Well hello there FALL! I love fall and I am especially loving that it is September!
Someone posted this and I couldn't help but love all over it! It speaks such truth. ;)
Brace yourselves, this is a long post :).
Let me start off by saying August came and went with a snap of my fingers! I didn't blog much, we didn't travel much, I didn't read much and I spent 25+ hours a week learning German.
August was especially nice because 3 of the weekends we stayed home, and as much as I LOVE traveling, it was nice to stay home. It was nice to sleep in a little and do typical Saturday things. Because incase you didn't know, waking up in a new country every Saturday isn't typical ;).
German Classes
Monday - Friday during the entire month of August, I was in a classroom learning German. Intensive course they call it! And when I wasn't in class, I was doing homework.
Boy oh boy have I come a long way! I am extremely proud of my progress, but I still have a lot to learn. I can understand a lot, but my pronunciation needs work. It is so affirming to be out and about and actually understand what is going on around me.
All in all, it has been successful. But my brain is a little tired, so I am looking forward to a break!
It has me reminiscing on my last semester of college... not quite sure how I worked 2 jobs, plus an internship 2 days a week, plus class. But hey. Here I still am. :)
Life
Like I said above, not much happened for us this month, and we were really okay with that!
We did take a visit to The Harz Mountains, which you can read about below, but other than that we BBQ'd and relaxed. :)
But, I do have EXCITING news!
Blake's family is coming to visit for 2.5 weeks! We will be gone for 18 days, and we will be visiting 5 countries! I contemplated whether to blog throughout, or just blog when we get home. I have gone with the latter. SO with that, after this post you won't see me until September 26th! I have also decided to leave our destinations a surprise! But, if the suspense is killing you, you can check my Facebook and Instagram throughout the month to see bits and pieces of where we are. :)
I am so looking forward to our travels this month, and am excited to share them with you all when we get home!
Doing it this way will allow me to fully enjoy the trip, every stinking minute of it. :)
Books
Well, I promised to keep you updated on what I am reading, and last month I told you I was starting The Royal We. Well, I started it and finished it and loved it. But then didn't read the rest of the month. #Fail
However, this month has lots of traveling, which means lots of hours in cars, trains, and planes = lots of reading time. :) So next month I will have lots of books to review and this section will be much more interesting.
#Ipromise
The Royal We is Kate Middleton Fan Fiction. But it is also a fabulous read! It gives a glimpse at what life is like for an outsider trying to fit into life at the Royal Palace. It is like picking up a tabloid and reading all about their lives first hand. It was just fun and is the kind of book that makes you happy. And makes you dream about becoming a princess. :)
The length seems daunting, but it is a quick read! All in all 4.5/5 stars.
The Harz Mountains
Blake LOVES the outdoors and all activities that one would do in the outdoors - hike, camp, etc., I however am not as big of a fan! (I am working on it. #Goals)
The Harz Mountains are a quick 45 min drive from us, and they were begging to be explored. Blake was more than excited; I was skeptical!
Blake planned us a 16km hike (roughly 10 miles) with a 2000 ft increase in height (I think that is how you describe that, but who knows). We drove to the town of Schierke, parked the car, and went on our way. We were hiking from Shierke to Brocken. For the experienced hikers it is 2 hours up. For those who wish to explore Brocken but do not wish to hike, there is a train that goes to the top.
Starting out I was loving it! It was beautiful, it wasn't TOO difficult, and we were just enjoying ourselves.
Crossing the train tracks! Up to this point it was only a little bit steep, but not unbearable.
Sitting for a minute to watch the train go by.
After the small incline, there was a long beautiful FLAT surface. I was thinking wow this is great! I can totally hike ;).
And then folks...
This happened! I looked at Blake and I was all :I don't know about this"! But we kept on! It was a little tough, and I was a lotttttt sore afterwards, but it was worth it!
After 2km of nothing but climbing up hill on those rocks, we reached the paved part. 1.5km of uphill pavement leading to Brocken.
360 degree views of awesome!
We refueled on our packed lunch. There are a couple of restaurants at the top filled with all the people who took the train up. :)
Braunschweig - 52km away!
(I tried entirely too hard to get this photo to turn, and it wouldn't. So I apologize to those of you who are cranking your necks sideways!)
Climbing down was a bit easier. :)
Heading back.
All in all, if it wasn't for the rocky part at the top I would encourage everyone to do this! But that bit was tough! It took us 5 hours total including our break at the top.
:)
See you in a few weeks!
:)
See you in a few weeks!
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