Day 35- Flight Home

We woke up at 3:00 AM, and got ready for the flight. We left the hotel before 4:00 AM and headed to the airport. When we got there we had to say all our goodbyes to the friends we had made. Then we waited in the British Airways line for about and hour for the check in counter to open. We finally got our tickets, went through security and waited at our gate. Our first flight left at 7:15 AM and landed in London at 8:30 AM, (which is actually 9:30 Spain time) so the flight was around 2 ½ hours. Neither of us remember the flight because we fell asleep and didn’t wake up till before landing. Once we got off the plane in London we had a three hour layover before our next flight left at 11:30 AM. Our flight however, did not leave on time. The flight was suppose to get in around 2 PM (Chicago time), making it a 7 ½ hour flight with the time change. We didn’t actually get in till after 3 PM. The flight was dreadfully long and dragged on forever. We watched a few movies……. I watched Green Zone and The Bounty Hunter; Chrissy watched The Losers, Bounty Hunter, and How to Train Your Dragon. The food on the flight was awful…… some sort of chicken lunch and a chick salad sandwich later.

After landing we went through customs got our luggage and headed out of the airport to meet mom! Then we met the family at Portillios for traditional American food!

Day 34- Barcelona

Today we slept in and decided to make our day more relaxing! We leisurely awoke and headed to breakfast….ate some chocolate croissants and then headed back to bed. We finally emerged from bead around 11 and got ready to head into town. When we got into town we to head into the middle of the square and take pictures with the fountains. Then we walked down Las Ramblas, a mile long shopping street, and did some souvenir shopping! We bought Spanish fans and some other essential Barcelonan souvenirs. We stopped into a restaurant and had some Sangria and Paella. It was delicious!!!!! Then we walked toward Casa Batllo, a façade that is an allegory for the legend of St. George they dragon slayer. This house has some crazy designs. It is multi-colored with many different cut outs and intricate designs. After posing and taking many pictures we decided it was time to head back to the hotel.

On the way to the Metro…… we stopped at a local store to buy some chocolate! Then we headed back to the hotel so we could get ready for dinner and our Flamenco Show.

We had dinner with our tour group director and his wife. We ate at a local restaurant and had tapas ad Sangria, which are appetizers. We order about six different tapas which were: Spanish Omelet (Egg and potatoes mixed in a quiche like shape), Bacon and Cheese Panini, Greek salad, California Salad, Grilled Asparagus, Stuffed Peppers, and Chicken cheese rolls (looked like an egg roll). We had a great time reminiscing about the trip and having a few laughs.

Then Chrissy and I and a few other girls (Yara, April, Aubree) headed to a Flamenco show! Flamenco dancing is known all over Spain, and is an old tradition. We went to the show not knowing what really what to expect. It was pretty crazy and really hard to explain. It began with a man doing some types of steps that were loud… it reminded us of tap and clogging. Then the came out in the dresses with the riffles and big skirts girls joined in. More dancers came out and joined in. The music was done all by snapping of the fingers; then later the men played a guitar and the girls sang. It was crazy! The men and women move their feet so fast and the sound they create was so loud. After a mesmerizing hour long show, full of dance and music we decided it was time to head back to the hotel- since it was close to midnight and we had to leave 4 hours later. On our way back we stopped and got our last gelato….. which was three very large scoops each! It was a perfect end to a perfect day!

Day 33- Barcelona

This day began with a very yummy delicious breakfast consisting of eggs, bacon, cereal, fruit, chocolate croissants and more! Then we headed to our bus for a morning group tour of Barcelona. We first went to Parc Guell. This is a park that was built by Gaudi. This place reminded us of a place right out of a Dr. Seuss book. The architecture of this place was self-contained community with houses, schools and shops. It has colorful designed mosaics and paths.

Then we drove around and saw some other buildings and fountains before arriving at the La Sagrada Familia. The design came from Antoni Gaudi, the same man who designed the park. This is a church that is still in the process of being built. It began in 1882 and it will be complete in 2020.

Then we headed to the Olympic Stadium, which hosted the 1992 Olympics. The stadiums were huge. They were very close to the water, and were on top of Montjuic hill. This is where we ended the bus tour and took tons of pictures that over look the park, ocean, and stadiums.

