward, and it's good. I don't really know why all these people are in Austria, besides the ones working for the government. The bishop is so awesome, he also teaches our Sunday School class and he's a riot. We went to a karaoke party at his house with his family on Sunday...not a typical bishop.

I don't think I've told you about Salzburg and Dorfgastein yet...

Salzburg was really cold and pouring rain the whole time. Really unfortunate; it was amazing in the fog and rain, but I'm sure it's way better on a good day. We had a tour guide and he showed us around for two hours in the freezing rain. He showed us some interesting places, but my favorite sites were definitely from the Sound of Music. I felt a little guilty that I didn't care as much about seeing Mozart's birthplace as I did about seeing where Maria and the von Trapp children sang Do-Ray-Mi! I'll post pictures soon.

Dorfgastein was SO GREAT. It's my favorite place I've visited so far, it was so gorgeous. It's just this tiny tiny town enveloped by the Alps, so green and lovely. There were only a couple restaurants and a few bed and breakfasts and some quaint gift shops -- we could walk from one end to the other in 5 minutes. We went on a hike the first day, just a little one. I went with Krystle, Mika, and Will, and it was only supposed to take an hour to hike the trail but we took the long way apparently and it took us like 4 hours. We eventually found the end of the trail, which is the house/pub of this very Austrian family; they have a diary farm I think, Will ordered milk and the man poured it straight from the bucket.

We attended a celebration in their little church for a holiday celebrating something about Christ. It was really interesting, many people dressed up in traditional outfits and then there was a mini parade with a marching band with instruments I've never even seen before. Old fashioned tubas or something...

The second day we took a tram high into the mountain to a lodge. We drank hot chocolate (Levi, you'd be in heaven here. I've never drank hot chocolate so much in my LIFE.) and waited for the fog to clear. Some of us hiked down, the views were amazing. I don't think you'd approve of this hike, Dad. Taking the ski lift thing up the mountain and only climbing down? I wasn't sure how you'd feel about that, but I definitely felt like I was cheating!

I ate pizza for dinner both nights, it was the best pizza ever. After dinner we all went to the local pub, don't worry, I don't think they're as crazy as American bars. Although, I wouldn't know since I've never been in one. They had a free jukebox with plenty of Miley Cyrus, Beyonce, and Justin Bieber, so we were right at home. I ordered a crepe with ice cream one night and an ice cream sundae thing that was dripping with raspberries. The second night the man gave us all a free mini glass of wine! It smelled really nasty, that's for sure. Sort of awkward when Jenny told him we don't drink. His response was, "You don't drink?! You're missing out on a lot in life." Mmmm...not exactly the same perspective I had in mind.

I just loved how much slower the pace was in Dorfgastein than in the city. It was calm and quiet and I had plenty of chances to hear myself think. It was fabulous, I think you guys would all love it.

Today we swam in the Danube! I didn't have too much of a problem getting in, it was chilly, but not even as cold as Bear Lake, let alone those glacial lakes in the Wind Rivers Dad loves to find for a nice, icy dip. It's getting really hot here, fine with me. It's been like 33 degrees celsius. Is that in the 90s? I'm so sick of being wet and cold, especially since I wasn't prepared for it when I came here.

How are all Cady's 4H things going? How many is she in, like 6? How are the kayaks working out? Have you gotten Toby into one yet? Are you guys remembering to give Sim her medicine? Don't forget, it's important. How have your workouts been, Mom? Do you keep teaching aerobics in the summer? I've been running a lot, it feels really good to get out and loosen up my body. I'm so tight and sore all the time from carrying a heavy backpack. Also, I get charlie horses in my calves in the middle of the night ALL the time. What the heck is that about? They stay sore after that for like 3 or 4 days. Anyway, how's the garden? Cady and Porter, have you been sleeping on the tramp? Thanks for your letters, I taped them in my journal so I can read them all the time! I finally got some postcards in the mail, so be lookin for those. Anything else new?

I need to write a little more often so I don't have to write a book to catch up for a weeks worth of events. Well, I love you guys

so

much.

Miss you like crazy.

kayla

Vienna, People

Jessica.

Ambree.

Chip.

Krystle.

Maria.

Vienna, Graz Continued

A cute couple on top of the bell mountain overlooking Graz.

Me on the bell mountain thing overlooking Graz. I look a little wet because we had been walking around in the rain for hours.

This is Nathaniel, and we stayed with his family the weekend we were in Graz. He reminded me so much of Porter, I loved it. Porter, I miss you little boy!

He loved having the camera. Krystle and I both showed him how to use our cameras and he took pictures of us for a good 15 minutes after church.

Trips to Graz and Salzburg

Hi Mom.

It was good to hear from you. I wish my internet would work long enough to see if you were even around to chat once in a while. I was just having a hard day yesterday, which was why I was hoping you'd be online. It's alright though, Krystle helped me get out of the funk. The weekend was really fun, I think it was the funnest I've ever had at a church activity. We're making some friends (mostly boys) from institute and we mostly hung out with them all weekend. We took a train there; it ended up being a 5 hour ride instead of 2 because it was a regional train and only cost us each 6 euro. I fell in love with the landscape on the way there. I didn't mind the long train ride at all, I just had my head out the window for most of the ride. I put the pictures on my blog, you've probably seen them. I loved the little towns we passed that were so tightly tucked into the mountainsides, you guys would have loved it. We went to a dance the first night, which was so fun. The Austrians and Germans do a specific dance step that they all know, it reminded me of something from the 50s. A couple boys asked me to dance and they taught me the step since I had never done it before. It was great! The second day we played sports and games all day at a rec center thing in Graz. A few of us did yoga for a while, and then I mostly played variations on frisbee the rest of the day.

I somehow forgot to tell you, but we're leaving early tomorrow morning at 5:30 to go to Salzburg for the rest of the week. We'll be back around 7:30pm on Saturday. We're going with Tom and Louise and the whole group, so you don't need to worry. Salzburg is a 5 hour train ride away, as far as I know. We're staying in the Alps for two days I think and will be doing some hiking -- Dad, I wish you were here. I'm so excited for it, and I'll take lots of pictures.

We had a German test today, I'm hoping it went alright, but I was really stressed out about it. However, I've notice so much progress as I look back. I know how to construct basic sentences, conjugate verbs, can carry on a VERY simple conversation, and know a few hundred German words. We only have four more days of class until the term is over...isn't that crazy?

Thanks for putting more money in my account. I'm trying to be careful about spending; I think we do pretty good. We get a lot of meals free or cheap, so that's working out nicely. Marcus said he got to speak in your class, sounds like you prepared a really good lesson--wish I could have been there for it! I'm excited for your garden, I love summer meals when they come all from the garden. Yum. Awesome that we got kayaks! Did they have fun? Is the weather warm yet? It is still cold and rainy here. There really haven't been hardly any nice, warm days since I've been here.

Well I still haven't packed, so I better get working on that since we're leaving so early.

Give Porter a high five for me and tell someone to get his bullet out (does he remember that game?)

and give Cady a big squeeze and a twirl

and Levi a back slapping hug

and Leah a kiss on the cheek since that's her favorite coming from me haha

and talk to the cats in a baby voice

and the dogs too.

And make sure someone gives Simcoe her medicine at 3pm.

Love you.

kayla