Spraaang Breeaaaak (Mar 12-20)

Spring break this year was easily my favorite trip while abroad. Nine friends and I decided to spend 10 days traveling around Italy! Our spring break started by flying to Milan, bussing to Florence, taking a train to Rome and Sorrento.

Our journey started out a little bumpy. So apparently, if you don’t check-in online 2 hours in advance, you have to pay 45 euros just to check in. Well you live and you learn, I guess.

First stop on our trip was Milan. Milan was really nice, but it was my least favorite city on our tour of Italy. First, we decided to go see the beautiful cathedral. Then we walked through this crazy expensive shopping center that had the stores like Prada and Gucci. We also saw a Ferrari store that was pretty cool. After the shopping center, someone mentioned some beautiful canals not to far away, so naturally we went to check them out. To our surprise, the “canals” were dried up and filled with trash. After seeing the lovely “canals,” we walked through a castle that looked pretty impenetrable. The best part of Milan was the time spent just hanging out and talking with friends in the apartment.

Our next stop was Florence. It was extremely picturesque. The cathedral in Florence was very unique, implementing green and red stones nicely and was my favorite cathedral so far. We climbed all the way to the top of the tower next to the cathedral and took some pictures with a great view of the city. We then walked through the interior of the cathedral followed by the famous bridge in Florence. The next day we walked to the vantage point, which had the best view of Florence, followed by some gardens.

Our first day in Rome we saw the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and Roman Forum. We had a pretty terrible tour guide for the Colosseum, but then had the best tour guide (GREG) of the entire trip for the Palatine Hill and Roman Forum. Seeing all the ruins made me think about all the rich history of the city. Coincidently, it just happened to be the ides of March while we were touring the Roman Forum. So that was really cool. There was also a man who came to the Forum dressed in ancient Roman attire to recite an excerpt from Julius Cesar. That evening we decided to cook in to save money, and it turned out to be one of my favorite nights of the trip. We made a pasta dinner with dessert bread! The company and conversation were just awesome! It really did feel like we were a family just sharing stories and laughing. We did go slightly overboard…(a wine glass and a glass door panel happened to break). The following day we took a tour of the Vatican museum, St. Peter’s Basilica, and the Sistine Chapel. We saw statues on statues on statues while in the Vatican City, and all of them were impressive. I really enjoyed the Sistine Chapel. The artwork was just so incredibly impressive! The Chapel is still an active place for worship (at least I think) so we had to be silent and could not take pictures while in the chapel. After our Vatican City tour, we went and visited the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain, which were also remarkable. Although Rome was super hectic, I really enjoyed seeing some of the key sites of the city.

The next day we took a train to Naples followed by a ferry out to Sorrento. Sorrento was just jaw dropping. The town easily had the best views compared to any of the other cities on our trip. The environment was just so peaceful. One of the reasons Sorrento was my favorite city on this trip was that we really got to relax and just do what ever we wanted to do with out having a schedule of “must see things”. On the first day we checked in to our apartments, which were in the perfect location. We then found this really cool English Inn with great food and friendly workers, who gave us our drinks on the house. For the rest of the day, our group went out to explore while I took a fantastic 4 hour nap. That night, we had another “family dinner” followed by a night out at a bar and teaching some orange trees a lesson on our way back. The following day we slept in and had breakfast in the apartment. After breakfast, we set out to explore Sorrento. We came across a soccer field and ended up playing some soccer and handball for 3 hours! After grabbing some coffee and walking down to the coastline, we found a black sand beach. It was a fantastic way to spend the sunset: skipping rocks and just chilling out. Our last day in Sorrento, which happened to be the warmest day, was spent hiking to this cove near our place. A few of us went swimming in extremely cold water. While swimming in the cove, we experienced three stages of cold. At first, it was just an initial shock of cold and was somewhat manageable. Second, our bodies stated too feel like they were on fire. Third, everything goes numb. After warming up, we spent a little more time hiking and taking in the view. That evening, we had our first meal out at a nice restaurant in Sorrento and reflected on our time together.

Overall, Italy 2016 was one of the best spring breaks ever. The beautiful cities, spectacular views, and ancient ruins were all just breathtaking. But honestly, none of that compared to the great times we had just hanging out and laughing together as a group. Great times with even better people

Amsterdam (Feb 22-28)

This past week, we split up into our German Class groups and shadowed German doctors at Universitätsklinikum Bonn, and it was awesome. I've only ever shadowed doctors who perform minimally invasive procedures, so watching surgeons cut up a person and try to repair them was very new/fascinating for me. The group of doctors I was shadowing were very serious at first, but as the day went on they opened up a bit and were more welcoming to my questions.  I think they thought I was already a medical student and were somewhat confused as to why I was asking some of my questions. But once that was sorted out, they were super chill and explained everything. Gunner joined me in my operating room for a while and we saw the surgeons perform a tracheotomy and look for some sort of metal plate near the spine and the pharynx. At least I think that’s what was going on (they really didn’t speak English very well). The operation was really cool! I saw the patient’s internal jugular vein as well as the very beginnings of the branch point for the internal and external carotid arteries. Four and half hours wasn’t enough time for the surgeons to finish their operation, so I had to leave with knowing if they ever fixed the patients problem (he was having fluid develop in some sort of pharyngeal pouch). Overall, I was super excited for this opportunity and so glad that this was a part of our program.

This past weekend Shawn, Elaine, Gunner, Reagan, Sarah and I all went to Amsterdam and it was a fantastic weekend. When we first got there we found out Shawn was charged twice for our hostel room, and that situation took a little while to get resolved.  Once resolved, we had an awesome brunch at neat looking café not to far from our place.

While walking around the city, we decided to rent some paddle-boats and explore around the canals of the city! For quite some time we could not figure out the steering mechanism and appropriately got smashed by another (much larger) boat. After wards, we went to the Heineken Brewery and went through their museum.  The tour was pretty cool. They showed us the percentage of the ingredients in their beer and the process behind how they make it, but the best part of the tour was the 3 beers we got to drink on the rooftop of the brewery with an amazing view of the city. After this we all went on a dinner cruise throughout the canals! With pizza and unlimited drinks, it would have been very hard to not have a great time!

The next day we split up since some of us wanted to ice skate, while others wanted to see the Van Gogh museum…I definitely went ice-skating. We went to this 400 meter ice track and skated next to some people who were going HAM. They were seriously flying past us. After this we made a 1.5 hour walk to meet back up with the others in our group, and all ate dinner together. After dinner we got on our train. After trying to figure out which cab we were supposed to be in, we settled in for the long ride and woke up to the train chilling in Cologne. It was just sitting in Cologne for 2 hours! After, we started moving again, the conductor decided to skip Bonn HBF in order to save time. So we got off in Beuel and took a cab home. I ended up getting home around 2 in the morning (we were supposed to arrive at 11:30). Despite the two instances (the hostel and the train) I had a blast in Amsterdam! Good times with good people.

Vienna (Feb 15-21)

This past week we had a program excursion to Vienna! On Tuesday at around 4:45 in the morning, Blake, Ryan, and I got a ride from my host parents to the Cologne airport for our flight to Vienna.  After boarding our plane and waiting for an hour on “repairs” we had to disembark our plane because it was really really broken. The good news though was that we got a food voucher, so alles gut!  We unfortunately missed our appointment for the city tour, but we got to check out Vienna for a little while before our next scheduled tour—the catacombs, which were honestly a little bit creepy/weird. I thought it was crazy that some of the bones were just chilling on the ground, looking out of place.  We had a group dinner that night at a cool restaurant.  I could not decide between the chicken and the beef, so I split my meal with Shawn and we got half chicken and half beef.  The food and desserts were on point.

