Florence and Pisa

Okay, obviously these are super-duper late, but after reading back through some of my other posts, I've realized how much the details I included helped me to remember everything that went on. So I thought it'd be best to go ahead and write up blogs for Florence, Naples, Rome, and Germany before I completely forgot everything! Plus, for those who I haven't had a chance to tell stories to in person, I kinda left you hanging.. so here you go:

So, Florence. Let's see here. I believe we arrived in Florence sometime just after noon. After figuring out the complicated bus schedule, we finally caught the correct bus and took it towards our hostel. Ha, our hostel. Ohhhh goodness. It was fun. Well, different/fun.. all the same. It would be best compared to a 'home-stay' type deal. We knocked on the big, front door and lugged all of our luggage up the stairs to the second floor where we were greeted by an man in his 60s and his family. It was a tiny apartment, complete with a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and two bedrooms. One bedroom was packed full with bunk beds and I'm guessing the other was where the family slept. But, they were accommodating! They set us up with a map and places to see around the city and some free wine to taste! Can't beat that!

So after we got our map, Lacey and I headed back to the train station by foot, because we already had plans to catch a quick train to Pisa for the rest of the day. We arrived in Pisa and lemme tell you, that city is pretty much all about the famous tour.. there's not a whole lot more there, except for the other really cool building that stands on the opposite side of the lawn from the tower.. pobre building.. no one ever pays attention to it.

But before I delve any further, please let me try to describe Lacey's and my view as we were finally approaching the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We came through the last buildings on the street and BAM! There it was the tower, and BAM! there were all the people in the lawn before it, all with there hands up at different angles and some on their back with their legs up in the air.. HIL-AR-IOUS. It didn't take us long to figure out that they were obviously all taking the common picture of trying to hold the tower up or pushing it down. Still quite entertaining to see hundreds of pairs of hands in the air.

But of course, Lacey and I joined in the tourist-y activity. We took about a bajillion pictures each and finally settled to spend our last 3 Euros combined on gelato. I sure hope that doesn't surprise you. I think we'd find a way to buy that delicious dessert even if we were homeless and had no money. After gelato though, we decided it'd probably be best to head back towards Florence in order to get back to our hostel before dark and somewhat early because we wanted to get up early the next morning so we'd have as much time as possible to see the city.

About half way back to Florence though, we both realized we were starving and so once we got back, we immediately set out to find somewhere to eat. Too bad all the restaurants were closed... so we settled on walking about a mile to the nearest grocery store (which was to close in 10 minutes) and buying yet another cheap and unhealthy dinner consisting of deli sandwiches, cheese puffs, and something else. Ha, again.. not really surprising.

We then got to sleep at a decent hour because we were up the next morning and out on the town by 9 or so. Our first stop was Michaelangelo's David. This is where we found out the most exciting news of Italy: this entire upcoming week was CULTURAL WEEK meaning ALL museums were FREE!!!! Ahhh! It was SO wonderful! So we got in to see David for free, then headed down towards the Duomo and did a little browsing/shopping at the shops along the way, and then finally made our way up to a scenic overlook with a view of all of Florence and the Ponte Vecchio which expands across the Amo River.

Then we realized how little time we had to get back to the train station. Woops. Good thing there were taxis up on the overlook. Although we really didn't want to waste the money for a taxi, we HAD to get back to our hostel as quickly as possible. Since we were headed for Naples next, we did NOT want to miss our scheduled train. Not only because we already had a reserved time to make, but also because nothing good ever happens after dark in Naples.

So we made a break for it. We made it back to our hostel, grabbed our luggage and began to wait impatiently at the bus stop that we never thought would come. Well it did, but as if we weren't already stressed out enough, we got off at the wrong bus stop and then were SO turned around and couldn't figure out the next bus we had to take to our train station. It was terribly frustrating. Finally though, we found a nice bus driver that understood a little English and helped us find the bus we needed. Lucky for us, he was the driver! He made sure we got off at the right stop and told us which bus to catch next.

But then the trouble started up again. Since we departed from a different train station than what we arrived in, we ended up in a part of town we were completely unfamiliar with. We, again, got off at the wrong bus stop and had to haul our luggage a ridiculous way until we finally ran into someone who could tell us where we were going. About a mile and a half later, we finally saw the station and found the correct platform, just to find out that our train was running 30 minutes late.

