Italia! Last trip of the semester!!

Italia, was the perfect end to the perfect semester!

I cannot believe that I am writing about my last trip of the semester... but wow was it a good trip, and a great semester.  We had the week off of school this week for a Spanish holiday... well actually not the whole week we have our classes today (Thursday).  I left to Rome on Friday, and then we caught a train to Florence. We were in Florence for two nights, and then back to Rome for two nights, and I returned to Barcelona on Tuesday morning.  It was a whirlwind weekend, but it was amazing.  Italy is seriously the best place in the world, I loved Italy when I was there before with my Dad, and just as much this time around.  The people were friendly, and welcoming.  The food was amazing, the sights were unbelievable.  To be standing in the middle of history that is over 2000 years old is truly remarkable.

Alright, so Florence.  On Friday night we just went to dinner and a few little bars, but were in bed fairly early.  Saturday we were out and about all day.  We went to the Duomo church, which was incredible.  This church is the center of all of Florence, and it can be seen by everyone everywhere.  The dome in the church was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.  We took a tour of the church so we were able to see a lot of really cool things... including going on the top of the church.

 Here we are in front of the church.  Leonard is on the right, and Jack is on the left.  (Jack is from Kansas City as well, and he is studying in Barcelona in a different program).  The church was made of marble and is gorgeous.... it is pink and green.

 Here is the dome.  The dome shows the 7 layers form hell to heaven.  It is so detailed and very graphic.

 Here is a picture of me looking over Florence from the church.  As well as a picture of the inside of the church.

Here is another picture of me in front of the church... The sun was hitting it perfectly.  The rest of the day we just wandered around, went into some museums, hit a few Christmas markets.  That night we met up with 3 other girls in our program and went to dinner/bars.  It was really fun!  The Penne all vodka was to die for!!

The next morning we went to the Michael Angelo look out.  You could see the whole city from this lookout.  On the far left is the Duomo, which is the church I was talking about.  We met up with one of Leonards from Duke and he helped show us around the rest of the day.

Here is Santa Crotia which is where many important people are buried...

That night I had pear tortellini for dinner, it was interesting and very good.  After dinner we were off to Rome.. it is about an hour and a half train ride.  We got in around midnight and went to bed, since we were going to be up sight seeing all day Monday.  Monday morning our first stop of the Coliseum.  Wow, is it amazing.  Then we went to Palentine Hill, and the Forum, all of which we had a wonderful tour guide named Jason.

Here is me with Jack outside of the Coliseum. 

 Me standing inside the Coliseum, talk about history.

 A view of the Coliseum.  One of the most incredible things I have ever seen. 

 The group!! <3 them.

 View from Palentine Hill.

View of the Coliseum.

More of the Forum.

After all of that we went back to our hotel to regroup for a few mintues, then we met Jason again for a night tour.  Here we saw the rest of the big sights including the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, the main plaza, etc.  The Pantheon is incredible, especially since it is open air.

 Here are two pictures of me making my wishes in the Trevi Fountain.  I threw in 3 coins, which means I want to fall in love.  So cliche.  1 coin means you will come back, 2 coins means you want to meet someone, and 3 coins means to fall in love.

Here we are with the group again, I forget what this is called, but it is in the main plaza of Rome.

Well that is all for now.  I just went to our favorite little lunch spot, and am off to my last class of the day.  It is so weird to think a week from right now I will be done with school, and finishing packing to come home!  There is still sooo many things I want to do in Barcelona, so the sight seeing will be at an all time high this week, on top of studying for finals (yes, I do go to school, and I do study, and I do have good grades-MOM AND DAD).  I cannot wait to see you all in just a few short days!! xoxo.

Barcelona adventures, Interlaken, and El Classico!

Hello Family! 

WOW... my life has been in the fast lane the past two weeks!  Seriously... with the end of the semester right around the corner, the school work has progressively picked up.  I have had 4 huge papers this week, as well as lots of presentations, and preparing for finals!  On top of all that we are starting to freek out and realize there is still so much left to do in Barcelona... So we have been busy, busy girls!

Last week, we were all sitting in our apartments (I was upstairs with the other girls), and we realized, we are in BARCELONA, SPAIN what are we doing sitting in our cave apartments doing nothing.  So we threw on our jackets and went for a long walk for over an hour.  We stumbled up...

