Venice!

Ciao Bella!

My 4th destination on my spring break was Venice!  It was a very relaxing and beautiful 3 days.  Karissa, Erik, and I probably walked around the entire city in those 3 days but we also had a chance to visit another island nearby.

On our first full day we decided to go over to Lido and spend some time on the beach.  The water taxi took about 30mins since there was no bridge.  The water was very rough but very nice.  When we got to Lido we laid out in the sun for a while and enjoyed the warm but not too warm weather.  We probably hung out there for a few hours before we decided to grab a quick lunch and head back to Venice.  Thanks to the ride to Lido we actually circled all of Venice on the water taxi.  Venice was the smallest city we visited.  After showering and cleaning up we decided to just walk around the city some more.  We decided to eat out for dinner and we had some good pasta and delicious wine.  Of course for dessert we had to have some gelato.  We probably had gelato at least once a day if not twice.  

Our second day we headed to San Marco's square, where we visited the Basilica and walked around the canal some more.  We stumbled upon a random Vivaldi Museum with lots of old instruments and sheet music.  There were alot of Churches but nothing as grand as we are going to see in Rome.  Although it's hard to top Rome when it comes to churches.  We walked around more then we have in any other city.  Venice wasn't filled with a whole lot of attractions but it was a very beautiful city.

There are actually no cars in Venice.  But there were alot of boats...and bridges.  Venice has over 400 bridges!  I felt like I walked over half of them in my 3 days.  It is also a very crowded city in the big sections.  Lots of street vendors and there is not alot of room for walking.  We would be walking down a road and all of the sudden it would end into a wall.  Lets just say there was alot of back tracking lol.

On our final day, again, we just enjoyed the beautiful city for free lol.  Our flight was in the late afternoon but we had to take a bus out to the airport so we headed out around 3pm for our final destination on our trip....ROME!  

Venice was our vacation during our vacation.  Not as fast pace as the rest of our cities but still beautiful and fun.  I definitely had a wonderful time in Venice!

Barcelona, Spain

Greetings from Barcelona!

2nd city in Spain and 3rd for my spring break trip.  Barcelona was filled with some of the most unique and creative architectural works I've ever seen.  I was happy to explore the city and enjoy all these amazing wonders.  

Sadly, my time in Barcelona was not filled with good weather.  It rained off and on the 3 days I spent there.  I have been lucky to have wonderful weather so far on my trip and the rest of my travels I was just as fortunate. 

We arrived very late to the city so we woke up later then usual.  We decided to start the day by 

just walking around and seeing what was near our hostel.  We were lucky that one of Gaudi's 

famous buildings was right around the corner from where we were staying.  This house was my favorite of all in Barcelona, Casa Batilo.  I did not go inside the house however; far to expensive.  I still got some great photos of the exterior.  We walked to Barcelona's Arc de Triomf and the part across

 from it.  The park had a grand fountain but it was under construction at the time so it was mostly covered up.

After some time at the park we went to Port Vell and walked around some more.  Of course it was raining the most on our first day!  Ugh!  At the port they had two big museums and lots of boats.  The coolest thing we saw was a monument dedicated to Christopher Columbus with him pointing out to sea.  

We left the Port and decided to head to the famous Sagrada Familia.  This cathedral will be the

 pride and

 glory of Gaudi in Barcelona.  Gaudi designed this building in the very late 19th century and into the 20th century.  Due to many setbacks from money to fires Gaudi was not able to see his masterpiece complete.  It won't be finished until 2022 at the earliest.  Even still under construction the Sagrada Familia was the coolest piece of architecture I've ever seen in my entire life.  Every piece was so detailed and unique I spent a long time just staring up.  The high vaulted ceilings inside were breathtaking.  I have decided to make an attempt to go see the building after it is complete.  This was the only building we paid to 

get into.  I just couldn't pass up the opportunity.  

We decided to take a break during the day to go back to the hostel to dry off and change.  We headed back out after some time had passed and the rain had stopped.  Our last stop for the day was to be Gaudi's Parc Guell.  Only a small part of

 the park is filled with some of Gaudi's designs.  The rest was never completed.  I was just so awe struck by Gaudi's work.  It's just so different.  I can't think of any other way to describe it!  I wish I could put up all my photos.  

