Roming Home

July 15th

So yes, I've been dating these, sorry. It just helps me keep track because most of them are stored as notes on my phone til wifi becomes available. Anyways, here goes! 

Harry. Potter. 
So wonderful. I have very few words, and will keep most of them to myself for those of you who will be delayed like I thought I would be. But it was definitely the end of an era. It made me sad to think about the ending of my childhood. But, I know that as soon as I get back there is an HP marathon waiting for me, and another trip to see the last one (at least one). And I have them all on DVD so really they will never leave. How wonderful again! 

Ok. So yes. We spent a night in Rome watching Harry Potter. It was a nice break though because we've been so busy and running non-stop and it's kind of a nice reminder of the closeness of home and of rest. So it was great. Plus, I love Harry Potter and it brought me all kinds of joy to see it before it was released in the states :)

After HP, I went straight to bed, hoping to be alive for today. Thankfully, I was! And though my nose/head is still a mess with congestion, the lecture was still interesting. And it gave me inspiration for my paper, of which I managed to crank out about 75 percent of it after class and before our afternoon tour. 

We were lucky enough to have the same wordy tour guide as in the Vatican today, but it was ok. I mainly just enjoyed wandering around the Roman Forum and the Colosseum while pretending to listen to his voice through my headset. Ps you definitely don't look like a tourist with those headsets on and the walker talkie looking thing hanging around your neck. 

Anyways. The Roman Forum and the Colosseum were pretty sweet. Not so much on the tour guides stories, but still way cool to see. 
Not too much exciting happened after the tour - I think I sweated more on the metro ride home than the whole tour. Then we attempted to find wifi to finish our papers. I managed to crank it out and finish in time for dinner. After dinner and some gelato, I headed straight to bed to get some rest. 

Thankfully, the rest helped and j felt a bit more clear headed the following morning. Which was good because I had my final that morning. Not that it required much brain power, but in case it had. 

The afternoon was quite busy - exploring some Roman sites like the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon (so absolutely wonderful), and many a churches. And let's not forget to mention that there is a wonderful gelato shop near he Pantheon, which about 150 flavors to choose from. Oh, no big deal, just the best gelato ever. Yes, we have pictures of the inside, don't worry! Haha, it was super exciting. There were even mousse flavors. I had Mars bar mousse and a flavor called something isabella that looked like vanilla and raspberry. I don't know what it truly was. Other than delicious. Oh. And they had giant cookies on a stick with the Pope's face on them. Yep, pictures are coming of that, too! Hahaha. 

In all our wandering, after the gelato was safely consumed, we ended up in what I believe must be the shopping district - so naturally we took advantage. It was only fitting though, since it was our last day and we still had some cash to spare. Plus, my backpack wasn't packed to bursting yet so obviously I needed to find a few more things to bring home. Yes, I was successful! And no, I didn't go broke, yay me! 

In the evening, our whole group (I'm pretty sure it was all 43 of us) met in a square for goodbye drinks. It was a little bittersweet and there were more than plenty of hugs shared, as well as stories, and a few more laughs with Steve and each other. Afterwards, a lot of us made one more trip to the Trevi Fountain - to see it at night and to make sure we made our wishes. It was definitely the perfect way to end the trip. 

Well, other than the fact that the adventures left me packing in the middle of the night and getting maybe two hours of sleep before waking up to be out of the hotel for 3:45 am. That, and our first flight to Frankfurt was more than a little rough. It didn't help that the check in desks were beyond behind schedule and a crazy mess. They finally realized we needed to check our bags when we only had ten minutes before boarding. Then there was a nice sprint to security, where we cut and made it through about two minutes after boarding was scheduled to start. I say scheduled because we definitely waited in another line when we got to our gate because of technical difficulties... Like no seating arrangements. Good times! 

Anyways, we made it through that and safely to our second, and last flight home in just enough time to load up on snacks. It's nap time for me soon now - they're about to serve our meal, then my neck pillow and I are off to oblivion. Only 9 or so hours til touchdown on Texas! That's enough for a night's sleep :) 
Lucy

Roaming Rome

July 13

So I have successfully started the last leg of my journey. This morning we checked out of our hotel in Florence and climbed on our last bus ride to Roma. Thankfully, it wasn't too rough of a bus ride. 

For the most part on our travel days, I just sleep. I'm sure you all know how great at sleeping I am, so the traveling days aren't too bad for me. And since it's hard to be fully rested when you've been sleeping in hotels, buses, boats and trains for a month, I've been sleeping the whole rides. So yes, I did spend most of today asleep on a bus. We did get a pretty nice break in Siena for a few hours around lunch time, too. The view was beautiful. A few dedicated people even ran all the way down the hill to take pictures in sunflower fields. I didn't make that far, but it was nice to see the Duomo in Siena and just stretch my legs and refuel. 

After our lunch break, we climbed back on the bus and I went back to sleep to finish out the ride to Roma. 

