Ireland!

After getting back from Canterbury Friday evening I caught the 8:00 train to Holyhead, Wales. Holyhead is a small town in North Wales right on the Irish sea. There is a large port in Holyhead where a ferry runs to and from Dublin, Ireland. The whole journey from London to Dublin by train and ferry only cost me 30 pounds. It was quite the deal. My train ride was dreadful. It was supposed to take about 4 hours from London to Holyhead, but it ended up taking almost 5 hours. We were at a standstill for about 45 minutes at one point because someone had jumped in front of the train. The ambulance and police had to come and it was an ordeal. Elliot resides in Bangor, Wales, which is the last stop before Holyhead. Finally he joined me on the train and we continued the half hour journey on to Holyhead. By the time we arrived it was almost 1:30 in the morning. Our ferry left at 2:30 though so we had plenty of time to shuttle to the port and board the ferry. I was very impressed with the ferry. I thought it was going to be just a small boat for walking passengers only. However, it was like a mini cruise ship where car passengers could just drive right on and bring their vehicle with them. The inside was very nice too. There were lounges, restaurants and even a theater. If it wouldn't have been so early in the morning I would have explored around a bit more. We found ourselves a nice comfy bench and fell right asleep. Although traveling through the night is not very ideal, Elliot and I are both running out of weekends to do things. Also it cuts the cost of accommodation. The ferry journey took about 3 hours and we got to Dublin at 6 in the morning. I didn't feel very rested, but I was ready for a gorgeous day in Ireland. Below picture of the ferry.

As soon as we got off the ferry we got in line to buy our return journey tickets. This proved to be quite a situation because this was at the height of volcanic ash craziness. By now all the planes had been grounded for 2 days and everyone visiting Ireland wanted out. Since Ireland is an island they had to take the ferry due to the airlines all being grounded because of Iceland's volcano erupting and blowing ash over Europe. It was utter madness. We ended up having to get a later ferry home then we would have liked because the earlier one was already booked full! People were in a panic to get back to the UK.

We took a bus into town from the port and got dropped off near the spot where our tour departed. We thought it left at 7:00, but we found out that it didn't actually leave until 8:00. So we had time to grab some breakfast. All I wanted was a hot chocolate and a muffin, but there wasn't anywhere open that early in the morning. Dublin doesn't wake up until noon. It wasn't long before we boarded our Paddywagon Bus tour to head through the Irish country side to the Cliffs of Moher. Dublin is the capital city on the East side of the island (closest to the UK). The Cliffs of Moher are all the way on the West side of the island. I was very excited for the tour because I have been wanting to go to Ireland ever since some big movies have been filmed in the countryside there. There were about 50 people on our tour bus. We had a long drive to the other side of the island, but made some nice stops on the way. First we just stopped at a convenient store to use the restroom, but we were able to get some breakfast too. Our next stop was at Bunratty Castle, a glorious monument to 12th century military architecture. It was very impressive. There were also two cute little shops and a restaurant by the castle. I had some banana bread and Elliot had a chocolate bar at this stop. The banana bread didn't taste like my Grandma's, but it was still pretty good since I haven't had any in so long. I wanted to shop a little bit more here, but we only stopped for about 20 minutes before we were on the road again. After this stop we got off the freeway and started seeing some more countryside. It really was beautiful. They have stone walls built all over Ireland as gates and fences. I also saw a ton of sheep and cattle.

Before too long we arrived at the Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs of Moher, that tower above the Atlantic Ocean, are the most popular attraction in Ireland. They are considered one of the top sights to see in the world too. It was a wonderful day outside and there were quite a few visitors at the cliffs. Our tour guide warned us not to go to close to the edge and that it was pretty dangerous and then set us loose. It was a little hike to get up to the top of the cliffs, but the views were incredible. I can't even explain it. I have never seen anything like this before. The cliffs were so steep and the ocean at the bottom looked miles away. It was a little scary to peer over the edge to the rocks below, but so pretty. You would definitely die if you fell over, no doubt about it. We walked all along the cliffs. The fresh air coming off the ocean was fabulous. Since this is a hard place to explain unless you go there, I have included lots of pictures below!




Spending an hour and a half at the cliffs was really nice. Then we all met back at the tour bus. We had to wait for some people because they were late and our tour guide wasn't very pleased. Then a girl my age got on the bus laughing and said her friend was still up at the cliffs. Well this really pissed our tour guide off. He went into a small tantrum and said we were leaving her and that this will teach her not to be late and her friend to laugh in his face. He also said a few other choice words in Irish. The whole situation was quite comical to Elliot and I, but our tour guide ranted on about it for 10 minutes. Our guide was a typical Irish guy probably in his 20's. He was really fun and gave us lots of history and information as he drove. He even sang us Irish songs. He was a pretty good singer too. Elliot and I laughed so hard at some of the songs and some of his comments. It was quite comical to hear him pronounce anything that had a 3 in it. Instead of sounding like three, his Irish accent sounded like tree. We really enjoyed him.

We stopped for lunch in Doolin Village at a pub shortly after the cliffs. It was kind of like buffet style where the food was already prepared we just had to go through the line a choose what we wanted. Elliot and I each had what was called a meat bap. It was basically a gourmet bun with your choice of meat and some potatoes. I had ham and Elliot had pork loin. It was excellent. It has been a really long time since I have had a nice slice of meat. Elliot also had a pint of Guinness, which is the Irish made beer. It is so popular in Ireland.

