Barcelona

When I got home from spring break I was so blog happy and was so proud of myself for getting all of Italy done. Then I became lazy but now I'm back and ready to talk all about Barcelona! I got into the Girona airport at around 10:00am. Unfortunately the airport is an hour away from Barca, damn RyanAir. I took the hour long shuttle to the Barcelona train station and from there a quick taxi ride over to the hotel. Once I got to the hotel I through my stuff down then hopped on the metro to meet Becca and her two roommates, Nicole and Lisa. So I used the cheap airlines but a shuttle, taxi, and metro ride later I'm not sure if I even saved any money. Once I hopped off the metro we went straight to one of the oldest synagogues in Europe. It was nice to go back to my Jewish roots after the millions of churches in Italy. The temple was small but nice and we even got a short explanation of it. After the synagogue we walked around the gothic quarter and then went to a resturant called Milk for lunch. It was really good. I had blueberry pancakes. I haven't had pancakes in forever!! After lunch we went over to the Olympic Stadium from the 1992 Olympics. It was at the top of a big hill called Mount Juic. I had never seen a stadium like that before so it was pretty cool. Then me and Becca split up with the rest of the group and we walked to Las Ramblas. This is a very popular street that has lots of tents set up full of random things to buy. We walked down the street and were hoping to go the big market they have. It was unfortunately closed both days we were there though. A lot of things were closed today because it was their Labor day. At the end of Las Ramblas we saw the famous Christopher Columbous statue and then went to explore La Ribera. This is just another area in the city that we just walked around in. We ended up at the Arc de Triomf, took some pictures, and then walked back to the hotel. There we showered and got ready for dinner. We went to dinner at a place called Paco Meralgo. It was tapas. While I know I am a picky eater I can usually find something I like to eat at every resturant. It was a little harder here becuase there were no chicken options on the menu. I got a dumpling ( I still dont know what was in it and I don't think I even want to know) and some bread with cheese. Dinner was really enjoyable and it was a really tapas experience. After dinner everyone went out but I was so tired, and so sick from a mix of exhaustion and allergies so I just went back to the hotel to sleep. Just a bit about this hotel. It just happened to be five stars and our room had two floors! I was not expecting that but it was definetly a nice surprise.

On Sunday we woke up early to get some breakfast (they had a great breakfast buffet). Then Becca and I met up with Nicole and Lisa. We went to Mussee Picasso. It was free because it was the first Sunday of the month but that also meant the line was super long. The line went by fast but I am very happy I waited in it. The museum was really cool. His earlier work was so normal and real and then suddenly we walk into the blue period room, and then his work totally changed into the obscure cubism that we all know of as Picasso. Very interesting. After the museum we went to a resturant called Sandwhich and Friends for lunch. It took us about an hour and a half to find it but Becca was determined. I got a rolled up cheese and chicken sandwhich. I didn't know but I took a bite of the sandwhich and suddenly tasted mayo. I put my sandwhich down and that was the end of that. The potato chips were good though. After lunch we took a bus over to Park Guell. This was a huge park designed by the architect Gaudi (they really like him in Barca). The park was beautiful and so we sat around there for a while. After the park we went to Casa La Pedra which is one of the apartments Gaudi designed. At that point we split up again and me and Becca went to go see the Sagrada Famillia. This is a building/castle/church I'm still not sure, but it started being built in 1882 and won't be finished till 2020. It was huge and very beautiful from the outside. After that we got smoothies then went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. Becca had gotten vouchers for two free drinks when she checked into the hotel. We tried to use them to get some sangria sent up to the room. They told us we couldn't but then surprised us five minutes later and brought us free sangria. That really just sums up our hotel experience. We went to dinner at a restaurant called Ternorio. It was a nice restaurant and I got teriayki chicken and potatoes. After dinner we headed to a bar called Dow Jones. It works just like the stock market. As the demand for the drinks go up the prices do. The bar was very cool but it was Sunday night so it was empty. We basically walked in and walked out. My Barca nightlife experience wasn't typical, but I still had a great time.

Monday we woke up early but just in time to get breakfast. We headed on a train to the airport from there just to find out our flight was delayed. Then delayed. Then delayed. Four hours later we arrived in a freezing cold Paris. I was so happy to be home after a long week of traveling. Nothing felt better then my bed. Maya and I had dinner together and then I worked on my blog, caught up on TV, called every member of my family and went to sleep! All I have to say is thank you so so so much mom and dad for an INCREDIBLE spring break!! This last picture shows what I did in the airport. Becca and Lisa didn't like Bananagrams so I played all by myself!

