Off to see the Pope

Today we went to the Vatican, it was really cool but there were a lot of people there. I had to wear pants because you can't show knees so it was very very hot. The highlight of the trip was the museum that also housed the Sistine Chapel. We had to wait in a really long line and all these illegal venders kept trying to sell us things it was ridiculous. But once we got in it was really cool! After that we went and saw St. Peters it was a huge church and gorgeous on the inside! By that time me and Sarah were wore out so we came and took a three hour nap. Which was good because the trip is really starting to catch up to me. That night we just got dinner and then came back and watched a movie on the computer

Ten miles for Acquaducks? You have got to be kidding me!!

So today was beat up on Sarah and Sadie day. We thought setting out it was going to be a good, but we were oh so wrong. Our plan was to hit up this park that has a lot of Roman ruins in it and aqua ducks, the invention of running water. So this was going to be a pretty good day. It started off with us being the only two people in a almost fully together Roman city center with the famous baths and that was pretty cool! But that was the last high point in the day. After that we got on a bus (we had to wait for this bus for an hour!) and headed to a park, but we thought we missed our stop so we got off at te next stop and waited for the next bus. After waiting for like thirty minutes a bus shows up and it ended up being the bus we got off of, so on reality we could have just set on the air conditioned bus and circled back around instead of sitting in the heat. Once we got off at the 'right' stop the place was closed down for siesta. So we had to wait until two which was like a hour away. Once it became two we then realized our tickets wouldn't get us in! So we went back to the bus stop but decided that we would rather walk. That's what we did at the hottest part of the day after a bad few hours. And for the next three hours we walked and walked to find these aqua ducks. It was sooooo hot and I was tired and almost out of water, and what water I did have could have made coffee lol. We eventually found the aquaducks but they weren't ten mile hike impressive, but it did make the journey a little worth it. After that we waited and waited for a bus but they all just kept driving by so we decided to walk anothe mile or two to the metro station. But finally we made it back to our air conditioned hotel room! So in short Rome kicked our butts yesterday. But we were bound to have one bad day so it could have been much worse. That's it for now goodnight!

Bad Italian food? Who knew there was such a thing

Today we went to the colosseum, it was sooo cool. It was amazing to think how long it has been standing and then look at the great shape it is in. The Romans must have known what they were doing. It was extremely hot here too, hotter than it has been anywhere else. It takes some getting use to, we drank lots and lots of water today, they have places where you can fill your water bottle up for free which is nice. After the colosseum we went to Palentine Hill, which is where there are a lot of roman ruins also. The Roman Forum stands here and you can still see the roads and quite a few parts of buildings are still standing. The most impressive thing was the columns that were standing, they were soo tall! After all that we went back to the hotel room to cool off and rest because the sun takes a lot out of you. And later on we went back out to see the city at night and to get dinner. We actually found a cheap place for dinner, six euros for pasta and a drink so we got it. But t was horrible and we ended up eating of the dollar menu. But on the plus side we got to see the high end shopping street and the Trivi Fountain lit up at night which was super cool. After all that we were exhausted so we came back and shower and went bed. I think that I am losing momentum because I get tired faster than at the beginning of the trip. It all must be catching up with me. That's it for now goodnight!

Oops we got on the wrong train...

Today was not very exciting we just took the train to Rome. It actually took about four more hours than it should have because we accidently got on the slow train and not the fast train haha. Once we got here there wasn't much to do othe than get settled in an eat dinner. And that is exactly what we did! Our hotel is super nice, we even have air condition! We had dinner at a local place that was a four course meal it was so good!I had spaghetti, potatoes, roasted chicken, an ice cream! That's all for today, goodnight!

Its my birthday!

Monday July 16 Today is my birthday! I am finally not a teenager anymore! I was a great way to spend a birthday here in Tuscany. We just kind of chilled around Certaldo, an I finally got to do laundry. I was out of socks! For lunch we went to an family owned restaurant, I got a penne dish that was excellent! Sarah actually bought lunch for my birthday, it was very nice of her! We were going to go to Florence, but we missed the early train and we decided it wouldn't be worth to only spend about three hours there. So we came back to the hostel and hung out. We looked up the hostel we were suppose to stay at in Rome. But all the reviews for the past few months were things like "worst place ever" and "so dirty, do not stay here!" so we cancelled that booking  after we found another place to stay. We are actually staying in a nice hotel with our own room for just about five dollars more than what we would have paid for the hostel. Plus we were thinking it will be nice to have our own room the last few days because we are starting to get tired, and being able to sleep or have the light on as long or short as you want will be nice. Tomorrow we leave for Rome. That will be exciting! That's it for now. Have a good day everyone! 