Next we started our way back to Dublin along Galway Bay. The scenery was incredible. We made two more short stops. Our first stop was at The Burren, which is a lunar landscape with limestone rock everywhere. It is no wonder they have so many stone walls in Ireland, because they have so much rock here. I wasn't much into this rocky expanse, but we were only there a short while. On the way to our next stop the bus got stopped by an "Ireland traffic jam" - a herd of cattle. It was so cool. This is exactly what I expected Ireland countryside to be like. It only took a little while before we were back on the road again. Next we stopped at an old church. The flowers around the church were very nice. We continued on our journey home to Dublin after this. It was probably a three hour ride; my tiredness got the best of me and I slept for most of the ride back to Dublin. We arrived in Dublin around 9:00. It took us a little while to find our hostel even though it was on O'Connell Street, the most popular street in Dublin. After spending the previous night on the train and ferry, it was really nice to have a bed to sleep in. We were exhausted after not getting much sleep the night before and an all day tour. Below pictures of the Galway Bay that we drove along.

On Sunday we had plenty of time to explore Dublin. We were really surprised by how dead the city was in the morning. It didn't start to get busy until at least 1:00. We walked along the River Mersey that runs through Dublin. It was a pretty gross river compared to all the other large cities that I have visited. However, it was a great day again. We went to Trinity College, a very popular, beautiful campus in Dublin. We also saw St. Patrick's Cathedral. We enjoyed a park for a little while too. We didn't go to the Guinness Factory, where they produce the famous Irish brew, because Elliot had already been there and I didn't really have any desire to go. We ate a nice meal in the Temple Bar area of Dublin. The Temple Bar area is a very popular district in Dublin for nightlife. It was pretty dead in the day time, but there were some nice souvenir shops to look in. Below pictures of St. Patrick's Cathedral and us in Dublin.


Soon I learned that Dublin is not a very exciting city as there isn't a whole lot to do there. It was also a really expensive city. We had pretty much seen everything there was to see by 3:00, so we went to a movie. We saw Cemetery Junction, a British film about 3 boys trying to make it out of a small town in England. It was pretty good and a nice culture experience. After the movie we grabbed some supper before we caught the bus to the ferry port. Our ferry left at 09:00. By this time it had been 4 days since all the flights had been grounded due to the volcanic ash. The ferry was so busy. There was a huge line way out the door just to buy ferry tickets. Elliot and I were really glad we had gotten our tickets when we got off. The ferry was so packed that we couldn't even find a place to sit down. A lot of the passengers were visitors that had been stranded in Ireland and couldn't get home because of the airline closures. We camped out on the floor for the ride back to Holyhead. We got into Holyhead around 1:00. We thought we would just catch a train the half hour ride to Bangor, where Elliot is located. However, the next train going that way wasn't leaving until 4:25 in the morning. We couldn't believe it. Neither one of us really wanted to spend the night in the train station. We decided to go see if there were any buses headed that way, but they were all done until the morning too. We asked a taxi how much to get to Bangor and it he told us 60 pounds. We definitely were not going to do that. We waited around for a little while trying to figure out if there was any other way to get to Bangor. I noticed that there was only 1 taxi driver left outside by this time and no customers so I decided to go bargain with him. He at first told me 60 pounds. I told him no. Then he said how about 45. In the mean time Elliot was bargaining with some bus driver that was taking an entire bunch of stranded passengers to London. Elliot got him to drop us off near Bangor for 30 pounds. I could have just rode the bus all the way back to London, but it was pretty expensive and I had train tickets for the following day. The bus dropped us off a little outside of Bangor on the highway and continued the route to London. It was pitch dark and we had to walk for a mile or so to get to Bangor. However we were home by 3 in the morning, which was a lot better than waiting for the 4:25 train and sleeping in the station all night.

We had quite the weekend of traveling. Even though I wasn't very fond of Dublin, I really enjoyed Ireland. It was a great experience and I would definitely go back again. Although I was really happy to get back to London and my own bed. It surprises me how much London feels like home. Whenever I get back from traveling it is always a relief to be back in London. I uploaded a bit smaller photos this time, so click to enlarge!

That is very 'posh'

The week after Spring Break wasn't exactly relaxing. This week it really hit me that I have about a month left here. I can't believe how fast time goes by. I am going to hate to leave. Everything in London seemed to get greener and bloom while I was away on Spring Break, making the city even more fabulous in the Spring. I did a lot of typical London and British things this week!

On Monday I got back into my routine of Museum Monday. I decided to go to Tate Modern, which I had heard a lot of great things about. This is a fairly new museum, opened in 2000 to celebrate the Millennium. The building actually used to be a power station in the heart of London. It is situated right on the bank of the River Thames all the way across town. I hadn't been to this area in a while so it was nice to pay a visit again. Tate Modern belongs to the same family of Tate Museums as Tate Britain, which I blogged about going to a few weeks back. Of course, Tate Modern, is the national gallery of international modern art. Although I didn't enjoy my last experience with modern art, I thought I would give it another chance. Well let me just say I still don't like modern art. Some of the pieces I think a 2 year old could have done better and other pieces just creep me out. I found one piece in the entire museum that I would actually like to own. It was a sewn world map framed. Each of the countries was their own flag sewn over the shape of the land. It was pretty neat. I was impressed by the detail and time it must have taken to complete. The parts that were most impressive were the areas in the world with many countries all packed in closely together, like South America and parts of Europe. Sometimes I forget how large of a country the US really is. However, traveling around Europe has made me realize the vast amount of land we occupy. I didn't spend too much time in Tate Modern. I was more impressed with the architecture of the building than the art work. I think I will stray away from modern art in the future. Picture below of Tate Modern.

