Europe for the Summer

A few days before I left to travel to Europe, Nerissa texted me that she was going to be studying in Oslo, Norway for a month. Our schedules worked out perfectly that I was able to visit her in Norway after my class excursion in Paris. I flew in on Friday morning and spent all weekend together exploring the beautiful area. We have been friends since 6th grade and it was amazing to spend time together on the other side of the world!  Royal Palace of Oslo  We took a boat ride through the fjord!  It had unlimited shrimp!  Sunrise at 3am  One of the sculptures at the Vigeland Sculpture park  Painting of a Norwegian Fjord at the National Art Museum  The Scream!!  From the rooftop of Nerissa's dorms Swimming in the fjord at 9 at night  So happy we got to spend the weekend together!

While studying in Paris, our class went on a overnight trip to the Loire Valley to visit the French countryside known for its castles and gardens. We visited three massive castles and explored their gardens.  The Gardens of Ch ât eau de Chambord    Ch ât eau de Chambord One of the rooms of the castle   Wine and cheese tasting  View of Château de Chenonceau from boat tour  Garden in front of Château de Chenonceau Maze outside of Ch âteau de Chenonceau Centerpiece of the maze  Pictures from the different gardens at the International Garden Show

I am finally getting a chance to upload pictures to my computer and post pictures from my weekend trips during the last 4 weeks of my study abroad.  A couple years ago, my dad mentioned his coworker wanted everyone to come to the FIFA World Cup in Russia and stay with his family. While most of his coworkers backed out, my parents still met me in Russia for the weekend. I flew from the Paris airport to St. Petersburg with lots of excited Morocco and Iran fans. When we landed in Russia, they started chanting and it was the beginning of a crazy weekend.  My flight arrived around 11:30 at night and it was still light out. By the time we got to our hotel, it had gotten a little darker but not pitch black. I went to a bar near the hotel with my parents and around 2am we noticed it started getting brighter. We went outside and walked around some of the bridges, watching the sun rise until almost 3:45am. It was unbelievable to watch the sunset and then sunrise just hou...