After the tour ended we head to Las Ramblas and walked down the mile long shopping strip and did some basic souvenirs shopping. We stopped at this market, which is down an alley and there were over 50 different markets: fruits, vegetables, chocolates, candies, meat, fish, ice cream, flowers, etc. Chrissy and I bought some gelato which was Kinder flavored. Kinder is a type of German chocolate, which is amazing! The ice cream was delicious!!! Once we finished our ice cream we continued to walk down Las Ramblas. We ended at the end the street in front of a huge sculptures with giant lions surrounding it; so we stopped for some basic touristy pictures.

Then we continued walking and headed to the Barri Gotic which is an area known for food and shopping. We wondered into this area and took many pictures of churches and buildings. We took pictures of the cathedral, which was built on the top of the 11^th century ruins of a Romanesque church. Then it was time to head back to the hotel so we could get ready for our Farewell dinner and the Flamenco show we had planned for after.

After some quick showers and getting all dressed up we were ready. The Farewell Dinner was planned for 8 PM and was at a restaurant on the ocean. We were all so excited! We headed outside to wait for the bus.

We waited, waited, waited, and waited till about 8:30 when our tour director called the bus company to ask where the bus was. Apparently they didn’t know they were suppose to pick us up, so they said they would send a bus by shortly. So we continued to wait and took some fun pictures with friends and some fun poses. It was around 9 when we saw a bus come speeding up…..however something seemed different. When the bus stopped we relized what was wrong…… it was a small bus.

This bus held 24 people…….and there were 51 of us. Yea…… everyone was laughing because we had no idea what was going on. The bus driver looked confused, the tour director was mad, and we were all in shock.

We were all tired and hungry. After much confusion and the use of one of our group members translating between the bus driver and the director… we all piled into the tiny bus. Yes all of us. Everyone had someone on their lap. We were all crammed into the bus and had to close the blinds in the bus to avoid being pulled over by the police. We had to avoid the police so it took us three times longer to get to dinner than it should have been.

Once we got to the restaurant we all got out and it looked as if we were all getting out of a clown car.

For dinner we had an appetizer of tapas (which was bread with a type of tomato basil topping), then we had a cold pasta which oil, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Then main dish was a beef steak with gravy, and vegetables, and for dessert we had Crème Brule. Our favorite part about dinner was the free refills of drinks and lots of ice. Dinner was a lot of fun because we were reminiscing about the trip, and were talking about future adventures we would like to all take together.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel for some sleep!

Day 32- Spain: Barcelona

Today we had a 9 hour bus ride....woof. It was awful. Luckily we passed the time with music, movies, and reading. Unfortunately Chrissy is out of books to read now and is a bit bummed but she'll get over it. Once we finally got into Barcelona, made it the 1 flight up to our hotel room and collapsed onto our beds from exhaustion from all sitting around that we did. After unpacking and a bit of resting we met the rest of the group downstairs in the hotel lobby and headed to Catalunya Plaza. We did a bit of window shopping and then made it to Hard Rock Cafe. It was delicious. I know I know we should have been eating somewhere authentic but we needed a little American food. It was delicious. We had a little girls evening with dinner and drinks and then made our way to the metro station. Once home in the hotel we got ready for bed and immediately passed out.

Day 31- Nice and Monaco

We woke up and got ready for our day! We boarded the train and headed into Nice! We arrived at the stations and then walked a few blocks to the beach! It was amazing! The water was a clear blue-green. The beachfront was rocks of all colors. The water was so warm and refreshing after being in the Sun! While Cindy tanned Chrissy burned. We stayed at the beach for about 4 hours then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the night. We were going to be heading to Monaco! We got all dressed up, went for dinner (pizza again.....from the same place as the night before) then hoped on a train to Monaco! WE arrived in Monaco and got very lost. We were trying to find the Monaco- Monte Carlo Casino! We wondered for sometime and found many other casinos and hotels. WE then found the casino!! We were excited; Grandma and Dziadz would be so proud! We took many pictures of the casino as weell as the cars parked outside. There were Ferrari's, Jaugar's, Maserati's, Rols Royce's the list could go on. We went into the casino and walked around the entrance however did not venture in due to the entrance fee. We decided to go for dessert at the Cafe de Paris...... We got two huge ice cream sundeas; one with fruit and one with chocolate! It was the best ice cream in the world! After eating we walked around and took pictures of Monaco at night then headed to the train, so we could go to the hotel. We had to repack and get ready for our next transfer to Spain.

