Less than 1 month!!

Holy moly! I'm gonna be back in less than one month! I can't believe it! It's gone by sooo fast!!

Since I've gotten back from traveling, I've been able to get caught up on rest. It's been so good. :) I've started running again everyday, I've been watching lots of Spanish television (a lot different than our television - they show a lot of things that are not permitted on our tv's. hehe), I've been reading, and watching movies. I only have class two days a week now until I come home, so I'm on the home stretch! Hehe. And I have a lot more free time! It's soo nice! :)

My parents are going to be here in a few days! I am SOOOOO excited! It's been way too long!! Hehe. They leave for London today and then are going to come to Alicante on Tuesday. I can't wait!!!

I'm also going on this walk for about 6 days in May. It's called the "Camino de Santiago." We are told it is rough - but it is quite an experience. I will give you more details later when I know more. :)

The day I headed back to Alicante

This was quite an interesting day... We had been staying at one of my friends friend's house... and he had 5 guy roommates. Well this particular morning I woke up to one of them puking at 5am in the morning and the house REEKING of vomit. I should have known what the day would entail when it starts off that way.

Well I got to the bus stop at about 5:15am (I needed to take the bus into Rome - this was about a 45 minute drive)... so I waited and I waited... no bus. I was waiting for the "H".... 5:45am came around and a "n8" came by... I played my luck got on that bus and somehow made it to the center of town. Once I got there, I waited for a shuttle to take me to the airport (another 45 minute drive). Got to the airport (mind you I was wearing 9 shirts and 3 pairs of pants.... another story.... hehe) and the flight was delayed for about 3 hours. Finally, the plane took off and we landed in "Barcelona" or so I thought. The airline I had purchased my ticket thru called it "Barcelona" but in fact they landed us about an hour and a half outside of Barcelona in a city called Girona. Guh. So once in Girona I found a bus to take me to Barcelona..... So I was now in Barcelona but I needed to be at the train station. Instead I was at the bus station. So from the bus station, I took the metro to the train station where I got lunch and then took a 4hr and 40min train ride to Alicante.

It was one heck of a day... and one I will never forget. All in all, I took a public bus, a shuttle, a plane, another bus, a metro, and a train.... all in one day. I left the house at 5am and got home around 9pm. Shiz. :)

Rome, Italy

I have decided that I think my liking of the place depends on how much I like the food... hehe. I'm kidding... kind of. But my favorite food is Italian and Mexican... so it was quite a treat to eat actual Italian food in Italy. It was phenomenal. One thing about all of this traveling is that it is going to make me have cravings that I can't fulfill right at that moment!! Hehe.

So I was eating some pizza and I really wanted to ask for some ranch (although I knew they didn't have any)... because if I would have gotten some I think I might have died right then. Also, did you know that alfredo sauce is actually American and not Italian. I was kinda bummed. I wanted to try it in Italy!! Hehe. Although I'm still glad the Americans invented it. Hehe.

Rome was ............... (words can't describe it)......... There is so much history, there is so much to be seen, so much to learn - Rome is fascinating. Easter Sunday we went to mass at the Vatican (second pic). Hung out with the pope... the pope and I now go way back. Hehe. We saw so much in Rome I don't even know where to start. We actually got lost for 4 hours one evening and ended up seeing everything at least twice. Hehe. It was a night to remember, that's for sure. I won't go into too many details, but I still have no idea how I made it back to Alicante from Rome. Hehe. But that's a whole other story.

We went to the Roman Colosseum! It was pretty cool to try and imagine how it would have been back in the day... with 50,000 spectators, complete with boxed seats, toilet facilities, refreshment stands and a giant retractable sail to act as a roof. But instead of football, they would have been watching gladiators fight panthers, hippopotami and crocodiles, and, occasionally one another. The Colosseum was built by Emperor Vespasian in 72 AD and finished by his son Titus in 80 AD. On the western side of the Colosseum is the Arch of Constantine, built to honour Constantine's victory over his rival Maxentius at the battle of Milvian Bridge in AD 312. Pretty sweet to see. (the top pic is of me in the Colosseum).

We went and saw the Roman Forum (3rd pick)and Palatine Hill! Back in the day, the Forum was the political, religious, and social centre of the Roman World. It is all ruins now, but it is something else to imagine what it would have been like way back when. Palatine Hill is where the wealthy Romans built their homes and legend says that Romulus founded this part of the city. I think I would have liked to live there. :)

From there we went to see the Pantheon. This is the best-preserved building of its time. The original temple was built in 27 BC by Marcus Agripa, the son -in-law of Emperor Augustus, and dedicated to the planetary gods. It was later used as a catholic church. The dome is an architectural marvel, even by today's standards. Many italian kings are also burried here.

We also saw the Trevi Fountain - this is where you are supposed to throw a coin into the fountain to ensure your return to Rome. We all did this. Hehe.

