What were you grateful for this week?
Adventures. 

What was the most difficult or challenging part of this week?
Traveling alone.

Tell us about a “wow” moment you had this week. 
My host mom is in and out of house keepers right now so I’ve made sure to unload and load the dishwasher for them everyday. 

Tell us about your week! 
This week was great. It started off being a little easier than last. It’s still a hard adjustment but I’m pushing through. Something that’s helped with settling in is planning all my trips for each weekend I’m here. This week I couldn’t wait for Saturday and Sunday to arrive.

On Saturday I took the four hour train ride down to Pisa. The train ride itself was amazing. Getting out of the city and seeing the beautiful country side gave me comfort. Once I arrived in Pisa I started walking through town to get to the tower. There were cute bakeries on every corner. I crossed this bridge in the middle of town and was able to see a gothic cathedral and it was beautiful. As I got closer to the tower it became more busy. Tourists everywhere so I fit right in. I stopped for some souvenirs and kept on walking. As soon as I saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa I was lost for words. It’s stunning and I was blown away at the fact it’s still standing when it definitely looks like it could crash down at any moment. The two cathedrals next to it were breathtaking as well. I’m so amazed at the detail in the buildings here. 

The next day I had a train ticket booked to take me into Switzerland. I stopped in the town of Bellinzona and I instantly fell in love. It had such a good feeling to it. Bellinzona is a tiny town in between huge mountains that reminded me of home. It’s also a town that still has three original medieval castles. I explored the first castle and was blown away. I think I explored it for about an hour just taking it all in. Switzerland definitely has my heart at this point.