On Tuesday I had my internship. My supervisor, Karina, was on time today, so I didn't have to wait outside the door getting weird looks by all the locals! I fit in pretty well in Central London. However in the borough where my internship is located, I am definitely a minority. I don't ever feel threatened, but I am greatly aware that I don't belong. Today I worked on updating the company's database. It was boring and not very much fun to stare at the computer all day. My supervisor had an optician appointment and was gone for a good portion of the day. This left me alone at the Trust. Tuesday is not a busy day at the Trust because they do not have English classes or legal advice services offered on this day, therefore no one is there. Before Karina left she told me that I shouldn't let anyone in and to meet her for lunch at a cafe up the street at 1:30. I was kind of shocked that she told me not to let anyone in, like it was unsafe. DUH! Karina doesn't fit into the local area either, so she must kind of get it. I didn't really feel scared because even I have to ring a button to get into the Trust. Then Karina answers and pushes the buzzer to unlock the door. I had access to all this while she was out. It is actually quite fun to use since it is like the something you would see in a movie and exciting compared to Iowa businesses where you just walk through the front door. I am assuming a normal London business would have a full time secretary to answer the door and buzz people in, however, this is a charity.

I locked up the Trust and met Karina for lunch at the cafe. She was a half an hour late, but I just enjoyed some tea and read the paper. Lateness used to be one of my biggest irritations. However, I find myself handling Karina's habit quite well (I guess I kind of have to handle it well since she is my boss)! Karina finally arrived and she wanted to hear all about my Spring Break. It was nice to talk to her about my trip since she has been to all of the places and can relate. She thinks it is great that I jet off every weekend to see something new. I asked her how she had been and she went on to tell me that an old boyfriend had rang her up and confessed he still loved her. Wow, that is not something you expect your supervisor to tell you, but I do appreciate good gossip! She said that it was all very flattering, but he has a serious wife and lots of kids, besides she doesn't really fancy him anymore! Ha ha. It is so hard to talk to this lady and not laugh in her face. I quite enjoy our conversations though. I had a very tasty jacket potato with bacon and cheese fixings before we headed back to the Trust. I told Karina that I would have to leave early this day because I was going to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with my program that night. She said, Oh that is very posh! Posh is a British word associated with upper-class, fashionable, elegant, and expensive. I think Karina was surprised that I was going there with my program, however, my program director is very posh himself. I love this new word! Later on in the day while working on the database Karina nonchalantly asked me if we were still in April. I was like WHAT? (The date was April 13)I wanted to say April just started, but instead I just said yep. I love this lady, but wonder if she might be slightly mental sometimes!Below a picture of me at my desk at Hoxton Trust and the building.


The tube was packed on the way home and my journey was over 45 minutes to get home. I had to rush to change clothes quick before heading off to the Royal Festival Hall for the orchestra. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is one of UK's leading orchestras. I wasn't honestly looking forward to the orchestra that much, since I am not a big music person. However, it was free, my friends were going and a good British experience. To my surprise, I was extremely impressed! I have never been to more than a High School Band Concert, so listening to an orchestra was wonderful. I especially appreciated the pianist playing the huge grand piano. I don't think I have ever seen a piano so large or fingers move so fast across the keys. It was fabulous. The rest of the band sounded great too, even to my out of tune ears. I must admit I was someone who used to make fun of band geeks, but this experience definitely gave me a new perspective. The orchestra played Glinka's Overture to Rusian & Ludmilla, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto and Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 2. I couldn't believe how the conductor jumped around on the platform waving his wand everywhere; he really got into it. Another thing that surprised me at the orchestra was the amount of applause. The pianist and the conductor both bowed, went off stage and came back out to bow again 3 or 4 times. I just wanted them to stay on stage until the clapping stopped, but they would just go off stage and then come back on over and over again. It was nuts. I really enjoyed the orchestra a lot more than I thought and I was very pleased that I went. Below is a picture of the Orchestra.

Wednesday and Thursday were catch up days filled with class, homework, lots of laundry and a few walks in the park. On Friday the whole program went on a day trip to Canterbury. The coach picked us up at 8:30 and we were in Canterbury by 10:30. Canterbury, a World Heritage Site and home of the popular Canterbury tales, is a small English town South of London with a lot of history. I really liked Canterbury. It was one of those little towns that looked nice to live in. Canterbury is famous for the Canterbury Cathedral,which we toured. I enjoyed having a guided tour of the Cathedral. The tour gave me a lot more information on the history of England and the Cathedral. The Cathedral is the place where the Canterbury Archbishop, Thomas Becket, was murdered by King Henry the 8th's knights. Shortly after the Pope made him a saint, St. Thomas. After our tour we ate some lunch and browsed around the rest of the town. We had a beautiful day to walk around. We saw the Canterbury Castle and the old town gate. Of course we did a little shopping too. It was a really nice day trip. Then we headed back to London and I took off for Ireland! Pictures below of Canterbury.

