Thursday, May 10, 2012
BITTER SWEET!!
ITS OFFICIAL! ONLY 5 days left in Rome! Time has truly flew by! I cannot believe that I honestly am going back to the states soon! Bitter sweet I'd say. If I had the chance to travel abroad again, I'd do it in a heartbeat! Being in Europe has made my passion for traveling much stronger! I now feel that I can honestly go anywhere in the world and make it. The lessons I've learned while studying abroad are ones I can take back with me and be able to use them. You never know what you miss until your away from your comfort zone for such a long period but I'm proud to say I was never homesick! Its not until recently where my feelings for home have developed and I can honestly say its because I know I'm leaving soon. One thing I wish I did while I was here was travel more hahaha! 10 different places was not enough! Well wish me luck with my finals, UNTIL NEXT TIME!
PICS PIC AND MORE PICS
WINE TASTING IN SANTORINI, GREECE
TOGA PART IN CORFU, GREECE
EATING LUNCH BY THE PANTHEON, ROME, ITALY
EATING LUNCH ON THE BLACK SAND BEACH IN SANTORINI
THE PANTHEON IN ATHENS, GREECE
TEMPLE OF ZEUS ATHENS, GREECE
PARIS, FRANCE
EIFFEL TOWER PARIS, FRANCE
TREVI FOUNTAIN, ROME, ITALY
COLOSSEUM ROME, ITALY
CHURROS IN BARCELONA, SPAIN
BARCELONA, SPAIN
CARNIVAL IN VENICE
CARNIVAL IN VENICE
NIGHTLIFE IN ROME
So were college students! We spend the week in school and
when Thursdays get here, were ready to go out! Here are some places that a lot of
AUR and other study abroad students go to: Studio 18, DJ BAR, ON THE ROCKS,
COYOTE, GILDA, LA MASION, DRUNKEN SHIP, SLOPPY SAMS and SCHOLARS PUB. A lot of
these places have facebook pages so you can find them online and see what
specials they are having that night!
TRAVEL TIPS
USE BUS2ALPS to travel around places that you don’t feel you
are able to get around easily but want to go! That’s what I did! I knew I wanted
to go Venice but would need some help getting there and that’s what BUS2ALPS
was there for. Different places in Europe can be pretty tricky to get around
and not just that but tricky to find hotels and modes of transportation.
BUS2ALPS is a group of tour guides that essentially plan a trip out for you! Sean,
Jenny, Erin, and Alex were the best tour guides ever! They are super nice and
very funny. If you have them you’ll have a blast. They know you are a college
student so they try the best and cheapest places for you to go. GUARANTEED fun!
You get to choose out of multiple
locations that you want to go to and they’ll get you there. DEFINITELY plan all
your trips early! You’ll get the best prices for hotels and airlines. DO NOT BE
AFRAID OF TRAVELING! START SAVING NOW for your trips. Also, travel light!! You
tend to walk a lot when you travel so lugging a huge suitcase will get
annoying, real quick! Carry on size is perfect for 10 days belive it or not! A
bookbag is perfect for the weekends. Don’t belive me? You’ll see!! TILL NEXT
TIME
AMALFI COAST
So before finals I decided to take a weekend off from Rome
and go to the amalfi coast of Italy. The amalfi coast consists of capri,
pasetano, Sorrento, and Pompeii! Basically we went to 4 different beaches over
the weakened. My favorite place by far was Capri! Capri was sooooooo beautiful!
I finally was able to eat alfredo pasta! Believe it or not, alfredo sauce is
NOT popular in Rome at all! All red sauces… In capri we shopped, ate and did a
chair lift to the highest peak in Capri. Capri was so captivating that I
definitely would love to buy a vacation house there, that’s how beautiful it
was there. Very small but it had everything. The weather that weakened was
sunny and HOT! Left the amalfi coast with the best tan ever! Well UNTIL NEXT TIME
PARIS
AHHHHHH! That is all I have to say about PARIS! I never have
fell in love with place like I did with Paris. Everything anyone has ever said
about Paris is completely true. ITS BEAUTIFUL, MAGICAL, CAPTIVATING just a land
of amazingness honestly. The best part of the trip is being able to share this
experience with my mom and little sister. They flew out for a week to visit so
we all went to Paris and spent the rest in Rome. In Paris we of course visited
everyyyy tourist attraction, the arc de triumphe, notre dame cathedral and of
course the EIFFEL TOWER!!!!! We actually waited in line for about 3 hours to go
to the top of the Eiffel tower!! I would do it all over in a heartbeat! This is
a place EVERYONEEE needs to go to! I cannot wait to go back and every chance
you get, eat their pastries!
Greece Island Hopping!
FINALLYYYY! SPRING BREAK IS HERE! 10 days to hop the islands
of Greece, why not? So for spring break we decided to team up with BUS2ALPS and
head out to Greece! The Greece island hopping trip included going to Corfu,
Athens and then Santorini! First stop Corfu! First of all we were picked up by
a huge PINK bus, so cute! We took fairies to get to the island of Corfu. From
there we stayed at the Pink Palace hostel. It literally was pink hahaha I loved
it! First day there we were able to walk to the beach and just lay out and
enjoy some relaxation time! It felt so good to lay out in the sun and trust me I
needed the tanning time, I was so pale haha! That night the hotel threw a huge
TOGA PARTY where everyone on the trip wore pink togas. They served us dinner
and then we danced the night awayyyy J
The next day me and my roommates went ATV riding around the island! My first
time ever being on an ATV, I was so nervous! After my first initial shock of
driving around on the windy roads I turned into a huge speed demon haha my need
for speed was uncontrollable. If you ever go to corfu, DEFINTELY do the atv
riding. After Corfu we went to Athens!
