farewells to dorf tirol.

Oops, I haven't updated in a few days...here's one last post before I leave Dorf Tirol (hopefully not forever!).

Well, it's finally time to say goodbye to Schloss Brunnenburg and everything that I now associate with it--breathtaking views, funny classmates, tea with Mary, amazing food, the super friendly de Rachewiltz family, farm animals (including Dino the dangerous one), and so much more. I've had such an amazing, unforgettable month here, and I'm so thankful for the opportunity to be able to be here. There really is something magical about this place. :) There's probably much more I could say about my experience/time here, but we'll see if I get time to add that in somewhere.

The past few days have been a lot of fun. Our last day of class was really easy (our quiz was an evaluation, yay!), and our last lunch with Brigitte's cooking and Frank's dessert was delicious as always. The weather that afternoon (which has continued over the past couple of days) was calling me to come outside, it was so beautiful. I ended up hiking up to Vellau, a scenic overlook a little way away from here, which took about three hours round trip. I got back just in time to join the rest of the bunch for dinner at Lindenwirt, our staple restaurant (lol), after which we headed to Lana with a few Tirolean girls that Kayla and Lauren had met earlier in the trip. They had a fun and bustling main street with live music and food (they had funnel cake, called strauben...yum!), where we hung out until later in the evening, when we went to a discoteca and danced the night away. Thank goodness for the shuttle that took us back!
It was a nice feeling to sleep in yesterday. Half of our group left in early afternoon, so we spent the first half of our day seeing people off. The four of us who were still remaining went to tea with Mary, which was fun as always. Afterwards, we went with Frank down to Merano's botanical garden, which was beautiful and big and a lot of fun. They had a museum about waiters, as well as a ton of flowers and scenic hiking trails. We climbed up to a couple of viewing balconies, visited the aviary (where one of the birds took a great liking to my hair, haha), and just marveled at the natural beauty :) We had a late dinner in Merano, and then...we had to hike back up to the castle >.< But it's all good--we made it back not TERRIBLY late, haha.

Today was a good last day :) In the morning, Frank took us up to Sammy's ice cream shop (which has the most delicious handmade gelato!), and we went grocery shopping. After lunch, we went around with Frank and said goodbye to all the animals. Our last tea with Mary was a delight once again (and I sang "Da Hai a Gu Xiang" to her! Fun stuff :D hehe). For dinner, Dr. Redman very kindly set up a pasta dinner for us with everyone who was left at the castle. I'm so glad I stayed! It was a lot of fun and deliciousness and good conversation. :) I'm going to miss everyone a lot. Maaaaaaan...leaving never gets easy, does it?


Alright, time to finish packing and sleep. Off to Munich tomorrow!