Greece

OPA! My last trip in Europe and I went to Greece! Mykonos to be specific which is an island south of Athens. We got there Thursday night and hit the city center. There were clowns, seaside, and gyros involved in the night. Next day we went straight for the beach and I decided to rent an ATV to get there. Best decision to make! Its like a four wheel dirt bike. Rode my way to Paradise beach and enjoyed the sun, water, and company of my Greece crew. After taking in all the sun we went home to have our special, VIP dinner party. Swordfish and Greek salad were on the menu with white wine. It was delicious even though we freaked at the price. The lady host also taught us how to dance after we took shots of god knows what. We head out to a Full Moon beach party. Overrated! BUT the beach atmosphere was legit. Next day we go look for Super Paradise beach and we found it after a long journey up and around several hills. Secluded, chill beach but they make you pay to sit and have an umbrella....SIKE! SO we went back to Paradise and enjoyed the day with some Portugese, Australian, and Canadian students who were all on another level. After the beach we went out in the center for a relaxing night on the seaside. Not too much craziness going on but this trip was calm and serene to end one intense, wild semester. 

Photos can be seen at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2582756&id=1915685&l=e5929cfc79

Istanbul

East and Bull!! The most random, unique, wild card trip I have done and it was well worth it. Although it took us an hour and 15euro to get through customs, this trip was unbelievable. We head to our hostel and the ride there was amazing. Driving along the coast of the Sea of Marmara and seeing tons of boats/ships on the sparkling water was a wonderful view. We get to Sultanahmet and it is guarded by a huge wall. We enter the gates and drop off our stuff at the hostel. By this time it is late afternoon and we are hungry so we find a cafe between the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya. There were no seats so the waiter sat us in the VIP, luxury, sultan chairs.  Obviously we get royal treatment and he presented us with a hookah! After an amazing lunch we went to the Blue Mosque. Had to take our shoes off at the entrance but the inside was massive. Kind of looked like a duomo but in Turkey. It was late after that and raining so we rested for a bit and headed towards the new, modern part of Istanbul. This is where all the shopping, taverns, clubs, and Tunel Square are. We had a few drinks in the Nevizade area where there are a bunch of outside, sit-down areas to chill and have a drink. We picked a corner spot and turns out the cashier spoke Spanish and loves South/Caribbean America. We bonded over Daddy Yankee and he blessed us with a free drink. The people you meet in life....anyways we got our late night Kebap and headed home. Next day we went straight to the Aya Sofya. This giant church was a sight to see but the mosaics on the second level are phenomenal. Thousands of pieces put together to make one picture is an astonishing thing to see live and close. After this we went to the Topkapi Palace. This palace was a city in itself. It is right on the water so the views were remarkable. We were there for at least two to three hours going from room to room looking at jewelry, clothes, and historic Muslim items.  Some include the footprint of Muhammed, a 86-carat pear-shaped Spoonmaker Diamond, and displays of Mecca. We left there and got a Kebap for lunch with freshly squeezed orange juice. My favorite! This was a short stop before we went to the Grand Bazaar. A giant indoor mall with over 4500 shops of clothes, hookah, jewelry, shoes, and much more. We got lost as lonely planet said and just stayed inside since it was raining. Once it slowed down, we ran into Istanbul University. Could not enter so we went back to the hostel. After long debates, we went to the upstairs cafe/restaurant and had a couple drinks. The view is amazing up there so we spent the rest of the night there with a hookah and such. Back home to Firenze early in the morning...

Photos can be found at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2575578&id=1915685&l=8f356602f4