Wednesday morning we went to the Spanish Horse Riding School to watch the horse riders practice. The building, arena, outfits, and horses were all sharp looking, but the practice was not that exciting.  I was trying so hard to sneak a video of the horses doing the “tip toeing in my Jordans” vine, but the dang security dude was watching me like a hawk…so that was upsetting.  After that we had our medical history tour of Vienna and even got to try some medieval drugs with Dr. Wasser in a plague mask. Then we had some free time, which a group of us used to go ice-skating, and it was incredible! The ice-skating area had a main rink with a bunch of trails that lead to smaller rinks.  It was easily the best ice-skating place I have ever been to.

On Thursday, we went to the Josephinum and looked at the anatomical wax models that medical students used in the olden days. The amount of detail on the models was pretty awesome. That night everyone dressed up real spiffy like and went to a string concert in a really pretty church. They played three songs by Mozart and three songs by Beethoven. After this we went to a fancy restaurant, ordered some tasty wine and salmon, and walked along the river a bit.

Friday was our last day in Vienna and we visited the Narrenturm, or Fool's Tower. This was the first psychiatric hospital, and there were some pretty nasty things in there.  We learned a lot about various disturbing disorders. After that we split off for lunch and then went to the museum of natural history, which was awesome. They had a ton of cool rocks, dinosaurs, etc… All in all, Vienna was a fantastic trip. My favorite excursion by far.

Kegle (Feb 9-14)

This week was full of doing normal school activities.  I had a quiz in biochemistry on Thursday, so the majority of the week was spent studying.  On Tuesday we had our pre-departure meeting for Vienna.  The plan laid out for us by the AIB staff sounded pretty cool. The schedule had a good balance of free time and planned academic excursions.  On Friday, a small group of us went out for some kegle (German bowling).  It was not what I expected at all! There was a super narrow lane that opened into a normal sized lane, making it a little bit more challenging than normal bowling.  It was still very fun to play and we had a great time.  After kegle, we went out for some drinks at The Quiet Man.

Munich (Feb 5-8)

A large group of us decided to go to Munich for the Karneval weekend…I know, doesn’t make much sense…but never the less I had a great time.  After a full day of karneval festivities on Thursday, our group hopped on the night train to Munich.  The ride there was horrible. For the majority of the train ride, the temperature kept fluctuating between the extremes of hot and cold. Eventually we arrived in Munich super early in the morning (around 6:30 ish) and got straight into walking around the city.  Later that evening, a couple of us went to the English Gardens were we borrowed some kid’s soccer ball and watched some river/canal surfing.  That night for dinner, we went to the famous Hofbrauhaus and enjoyed some Bavarian beer.

The second day in the region of Bavaria consisted of a day trip to the beautiful town of Fussen. There we toured King Ludwig’s castle, ate some schnitzel, and adventured through the woods around a spectacular lake! The scenery around King Ludwig’s castle was amazing: beautiful forest, lake, and mountains. 

The third day in Bavaria was spent at the concentration camp of Dachau.  There we received an audio guide device and toured the camp.  It was pretty mind-blowing to listen to the stories of all the terrible acts committed by other fellow humans.  After learning about Dachau, we headed back to Munich, walked around the city, ate some crepes, had a great dinner, and attempted to stay up and watch the super bowl (we opted for sleep at around halftime). 

On Monday we left for Bonn pretty early and I spent the rest of the day chilling at home with my host family.  Overall, it was a fun trip and I had a great time.

An Adventurous Easter Weekend

For Easter Weekend, Jordan and I took a mini adventure to the French city of Lyon. Adventure it surely was. We came across so many obstacles over the course of four days, but it definitely left us with some stories to tell.

Friday: Our trip started on Friday afternoon as we made our way to the Dusseldorf airport. All was well until we got to our gate and had to wait an hour for our delayed flight. A minor set-back, but foreshadowing for what of the rest of the weekend had in store for us. Once we finally got to Lyon we ventured out to find somewhere to eat a nice dinner. If you didn't know, restaurants have weird hours in France, and finding somewhere to eat ended up being much more difficult than we anticipated. We ended up eating at a restaurant near our hotel that served a "delightful" pigeon looking chicken and mooing steak. Good times.

Saturday: In light of our hard first night of our trip we decided to take a day trip to Annecy, France. Annecy is a beautiful little city near the border of Switzerland and France that has gorgeous mountains and a clear Lake that is mesmerizing. Our day-trip to Annecy was complete with crepes, macaroons, delicious lunch and dinner, paddle-boarding on the Lake, a carousel ride, and yummy gelato. Our wonderful day came to a tragic end though when we returned to the train station to board our 2 hour train back to Lyon....A big mistake on our part, there was no return train. The ticket counter lied and we quickly realized that our 7:53 train was not for 7:53pm, but rather 7:53am. An intense panic set upon both of us as we frantically considered our options. One: we could pay for a hotel in Annecy (if any were open, this was Easter weekend of course), Two: we could pay for a two hour taxi ride back to Lyon, Three: we sleep in the park and cry in each others arms the entire time. All options weren't appealing. We called hotel after hotel, all having full bookings. Our hearts were quickly sinking into no return. We eventually decided to walk to a nearby Best Western in hopes that they would take pity on us. Thankful, the receptionist was able to find another hotel for us to stay in, expensive, but at least we would be safe. We accepted defeat and stayed there for the night, waking up early the next day to catch that dang train back to Lyon.

Sunday:
We got back pretty late in the morning to Lyon and took some much needed naps. We took it easy as it was Easter and most things were closed. We eventually ventured out into the real world for dinner (more raw meat surprise, surprise) and to explore the city a little bit. Sunday was a hard day for us as it was the first holiday we'd both ever spent away from our families.

Monday:
Monday started as a pretty fun day in Lyon. We hiked up to the Cathedral on the mountain and got to go see the Roman Theatre remains nearby. It was a really pretty view and a good day in the city. We headed to the airport a little early to grab dinner before going home. This was a mistake. At the airport, as we sat to eat dinner, Jordan went 20m away to go buy a snack and what happened next was terrifying. I received a text from her saying that they wouldn't let her come back, I looked up immediately and saw about 20 armed police officers surrounding the area. They quickly forced us to evacuate the area due to a possible bomb that had been left in the 20 feet of separation between Jordan and I. She was forced to one end of the airport, and I the other with all of our bags. In light of what had happened in Europe recently, we were so scared it was about to happen to us. Thankfully, it was just a scare and nothing happened, and we made it safely home, but it definitely makes you think.

Things in the world today are not safe, wherever you are, but I am very anxious to get back to my friends in family back home.