Spring Break: Rome

On Wednesday night Elliot and I arrived in Rome from Florence. Rome is a large city with a lot going on everywhere. My first impression of Rome was dirty and smelly. Then again we arrived the main transport hub, which is hard to keep from getting dirty and smelly. By the time we left, Rome was really growing on me and I liked the city. Our first order of business was finding our hostel. It was only about 6 blocks from the train station in a fairly nice area. There were a lot of little Italian restaurants in the area. At all of the restaurants they had a guy outside trying to get you to eat at the restaurant. One of the guys asked Elliot and I if we were from the States or Germany. We laughed at this and said the States. Then he guessed Chicago and we said close enough. It is so interesting how well the locals can spot out tourists. All over Rome there were scooters, similar to the mo-ped Sam drives around town, whizzing all over. Rome was different than any other city I have ever visited. After checking into our hotel we were led a few blocks to another building with about 8 rooms and 2 bathrooms. The building was on the same block as the Russian Embassy, so the hotel receptionist told us we were in a safe neighborhood. I doubt that the Russian soldiers standing outside the embassy would have cared less if some weirdo came into our building, but nice selling point. This was our least favorite hostel, mainly because we had to share 2 bathrooms with 14 other people. It wasn't too big of a problem, but sometimes we had to wait to use the restrooms and showers. The beds were clean and it suited us just fine since we were hardly in the room. I did spot a spider in our room which didn't really appeal to me either. Amazingly enough, that was only the 2nd spider I have seen since being abroad. As far as I have noticed I don't think they have the bugs and insects like we do in the States. We talked about going out for some gelato this night, but we were too tired from the long day walking all over Florence.

On Thursday we really explored Rome. We started with breakfast in a cafe near our hostel. Then we headed in the direction of the Trevi Fountain. On the way we ran into the Quirinal Palace, which is the official residence of the President of the Italian Republic. There were a lot of guards and security, but a pretty nice Palace. It seemed like every block in Rome had some piece of history to admire. We never had to walk to far before we spotted something interesting. Next, we discovered the very impressive Trevi Fountain. The Fontana de Trevi, as it is called in Rome, is the most famous and largest fountain in Rome. It is claimed to be filled with Rome's sweetest waters because the fountain was first supplied water by one of the ancient aqueducts. It is a traditional legend that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain they are sure to return. Of course, Elliot and I threw a coin in and got some pictures. I was surprised by how busy the fountain was. There were tourists everywhere. Below pictures at the fountain.


After the fountain we continued on to the Spanish Steps. Yet another amazing sight to see, also loaded with visitors. We found most of Rome was packed with tourists from all over the world; it is a very popular and exciting city. The Spanish Steps are the longest and widest staircase in Europe. Despite the name, the steps were built by the French to connect the Spanish Square, at the base of the hill, to the French-owned church, Trinita dei Monti, at the top of the hill. At the time the staircase was built, the Spanish Square was home to the Spanish Embassy, headquarters of the Spanish ambassador to the Holy See, hence the name of the steps and square. Now that I gave you a little history lesson, on with our day! Elliot and I climbed to the top of the steps for a legendary view of Rome. Below picture at the Spanish Steps.

Our next stop was Pincian Hill, which overlooks the Piazza del Popolo. The Piazza del Popolo is a large square that literally means the People's Square. There were some nice statues and fountains in the square. We enjoyed the view of the square from Pincian Hill before going to check it out. Italy is famous for all their piazzas or squares. They are always grand areas with impressive statues and fountains. We browsed around this area for awhile until we found a sandwich store for lunch. Below picture of Piazza dei Popolo.

The weather in Rome was incredible. I wore jeans and short sleeves most days; Elliot even wore shorts a couple times. The weather in London is just downright cold, which is probably why Britons are a culture known to complain about the weather. It is most always overcast and hasn't gotten too far above 50 degrees yet. So I was really enjoying the Italian sunshine. Later that afternoon we walked down to the Pantheon, which is the greatest surviving complete Roman structure. Previously a temple, then a church; it is now a shrine to Italy's immortals. The Pantheon was free to enter and a lot more impressive on the interior. We then walked about a block to the Piazza Navona. This square used to be an arena that held athletic competitions and games, which is why it is rectangular shaped. Today there is a prominent statue in the center and fountains on either side. The whole square is surrounded by Italian restaurants. There were tons of vendors in the square selling their artwork, which was interesting to look at. From here we walked to the Piazza Campo de Fiori, which literally means field of flowers. This square obtains this name because it used to actually be a meadow. Today the square holds a large fruit, vegetable and fish market. Normally I am all about the markets, but by this time it was about 3:00 and the market was pretty much over except for smelly fish scraps, so we got out of there pretty quick. Below pictures of the Pantheon and Piazza Navona.


Next we walked down to the Ancient City of Rome. The very first thing we ran into was a large impressive museum. Here the Colosseum came into view. Seeing it for the first time was very impressive and exciting. I have seen hundreds of pictures of the Colosseum, but it was completely different to be standing next to it. We walked all the way around the Colosseum taking pictures and admiring its pure size and history, the whole time marveling in the fact that we were actually there. We decided to try to buy tickets for the next day because I had read in my Rome travel book that lines can be horrendous at this sight. Since it was later in the day the line only took us about 15 minutes and we were able to buy next day tickets. Then we walked up a small little street where a guy suckered us into eating at his restaurant. Since we had been eating sandwiches or pizza by the slice to go the whole trip we decided some Italian pasta would be tasteful. Eating at a sit down restaurant in Italy can be expensive because they charge you just to sit down. Most people were having wine with their meals, which didn't really appeal to us, but even water cost too. Elliot and I both ordered pasta. It was very good, as was the bread we got with it. We headed on our long journey home with full bellies. We got a little lost and ended up walking the wrong way for a little bit. However, we ran into a great cathedral. We also found some gelato for dessert. It ended up taking us an hour and a half to get home from the restaurant by the Colosseum, but we were getting some excellent Rome culture and sight seeing in. Finally we ran into the train station from the night before. I stopped into a little shop to get some Cokes. The clerk asked me where I was from when I was checking out. I told him the States and he then told me he was from Bangladesh. What interesting people you meet traveling! Speaking of getting Cokes. Coke is the cola brand of Europe. Pepsi is hardly sold anywhere. I have yet to see a mountain dew here either. It is all Coke or Diet Coke, which is fine with me because I like Coke the best anyways. Sorry Grandma Debbie! Below pictures of us at the Colosseum.


