Back in Ireland...and then the flight home.

I got into Rosslare in the morning. It's in the southern part of Ireland, so I still had a long way to go to get back to Ballyvaughan. I caught the train to Dublin which was probably one of the best train rides ever, mainly because of the view, it ran up the coast most of the way, but also because I was just plain excited to be back in Ireland. Once in Dublin, I only had about 45 minutes to get to my train to Galway. I regret not being able to go back to Dublin more, even though it's not the greatest city, I just didn't get to do all the things I wanted to. Anyways, I got to the train to Galway and was off. Back home. Excited and nervous. I was constantly worried that the only reason I liked Ballyvaughan was because of the experience at the time and the people who I was with. Alas, this was not the case, Ballyvaughan has a special place in my heart. When I got back to Galway, I had to call Joe to come pick me up because the last (only) bus to Ballyvuaghan had already left. It was greatly cold, something I was not used to anymore, and did not have enough clothes to keep me warm. I got back to Ballyvaughan pooped, but so excited.

The next day we all went to the Cliffs of Moher (third trip for me) because Oscar would be going on a school tour for a few days, family time (I was an honorary member) was essential. It was so windy, but lots and lots of fun. I missed Gwen and Joe and the kids a lot, still do. That night I went to see Meg and Danny. I went over for dinner and it was yummy. It was good just hanging out reminiscing with people and letting them know about my travels. We then went to one of the pubs, Hyland's to be exact, and met some of the new students attending the school. It wasn't as weird as I expected it to be. It wasn't even that weird seeing people living in our house. I just kind of accepted it I guess. Well I had too many drinks, had to use the bathroom, ran back to the house (for the pub had just closed), tried to get into the house, couldn't figure out the lock (stupid Irish doors, they defeat me so), had to go back with Meg to her house, and I think my bladder almost exploded, for cereal. Anyways, I wasn't able to get the door open at the house so I had to stay with Meg. Which was fine. I only got a few hours of sleep but that's how I was the whole time I was traveling, going going going on not much sleep.


The family (plus me) minus Gwen.


The family (plus me) minus Oscar


It was only kind of windy.


I absolutly love this picture.


Meg and I on the end of the pier.

I got up, went back to the house, tried to get in and failed again. I had to walk up to the school to see what Gwen and Joe were up to, which was completely fine with me. The walk was nostalgic, even though a lot had changed. The walls were completely covered with green leafy plants and the trees had become full themselves. Once I got back up to the school I walked around, found Joe, talked for a bit, found Gwen talked for a bit, found Robert, silly silly man, talked for a bit, then waited around until Joe went back to the house. He gave me a lesson on opening the door, and then we just relaxed. I went with him to pick up Jasper and then we all went back to the house and made dinner. Over all it was a slow day, good though.


Joe and I.


Joe doing 'Blue Steel'.


Meg and I.


Danny decided it would be a good idea to do this, for some reason.


Michael and I, very tired, my last night, so very sad too.

My time in Ireland was slowly melting away, and progressivly I was getting more and more solemn. I hung around with people, had a great time, and the last day held saddness but was all in all very wonderful. I had everything packed up and did all the lose end things that I had wanted to get done. Oscar came back from his school tour and we had a great dinner, then watched a movie. After the movie was over I went to hang out at Meg's house again. We were up forever just hanging out. We went for a midnight drive around to see everything at night. We didn't get back in until about 3 something which at this time we could see the sun starting to peak through the dark sky. I slept for about 4 hours got up and found myself not wanting to say goodbye. Meg came over, she was going to go to the airport with me so I would have someone with me. We got in the taxi and the whole way to the airport I was secretly saying goodbye to the roads I had traveled so many times. At the airport I broke down and didn't want to go. I remembered back to what Gwen had told me earlier when I said I didn't want to go home. She said I didn't have to get on the plane, then as it was flying off, I would look off and say to myself, 'shit'. So I boarded the plane, which was a bit delayed. As we took off I saw the Cliffs, the Burren, and Ballyvaughan, for about a half hour I couldn't stop the tears from flowing. I was upset, and didn't want to come home. Once I landed in Boston after the long flight, I called my mom and told her that I didn't want to be here, and that I wanted to go back. I think I wouldn't have felt so bad if I had just been able to go straight back into Detroit and not have to hang around in America but not at home for so long. I made it home, and found myself at the complete opposite end of the terminal where the whole thing started. The long walk to baggage claim made me realize that it really was over. I saw my parents, got my bags, and we were off, back to the house I left 21 weeks to the day ago. My mom made me call my whole family to tell them I was back. They all were excited, but I was a bit apprehensive. I didn't want to have to deal with readjusting to America. To not being in Ireland. To not traveling. To having to deal with real life again. Slowly I aclimated back into my life here, and I do miss it there, but at the same time am glad to be back. To all that helped me on this endeavor, thank you.

*I will miss everything about Ireland.

Paris, Roscoff, and the Ferry...

Now, Paris was not a place that I had thought I would be able to go and did not really plan on it, however, due to not being able to make it all the way to the port I was ferrying from in one day, I just had to stop. Oh darn, got to take a pit stop in Paris. Too bad. Just KIDDING! I didn't get there until about 2 or so in the afternoon. I had booked my hostel already and it was in a really nice area of the city. Once I figured out the system of the Paris metro I was fine, though it did take some thinking. The stop was ever so close to the hostel making me very happy. I didn't have to search for too long. Once I got there I explored a bit. The hostel had one of the most amazing staircases I have every seen. It creaked and squeaked, and was old, but I thought it was so great.

Once I got all checked in I left immediately for the Louvre. I know that there are much better museums in Paris than the Louvre but I only had one day, one afternoon really, to get the things in that I've always wanted to see. I would have kicked myself for not going to the Louvre. So, I got there from the Metro which pops up right in the underbelly of the museum and walked in. I bought my ticket and went straight for the most famous pieces. I saw the Venus de Milo, the Winged Victory and the Mona Lisa. Here's another place where there are people everywhere and so much to see. After the three big ones, I put on my headphones and just started to walk. Fast mind you, just looking and taking it all in. I found some places where there were barely any people, and it was fun kind of losing myself in the place. I in face have no idea where I was for the most part and that was fine with me. The museum was going to be closing at 6 so I left a bit before that. I went up through the new entrance in the giant glass pyramid and began my slow pace towards the Eiffel Tower.


The first part of Paris that I saw, the metro.


Outside the Louvre.

I just meandered through the wonderful streets towards the giant beacon, obviously I did not need a map. I got to the tower and got in line to get up to the top. Through the course of the line I saw a girl wearing the 2006 Michigan football t-shirt and everytime we passed each other in line kind of struck up a conversation. After about 45 minutes in line I got to go up the elevator to the second platform. This was not that interesting, there was a restaurant and some shops, that's all really. I just wanted to get up to the top so I hopped in line for the elevator. Once in the elevator, I got a bit shoved up against the back of it, only realizing that it was another door made of glass when the world fell out from beneath me. I could have had a heart attack had I had heart problems. It was like riding a roller coaster. My stomach got all fluttery I felt like I would be falling at any moment. It was a long ride too, or at least it felt like it. Once at the top I went out onto the viewing platform and that's when I realized, the city of Paris is not discernable unless you can SEE the Eiffel Tower. Therefore I did not take many pictures. It was still worth the experience of it all. It took a while but I finally got down onto the ground again, made my way back to the hostel and went to sleep. I was completely beat and had to get up early to make my train to Roscoff. It's so fun to tell people, oh yeah, I went to Paris, but I was only there a night. It's like passing through a small town in Michigan on a road trip, just no biggy.


That's me in front of the Eiffel Tower


And that's me on the Eiffel Tower.

The next morning, I checked out really early, got to the train station, which was luckily on the same metro line as my hostel. The train I was riding was a TGV, which I don't know what stands for, but it goes really fast, like upwards of 200 miles an hour or something like that. It's also a very nice train compared to some of the things that I was on. Well this day was the first day in the entire time I was traveling that it started to sprinkle and even rain. Surprisingly enough I was very happy to see this. Sun for over a month is nice sure, but I'm too used to Michigan and Ireland weather. I also finally got use of the sweatshirt that I brought with me. When I was in Athens I could not figure out why I had it, but by this time, I completely appreciated the warmth. On the train I just watched the scenery go by. I think I would have liked the northern part of France better than the south. It was much more, I don't know, cozy. Smaller, less trouisty, more the place for me. I saw a field of artichokes growing, which surprised me, I wasn't even sure if they were artichokes. Apparently they were. Once I got up to Roscoff, the port where ferries head back to Ireland leave from, I had to walk and find my way through the town to the water. The town reminded me a lot of Ireland, it was quiet, small, and raining. The only big difference was that no one was speaking English. Well I had to wait around for a few hours, so I took my time, mostly just sat and read, this time I was reading Frankenstein. We departed, and my heart jumped, I was on my way back to home, well my second home that is. I was in such a good mood.

This ferry was much better than the Greek one. There was actually a bunch of stuff to do. I watched a few movies, they had shows and such going on, and everyone was speaking English. And not just any old English, Irish accented English. I was so glad to hear the accent again. You know how you don't know that you miss something until it randomly comes back into your life? Well apparently the Irish acccent is that for me. This time it was much easier to sleep. There were these lounge like chairs that leaned back, almost like a bed. It was very cold but I slept pretty well. I was so excited to get back to Ireland, I cannot even explain the joy.


Yay, it's gray out. On the ferry.

*A few things I will miss about Paris: The art, the architecture, the city in general, and the fact that I barely got to see any of it.

*A few things I will miss about Northern France: Mostly just the fact that I didn't get to see much of it.

*A few things I will miss about the Ferry: Again, there's not much about the ferry I will miss.

Switzerland...

I was to meet Miranda (a friend from home who was studying in Sierre, Switzerland) in Milan for she was in Barcelona and flying back that night. I got to Milan from Nice successfully and fine. I liked the idea of being back in Italy, but knew I could not stay for long. I waited and waited for Miranda, and finally she showed up right before the last train we could have gotten on left. We booked it, I almost lost my phone, and we made it. This is the train where she recieved a SIM card from some random Italian kid, and we do not know why he left it with her. My theory is that he was a pimp, but that's just me. We got to the border of Switzerland and Italy near to 12:30 or so in the morning. The next train into Brig, where we needed to go to get to Sierre did not leave until around 4 something in the morning...we had a long time to wait. It was great being with someone I knew again. We could talk about things that did not involve small talk about where we came from or what we're doing in Europe. It was wonderful, that's all I can say. When traveling by yourself, there are things that are great about it, but other things that are not so good, like the fact that you're always by yourself. I mean there are always people in the hostels that are in the same boat as you and need a walking companion, but it's not the same as having a friend that you know from home. I like it but at the same time I don't. It's hard being by yourself for so long. Anyways, we had a good time staying up, eventually fallin asleep in intervals waiting for the train. The train finally came and we got on, attempting to not fall asleep. We got to Brig, and jumped onto the train to Sierre, which was only about 20 minutes away. We finally got in, just as the sun started to come up and as the birds popped out of their cozy nests. This is when we were going to sleep, right when everyone else was going to wake up. All around it was a funny night/morning.


This is the view out Miranda's window. Jealous much?

The next day, or rather, later that day when we woke up, we got some food. Walked around Sierre, which by the way is a wonderful little town. Miranda had a very similar experience as I, she was in a smallish town (Ballyvaughan was much smaller), in a valley (not quite the same as the Burren, seeing as she was in the Swiss Alps), and she felt like it was a big change from UofM. We did a bit of shopping and what-not, then I made us dinner and we just hung out. I was in awe of the huge mountains around us, and extremely excited to see the snow on the tips. It was pretty much the only snow I've seen for a long time. The next day I followed Miranda up to the school after walking around through the streets. I waited for her to get done with her French class just taking it all in. Again, I was relaxing. That night we made yummy dinner, watched a movie and went to sleep. In the morning I unfortunatly had to be off. I wish I could have stayed longer it would have been great, Switzerland was amazing and I regret not staying for longer, but it's one of those places that I need to go back to. The train ride was so beautiful, mountains everywhere, and pristine wonderfulness at every curve. However, sad as I was to leave, I was off to Paris.


Miranda and I walking around Sierre.


I love this town!

*A few things I will miss about Switzerland: The mountains, the snow, the towns, the people, the languages, the currency (swiss francs are amazing, the notes at least) and how cheap everything seemed to be.

Nice, Antibes and Cannes...

From Italy I decided to head to the South of France to take a mini break from all the hustle and bustle of traveling. It was starting to get to me if you couldn't tell from what occured in Rome and Pisa. It was a long train journey, stopping in Genoa for a few hours. I wish I had been able to go somewhere in Northern Italy now that I think about it. It was beautiful up there, all covered in green lush mountains and the architecture was wonderful too. However, alas, I was on my way to France. I had booked a hostel in Nice for I think six or so days. When I arrived in Nice, again, I saw someone I know. She had been in one of my classes in the Fall Semester this past year and it was totally strange. We said hi to each other, talked for a bit in the train station then parted ways. Side-note, when I got back into Ann Arbor, I saw her walking down the street, and I think that this was stranger than seeing her in Nice. I don't know why, maybe it's because I realized how weird it was to see her in Nice. Back to France. I got to the Hostel which was kind of a ways out of the city center and on a huge hill over looking the city and the Mediterranean. It was actually pretty nice. They had dinner every night, really good meals too. There were a lot of people there, the place was huge. It also used to be a monastary so the place where the bar was, of course, used to be the chapel, and it still held that name. I thought it was a bit of an oxymoron. That night I just kind of hung out around, the air was cool, but warm and it was calm. Good place for me to be at the time. The room that I had to sleep in was with 12 other people, but luckily I was so tired it didn't even matter.


View from my room in the hostel.

The next day I had decided was a day to myself. I did this a lot when I was at this hostel. I didn't do much when I was there, mostly because it wasn't that interesting to me. That day I read Treasure Island, random I know, but hey, I've always wanted to read it. I took naps, just relaxed, and did what I wanted to do. There were barely any people in the place during the day so it was even more peaceful. It was actually reasonably cheap for how resort-like it was. I hadn't done my laundry since I was in Athens so I had to get that done. This place though, won't actually let you do your own laundry, they do it for you. I didn't complain. However, they did lose one of my sock, but that's kind of cool, my sock's still in France. Over all I had a relaxing day. I met these two girls that night from Ottowa, Ontario (they spoke French, it made it easier for me) and they told me they were planning on going to the beach the next day, and invited me along. So the following day I left with them to Antibes on the train. Now Antibes has a wonderful vibe, it was so great. We walked along the water, past the port, past the mideival part of the city, past the crystal blue water, and onto the beach. This is where I went swimming in the Mediterranean. It was warm and so clear. I haven't really seen water so blue in my life, there was a full spectrum of blue. It was amazing. The beach was wonderfully sandy too. The day was great, but again, I did get a sunburn...the whole time I did not have any sun screen. After this time I decided to get some for myself. Luckily the hostel sold it for cheap comparativly. Everywhere there sun screen is unreasonably expensive. Something that would cost like maybe $3 here, costs about 13 euro there. It's insane. I don't really get it, but at the hostel it was only 5 euro. It was the one thing that I didn't really pack when I was coming to Ireland because, well firstly it was winter, not summer and it was Ireland, not the place you think you need sun screen for.


Beach in Antibes, yes that's where I swam.


You can see the French Alps in the background, really far off, do you see them?

Anyways, I again took a day off and did absoposolutly nothing. The next day I went to Cannes with a girl that had just studied in Spain and her mother. The world famous Cannes Film Festival was going on at the time, and I do admit the only reason I really went was to try and see someone famous. What I discovered was a truly expensive resort town, filled with people that had the same intentions as I and that it wasn't as interesting as I had hoped. I did see some famous people though, so the trip was worth it. I saw Diane Lane, Bai Ling, and Norah Jones. There were others but mostly they were French and I had no idea who they were. Anywho, 'nough said about Cannes, I would suggest going during the film fest just to say you've been there, or if you become a millionaire, then it's the place for you.


Red carpet at the film festival.

Pretty much the rest of my time in Nice was me just hanging out. I didn't do much. Now I wish I had only spent a few days there and gone on to Spain instead, but alas, I was not being smart. This would have been much better in my opinion, but at least I got to relax and regain my senses before heading back into the mindset of traveling. Miranda and Switzerland are where my next adventures took me.

*A few things I will miss about the South of France: The weather, the blue blue water, the buildings, and the relaxing time I had.

Rome and Pisa...

The trek into Rome was really exciting for me. I have always wanted to go there because I find its history so amazing and grand. I found my hostel pretty easily. It was a ways out, in a student neighborhood, but it was quiet and nice. There was a courtyard which was a great place to hang out at night. I decided to stay in for a bit because I had booked the hostel for nearly a week. I hung out in the hostel, met a few people. I went to the grocery store to stock up on food, which was nice. It's always funny shopping in a foreign country. The pasta was fresh and the wine was dirt cheap. I made dinner at the hostel and relaxed. This by the way was the most international hostel I stayed in. There were people there from all over, it was great to all mesh together.

Anywho, the next day I planned out as my tour Bernini day. I started by going to the Galleria Borghese which is where some of the pieces that I had been totally and completely excited to see for the longest time. It was a difficult place to find because it was in a huge park that is in the middle of the city, but once I found it I found out that they were sold out until Sunday on tickets. So, disappointed as I was, I got a ticket for Monday. I had some time to kill because I had intended to be visiting Bernini so I found a zoo in the park that I was in. I think I am probably one of the only people in the world that would go to Rome and proceed to go to the zoo. I don't know. It was fun, and I noticed the difference between American zoos and foreign zoos. I don't claim to be the expert seeing as I've only been to one foreign zoo, but I am allowed to make assumptions. It was getting to be mid-day and It was getting hot. I tried to find shade wherever I went, but eventually I had to just overcome the blasting heat. I walked around the city finding little holes in the wall, and random city squares where Bernini sculptures reside. It was actually pretty awesome and great seeing parts of the city I would not have otherwise. I also went to the Trevi Fountain which is where, I figure out, every tourist is. All at the same time. Or so it seems. There are just people everywhere, and when I say everywhere, I mean it. HUGE crowds, and probably one of the best places to people watch on the planet. It was great sitting there listening to the different languages, watching all of the pictures being taken, and seeing everyone so happy with themselves. It was a good place to end my journey for the day.


The Galleria Borghese.


The elephant says CIAO!


Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Teresa.


Me in front of the Trevi Fountain.

On the following day I planned on doing one of those cityseeing, hop on/hop off bus tours, the ones with the double deckers. I had never done one in a country that did not speak english, so I was unsure on how they were going to treat the situation, but they did it remarkably well. Everyone gets a set of headphones on the way onto the bus, then you plug it into the jack in front of your seat, and tune to the channel that is of the language you speak. WONDERFUL. I got to see some great places on the tour too. We went past the place where Julius Caesar was murdered, drove by the Colosseum, and under the walls of the ancient city. All around it was amazing. I hopped off at the Colosseum to do a tour of it. I heard from the girl that I stayed with in Venice to do the English tour that sounds sketchy but in fact is not sketchy at all. We got to skip the line and recieved much valuable information on the huge and ancient structure. I can't explain how huge it is once you're inside. Seriously, again, it's just one of those things that you have to see for yourself. I found out through the same tour group that I had a free tour of the Palatine Hill which is the place where the whole city started. It's right next to the Colosseum and it's got some pretty amazing structures for itself. There's a huge palace (all in ruins of course), Mousolini's villa, the foot off of a huge statue (all that's left) and the supposed hut location of Rome's founder, Romulus. All in all it was well worth it. The exit of the hill comes straight out into the Roman Forum which is apparently where every Roman has walked...that's a lot of history. It's mostly just ruins, again with the ruins, but still awe inspiring. The day was hot, and I got very sunburned, so it was time for me to turn in.


This is where Caesar died.


Inside the Colosseum.


The Roman Forum.


Outside the Colosseum.

This new day was going to be a fun day I decided. I was going to take a nice day trip to Pisa where I was going to see the leaning tower. I got to the train station, got my ticket to Pisa and found the train to be delayed. Now, I have not really mentioned it yet, but trains in Italy are, well, hard to get used to...especially when you don't speak Italian. I was standing there, waiting for the train that said 'Pisa' which had a 30 minute delay. I waited and waited, then at the last second realized that the train I needed to get on was in fact the one that said 'Torino' for it would be stopping in Pisa. I ran, but it was too late, my train had departed and I had to hastily speedwalk to the other train platform to see if I could still ride the next train. I was able, but soon realized after I got on the train that it was taking a very very long time. It in fact took me nearly five hours to get from Rome to Pisa which on the other train would have only taken about two. Upset as I was, I just went with the flow, the scenery was nice. I get to Pisa and book my return train just to make sure I have a seat. I had to get one that would put me back in Rome at a decent hour. I wandered around for a bit trying to figure out how to get to the tower, finally found the bus stop, could not figure out where to get the ticket, figured it out, got on the bus, got to the tower, only to find out that I would not be able to go up into the tower because it was sold out until after I had to leave. Livid, upset, angry...I just wanted to leave. I hung around for a while, tried to go into the Cathedral, found out that you had to pay for that as well, that's not right. Whatever, bad day, bad idea. Oh yeah, and the tower's not much to see anyways, it looks like it does in all the pictures, and I don't think it's worth seeing in real life. However, I do know now that if I had not gone to see it I would have kicked myself. I finally left Pisa, fuming from how the day turned out. I got back to Rome just before the sun started to set, got on the bus which was completely packed and i was totally squished in. At my stop I had to push and shove my way through to get out. As the bus pulled away towards the stoplight, I realized that my phone had dropped out of my pocket when I was exiting the bus. I FREAKED out. I ran up to the door of the bus, banging on it, praying that the bus driver would open the door. As I was doing this I was trying to explain that I had lost my phone. Some kindly person then proceeded to hand it to me out the window, saving my sanity and life. My heart was racing, but luckily I was not completely screwed. I got back to the hostel, ate some pizza, calmed down and went to sleep, excited for the next day, glad that this one was over.


The tower that leans exactly the same if you see it in real life or on a post card.

I woke up extra early to get to Vatican City, and again, went through the same tour group that did the Colosseum, which meant again, that we got to bipass the huge line into the museums. Now, here's something else I can't explain for you must go there yourself, but I will attempt to speak of a few things. It is huge and completely confusing. There is so much in there I can't even remember most of it. The pieces that you go to see are all that really stick out, like some of Rafael's work and what not. The Sistine Chapel is great, but completely packed with people, and guards shushing people left and right. There's also the recorded man telling people off every 5 minutes or so for taking pictures and talking, the recording is much longer however because it is read in many languages. St. Peter's Basilica is pretty awe inspiring in itself. It's huge, and again, full of people. The statue of St. Peter is made of bronze and apparently you're supposed to rub his toes for good luck, and after hundreds of years of people rubbing his toes, they have completely worn off. That's amazing in itself. There's a lot of Bernini's work in there too, which was exciting to see. Michaelangelo's Pieta is behind bullet proof glass making it seem more like a diarama than a piece of art. The square outside is not in fact a square, it is an oval, and huge. And the end of the tour is mostly anti-climactic. I wish I could have seen Vatican City's secrets, I think that would have been better. After this I was to go back to the Galleria Borghese to see the sculptures I had waited so long to see. I got there a bit early so walked around for a while, then when I reached the Galleria, I found the doors to be closed and locked with a sign that said it was not going to be open. I FREAKED again. Actually, I started crying. I had my mom call me because I was so upset. I found out that the management of the place decided to sell people tickets for Monday, but then could not follow through with staffing the place for Monday and closed it. I was frustrated and upset, so upset that my feelings about traveling completely changed. I wanted to go home as bad as ever. I did not get to see the one thing in Rome that I had truly been excited about, and I just wanted to go home. I did not get my money back and since I was leaving the next morning, there was no way for me to see it. The worst day so far, even worse than the stupid Pisa thing. However, once I calmed down and got back to my Hostel, I hung around with some people and we just talked, ate and drank the night away. There was this trio from Slovenia, and ps, Slovenian wine is great, if you ever get your hands on some, you will be lucky. I ended the day on a good note. The next day I would be leaving Italy after a long stint, and trudging on to the South of France.


Michaelangelo's Pieta.


St. Peter's Basillica.

*A few things I will miss about Rome: The history that's at every turn, the architecture, the smell of the metro (I know that's a weird one but hey), the flowers along the street leadig to my hostel, the people I met while in the hostel.

*A few things I will miss about Pisa: NOTHING!

*A few things I will miss about Italy: The food, the people, the gelato, the atmosphere, the fields and fields of poppies, the art, the language, and the history.

Florence...

The next morning I headed out pretty early to get to Florence. Looking back I wish I could have spent a bit more time in Venice, but hey, that's in the past. Anyway, on to Florence I went, the train ride was beautiful. I completely understand why Italian painters paint what they do, it's because that's what they see.

Once I got to Florence, I wandered around for about an hour or so because I could not for the life of me find the hostel. I was starting to get really frustrated because people kept telling me to go the wrong way, but I finally got there. Also, I must mention that the people of Florence are rude in my standards, but I understand it's a cultural difference. If you walk down the street, which are already very tight, they will not move over, they'd rather run into you than move to let you by. This made me more frustrated. By the time I found my hostel I was not in a good mood, so I decided to stay there for the night. I met this English girl in the hostel and we went out to dinner where we ate how the Italians do. First they start out with a pasta dish, then move onto the meat and vegitable course, then dessert, and to top it all off you have a shot of this lemony pineapple thing. It was an interesting meal. After this I went back to the hostel to sleep.

The next day, I had decided that I was going to go to the Academia where Michaelangelo's David stands. I had to wait in line for about an hour. The line is squished down one of the streets along this amazing wall. Everyone for many years past have written all over it, graffiti really, but great graffiti. Most said either where they were from or how long they had been in line. Lots were in languages and characters I could not read. There was also a lot of gum stuck all over the walls, which I tried my hardest to avoid. When I was near the front of the line I saw one of my professors from back at Michigan, who I had happened to think about earlier because we had discussed Michaelangelo's David in his class. I went over to say hello, and we were both utterly surprised to see the other. Anyways, when I got into the museum I tried to look at everything in there and not just focus on getting to David. Too bad that's what ended up happening when I stepped into the room with the sculpture. I have been told many times before that the statue is huge, much bigger than you expect, and that it's exquiset, but I was getting slightly bored with seeing marble sculptures. I walked into the room, and saw the sculpture and my stomach quite literally dropped to the floor. It is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen before. I was totally mesmorized with it. I can't explain it but just think that everyone should go see it in their lifetimes if they have a chance. I didn't want to leave. But alas I had to.


This is a just part of the wall that I talked about.


This is the replica because you're not allowed to photograph the real one. I just want you to notice the people standing around it, as a scale of how large it is.

I then ventured out into the city, which I must say I was not very fond of. There were people everywhere and I have already discussed how rude most of them were. Florence has nice things to offer, but once you're in the buildings, not really outside, in my opinion. I decided to go to the Palazzo Vecchio to go on this secret rooms tour which was great. We got to see the interworkings of secret passages, rooms behind paintings, stairs that go nowhere, and rooms that seem to have no doors at all. I am glad that I chose to go here, it made me appreciate Florence more. This is also the place where the David originally stood guarding the doorway, but was moved and a replica replaced it. I decided to stop in a cathedral just because on my way back to the hostel. It was actually pretty amazing. It's directly across from the huge doors called the Gates of Paradise. That night I went to dinner again with the same English girl from the night before, it was great, then we decided to go out to a pub/bar somewhere, and where did we go? Of course, the only Irish Pub in town...HAH! It was funny, I was probably the most Irish person in there. Relaxing way to end it. I also found a wonderful bicycle bell on the ground and fully intend to equip my bike with the find. The next day I packed up and moved on to Rome.


This is from my secret rooms tour. There was a huge room filled with all these old maps, so I found Ireland of course.

*A few things I will miss about Florence: Michaelangelo's David, and the people that ran the hostel, they were probably the most friendly people I have every met.

Venice...

We arrived in Venice at about 7:30 am and I had to make my way through the windy unfamiliar streets to my hostel. I eventually could not figure out where I was so I found a vaparetto stop (it's like their bus system on water) because I knew which stop I needed to get to for the hostel. It ended up I was only one stop away, but across the grand canal from it. The streets there are totally and completely confusing until you get used to it, but luckily you can't really get lost on an island and as long as you can find the grand canal and know where to go from there you should be fine. Anyways, I had to ask a few people for directions, easy enough using sign language and such if said person did not speak English. I found the hostel pretty easily which felt like it was in a back alley, which I later figured out is pretty much all of Venice, it's part of it's charm.


This is the 'alley' my hostel was in.


Just a canal.

I got checked into the hostel and started walking around just exploring. I stopped for lunch at this small cafe and got some really amazing pizza. I met a couple from Dallas there and chatted for a while, then we parted ways after lunch and I went to do some more exploring. Eventually I got tired and went back to the hostel to chillax for a bit. I met the girl that was in my room with me and we went out later to dinner and I finally found Piazza San Marco, which is CRAZY full of people and pigeons. After that though, I was completely beat from not really sleeping the past two nights on the boat so I went to bed.


See all the pigeons? See all the people?

The next day I took Isa's (fellow classmate in Ireland) advice to go to the Peggy Gugenheim Collection and it was great. I got some more gelato (there are gelateria's everywhere you turn) then went back to Piazza San Marco and went into the Basilica which is completely amazing, mostly because of the floor. It's all rumpled and crumpled from years and years of flood damage. And the floor's all mosaic so it makes it all the more interesting. After walking around a bit more, me and the girl from my hostel went on a vaparetto ride out to Murano, one of the Islands in the lagoon. It's the island famous for their glass blowing. We watched a few demonstrations and I recorded one on my phone, mostly just because it was in Italian and sounded lovely. There was this one man that had a lump of hot glass one minute and less than two minutes later it was a horse that stood perfectly upright when he set it down. Oh the art of glass blowing, how I wish I could conquer thee. After that we went back to the main islands and just went on a relaxing vaparetto ride just to see the city. Once the sun went down we headed back to Piazza San Marco because at night they light it up all beautiful like and have bands playing all around the perimeter. It was awesome just to see all of the people walking around, but it was still rather peaceful and serene. We went back to the hostel and slept, preparing to venture forth the next day, destination Florence.


One minute it's a ball of glass, the next it's a horse, ON FIRE!


Shop of masks.


Piazza San Marco at night.

*A few things I will miss about Venice: the gelato, the pizza (both the best in all of my travels through Italy), the atmosphere, the fact that I couldn't get lost, the streets that looked like alleys, waking up to gondoleers (sp?) yellling 'OY' from outside my window, and pretty much everything to do with it.

The Ferry...

So after I got on the ferry from Greece to Venice, Italy, I had to wait patiently for 37 hours to arrive at the destination. It was pretty boring to be perfectly honest. I had my phone on for a while and at one point it sent me a text message saying "Welcome to Albania" so at that point I decided to turn it off, since I had no use for it anyways. I didn't have a room on the boat so I had to sleep in the common room area which was difficult because of the people that decided to stay up late and talk loudly, but the chairs were comfortable at least. I didn't speak to anyone for the majority of the time there because nobody really spoke English. There was one point when a Polish man decided that I should dance with him because his family was having a wonderful party where I was supposed to be sleeping but I said no...ha. This is when the Polish started singing and dancing, and the Greeks didn't want to be out-done, so they blasted Greek music through the speakers and started dancing. Each group trying to be louder than the other made it difficult to sleep, but it was still interesting. Two nights on the boat was enough for me.