A Weekend in Lyon, France

By Far the Most Interesting Trip

      This past weekend, Kendal and I went to Lyon, France to celebrate Easter... And let me tell you... It was an interesting trip. It seemed like everything that could go wrong, did, but we still had a ton of fun! I'll start with what went wrong and then move on to the great things. So to start out the trip, our flight was late and we were on this tiny plane that scared the fire out of me. It was so small that the overhead compartments wouldn't fit the normal carryon sized luggage and we had to load it underneath the plane.. It was very odd. Once we got to Lyon, we found our hotel and walked around for a while looking for food. Well, it was Good Friday and most places were not open, so we decided to go to the hotel restaurant. This was a very poor choice on our behalf. Kendal was served raw steak and I was served pigeon. NOTE TO SELF: DO NOT ORDER MEDIUM BEEF IN FRANCE. Their medium is not our medium. It is RARE. We learned this again later when we ordered medium well hamburgers and received raw hamburgers. We were burned twice... The next day, we took a trip to Annecy and it was so beautiful... But we read our tickets wrong and ended up getting stuck there for the night and had to pay a pretty penny for a second hotel room. Once we got back to Lyon, we needed to study for our quiz on the Tuesday after we get back, so we stayed in bed most of the day on Sunday eating pizza and studying. Once we went out for dinner, we got the raw hamburgers and had to walk home through the sketchy part of the town in the dark. Our final day in Lyon was pretty great until we got to the airport. We were having dinner and I left Kendal to walk 25 feet to buy us some chips. In the 5 minutes it took me to buy the chips, we got separated by a police barricade because there was a suspicious bag left alone.. Needless to say, it was a crazy trip, but it was still so beautiful. Annecy was probably the most beautiful place I have been this whole trip. It is on the boarder of Switzerland and France so you can see the Alps. We got to paddle boat around this awesome freshwater lake by the mountains that was so clear and absolutely beautiful. In Lyon, we just walked around the city and saw everything we could. On the last day we went up to the Basilica of Notre Dame and got the most perfect view of the city. We saw the roman amphitheater and the cathedral and just took in the city as a whole. Over all, I am glad we chose to go to Lyon and that we were able to have a girls weekend. It was nice to relax and spend time with Kendal. I think it was a pretty good weekend. Now we have two weeks of studying... I think I may die trying to learn five chapters of phys... I guess we will see how that test goes.. Until next time, blog. 

Spring Break in Italy

Spring Break 2016 was definitely one for the books! After being in Europe for 3 months, I was finally reunited with my parents for just a week, but it was a week well spent! Saturday morning bright and early, I traveled to Frankfurt to meet up with my parents at the airport. I was also with Shelby and her family. We all spent the week together traveling Italy. When I saw my mom and dad Saturday morning, I was so excited. I don't think I have ever needed to see my parents faces this much in my life. I was so excited.

We had to catch our plane to Venice around 10 am that morning. After making it through yet another pat down in airport security, we boarded the plane and took off. When we arrived in Venice, we caught our boat taxi that would take us directly to our hotels. The water in Venice was absolutely breathtaking. Yes, we learned later on that there is a smell that lingers throughout the canals from the sewage from the houses, but it was definitely bearable. Sunday we took a tour around Venice and learned about some of its history and the stories behind statues, buildings, and towers. That afternoon, we did a little shopping for souvenirs and just little things. My mom surprised me with the purchase of my graduation present! The only catch is that I can't have it until December after graduation, but that is completely okay! We ate lunch at the Florian Cafe, the oldest cafe in Venice, in the market area. It was absolutely delicious and definitely worth the price that we paid.

Monday morning we woke up to catch our train to Florence. Riding first class for the first time in my life was definitely amazing, even though it was only on a train. When we arrived in Florence, we met up with our drivers that would take us to our hotel. We stayed at the Brunelleschi hotel right in the city center. That day was spent just wandering and looking around. We went to check out the market, and also do some more shopping. We took our walking tour of the city the next day, and after that I got to meet up with my roommate that is studying abroad in Florence. We had lunch, and she also showed me where you can get the best gelato in Florence. Gelato is definitely one of my new loves after living in Italy for a week.

Wednesday morning we woke up early to catch our next train that would take us to Rome. Rome was definitely so beautiful. It was however, very crowded. I'm not one to enjoy huge crowds, and it seems like anywhere you went in Rome, that's where you were going to end up. In Rome we visited the Trevi Fountain, the Vatican, Spanish steps, and the Colosseum. The places in Rome were absolutely breathtaking. It definitely had my favorite buildings and places to see out of all three cities.

Spring Break was the absolute best that it has ever been this year. I got to spend it with a new friend, Shelby and her family, but also with my own parents. I probably won't get the chance to go back, so I'm glad that my parents allowed me to go and experience it while I'm young. I don't know how I'll top it next year.

Time in Zurich, Switzerland

I was expecting mountains and lake and snow from Switzerland, and I was sorely disappointed when I arrived. The day we arrived in Zurich was extremely foggy so I couldn't see beyond the very bottom of the hills in town. I couldn't see across the famous lake and when I went to the top of the mountain I couldn't even see down it but about 20 feet and there was almost no snow on the ground. On top of this I was shocked by the ridiculously high prices. Zurich is the most expensive city I have ever been in. Enough of the bad though. There was plenty of good.

There were two nice days and two bad days with weather. The first one we went up to a mountain which was still fun despite the fog. We walked around town and enjoyed each other's company. The next day we went to Rhinefalls and toured lake Zurich on a boat. Afterward we relaxed a little on the lake on a paddle boat. The next day was a bad weather day that was spent doing some studying for 211 and walking around town eating 20 Franks worth of chocolate. Our last day we went out to a mountain park where we road a giant slide down the mountain on these neat rolly-devices! Then we took a lift to the top of the mountain and hiked our way down, having some snowball fights on the way down. 

Two things to not miss in Zurich: the cheese fondue and the public water. The cheese fondue is amazing and you get to have some fun sticking pieces of your food into the cheese and cooking your meat yourself. The city also has tons of water fountains that you can drink from which is very nice considering Europe seems to have a goal of dehydrating you. 

Easter in Rome

So it is the last day of March, which is unbelievable. This past weekend I went to Rome for Easter with Reagan, Gunnar, and Jake. It was a surprisingly relaxed weekend, considering all Rome has to offer. We saw the important sites, the Colosseum, the Palatino, and the Vatican, but we also had some really nice down time to recover from all the traveling over spring break. We took a secret tour, and the things we saw will remain secret, but it ended in a restaurant run by an old Italian woman where you sit down and you are served 3 or 4 courses of whatever she cooked that day. In total I think we ate gelato 6 times over the course of a few days. Easter Sunday was much different than my usual Easter. We woke up late, ate lunch, and went to a beautiful park for the entire afternoon. We switched back and forth between reading and playing frisbee. It was super peaceful. We went to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner that night, which was actually really nice because it is a similar restaurant to places we go in Texas and it felt more like home.

I woke up this morning and my host mom told me that there is a terror threat on the Köln/Bonn Flughafen, which is nerve racking because that is extremely close to home, only 20-30 minutes away. The semester is moving quickly though, we will be home soon and I am praying that nothing happens. In the meantime we will all just be cautious. I have two tests next week so I need to work hard and that will keep my mind busy.

