Discovering France. Part Two: More of Brest.

The last days in Brest, I had a chance to discover more of the surroundings of Brest.

Pont de L'Iroise.

Le Relecq-Kerhuon.

And finally, Le Vallon du Stang Alar. Where I actually didn't take any pictures. Hmmm...

Discovering France. Part One.

After I returned from my year in the US, I was mostly really happy to be back in Austria. I had missed my family, my friends, the food, my house, my books, the landscapes I grew up with. But then, about two weeks in, an old "friend" reared its ugly head: my travel bug. I actually wrote about the almost constant urge I feel to move and travel and leave Austria again in a blog post I wrote for one of my classes two years ago.
So, this bug had come back, and after talking to some friends I had met in Maine who live in  France, I was set on visiting them in Brest. Within a week I had booked my flight and was ready to leave Austria again.
This was in the middle of June and I went to Brest for about a week. My next trip to France is about to start in less than twelve hours so I thought I'd use this little recap about my time in Brest as a starting point for another little series of blog posts while I'm travelling again (I did the same when I went to Texas in December).

In Brest, for a brief moment, I was back on American ground:

I spent a day discovering the home of my dear roomie Yuna. That included, of course, cider and crepes. I enjoyed all of it.

On another day, I went to visit Le Conquet with Ben and Yuna.

Ben and Yuna. Duh.

Haha, I just love that sign.

Beach on the way to Le Conquet

Le Conquet.

More cider was in order

On the way back to Brest, we stopped at Pointe de St-Mathieu.

That's it for now. I should really pack.

Back home. For now.

I have been back in Austria for over two months now. The weather hasn't been all that nice for some of that time, so I had enough opportunities to catch up with family and friends. One reason that made being back home a little easier is my new apartment in Salzburg. I moved here at the beginning of July after being really lucky and finding a great apartment practically a week after I came back.

View from my apartment

Since I returned, I've also tried to discover places and events I haven't been before.

#1 - A world-record attempt to gather approximately 1,500 tractors made by Steyr in Weißenkirchen im Attergau at the beginning of July. They were successful despite the sudden the-world-has-come-to-an-end weather.

One of the older tractors

Yes. That's beer in the "trunk".  People needed supplies for the day. Duh.

#2 - I finally got around to checking out the biggest cemetery in Salzburg, the Kommunalfriedhof.

#3 - The Movida Festival in the Volksgarten (a huge park) in Salzburg. Since it was one of the first kind of warm evenings in a while, it was really nice hanging out in the park and listening to some great Austrian music: Krautschädl. 

#4 - Thanks to my friend Edi, I was also able to attend a concert of the Wiener Philharmoniker (classical music) during the Salzburger Festspiele (classical music festival in Salzburg). It was amazing. 

#5 - Now this is nothing new but during the last 1.5 months, I celebrated about ten birthdays with friends and family (including my own) which meant a lot of quality time with people I love, tasty drinks, delicious food, and long nights.

This is my aunt on her 50th birthday. Yes, she is wearing a wig,  floaties, and a tutu, while riding around her neighborhood at 3 am with a bike without functioning lights or brakes. That's just how my family rolls.

Right now I am just working, recovering from all the parties, enjoying the summer that finally returned, and planning my next trip.

A 6-year old took this picture. I only cropped it a little to avoid further embarrassment for my relatives ;) 

Moments

The nine months I spent in the US were filled with memorable moments and thanks to digital cameras, I'll be reminded of most of them for a long time to come. However, there are a few moments that stand out (slightly more) and will always make me smile :)

I'll never forget...

...dancing outside of Portland Mall with Travis while waiting for the bus.

...swimming in the river...at night.

...drinking wine in the hallway of Stodder. 

...singing and dancing with Yuna countless times.

...mac'n'cheese at 3 am with my beloved room mate.

...watching countless zombie movies. Mainly with Andy.

...the railway bridge in Orono. Mark, you know what I mean. 

...all the couchsurfers I had the pleasure of meeting and staying with this year (sorry if I forgot somebody): Dario, Andy, Travis, Fletcher, Allen, Mark, Madhav, Aaron, Michael, Ajay, and Jonathan.

...the one and only time I sang karaoke at the Asylum.

...a bloody nose after a snowball fight. Thanks Mark!

...Halloween in Salem.

...my brother's wedding.

...eating Ben & Jerry's while waiting for the bus with Yuna.

...going to the river at 7 am after staying up the whole night.

...Fitz and the Tantrums. Girl Talk. Big Gigantic. Grant Street Orchestra. 

...riding a tandem with Mark and a 30 pack of beer in New Orleans. 

...

Graduation Banquet for International Students

Three last stops: Portland, Boston & NYC

It took me almost nine months in the US to finally make it to New York City. When a friend from home decided to visit me in May, I realized that this would be the perfect time to finally head there. But before that, I made one last stop in Portland to say goodbye.

I miss Portland a lot and sure had an amazing time there, e.g. my first few days in Maine and Halloween.

After a last night out in Portland with my friends and singing Bye, Bye, Bye in a karaoke bar, it was time to say goodbye to one of my favorite places in the US.

With Andrew

With Fletcher and Andy. Right before karaoke.

Next stop: Boston. Here, I picked up Waldi, my friend from home, and we stayed for two days discovering the city before finally heading to NYC.

Finally Spring

My friend from home

Enjoying deep-fried Mars bars

Last stop (well, next to last, because we went back to Boston to catch our flights back home): New York City. The first two nights we stayed in Manhattan and even though it was a completely new and also great experience, I enjoyed the time we spent in Queens better. Since it was our first time in NY we did a lot of touristy things and ate and shopped a lot which was partly due to the fact that it was raining almost the entire time we were there.

The CITY.

View from MoMA

Chrysler Building

Times Square

Central Park

View from the Empire State Building

The weather

The FOOD.

Lunch at Le Pain Quotidien

Dinner and margaritas at T.G.I. Fridays

Delish Thai food in Chinatown

Strawberry cheesecake. Worth every bite.

Breakfast for champions: pancakes, bagel, omelette, and home fries.

Burgers. Duh.

The GIRLS.

In Central Park

MoMA. And a lot of ass.

Sipping Bloody Marys

Another great thing was that I could meet up with some friends while I was in New York.

After an amazing time in New York and one more day in Boston that we spent with some absolutely amazing people, it was time to say goodbye...