Day 2 was not as filled with exploring but we still had a full day.  It was not raining yet so we decided to head down to the Port again and to go to the Aquarium that day.  Apparently it is the largest aquarium in Europe.  As we walked down Barcelona's narrow alley ways we stopped by a cathedral in the center of the city.  It had a beautiful courtyard but is badly in need of repair.  My favorite part of wandering is when I stumble upon some of the cities most popular sites without even trying.  The aquarium was very impressive and lots of fun.  It was however filled with many children.  The trip was worth it just to see the coolest fish I've ever seen!  It's called a

 sunfish and looks completely flat.  Sailors thought it was the reflection of the moon in the water.  But that leaves me to wonder why they named it the Sunfish instead of the Moonfish.  Anyway, here is a great photo of it!  After the aquarium our last destination for the day was the Musica Catalona.  We tried to take a tour but they were closed and we even went on our last day but it was Easter Sunday and they were still closed. 

Our last day we had a midday flight so we didn't have a chance to really do anything that day.  We just walked around some more before heading on the subway to the airport.

I loved Barcelona and really want to go back one day!  The next point on my journey was Venice. 

I've been back for over two weeks now and I've been studying hard for my finals, exercising, and enjoying my final month with my friends here.  I have my first 2 finals on Wednesday!  Wish me all luck!

Love - Erica

Madrid, Spain

Hola!

Now that my travels in France were over it was off to Spain!  I spent 3 days in Madrid, Spain.

This picture on the left is the Palacio Real (Royal Palace).  

On our arrival day we just walked around the city after getting settled.  Madrid is filled with lots of plazas and fountains.  The city is also a lot smaller then Paris so it was easier to get around on foot.

Our first full day we went to Plaza Mayor, the famous plaza in the middle of the city.  Then we went to Catedral de la Almudena and the Palacio Real which were originally connected as one big building.  The Cathedral may not have been the most grand that I've seen but it was definitely the most colorful of all my travels.  Later in the day we went to the Museo del Prado.  We saw many famous pieces by Goya, Caravaggio, and Raphael.  This art gallery is in my top 3 of 

Europe.  I was sad I didn't get a chance to see Adam and Eve because it was being worked on.

  But they had many others that I enjoyed.  We went to the Prado two days in a row since it was free entry from 6-8pm.  I love my free things!

With the encouragement of my father, I had a chance to enjoy some delicious Paella while in Madrid.  Here is a photo of me with my chicken paella!  Very yummy!

Our 3rd day in Madrid we went to Centra de Arte Reina Sofia which has many works by Picasso, including the famous Guernica.  It was very big and probably my favorite work in Spain.  Reina Sofia also had works by Dali, Gris, Miro, and Ganzalez.  This gallery was filled with more modern art.  I don't think I have enough depth to understand modern art.  We got a chance to go to the Botanical Gardens in Madrid.  I enjoyed the slower pace of sight seeing in Madrid.  I had the chance to actually enjoy 

the city itself as a whole.

Here is a photo of Plaza Mayor on the left.

Our final day in Madrid we went to the Museo de America in the morning before going to the very large Parque del Retiro.  If you looked at a map of Madrid the park covers a lot of the area.  They have a bunch of lakes in it and even some modern art sculptures.  Our flight to Barcelona was late in the evening so our last day was relaxing and stress free.

I love the Spanish culture and am very excited to take Spanish next year.  I also enjoyed the food very much!

Next destination, Barcelona! 

  

Paris

Salut!

Time of finish the last few blogs of my trip.  I spent 3 weeks traveling to 5 different cities!  My travels began in Paris, France!  I fell in love with the city.  I got to see so many amazing monuments.

Due to my overwhelming number of attractions I have decided to list everything I saw to save lots and lots of time lol.

Arrival Day, April 1: Basilique du Sacre-Coeur

Day 2, April 2: Spent 4 hours in the Louvre (Saw - Mona Lisa, Venus di Milo, Coronation of 

Empress Josephine, and lots of paintings and sculptures), Eiffel Tower (Climbed all the way to the top and got a great view of the city), Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel (also known as Napoleon's Arch), Garden des Tuileries, Obelisque, Hotel des Invalides.

Day 3, April 3: Notre Dame (the inside was incredible), Hotel de Ville, Tour Saint-Jacques, Le Pantheon (in the crypt they had Victor Hugo, Emile Zola, Voltaire, Rousseau, Louie Braille), the Catacombes, Cimetiere du Pere-Lachaise (saw the tombs of Chopin, Rossini, Noir, Morrison, Oscar Wilde).

Day 4, April 4: Spent the whole day at Versailles.  Chateau de Versailles, Les jardins (the Gardens), Le grand Trianon, Le Domaine de Marie-Antoinette, Le petit Trianon, Le Hameau.  The place was incredible and despite the season was still breathtaking.  We got to see even more paintings and 

famous exhibits.  