So. Regardless of all our best efforts, we still ended up in Naples past dark. But, luckily for us, we shared a cabin with some great people. All Italian, and hilarious. We had a good time with them. We'd all try to talk to one another as best we could, but it wasn't too long before Lacey was just randomly saying things like, "spaghetti and lasagna." But it didn't take them long to catch on.. soon the whole cabin rang out in.. "ooohhh. SPAGHETTI!" in the typical Italian accent.. probably one of my favorite stories from the trip, but it definitely has to be told in person.

Okay, I think that's it for Florence and Pisa. Check in next time for Naples.. it's gonna be a doozie!

And The Countdown Begins..

Holy smokes! I'm headed back to school in T-7 days! SO pumped! However, as I'm looking at my schedule for this upcoming week, I'm beginning to worry about running out of time! I haven't even begun to think about packing. I've got to figure out what all I want to take for my apartment and how I'm going to get it all down there. And I've got all these plans I'm trying to squeeze in before the summer ends! I've got tomorrow and most of Monday and Tuesday to do some pre-packing activities, but then Tuesday evening, I'm headed up to South Bend with some friends and then we're spending all day Wednesday in Chicago and probably won't be back until the afternoon on Thursday. And I've already got plans for Thursday night, so that day's pretty much shot. So it's looking like I'm going to be the queen of procrastination again and pack everything up on Friday!

That'll be a busy day! Like I said, I have SO much stuff to pack.. clothes, furniture (including my amazing, new porch swing, thanks to the Bulingtons!), school stuff, oh and I have to go shopping too, to make sure I'm all stocked up on the necessary essentials, but that will probably happen once I'm back to the Castle.

Ahhhh! Seeing everything I still have to do, makes me think that maybe I should start packing now! Yikes!

Something Else to Occupy My Time

Welp, I guess I'll focus more on this blog now that I've de-activated from Facebook for the third time in my life. Yep, three whole times: once during finals my sophomore year, for the second time about a month ago (obviously that time didn't last too long) and now I'm ringing in numero tres. I know, right? It seems absolutely insane, but it consumes my life and I just can't handle it anymore. If it weren't for all of my pictures, the outrageously large Facebook community, and my slightly smaller network of friends, I'd be done with it for the rest of my life. And I'm going to work until I get to that point in time.. but for now, my de-activation is only temporary. I'm hoping to hold out this time until school starts.

So now instead, I can write more on here, or study for comps, or get some more summer reading in, or, mom's favorite: clean, organize, and pack my room up for college.

We'll see how that goes... wish me luck.

It's Been Tooooooo Long

Wow, where does time go? Almost three months have passed by since my last post, and quite a few things have happened, well at the beginning anyway.. I still have to update on Italy.. quick summary, pretty much amazing.. and my two weeks I spent in Germany! If I ever write just one more blog post, it'll be about Germany.. WAY too many great and amazing stories from that country to not share.

America, on the other hand, hasn't been so entertaining. Don't get me wrong.. I am SO very glad to be home where things are familiar and to be around family and friends again, but going from backpacking across Europe to having no summer job and not a whole lot to do has been a more difficult transistion than packing everything up and moving to Wales for four months. A few years ago, I would have been nothing short of excited to have a summer off and have all kinds of time to myself, but I'm not gonna lie, it's not been a real eventful summer.

However, on the bright side, I have had time to do a little bit of reading (I'm just about to finish "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, it's brilliant; I'd suggest it) and I've even started studying and reviewing what I've learned throughout the years in Psychology, which is lame, I know, but I'm hoping it will help later this semester.

And then there's my attempt at planning the rest of my life. Yikes. I'm about 95% sure that I won't be going to school to further my studies in Psychology. Instead, I want to try and find a job right after graduation, working outdoors. I'd eventually like to receive my Master's in Outdoor Education, however, in order to do so, I first have to have loads of experience in several different outdoor activities. And so I've been doing a little research and I've found that not only do Utah and Colorado both have amazing venues for hiking, rock climbing, etc etc, but they are also ranked in the top, economical states to live, not to mention, absolutely breathtaking. And yes, my mind will most likely change again here in the next few weeks, but as of right now, that's the plan and I couldn't be more pumped!

Annnnnd I think that's it for the updates! I'll try to keep up with the posts, but I can't promise anything, especially after school starts up and I'll actually be busy once again!

But until next time..

As Promised....

.... even if it is a little late..

Ah, well, Venice, or should I say, Venezia: the city of canals and gondolas! It was fabulous! Well, minus the whole getting completely lost part and eating our weight in gelato every day. Okay, the gelato thing wasn't that bad, not gonna lie. But the layout of the city definitely presented us with some challenges throughout our stay.

