Category: The European Adventure

European Victory Tour

Sandra K. Barnidge1 Comment

After almost two years in Austria, it’s time for us to head home to the States. But before leaving our adopted continent for a new life in Alabama, we embarked on a “grand finale” backpacking trip through France, Spain, and Portugal. We dubbed it our Victory Tour in honor of surviving Vienna, the academic job market, and almost two full years of marriage — the trifecta of tough!

We were on the road for about five weeks, with one backpack and handbag apiece, and I snapped more than 1,600 photos. Here’s a quick look at the highlights of our trip … and a more reasonable number of photos.Read More »

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Auf Wiedersehen, Vienna

Sandra K. Barnidge5 Comments

The time has come: We’re leaving our European home. Matt has lived in Vienna for almost two years, and for me, it’s been about a year and half. It’s been an exciting, frustrating, and ultimately empowering experience for both of us. Vienna is a city of secret doors, and we consider ourselves very fortunate that a few cracked open for us.

It’s impossible to capture the complexity of our expat life in a single blog post, but I can distill what we’ll miss most into a list of ten:Read More »

Copenhagen

Sandra K. Barnidge3 Comments

The cure for anything is salt water — sweat, tears, or the sea. (Danish writer Karen Blixen)

February is a tough time to be a lot of places, and Vienna is no exception. Volatile weather, gray skies, cranky people — this month is not our adopted city’s finest, and we were very much in need of a getaway.

And what better place to design an uplifting weekend than Copenhagen, capital of the world’s happiest country and a headquarter of Scandinavian style?

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