Day 30 - Nice

The morning began with a fun loading of the bus.....then unloading of the bus all within 30 minutes. We had to take the bus to the train stations so we could board a train to Nice. We were told we had 2 minutes to board the train, with all our luggage. Thats 50 people, 2+ bags per person, and a whole lot of disorganization. The reality of it was that we had about 5 minutes to board the train. Since more than half our group doesnt listen to directions, they decided to do exactly the eopposite of what they were told; meaning they stood there and were worrying about finding their seat rather than getting on the train. The conductor came over and started yelling at us...... telling us to hurry up. We were the last ones to board the train. Once we boarded the train we were standing in the middle of the asile, holding our luggage. We attempted to make our way to our seats (last row) and found out that our seats were surrounded by everyones suitcases. We had to climb over everyone's suitcases to get to our seats and realized we were in a fortress of luggage at which any moment could come crashing down. After 6 long hours on the train we made it to Nice! We got off the train and boarded the bus and headed to the hotel which was in the neighboring city of a Beaulieu Sur Mer. We got to the hotel and slowly made it to our rooms. Cindy headed to the beach for a nap while Chrissy napped in the room. A little bit later we ventured out for dinner......PIZZA, then headed to bed.

Day 29- Paris

So on our last day in Paris we decided that we needed a little R&R before heading out for the day. We leisurely slept in til about noon before getting ready and heading out for the day. We decided that we were going to hit up a bakery for breakfast and then walk to Montemarte which was about a 20min walk from our hotel. Montemarte is near the Moulin Rouge and is the home of the artist district where many now famous painters got their start. It is also the home of a beautiful church called Sacre Coeur and from here you get a great view of the entire city of Paris. Although in order to get these great views you have to hike up what seemed like one mile straight up. Not to mention climbing about a billion stairs. It was lovely. We took several breaks and had a final break in a great little souveniour shop at the top of the hill and had some waters. Much needed after that. After some great panoramic pictures of the city and looking into the church we walked around through the tourist shops and then meandered the now strungling artists trying to make it. After that we hiked back down the hill and made our way back to the hotel. We napped a bit and then joined the rest of the group for another view of Notre Dame, a great dinner at a small resturant in the Latin Quarter, the Arc of Triumph and then made it back to the Eiffel Tower for the night show. At 11pm and then on the hour after that for 10min the Eiffel Tower sparkles, literally. So we found a spot in the grass and waited, and then waited some more, contemplated ice cream while waiting, and then it sparkled. Not quite as amazing as we had all hoped it would be (we might have been expecting fireworks and multi-colored sparkles) but it was beautiful. We took several shots and just enjoyed the view in front of us and relaxed a bit before heading to the hotel to pack up and get ready for the train ride to Nice the next morning.

Day 28- Paris

The second day in Paris we were up early and on the bus for a little panoramic tour of the city. Unfortunately we are so used to hopping on a bus and sleeping that it was a bit difficult to stay awake. We managed and got to see the location of Marie Antoniettes imprisonment, the hotel and church of invalides which was where Napoleons injuried soldiers stayed after battle, the Pantheon which is where Voltaire, Madam Curie and several authors are buried, and countless museums. We took more photos enjoyed some hot chocolate before being dropped off at Trocadero Square across from the Eiffel Tower. After a few more pictures we split up from the rest of the group and headed on our own little walking tour of Paris. We took off towards the Arch of Triumph which Napoleon had built in honor of his war vicories. Now there is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and an eternal flame that burns beneath the arch. We then made our way down the river towards Notre Dame. There was no hunchback, but the church was beautiful. After that we crossed the street and headed to the Latin Quarter which is a little souvenier and resturant area and ended up grabbing a crepe and panini and continued on our walk. After a few more hours of window shopping we made our way to the hotel to rest a bit before we showered, got ourselves ready, and headed out in full dress attire to a Can-Can show. The show was in Montemarte area and near the Moulin Rouge which we took several pictures in front of. Before the show started we grabbed a chicken, tomato, and mozzarella panini and a chocolate, banana crepe. It was delicious however we made quite the mess of ourselves and completely killed the "lady like" look we were going for. Novelle Eve was the name of the show we saw and the dresses and dances were phenomenal and Cindy and I picked up a few moves. AFter the show we headed back through the Moulin Rouge area also known as the "Red light distict of Paris". On our way back to the hotel we stopped into a bar for a quick drink and mingled with the French. Not to much later we walked home witnessed a car go down a one way in reverse for 2 blocks before turning around and continued to crack up about it until we went to bed a bit later. We also had a run in with Pepe La Pew (the man that worked the front desk) who does not like speaking if it is not in French and is not okay with giggling.

