Abroad with my Mama

For months now I've know my mom was coming abroad to see me. She wanted to come on my birthday, a very special birthday too, my 21st. She arrived on a Thursday, we took a short tour around Brussels and I gave her the experience of having Frites, Waffles, and Belgian beer. It is such a joy showing her around in what is now my 2nd home. The next day after my class, we flew to Geneva, Switerland. We realized a few things when we got to Switzerland 1) they dont use Euros 2) we're glad we got a rental car 3) everything is super expensive. After a nice walk around the center and delicious dinner we hit the hey. The next day we drove up to Chamonix, France. A beautiful resort city 45 min from Geneva. Luckilly for us it had snowed 3 feet over the last 24 hours and the Alps looked gorgeous. After checking in,we headed to the chairlift Aguille du Midi to head to the top of Mont Blanc ( the tallest moutain in Europe). Then after meeting with a nice Irish man I booked a paragliding trip back to the bottom. Paragliding consists of a parachute on your back and hoping it will chute up as you jump off a cliff. It was exhilerating!!! After a beautiful 30 min flight I landed and met upwith my Mom at the chairlift. After that we strolled through the gorgeous center, did a little shopping, and endedthe night with some hot cocoa watching the Tech-OU game. The next day we did an epic drive through the Alps to cross to the other side...Italy. We setup shop in Aosta, Italy a small town on the very tip of Northwest Italy. It was such a culture shock from being in French speaking areas. It was like nothing I had imagined. After a real 3 course authentic italian lunch we toured the ancient city and walked around the ruins. Aosta had been around for over 2000 years!! Finally we drove back to Geneva, and flew back to Brussels. For the rest of the week my mom I toured parts of Brussels, had dinner at Han's house, and did a 1 day trip to the mideval city of Brugge. Finally we headed to Paris for the my birthday weekend. Way back when I was little my mom made a promise to me that we'd go to Las Vegas for my 21st b-day. Instead we went to Paris(a little better I might say). We toured the Louvre for multiple hours, took a boat tour of Paris, climbed Arc du Triomphe, and walked down Champs d' Ellyeses. Finally we had to say goodbye. It was sad but it was an amazing trip. I am truly blessed to have an amazing mother. This will be a memory I will cherish for a liftime.

                                                                             The cliff I jumped off of Paragliding

                                                                                Mont Blanc

                                                                                     Chamonix Hotel

                                                                                    Driving through Swiss Alps

                                                                                        First Authentic Italian Food

                                                                                         Aosta Ruins

Grand Place

Paris