Venice/Milan

Words and pictures cannot describe Venice. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen! We started our trip in Venice at night. We got off the train, this time Caroline, Rydberg, and I at least got to sit together, around 7:00ish. We took a cab to our hotel, Villa Dori. Even though it was 30 minutes outside of Venice it was a very nice hotel and offered a shuttle to take us there and back. We checked in, through our stuff down and were starved. We asked the front desk where to go for dinner and they directed us to this little town about a 10 minute walk away. Once we got to town and found the recommended restaurant we saw we were the ONLY people in there. Literally a giant room full of tables with only the four of us. We didn't mind at all though. We had a blast running around the room, spilling drinks, taking pictures. Just saying for this upcoming picture I was sick all this past week so my eyes were in so much pain I couldn't even smile for the picture. After dinner we went back to the hotel and headed to sleep.

The next morning we woke up and got on the 9:30 shuttle heading towards Venice. Once we got there we bought an imob. This is there version of the public transportation passes, except they don't have metros. We hopped on a boat and made different stops and people just got on and off, just like a bus, but a boat. We ended up at our final destination, an island called Murano. It is famous for it's glass making. The make really pretty glass items there with all different colors. We saw a demonstration of the glass being made and then went to go look in the gift shop. All I have to say about that is: Rydberg bought a quill. We kept walking down the street and it was glass shop after glass shop after glass shop so we decided to head back to the main island. Once we got there we walked around a little bit and we saw the Basilica de San Marco. It was very pretty from the outside but by this point in the trip we were pretty Basilicaed out so we didn't go inside. We were starving at this point so we decided to grab some pizza and sandwiches and we haggled with a guy to give us a gandala ride and lunch. We took the ride all around the narrow canals. It was so relaxing and so beautiful. Venice is actually made up of like 150ish Islands. It really is impossible to go across the street without a boat or bridge. It's one of those things you have to see to believe, and I am so glad I saw it. After our romantic gandala ride we decided to walk around. We explored a whole bunch of areas admiring all the masks in the windows as we walked buy. There were Venetian masks for Carnival (even though the holiday was a while back) everywhere and they were all really beautiful. Once we got tired we got some gelato and then rested out in the sun for a little while. After we were rejuvenated we hopped up and set off to find a museum full of the inventions of Leonardo DaVinchi. While Venice isn't the biggest city it was definitly the easiest to get lost in and we got lost A LOT. Once we finally got to the museum we checked out some of his stuff and tried it out. Then we went over to a nearby bar and tried some Spritz Al Aperol. It was a sweet wine and while it was good, the best part about the drinks in Italy is that they serve them with potato chips! So we had some drinks and then headed towards the Jewish Ghetto (yes it is really called that). Once we got there we saw the Holocaust memorial and I really wanted to see some of the synagogues (there are five compared to the 115 churches) but it was getting lated so they were closed already. We went to dinner in that area at a resturant called Gam Gam. I am very impressed with Caroline because she had a ton of Israeli food that I would never ever try. I stuck with some good old matzah ball soup and latkes. Definitly got my Jewish food fix. After dinner we walked around some more and played with the Venitian masks. Tired and bored we called the hotel telling them someone was sick so they came to pick us up. At that point exhausted again we all fell right asleep when we got home.

The next morning we were leaving Venice to head to Milan. We figured out the bus system and took a bus to the train station. From there we thought we were being economical. We bought the 14 euro bus ticket that said it would take 3 hr rather than the 30 euro ticket that said it would take only 2. They lied. It took us about 4 hours to get to Milan, on a very hot and stuffy train. At least with this train we all got to sit next to each other. Too bad we were all sleeping the whole time. Once we got off the train we were in a daze. We some how made it to Beth and Rydbergs hotel and dropped our stuff off. Then we went to the center of the city and walked around for a little. We saw the worlds largest cathedral, some very ritzy shopping, and a castle which was very different then the chateau's of France. Still so tired we had some dinner, pizza, and then some gelato. Then we headed back to there hotel room. At around 11:00pm the four of us walked over to a shuttle. This was going to take Caroline and I over to the Ryanair airport of Milan. Her plane was leaving for Paris at 6:45 am and mine at 8:45 am to Barcalona. It didn't make sense to stay in a hotel because we would have to leave so early anyways. Also the shuttle didn't open till 4am so we had to take the last one. We got on the hour long shuttle and got to the airport at 12:30am. Then Caroline fell right asleep. I read some of my book, and was too nervous to fall asleep, even though there were 50 other peoples doing it around me. It was defintly an experience. After I said by to Caroline I waited a few hours then was off and on my way to Barcalona!!

Florence

We arrived in Florence around 9:00pmish (even though the ride only felt around 10 minutes long). I hopped in a cab immediately and went straight to Paige and Laura's apartment. I was so excited to see them!! There apartment is absolutely beautiful! The minute I got there I started getting ready and not even 15 minutes later we started celebrating Laura's birthday. The night was the perfect amount of home I needed. It was great seeing people like Genna and Steph out too. After a long pregame (SDT style- lots of yelling over each other) we headed to a bar that was down the street. It was very English speaking and I even found a shirt that said SDT on it. It was a very fun night and just the right amount of home I needed. To end it all me and Laura made pasta with pesto as a midnight snack- perfection.

The next morning I met up with the rest of the girls in the Republica square. We then headed towards the Duomo. It's one of the world's largest cathedrals and it is unlike any church I have ever seen before. It is actually colorful on the outside and so beautiful. The inside was plain but the outside made up for it. After looking around we climbed to the top of it, all 480 some stairs. Very Very exhausted we hung out at the top and saw a beautiful view of Florence. We could even see the leather market from the top (which is a good thing because that was our next stop). After catching our breaths we headed back down. Caroline's and my legs were both shaking. We needed some pizza for recovery.

After lunch we headed to the leather market. I ran into Laura and her parents there and I am so thankful for it! She took me to a place owned by a man named Massimo. Let me tell you he is the BEST salesman I know. He litterally was name dropping SDT girls like crazy and he was so so nice. I ended up buying real Italian leather coat!! Very excited about my purchase I went on the rest of the market and bought a little clutch as well. The market was exhausting but very cool to see. And I am VERY impressed with Beth and Rydberg for buying fancy new coats as well!! After the market we walked around some more and hit Pont Vechio. This a bridge that has a ton of jewlery shops down it. There were a ton of people around and again it was very overwhelming. We headed back to their hostel room very exhausted where we napped a littled. Then we ventured out to find dinner and found a great place in the Republicca where we could eat outside. I had gnochi with pesto and it was by far my second favorite dinner!! Then we walked around a little bit. Rydberg had told us about this amazing gelato place called Grom. We searched for it everywhere and right when we got there I realized that it was a chain and there is one next to my house in Paris. Regardless it was still delicious. Then they walked me back to Paige and Lauras. I went straight to sleep when I got there so exhausted from the past day.

The next morning I woke up early again and met my friends in the same spot. We went straight to the Galleries Accademia to see the statue of David. It was a bummer because we couldn't take any pictures because the statue was really cool in person. It was huge, 12 ft tall, and really intricit and beautiful. The rest of the museum was pretty lame so we headed out after that. Even though we couldn't take any pictures inside there are plenty of copies of the real thing around Florence so I got some good pictures of those. Then we went our seperate ways for a while and Caroline and I just laid in the sun. We were interupted by a musical, dancing, singing parade that came by...we still aren't sure exactly what it was. When we all met up again we tried to head over to the Boboli gardens, but lazy and not willing to pay we ended up just sitting outside of them. We talked and napped for a little and stopped in an internet cafe to just print out some boarding passes and little things like that. After that we all went back to Laura and Paiges, so everyone got to meet each other. I said good bye to them and thanked them for a GREAT weekend! Then we grabbed all our stuff and headed to the train station because now we are: Venice bound!!

Rome

Let me warn you: this past week I have done A LOT! I still cannot believe I haven't passed out from complete exhaustion. I have so much to catch up on so bear with me, I will try and keep this as interesting as possible. So Saturday morning I woke up very early to head over to the Orly Airport to fly out to Rome. I was nervous that something would go wrong with my flight (just my luck) so I got there around, 4 hours early. I was only allowed to check in two hours before. After a long boring wait I finally checked in and everything was smooth. I was so happy but of course by the time I get to the terminal I realize my flight has been delayed. No big deal, I get on my flight an hour later and make my way off to Rome! Once I got there I took an hour long shuttle into the actual city of Rome. The shuttle dropped me off at the train station, which was perfect because I was meeting Beth there. She had taken an overnight train from Nice. She got in around 20 minutes later. We were so happy to see each other and then ventured to find our hostel. The hostel was very close to the train station so Beth checked in to her room. Just a side note: Beth and Rydberg were only staying one night in the hostel so they got one room, and me and Caroline were staying two nights so we booked a separate (what we thought) private room. Beth's room was perfect it was a four bed dorm but the only people in it for the night was her and Rydberg. We ventured off a little bit after dropping off our luggage and found some gelato! I had my first real Italian gelato. I got banana with chunks of chocolate in it, it was absolutely delicious and I still haven't found anything like it yet. A few hours later Rydberg and Caroline came in from the airport shuttle to the train station. We met up with them and brought them to the hostel. Caroline checked us in and we went up stairs. We realized our room was actually a five person dorm and there were people sleeping in there with very dirty feet. This was NOT okay. We moved our stuff to the other girls rooms and decided to stay in that dorm for the night. After that exhaustion we headed out to find some where for dinner. We found this small place that taught us quickly that water cost's money in Italy...awesome right? I had my first Italian pizza which was great. Then we went over to find more gelato. The man working behind the counter was very nice and let us sample every flavor and put together his favorite combinations for us. He gave me chocolate, banana, and black cherry. He also thought I was Italian, at least I knew I was starting to fit in from the start. After gelato we were all exhausted from our traveling so we headed back to the hostel and went straight to bed.