Welcome to paradise!

Sunday July 15  Today was soo awesome! We went to Cinque Terra, which is on the cost of Italy. It wasn't originally in our plans, but nothing about Certaldo  has been in our plans so far. At first we thought we were going to spend the day in Pisa, but we were told the only thing in Pisa was the tower. So our new friends, Frrydis and Abegathis (no clue on the spelling-they are from Norway), told us we should tag along with the group to Cinque Terra. It is the best place in Italy but it is not advertise much so a lot of people don't know about it. It i a group if five cliff villages that are all within a mile of each other. It's about a three hour train ride to the villages. It is so worth it though. You really get a feel for the culture and the views are gorgeous! The houses are all do pretty with different colors and the tile roofs. In the first village called Manorolla we went swimming in the Meditrainian Sea. The water was so blue! It's the most  beautiful water I have ever seen! Also in that first village we climbed up the mountain to see the village from above, best idea all trip! After that we move on to the last village and there we actually got to sit on the beach since the last one you had to jump in from the rocks. It was such a nice day! We even got Geiloto. It is the best ice cream ever! One the way home we did a lot of running to catch our connecting trains because we always arrived like three minutes before departure, it was so funny. When we got home we all crashed because the day was so exciting! After we got back from Certaldo inmet a girl who's family is the Fulks of Ashland. It is so crazy, it is such a small world. From the train station we walked around the festival again, and at mid night our new friends sang me happy birthday in Swedish! It was so neat! That's it for now! Chow! 

Milan 1/ Sarah & Sadie 0 but Tuscany takes the gold!

Saturday July 14  Last night in the hostel wasn't the greatest. I maybe got like twenty minutes of sleep. It was really hot and loud and there was water dripping on my bed! So instead of pretending to sleep I just got up and played on the Internet. The plus side though was that I was able to Skype my mom at like four thirty in the morning. Me and Sarah left the hostel at five thirty to go to the train station to go to Certaldo. Which is a small town in the Tuscan country side. At the bus stop a lady who we think was trying to get to the airport was trying to ask what time the bus came, but she was speaking Italian. Neither party understood the other but some how we managed to figure it out with lots and lots of hand motions. I slept on the two and a half hour train ride which was nice because by then it was around twenty four hours with no sleep. Once we got to Certaldo I could already tell I was going to like it better than Milan. The hostel we are staying in is more like a bed and breakfast and was once a moneserty that catered to travels about 800 years ago. It is run by an Italian, an Australian, and a girl from South Carolina. As soon as we got there we met a kit of cool people from all over the world. We hiked down the hill to the town and explored with them. We stopped at this cute pizzeria and got a slice and a pop for only two euros! All of us decided it would be better if we all cooked dinner together do we went shopping. We picked up some excellent fruit from the farmers market, most of it was gone before we got to the supermarket. We ended up getting stuff to make a hearty pasta sauce. After shopping we made the twenty five minutes journey back up the hill to the hostel and went swimming in the pool because it is sooo HOT here compared to the other places we have been! After all of us chipped in to help with dinner and we ate we went down to the festival that is happening in the town. It had a huge merchant market, they had a lot of really cool things. I bought a few things and we spent a long time in there. After the market we went up the hill to the castle/courtyard that is where the festival was being held. It was really cool there was a lot of street performers doing things like singing, dancing, acrobats, actors, and so much more. One of the bands actually is staying at our hostel, try were really cool they are a swing jazz band. The festival was nice because we were some of the only tourist there so we got immersed into the culture. Everyone was so happy they were all singing and dance no matter how old or young. By the ended of the night I was going close to thirty plus hours with no sleep so I was ready for bed! 

Friday the 13th...