After making our way home, Elliot and I were pretty worn out and sunburned from walking all over for the entire day. Elliot estimated we walked 6 miles. Wow. We both crashed at 10:00. Another good thing about traveling with Elliot is that we both aren't into the party or nightlife scene. I don't think we would have been able to get up early every day and see all the sights if we would have been out late partying every night.

On Friday we got a Metro pass, which is Rome's underground train transportation system. I wasn't overly impressed with this system as it only had two lines, but it was better than walking all over since we were going to further sights this day. The pass only cost 4 euros too. We started off at the Colosseum, which is a huge, ancient stadium where arched combat went on for 500 years. Criminals, slaves and gladiators fought each other or wild animals, often to death. Since we had gotten tickets the night before we just walked straight past the huge line of people. The inside of the Colosseum was interesting. There were a ton of posters with tidbits of ancient Roman history all over. We spent a good deal of time reading about the history. I learned that some 5,000 animals were slaughtered in a day for 100 days in a continuous gala in 72 AD. By the end of this gala many animals around the area were nearly extinct. We then walked all around the inside of the Colosseum on the top level and bottom level. The Colosseum felt a lot smaller from the inside and I was pretty surprised how much of it had deteriorated. After the Colosseum we visited the Roman Forum, which was the political and civic heart of the empire with the biggest and most important forums in the world. Today it is basically a mishmash of old pillars and jumbled stones which don't make much sense. Elliot and I didn't spend much time here. However we did enjoy the orange trees, cypresses, wild flowers that grew within the remains. More pictures of the Colosseum below.


After some pizza for lunch, we were of to the Vatican City! The Vatican City is a separate sovereign state within Rome, and home to the great basilica of St. Peter's and a series of museums with some of the world's richest and most varied collection of art and objects. St Peter's basilica was by far the most impressive thing we saw on the entire trip. It was absolutely massive with an overwhelming sense of scale and decorative glory. The basilica is located in St. Peter's square with 284 large white columns surrounding it. You can't get a better historic sight either, the basilica was actually built on the site where St. Peter was buried after his crucifixion. Not to mention this is home to the one and only Pope. We had to wait in a long line to get in and go through security first. The first thing we saw were the Swiss Guards. The official guards in charge of protecting the Pope are recruited from Switzerland's four predominantly Catholic schools. Each must be between 19 and 25, at least 5ft 8in. tall and remain unmarried during their tour of duty. Their distinctive red, yellow and blue uniforms that they still wear today were designed by Michelangelo. The interior of the basilica was quite astonishing. Elliot and I spent a good deal of time in the basilica and outside around St. Peter's Square. Pictures below of St. Peter's Square, St. Peter's Basilica, and the Pope's Guards.






Next we saw the Vatican Museums. There were huge gated walls all around the Vatican Museum. After this we got some great Gelato at a really popular gelateria. They gave you the biggest scoops; it was delicious! After our gelato break we headed to Castel Sant'Angelo. This used to be a fortress and castle, but today it is another museum. We didn't go inside the museum, but the area around it was quite nice to explore. The castle sat right on the river and featured two main bridges with statues lined across them. We actually ran into my roommate here, who was also visiting Rome. Small world. After this we headed home for a little rest before supper. Below pictures of the Catel Sant'Angelo and bridge.


That night we went out to a nice little restaurant in our area. The food was great! We had some really good bruschetta. Elliot order some kind of pasta and encouraged me to try something new. I got this dish that had sausage rolled up inside big noodles with cheese. A little surprising because I didn't realize the dish even contained meat, but it was good. We went to the Trevi Fountain after supper as we had heard it was nice to see this site at night too. The water all lit up, flowing down the statue was pretty cool. However, the fountain was more packed with people at night then in the daylight. I couldn't believe it. Below the Trevi Fountain at night.


Saturday was our last day in Rome. We had pretty much seen everything we wanted to already so we had just planned on hitting up some markets and getting some souvenirs. While we were walking around shopping we saw a scooter rental place. Elliot was intrigued to say the least. We checked into the prices and ended up renting a scooter for a few hours. When in Rome... It was only 35 euros for 3 hours, which is about 50 dollars. I didn't really feel comfortable driving one by myself around the crazy city of Rome, so we just got one and I hopped on the back. The guy gave us helmets and a quick lesson and we were off! It was a pretty crazy, exciting adventure. We started just cruising, but by the end of our time Elliot was driving like a Roman. It was a great way to see all the sights one last time. We went all over. It is amazing how quick we could get around on the little motorized thing! Actually Elliot did a pretty good job driving the entire time and I just sat on the back taking pictures and giving directions. We only had one moment when I freaked out because Elliot went under a tunnel going pretty fast. There were no other scooters in the tunnel, just really fast cars; I thought we were for sure bound for the freeway or something. Ha ha good times. After 3 hours on the scooter we were starving and grabbed our last meal of pizza. We also had some last gelato. By then it was time to get our suitcase and get to the airport. Below pictures of us on the scooter and a picture I got while riding around.