Munich, Germany

"The city of Monks" means next stop: Munich, Germany! #1 most liveable city according to Mike. I will be quoting this guy a lot because he gave us (the Bus2Alps group) the BEST way to tour Munich. He has/is Mike's Bike Tours (http://www.mikesbiketours.com/1.html) all over Europe and we had the original, unique tour by the man himself.  I had a tricked out cruiser that matched my outfit. Meant to be! Mike took us all around and showed us his favorite red trees. Also gave us a history of Munich and its former leaders while riding. Not only fun but educational! There were surfers, a piece of the wall of Berlin, and the IceBach in the Isar River. Here is where we jumped into the river while it was 50 degrees outside and felt about 10 inside. YES...we jumped in! Mike made us! HA! Amazing as he said it would be. Refer to video and pictures for details. We continued riding to the Chinesischer Turm which was a beer garden for lunch and famous brew. Afterwards we carried on through the Englischer Garten which is a 1000 acre park. There are supposedly nude beaches but we were the only ones with nude in the park. Oops! After the tour we had a few beers with Mike himself. He left and we headed towards the famous Hofbrauhaus. Basically a beer hall where it is produced for over 100 years. Madness everywhere and food. Who's complaining? We stumbled to the hostel and met up with some Puerto Rican girls studying abroad in Spain and Germany. Love meeting my peoples from the island. While all the guys passed out I went out with them to Fruhlingsfest (Spring Festival). It is like a carnival (rides, cotton candy, & games) with a twist of two beer gardens. We did a little bit of everything than headed back home. Next day was a trip to Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. A part of Germany's history that had to be seen and experienced. Mostly a slave labour camp but about 43,000 still died. R.I.P! Museum and video were graphic yet informative. On the way back we caught the 11 minutes of the Glockenspiel ring and mechanical jousting match. After this overrated site we went to eat at Augustiner which is one of Munich's oldest pubs. Had some Pork Knuckle which is delicious. After that we went to Spring Fest again to do all the things I missed before. Sunday before we departed, we went to the Olympiazentrum where the 1972 Olympics was held and the tragedy of 17 Israeli deaths were. On a lighter note, the park, venues, stadium, and lakes were remarkable. Had lunch on one of the main, popular, young streets and than we were off on the bus home....

Photos can be seen at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2571595&id=1915685&l=e8721f7a31

Paris

"The City of Lights" was the next stop. Paris for those who dont know. As soon as I checked into the hostel, I went to this club that a friend recommended, Le Mix. It was an arasmus club (for exchange students) on Thursdays and it was jumpin'! Too bad the train ends at 12:30am so I ran back to the station to catch the only way I knew to get home. The next day I randomly walked around with no direction, order, or plan. All I knew was to make it to the Eiffel Tower before the sun went down. I found the Notre Dame de Paris and its free admission so I went in.  It is massive and I sat there to contemplate my next move. Ended up following signs to the Picasso and Hugo museum but couldnt find them. From that area I walked to the Bastille where the revolution was. Its just a statue/monument now but a happening area.  From there I went by Le Louvre and did the famous walk through the courtyard, by the pyramid, into and through the garden and down Champs-Elysses to the Arc de Triomph. Very long and tiring but obviously worth it.  Next stop was the tower and it was relaxing to just sit down and enjoy the monument.  The next day I met up with Tim who spoiled me with a wonderful lunch, ride around Paris, and dinner. Caught the things I missed like Sacre-Coeur, Musee D'Orsay, and the first cabaret in Paris.  Sacre-Coeur was amazing, Musee D'Orsay was phenomenal (Rodin & Monet), and the cabaret was touristy.  Went inside the Louvre Sunday before my flight and spent at least three hours there. Huge, massive, and large do NOT describe this place. Luckily we had an audio guide to help us see the main sites (Victory, Mona Lisa, Michaelangelo, and Venus de Milo) and the history of the Louvre.  After back home...

Photos can be found at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2568795&id=1915685&l=79d31293f4

Easter Break 2009

SO for Easter break (Italy gets a holiday for Easter Monday) I went to Scandinavia. Specifically Sweden and Denmark. I must say this was an incredible trip especially since I went with two people from Alternative Spring Break and I met up with a fraternity brother. 

