Before I begin a sentence with, "Well, in Germany they..." I try to make sure whatever I'm about to say actually enriches the conversation instead of just serving as a ploy for me to pat myself on the back for being so damned worldly. But sometimes, you do simply have to admit that parts of living in Europe are genuinely better than America.
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On August 20, 2013, I arrived in Frankfurt, Germany to begin a year-long adventure. Since my arrival, I have visited six different countries, seen dozens of cities, met countless new and old friends and taken thousands of pictures. It has been an incredible journey, and as a way of reflecting on this year, here is one photograph from each month that I think best sums up what I saw or experienced that month.
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Before I returned back to the U.S. to visit my family (where I am now!), I wanted to make one more trip with my boyfriend. We batted around ideas for a bit, trying to decide on something that wouldn't be too expensive or far away but that would still give us a chance to experience something new and special. My boyfriend suggested we consider the Spreewald, and after some quick research, we decided this would be a perfect "last trip" for us.
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As my time here in Fulda draws to a close, I realize now I didn't do a very good job of posting more pictures to give people a better idea of what the town really looks like. Anyone who's friends with me on Facebook is probably numb to my photo uploads at this point since I do them so often (I like documenting things, ok?), but I've really neglected showing my home some love on the blog.
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After getting our fill of the glorious sun in Provence (hooray sunburns!), we set off for our next destination. We were trading the relative peace of the south for France's bustling capital city, Paris. As mentioned in the last entry, I had already visited Paris three years ago during my study abroad. As such, I had fairly minimal expectations for this trip -- there were few things I felt like I had to see this go 'round; I was content to go with the flow and wherever the rest of the family wanted to go.
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Prior to this trip, I had already been to France twice. Once three years ago when I studied abroad and visited Paris, and then again this past December when I visited friends in Lyon. Both trips left positive impressions (especially my trip to Lyon) so I was excited to see even more of this beautiful country. Our first destination was Avignon, a city far to the south (about an hour and a half away from the Mediterranean).
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