Day 5, April 5: Arc de Triumphe, Palais de la decouverte, Petit Palais, La Defense, Grand Palais, Palais Royal.

We also went to the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre at night to see the lights.  At 11pm the Eiffel Tower started flashing lights.

April 6th we spent a short amount of time before getting on our plain to Madrid, Spain!

Paris was my favorite city when it came to attractions.  The Louvre was the most incredible museum I've ever been in.  I would've loved to spend hours roaming around the place.  I loved the history Paris had to offer.  I also loved the nutella filled crepes!  Yum!

It was also helpful that so many french people spoke English.  The rest of our travels were not a convenient.

Paris was also the largest city we visited.  We had to make use of the subway system while we explored during the day.  Everything was very spread out. 

I definitely left a part of my heart in Paris!  

Next up Spain!

Au revoir!

London

Greetings my friends!

Here is my London blog!  Allison, Erik, and I spent 4 days in London, England.  I got a chance to see some stuff that I missed last time.  I got to go into Parliament, went to a cool market and spent lots of time on the underground.

I'm really glad I decided to go back a second time.  We arrived in London very late Thursday night or I guess you could say Friday morning.  But that didn't stop us from getting up early and heading out into the city.  

We went straight to Parliament and Westminster Friday morning.  Lucky for us, Parliament was open to the public and we decided to go inside and view members of the House of Commons during a session.  We also got to see the old great hall that was used when Parliament was a castle.  After leaving Parliament, we walked the short distance to Westminster.  I got some illegal pictures from inside the

 Abbey.  I just couldn't resist!  It really is amazing.  I got to see Chaucer, Handel, Mary, Queen of Scots, Queen Elizabeth 

I, and Bloody Mary.  My favorite part has to be the stained 

glass.  After Westminster we headed to the famous St. Paul's Cathedral.  Along with some more amazing illegal pictures from inside we saw the resting places of many famous 

Britains, including Horatio Nelson.  

After we left St. Paul's we went the Globe Theatre.  It was not the original but it was still very fun and different.  This was something Mom and I did not manage to squeeze into our time in London.  Erik, Allison and I walked around a lot even after everything closed.  Most nights we dined on McDonalds or Burgerking...nothing fancy for us.  We tend to spend very little on food.  Lunch everyday consists of PB&J sandwiches and we would probably be sick of them but we burn so much walking by the time we stop and eat we are starving.  But that is the life of a poor college student traveling through Europe.  :)

The next day we went to the Portobello Market.

  It was huge!  I've never seen a market this big.  It was divided into several sections.  Including a flea market, antiques, new and retro, and even

 food.  We didn't get to see half of it.  I bought some really cute jewelry pieces and a small dress...very English lol.  We hung around the

 market till about noon then decided to head back into central London.  Our next destination was the Tower of London where we spent 3 hours looking through towers and learning some of England's fascinating and bloody history.  Mom and I had visited the Tower when we went 2 years ago, but surprisingly there were some 

things new that I hadn't seen before.  We had lots of fun exploring the Tower and taking fun pictures.  Here is a picture of me in my favorite English King's Chair.  We all know Henry the 8th

 is a bad ass!  After seeing the incredible and most prized crown jewels we walked across Tower 

Bridge and I got a great picture of myself in the same spot that I was two years ago.  Looks the same but completely different at the same time.

After Tower bridge we walked down to Fleet St. and took many more photos.  We found some very cool buildings including the Australia House.  London has a building for each of it's old territories and some still current.  Althought I noticed America was not there lol.  I guess they are a little bitter about that one.  We met a friend from Cork for dinner that night and then headed back to our Hostel to prepare for another long day.  The first thing we did was head to King's Cross and get a picture with 9 and 3/4s.  For all of my Harry Potter fans you will understand the significance.  There was actually a line of people waiting to take their picture with 

it.  They even had half of a cart sticking out of the wall.  The 3 of us studious college students

 then headed to the British Museum and spent 3 hours on our own exploring the famous museum.  I know I've choosen the right major when I didn't want to leave the place.  I got to visit the exhibits I missed when mom and I visited there.  My major is still the Egyptian section.  I know I have to visit Egypt before I die.  My life would not be complete without it.  