The flight from Rome to London was really nice. It took a little over 2 hours. British Airways treats their passengers just lovely. We got chicken salad sandwiches and drinks. Food and drink on airplanes is a luxury after flying budget airlines that give you nothing at all. Elliot ordered just a bloody mary mix and got a little tiny bottle of vodka to go with it for free. We really couldn't believe that! We got into London at about 10:00 and just had to take the tube journey home.

Overall I really enjoyed Rome. There was so much to see there. I had been warned that it was a pretty dangerous city with a lot of pickpockets and creepy men. I didn't have trouble with either. The men would look at you and didn't care who noticed, but they never said anything or made me feel in danger. However, it probably helped I was with Elliot the whole trip! Hopefully, the fountain legend holds true and I go back some day. The whole Spring Break trip was wonderful. It was a life changing experience that really made me realize how big the world is. I can't wait to return to all of the wonderful places I visited.

Spring Break: Florence

On Wednesday morning Elliot and I left Venice to go to Florence, Italy. It was about a 2 ½ hour train ride to Florence. The country side between Venice and Florence was jaw dropping. The landscape was so green, lush and hilly. There were pastel colored stucco homes with clay tiled roofs spread all over the country side as well. Florence was just as beautiful. I noticed a lot more English speaking tourists here; I am not for sure why.

The first thing we did when we arrived at the train station in Florence was to store our luggage and buy a book on what to do in Florence. We were not for sure if we would go straight to Rome from Venice or stop in Florence, so we hadn’t done much reading up on the city. Florence was full of history and art. We first visited 2 of the main Cathedral’s. First we saw the Santa Maria del Fiore. The Cathedral is one of the largest churches in the world including its main feature, the massive dome that sits atop the church. The church was quite impressive along with the dome. Across from the Cathedral was the Florence Baptistery of St. John. Elliot was interested in seeing this basilica after learning about the doors in Art class. The artistically important bronze doors, called the Gates of Paradise by Michelangelo, took about 25 years to create and depict stories from the Old Testament. These doors were quite the attraction and very intriguing. All of these ancient sights come with so much history and meaning that it is hard to grasp in one view. Below pictures of the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral and the bronze doors from the basilica.



While we were in Florence we did a lot of wondering around too. We just walked and walked as we bumped into famous sights. We went to the most famous square in Florence, Piazza della Signoria. This political square held multiple statues, including the famous copy of Micelangelo’s David. The statues were all naked (or starkers as they say in London). However, everyone was taking pictures and acting like they were amazing, so we did too. We were glad we bought a travel book on Florence so we could learn about the history as we saw each sight. For lunch we grabbed some sandwiches. It was very good, but more expensive than Venice. The bridge, Ponte Vecchio (meaning old bridge) going across the Arno River in Florence was my favorite. The bridge is the only surviving bridge from Florence’s medieval days and still lined with shops across the bridge. From the side it just looked like homes or buildings in a row along the bridge. They were all stucco, painted in colors of yellow, orange, and terracotta. It was wonderful. Below pictures of the Ponte Vecchio and the David statue.


We continued our walk across the Arno River and found the Pitti Palace. It was massive and quite a sight to see. The Pitti Palace is an ancient, mainly Renaissance palace. Today the Palace houses a vast collection of art and serves as a gallery. Elliot decided to take the map this day and lead us around Florence, since I am usually quite controlling about that. He took us on quite the trek around the Pitti Palace. The day we were in Florence it was quite warm. I had some excellent strawberry gelato here. Even though Elliot normally isn’t a dessert fan, he enjoyed the gelato in Italy! We ended up wondering around an area outside of town and I was starting to get worried because I didn’t see any other tourists around and we didn’t know which way to go. However after about an hour of walking, Elliot led us to a busy highway which we followed back into town. We came upon this absolutely wonderful terrace overlooking Florence with the best view of the countryside and the town. We found out this was Piazzale Michelangelo, renowned for its panoramic views over Florence and the Arno Valley. There were many other tourists here admiring the view. We got some great pictures shown below.



Then we walked back into town and over the old bridge I liked so much. The majority of the shops on the bridge were gold and silver jewelry stores. Over the bridge there were many designer stores, which Florence is known for. We found an awesome street market and browsed in there for a while. Silk and leather goods were extremely popular in Florence and there were many stalls selling these items. I bought a lovely pink, silk scarf for 5 euros and a small leather bracelet for 2 euros. We found the street market to be very reasonably priced, but you had to search for good quality sometimes. Elliot was thinking about purchasing and Italian football jersey. He bargained with at a lot of stalls, but never got one. I think he just likes to bargain! I was considering buying a small leather handbag, but we couldn’t get an offer lower than 15 euro, so I passed. The vendors in Italy were not as easy to bargain with as France, bust still fun. We ordered another pizza for supper and ate it in a nice park. One would think that Elliot and I would have gotten sick of pizza, but we never did. It was just that good! Then it was time to catch our 18:30 train to Rome. We got our luggage from storage and headed to the platform when we saw that our train was delayed a half hour. Our Venice friend, Francesca, warned us about the transportation in Italy being slow and late. The train ride to Rome was only about 2 hours. Elliot must have been tired because he slept the entire way. I enjoyed the sunset and some last views of the countryside on the trip. Below are a couple more pictures of Florence!


