Mom's Visit and Lake Garda

Well, for the last little while I have been kept occupied by my Mom! She came out to Germany for three weeks this month, and we had a blast! She flew to Munich on June 22, and went straight to our friends' home in Mueldorf. She stayed with them until the 6th, when I met her in Munich for church. It was exciting to see someone here from back home, but also a little weird, like my old life meeting my new one. Anyway, we had some fun in Garmisch for a week, taking a three country tour on Monday the 7th through Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It was along day of mostly sitting on a tour bus, so we were pretty happy when it ended. On Tuesday we hung out with my friend Ben in Mittenwald, a little Bavarian town just before the Austrian border. It was a beautiful sunny day, and it was such a great outing! On Wednesday I had to work for eight hours, a full shift, so my Mom kept herself busy baking and just relaxing in my room, after which we went to a Bible study group with several of my friends. Thursday we went to a softball game and rooted for my roommate Tyane, and Ben. Friday we went to the town Farmer's Market and then got everything squared away with our rental car and hotel in Italy, where we were going to spend Sunday through Thursday of the following week. I also attended a girls night to say farewell to a Bible study friend. There were quite a few girls there, and we spent the night at a married friend's home, for which her husband was sent to spend the night with Ben. On Saturday we all (all the girls, Ben, and the woman's hubby, also named Ben) went to a swimming pond, a super cool man-made pond at the base of one of the mountains in town. The entrance fee was so small we were all very excited to relive childhood memories of swimming in non-chlorinated water.

On Sunday My Mom and I left for Lake Garda, the largest lake in Italy. It happens to be a three hour drive from where I live, so it was a nice ride down to the little vacation villa we had rented for the week. On Sunday we pretty much just chillaxed in our apartment, reading library books, cooking dinner, and watching chick flicks. It was wonderful to finally have a real vacation where I didn't have to run around a huge city trying to see everything!

On Monday we hit a local market, then hit a huge Botanical Garden complex about a twenty minute drive from Cavalcaselle. It was incredible! Not only did it cover 600,000 square meters, but it had everything from castle ruins to koi ponds to an actual church on the grounds! We wandered the gardens for a good portion of the day and then went back to our apartment for some more chill time.

Tuesday we went to a charming little town called Sirmione, where we ate Gelato, took in a Castle and some Roman Baths, and ate delicious pizza. On the way home we picked up some groceries for the rest of the week.

Wednesday was supposed to be the lay-out-by-the-pool-with-70spf-sunscreen-on day, but it rained all day, so we decided to see another little town instead. We walked around a place called Desenzano, and saw some pretty sweet panoramas of the lake. After we got back from that, we went to a street market in the town we stayed in Cavalcaselle, which had some great stuff. Then we ate our last dinner in the apartment and got ready to leave.

On Thursday we checked out early and headed back to Garmisch. We had the car for the whole day, so the afternoon was spent running errands that are much easier with a car. We went to the Army Post for groceries, hit up the library, and went around town with my friends to help them out as well. It was a nice day, and it had finally stopped raining!

Friday rolled around and I had to go back to work, so I did. Mom kept herself occupied with watching movies and baking, and I hurried home as fast as I could. We spent the evening watching a movie and having some dinner together.

Saturday I worked early in the morning, and then we just had a nice walk around town, which ended up in a little shopping at H&M. Boy do I love that place! For a follow up, we watched Star Trek. My favorite! Chris Pine is so...easy on the eyes...haha.

Sunday we attended the local Prodestant service as we were both a little drained from so much traveling. After the service we had a little girl time coloring our hair, painting our nails, and baking some more. We Smiley girls sure do love to bake! At nine, we met up with Ben, who had his parents in town for dinner at Zum Wildchutz, a great Bavarian restaurant in town. We had a lovely evening, and I tried Wild Boar for the first time. Yum!

Monday was Mom's last day here, so we went to the local swimming complex and sat around in the hot tub. After that we went home, baked some more, and then watched one last chick flick before she went back to our boy-infested home in Colorado. She left early the next day, and we said a groggy goodbye, then she left! sad day. But on the bright side, I only have a couple of months left here! Then it's off to the real world!