Friday the 13th lived up to its name. It was the first bad day we have really had since we got here. But before you get worried mom, since I know you are reading, it all turns out good in the end. Haha anyways today we had to get up super early to fly to Italy and everything was fine until we landed in Milan, that's when it Starts to go down hill. First thing is Sarah'a bank card won't let her take out any money. And we have no phone to call anyone and the pay phone didn't work at first. Then to make things worse there was a charge on her card she didn't make. But she got ahold of her dad and it all worked out. But not until we had spent two extra hour in the airport making it almost two thirty before we boarded a bus to go to our hostel. This leaves us with less than twenty four hours to explore Milan. While one the bus we couldn't understand how it worked so we got off like five stops to early and had to walk all the way to our hostel with a map that had only like six streets labeled on it. But we found it! Then we had to carry our luggage up five flights of stairs that each had thirteen stairs, how ironic. From there though everything started to look up and we for to explore the city some. It is prett here and smells better than Paris! All in all today has made us travelers like Mitch, the study abroad guy at ONU, said we should be and not tourist. One other thing I forgot to mention, Sarah used the men's bathroom in the hostel twice today! This Australian guy was looking at us funny and then was like um this is the guys bathroom. It was so funny especially everything we have been through today. And on the plus side he was super cute! That's all for today, I might not be able to blog the next couple of days because we might not have wifi in Tuscany. But you will hear all about in a few days!

Lots and lots of walking!

Today was our last day before flying out to Italy tomorrow. We took a day trip to Versailles, to see the palace where the treaty of versailles was signed and also Marie Antoinette,s state rooms. It was so awesome! The palace had the most beautiful ceiling paintings I have seen since I have been over here. An The Room of Mirrors, the place where the treaty was signed, was so magnificent! After taking a tour through the place we walked the grounds and gardens and they were just as awesome! We went through a hedge maze that was kind of cool. And then walked soo far out to Marie Antoinette,s apartment/house. It was pretty. I just can't believe how big the grounds were! We probably walked close to seven or eighh miles today in the time we were in versailles! Before we headed back to the hostel to pack we ate dinner out. The restraint we picked we thought was French but it ended up being Spanish food, but it was really good! After that we came back and packed all of our stud up since we have to leave for an early flight tomorrow. Goodnight!

"How do the French have war museums? Haha"

Today was a complete success! We finished seeing all the must sees since tomorrow is our last day in Paris and it will be spent in Versailles. The first thing we did today was go to Napoleon's tomb. It was in this huge, gorgeous dome building. Also included in the ticket was entrance to the Paris war museum. It was really cool, except all the labels and explanations were in French. But it was kind of cool it let me use all my world wars knowledge from my classes because Sarah was asking questions about it. From there we went to the Champs-de-alssie (or something like that) it is the biggest shopping street! We saw stores like Hugo Boss and Armani. An also the arch, which at the moment I forget the name of, but it is huge and we used it as an "n" so me and Sarah could spell out ONU. After that we just walked around because there is so much to take in. We had pastries and hot chocolate since it was cool today. We also souvenir shopped. After we had dinner back at the hostel we went on boat tour down the river. It was so cool! The sun was setting while we were on the boat and so the sky was pretty with all the old buildings. That's it for now, goodnight everyone!

"Bur?!"

Today we went to a church called Sacred Heart, it was so beautiful! It was up on this hill and you had to climb all the way up just to get in, but once you go to the top of the hill the view was amazing! We went in and they were having a catholic service it was neat to see and hear it in French. We decided we would pay to climb the three hundred steps to the top of the dome. The steps were crazy; they were very narrow, steep, and a little dark. But once you got to the top you could see all of Paris including the Eiffel Tower. On the way back down there were guys selling Paris souvenirs, teu were selling them illegal all over Paris. But I decided to buy something from them because it was super cheap and they were very open about it unlike in the streets around the Eiffel Tower plus there were lot of people buying from them. After that church we went to Notre Dame, it was so cool! The inside was breathe taking! Outside the church were these little birds that would land in your hand if you had bread. It was really fun, at one point I had three in my hand! By the time we were done there it was about dinner time so we decided to head back to our hostel to cook dinner. But when we got to our room our card keys to get in wouldn't let us in. When we got to the front desk he said we had to move rooms because a "bur" had happened in our room. We still have no clue what that means, but that's ok because it upgraded us to a private room with our own bathroom! So that was awesome! Other than that nothing else exciting has happened today. Good night everyone!

Forget sunset on the beach; sunset atop the Eiffel Tower is better!

