“Two straws in my G+T? F the turtles!”

Madrid, Spain: Following a five hour flight out of JFK our plane touched down in Madrid. Arriving in Spain with my mom and sister, Rachel, had me tingling with excitement. It was my first time in Spain, first time in a country where I could actually put my six years of high school spanish to use, and first time vacationing with just my sister and mom.

After picking up our bags we headed out to get our Uber to our AirBNB.

little background: Rachel is a teacher. After graduating college she taught in Malasana for a year. So she really knew the area well.

Around 5 p.m. that evening we were ready to go out and explore the city. As I mentioned, Rachel lived here for a year, so the first thing I said to her is:

“I want an authentic Malasana experience.”

In other words, I didn’t want to do touristy things. I just wanted to be present in a new area, drink lots of coffee, shop, and have good eats.

And that is exactly what I had.

Our first time out of the AirBNB my mom and I got to see all of Rachel’s favorite cafe’s and restaurants. She pointed out the blocks that had the best thrift stores and where the tourists spent most of their time. It was really special for me to get to experience a piece of Rachel’s life for a few days. In particular eating at all the same spots she loved, going to the bars she loved, and drinking the same coffee she did.

That side note aside, our first meal was absolutely delicious! I could die after eating the hummus because it was the absolute peak of culinary arts. That and the pitcher of Sangria helped!

The following day we walked a few blocks from our apartment to one of Rachel’s favorite cafe’s Toma Cafe. Here we planned our day and looked at different bars for the nighttime.

So, Zara Madrid if you can hear me hello! because you are absolutely stunning. I have traveled the world and seen over 20 Zara stores. But absolutely no store compared to the one in Madrid. We had a blast shopping and trying on different outfits! My mom (Lins) got a beautiful blouse and Rachel got a few items as well.

Following Zara we popped into a few more stores and then headed back to the apartment for some rest.

That night we ate at the lovely:

Following dinner we headed to an absoluetly beautiful rooftop bar. Let me walk you though the process: first you have to wait on line outside the elevator. Once a gatekeeper lets you though you then enter the building to pay 4 euros/person to get up to the roof. From the roof you could see the entire city. And it was beautiful! I can’t say I remember much from that night but the views and conversation was beautiful.

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After the rooftop we wandered (I say this because we did not use our phones to find it) to a famous churro and chocolate restaurant. These pictures should help you understand how amazing it was!

I’m pretty sure we all slept like babies that night.

The next day was all about thrift shopping! I was really looking forward to this because Malasana is known for its thrift stores. On a street named: ….

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I found a few really awesome pieces

Finally, our time in Madrid came to a close. *tear

But we would be headed to Florence via plane that next morning.

Here we met the rest of our family. Sarah, Caleb and Dad (Bill) were all meeting us in Florence that next day.

Read all about our family Florence experience in my Italy post!

See you on the next page!

Hannah Reed

“Who remembers the second man on the moon? Exactly you only remember number one”

Dubai,UAE: Our Fly Emerates landed in Dubai around 7 p.m. After a smooth seven hour flight from London we went through customs, picked up our luggage, and headed toward our hotel.

Once we arrived at the Rove Downtown, we were checked into our rooms and had the night to grab dinner and see the city at night.

The next morning, we enjoyed what our Dubai coordinator, Robert Williams (not Robin Williams may he rest easy) called a early start. 11:30 a.m. HA! After a string of 7 a.m. wake ups in London this was a very welcome start. Most of the IBI group spent the morning enjoying a breakfast at the on campus TGI Friday’s and completing our briefing report form for PWC.

On Tuesday we headed off to the University of Dubai for a tour, lectures, and a class session with current students. The university itself is quite young with only 800 students currently enrolled. They were very ambitious though to grow the university and want to become one of the top 100 universities in the world by 2035. The fact that they are located in Dubai is an attraction for investors and students.

The following day we went to the museum of Dubai, zoomed to the top of the world’s tallest building, and sweated our way through a spice and gold market. During the hottest time of the day the real feel temperature was 120 F. And boy did it show on some of our faces! Rivers of sweat were pouring down our backs and faces as we tried not to get scammed by the market salesmen.

