Oh Switzerland! You beauty!

I met Bianca December 2004 on an exchange program in her beautiful town of Tamins just outside of Chur. It is hard to believe that we have known each other, and managed to stay in contact, for almost eight years.  So, when I found out I would be living in Europe I just knew that I would have to take some time to visit Bianca and her incredible family in their gorgeous corner of the world.

Three incredible stops in Austria!

I have been to both Graz and Salzburg before but it was in the winter time. It is incredible just how different a place can be in the summer. We don't have such contrasts in South Africa. The winter is cold and a bit drier but things, for the most part, look the same. Europe goes through these big seasonal changes and consequently visiting the same place in a different season gives you a whole new experience.

Slovenia!

I was fortunate enough to get to see a lot of Slovenia, a slow paced Eastern Europe country! Starting near the Austrian border in Maribor I was already charmed by the good weather and scenery. Things got better as I moved toward the slow moving capital and then to the iddy biddy little stretch of Slovenian coast!

Hungarian Surprise

Hungary surprised me. I had no idea how awesome it was going to be. To be honest I hadn't heard much about the place at all and having never ventured into Eastern Europe before I didn't really no what to expect. But the one great thing about no expectations is that they are always surpassed and in the case of Hungary they went far far beyond!

Why so quite?

One of the perks of studying Europe is that you get to really exploit your summer holidays. With countries so close in proximity you are really able to get around and see some awesome stuff. Although not in the heart of Europe, Sweden (down south in particular) is only a stone through away from the rest of Europe.

So, like many other students waiting for the next semester to start I decided to take advantage of my summer holiday and I packed my bags ready for some adventure! I have been busy in the 7 weeks since university came to an end having visited not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 countries!

1 down 1 to go

This week has been madness and it all climaxed in a crazed filled day yeterday which left me feeling exhausted and relieved!

The day started out with me waking up early and doing my best to write a compelling conclusion for my final paper. I needed to hand it in by noon so the pressure was on! On top of that I needed to move out of my little apartment. With my conclusion down I glanced at my clock only to be gobsmacked by the fact that it was already 10:30. Why the panic?

Well, on top of handing in my assignment I also needed to move out of my apartment. I still had dishes to do, some small things to pack, a bathroom, to clean, and an apartment to sweep and mop. It doesn't sound like a lot but it has a way of stealing more time than you anticipate. So I furiously got to work! The clock hit 11:15 and by now I was running to my friend's (Melanie and Anne) apartment to drop off my backpack and laptop. Then, still running, I went to my apartment mopped the floor and locked up. Time was marching on and I would have loved some time to be sentimental about my little apartment but with only half an hour left to cycle into town, print my assignment, and hand it in I was in no such luck!

Pendling like a demon with the wind against me the whole way (typical!) I managed to get my assignment in just in time (11:59). High fives all round!

Exhausted it was time to have a coffee with classmates I have gotten to know over the past 10 months. It was a weird sensation when we realised that these were the last classes we would have together as next semester would be internship time and the following semester would be thesis time (Yikes!). Unfortunately, I couldn't linger. Oh, did I forget to mention? I also had a Swedish exam at 17:00 which I hadn't started studying for.

So I said by goodbyes and gave some hugs and soon my head was back inthe books! I crammed for three hours and then walked tentatively into the Swedish exam all. Two and a half hours later I felt utter relief! My summer holidays had officially arrived and I was officialy 1 year down!

Completing my first year Masters I feel ready for sommarlov (it's kind of cool sommarlov is Swedish for summer holiday, it just makes me what to speak like Barry White, I'm not sure why).

Now, homeless, I am crashing at my friends place until next week Tuesday when I jet off to Hungary for a month of backpacking around Europe! It should be fun! Yiiiippppppppppppeeeeeeeeee

Happy summer holidays everyone and I hope you are feeling as relieved as I am with the semester done and dusted :)

Around the Sound

Travelling around Sweden isn't the cheapest thing in the world. And wanting to go across the Oresund Bridge to get some of the action happening in Denmark is even more expensive. So what to do?

Make a trip of it!!!

Going via train return to Copenhagen from Lund will cost you roughly 216SEK but if you buy the Around the Sound ticket it will cost you 249SEK so why buy the Around the Sound ticket? Here's why:

• You get unlimited travel in Southern Sweden and Denmark for a full two days
• It's the perfect excuse to go away for the weekend
• You get to take the train in one direction and the super awesome ferry in another
• And, when the weather is good its amazing just how much you can see in two days!

When my friend Karolina was here we decided to make use of this pretty sweet deal and see how much we could see. This is what we managed to do: