Another Summer = More Adventures

Tags

adventure, domestic travel, europe, flying, international travel, lifestyle, minimalist, postcards, road trip, summer, travel, ukraine, USA, washington, world

As I work my way through all the memories of my summer in Europe in 2014 (of which there are MANY!) I want to take an interlude to reflect on some of my other travels, including those I have coming up this year!

First, here is a map of all the states I’ve been to so far:

I’m Back With More!

Tags

adventure, beauty, faith, food, green beauty, lifestyle, Natural, photography, ramblings, travel

Hi everyone,
I just want to apologize for disappearing. I haven’t posted anything for the past year and I feel so bad. Whenever I saw my WordPress app on my phone or looked at other blogs I felt guilty. But I’ve just had so much going on the past few months. I have wanted to finish my Europe travel blog from summer 2014 before I began new blog posts but I never got around to finishing it. I only had a little over 2 weeks left to record from my travels and after I kept postponing it for so long, I decided to officially start back up.

I will be traveling again this summer and I definitely want to be recording my daily travels everyday. Recording my daily travels is just something I love looking back on for myself.

That’s what I want my blog to continue to be, a lifestyle blog where I get to share my thoughts on faith, travel, lifestyle, natural beauty, food, photography, …amongst other ramblings.

So sorry again for not posting and thank you sooo much to those who decided to stick around.
I’ll definitely be back with another blog post shortly! Until then, Happy Reading!

xoxo,
Sophie

New Year, New Changes

Tags

2015, anniversary, bbloggers, beauty, ecofriendly, ewg, green beauty, green blogger, greenbbloggers, greenbeauty, Hair Care, health, holistic, natural beauty, new year, No More Dirty looks, organicbeauty, organicliving, resolution, skincare

First post of 2015!
Happy New Year to all of you!

Day 33 – Hamburg, Germany

Early morning start to the day with a 4 hour drive from Detmold to Hamburg.

 

xoxo,
Sophie

 

Day 32 – Onto the next country

Our traveling for the day consisted of a five-hour flight towards Germany. At the airport, Aleks’ cousin Elvira and her husband, Andre, greeted us.

We also said goodbye to our cousin, Juliana, who was going to be flying back to America while my Europe travels were just beginning.

Elivira and Andre were from a little town in Germany called Detmold. Once we arrived at their place, we just relaxed the rest of the night.

 

xoxo,
Sophie

Day 31 – Villages and Monuments

 

For our last day in Ukraine; Galina, Diana (sister), Aleks (brother-in-law), Juliana (cousin), Sasha (family friends daughter that Aleks was doing a photo-shoot for) and I decided to go to Pyrohiv, a village south of Kiev.

If you want to see how Ukrainians lived in previous centuries, this is the place. It’s a wonderful outdoor museum with village houses from all the regions of Ukraine, windmills, churches, and a couple of restaurants. There’s horseback riding, wagon rides, and performances by “kozaks” who do amazing tricks on horseback.

After spending most of the day in the Ukrainian village; Galina, Juliana, and I left early to see Rodina Mat (Mother Motherland), a monumental statue in Kiev. The monument is part of the Museum of The History of Ukraine in World War II, Kiev. Once we explored the area, all of us headed back to Galina’s house to get a good night’s rest before our flight.

 

xoxo,
Sophie

Day 30 – Zip lining

“It’s a rare bird that can fly to the middle of the Dnipro,” wrote famous writer Mykola Gogol. Of course, this is an exaggeration because birds easily cross the river, one of Europe’s broadest. Now, people in Kyiv can follow the birds, thanks to a ropeway across the river.

The route runs parallel to Pedestrians’ Bridge leading to Trukhaniv Island. Those brave enough can put on a hardhat, harness and glide some 550 meters across the river dangling from a rope – some 50 meters above the water.

The starting point is near the rainbow-shaped Friendship of Nations Arch not far from European Square.  Often there’s a pretty long line to the platform with the iron pole to which two ropes are tied. The cost is Hr 150. Two instructors prep the riders with helmet and belts around the body and fasten them to the ropes. Once ready, the customer jumps off the platform and enjoys the flight. A person can travel up to 60 kilometers per hour during the 60-second ride. Being as skinny and lightweight that I am, I definitely did not travel up to 60 kmh. Either way, I still enjoyed the ride.

Additional two instructors meet the rider on the other side. But it’s a one-way trip – the person has to go back on foot.

Here’s a link to a video of my cousin and I on the zip line: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghTh5X7Y_xQ&feature=youtu.be
I was having trouble uploading it, so this will have to do (:

xoxo,
Sophie

Day 29 – Church Hopping

At the top of Saint Sophia Cathedral overlooking part of the city of Kyiv

Same name + color matching

St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery

Galina and I playing around in some small park

Another early morning, we got up quite early and spent the entire day exploring Cathedrals and parks in Kyiv. We started off by walking through this beautiful garden. After that we went into the huge Minster cathedral and took a tour through it. It is such a pretty cathedral.

We even got to go to the top of a cathedral with the same name as me, called Saint Sophia Cathedral. Also, coincidently, my outfit that day ended up matching the colors of the cathedral. We visited a few other cathedrals but Saint Sophia Cathedral was probably one of my favorites (;
St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery  was also a very beautiful building.

Towards the end of the evening, the three of us (Juliana, Galina, and I) went to a few more local parks. Kyiv is such a huge city! Time is running out and we still have so many more places to explore and see.

xoxo,
Sophie

Day 28 – How you doin’?

Tags

adventure, cafe, Friends, Friends cafe, Friends show, kiev, kyiv, New York City, Ocean mall, travel, ukraine

Woke up this morning with the time saying 10am! It took me a few minutes to realize this was one of the first days in a long time Juliana and I were able to sleep in. It felt so good to not have anything planned in the morning and just wake up whenever.

            Juliana and I calmly started getting ready for the day with no rush. The afternoon came by so quickly, especially since we slept in. Next thing we know, Galina took Juliana and I off on another adventure. The three of us took the metro to downtown. Four stories high, lots of designer stores, small and large fountains on every floor, and even a small aquarium with fish; the three of us headed to the “Ocean Mall” in Kyiv. After walking into almost every store, we met up with Diana and Alex at the mall and then the five of us headed to the FRIENDS café.

            Pictures of the Friends cast on every wall, shelf, and table, random episodes of Friends constantly playing on the huge TV, scenic pictures of New York City on the walls, vintage couches and chairs, and the environment, all made me feel as though I was really a part of the Friends show. The menu consisted of typical food one might find at most café’s, but it was still delicious. I ordered a sandwich with an iced latte and I loved it!

            We stayed at the café for a while before Alex, Diana, and I went off on our own. The three of us headed to one of my mom’s best friends in Kyiv. Apparently, she really wanted to see me since the last she saw me I was two years old. The lady is really sweet; we had tea at her place and talked about anything and everything. Next thing we know, it was pitch black outside and we left her place and headed back to Galina’s house for the night.

xoxo,
Sophie

Day 27 – Evening Strolls

Tags

adventure, backpacking, backpacking europe, church, downtown, kyiv, travel, ukraine

Rising early this morning was difficult after the previous late night.