During our time in the Baj Kalifa we oversaw a city that sprung within the past 40 years. In the museum we saw the nations history. At its beginnings a group of 80 men moved from an overcrowded Saudi Arabia to an empty plot of land that is now present day Dubai.

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Something that our guide and every local I’ve spoken to is that Dubai is more than a oil nation. Tourism (us) is what spurs the majority of the nations economy. Of course, the Baj Kalifa is the #1 attraction for Dubai. That, in addition of hosting the world’s largest mall (sorry Minnesotta) make it one of the world’s best hospitality nations.

Finally we spent our last day on a safari adventure. It was a day/night filled with sand boarding, rolling through the dunes, fire dancing, and dinner.

Next were headed off to India for two whole weeks.

All the best,

Hannah Reed

“i mean one chopstick is still better than none”-Dr. Koch

Dr. Koch, CES

INNSBRUCK, AT: We arrived at our stay in the late afternoon on Monday June 3rd. After unloading the bus of my 65 lbs suitcase, my roommate, Tori and I went up to our rooms to get a look at this view:

The following day we wrapped up our Comparative Economic Systems class with Dr. Koch. This week we learned about and were tested on the political and economic challenges/changes that occurred in China, India, and Japan during the 1960-early 2000s period.

Then, on Wednesday we visited Swarovski and Crystal World. Both were much cooler than I thought. Especially with the name “Crystal World” I was expecting something really cheesy, but it proved to be a really beautiful park and exhibit. In one section they set up a circular water pond with sparkly clouds with ASMR sounds. Its nearly impossible to put that physical experience into words. But it was truly beautiful.

Finally, Thursday was an emotional wreck of a day. Let me tell you why.

Here we are settled in our seats wrapping up our class content for Japan. Learning all about the Kirestu model of “family business” all is well in the world Kumbaya is the mood. When we suddenly shift gears into learning the class content for International Trade and Finance. We had over 2 and a half hours of going over the overly detailed and busy syllabus and speeding through the seven models of trade-of which I can only remember one. On paper that may not look like a problem. However, we had an exam for our previous class the next morning and was spending all this time trying to process new information on an entirely new course.

*exhales.

That night was spend studying. As one might do.

Finally after numerous back to back days of classes and exams we had a free evening to hike the alps and enjoy nature. As I expected Austria would be.

From Innsbruck we were off to Geneva Switzerland.

Peace,

Hannah Reed

“and no, not every restaurant we first stop at will be Italian”- Dr LaFrance

Prague, CZ: Our coach pulled up to Prague at 5:15 p.m. earlier today. After dinner we checked into our hotel. Rolling up my roommates and I rolled into a room with just one queen sized bed and a couch. After some sorting out of issues we were able to get an additional bed.

The following day we continued our Comparative Economic Systems class (with Dr. Koch) in the Pyramida Hotel. Fun fact- the country was run by Soviets until the 1980’s. Here we continued our learning with the French economy, president Macron’s policies, and the Soviet Union. Interestingly there were many similarities between his and Trump’s ideologies-i.e. tax cuts for the wealthy and lowering corporate income tax.

Following class we got to meet the lovely Dana Ertlova. Meet Dana:

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This woman is a flat out gem of a human being. (*gold star emoji)

She was born into a Soviet run Czech Republic. So although she wanted to be a medical doctor, women were not permitted to study medicine. Lucky for us- she choose the only career available to her: economics. We explored Prague under her wings.

he was born into a Soviet run Czech Republic. So although she wanted to be a medical doctor, women were not permitted to study medicine. Lucky for us- she choose the only career available to her: economics. By lucky I mean we got to benefit from her vast knowledge of how Soviet control shaped the countries current political system.

After the tour people either explored further on headed back to the hotel.

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The next day we had the pleasure of meeting two member of the US embassy who were stationed in the Czech Republic. Douglas Marrow of the US State Department was a lovely personality who was extremely passionate about his work in the “Propaganda” department-as he calls it.

On the final two days I explored the city some more on my own and just soaked in all the culture I possibly could in the limited time we had in this wonderful city.

Tomorrow we will head out on the coach bus through Germany and into Austria.

Next up…Insburg, Austria. I hear its got some beautiful mountains.

Peace,

Hannah Reed