Just trying to find our hostel took us WAY too long. Good thing I knew a little bit of Italian, or rather, that Lacey didn't know a lick.. so when we stopped and asked a policeman for directions and he explained them to me in Italian and I was nodding and pretending like I knew where I was going, Lacey didn't have a clue (ha ha, sorry Lace. We found our way though, didn't we?).

Yes, in fact, we did. It wasn't too much wandering later that we found ourselves just off the Grand Canal, in our very unique hostel. It was called the Museum, and rightfully so. It was an old, not really renovated, building that definitely had the potential of being a museum back in the day. I think it would have been cool, if it hadn't been for the creepy cherubs and random faces that stared at you throughout the entire building. Oh well, the fact that Brad and Angelina and the dwarves were staying right across the canal from us, made up for the creepiness.

Yes, they were seriously staying in the building across from us. No, I didn't see them myself, but when I was out trying to orientate myself one night, I guess one of the kiddos came out onto the balcony and the paparazzi were going mad! Oh well.. I think I'll live.

Plus, there were WAY more exciting things going on. I mean, it was Venice after all. Lacey and I filled our days there with impromptu meals of bread, pizza sauce, and cheese, gelato for breakfast, and long walks window shopping and sitting on the edge of the canal. It was a nice break from the hustle and bustle of our overnight trains and the super-quick day trip to Vienna. We had the chance to just relax and have dinner at our hostel and made tons of new friends!

But before too long, we were packing everything back up and headed for Florence! Good thing we were traveling by train too! That ash cloud could have seriously messed plans up! Although, not gonna lie, I wouldn't have been too terribly disappointed to have been stuck in Venice....

Stay tuned... Florence is next!

Until next time!

My promise..

Okay, excuse time.
I did get to see Venice, Florence, Naples, and Rome, and I do have LOADS of stories about each and every one of them, but as you can see, I've gotten WAY behind, but I will start catching you up on everything.. However, I have 4 assignments due by Monday, and so I'm having to focus on those at the moment. But hopefully, I will have them done and will be able to write by Sunday! So check back then!

Sorry again!

Prague and Vienna

Yep, gotta group these two together. I am WAY behind, hence multiple posts in one day. I'm trying to catch up!

So, Prague was SUPER neat. The train ride there wasn't too bad and our hostel was absolutely amazing! It was newly renovated and the rooms were ginormous! Yes, gin-or-mous. It has most definitely been my favorite hostel thus far. And the town of Prague wasn't bad either! We got a pretty early start the next morning, and just started wondering around town. We first came across the atomic clock, a clock that has been telling time since the 1400s. In the same plaza, we got to see an amazing church. Seriously, the Europeans know how to construct and decorate a church. I feel like I've seen so many great works of art, just by stepping inside of random churches. Okay, they're not random, they're actually very well known tourists hot spots, but still cool, all the same.

We then continued to walk awhile to find this castle building off in the distance. We walked across the St. Charles bridge, stopped and bought a charm, then stopped in for coffee, and then finally made it to the castle. It turned out to be a cathedral, filled with much more intricate artwork and stained glass. Beautiful!

That night, we took off for Vienna on our first overnight train. It wasn't ideal, to say the least. We were stuck in a compartment, in normal seats, between people we didn't know. Yah, we didn't get a whole lot of sleep. So when we arrived at the Vienna station at 6:30 in the morning, we were pretty much like bumps on a log. We actually sat in the train station for the longest time and tried to catch a little shut eye. Around 11, we finally mustered up enough energy to grab some lunch and find our way to the historical downtown.

We found some pretty neat buildings and then happened to stumble across a museum. Since we had nothing else to do, and a lot of time to kill (we were catching yet another overnight train to Venice that night at 8:30pm), we decided to go in and check it out. It was pretty cool. We seriously considered sneaking into the dressing rooms at one point and falling asleep in a stall on the bench.. yep, we were that tired. But the huge collection of preserved animals kept us entertained for long enough. This museum also had the largest collection meteorites. And yes, we found meteorites from Indiana!! Woo-hoo! Go Indiana!

Around 4ish, we headed back towards the station, and found a quick place to get coffee.. we needed it. Then it was back to the benches to wait out the remainder of our time before we boarded our second and last overnight train. Finally, we were allowed to board and...

Well, I'll save that story for next time!