Around 2:30pm we headed to the British Eye.  Something I didn't have a chance to do when Mom and I went but I was sure to book tickets in 

advance.  It was definitely a worth while thing to do.  I would recommend it to anyone who ever visits London.  You get to see the entire city.  The sight is breathtaking.  Here is a great picture of me with Parliament and Big Ben in the background.  I know you're all sick of see my beautiful face but this is my best picture with this background.  The Eye took about 30 mins and then we just walked around the city some more.  We watched some entertaining street performers for a little while and even went over to see Cleopatra's needle.  Hopefully we're not cursed now!  Our final destination for sunday was Trafalgar's Square.  Another thing I missed when I visited last time.  We spent some time just enjoying the afternoon air and sitting beneath Nelson's Monument.  

Monday was our final day in London and it was less then half a day.  We had to head to the

 airport pretty early for our flight back to Cork.  We got up earlier enough to go see the changing of the Guards and get some pictures of Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, and the Wellington Arch

.  London was a very successful trip and not even close to my last in Europe.  I am currently in Paris and will be heading off to Madrid very soon.

I have some amazing stories and photos from Paris!  I love the city so very much and can not wait to share my experiences with you all.  Promise to update very soon with Paris!

Love you all!

E

Edinburgh, Scotland and the Highlands

Hello friends and family!

Trying to knock out another blog entry for Edinburgh!!!  It was so unbelievable and amazing, I had the best time ever!

This trip was probably my favorite so far since arriving in January!

We had five days to explore Edinburgh and the highlands of Scotland.  We saw so many historical sites and we even got to see Loch Ness!  Although I did not get to see Nessie.  This first picture is my "I think I saw her" face.

Friday, our first day in Edinburgh we decided to explore Edinburgh Castle and do some other things on the Royal Mile (the main historic st in Edinburgh).  

However, we started out by booking a 12 hour Highland tour for Sunday.  After we took care of

 that, we climbed the mound up to Edinburgh Castle.  It reminded me alot of Windsor Castle.

  The castle is built on top of an old volcano so it was really far up and very windy at the top.  We

 spent about 3 hours exploring the grounds and learning alot about the history of Edinburgh.

After we finished at the castle we headed to the Scotch Whiskey Experience to whether Irish Jameson is truly the greatest of all whiskeys!  We

 learned about the brewing and 

blending.  I think my favorite part of the tour was

 the 2 free shots of whiskey we got at the end :)

Our last place of the day was something called Camera Obscure.  At the top of this tower was a small mirror that went around the whole city.  It was surprisingly focused and we got some great

 views.  They also had a bunch of crazy pictures and illusions.  We had a quick meal at McDonalds and headed to bed early for another day in Edinburgh.

On Saturday is was also fairly nice out so we took the bus to the Botanical Gardens.  I found that there is a plant named after me!  I was very excited.  We walked around for a really long time 

and went into the glass houses with lots of exotic plants.  The gardens were really refreshing and I also bought a small plant for my room.  It's a chives plant and so far it's still alive.  After we left

 the gardens we headed back into the city an 

went to the National Gallery.  Surprisingly, they had

 some really famous painters in their collections including Rembrandt and Rubens.  We got kicked out at 5 and later met a friend from Washington College for dinner and some drinks.

Sunday was our long 12 hour tour up to the

 highlands.  The scenery was amazing and my pictures could not compare to the landscape that I got to witness.  I even had a haggis sandwich in the morning...blah one and only.

Loch Ness was amazing but I'm sad I didn't get to see Nessie!  I got a nice necklace and we got to ride a boat on the Loch.  We saw a small castle on the Loch which you can see in the picture.  This tour was extremely long with alot of riding on the bus.  The trip took up the entire day but it was totally worth it.

On Monday we walked the Royal Mile and hit up even more cool historical sites.  We started out at St. Giles Cathedral.  Very grand and beautiful.  We quickly headed to my favorite part of

 Edinburgh, Mary King's Close.  It is an underground street that was paved over.  I've never seen anything like it!  We were not allowed 

to take pictures but it was amazing.  I did take a picture of a model of the street.  We heard some local ghost stories and history of how the city used to be.  Let's just say I would not want to live in that time!

After our guided tour through Mary King's Close we went to the National Museum of Scotland.  Not much different then any other museum but still interesting.  They had the first cloned sheep in the museum...I forgot the name.

The last thing we did that day was go to Scottish Parliament.  The building was designed by an architect from Barcelona.  It was extremely

 unique and creative.  It makes me excited to go to Barcelona which is famous for their amazing architecture.  The day was very productive and we still had all of Tuesday to finish up some more stuff before our flight that night.  Our last night in Edinburgh we had a 12 person hostel room with just the 3 of us in it.  So Allison and i decided to build a fort using the extra sheets and comforters.  It was really fun!  I really enjoy staying in hostels...it's quite an experience.