Tonight we are having an unscheduled walking tour with Steve, which I'm quite looking forward too. And the next three days are quite busy, so I'll be here and there - and studiously researching and writing my term paper. But don't worry, I'll be up bright and early (if I sleep at all) on Sunday to catch my 6:20 flight home. Just found out we have to leave the hotel at 3:45. Yep, am. Giddyup! 

Anyways, I'll let you know how Roma is when I get the chance. Miss you all!
Lucy

July 14th
The walking tour last night was pretty fun. We walked around and saw some of the fountains, including the Quattro Fontane, with it the Carlino, and the Trevi Fountain. It was absolutely nuts how many people were crowding the fountain. It was really cool to see though. And in the heat of the day, it was really tempting to see - I definitely wanted to go swimming. The unfortunate scenario of a massive fine prevented me, though. 

After the Trevi, we continued to "Follow the Steve" as I like to call it. All the way up to a pub with a sign that said, "Skip the Trevi, have a bevy". It was happy hour, so Steve continued right on inside. 

After just hanging out for a while, a few of us decided to split off and find some dinner. I honestly don't know how Italians take so long to eat - I'm usually ravenous by the time we sit down, and then the lax atmosphere doesn't put my food in front of me right away and I get so antsy. Hopefully I'll manage to have a proper meal and not be antsy at least once before the end of the trip! 

Anyways, after a nice dinner, we wandered back to the hotel and my exhaustion brought me straight to bed. Unfortunately, I woke up with a head full of congestion. Not fun, especially on the one morning we had to wake up extra early for a trip to the Vatican. 

But don't worry, I'm a trooper. Popped my sudafed, stole a large amount of tissues from our hotel room, and began chugging water to hydrate. The benefits of my high tech medicinal techniques has yet to kick in, but I'm still trooping. And the Vatican was still awesome. It was quite huge, and our guide told us more than plenty about everything we saw. But it was worth it. Wearing my dress, tights and sweater to be fully covered (in the nice, sweltering summer weather) was worth it. The Sistine Chapel is so crazy. So are the guards who yell, like clockwork, "Shhhhh! Silence! No foto!". I might have enjoyed making fun of them. The ceiling was cool too :) At Steve's recommendation, I'm considering getting a book on it, because you definitely can't study it in a brief twenty minute visit with a million of your not close friends. And your neck starts to hurt after awhile. But still way cool. 

Even better than the Sistine Chapel was St. Peter's Basillica. For at least the first ten minutes, I just stood there in awe, looking up. Ok, let's get real - that's how I spent the whole visit. It's phenomenal. And massive! I definitely felt like a small child or even just a tiny doll in a massive doll house. A more than massive play house. It was nuts. But so cool. The ceilings, the floors, the sculptures, the mosaics, and just it all. I'll stop listing every aspect, but it was wonderful. One of my friend's took some nice pictures (for her and me) so I'll post them later. Get pumped! 

Sidenote about pictures. I'll probably just post pictures in order of my trip when I get home. So I'll relive the trip, city by city, as I can once I'm back in the states. So stay tuned, things won't end Sunday! 

Anyways. After the Vatican, the sudafed was wearing off so I drugged back up and took an epic nap for the afternoon. I was still feeling rough afterwards, but I did manage to start my paper... And I'm now in a theater, typing this on my phone, waiting to see Harry Potter 7.2 - needless to say, I'm excited and need to go! 

Let you know what I'm up to later, after my date with Harry :) 
Lucy

Duomo, Duomo, Duomo

So I have to say, Florence had yet to floor me. I did almost wish our free day had been in Rome, but I completely take that back. Most of our group went galavanting off on a wine tour today, and many went on train adventures to the beach or Piza. But I am so glad I didn't
Myself and two friends decided to brave the line for the duomo this afternoon. It was later, so our line was waiting in the shade, which definitely helped. But the line did move pretty fast. And it was beyond worth it. The line was shorter than going into the cathedral and we saw so much more. Instead of standing under, in one spot, we climbed. We stood next to the ceiling paintings. I could almost reach up and touch the cracks in the inner dome. Don't worry, those are not serious cracks! And we could see the whole inside of the floor plan downstairs. Not to mention climbing up between the two domes. You can barely tell unless you're taking in your surroudings as you climb and see the curve of the inner dome to one side. And right before you reach the top, you literally have to walk up the inner dome. The steps are almost vertical, very much like a ladder. Not worrisome going up, but a little tricky climbing down. But still worth it.

From the top, we had a gorgeous panoramic view of Florence. We could see the Santa Croce, the Medici palace we walk past to dinner at night, the city center arches , and a phenomenal amour more. Including the mountains in the distance! Even though it would have looked phenomenal on film, the view was still worth it without being able to document it.