The only good thing about the ferry was this picture.

*I will miss nothing about the ferry. I got off and for 4 days felt like I was sloshing back and forth on a boat, couldn't walk a straight line even if I had wanted to.

England and Greece...

So I'll recap exactly what I did when I was traveling. I started out in Brighton, England, but of course you know this. It was good being there because I was with people I knew, just kind of winding down from the end of the semester. It was relaxing. After this I went to stay with Cherry, a friend from long ago when I worked at Camp Linden. I remember exactly when she told me if ever I was in England to get in touch with her...so I did. It was really fun reminiscing over old camp stories, playing odd camp games, it really was like nothing had changed at all, even though it had been 5 years. Unfortunatly I was only able to be there for three days because she just moved into a new flat.


Lyndsey and I at Stone Henge


Lyndsey, Micah and I just before I left Brighton.

After that, I flew to Athens, Greece. I made my first mistake here. I did not write down where the hostel was that I was to stay at, which in turn meant I had to take a cab. The guy driving kept making wrong turns and taking the long way around. Most of the time he was talking on the phone, every once in a while, breaking from the madened Greek to speak to me in English. The ride cost 70 euro, which I found out later is about twice as much as it should have. But whatever, I got to my hostel safely and luckily it was owned by Australians, so the majority of the people there spoke English. That night I hung around in the hostel and met some neat people. This one girl I met, Rebee, actually used to live in Ann Arbor. She used to work at the Ann Arbor 1&2 which was the theater before Quality 16 existed, which is where I used to work. Weird. But it gets weirder. She was in Ireland at the same time that I was, but she was down in the Beara Penninsula. Even weirder is that she was traveling in March around Ireland and happened to stop in Ballyvaughan, and come up to the school to see the tower house...all while I was in class at the school. And we ended up meeting each other in Athens, Greece. All I can say is that it really is a small world. Ironically enough, it was when I was in Athens that I finally realized that the world is full of people. It's hard to put things in perspective until you see it, and seeing Athens, full of people, lots of people, made me realize it.


This is the view from the roof of the hostel.


Everywhere you turned this is what it looked like.

Anyways, I was there for three days in total, which by the way is far too many to see the city. You only need about one because the only really interesting parts are all together in the center, everything else is just a valley full of smog and white buildings. The hostel that I was at was about a 5 minute walk to the Acropolis so we were in the right place. On my last day there, I went around with these two girls that I met, both from Australia. We went to all the historical sites, and the greatest part about it? They were all free for me! Since I had been studying in Ireland, which is part of the EU, I still had my student visa from there and anywhere in Greece, if you have studied in the EU, the historical sites are free. So I guess maybe that wasn't the best part, but it sure was great.


I do really miss the food.

The Acropolis is pretty amazing. You have to walk up and it seems like it is going to be a long haul, but it ends up being one of the easiest hikes ever. There are sites along the way up that you stop at and many platforms on which you are walking on flat land, so it's surprising once you get to the top. It is amazing, but it is a ruin. I really wish I could have seen it when it was in full bloom. The buildings must have been amazing. Someone told me that the whole thing is built using Pendelic marble which comes from this mountain visible from the city. The ancient Greeks knew that the mountain had odd properties, still not really explained. If you spill out some of your water on the hill, it will fall up, against the pull of gravity. Same thing if you let your car roll, it will roll up the hill. Anyways, the Acropolis is built out of this marble from this odd mountain, which gives it odd properties in itself. Birds won't fly over it. I think this is my favorite story that I heard when in Athens.


These are the girls I went up to the Acropolis with, Marissa and Emma.


This is me, duh.

After we were done we headed back to the hostel and it was time for me to leave. I bid my adieu's and left on the metro to the train station. By the way, the metro in Athens is seriously the smoothest subway I have ever been on. I got on the train to head to Patras which is where the ferry I needed to take to get to Italy was departing from. This is where it got scary. I don't speak a lick of Greek and obviously cannot read the alphabet, which in turn meant that I had to go completely on faith that I was on the correct train. I was nervous the whole way until we finally got there. For all I know I could have been on a train to Albania. Nevermind that though, everything turned out alright. I got to the ferry and was on my way to Italy.

*A few things I will miss from Greece: the gyros, the prices (everything was cheap), the people I met, the landscape, and the history.