Tuesday morning we went to Holyrood Palace that is occupied by Queen Elizabeth II when she visits Scotland.  We saw the rooms of Mary, Queen of Scots.  She is really big in Scotland...weird.  

The grounds also had the ruins of an old Church.  It was very beautiful.  I really love Great Britain's history!  After we left the palace we went to the Aquarium!  It was nothing compared to the Baltimore Aquarium but it was still nice. 

After the Aquarium we went back into the city to see Nelson's monument, the National Monument and this old cemetery in the city.

We flew back into Shannon airport late that night and had to sleep in the airport till 7am the next morning to take the bus back to Cork.  It was not an experience I wish to repeat but I survived.  Edinburgh was an amazing city!  I would recommend going to Scotland even before Ireland!

I loved Scotland!!!

Dublin!

Hey Everyone!

I'm finally getting my Dublin blog up!  It was a great city.  Allison, Erik and I did so much while we were there.  We took the bus to Dublin on

 Friday and by the time we got into our hotel and headed back into the heart of the 

city we had a small amount of time to do something.  We decided to head to the famous Guiness Storehouse and find out how the drink was made.  Guiness has been around for 250 years!  My favorite exhibit was the advertising part.  They had so many pint glasses and posters.  I have

 way to many pictures.  I got a great Guiness shirt which you all can see me in above.  I also got some gifts for my family.  It was an amazing building and we got a free pint of Guiness at the end of our tour.  This photo I have is a the top of the storehouse looking down onto the city.  It was a incredible view and this

 photo does not do it justice.

We had a delicious and exotic meal of Supermacs 

(the big fastfood place in Ireland).

The next day was filled with lots of walking and lots of sites.  We started out going to the National Museum of Archeology.  It had alot on the Vikings and Irish history.  Unfortuneately we 

were not allowed to take pictures inside the museum.  We spent a long time in there and decided to head back out onto the streets.  We headed to Christ Church Cathedral and found it was not to far from other great sites.  As big as Dublin compared to other cities in Ireland it was nothing compared to London or Edinburgh. 

 Christ church was beautiful and had the largest crypt in all of British Isles; it spanned the entire foundation of the Church. 

 After we finished walking through the Church we headed to Dublin Castle and booked a tour for later in the day.  We went to St. Patrick's Cathedral to pass some time before our tour.  It was not a grand as Christ church but still

 beautiful.  

We did a guided tour of Dublin castle. 

 It is no longer an active castle but used by Parliament for government events.  The day seems to slip by so quickly when you have to walk everywhere. 

 On our way back to O'Connell St. to catch the bus we walked about Trinity College.  My one problem with site seeing is that everything closes at 5 and we never seem to have enough time to squeeze everything in.  We had another great dinner from the great King aka Burger King.  

Sunday we decided to take things a little slower since we had already gotten so much done the day before.  We bought tickets to view the Bodies exhibit.  I remember it had toured in the states and I was excited to have a chance to see it.  We had time before we would go into the exhibit but we felt better about getting our tickets in advance.  So to add to our relaxing day we headed to the Dublin zoo.  Some friends of mine had gone when they were in Dublin and said it

 was fun and it was a good day with little to no rain.  It was really fun and just what we needed to end our trip in Dublin.  The bodies exhibit had a line when we showed up at 3 to go in (very glad we had bought our tickets that morning).  It was very interesting and hard to believe that the bodies were real.  My favorite was the slices they had of the human body.  It was really cool!  (I sound very weird but I don't care it was fasinating)  I would definitely donate my body to something like that.  After we had finished there we decided to catch the 4:15 bus back to Cork.  Dublin to Cork is a 4 hour bus ride.  I had a great time in Dublin and saw alot of the sites.  I'm nearly done my traveling through Ireland.  The only city I would like to go to would be Belfast but I don't know if I'll be able to squeeze it in.

I finally have my spring break planned!  I have all of April off but I'll only be traveling for 20 days.

April 1-6 I'll be in Paris, France

April 6-9 I'll be in Madrid, Spain

April 9-12 I'll be in Barcelona, Spain

April 12-15 I'll be in Venice, Italy

April 15-20 I'll be in Rome, Italy

I'm so excited!  I can't wait for April to get here.  I will probably going to Greece and Amsterdam in May in between my finals but I still have to work that out with my friends.

I was in Edinburgh in the beginning of March and I should have that blog post up quickly.  This coming weekend Allison, Erik and I will be going to London.  I shall try not to fall behind on my blogs again but no guarantees lol.

I love you all!  Hope all in well back home!