And long story short, the Fuomo made Florence worth it. Dinner afterwards and time with friends was fabulous. But the Duomo took my breathe away. Of suggest it to slob

I'm off to Rome tomorrow, so I'll update you when we manage to steal wifi there. I love you all, though! Cross your fingers I actually write my term paper on the bus tomorrow like I've been saying I'm going to!
Lucy

An Italian Relaxation

Today is a free day and so far it has been the best day yet. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating, but sleeping in, having a late breakfast in my pjs and not even know what my plans are yet. Well, that's a lie, I have plans. But they are relaxed and flexible and I love it.

That's not to say I've caught up on sleep, because who can in squeaky hotel beds, but it's ok. I'll catch up soon enough!

I did get to see plenty yesterday, though! The walking tour, though it was beyond ridiculously hot, was nice. We saw so much - including the Santa Croce, definitely the best part. We saw the graves of Michaelangelo, Machiavelli and Galileo, as well as many others. Really legit. I didn't have my camera, but the sights were still lovely. And I looked super cute with my shoulders and knees covered (using a scarf as a sarong). The guard laughed at me, but I was allowed to go inside so I didn't complain. I'm pretty sure someone took my picture in my ridiculous outfit, so don't worry, you will get to see it later.

Last night, the day just got even better when we had a true Italian dinner. None of the staff spoke any English and that's how you know the food was lovely. The vino and limo cello were too :) the night ended peacefully on our hotel's rooftop garden, sharing stories and nothing too terrible.

Well, the day is about to begin, so I must be off. Talk to you again soon!
Lucy

A few trivial updates

Learning how to steal wifi is probably the epitome of a broke college student. Everyone searches for the one network we can get on just to check Facebook and skype and all sorts of things. As you can tell, we're getting pretty good at it.

Just a few things in this post. For one, my camera is beyond my repair capabilities :( I know, I promise I'm more upset than you are. Taking pictures on my phone is not how I wanted to capture Florence and Rome. But as it is only the last few days, I will survive. And probably steal photos from some friends who also know what's up.

Next, my eye is completely recovered. I probably just got something in it, but whatever it was is gone now and I've thankfully abandoned my glasses once again. Which is awesome because it's ridiculously hot. All of my clothes finish the day soaked in sweat. It's quite delightful smelling, promise. It has made me immensely grateful I brought my waterbottle. Otherwise I'm pretty positive I would have had a heat stroke by now.

Naps have become a more frequent activity for the group as a whole because no one seems to get enough sleep and venturing out into the heat does not sound appealing at all. But don't worry, we have an afternoon walking tour today! Thankfully, we stayed inside this morning for a lecture almost as if they're trying to keep us as cool as possible so we don't pass out during the tour. It should be delightful though! I'll let you know later - and hopefully I'll acquire pictures some how!

Lucy

Finding Firenze

So my computer does not like the new wifi system next door to our hotel so I'm typing this on my phone. Please forgive any errors, I'm doing my best!

Anyways. I last left you when I was spending money in the Venice markets - they were lovely! I don't remember if I mentioned, but we did get to visit the Academia in Venice, as well as the Guggenheim. The Guggenheim was definitely my favorite of the two. Some cool stuff there - including Jackson Pollock, who I had never heard of before, but surprisingly enjoyed. Their was some crazy stuff too, but when isn't there?

After the Guggenheim, we packed up and enjoyed a nice, steamy ride of the ferry before our four hour bus ride to Florence. This is the first time I've been consciously thankful for the cram amine I've been taking on travel days. All sorts of motion sickness pills and techniques were being passed all over the bus for the last hour or so, it was a little rough. We all survived though and got to enjoy Florence for the evening! It was stupendous just walking down the street, aimlessly following streets to find some dinner, only to come around the corner and have the Duomo looming overheard. So phenomenal. I didn't take my camera with me, something I sincerely regret now since my camera is having technical difficulties :( will update on that once I manage to figure it out.

This morning we visited the Academia of Florence, and there was some cool stuff. Their prize piece is definitely Michaelangelo's David. Not too bad if you ask me. It's definitely way taller than I was expecting. I haven't figured out what makes it rank so much higher than some of the other statues, but that's just me. Maybe I'm also biased when it comes to David's, but who could say.

After the Academia, there was quite a movement to the leather market. Delightful smell - even despitethe heat and sweat going on. I enjoyed looking around. And no, I didn't go crazy! I just found a thing or two. And helped some friends drive down their prices :)

After lunch, where the pizza maker was sweet enough to make out bread into little pizza hearts, we headed to the Uffizi. The tour guide we had was a little dry, and hard to handle in the epic heat, but we wandered on our own for awhile, enjoying the pieces for our own delight. The late afternoon yielded some shopping before some relaxation - and a cafe with free wifi, obviously.

Oh, and just a side note, I don't have pink eye. My eye was quite swollen last night, and still pretty bad this morning, but the day and plenty of cleanings have helped. And I'm pretty sure the girl who had pink eye was a bit of a false alarm. So I am ok, don't freak out over my melodramatics. But I'm sure you are all used to that by now :)

Ok too much phone typing! Need to get back to exploring and enjoying my last week of Italia! Hopefully we will be a safe distance from the leather market, otherwise I may come home broke :)
Lucy

Vive Venezia

Don't kill me if the title isn't correct... I'm good at ciao and gratzi and that's about it, haha!
BUT. Venice is lovely!