Easter

This past weekend, Lauren, Shawn, and I had a chill time in Nottingham, UK (home of Robin Hood). We flew into East Midlands Airport on Friday, which is the smallest one I've ever been in, and then took a bus into the city. For some reason the landscape reminded me of east Texas. Once we were there we ate the obligatory fish and chips and checked into our Airbnb with Cara's mum, which was a little weird because I've never stayed at an Airbnb that a person was actively living in. The neighborhood was also a bit sketchy but it had a grocery store within walking distance so I was happy. There was also a "Dixy Chicken," which I thought was kind of funny. That evening we walked around town and through Nottingham Castle, which had some gardens and a lot of Robin Hood statues that we shamelessly mimicked. We also found a playground because we always seem to find a playground (trampoline in Cochem, zipline in Amsterdam, swings in Zurich, etc). Later we went and saw a movie and then explored Nottingham's night life for a bit. Saturday we decided to take a train to the Peak District National Park, and it was a bit of a struggle actually finding the park, even though it's huge. We finally managed to walk to a trail that we could hike along, and we strolled along eating the picnic that we packed. At one point we hopped the fence to a big green field and another fence into the woods where we explored and sat eating grapes and potato chips, feeling very one with nature. We got back down to the trail and found a place where you could rent bikes, so we rode along the trail and through a tunnel and across a bridge and found a side trail that led down to a river and a waterfall. It was super scenic until we got back up to the bikes, and then the monsoon started. It had been drizzling all day but the skies suddenly unleashed a torrent of rain and wind so we rode as fast as we could back where we came from. By the time we got there we looked like we had just been swimming in mud. And then the bus that was supposed to take us back to the train never showed up, so we stood for 50 minutes at a bus stop, completely soaked and freezing. Needless to say, on the train we were feeling pretty run down. But then all of a sudden our car was taken over by a pack of very intoxicated middle aged British folk. They were singing some kind of drinking song, and some of them started talking to us. This lady Helen moved to sit by me, and we had all kinds of interesting conversations with her, her husband, and their friends (including Donald Trump. Every time I talk with a European for more than five minutes, it always comes back to Trump). They even taught us their song, which went a bit like this: HAGGIS, HAGGIS, HAGGIS. THAT'S THE WAY HE LIKES IT, LIKES IT, LIKES IT. OHHH WOHHHHHHOH OOHHH WOHHHHOHH. It lifted our spirits a lot and we cooked ourselves dinner and had a good night. Sunday morning we made an Easter breakfast of pancakes, eggs, toast, and fruit, then went to Wollaton Hall, which is apparently where they filmed a lot of The Dark Knight Rises. It was really pretty with a lake and gardens and a huge tree stump that we climbed. After that we went back to town, had some British pies, and then went to mass at a local old fancy church, which was a really interesting experience. Then we made dinner and relaxed for our last night. It was a good trip to end on before a couple weeks of staying in Bonn, and it was definitely the most interesting Easter I've ever had.

March 6-12

So, I'm a tad bit behind on all of my blog posts {3 to be exact}. The week of March 6-12 was the last week before spring break started. It was filled with lots of studying, and catching up on things that were due before everyone left for the break. Everyone was talking about the places that they were going to visit, including Italy, Spain, Ireland, and other parts of the UK.

This was also the week that we had our German finals. Everyone was somewhat stressing over it because of the fact that we still struggle with communicating in Germany from day to day. We continued to ask multiple questions about the test, and what would be on it. When the test day came you walked into the AIB where people were continuously quizzing each other on the different terms, spellings, and pronunciations. When test time came, we entered the classroom and sat to listen to the instructions. The teacher continuously told us not to stress on spelling, because as long as she knew what we were talking about it was going to be counted correct. I'm definitely not a professional at the german language, but I feel like the test went very well.

We also had our midterm meetings with Enmodes this week. Everyone wanted to look good for Ralph and his colleague. Presentations were being put together in hastily manners. Doubts about each device were running wild through everyone's minds, but we were {pretty much} ready for the meeting. During the meeting everyone sat in silence while the other groups made their presentations. This was really the first time that everyone got to see everyone else's projects and ideas toward the device. Some students, like myself, sat in the corner somewhat confused while their group presented their project. I think I'm still somewhat "lost" on the whole biomaterials aspect of it all.

Everyone said their goodbyes on our last day together for the next week. Friday was a very short day for everyone, but lots of getting ahead and catching up were also done. The next week would be so much fun for each and every person in our group as they traveled to do their own thing. Everyone was definitely ready to hear all the stories when they returned.

20 francs for a pot of melted cheese?!?!

Easter in Zurich

The week after Spring Break seemed to fly by. There were only four work days because that coming Sunday was Easter.

Easter break was spent in one of the most beautiful places I’ve visited. A group of us spent the 4 days in Zurich, Switzerland exploring the city, hiking the Alps, and eating lots of chocolate and cheese.

Per usual, the trip started off a little rough for me. Our flight to Zurich was early in the morning, so in order to have enough time to get to the airport and go through security, I needed to get on a bus at 4 am. I set multiple alarms for around 3:30, but being the deep sleeper I am, I slept through all of them… Luckily my group contacted my roommate Jordan who woke me up at 4:48. The next bus came at 5 am, so the jolt of adrenaline allowed me to get ready in under 10 minutes. I took the bus to hauptbanhof only to see that there wasn’t another bus to the airport for another hour…. Then I ran to a cab, and told the driver “Flughafen, bitte!” Somehow, I made it to the airport, got through security, and even had enough time to grab a quick breakfast!

The weather wasn’t the greatest for our first day there. It was pretty cold and rainy, but that didn’t stop us. We walked around the city, took some pictures, and then decided to go up to the peak of Zurich, Uetilberg. The hike was fun, although we couldn’t see much of the view at the top because we were blanketed by fog.

The next day, we had fantastic weather! We decided to start our day at the Rhine Falls. I really enjoyed the Rhine Falls; it was so beautiful and peaceful watch and hear the water flow. There were even rainbows spanning the water. Rahil and I snuck past an entry turnstile and walked all the way down to the bottom of the falls. We were so close to the water; it was great. Later that day we took a boat tour of Lake Zurich. The view of the Alps behind the water was something I surely won’t forget. The day was clear and sunny…perfect weather to take in the view. After the boat tour, some of us rented a paddle boat and pedaled around the lake while jamming to all sorts of songs. Something crazy also happened that day. While walking to the lake, I saw a girl with a DZ on her leggings. I went up to go tell her hi and that I was a DZ too, and then I realized it was one of my sisters from A&M! I knew she was studying abroad in France this semester, but I had no idea she would be in Zurich that same weekend…small world. That evening, we tried Swiss famous cheese fondue, and it was delicious. 

Sunday was a lazy day for many of us. The weather was overcast and a little grey, and most things were closed because it was Easter. I started the day studying a little for my 211 quiz but then had an itch to go out and about. Blake and I took this day as an opportunity to walk through the old and new town. We did a little more exploring and then bough 40 francs worth of Swiss chocolate…and then proceeded to eat all of it. And that’s about all I did Sunday.

Luckily, we had great weather again for our last day in Switzerland. We decided to travel to some mountains about an hour outside of Zurich because Koi had heard of a place to ride luges. Riding the luge down the mountain was definitely one of the most fun things I’ve done in Europe so far. We all rode the luge twice, and then we decided to take the lift up to the top of the mountain and hike down…best idea. The view from the top of the mountain was exactly what I imagined the Swiss Alps to be and more. It was so pristine. There aren’t many words to describe the beauty of it, so I’ll just leave it at that. Then we went back to Zurich and had our last meal. Switzerland is notoriously expensive, so we had been trying to find the best deals on food. Our hotel offered a 10 franc burger special and an 11 franc breakfast, both of which we ate many times. But on our last day, we splurged on food. I got a 38 franc meal with lamb chops, ratatouille, and potato gratin. It was probably one of the best meals I’ve had since coming to Germany.