Each night we ate in the Trastevere area - this is a very happening area. The bottom pic is one of the dishes I had........ :)

Belgium

Belgium!!!

Belgium was pretty cool. My favorite part about Belgium was the food... go figure. Hehe. Belgium chocolate is DELICIOUS and don't get me started about their waffles!! Let me just say that it's a good thing I don't live in Belgium... I would way 500 pounds!! Hehe.

While we were in Belgium we took the tour bus to see all the "places to see." Hehe. I sat next to a guy (see top pic) that was absolutely hilarious. I didn't stop laughing the whole time. In fact, the old man in front of us told us to stop talking. We didn't... hehe. Anyways, while we were on the bus we saw all of the touristy sites... and I was completely entertained during the ride. Hehe. Some of the places we saw included the "Grand Place" which is Brussels central square. This is where the Gothic-style Hotel de Ville stands. This hotel was the only building to escape bombardment by the French in 1695 - ironic considering it was the target. We also saw the Atonium, which is a space-age leftover from the 1958 World Fair. And my favorite part of the Brussels trip (aside from the chocolate and waffles) was the Manneken Pis fountain (bottom pic). This is a little boy statue relieving himself. It is quite a site. Hehe.

Amsterdamn - Netherlands

So you guys didn't have to wait very long; I would have to say this was probably my favorite city of the trip (not in total, but of this 2 week vacation where I went to Paris, Amsterdam, Belgium, and Rome). Maybe it's because I did not have high expectations of this place. I was expecting something dirty and gross... and I thought that I would want to leave right away. Instead, it was the exact opposite. Amsterdam is BEAUTIFUL. It is surrounded by water, it is green, it is calm, the people are so nice, everyone speaks English and Dutch so there was no communication barrier. I was all in all very impressed with Amsterdam. Back home it has such a derogatory rhyme to it that I was almost afraid to go. hehe. Which in truth, Amsterdam has it's unwanted areas, but so does every city.

When you're in Amsterdam, you have to be careful while you are walking... the whole time you have to be on a look out for bike riders (it's like a profession there), cars, buses, and the tram. I came to the conclusion, that if I was going to be hit by one I would prefer the bike... so I made sure to put the others on priority of not to get hit by and in truth I did almost get nailed a few times by bikers. Hehe. I think I heard them yell a curse word or two and then follow it with "tourists." Hehe. Oh well.

We went to the Anne Frank House. This was incredible, and quite moving. Anne Frank and her family were brilliant. You can actually see where they hid (went to the bathroom, etc.), and it talks about how they had to keep quiet and who helped them, etc. It was pretty neat.

We also took the canal cruise around the city. The good thing about that is you see everything, the bad thing is that you don't remember every single thing you saw!! hehe.

Amsterdam is also famous for their french fries with ketchup and mayonnaise. This was yet another amazing food experience. Hehe.

Paris!

Hola!

I am back and kickin in Alicante. Traveling all over was quite an experience, and to be honest I have no idea how I made it back. Paris was my first stop. It was gorgeous. There were about 10 of us, and we even had our own French tour guide! Hehe. In reality, she was a friend of one of the girls with us and she showed us all around Paris!

We traveled all around. I didn't think it was ever going to end! We went to the Notre Dame. This was a very pretty cathedral. It is a French Gothic masterpiece and it has been the focus of Catholic Paris for seven centuries. It took about 200+ years to build. Some of its striking features include the three main portals, whose statues were once brightly colored to make them more effective as a Biblia pauperum: a 'Bible to the Poor' to help the illiterate understand the Old Testament stories. There are also 3 stunning stainned-glass rose windows, and one HUGE chandelier. From there we went to the Musee du Louvre. This is one of France's finest museums which houses the mischievous Mona Lisa and the beautiful Venus de Milo. From there we went and saw the Arc de Triomphe & Champs-Elysees. This was commissioned in 1806 by Napoleon to commemorate his victories, the Arc remained unfinished when he started losing battles and then entire wars, and it wasn't completed until 1836. Poor guy. Could you imagine having an arch built for you because you are the greatest, and then they stop.... because you are the shiz... hehe. Today the arch stands at the center of the world's largest traffic roundabout, place de l'Etoile. This is one of the most expensive streets in town. I paid 6 dollars for a Starbucks! Hehe. But it was well worth it. And then last, but certainly not least, we went to the Eiffel Tower. You might think that this thing is overrated, but it is far from. We went to the very top and it was one of the coolest things I've ever done. It is amazing. :)

Paris was beautiful. I'm not sure it was my favorite city tho. I have so many more to come, you will have to wait and see. As a whole, the French people were nice; but we didn't have to do a lot of the talking since we had a tour guide that would speak french to them and translate back to english for us. I wasn't sure if I was going to like traveling with such a big group of people. It can oftentimes be hard to decide where to go, what to do, etc. But it worked out well. It wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. :)