Day 27- Paris

We arrived in Paris after a 4 hour bus ride and immediately hit the city. As a group we all headed straight to the Louvre and took some great pictures of the fountains, glass pyramids, and the surrounding park. We went into the Louvre for about 2 hours but before I get into that Cindy and I just want to clear the air here. The Da Vinci Code, liars! There was no pyramid that went below the ground where Mary may or may not be!!! RIdiculous! Okay anyways we were able to see the Mona Lisa, Psyche and Cupid, Venus de Milo, and the Nike of Samothrace also know as the winged victory. Lots of pictures later we headed out walked through the park and made our way through the city to the Eiffel Tower. We passed the crash site of Princess Di which has now been turned into a memorial by all her fans. After making it to the Eiffel Tower we grabbed the oddest hot dogs ( 2 hot dogs stuffed into a bagguette with cheese, ketchup, and mayo on top) and headed up. The view was amazing. We were able to go all the way to the top gand get some great views of the city. After making our way back down to the second viewing tower we decided the elevtaor line was too long and we would just take the stairs down. Always an interesting experience and quite the workout. After the Eiffel we had another walk over to the Seine River where we boarded a boat for a night cruise. Paris by night was beautiful and then we got to pass the Eiffel Tower all lit up. All in all a great day/evening. After the tour we boarded the Metra to head back to the hotel. Unfortunately I was near the end of the pack and some how managed to get lost for about an hour with 4 other people about 3 blocks from the hotel. Lovely. Finally Yara and I decided to ignore the boys "directions" and "its this way" and stopped asked for directions and were home in bed 20min later.

Day 26- Belgium; Brussels

OUr day began with a road trip to Belgium. We left quite early in the morning and headed towards Brussels...... but had a stop off in Brugge. Brugge is a small town with many beatuiful buildings. WE began our tour of the town by seeing the beautiful churches and we began to notice that our stomaches were growling....so we took a detour from the tour group and headed into a waffle house. Here we ate ummy Belgium waffles!!!!! After we finished eating we began to tour the town. We went into many different buildings such as the church, we walked by the Belfrey Tower, and the Burg. THen we decided it was time to venture into the chocolate factories and stores. Chrissy and I bought some chocolate toea on the bus ride to Brussels. We then boarded the bus and headed to Brussels. Once we arrived in Brussels we were dropped of at the Hotel..... I mean Hostel. This hostel looked worse than a summer camp. It was an empty room with bunk beds. WE had to go get our sheets from the desk and the make the beds. Then we noticed there were no towels in the bathroom....so I went to the front desk andfound out you had to pay 7.00 Euros SO we decided to skipp the purchase of the towels and use the extra sheets if we needed too. Chrissy and aother girl on the trip headed to the laundry mat....and di some laundry while i headed into Brussels to see the town and find a place for dinner. Some of the thingswe saw were the Belgium Stock Exchange, WE saw the main town square which is made up of the Palace, and Rathaus (city hall). THen we ventured into a little alley way, which was filled with resturants. I wonderd around until i found a resturant, then headed back into the main square to wait for Chrissy and our friends for dinner. We ate a three course meal which was delicious.... appetizer, dinner, then dessert. We had Creme Brulee for dessert nd it tasted more like scrambled eggs gone bad. After we finished eating we headed to the Delerium to meet up with the rest of the group. The Delerium is a famous beer hall wit over 40 beers on tap. WE had a drin with the group and then headed back to te Hostel, whic was an adventure in itself. Chrissy decided that she was going to shower in the Hostel and used bed sheet to dry off. It was funny, the other girls (me, April, and Yara) we decided to be less adventurous and not shower. WE ended the night with some stories that began with "One time in the Hostel......."

Day 25

So after our late evening we slept in a bit grabbed some breakfast which we finished in our room relaxed a bit and finally got ourselves ready to head into the city. We headed down and went straight to the I AMsterdam sign took a few fun photos before heading over to the Van Gogh Museum. The museum was wonderful we really enjoyed ourselves as we wandered the 3 floors reading about the progression of his artwork. After the museum we then headed over to the Albert Cuyp Market, which is just a little market that you can walk through with vendors. Cindy found her favorite souvenier of the trip, her Dutch clog slippers. She has yet to take them off and keeps thinking that she is a little Dutch elf. So after some shopping we grabbed some dinner at a pub and then started to head back to the hotel. Which once again was quite the adventure. We left the pub and immedialtey walked into a down pour (yay Amsterdam) ran down the street stopped one last time at Australian Homemade but not for Hot choclate this time but for chocolate truffles, yum. Back to the tram though we got to our tram stop and once again we waited, and waited and were finally informed that the 17 was not running. So we waited for about 3o more minutes before we were able to hop a tram (completely soaked) and headed back to the hotel. We were all tired so we showered, hung our clothes to dry, crawled into bed and watched some good old fashioned American tv, it was awesome. About 3 hours and 4 truffles each later we decided we were wiped and needed to sleep before the next day when we headed to Brussels.

Day 24- Amsterdam

So the second day in Amsterdam we woke up and joined the rest of the group for a walking tour. We started off at the Dam and ended up at the Leidsplein which is a little square surrounded by resturants. We ended up splitting from the rest of the group to go and enjoy the "party" at the center square. THe party was in honor of the Netherlands receiving 2nd place in the world cup. THe party was being held in the Museum square and there were large tv screens set up music being played, t-shirts being passed out and thousands of under showered Europeans flocking the square. So we stayed there for a few hours waiting for the team to show up and danced with the rest of the crowd and pretended that we knew who the players were. We were also the only people not dressed in orange. After about 3 hours the team still hadn't shown up nd we were tired of hearing the same Dutch songs being played or the same American songs being sung in Dutch, (woo lucky us), so we headed out and ended up seeing the team as they paraded in on boats through the canals. After this we decided we were exhausted and needed to head back to the hotel which ended up being easier said than done. Three hours later we made it. Apparently when there is a party in the city they shut down the tram system which is not convienent when your hotel is a 30min tram ride out of the city. We were informed that the tram would pick up towards the outskirts of the city so we walked and we walked and then we walked some more. We got a bit lost but we found our way to a tram stop only to wait for another hour for the number 17 which still never came but a gentleman waiting for another tram informed us that the 17 was not running but we could take the number 1 tram. (At this point in time about 5 number 1 trams had already passed, lovely) SO we hopped that got back to the hotel and decided after such a stressful afternoon we needed to hit up a Red Light District Bar Crawl. Ya it was about as hilarous as it sounds. It was 6 different bars mostly on the outskirt of the Red Light District that was filled with other tourists. It was hilarous until we needed to head back to the hotel which was quite the debacle because the tram only runs til 12 and it as now 1230 so we decided to hop the bus but by the time we got to the bus station we had missed the bus and had to wait about an hour for another one. We got in pretty late and immediately fell asleep.

Day 23 Amsterdam

Day 23

So after waking up early and showering not that there was much of a point due to the intense heat we hopped in the bus and headed to Amsterdam. We arrived at the hotel later in the evening unpacked a bit and met with the rest of our group outside.

We then hopped the tram from our hotel into the city which was a 30min ride or so and got to the Anne Frank house. Anne Frank originally lived in Germany and fled to the Netherlands with her family in the 1930s after times became rough for the Jewish community. Several years later her family went into hiding with another family of 3 and a man in the annex above her fathers workshop. In 1944 there secret was given up and they were all moved to different concentration camps. Anne died in the camp but her memories and life experiences were survived through the diary that her father had printed several years later as a reminder to what happended and a way to ban people together to prevent another tragedy from occuring. While waiting outside the annex to get in we stood in what can only be described as the worst down pour any of us had ever experienced. Our umbrellas had no chance and we were soaked. What a nice little welcome to Amsterdam.

The annex was really interesting. There was no furniture beccause after their discovery the Germans confiscated everything and Mr. Frank requested to leave it that way. There was bits and pieces of her diary painted on the walls along with video interviews from her father and other members that helped the families surrive while in hiding.

After we headed to the Dam, or church, in the city center and grabbed a bite to eat of subway and some hot chocolate to help warm us up. The hot chocolate was amazing it was from Australian Homemade and they use chocolate ice cream and put it in a frother. It was delicious. We met up with the rest of the group and headed to a canal tour of the city and enjoyed to see the city from a boat view.

After the boat tour we did a short walking tour around the city with the group and our guide. We got a bit lost in the Red Light District which is always an interesting experience and then hopped a tram and headed back to the hotel.

Day 21 & 22 - Heidelberg

Day 21

Well, after what seemed like the worlds longest bus ride (6 hrs ) we made it to Heidelberg!!! We pulled into our Hotel in the evening and quickly got ready to leave to head into the town we were staying in to awatch the 3rd PLace Game of the World Cup. We just so hqppened to eat at the Worlds hottest European resturant!!!

There was absolutely no air conditioning it was awful. So after sweating to death we decided to head back to the non air conditioned hotel wooo! After the game was over and we were excited over Germans win we headed back to the hotel and hung out with people from the group on the top floor balcony.

Of course the only thing we ad in the rom to keep us cool was a fan, which could only be used if we kept the light on...... fun night!

Day 22

The next day was an adventure. We started out pretty early and hopped on the bus to head into town to see the Heidelberg castle. Unfortunately for us despite the fact that the bus driver got a new GPS he did not know how to get to the castle. So after 1.5hrs on the bus several stops for directions later we finally made our way. The bus ride wasnt so bad though because it actually had air conditioning.

The castle was beautiful though and gave us some great shots of the city too. The castle also had the largest keg of wine that we had ever seen, 41,000 liters. Amazing. There is a story that one of the jesters used to drink 5 liters of wine per day and died after someone replaced his wine with water, apparently it shocked his system.

After the castle we walked into town to see the rest of the city. Although since it was Sunday everything was closed so we were unable to get any shopping done and once again our quest for new Birkes was an ultimate fail. After another long day in the sun we headed back to our even hotter hotel room to rest and attempt to cool down. Chrissy headed to a gas station and supplied our room fridge with a large bag of ice and some munchies. A bit later some of us girls all headed toward town grabbed some Doner which is Cindys favorite brought it back to the hotel room set up 2 fans and invited some other people to join us for the Netherlands vs Spain final soccer game.

It was a heated game that remained 0-0 until overtime when Spain finally scored much to our dismay. So we were a bit bummed with the outcome and decided to heckel the Spain supporters anyways and enjoy the rest of our night by finishing off our 6packs and attempting to sleep in the 90 degree room.

Day é& 1

Day 18, 19 and 20 Prague

Day 18

We left Munich early in the morning and headed off for another joyous bus ride. We vegged on the bus and were woken up when we arrived in Regensburg which is a small city that we pass through on the way to Prague. We walked around the town still on our quest for Birkenstocks (which again we were disappointed). While on our search we stumbled upon another Doner place. Once again Cindy made a bee line for the store and we waited in line and introduced some of the girls to our favorite German "fast food". We took our Doner and went to find the rest of the group before boarding the bus. Originally we thought we would eat while on the bus but the crazy bus driver had some issues trying to get the ridiculous sized bus to where we were supposed to meet him. So after 30min of standing there we finally boarded the bus with our half eaten Doner. We grabbed our Coke Zero that we have been carting around and finished off the Doner and once again settled into a bus slumber.

We woke up 4 hours later and were in Prague. We got our rooming assignments and attempted to stuff our 2 bags and our roommate's bag in the elevator which hardly fit with Cindy sitting on top of the bags. Yara (our roommate) and I climbed the 4 flights of stairs only to find out that Cindy couldn't get the bags out of the elevator. After some crafty maneuvering and safely removing Cindy from the elevator we made it to our room which was one floor up not reachable by elevator. Luckily our room was probably the best we've been in so far. It was huge. We had a little foyer, a bathroom, and a giant room. By giant I mean that there was actual walking space. The final bonus was there was a/c that you didn't have to pay for. It was amazing.

After enjoying our room we headed downstairs and headed into town via tram with some of the kids from the group grabbed a bite to eat and watched the game. Most people at this point had dinner, Cindy and I had an ice cream sundae and it was awesome. After we finished we went to the center of town to finish watching the game and they had giant screens set up and there was probably about 1500 people gathered in the square screaming and chanting for their respected team. The game was Germany vs. Spain semifinals of the world cup. It was a heated game but in the end we were super bummed when Germany lost 1-0 to Spain.After regrouping we took our heavy hearts hopped the tram and headed home to our giant hotel room.

Day 19

We woke up early after a solid sleep on our normal beds with air conditioning got ready went down stairs and were once again happily surprised with a normal breakfast. No ladies and gentleman there was not just cereal with warm milk and crappy bread, but there was eggs, pound cakes, hot dogs (yes we are still confused), fruit (our favorite), and normal orange juice. We ate a lot. It was amazing.