Definitely by far my favorite and I've only been here one day. We've wandered the streets and canals and definitely gotten lost and it's been great.

We came in early last night and just spent some time looking around before settling in for some Italian pasta, followed, of course, by gelato. It was delicious. We did some more wandering afterwards, just enjoying the lights along the canal before turning in early.

This morning we had to be up early, but it was worth it because the breakfast in this hotel is wonderful. Sadly it was cut short because a lot of us had to change to accommodate a visit to St. Mark's Cathedral, where we needed to have our shoulders and knees covered. I ended up wearing leggings under my dress for that portion of the morning - real cute, promise. The visit was great though. The inside of the cathedral is beyond elaborate, and the intense amounts of detail are yet again, breath taking. I do still love Chartes more, but Chartes and I have a once in a lifetime kind of love. After St. Mark's, we walked through the Doges Palace next door. It was an incredibly different sort of wonderful, one I think I liked more than the cathedral. There was a lot more openness. Can't say much for the simpleness, though because both places were covered in gold leaf. We did get to cross the Bridge of Sighs - which I was unaware lead from the Palace to the prison. And it was actually deemed the Bridge of Sighs because of the prisoners sighing as they walked across it to the chopping block. Terribly depressing if you ask me! But still really cool to see and learn.

After the square, we followed our crazy tour guide all over Venice. It was kind of ridiculous how fast he expected all of us to follow him when it's a group of over 40 down narrow streets, filled with cute shops which distracted all the girls in the group - which is about 90% of our group. It definitely sparked ideas for our free time after the tour! We did see some other places with our tour guide - primarily the Basilica dei Frari. There was a lot more sculpture inside of this cathedral, which I really enjoyed. The unfortunate thing about having a tour guide, though, is that they tend to rush you through some of the nicer things so that you see everything. So we saw and heard a lot, but mildly briefly. Still enjoyable though!

After the tour finished, they took us to the canal where we could take a very short gondola ride across the canal to make our trip back shorter. It was fun to experience and photo graph, as well as very telling that I could not handle a full gondola ride all across the canals. I was way too nervous I was going to fall out at any second - not very relaxing.

This afternoon we had a brief lecture, followed by shopping. The shopping was not a class requirement, but I'm pretty sure the whole class did some shopping of some sort. The few I was with definitely ran into other groups throughout the afternoon, in various states of purchases. It was great. Don't worry, I'm not broke, yet! I did come home feeling like the picture of an Italian vacation in a summer dress, Venetian hat, and a spring in my step. The spring possibly due to the visit at a local wine bar with our professor, but either way, I had fun!

It was a delightful day, and there is more to happen tomorrow! It's crazy I'm down to only ten days left - how times flies!
Need to go make the most of what I have left!
Lucy

Putting the Luce in Lucerne

Picnic at the Eiffel Tower was quite a success! We had a really good attendance rate and it was a lot of fun. Definitely a good way to finish off the trip to Paris. And get some incredible pictures of the Eiffel Tower at sunset!

After the picnic, things were pretty tame. A few of us did some laundry, before packing to wake up plenty early for our bus to Lucerne. I pretty much spent most of the bus ride asleep. Take a nap, wake up for a rest top. Take a nap, wake up for a rest stop. Take a nap, wake up in Lucerne. Not too bad, if you ask me. And if helped because I was definitely ready to celebrate my birthday when we got here! For once we arrived early (around 6:30) and so we didn't have to run around frantically to find a place not yet closed to dinner. A few of us found a nice restaurant by the river where we enjoyed some food before we met up with a bigger group of people to hang out with. We ended up at a British pub along the river, making friends with a bunch of people from South Africa (who sang me happy birthday). Talk about random. But it was a lot of fun, and definitely a valid birthday celebration. There was no shortage of birthday toasts and birthday girl demands. Don't worry, I did some two-stepping in the hotel when we made it back. It was delightful.

I'm really glad I didn't have to be up til after 10 today, otherwise things may have been rough!
We did a brief walking tour of Lucerne - it was absolutely gorgeous! I took plenty of pictures that will be posted soon enough. Well, probably not soon, haha. But they will be posted eventually. I'm uploading 924 right now from Belgium, Paris and Lucerne.

I also have pictures of these gorgeous flowers that were waiting in my hotel room for me when I got to Lucerne yesterday. They are absolutely precious, I wish we were here longer so I could fully enjoy them! Tomorrow might be an adventure because I'm considering attempting to take them with me. If only we didn't have three different train rides scheduled!

After the walking tour, we enjoyed some lunch and continued the walk around town. Don't worry, we found chocolate to enjoy. There is plenty of that coming home with me!
After some light shopping, we found the lake. It was the best way to spend a free afternoon, lounging on some grass by a beautiful lake! The water was quite chilly, but it was still great and definitely a good time to relax. Lucerne was mainly meant to be a break in the trip because we have done so much and have lots more to do when we get to Italy, and it definitely has been. I'm sad for it to be over, though!