When we woke up the next morning I had messages from my Mom saying she had got a new hotel room for me and Caroline. We packed up all our stuff and headed down the metro (they only have two lines in Rome, because the city is so old it is hard to modernize it) to the new hotel. We stayed at a place called the Hotel Condoti. It was very nice and a perfect location, right outside the Spanish Steps. We dropped off our luggage and then went exploring. Our first stop was the Vatican City. I really had no idea that this place was an actual soverign state of it's own! We learned that everything is really cheap there because they don't have to pay taxes to Italy. When we got there we saw the line was ridiculously long. It was the last Sunday of the month so admission was free. We (some people more than others) were conned into going on a 25 euro tour and get to cut in line. We waited there for a while nervous they were going to steal our money and run, but we ended up skipping the line and we did get to go in. Who know's if it was actually faster, but whatever. We explored the Vatican museum. The tour guide told us one really interesting story that stuck out to me. Michealangelo became temporarily blinded while he was painting the roof of the Sistine chapel from all the paint and fumes dripping into his eyes. There was one sculpture he absolutly loved during this time and he would come to the Vatican to just feel this statue for hours. The statue is in the museum now, it's just pretty interesting fact. The museum led us into the Sistine Chapel which was absolutly amazing. The celing and walls were so beautiful I tried to take as many pictures as I could but nothing could capture actually seeing it in real life. After that we went over to St. Peters Basilica and St. Peters Square. This is where the Pope comes out to make all his annoncements and sermons and what not. Then we walked around the pope cemetary/building thing. Kind of eerie but kind of neat. There were a bunch of people praying for the most recent pope that passed away. There were even security guards there protecting it. We were starving by this point so we found a stand and I had a pizzaesque sandwich, it wasn't great but it did the trick. Then we walked around and ran into the Castle Saint Angelo which was really pretty and we walked down Pont St. Angelo, a very beautiful bridge. Once we crossed over we stopped at another delicious gelato shop. We ventured over (getting lost a few times) to the Pantheon. It was cool, but a bummer becuase it was under construction so half of it was covered up. Then we walked over to the Trevi fountain and through our coins in. The fountain is unlike any I have seen before. It was huge and beautiful. We then went over to the Spanish steps and just sat for a little while. After all our tourist adventures we were so exhausted so the four of us went back to our hotel and fell took a nap. Around 6:30 Beth and Rydberg went to go meet up with Beth's friend, and me and Caroline got ready to meet up with Jori for dinner. After stressfully figuring out how to use the trams we finally made it to her. Even though I had seen her only two weeks ago it was cool seeing her in her Rome element. She took us to this amazing resturant (by far our favorite meal from the trip) called Tony's. Caroline got some noodle with salmon sauce dish and I got noodles with pesto sauce. So delicious and so typical Italian.After dinner Jori left us to go get some work done and me and Caroline headed to Campo de Fiori. We had the intentions of meeting up with the other girls and the intentions of going out but none of these things actually happened. We didn't want to go out just the two of us and we were really exhausted so what did we do? Take a picture, head home and call it a night! We both passed out right away and it was much needed sleep.

The next morning we woke up and Rydberg and Beth met us at the hotel. We were doing old Rome today. We started at the Colluseum. It was so cool! I didn't realize how big it was and how old it acutally was. It's incredible that something that big and intricit has survived so many years. We explored the colluseum then headed over to the ancient ruins. On our way we passed the original Arc de Triomph. The ancient ruins were cool, but they were hard to figure out what they used to be. It just kind of seemed like an junkyard of old stones (I mean that in the nicest way possible). After the ruins we met up with Beth's friend and she took us to a fixed price resturant for lunch. I had a pizza and then we followed it up with some gelato ( I hope you are starting to see a pattern). We had lunch and walked around in the Trastevere area (where dinner was with Jori). Then it started getting late so Caroline and I headed back to our hotel to get our stuff together. Then we all met up again at the train station. We hopped onto our 7:00 pm train to Florence. Things were going great as planned. We went into a 6 person compartment car (just the four of us) and closed the door to make sure no one came in. Suddenly these very large Germans knocked on the door and totally kicked us out. We didn't want to be in there with them anyways because they smelled so incredbily bad. We were left without a place to sit when suddenly we heard English behind us. Two guys just had the same problem as us so we all decided to sit in the food car together and play banagarams the entire train ride. Really it wasn't a bad trade off. Ciao for now up next: Florence!