Me and my roommates decided to do the same bus tour we did in Barcelona
but in Athens. We were able to see literally everything Athens had to offer in
ONE DAY! The temple of Zeus, the acropolis, the pantheon EVERYTHING! That night
the BUS2ALPS crew took us to this restaurant where we got a 3 course meal and unlimited
wine for only 15 EUROS! Food in Greece was
amazingggggggggggg! It was definitely in my top 5! The final stop was
Santorini! Santorini is this little island where all the white buildings and
blue roofs are found that you see when you google image Greece! Santorini was
sooo beautiful! Everything was very clean and serene! Here we were able to go
the black and red sand beaches where the water was so clear! The weather that
day was the best we had to. If you want to go to Greece I’d definitely say go
with BUS2ALPS because they really did help you get around these little islands
easily compared to if you were going to do it on your own. WELL TILL NEXT TIME!
BARCELONA, SPAIN
HOLAAAA BARCELONA, SPAIN! I was so happy to finally go to
spain! Spain was definitely one of the top places on my list and I can
officially say I’ve gone J
I was mostly excited to finally be able to understand the people around me
because I speak and understand Spanish fully. Besides that I was superrr
excited to eat Hispanic food and that I did! First thing I ate were churrossss!
My god, can you say YUM! If you have never had one you MUST try them. They are
so delicious. These are of the trips and me and my roommates planned on our
own. During this week friends from home came and visited for their spring
break, pretty cool to be able to share this experience with friends from home. The hostel we stayed in was awesome! The
people there were very helpful (URBANY HOSTEL)! They let us know where to go
and what to see. First of all, BARCELONA IS BEAUTIFUL and soooo clean and
modern compared to Rome. How crazy is it that just a couple of miles away is a
place so different! Barcelona was pretty easy to get around and it had one of
the easiest metro systems ever. We took the metro to this area called Catlyuana
I believe, which is basically a hugeee downtown area. While we were there we took a tour bus, WHICH
BY THE WAY is the best way to see EVERYTHING
a city has to offer. It only cost 22 or 25 euros and you are able to hop
on and hop off the bus however many times you want at different destinations. So
during the day we went site seeing and at night we went out! So fun fact if you’re
ever going to Barcelona, their night life doesn’t START till 1:00 AM! CRAZY right? Barcelona was amazing, next time
I visit spain I’m definitely trying for Madrid! I’d recommend going during
hotter whether though. WELL UNTIL NEXT TIME!
VENICE
CARNEVALE DI VENEZIA 2012! I officially can say I went to
Venice now and it was amazingggggg! We went
during the carnival so everyone was dressed in elaborate costumes that
ranged from avatars, cats, queens and kings! To join in all the festivities I bought
one of those cool masks that a whole bunch of feathers and glitter all over
them. Mines of course was black and
gold! REPRESENTING THE STEELERs all the way in Venice babyyy J I would definitely
recommend anyone to go to Venice! I planned my trip with a group called
BUS2ALPS. It’s a group of tour guides that basically arrange transportation and
even hostel/hotels stays all around Europe. My Venice trip was only one day,
which as all you needdddd, so BUS2ALPS arranged my transportation there. Once
we got there, we were basically free to do whatever we wanted. In Venice I definitely
say make sure you go to St.Marks square! Its huge and beautiful and so many
little shops are around there. DO NOT buy any souvenirs when your inside, buy
them at the end of the day, the vendors start putting everything at lower
prices and you’ll definitely get more for your EURO. Basically in Venice we
walked around, took a whole bunch of pictures, ate amazingggg food (try
seafood) and joined in the Carnival festivities. I would say the CARNEVALE season would
probably be the best time to go because Venice is pretty small. WELL UNTIL NEXT
TIME!
ROME!!
Rome is amazing! Surprisingly enough its really easy to get
around! We were able to find all the tourist attractions by foot and by bus! The
coliseum, pantheon, the trevi fountain, Spanish steps, the Vatican, piazza novana,
THE STEELERS BAR, and etc, is all very close to each other. The food is soo
yummy! They really are probably the best place you can get pasta. Spaghetti
alla bolegnese is probably my favorite. Its just spaghetti with meat sauce,
buts its sooo good! The sauce is fresh and the best part of the meal. Bars here
are actually cafes where you can buy food to go like pizza, tabacchi are places
where you can buy stamps, cigarettes and bus tickets for the tram and buses and
besides that everything else is pretty self-explanatory. Be ready to have your
personal space essentially violated. Italians are use to having to be crammed
on public transportation and places that its pretty much normal to them. That’s
probably the worst part about being here besides their transportation. In the
states everyone has their space boundaries, just have to get use to it I guess.
The transportation is easy but sometimes annoying. Busses and trams can
frequently run one day but the next day it can take forever! Besides those two
things, you can definitely fall in love with this place! UNTIL NEXT TIME!
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