After dinner it was time to go back to Bonn and then back to school the next day. This coming weekend is the international Big Event. I’m looking forward to staying in Bonn this weekend. I know my wallet is too.

Until next time…

Sprang Break Part 2

Day 4 (11:00 PM):
Our first hour in Rome was an interesting one. We rolled in pretty late, but our hostel was right by the train station, so we figured it would be easy to find. It was not. We were pretty sure we were going to be sleeping in the basement of a Chinese restaurant, but then one of the waitresses shows us a secret buzzer to a graffitied door we had totally passed over, and we go up the sketchy stairs to a guy in a single room who only takes cash upfront. The room itself wasn't that bad, but the whole area had a sort of mafia-like vibe to it, so we decided to walk to the other group's Airbnb about ten minutes down the street. As we walk we hear this eerie shouting getting louder and louder, until we see a man dressed in a trench coat, sunglasses, and hat carrying a briefcase and umbrella periodically screaming "AHHH. AHHHH. AHHHH." He gets to our side of the street right as we're passing and the AHH's suddenly intensify. I was 100% ready to run if he made a move, but he just screamed angrily at us and kept on his way. It was a very odd and slightly terrifying experience.

Day 5:
We got up and walked straight to the Colosseum, where we found a guided tour that included the Roman Forum. The Colosseum was super cool, and our guide was ok, but I didn't really learn anything I couldn't learn from watching Gladiator. Greg, our guide for the Roman Forum, was a lot more informed and entertaining. We saw many, many crumbly stone pillars. Also the place where Julius Caesar's ashes are buried. It just so happened to be the Ides of March when we were there, which was neat. We also saw many, many crumbly statues missing various limbs, stone archways, stone wall bits, stone piles of stone. It was actually really cool and it was also a gorgeous day. After we left the Roman forum we got pizza and saw the Pantheon, which was really big and pretty inside, then got gelato and saw the fountain of the four rivers. Then we walked to a castle by a river, hung out by the water for a bit, then climbed the Spanish steps and went home. We made ourselves dinner to save money and it was delicious.

Day 6:
We started the day with a tour of Vatican City. Our guide was super nice and super Italian. We walked through the museum and saw more statues than I have ever seen in one place in my life, then got to see the Sistine Chapel, where the Pope gets elected and home of the famous ceiling. It wasn't really what I was expecting, but it was impressive nonetheless. Then we climbed 512 steps to the top of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica and got a great view of Rome. We also went inside the actual church, which is huge and really crowded, and said a prayer in the prayer area. We also saw the Pieta by Michelangelo. After leaving Vatican City we grabbed lunch and relaxed for a bit. Then we went to Trevi Fountain after it got dark, which was really pretty. We made our own dinner again, and it was also delicious.

Day 7:
We took an early train from Rome to Naples, then took a ferry from Naples to Sorrento. The boat ride was cool because we could see Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii in the distance. After we settled in we walked around Sorrento, which was smaller than the previous cities and is known for its lemons, wood working, and hand painted ceramics. It was St. Patrick's Day, so we went to the English Pub two doors down from where we were staying and had a Guinness with fish and chips. It was a very relaxed day and we ate a lot of gelato.

Day 8:
This was also a very relaxed day. We made ourselves breakfast and then went walking to find a beach and stumbled across a soccer field where we frolicked with some random lady's dog and did various sporting activities. We found a place to walk down caves in the cliffs to a small black sand beach where we hung out for a while, then we went to the grocery store and made ourselves a nice meal.

Day 9:
I actually got to wear shorts on this day!! The weather was so nice. After some morning gelato and our typical breakfast, we hiked up the coast to this secluded cove thing that had a little swimming area, some Roman ruins, and big rocks over the water that you could walk on. It was sunny and breezy and perfect. I wish I had brought my swimsuit. We stayed there for a couple hours, then got cleaned up to go out for dinner on our last night. We went to a place our Airbnb guy recommended, and they gave us a free glass of wine and an appetizer. And then I got more gelato. It was a good way to end the trip.

Day 10:
We got up, took a train to Naples, then flew back to Cologne. It was an amazing week with amazing people and I will miss Italy and gelato for a long time.

Sprang Break Part 1

Spring Break 2k16 was probably the most exciting spring break I've ever had. A group of us took a tour through Italy starting with Milan, then Florence, Rome, and ending in Sorrento. It was all around an A+ trip, 10/10 would do again.

Day 1:

We arrived at the Milan airport and took a bus to the city center, where we had to navigate the train system at like 6 in the evening. It worked out all right, but we discovered how pushy Italians can be and that they will take a tip for themselves out of your change for your subway ticket and then run away. We got to our hostel and then met up with the other group at a pizza restaurant and had a nice first Italian meal (and I learned the Italian word for anchovies so I would never order them again). Then we had our first taste (of many) of gelato. Over the course of the trip I probably ate over a gallon of gelato. My favorite aspect of Italy by far.

Day 2:

We woke up pretty early (for me anyway) and went to Milan cathedral, where we got a ticket to walk up to the top of it. The roof of the cathedral had a great view and the weather was gorgeous and it was the perfect place to take a nap. After that we walked through the ritzy mall part of Milan, had more gelato, looked in the Ferrari store, and then went to see the "canal" which was actually just a trickle of brown water with trash floating in it instead of ducks. But there were some nice restaurants in the area so we had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, more gelato, and then went back and relaxed and talked for the night.

Day 3:

We had to be up pretty early to catch our bus to Florence, which was about 5 hours long. We were starving by the time we got there, and it was Sunday so most things were closed, but we managed to find a really good restaurant for lunch. We got to our hotel, which was right across the street from some kind of street market that had lots of music and chanting and made me feel like I was in a Fast and Furious movie or something. But the guys running the hotel were super nice and helpful. Then we walked around the city and looked at the huge church they have, got more gelato, walked to some actual canals, ate dinner on the canal, and had a relaxing evening.

Day 4:

The big group split up into two smaller ones for the day, and we started out by having a really good "American" breakfast, then walking up like 500 steps to the top of the tower of the cathedral. There was an amazing panoramic view of the whole city with its red rooftops and mountains in the background. After we climbed back down we went inside the church, got gelato, and headed over to this vantage point where you can see the whole city. We got some cool pics and met two girls from Israel who gave us advice on things to do. Then we trekked back down, stopped at a little grassy park area, saw a castle thingy, had more gelato and dinner, then went to catch our train to Rome.

To be continued...