But, the trip must go on. Three cheers for Italia!
Lucy

Color Me Impressed by Impressionists

Monet's House is absolutely precious. It was really small and simple and just seemed so peaceful. Not to mention the extensive and beautiful garden outside. I definitely spent more time exploring and photographing the garden and the water garden (yup, with the water lillies!) than I did walking through the house. And since I haven't sorted or uploaded my pictures yet, I'm now going to incorporate pictures from friends.

My friend Liz and I in the garden

So I loved the garden. After we got back from Giverny, we returned to Notre Dame to climb up the towers. We had to go up 400 steps, but it was worth it. We saw one of the bells and an excellent panoramic view of Paris from the very top of one of the towers. Excellent pictures will be coming as soon as I upload them. Pretty sure I have over 700 to upload from Bruges and Paris. So needless to say, I've been snap happy :)

After Notre Dame, we just wandered back towards our hotel and grabbed dinner, nothing too exciting. The guy who took my order did speak to me in French, Spanish, English and Italian. I was quite confused and I just kept smiling, except he gave me free fries so I didn't complain haha.

Today we had another lecture, then just did some more exploring of Paris before visiting the Lourve. I have to say, after Chartes, Monet's House, the Van Gogh Museum, the Musee d'Orsey and Notre Dame, I wasn't too impressed. The works of art weren't my favorite, the amount of people was absolutely nuts, and I just didn't have an enjoyable experience. The architecture was pretty cool, and I did enjoy some of the ceilings, so I did get some pictures, but I wasn't blown away. And as for the Mona Lisa.. well. It's not my type of painting to begin with, and the gazillion people elbowing you in the ribs to take a crappy photo of it really didn't enhance the experience. It's absolutely nuts how people were fighting over getting close to this painting of (don't shoot me) an ugly woman.

Anyways. After the Lourve, we tired to wander and do some shopping.. Key word, tried. Apparently there is a Tropical Carnival of Paris today? AKA a giant parade with loads of people dressed up. It was crazy packed and we ended up lost, attempting to find a metro station just to get out of there and make it home. Nuts. But kind of fun to say I saw, even if it was by total accident.

In just a little bit, I'm headed out again because our group is having a picnic by the "Eiffel T" for dinner. Super cute, I know. Don't worry, pictures will follow! And Liz will probably upload them sooner than I will so you'll see some relatively soon. Here is one that she and I took on our bus tour the other day, though!

Photo credit to Steve, love of my life

Anyways, off to Switzerland in the morning! Let you know how it is when I can.
Lucy

Sidenote

Hello friends,
I know, posting again so soon - out of control! I just wanted to answer a bit of a general question. No, I do not get voicemails here. I love all of you and that you want to call me on Monday, and I SUPER appreciate it, but I won't get the messages until I get back to the states in mid-July. And, since I am traveling (on a nine hour bus ride, yay!) on Monday, I won't have wifi most of the day. I will in the morning, before we leave, but that's like... pre-nine in the morning here, which is before two in the morning Texas time. So I understand if you won't be awake. I haven't been told yet whether or not we will have wifi access once we get to Lucerne, so I also don't know what the deal will be there. I know we will make rest stops along the way, and a lot of them offer free wifi, so what I can do is receive emails on our stops! So hit up my gmail if you feel so inclined, and if not, skype will come up at some point - maybe later in the week if we don't have it in Lucerne, but that's something to play by ear.

So yes, emails are great. Facebook is functional too. Beyond that, who knows!

On a more exciting note, we had the morning free today so a few of us decided to go and visit Notre Dame. I took an obscene amount of pictures, so get excited for those. It was absolutely beautiful. Pretty crowded, though, but that's expected on a Saturday morning. We didn't have time to go up the tower because we're headed to Monet's house this afternoon (no big deal), but we may try again later or this evening. Cross your fingers!

Love you all!
Lucy

Hearts for Chartes

So I successfully made it to Paris! I'm sure you could already tell. The bus ride was a little long, but the stop in Belgium was great, though short. But it was long enough to have some chocolate :)

We arrived late on Wednesday night though, so nothing too exciting happened. But Thursday we started early with a bus tour. Our guide took us all over the city, provided lots of history and photo opportunities. It was nice to get a brief intro to the city. Afterwards we stopped by the Musee d'Orsay for a visit. It used to be a train station (I think) and was converted into a museum. The building is almost as sweet as the works inside. Yet another museum where you can't take pictures, but it was still phenomenal. It definitely fueled my obsession with post-impressionist work. It definitely reminds me of those pictures made up of a bunch of pictures compiled into one - where when you stand back they form a picture, but it is a picture made up of tiny pictures. Hopefully you all know what I mean. But it reminds me of that, but it's not done on a computer, but with strokes of color. Or sometimes just dots of color. So cool.