Bonjour! Today was our first full day in Paris and it was awesome! We met up with Sarah and Jennae this morning at the Louvre. The building itself was just awesome! But the stuff inside was even cooler! We saw the Mona Lisa, the first written law, don't know the name at the moment, and Greek statues. The line to the Mona Lisa was crazy, there were so many people! We got lost a couple times trying to navigate the louvre, it's just so big. After that we decided to have lunch at a cafe. It was cool we sat outside and everything, only thing is we forgot to say tap water when we ordered sober ended up paying like four euros for a water! But we learned our lesson. From there we ventured back to our hostel to charge cameras or get new batteries. Then at six we met back up again to go to the Eiffel Tower. On the way there we saw a double decker train! It was so strange. Once we got to the Eiffel Tower the wait in line for the lift up was about four hours. We stood in line for about a half hour, in which Sarah got pooped on by a bird! It was the funniest thing! But after the half hour we decided to walk to the second floor and catch the lift there. It was a long hike! There were 669 steps total on just the way up! But it was so worth it! The view from the second floor was amazing! Then we waited about an hour in line to get all the way to the top. Once we got there it was sunset. So we got to watch the sun set from atop the Eiffel Tower! It was beautiful! On the way back down the Eiffel Tower it started to light up and that was super cool! By that time is was like ten and we were all starving because we hadn't ate since two. So we went to a hotdog/sandwich stand and had some pretty good food. We crossed the river and looked at the Eiffel Tower from there and it started to sparkle! It was sooo pretty! After that we headed home. At the tube station we had to say our final goodbyes to Sarah and Jennae which was sad, but hopefully we will see them again someday! Ok that's it for now, time for bed since its almost two am here!

Goodbye London, hello Paris!

Today was our last official day in London. We didn't do much other than plan some deeper details of ou trip around the rest of Europe. We are hitting up Paris, Milan, the Tuscan country side, Pisa, Florence, and Rome. There is about two more weeks of travel for me and Sarah; we will be back stateside July 23. But anyways today we sent the day travelling to Paris. Which takes only an hour by plane, but I feel like we have been travelling all day! We got to the airport at like three and our plane didn't fly out until six and then it got delayed until six forty. Once we finally made it to Paris we had to take an hour train ride into the city, and let me tell you Paris people need to invest in some deodorant! They all smell really bad, and I'm not even trying to be mean. Then once we got off the train we had to find our hostel. That was a chore because everything is in French! And do I speak French? Don't think so, I can't even speak Spanish and I took three years of it. But we found it after walking half way there, second guessing ourselves turning around and then turning back around to go in the right direction. Our hostel is extremely nice! We have a four person all girl room, with our own bathroom. And there is wifi within the rooms! No where else has ha that except my dorm in London. It is really nice that's way you don't have to go all the way downstairs to Skype or email or even write this blog. That's it for now! I'm going to bed because we are getting up early to meet Sarah, Jennae, and Melissa at the louvre.

It's raining, its pouring, the old man is snoring

Today we have official started our independent travels! It's a little scary not having some one to guide you around but I think we are gonna do just fine. We took the train to Salisbury today and from there a bus to Stonehenge. Seeing Stonehenge was awesome! But it sucked to because it was rain and cold! From there we went to Old Serum and say the remains of a castle, we even got to go in it!!! I was so pretty out in the country side, and it smelled like home!! We were about two hour out of the city. After we got back to the city I had to go buy a new suitcase because my broke last night. But I have one and all my stuff fits so much better! Right now we just got to our hostel and it's super nice! Much better than the one in Ireland! Ok that's all I'm going to shower and sleep!

I'm on a boat!

Sorry I missed blogging yesterday, it was a crazy day/night, but so much fun. Yesterday was the last day of class and I had to give my presentation, which I think went well, the professor said he felt confident no one would get below a B. Which is good, I could have gotten a C and still been okay since my just transfers in as pass/fail. After class I came back to the dorm and did laundry since this weekend we will be heading out on our traveling adventures with just me and Sarah. And plus fresh clean clothes is always nice! Then yesterday evening was the farewell boat party! It was so much fun, they served us dinner and then had a bar and a dance floor. The bartender actually gave me a free drink which was funny, but hey I'll take it. We danced to very American music which was a nice change of pace. The boat part lasted for about three hours up and down the Thames River. It was great way to say goodbye to everyone. Except the dancing didn't start there! We decided we hadn't had enough dancing so we went out to the club Tiger Tiger, it was a lot of fun. It had several different rooms all playing different types of music. The main room was playing newer music. Then we ended up in a 70's and 80's room with sweet dance floor that changed colors!! Then the white room which had strobe lights, I always like the strobe lights. Tiger Tiger was the first big club we had been to, it was interesting and fun, but I have decided that I like smaller bars or even better bonfires better. There was just too many people there and it smelled like BO haha. But it was a good way to ended the three weeks here in London! Tonight is the ISA farewell dinner, it's supposed to be a nice dinner. It'll be an early night tonight too because I have to pack all my things up. hopefully it all fits in my suitcase and backpack! And then tomorrow we are heading to Stonehenge! Hope everyone has a great day back in the states! See you all in two weeks or so!

