Making Memories

Chapter 14

*November 10th*
I wake up feeling nothing different. Sure, I'm one year older, big deal. I've turned 22. I do my normal morning routine. I put on a little bit more makeup than usual, just for my birthday. When I finish getting ready, I hear a knock on the door. I go over and open my door. It's Woods with a gift box in his hand.
"Happy birthday, baby." Woods said, kissing my cheek.
I let Woods in. He hands me the gift. He told me he got me a little something. I open the box and see plane tickets. What? I read them a little closer. It's a flight to Europe.
"A month long getaway to the beautiful continent of Europe. Each week we'll visit a different country. Pack up, get ready. First stop is Austria." Woods said.
"You didn't have to, oh my God, Woods. You're literally the best. You have no idea how long I've wanted to visit Europe." I said, hugging Woods tightly.
"I listen to you. For your birthday month, I thought a trip to Europe was just perfect. Here's a list if you're curious where we're going each week." Woods said, handing me a piece of paper.
"Looks like the list goes further than November. Oh, all the way into the new year." I said.
"Yeah, we needed more than a few weeks to get to most countries in Europe." Woods said.
"Yeah, I get it." I said.

I'm so excited. These next seven months are going to be the most fun ones I'll ever have. I pack up right away, since our first flight is tomorrow morning. Thanks for the short notice, Woodland. I never knew that he'd spend this much on me. No worries, I'll pay him back somehow. Travelling is all I asked for, so I guess I got it. Once I finished packing up, I wake up bright and early.

Woods picks me up and we go to the airport. We board the plane, and land in our first country: Austria. We get a taxi to our hostel for the week. This place is absolutely beautiful. The only downside is that I'm tired from the flight, so we take a day to rest. The fun starts tomorrow. Woods thought that since the weather isn't the best, that we visit museums. We were told that the day doesn't last very long during the fall, so we have little time.

We go to the Salzburg Museum. It's a historic and cultural museum. We take a little walk through and admire the rich history that this city has. I love history, so I love this place so much. Most of it is written in Austrian German and English. I can understand bits and pieces. There is a noticeable difference through. When we finished looking at all the sections of the museum, we went to a little coffee shop. I got myself a hot cocoa. Woods bought a cappuccino.

We head back to our hostel as the sun sets. The locals weren't lying when they said the sun sets fast around this time of year. We only had about three hours of daylight. It's kind of not fair, but it is what it is. We sleep around nine. We spend today going to the Alps. Despite being freezing cold, Woods still wanted to take a look at them. I mean, when in Austria. . . It is absolutely freezing up here.
"Wo-Woods, why. . . Why did you choose to come up here when it's in negative temperatures?" I asked.
"It's pretty with snow. We sacrifice anything to tour around, right?" Woods asked.
"I didn't expect to be trudging through snow. I'm glad we'll be ending our trip in the summer." I said.
"Yeah, me too." Woods said.

I snapped a few pictures of the Alps. I asked someone to take s picture of Woods and I. I giggle because our faces are bright red from the cold. We get back on the bus. We're served hot drinks to get warmed up. A heater is also turned on. This is nice. This might be the nicest bus I've ever ridden. It's funny because the bus has some serious traction. It has to, to get back down to the city.

We arrive back at Salzburg. Woods takes me to a nice restaurant to end the night. This has been a wonderful trip so far. I can't wait to get to Germany. I've heard so many nice things about it. Plus, that's where some of my dad's family is from. I mean, I probably have some cousins I don't know about. That's for me to find out later. For now, I'll focus on what's happening right now.

The rest of the week we spent looking around at the city. We looked at flee markets, shops, etc. I bought an Austria key chain to add to my keychain. I had just bought it to add to my collection of European keychains as souvenirs. We get onto the plane to the next destination: Brussels, Belgium. Again, feeling tired and jetlagged, we take a day to chill. Here, I really want to try Belgium chocolate. I heard it's really good. We go to the candy shop that next morning. We bought a lot so we could bring back some for all the coworkers.

We thought we could make this into a little video. It's going to be on Woods' channel, and going to be called Americans Try Belgian Chocolate. We brought back all the chocolate back to the hostel. Woods sets up the camera and we begin the video.
"Hey guys. We are are Brussels right now. We thought it'd be fun to try some of these Belgian chocolates." Woods said, showing the big bag.

The first one I grabbed out of the bag was Belvas. I break off even pieces for Woods and I. We clink them together, then take a bite. It is the best thing ever. It's rich in flavor, and better than anything I've had in the States. We take samples of the rest of the chocolates. By the end of the video, I'm feeling all the chocolate and a little sick to be honest.

Woods ends the video and starts editing it. We put the rest of it in the fridge. I crash after all the chocolate and wake up the next day. New day, new adventure across Brussels.