After the museum, we definitely did some wandering. A group of us walked from our hotel to the Arc de Triomphe. It was quite a long walk, but we saw a lot on our way. And we passed through a really cute park where we stopped to lay in the grass and chat for a while to rest our feet. The weather was absolutely beautiful so hanging in the park was almost as great as roaming the city. Once we set off again, we finally made it to the arch. Some great pictures were taken, and then we enjoyed the walk back. Once we made it back, we took advantage of the mini kitchens in our hotel rooms. The stove is tiny, but there is dishware and silverware which is incentive enough. We cooked some pasta, chicken and enjoyed cheese and wine for the evening. Around sunset (which is like 10 here - something I'm still not used to), we went to the square outside our hotel. We didn't actually get to watch the sunset because we were surrounded by five story buildings... but it's the thought that counts. It was a relaxing, but fun evening!

This morning, we set off on the bus to Chartes Cathedral. Excuse me while I proceed to ramble because I'm beyond obsessed. I thought I was in love with Westminster Abbey, but that was nothing. Chartes is absolutely beautiful. Simple, beautiful, wonderful. The architecture is wonderful - rose windows, flying buttresses, two different, but both magnificent spires. The gardens around it are adorable, too. One of my favorite parts is the labyrinth in the middle of the floor. In the middle of the church, there is a circular labyrinth you can walk. According to my professor, you can cover almost 2 miles if you walk it. I'm not sure I believe that, but who knows. It's a prayer labyrinth and I believe you are supposed to pause everytime you reach a bend, and reflect before turning the corner. At the middle, you reach a circle enclosed by semi circles. You spend time in each semicircle, working your way around until you step into the middle circle for the very end. As I was making my way around the circle, there was a group of people who would occasionally join in a chorus. It was random, and different the few times it came, but still phenomenal.  Just their voices helped me experience the acoustics of the cathedral, as well as the visual aspects. It was absolutely phenomenal, and if I could think of a better adjective, I would use it. I love, love, loved it. In case you couldn't tell :)

One other thing I love: nutella crepes. They are wonderful and I'm almost living off them. But I see no problem with that.

After Chartes, we drove to Versailles. It was huge, and elaborate, but I didn't fall for it like I did Chartes. It was also a little disappointing to only see a few rooms, be surrounded by a MILLION people while you do see them, and not get to see the gardens. The gardens abruptly and unexpectedly closed while we were inside, so we did not get to wander around them. It was more than a little bit of a let down, but these things happen. Because of it, we did come back to Paris earlier and have time to wander around. I finally got some pictures of the Centre Pompidou, which is right around the corner from our hotel, and a few of us enjoyed some "soldes" too.

As for now, I'm off the enjoy Paris because Paris is always a good idea.

Van Gogh-Gogh-Goghing

Definitely fell in love with Van Gogh all over again today. I forget how much I love his stuff until I see it again – and seeing it in person was beyond wonderful. Current favorite? Almond Blossoms. 

If I could have that painted on a wall in my bedroom, I would. Even flattened copies are wonderful.

But don’t get me wrong, you can’t beat the original. 

Before and after the Van Gogh Museum involved a lot of wandering. We wandered through the flower markets just around the corner from our hotel after lecture this morning, enjoying the intense amounts of flowers. It was kind of sad to learn that a lot of the nicely bloomed flowers towards the back of the displays were actually fake. But they were still pretty and I love them because they are flowers. I couldn’t resist buying a wooden tulip to bring back with me. Keeping it in one piece will be an experiment – cross your fingers! I will be doing my best though because the buying process was  quite extensive – involving multiple visits to many stalls, in search of the prettiest colors and / or ones to make my room. Of course. Don’t worry, the one chosen in the end (just one, because I could not complete a bouquet of my room colors), is pretty and will match. I know, you’re just as pumped as I am. 

After the flower market we finally tried the pancakes. And they were worth the repeated attempts to have them. A delicious chocolate pancake for lunch? Don’t mind if I do. After pancakes was when we visited the Van Gogh Museum, which happened to be right near the I Am sterdam sign. Don’t worry, pictures were taken.

So much wandering left us tired, so we made the trek back to our hotel. We’re just relaxing now before dinner and drinks with Steve, our professor. I should probably shower because the walking and the heat has left me quite smelly, and I need to look my best for Steve.

Get excited for tomorrow – our eight hour bus ride! We do make a stop for a few hours around lunch time in Bruges, where I’ve been told I have to have waffles. And then from Bruges, we’re off to Paris.

Such a rough life!

Lucy :)

PS I just uploaded 526 pictures from London and Amsterdam. Get excited!

I Minded the Gap

Hi all!

I, once again, have lost track of where I left off – but I am no longer in London! I didn’t end my stay quite with the bang I had hoped for due to a miniature cold, but I did enjoy myself. On my last day in London, I met up with my Aunt and we took a trip up the Thames River to see the O2. The O2 is like a giant concert arena, surrounded by lots of places to eat, a movie theater, and a few other exhibits. There was loads of Gleeks everywhere because there was a Glee show that night. No, I didn’t meet any of the cast. But it was still a cool coincidence. 