Zurich

The weekend before spring break was our trip to Zurich, Switzerland. The first two things I noticed upon arrival in Switzerland were 1) it's hella expensive and 2) they have great drinking water. Seriously, a number ten at Burger King was like 17 Swiss Francs. Which is like $17.50 dollars. For a hamburger and fries. From Burger King! I still can't wrap my mind around it. I do like how they do breakfast there, though. They basically just give you a basket of bread with some jam and honey. It'll cost you your firstborn child, but it's worth it. Maybe the Swiss felt bad about everything in their country sending you spiraling into debt, because they provide clean, fresh water all around the city for free. Granted, it's coming out of decorative fountains and sometimes you have to do crazy acrobatic moves to drink it, but free is free. (I only ever saw tourists drinking it, though, so it's possible our tour guide was playing us.) After we arrived, we took a free walking tour of the city with Dario, and even though it was raining the whole time it was a very good tour. Zurich old town is pretty like every other European city I've been to so far, and they have a river so it was very scenic. That night we had some good pasta and spaghetti ice cream, which is just ice cream shaped like spaghetti with strawberry sauce instead of tomato. Later we tried out a pub crawl, which was pretty fun and I got to talk to people from London and a lot of other places. The next day was a lot nicer so we wandered around and found a playground and enjoyed being outside, then took a 45 minute train to the Rhine Falls, which is the largest waterfall in Europe. There is a castle perched on top of the waterfall and the whole thing was very beautiful and we took our time exploring. Switzerland also (kind of like Texas) couldn't make up its mind on what the weather was like, so on the train ride over it would alternate snowing and sunny at each stop. We had a little trouble getting back to Zurich after the falls and were temporarily stranded in some random Swiss town for a while, but we made it back in time for our flight and all was well.

Spring Break Part 4-Sorrento

Sorrento! Freaking gorgeous from the first minute to the last. There was not a single part of Sorrento I didn't like. Ironically, most of Sorrento was full of older people as far as tourists. First hour we were there we were just stuck in admiration at the cliffs while a short fat indian man came up to our group saying "Please thank you! thank you very much! Give me money! Please!" with an hat upside down extended towards us. we shooed him off and ten minutes later he came back with the same phrase except he stayed around for a lot longer. Then I started advising the group to take off their pants whenever he approaches and he fled.

Once we got into the our hotel we decided to walk around and we got a special deal at a restaurant, where all of our drinks were paid for. literally 40-50 euros off of our tab. It was incredible! That's how I knew this place was going to be amazing. That day we tried to make mac and cheese out of mozzarella. Turns out it doesnt work. Not even a bit. But afterwards since it was St Paddy's we decided to start the night with a couple boxes of box wine. Then we went out to the bars, and there we met some people from Ohio and a girl named Amber. Amber was gorgeous from what I can remember, my kinda height and beautiful red hair. Unfortunately, that's all I remember about Amber. I met a man named Vincenzio, a godsend. Then I woke up in bed with two other friends. Rude awakening I would say.

The next day we decided to walk around and explore what there is to do around Sorrento. Turns out there is not a whole lot to do except relax, eat, and drink. On our travels though we found a soccer field that we decided to go check out. No one was using it and we had a ball so we went ahead and played some soccer, and world cup, and ultimate. While we were there playing, an older lady came walking up with a dog. We approached her and she immediately began speaking in italian and we don't know italian. Eventually, she motioned to let her dog loose so we played with her dog for about an hour, kicking around the ball. After the soccer field we bought what we were going to make for dinner, and recovered from the first bit of exercise we had that trip. That night we went out and met English gents that were out for their friend's bachelor party. Then I met Arianna, she was on a school English trip, but she was from Italy. She was tall and dark haired, that's really all I remember, unfortunately. Then I woke up in a bed with two other friends.

The last day we were there we decided to check out the Bagni Della Regina Giovanna. It is a Beautiful cove that has roman ruins outlooking into the Mediterranean sea. The water was absolutely spectacular, just the most beautiful shades of teal. So, we decided to get into the water. well the water is 12 degrees celsius. Literally, the coldest water I have ever been in. It felt like daggers into your skin while it almost felt like your body was on fire. Just an interesting feeling that tantalized the senses. All the while the locals that were at the cove were just laughing at us. I'm sure they were calling us idiots, but it was definitely worth the experience.

That night we decided to stay in and watch a movie which was well deserved since we had been partying too much recently. Then we went home at 6 am

Spring Part 3- Rome

Rome, Rome, Rome. I definitely had some qualms about Rome when we first arrived. At the train station we found out where our hotel was. It was right next to the train station, and it was about 50 euros a night. That should've been the first sign that this place was going to be kinda shitty.

We walk out of the train station to find out both of hotels were in a sketchy part of town. The part of town our hotel was in had a homeless person about every 10 feet, and then we had some tall hooded people hanging outside what we believed our hotel would be. We couldn't exactly find where our hotel was so we had to ask directions from a nearby Chinese restaurant which apparently have had the question asked a lot. Our hotel was integrated into part of a complex with rooms belonging to the hotel and belonging to private residences right next to each other. Our room wasn't too bad, but it had no wifi and the only place we could get it is in one room of the place. Our first night the room had two very drunk poles. They taught me how to say "make me a blowjob" in Polish. Unfortunately, I forgot how to say it. We decided that we were going to spend most of our time at the other group's place.

We began our walk through the sketchy part of town to the other group's place. Everything seemed fine except we heard the faint noise of a man yelling, that got louder as we kept walking. Eventually we see a short old man wearing a purple cheetah print, a black fedora, large brown sunglasses, and a black suit walking toward us. He had a couple of suitcases, seemed clean (probably not homeless), and put together. However, he was yelling at the top of his lungs every 3 seconds like he was trying to literally scare the devil out of everyone he walked past. He finally past us and gave his loudest yell yet at us. Needless to say, I instantly started laughing, and Elaine quickly scampered to the middle of the pack so that she was not at the back. We reached the others place to find out they have a fantastic apartment. With plenty of room for the four of us as well.

The next day we decided to go to the Colosseum because some dude told us in broken english that his company could get us to the front of the line for 50 bucks each. We all thought that he was just scamming us so we kept walking, and then a unusually flamboyant gentleman who spoke perfect english roped us into the exact same deal as the other guy and convinced the other members of my group to the exact same deal. So we started the tour and it was terrible. Matteo was our tour guide and he spoke about as loud as a mouse fart. He was also trembling as he spoke. Then he began just explaining what happened in the movie gladiator. Then we were handed off to Greg.

We had to look around for a guy named Greg according to Matteo. So when we left and kept shouting "Greg!" at the exit like an idiot. Then Greg came into our day like a golden angel from the Scottish section of heaven with a "I'm hare". Greg was our tour guide for the forum and palisades. Turns out the dude was Romanian, so I have no idea where he got the scottish accent. Afterwards we saw the Castle San Angelo and the canals beneath them. Then we were off  to the Spanish Stairs which ta dah! were stairs. At the top there was a chapel though and inside were real nuns doing real nun things, so that was pretty cool.

That Night we decided to stay in with a few drinks. We had a full day ahead of us anyways. We were going to another country the next day. The Vatican

The Vatican was fantastic, almost like a dream except the amount of tourist in a non tourist season. There was too much beautiful stuff compiled into one spot. Quite ridiculous i would say. it was too much. I was beautied out after the first hour. However, a highlight was that I teabagged the Sistine Chapel which I found hilarious but no one else thought it was that funny. That night Kyle and I went out to a club to find 18 year olds, it was weird. They were with a school group, also weird. It was a lot of fun except that I woke up with scrapes all over my shoulder and my hand. who knows? then we were off to Sorrento.

