Ahoj from Slovakia!!! This is a look on my past two days:
Wednesday 8/15: Today was the day I left for Europe!! My flight was at 6:30pm so I had the entire morning to finish my packing and eat. At around 2:00 my entire family and best friend, Matt, came to the airport with me. The airport experience was pretty sad as me and my sisters have never been more than 2 weeks apart from each other in our entire lives, and now we said goodbye for a whole year. I said my goodbyes to my family and Matt, and headed through the airport. My blazer already has many pins, so for sure I stood out. It felt like almost everyone in the entire airport as staring at me, some even glaring haha! But I minded my own and headed to my gate. The airplane to Amsterdam was huge. I sat next to two Americans going on vacation in Florence, Italy. I don't remember too much about the plane ride, except for the 3 crying babies all around me, and watching Call Me by Your Name, which was way too explicit for the airplane. I got maybe 1 hour of sleep, and landed the next day in Amsterdam! Thursday 8/15: Amsterdam was quite overwhelming at first. I was so tired and my brain really wasn't functioning haha. I wandered a bit and found out I must wait in a passport check line to get to my second gate, which I did. It was roughly 3am in USA time and the line was about a 30 minute wait. As tiring as it was, there were many Americans in the line who asked my about my blazer. Since it says "ESSEX" (Eastern States Student Exchange) everyone figured I was from Essex, Virginia. I explained that I was actually just an exchange student from Connecticut, and was on my way. The person who stamped my passport complemented my pins and let me go with no questioning! At this time I was very hungry and went to a general cafe to eat. After buying a Croque Monsieur, I was looking for a place to sit, and some boy, also alone, told me to feel free to join him! I was so happy I had someone to talk to to pass the time and stay awake! His name was Rutger, he was also 18, from the Netherlands and going to Prague for the weekend (where he will move for university in 2 more weeks). For the next two hours, Rutger and I ate, explored the airport and talked about our travels. Before I knew it, it was already time to board for Austria. For flight, I sat next to two young Austrian kids who assumably didn't speak English. As soon as the captain turned off the takeoff signal, I put down my tray-table and fell straight asleep. My next memory was of the flight attendant waking me up for landing! The entire landing I looked out my window at the beautiful Austrian fields and towns! It was beautiful. Once I landed, I was on my way. At this airport, baggage claim i behind security lines, so I was alone to carry my 2 massive bags, and 2 smaller bags. Anyway, I rented a cart to carry it all and exited the security zone. There, I finally saw my host family waiting for me with a sign! It was so cute!! On the drive home, we saw many small Austrian villages and stopped in an Austrian supermarket which my family said has better quality products than in Slovakia. It was roughly a 2 hour drive home to Trencin! There, we got a picture in front of the town sign, and my family gave me a house tour and dinner (with a cake they made for me and my brothers birthday.) What a crazy two days!
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AuthorNick Bilotti Archives
March 2019
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