The boat trip up and back on the river was nice though – very relaxing and a chance to see more of London I hadn’t seen before. There’s some sweet architecture that has been and is being developed along there.

After getting back to central London, we had intended to wander around, maybe stop and relax somewhere and get a drink – but the onset of my baby cold saw this not happening. Thankfully, I was put back on a train with some cold medicine and a new pack of tissues and well wishes. I made it home in one piece (though this was the one and only occasion where I manage to get on the wrong train in the wrong direction), and after a nap, started to feel better. 

It was really great to see family in London – something I’ve always missed out on. It was one of the few times I’ve felt bonded to some Aunts, felt like I know cousins, and I got to enjoy the brag-about-your-baby-second-cousins moment :)

But, even though the family time and stay in London was short lived, some friends and I successfully ended our time in England the right way – at a pub with fish and chips and a drink. And then I headed to bed afterwards so that I didn’t have my cold worse when I woke up at 5 AM the next morning.

Waking up at 5 AM was quite delightful, as I’m sure you can all imagine. After a mildly sketchy breakfast, packaged in a box complete with long lasting milk (don’t think about it, you’ll shiver less), we were loaded on a bus to our ferry. Most of the crew enjoyed a two hour nap, and woke up at the dock. To those of you who warned me of sea sickness and the unfortunate ferry I’d be taking… I think the ferry has changed. I’m pretty sure I was on a miniature cruise ship. I slept for a solid five hours in comfort whilst aboard and it was glorious. Though, don’t worry, the food aboard was still ridiculously overpriced.

After the ferry, and a rough hour or so bus ride, we finally arrived in Amsterdam. It was almost ten o’clock so we made a very quick walk around our hotel to find dinner. I was quite happy to go to bed afterwards – and I’m glad I did because today was exhausting!

We started with breakfast, then a lecture, and then a few hours of free time. We wandered up the street, window shopping in a few shops, until we found a local museum we looked through. Afterwards we found some frozen yogurt. I was asked if it tastes better in Europe. We decided most things are better in Europe – even Katy Perry music. If only the difference wasn’t reflected in the price.

After lunch (which came after the frozen yogurt – dessert first, of course), we met up with our group to go to the Rijksmuseum. Another delightful place. Lots of Vermeer and Rembrant, which I enjoyed. All these paintings we see in passing – so much better in real life. I’m so excited for the Van Gogh museum tomorrow! That will be phenomenal, I’m sure.

What was also amazing was visiting the Anne Frank House. I don’t even have many words to describe it – it’s definitely something that needs to be experienced individually. I definitely suggest it if any of you ever make it to Amsterdam!

By that time in the afternoon/evening we were pretty beat so we grabbed some dinner before plopping down in the lobby to use the free wifi and simply sit after a day of walking.  Plus we couldn’t use all our energy if we’re renting bikes tomorrow! I’m pumped for that. Except nervous too because my track record as a driver and a pedestrian are bad. I feel like my success as a biker will probably be doubleplusungood. Cross your fingers for me, though!

Lucy

Learning in London

Not quite sure where I left off - I did enjoy the National Gallery! It was phenomenal and I spent plenty of time there, as well as talking to my professor. Steve is great, and I enjoy learning what he does know. And what he doesn't know is just as interesting because trading ideas is definitely rewarding.

Yesterday morning we went to St. Paul's Cathedral! It was delightful - though yet another place we could not take pictures. The architecture was phenomenal though. Its visits like this that have me befriending my hand sanitizer because I walk around looking up, touching all the walls, which can't leave my hands very clean. I think the most surprising thing about the Cathedral was learning how part of it is dedicated to America. Yup. Apparently, after the second world war, they redid the front (the section considered to resemble the head of Christ on a Latin Cross layout) because it was hit by a bomb. In the stained glass there is a symbol for each of the states (excluding Alaska and Hawaii). There is a book on display with the names of all known 1200 or so dead who lost their lives in the war. There is even a space ship in one of the floral wood carvings to represent the USA. Cool, right?

Also sweet, which made me think of Dan Brown, was how the architect (who wasn't really an architect) was a Free Mason, so inside the Cathedral, one of the ceiling designs is the symbol of the Free Masons and he is buried in the crypt directly below this symbol. Sweet.

After St. Paul's we had some time to walk around with our tour guide, learning about the architecture of the city. Yet another thing that I took a million pictures of. I've had my camera in action 4 days and already taken over 400 pictures. Course I take every picture at least three times, so some editing will be done, but don't worry, I have plenty to share! I learned a lot there too, but I won't bore you with the details.

Afterwards we had an afternoon lecture, followed by some relaxing. We attempting to do some assignments.. but hanging out is way more fun! And then we ended up on a boat, so homework was out of the question. The boat was a lot of fun - yes, I made my typical musical requests and spent most of the time on the dance floor. So yes, I had a good time! And seeing the London sunset and the night lights was great. I loved it!