Spring Break part 2 Florence

After Milan, Florence was the next city we visited. We arrived fairly early to Florence, and had enough time to check out our surroundings, but we didn't really see any of the attractions. However, we did see some beautiful sights down by the canals where Caleb decided to take a very risky picture. That night we decided to go out and get a feel for the nightlife. However, we couldn't find that many jumping bars or clubs, but we did find a hookah bar. Unfortunately, the bar charged a fee on top of the hookah that you have to buy because you have to pay to sit at the place not only for the shisha and the hookah. WHICH IS FREAKING RIDICULOUS! So most of our group left and me and Kyle decided to stay. Not too long after, we hear American English being spoken not too far away from us. Turns out it's a couple of guys from Massachusetts. We sat and talked for about 2 hours before we finally had to leave because the place was closing.

The next day in Florence we decided to check out all the attractions, so we got an early start and began with the cathedral and bell tower. I did not know that the bell tower actually has three stories. In fact, I thought it only had one, but as it turns out you can get to the roof and see a gorgeous view of the whole city. I did not make it up to there... We saw the church and it was huge and beautiful just like a catholic city should have. Underneath was the museum brandishing all the roman and renaissance artifacts that could be found beneath and around El Duomo.

After seeing most of the main square we headed up to the lookout point to get a great view of the city. At the top of the city we enjoyed a gorgeous sight along with beautiful music as one of the locals brought out a guitar and played for awhile. Then it was time for more gelato, where I found out clementine is the worst flavor ever. It's kinda sweet at first then a tangy bitterness fills your mouth along with little pieces of fruit that taste even worse swirl around your mouth. Just terrible.

In the Evening we tried to check out some parks along with the castle bastion towards the south. Unfortunately, you have to pay for entrance so we went another way to a park where you had to also pay so we just went to the other castle in the city which was fascinating as it was almost 1500 years old. Well at least some parts of it were nearly that old, but there have been renovations along with additions. At the end of it we ended the Florence trip at a small restaurant where we packed our bodies and bags into. Then we were off to Rome.

English, what a great language

For Spring Break a group of us ventured over to the UK! Our first stop was in London, and I cannot explain how excited I was to here and read English everywhere for the first time in months! What a great language.

Our first stop in the UK was London! We didn't waste any time getting to know the city, as we took a night city bus tour on a double decker hours after landing! We had a really nice apartment for our stay so we were able to make breakfast and enjoy our stay. London has a lot of great free museums to visit and we definitely took advantage. The Natural History Museum, V&A, British Museum, and Science Museum were among our academic stops. If you're ever planning on going to London I definitely recommend the V&A and British Museum, they have so many cool things to see!! Another must is the original Hard Rock Cafe. Probably one of the best dining experiences of my life. Needless to say I was extremely happy to have a quality burger again. We had a great waiter though who was so helpful in telling some great spots to check out in London including a speakeasy bar and board game cafe.

One of my favorite parts of London was getting to go to all of the markets. I am a sucker for a good market. We ventured through Camden Market which not only has great food, but is also filled with tons of unique and eccentric vendors. It was great fun to just walk around and look at everything. Borough Market was definitely one of the group favorites as I think we went 2 or 3 times total and ate ridiculous amounts of food there. The food is AMAZING! I had two cookies the size of my face and it was life changing. Greenwich Market was the last market we got to explore and it was really fun as well.

Theatre is really big in London, which made me really excited since its always been such a big part of my life. We got to see two shows while we were in London: Book of Mormon and Wicked. Book of Mormon was pretty funny, but nothing beats Wicked, even if it was my second time to see the show.

Other London adventures included Greenwich park, Regent's Park, a city tour, and an awesome escape game!!! After some time in London we hopped over to Cork, Ireland for some St. Patrick's Day celebrations. We got to see the Blarney Castle and kiss the famous stone as well as spend a day picnicking and playing frisbee at an old fort on the Irish coast. It was quite the fun and relaxing experience.

Since getting back from Spring Break things with school have started to pick back up with school again and surely will after we return from Easter Holiday. I am excited to see what the rest of the semester has in store.

Spring Break Part 1-Milan

The trip to Italy started at the Bonn Hbf. I was sitting outside wearing too little for how cold it was. Waiting around at the bus stop I began to think about where else I could be right now, or rather where I would be if I wasn't on this Germany trip. My thoughts tended towards home and at my friends house, or on my usual trip to a beach on the Gulf with some of my fraternity brothers.

The others from my group finally showed up to the bus stop, and we were off to the airport. At the airport we showed up about an hour before our flight, so we had to hurry ourselves up a bit. We boarded our plane, and we were off to Italy.

On the flight we had a beautiful view of the Northern Alps as well as the relatively small country of Switzerland. That image really made it clear as to why there is a separate country in the middle of France, Italy, and Germany that speaks so many different languages. The country is small buffer zone in the middle of formidable mountain ranges that almost seem to eat up the livable area. Ashley was snoring like a Tyrannosaurus Rex when the pilot came on to tell us we were landing in 20 minutes.

We landed in Milan, and we had no idea what to do. We were dropped off at some random stop. Slowly, we found our way back to our respective hotels, so we at least would know where we needed to sleep. Afterwards, we met up with the other group traveling with us for dinner and quickly realized that German will not fly in an Italian restaurant. Fortunately, there were people there that spoke English, although they were frustrated dealing with dumb Americans. ELAINE GOT ANCHOVIES ON HER PIZZA AND THEY WERE JUST FREAKING TERRIBLE. WORST PIECE OF CRAP I'VE EVER EATEN. DEAR LORD, THAT SHOULD NOT BE SERVED ANYWHERE.

Afterwards, we went back to the other group's place to have a couple drinks. Unfortunately, we all fell asleep after a long day of traveling and a bellyful of pizza. My group had to head home so we made our way to the train station only to realize that trains stop running at midnight. WHICH IS RIDICULOUS, I MEAN CMON, REALLY!? We hailed a cab, and when we got in the driver didn't lower the volume of his radio. His radio was just playing a dude talking and there i found the beauty in italian as the soothing sound of this random radio stranger's voice was putting me to sleep in the cab passenger seat. Eventually we made it back to our hotel to pass out.

The next day, Rahil and I slept in as Elaine and Blake made there way to the church with the other group to climb the roof. Rahil and I made our way out there at around noon and we checked out the shopping area while the others were climbing the dome. There I realized I want to be rich. I mean the girls we saw there were drop dead gorgeous and they were adorned in thousands of dollars worth of clothes and jewelry. I figured there are only two ways to get girls like that, and one is probably beyond my reach. However, I could be very rich one day if I work towards it.

Eventually, we met up with the others from the church room, and decided to walk around the city where we found a little cafe with the best cappuccino I have ever tried. Also for the first time ever, the cost of our drinks was less than expected.

After walking around the city, we picked up some gelato and drinks then walked back to the others apartment. There we had some drinks and played a few games and eventually decided the best way to end the night would be to sleep there.

ITALIA ~ Beautiful "like a flower"

SB 2016 HIGHLIGHT REEL! 3...2...1...

~Friday~
Bad news? We started our travels out strong with a 45 euro
fee to the airline for not knowing we had a check in time.
Good news?  This was the only bad part of the trip :)

~Saturday~
The Duomo di Milan before....                            


The Duomo di Milan a few flights of stairs later...  