We Will, We Will Rock You!!

First off Happy 4th of July!! We celebrated a little over here by eating American food and we listened to some very American songs! Today was our second to last day of class and we just watched the other students give presentations. I don't go until tomorrow, my presentation is how I could make the Harry Potter tour better. So it's super easy! After class we went to the first ever Hard Rock Cafe. It was sooo cool I got the legendary burger it was amazing and I also got a Bahama Mama it was fantastic. But the trip there was not fun because there were major delays on the tube system so a trip that should have taken twenty minutes took an hour and a half! It was a little frustrating, but I'm just glad I don't have to travel all the time on tubes back home! After dinner we went to the musical We Will Rock You! It was so fun! It was set in the future when rock and roll had died and two teenagers had to save it, and they song all Queen songs. It was funny too because they did a lot of cultural references in a funny way, like one of the lead parts, who was a guy, was named Brittany Spears. After the play I had to come home and finish my presentation. It's done now though! Ok, good night everyone!

Walking like The Beatles

Today in class we pretty much went to the ghetto part of London. It was a little sketchy and was definitely not my favorite walking tour haha. But I did get this really cool book mark at the art gallery, it is a whole bunch of people doing random things but when you tilt it they move! It is so awesome, it was totally worth the two pounds I spent on it. After class I met up with Melissa because Sarah went to a play that started before my class was over. Me am Melissa had lunch and on the way back from lunch I jumped at a pigeon, but instead of it flying away it flew right at me! It was crazy! Me and Melissa went back to the school to wait around for everyone else to go to Abbey Road. We were suppose to be doing home work but that didn't happen haha. But finally once everyone got done we went to Abbey Road, which was pretty cool. We took the same picture that the Beatles took crossing the road. Only thing is, is that it is a functioning road so you have to watch out for cars, it only took us like fifteen tries to get the picture right. Although later on when we walked back by some one had got hit by a car! But it was ok because she was ok just a sprained ankle. It kind of sucks now though for us to because they took the video down off the website that had us crossing the road because she got hit. But I would rather her be ok and us not be able to see the video and not the other way around! After that I just came home and worked on my paper. Ok good night everyone!

You might be a history buff if you spend four hours in one museum...

Today we had class in a real class room, so that means I caught up on my journal and wrote some post cards. I know you're thinking I'm a bad student but I am really not he just repeats everything in his lectures that he has already told us. But afterwards me and Sarah met Sarah and Jennae at the imperial war museum. It was awesome! We spent a solid four hours in there. One of the better parts was the holocaust exhibit, they made it a personal journey through someone's life with videos and personal items. They did a really nice job of setting it up. Another cool part was that they set up a trench warfare experience and a blitz bomb shelter experience. They were both super cool! In the trench it actually looked, smelled, and felt like you were there. They even had 'bombs' going off and the whole trench would rattle. In the bomb shelter you walk in like they would and it was like you were spending the night in the bomb shelter for safety. It also sounded like bombs and rattled. Then ultou walk out and you saw the aftermath of the bombing it even smelled like it would. I just thought that was an awesome way to make someone really understand what it was like. That museum was probably my favorite one we have been too. Even after spending four hours there I could probably go back and look around again. After that we continued our normal Monday night tradition since we have been there and went to have five British pound burgers and fries at Bar. We spent almost two and half hours in there just hanging out. That's it for now now. Have a good night everyone!

Do not feed the birds! You will get arrested!

Today I got to sleep in! Which was wonderful especially after the crazy busy weekend we had. Then we went to Canada day in Trafalgar Square it was packed with people and I accidently broke the law. Don't worry it's not what you think: in Trafalgar Square it is illegal to feed the pigeons and I fed them one of my chips (French fries). Luckily no one saw me! From there we went to meet the ISA group to tour Buckingham Palace. It was soo pretty and awesome in the inside! We got to see the balcony where Will and Kate kissed and the room where they took their official wedding pictures. To bad we couldn't take pictures. Other than that it was a slow day which was alright because I needed to work on homework. Good night love and miss every one!