Today we took two tours - the Tate Modern, which was phenomenal, especially with my low expectations, and the Victoria and Albert - again phenomenal. I could have easily stayed at either for the whole day. Yes, this is a great program for me and I'm having a blast!

I finished the evening with seeing some family for a nice dinner which was really great too! There are pictures then, too! Those will be shared when I figure out my memory card, I promise.

Tomorrow I get a free day and more time to see family!
Afterwards, we travel to Amsterdam. We do not have a campus there, so no promises on updates. Wifi may possibly be a lot harder to come by so don't worry, I'll update when I can, but it probably won't be as regular! We also get a lot busier after London because our stays are shorter, so I'll be absorbing as much as possible. I'll check in when I can though.
Love you all!
Lucy

A Few Pictures

Didn't actually get to take my camera inside the National Gallery today - but I did take plenty of pictures outside. Unfortunately, when I tried to upload pictures earlier, my computer wanted to reformat my memory card. Which would erase all my pictures. SO. That is being saved for a later date, probably a safer one. Which will most likely be after the trip is over.

I'm sorry you won't get to see the sights til later, but here are a few from the Kensington Gardens I took on my phone.

We weren't the only ones enjoying the weather!

Hey, let's go see that sweet statue!

A close-up of Albert

Relaxing Next to the Lake

This was the day I didn't have my camera, so the pictures are few and far between and not that great - sorry! Wish I could show some better ones sooner! Don't worry, I did climb on a lion statue at Trafalgar Square. It was a little dangerous, but totally worth it. And the National Gallery was super legit. We spent easily three hours, walking around, discussing some of the pieces and just enjoying the art. So many nice pieces - I'm even more excited for the Van Gogh Museum now!

And after a chill afternoon, we went to a pub for dinner. By popular demand I had fish and chips for dinner with shandy. Good suggestions all around!

Off to St. Paul's Cathedral tomorrow and to explore London some more - possibly a trip to Harrod's in the afternoon! And a boat party is planned for the evening - ohh the possibilities!
Update again soon,
Lucy

Tours Galore!

Hi all!

Still in London, and I’ve seen all sorts of weather and things. We had our official orientation yesterday morning, everyone was [somewhat] introduced, and we had our first tour! It was a simple bus tour around a few parts of London – with quite a rambling guide who enjoyed pointing out all the dogs we drove past as much as the buildings. I did learn a lot and see a lot, though. We made a stop at Westminster Abbey – so beautiful. I was itching to pull out my camera the whole time we were inside, and I wish I had been allowed to! I took plenty of shots of the outside, though, and soaked up as much of the inside as I could while I was there. Oh, and don’t worry, a few of us did wander through the photo gallery of the Royal Wedding. Almost as phenomenal as the church in which it was held. Don’t worry, I’ll probably get married there, too, you’re all invited. 

After the tour ended, early afternoon, a few of us decided to take an adventure on the tube back to the places we drove past. We saw a lot on the bus, but there is a huge difference between driving slowly past and standing there in front of something, gazing up in awe. Oh, and taking the typical pictures in front of everything. Among the sights discovered were Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, and the London Bridge. We were so lucky to have some gorgeous weather as we wandered around, so the pictures should come out quite nicely! You can take a look and see what you think for yourself. I’m lucky enough to be friends with someone who owns a Cannon Rebel – and though it is a little different from my Nikon, it’s still really easy to swap cameras and take photos for each other which is great. It’s way easier than having to explain how to zoom and look through a view finder every time I want my picture taken. She feels the same, too. 

After seeing some sights and wandering around (and maybe climbing on top of things to have pictures with statues), we tried to head home on the tube. I say tried because as soon as we were about to exit our station, we ran into a group of our friends heading out for the night. We turned around and headed out to explore the Picadilly Circus night life – definitely an adventure! Though I, sadly, did not get a chance to venture into M&M World. I’m sure I’ll make it back there, though. 

We had our first lecture this morning – mainly an introduction to European Art and Architecture, something the peak our interest and comfort those who have never seen or talking about art or architecture before. The more in depth things will happen during our visit to the National Gallery this afternoon. I haven’t been told if we’re allowed cameras or not inside, but I’ll be taking mine either way!

Also, just as a sidenote, I love you all, and really appreciate your comments, emails, facebooks, etc. But, with so much opportunity to do and see, I’m not spending infinite amounts of time in the computer lab – which is on campus, which is not as near our hotel as I’m sure you all imagine. And the wifi on campus isn’t particularly top notch – so please don’t think I don’t love you if I don’t send lengthy responses or if I fail to like your comments or whatever. Facebook particularly is slow to navigate, so I’m using it as minimally as possible. Reach me here or at my email address (if you don’t have it, let me know and I’ll message it to you!) if you need anything and I’ll do my best to respond when I find access! 

 Lucy