I really enjoyed Florence. I was glad we took a little day trip there. However, I was also glad we only spent 1 day there because I felt we covered everything there was to see in a day. I guess if you were really into Art and wanted to pay money and spend a lot of time in the Museums and Galleries, it may take longer. My friends, Carissa and Allison, took a cooking class in Florence, which they greatly enjoyed too.
The best thing about traveling with Elliot instead of girls is less drama. When girls go to pick out a restaurant or activity it is a process and takes forever. It always seems like every girl wants something different. Traveling with Elliot is easy because we pretty much like to do the same things and know each other well enough to make decisions without too much hassle. We have learned to compromise and let each other do what we like too. For instance, Elliot tags along while I shop a bit and I tag along with him to look at fancy cars and relax in parks.

Spring Break: Venice

Monday started with another very early morning. Elliot and I had to be at the train station in Paris by 5:00. We left our hotel at 4:30 in the morning to allow plenty of time to walk to the large train station where our train to the airport departed from. This time the train to the airport was on time so it wasn't too stressful. On the train I was reading my travel book on Venice. As we were getting off at the airport stop, a girl about our age approached us. She said she saw me reading the Venice book and that she was from Venice. We figured out we are on the same flight and she asked us if we minded if she followed us to the correct gate in the airport. She also told us that we could ask her any questions we had on Venice. Her English was very good. The checking of our luggage, security and finding the correct gate were all easy and stress free this time. The girl from Venice was named Francesca. She was in her first year at University, studying engineering (don't ask me why she needed our help finding the right gate). She was very helpful with questions about transportation, directions and etc. Francesca was quite comical too. She warned us that no one in Italy would speak English. I thought this was strange since she was so good at it and said it was her favorite subject in school. The flight from Paris to Venice took a little over an hour. Francesca offered to help us get on the correct public bus to the island, which was cheaper than the coach services. I didn't want her to have to wait for us to get our luggage and go through customs and told her so. However, she insisted that she didn't mind because the only thing waiting for her at home was studying for physics. She thought Paris was freezing too and told us that Venice would be a lot warmer. Unfortunately when we stepped outside it was chilly. Francesca said that the weather was not normal, as 5 days prior she was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. It was nicer than Paris though and NO rain! I asked her if the cold streak would last long or if the the next day would be warm. She told me she didn't know, this weather was not normal so maybe it would snow the next day. Elliot thought her comedy was hilarious, especially making fun of my questions! Francesca got us tickets from the desk in Italian. Although Italian is a lot like Spanish I didn't understand any of what she said. The bus ride to Venice was interesting. Francesca rode with us about halfway before she got off on her stop to head home. We thanked her greatly and she instructed us to just stay on the bus until the last stop. After Francesca's stop the bus started to get really full. There were so many locals squeezing on the bus. Everyone was standing shoulder to shoulder and more people kept getting on the bus. Elliot even told me he didn't think it was safe, but I wasn't getting off at this point. I bet there were more than 50 people on the small bus. Elliot and I were the only tourists on the bus too. I started to wonder about Francesca's directions. Eventually we made it to the last stop and everyone poured out. Here we began to see Venice, other tourists and the grand canal.

We walked across a huge foot bridge to the actual island of Venice. It was gorgeous. I instantly fell in love with this place. Right in front of us was the grand canal that runs through Venice. All along the canal were wonderful little buildings, shops, restaurants and more. There were lots of boats and gondolas cruising down the canal in every direction. Our first order of business was to find our hostel. It took us a few minutes to find the entrance, but it was really close to the area where we were dropped off and crossed to the main island. The entrance to our hostel was right on the grand canal. As typical in Italy, we already knew our room would be a few minutes walk from the entrance in another location near by. Again it was too early to check in , but at least we could leave our luggage and go explore. Below pictures in Venice of the Grand Canal and side canals.


We started off wondering along the grand canal. Everything in Venice is based around the canal, as it is the only way of transportation on the island. We actually saw an ambulance boat, police boat, and food and linen being delivered by boat. There were absolutely no cars after we crossed the huge foot bridge, only boats. I loved this aspect as did Elliot. The first thing we did was buy some pizza for lunch. There were pizzerias all over. Welcome to Italy! The slices of pizza were huge, delicious and cheap. We continued to walk along the grand canal. There were many side canals off the grand canal with small foot bridges to cross them. It seemed like there were a million opportunities for a great picture. Everything was so picturesque. I can't explain how original and beautiful this place is. Venice easily became my favorite place that I have ever been to in my life. There are only 3 main bridges that cross the grand canal, so if you want to cross the canal you need to walk to one of the bridges or go across by boat. Elliot and I had crossed one of the main bridges on our walk. A gondola ride across the grand canal only cost a half of a Euro. Elliot and I decided to try this out since we needed to get back across to go to our hostel and it was cheap. They fit about 10 people on the gondola and 2 gondoliers/oarsmen rowed us across. It only took about 2 minutes to cross the canal, but it was fun. Below pictures of gondolas along the canal and one in action!