Our very first hotel!!  Remember at the beginning of the year we were in a hotel for the first two nights... well here the Hotel Catalonia Berna! It was really fun to just wander the streets and enjoy the fresh air.

On Thursday night we were off to Geneva, Switzerland.  Once we got to Geneva, we took a bus up to the Swiss Alps.  We stayed in Interlaken, Switzerland.  We signed up for a program for study abroad students, so they organize the transportation, hostels, and what not.  It made the trip a lot easier!  I went with 4 other girls, and we knew 3 other guys going as well.  There were over 200 college students, so it was a really fun weekend.  We were in a room of 10 girls... 5 other people from Barcelona!  We ended up becoming really good friends with the other girls, so it was a great time!  Our room was sooo fun/small! LOOK!

There are four beds at the very top, then two beds bunked, with two beds under the bunk, and I am sitting under my bed which is in a little corner (I hit my head on the beam about 100 times!), and there is another bed across from me!  It was pretty cramped to say the least.

Here is a picture of me and AK on the left, and Ashley on the right.  Ashley is one of AK's friends from school who is studying abroad in Paris.  This is just a pretty picture, with the gorgeous Swiss Alps in the background.

So we stayed a hostel named Balmers... it is kind of known for being a party atmosphere totally for the young kids.  It was great, awesome staff, everything... BUT we needed to escape so we went to the Hotel Victoria (this hotel was pretty magnificent) and had coffees and swiss chocolate!  (Ashley, AK, Hannah, Me, Taylor).  All the girls besides Ashley live above me.

All of Interlaken has tons of rivers and canals.  Here is a picture of me with the Swiss Alps in the background... I love this picture!

The program we went with had a lot of activity options... you could sign up/pay for which ever you wanted.  On Friday night they offered a Thanksgiving dinner, so we signed up!  Here we all are the table.  It was SO much fun, definitely a highlight of the trip.  These people really have become my family abroad so it was great to spend it with them! :)

On Saturday night we signed up for NIGHT SLEDDING.  We first went to a traditional Swiss dinner.  We had some roast-beef type stuff with a mushroom sauce and hash browns, followed by cheese swiss fondue.  Then we proceeded to go to the Mountain to night sled.  It was not a joke... we went all the way to the top of a mountain, and then took a gondola up that they use to transport cows!!  It was quit the adventure.  We went for an hour down hill sled ride.  It was twisty-turny.. kind of felt like I was in Mario Cart.  There were a few parts I literally could have fallen off the side of the mountain!  But its ok we survived!! (Hannah ran into a wall or something though!)  The mountain didn't have any lights, so our eyes had to adjust to the darkness.

Interlaken was a great weekend.  Filled with great friends, and a lot of wonderful memories!  It was very nice to have no pressure to sight see or anything, we could just enjoy the time being there and wander around town.  We arrived back in Barcelona on Sunday night.  

On Monday night was one of the best nights here in Barcelona.  It was the El Classico game, Barcelona vs Madrid in futbol (soccer).  BARCELONA WON 5-0!  We went to the local cafe under us, where we go all the time to watch the game with all the locals.  It was packed!!  After the game there was a huge celebration in Plaza Catalunya, which we went to!  It was seriously one of the most insane things ever.  People were climbing the light posts, rioting, singing, chanting... so much fun!  A total moment of being immersed in the culture of Barcelona!!

 Here we are with Yague!  He is seriously the best ever. We live right above his cafe so we see him everyday.  He always gives us snacks, and loves to talk with us!! :)

 Here I am with AK and two of her roommates in the celebration on Las Ramblas!

 Me and Felipe YAGUE!

 Love this girl! Ak and myself... we are definitely regulars at Cafe Yague.  At first we got weird looks from the locals, but now we are pretty welcomed... especially since Yague and his brother have taken the two of us under their wing.

 Yague, his brother, AK, and myself behind the counter just having a photo shoot.

A view of the celebration.  Notice the people up the lamp post.

Well that is all for now.  Two weeks from today (Friday) I will be on a plane back to California!  It's crazy think that this semester is almost over.  4 finals and one presentation left... so it is going to be a fun two weeks!! I am off to Florence in the morning until Sunday, then I am going to Rome until Tuesday.  We have all of next week off of school for a holiday here in Spain!  One week left of school!!

I will be back next week with a post of my adventures in Italy!! LOVE YOU all.  I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. XOXO.