White

White:

We have reached the end of the rainbow, and this is my last post. I wrote in my very first post that someone was going to have to drag me out of Freiburg by the end of my time abroad. Well, after staying the summer and finding every excuse not to go home until my mother came (she said it was for a vacation, but I think she was afraid I wouldn’t ever come back), I finally was lugged—suitcases, souvenirs, sunburn, and all—home. It may seem odd to end on the color white because white technically is the absence of color, and my rainbow of experiences have certainly been exceedingly colorful. But I like to think of white as a bright and renewing hue that is the fond way I wish to remember the fantastic food, sensational sights, exceptional experiences, and friendly faces of my time in Europe. White is for the blank journal pages that I have to fill with all my new memories, white is for the back of a Chicago postcard that I will surely be writing to my new life-long friends and pen pals, white is for the snowy peaks of the Adirondack mountains that I will climb because being abroad inspired me to explore my own country more, and white is for the clouds that I will look down upon from my plane to Germany as I am sure I will be coming back to visit very soon. 

Picturesque Schwarzwald village still with snow in March 

Sign introducing the East Side Gallery in Berlin, Germany 

An adorable lamb in the Swiss Alps 

Graffiti on a wall in Freiburg 

Painter found painting the view from Schauinsland as the sun sets in the Schwarzwald 

Quaint streets of Strasbourg, France 

Giant meatball in Bologna, Italy with "meatball" written on it in different languages 

Swans were abosultely everywhere in Europe (so much so that I can't even remember where I saw this one) 

White fluffy plants seen in the Austrian Alps 

The Schwarzwald had all kinds of outdoor activities during the winter, including cross-country skiing (which was considerably harder to do in the mountains than where I used to ski in the flat state of Minnesota) 

My balcony from below - I bought a hammock for it, and that turned out to be a wonderful investment because Freiburg has the best weather in all of Germany 

Snowy peaks of the Swiss Alps 

Portion of the intricate doorway arch leading into the famous Notre Dame in Paris, France 

I love Freiburg chocolates in one of the many specialty chocolate shops in Freiburg 

Solemn seagull in Zadar, Croatia - he looked like he was regretting some life decisions 

View from my balcony in the neighborhood of Vauban in Freiburg 

Sign on a house in Switzerland that reads "When this house stands so long that all hate and envy pass, then it stands not only a long time, but forever."

Part of the Fisherman's Bastion in Prague, Czech Republic 

Spray-painted eyes of Nelson Mandel in the Christiania neighborhood of Copenhagen, Denmark 

How a German starbucks tried to spell my name (It was supposed to be Kathleen) 

Tile decoration outside our hotel on Palma Mallorca, Spain 

Hiking signs in the Austrian Alps 

Traditional hungarian dog in Budapest, Hungary - he was very large but sweet 

Ship in the Copenhagen harbor 

My flatmates and I right before I left for home - we called this our family portrait, and I brought a framed version of it home with me 

Just part of the historical feel of Basel, Switzerland 

White Roman structure in Zadar, Croatia 

Eating a tradition trdelnik in Prague - a delicious piece of dough cooked over charcoal then rubbed with cinnamon sugar 

Cross-section of the Berlin wall in Berlin, Germany 

Cat found at a lodge on top of the Schwarzwald's highest mountain, Feldberg 

Sign for Freiburg's own brewery, Feierling