After we got back across the canal we walked back to our hostel and checked in. The woman at the receptionist desk led us about a block to another building with about 5 rooms and bathrooms. This was our nicest room with a refrigerator and television. It was nice to freshen up after traveling for so long. Next we set out to explore the side of the island that our hostel was on. Again we got lost among all the alleys and canals. We would often come upon a stream of tourists and follow them in the direction toward a cathedral or plaza. There were tons of little plazas all over Venice. We decided to try some gelato, which is famous Italian ice cream. It is slightly different than American ice cream because it isn't kept frozen, just cooled. There are other differences that give it an amazing taste too. Gelato comes in all sorts of different flavors. My favorite flavors were fragola, which is strawberry, and caramel. Elliot enjoyed the chocolate, nut and mint flavors. It was so delicious. We walked around for quite a while eating gelato and exploring the island. We found the Santa Maria Gloriosa church. It was very grand and impressive. When we asked Francesca what the best thing to do in Venice, she told us to just get lost. We found out that it is impossible not to get lost on all the side canals and streets in Venice, but it is also very easy to find out which way to go. There are little yellow signs everywhere pointing the way toward the main plazas, canal, and attractions. Venice is very small too, so before you walk too far you will run into water, which is either the canal or the edge of the island. We got pizza again for supper as we explored all over. We called it an early night again this night as we were tired from getting up at 4:00 and there is not a whole lot of night life in Venice. Below pictures of Elliot and I on a side bridge in Venice.


Tuesday was our full day in Venice. We decided we were going to really discover the island this day. It was a wonderful day outside and the sun was shining. We started off the morning by crossing one of the main bridges over the canal. We got some very good fruit pastries for breakfast. Elliot also had a piece of pizza. Then we went to the train station and ordered our tickets for the following day to go to Florence. Next we bought an all day pass on the Vaporetto, which is Venice's water bus. It is the main form of transportation around Venice. It is very similar to a bus system with routes and stops, except these are boats on water. An all day pass cost 16 euros, which was kind of expensive, but definitely worth it. There were different boats that took different routes and stopped at various places along the grand canal. After a little studying, the vaporetto system was very easy to figure out. We got on the boat that made all the stops along the grand canal first. It was great. The boat ride was smooth and the stops were efficient and fast. We got to see all along the grand canal. We got off at the San Marco district. This district is the most popular area in Venice and overloaded with tourists. All of the biggest tourist attractions in Venice are within the San Marco district. We saw the San Marco Basilica, a great medieval building which was constructed in 832 to house the body of St. Mark. Everything on the basilica was over the top. Elliot and I were greatly impressed. Right beside the basilica was the Palazzo Ducale, which is a beautiful gothic building home to Venice's various offices of state for almost a thousand years. Another great sight in this area was the Civico Correr Museum. All of these famous sights were located in the San Marco plaza. In the middle of this plaza was the giant, detached belltower from the San Marco Basilica called the Campanile. There were lots of shops and places to explore all around this area too. We did find this part of Venice to be more expensive than the 15 minute vaporetto ride to our part of Venice. We headed back to our side to get some lunch. Then we rode the vaporetto to the final stop. This actually took us to the other side the island where we came from on the bus to the airport. We walked in this area for a while before heading back. Next we went to the big market in Venice. Although this didn't compare in size to the markets in London, it was still very interesting. There were an excellent selection of bright red tomatoes and strawberries. Elliot and I got a bundle of strawberries to share. The fish portion of this market was quite smelly so we didn't hang around too long. A lot of people asked me when I got home if Venice smelled, being on the canal and all. However, Elliot and I didn't think it smelled bad at all. I am sure much consideration goes into keeping the canal clean and fresh smelling. Below pictures of the San Marco Basilica and Palazzo Ducale. In the last picture is one of the walking bridges that crosses the grand canal. You can also see a gondola going under the bridge. On the right side there is a boat, which is a vaparetto, the water bus we took all around.



This day was full of a lot of exploring again. It was so fun to just walk around until we ran into something exciting. We visited the two other bridges that cross the grand canal. We also rode the vaporetto all around the island, taking everything in. We ate even more pizza and gelato. Venice had Kit-Kat gelato, which was another of Elliot and my favorites. We also did a little souvenir shopping. Murano glass is extremely popular in Venice. Elliot got a Murano glass clock and I got a little gondola figure made of glass. There were also a ton of glass beads and jewelry. Surprisingly, the small pieces and figures of glass were not very expensive at all. After supper we went back out and rode the vaparetto at night. It was fun to see the entire island lit up. The weather stayed wonderful all day and we both got a little sun burnt. Francesca said we had to try a Spritz, which is a typical Venetian drink. I can't even tell you all the things that were inside, but we found a local pub and Elliot tried one. I thought it was awful and I don't think Elliot was too fond of it either. However, we were glad we tried it and got to experience a little Venice nightlife. A lot of the locals just sat outside the pub with their dog while they had a drink beside the waters of the canal. Below picture of the amazing pizza!

Venice was mine and Elliot's favorite place. We were talking to a Brazilian couple in our hostel and they said they loved it too because it was like no other place in the world. It was so true. Venice is like one of those place you read about or see in movies and think you will never go to. If you have some spare time and some extra cash, I highly recommend Venice. It was one of those once in a lifetime experiences.

I apologize for being so far behind on my blogs. I went to Ireland this weekend and have just been so busy (I do have schoolwork too!) I am going to try to update all of them this week as well as one about Ireland. So check regularly! There is an interesting thing taking place in the UK and Europe right now, for those of you that haven't heard. Iceland's volcano that is erupting has caused all of the UK and much of the rest of Europe to ground all flights since Thursday evening because of volcanic ash in the atmosphere. It is quite the situation over here and people that are stranded are going absolutely nuts. My program director is currently stranded in the States, as he was there visiting Central College. Due to all the backlog he doesn't even know if he will make it home in the next week! I was supposed to go to Spain this coming weekend, but I doubt that will happen now. I just hope this all gets cleared up before my Mom and Aunt Karen come! I will keep you posted on all the events!