I have a post in the works about the Narita drum festival, but in the meantime, let’s talk about the Pokémon Center in Tokyo.

That’s a place I went.

This morning when I woke up, I pulled up my super-heavy bedroom shade, opened the double doors, stepped out on the balcony, and let the sunshine flood into my soul. Spring has swept Siena, from the first whiff of dandelion that brings me back to Michigan, to the chirping birds as I walk to class, to the Italians working their gardens across the valley behind our house, to the sunshine that warms the bricks of il campo each afternoon. I love that windows have no screens.

Despite its illustrious cultural repertoire, Austria has always been valued for its strategic geo-political location on the continent. Beginning with the Romans and up to the Allies of WWII, Austria has always been a point of interest due to its identity as a cross roads of east west and north south. It has thus been said that Austria is the metaphorical heart of Europe. Unexpectedly, I find myself realizing that an added convenience of studying abroad in Vienna has been the ability to just ….go!