Sweden

I got to Stockholm, Sweden and met up with Carolyn and Cynthia. I ate quickly and we head to our place of stay. It happened to be someone from coachsurfing.com and was all of our first times doing it. We got there and Helena was amazing. Recommend it to anyone traveling on a budget. She greeted us with some snacks and drinks. Great experience! We went to slept and woke up to breakfast. It never ended! Once we were done with that we hit the town and saw a lot. We headed for Old Town (Gamla Stan) and decided to make a left. Ended up in the middle of the changing of the guards ceremony.  YES, Sweden has a royal family as well.  It was interesting and included a band. Afterwards was a ton of just walking around and looking for stuff. Some important things to mention that we found include the Noble museum where the Noble prizes are given out, the tomb of Mr. Noble himself, and Old Town which has the royal palace and such. AND by the way, Stockholm is known as the "Venice of the North" so you could imagine how much water, islands,  and beauty there was. For lunch we just had a sandwich by the water and enjoyed the sunny day. For dinner we went to a bar and I had Swedish meatballs. Amazing meal I must say! The next day we attempted to see everything we didnt see the first day which includes the Globen (largest spherical structure in the world), museum campus/island, and walking around enjoying the Viking culture. We had dinner with Helena and her friends who were very interesting people. Next day we were off to Kopenhagen by bus.  The ride was serene but the best was fording the river (Oregon Trail style) on a massive boat from Sweden to Denmark. Incredible view and experience! Got to Kopenhagen and my fraternity brother picked us up and took us to his place to rest...

Denmark

We had one full day in Denmark so we needed to see and do the most we could. We saw some castles and went to the top of a round tower to see all of Kopenhagen. Afterwards we saw the royal palace of another royal family! Afterwards we went to Christiana which is known as a mini Amsterdam. Very liberal and free fallin' people around. We enjoyed the amazing graffiti and had a beer on the roof of a bar. Truly memorable! Before the sun went down we headed for the Little Mermaid which is supposed to be the original. I enjoyed it. The area around it is a park so got some amazing shots around there. Ended the day there and prepared to head home the next day...

Photos can be found at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2568774&id=1915685&l=19b6205204

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2568792&id=1915685&l=83bdeb0bee

Arezzo-Cortona

SO like three weeks ago I went to Arezzo and Cortona on a day trip. SOrry for the delay but Ive been out traveling, doing school presentations, and painting masterpieces. Anyways, Arezzo and Cortona are two classic, small Italian cities. I was upset because they both look like every other little Italian city we have been to but they both had very rich history and uniqueness to them. Arezzo is home to the famous movie, La Vita e Bella.  Its cathedral is huge as well and had tombs inside. Not sure who but they were there. Cortona was less exciting and its basic site was obviously the Duomo.  Both cities had spectacular views by their walls. Everything seems to be below the city. Amazing! BUT until next time...

Photos can be found at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2568770&id=1915685&l=ff4611445e

Spring Break 2009

I should have gone to Florida or Mexico with my friends....NOT!!! Spring break 2009 was thebest yet as I hit four cities. I will write about each separately as they were all different andunique in thier own way.

London

First city...LONDON! The Tube, Underground system is amazing! More cities should mimic ths. Gets you anywhere in minutes considering London is a huge city. We get to our hostel which isnt the best but sufficient enough. We hit the town and go to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace which I later found out was the wrong one and place. It was still interesting though. In that area was Big Ben, the London Eye, Westminister Abbey, and St. James  Park. Very historic and political area. Had a quick bite of English Breakfast and headed to the Tower Bridge, Tower of London, and the River Thames. Another historic area and beautiful site for pcitures. After that we went to the British Museum which is massive.  They had exhibits from every continent and history from each as well. Very diverse museum with 5 levels all for FREE! Cannot beat that. After this feat, we decide to walk home. Which was a good and bad idea. Good because we saw Picadilly Circus and some of the main avenues of London. Bad because the walk took us about an hour and a half. Maps are decieving! We obviously crash once we arrive and awaken for dinner. Fish and chips were on our minds but considering I do NOT like fish, I settled for a burger and tried a small peice of the fish. Still don't like it! Next day watched the Liverpool v. Manchester United game. Intense game being in London and at a pub. After lunch we went inside the Tower of London. We got to see the famous jewels, crowns, and staffs of the royal family. Inside there was also an interactive exhibition of weapons, facts, and games which looked like it was for kids BUT we played right along with them and enjoyed ourselves as well. We left there and tried to find other open things but were out of luck so we just walked around and found ChinaTown and Covent Garden which both happened to be popular destinations. The next day our other roommate came so we retraced our steps and showed him everything we saw and than some. What we saw that wasnt mentioned before was the Churchill Museum. His bunker during the war and exhibition showed his great leadership and wisdom.  Good guy! Afterwards we finally found the REAL Buckingham Palace.  Thank goodness. It was closed or something so we went to the Ritzy neighborhood of London which seemed high end. We found a museum campus with the Natural History, Science, and Victoria and Albert Museums. Only went into one but it happened to have my roommates favorite sculptor/artist. Meant to be I say! Anyways, we skipped through Camden Town and found Regeants Park. Beautiful, large park that had tons of soccer buffs and amazing gardens. We ended the night early because we had an early flight to Dublin the next day...

Dublin

The green country! We arrived at the airport and there was an hour long line to get into the city. I guess St. Patrick is a popular guy around those parts. Anyways, we get in and head for my friends apartment at UCD. They were wonderful hosts and tour guides. The first day we went to the center and our roommate told us all we needed to see. Picutres have more information. Afterwards we walked to the Guiness Warehouse which was huge and informative. The top was probably the highlight and highest point in Dublin where you could see all of Dublin with your glass of Guiness. Memorable! After the beer, we found the St. Patrick Cathedral but could not enter. So sad! Couldn't find anything else except street performers and drunk people so we went home to prepare for the next day (St. Patricks Day).  Our hosts woke us up early so we don't miss the parade which lasted about two hours. Amazing parade though with marching bands, floats, DJs, and costumes. It was like Carnivale meets Rave party! Afterwards we found a pub to eat some traditional Irish food. Let me say that the corned beef and cabbage was spectacular.  I could not even speak! I had to take a nap after that. Was awoken to continue the night. Could not even last considering we have another early flight but this time to Madrid...

Madrid

We arrived in Madrid to yet another great train system. YES! We headed to another friends place who was another great host and guide. She took us for some excellent tapas and drinks. After food we went to the Templo de Debod park. This temple was a gift from Egypt for Spain helping them in some war and was transfered peice by piece to this park in Madrid! Ancient artifact at its finest. We hung out in the park, had some wine, and watched the sunset which seemed to be the thing to do. Once it got dark we went home to rest up and meet up with some friends later on. More wonderful people and met up with a home friend studying there. Good times! Totally slept in the next day seeing that I have been waking up early almost everyday. Once up we got going to Reina Sofia where Picasso and others are no stranger. I accidently got to close to Picasso's Guernica and almost got tackled by the guard. HA! Sorry! Its so big, I just wanted to see detail. Anyways we continued our day with a walk through town marveling at historic buildings, museums, and parks. Went home to finally shower up and went to a fancy dinner at the WORLD'S OLDEST RESTAURANT!! Its called Botin and in the Guiness Book of World Records. Roast sucking pig was the specialty so you know what I got. My host also told me to ask for el fogon. The waiter immediately took us to the kitchen where they have the fire pit that has been there since the restaurant started. There was also little bambino pigs on plates waiting to be cooked. Kind of gross but it was an interesting site to see. After that the waiters loved me for being interested in their establishment. Gave us free postcards! Small talk I'll tell you. Anyways, went home early after a few drinks becuase we had yet another early flight to Barcelona....

Barcelona

Yea...missed the flight and had to get on the next one. SUCKED! Not a smart move but first mistake of all my travels. Fingers CROSSED, knock on wood! Whatever. We arrived and went to our hostel.  We rested a bit and saw some of the normal stuff of the city. The monument of Colum, Plaza Catalunya, and the Port were at the top of that list.  After seeing those sites we went to a Casino. I don't know why because I don't gamble but it was a good idea at the time. The people there were real friendly anyways so we stood awhile. The next day we saw some Guadi works in La Pedrera and Sagrada Familia.  Amazing architectural works that have aa unique touch owned purely by Guadi.  That night we saw Crookers and Girl Talk at some giant warehouse club.  I thought I was in a mosh pit the whole time! They really know how to get the crowd going. Our last day in Barcelona was probably the most chill but we got to see Barcelona v. Malaga calcio match. There was no competition as Barca won 6-0. Stadium fits easily 70,000 people so you can imagine the chanting and excitement.  Headed back home after a long, intriguing, and much needed break. Pictures are below...CIAO

London pics: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2553219&id=1915685&l=085d305b85

Dublin pics: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2553235&id=1915685&l=1360fa4ecd

Madrid pics: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2553240&id=1915685&l=5869f6ce22