Soaking up the sun on top of the warm, white roof of an Italian cathedral underneath a clear, blue sky made for a great first activity of the trip.  We followed this up by getting gelato (logically, as we did every day...sometimes two or three times), perusing through the colonnade of high-end shops, and discovering the castle and "canal" while wandering the city.


~Sunday~
One early morning FlixBus later and we were in Florence!  And what is Florence known for?  Besides the massive, iconic dome that distinguishes the Florence skyline, you should guess Michelangelo's David!  As the world class planners we are, we speedily found our way to not only the museum entrance, but also an 11 euro entrance fee, huge line, and "Closed on Monday" sign. Standing outside the door is basically the same as seeing the David, right? Not really, but that's what happened since we couldn't go during our time there.  With excess time on our hands and a few more minutes of sunlight left, we walked to the Florence canal (that puts the Milan canal to shame) just in time to take sunset pictures and eat dinner next to the water.

~Monday~
Although we saw the Duomo's interior, the highlight of Monday was definitely hiking to the hill top lookout over Florence.  For years, a picture of Florence has held its spot on my bucket list.  Now, I can say that I have stood where that picture was taken.  I have enjoyed that view with my own eyes. That's a great feeling.

~Tuesday~ *March 15th*
Do they take 'em for espresso, yeah, I guess so
On each lover's arm a girl, I wish I knew
ON AN EVENIN' IN ROMA

 We got to our *sweet* Airbnb in Rome on Monday night and headed to the attraction of all attractions in the morning: the COLOSSEUM.  It's crazy to think that a masterpiece of the greatest empire in history is still sitting in the middle of a wild, modern city for people to see, touch, and explore daily (also, Aggies are vandals!).  After our tour of the Colosseum and Paletine Hill, we signed up for a tour of Vatican City for Wednesday and then explored the Roman Forum.  COOL FACT: For the history/literature buffs out there, what is March 15th in Roman history?  The Ides of March!  That's right, we randomly went to Rome and found the burial place of Julius Caesar on the 2060th anniversary of his death.  His burial mound was decorated with flowers and candles just on the day we were there.


Next was the Castel Sant'Angelo ("Holy moly!  You-a look-a like a flower." Italians give the best compliments :)) then to the Spanish steps for a great view of Roma.  Returning to our Airbnb, we discovered how to finally not starve without breaking the bank: go to the supermarket and cook delicious family dinner for 3 euro total. 

~Wednesday~
1) Can I live in Vatican City?  Please? 
2) If I lived in Rome, would hiking up the 551 steps to the top of St. Peter's Basilica everyday justify two gelatos a day? I think yes.
3) I went to the Trevi Fountain, but I didn't meet an Italian pop star.  Thanks for the false expectations, Lizzie McGuire.

~Thursday~ *St. Patty's Day*
Traveling to as many places as we did over spring break makes one pretty tired.  Despite a lack of sleep, recovering from a swollen eye after a mysterious bug bite, and getting sick in Rome, I didn't sleep on the train (per usual) because I just love sight seeing too much.  It just kept getting better: Italian countryside from Rome to Naples, ferry ride from Naples to Sorrento, and the perfect weather in Sorrento Friday and Saturday.  Highlight of Thursday: Rockin' out to Irish music while cooking mac-n-cheese...after we made the lights go out from too much power usage.  Good times.

~Friday and Saturday~
Perfection.
Morning workout and girl time
Soccer and hand ball (recess for adults)
Cliffs, dark sand, teal water, golden sunsets
Chicken Alfredo with broccoli, garlic bread, salad, wine
Bagni Della Regina
Dinner, dessert, and a movie


Spring break was a success.

London laddy

So I skipped a week, forgot, and I do believe it was the weekend I went to Munich, but I will catch up with that story later. Here is for Spring break!

Kendal Reagan Madison Shawn Jake and I all went to London/Ireland this spring break and it was such a blast. We had a ton of time in London and yet still didn't get to see everything. The city of London is so great, it has an aura that is hard to describe but it's such an amazing city. The culture of the monarchy is constantly present and fascinating, and not to mention everyone speaks english.

The first night we took a night bus tour around town and saw all the big things and small things of the city, so beautiful, and a lot of money in that town. The next day we hit all the big musuems, Natural History, Science, V&A ( the V&A was so beautiful I had to go back another day ). Afterwards the girls went shopping while we explored Hyde Park and saved a table at the first ever Hard Rock Cafe, where we met a fantastic and friendly waiter. His name was Craig, and he was also an actor. He liked us so much he bought us a drink and then shared with us all of his favorite bars in London, 2 of which we actually went to thanks to him! One of the bars was a board game bar, where you go, pay a entrance fee, pick out a board game from the hundreds they have, and play a board game with all your lads! That was a fun time, we went Monday night. Another one was a speak-easy bar, where we went to a random restaurant and said a secret phrase, followed by the waitress taking us downstairs to a secret cocktail bar, all so freaking cool. Sunday we had a walking tour of a section of London ( entirely too big to walk in its whole ), and afterwards we went to the British museum and did an escape the room game, which we successfully completed within the hour time limit. Afterwards we went to Soho, a restaurant/bar district and enjoyed some traditional chinese food in London's Chinatown. The next day we split up and I went back to the V&A to see the beautiful art and artifacts they held there. It had an extensive collection of pretty much everything. After this we all met up at Camden Lock Market, which had a TON of delicious food stands from all over the world, and of course we ate a ton of delicious food there. This was probably my favorite part of the trip, eating all of this delicious food!!! I had a Venezuelan sandwich and a falafel wrap, along with snacking on other peoples food as well. Again the next day, before we went to see our show, The Book of Mormon, which was a great comedy bashing at America here and there, we went to another food market and enjoyed even more great food. So good, we went to the Tower of London to listen to the awesome and highly respected Yeomans and see the Crown Jewels.

 The next 3 days we were in Cork Ireland, and this trip was much more relaxed than London was. The first day was us walking around yet another market(I liked the markets) and napping for the afternoon before we went out to dinner and a pub. The pub was a great time, there was a singer and we requested some songs all night. The next day was Saint Patrick's Day, which surprisingly isn't very big in Cork. So we watched a parade and then went to Blarney castle, which was SUCH a beautiful place. The park was so green and big, perfect for exploring and picture taking, and we kissed the Blarney stone so we now have the gift of eloquence;) That was another of my favorite moments, being outside in the beautiful weather just exploring with great friends. The next day was a slow morning, and we decided to go to Ballycotton to see the cliffs, but getting into our taxi, the driver convinced us to go elsewhere to Kinsale, and he drove us there! He dropped us off at Charles Fort, an old medieval fort right on the water/cliffs and we had a picnic/frisbee session here. That was such a great time!!! It was a giant jungle gym for me, and what a blast it was to throw the frisbee a little bit. The next day we went back to London, back to Borough Market for more food, and then saw yet another play, Wicked that night. AN AMAZING SHOW BY THE WAY YOU SHOULD GO SEE IT! That night was relaxed, as was the next day when we slept in and headed home in our 3 hour delayed flight.

This trip was so fun, and I jumbled up the days a little bit and explained through everything so quickly, but it really was such a great time. However it was exhausting. It caused me to miss my family more and more. I wished they could be here to travel with me and still do. I'm realizing I'm getting more and more tired, and have been cautiously taking measures to relax while having tons of school to do. However I am enjoying this traveling, and still hoping I am taking it all in as much as I can.