Anyways enough about food, we then boarded the bus only to find out that the bus drivers GPS was stolen and he had no idea how to get anywhere. So after an hour bus ride with a few wrong turns, a very lucky clearance under several bridges we were lost. We all got off the bus which was parked on the tram line and walked a bit to find the guide. Our poor bus driver though was blocking a tram which stopped traffic and backed it up about a mile and then had slight run in with the police. He was having a rough morning.

Anyways we met with the guide and headed to the Prague Castle (Hrdzny or something like that in Slavic), which is the largest castle in the world. It is made up of several different rooms and buildings and one section was purely for tax collectors. It was founded by the Queen of France (I think). We then toured the St. Vitas church and headed across the St. Charles bridge for some great picture opportunities.

After that we headed to the main square again and took some more pictures by the astronomical clock. After hanging around the square we attempted to find our way to Bohemian Bagle which was a bust but we ended up at the market grabbed a bunch of junk food, grapes, ice tea and garlic chips and head a feast in our giant room and took naps. After nap time we got all ready and headed back into the city for a light dinner which we wanted to do at a jazz club which failed but we did find and eat at Bohemian Bagle which was delicious. We also meandered around the Jewish Quarter and peaked in at the cemetery and checked out the temple and also made our way to the Lennon wall.

We were going to try to head to Poland on our 3rd day in Prague but after a long walk to the train station at like 11pm at night and realizing that the train schedule was not what we had seen earlier we decided it was a bust. We were all a bit bummed but decided that instead our 3rd day would be full of lots of vegging and more meandering. So we once again hopped the tram and headed back home. We hung out in the lobby a bit played some cards and headed to bed.

Day 20

Today we leisurely woke up at 10am grabbed some breakfast and headed back to the room for post breakfast naps and German soap operas. We ad libbed most of the show since we had no idea what was going on and ended up napping for a bit. We then all woke up got ready put away our laundry (Cindy and I had done some pretty crafty laundry on the first night here. Two loads in the bathroom. Thats right not only is the bath tub used for bathing, making beer, but laundry too.)

We then headed down to the main square and walked around mosing through the shops. After a few hours and heading back to Bohemian Bagle for bottomless fountain drinks another hot commodity around here. We took some pictures scoped out a place for a late dinner/dessert for our last meal in Prague and then hopped the tram back to the hotel.

Later this evening we will be heading back to town for dessert on the river. Tomorrow we will be heading to Heidelburg with a stop over in Nuremburg.

Day 16 and 17 Munich

Our day began with a 9 hour bus ride. Woooo. That was fun, except it wasn't comfortable and Cindy lost most feeling in her tiny butt. The actual ride wasn't too bad, we slept most of the way and listened to music and watched movies on Cindy's ipod. Once we got to Munich we got into our rooms unpacked and changed and headed to town.

We were about 20 stops away from Karlplatz on the tram so after a long tram ride we finally got to town. We were supposed to do a walking tour of the area but everyone was tired, and hungry so we headed straight to the Hofbrauhaus after a brief pause in front of the Glockenspiel for pictures. Cindy and I felt right at home each ordering a liter of beer, and splitting some Kasespatzle and a pretzel. We joined a "cheers" off with another table seeing who could shout and toast the loudest and since Cindy was at our table we obviously won. Especially after she stood on the table with a boy from the group and got yelled at by the waiters. So we toned it down after and enjoyed the Umpaa band and the food and beer for a bit. Until the rest of the group joined us at our table because they had been "cut off" at their table and got all of us kicked out!!!!! So we left the Hofbrauhaus a bit sad and went through the square again took some more pictures. Then Cindy saw her favorite fountain that she had run through the last time she was here and her and a guy on the trip decided that it was a must to repeat. So a very wet and cold Cindy boarded the tram after hugging everyone that she came in contact with and we headed back to the hotel.

Day 17

So Cindy and I decided to sleep in a bit and let our roommate have full use of the bathroom and we then slowly got ready before getting directions to the S-bahn and the post office. We mailed a package home to mom and then boarded the S-bahn after a bit of confusion with getting our tickets and headed to Unterhaching. Unterhaching is the town Oma was born in and we wanted to see the house that she grew up in. We got to Unterhaching which is a small town and walked around a bit and tried to figure out just where Oma's street (Robert Koch) is. Cindy asked a lady and she actually complemented Cindy on her good German skills but all Cindy got out of her is go left after the bridge. We never found a bridge. So we ended up walking into the Rathaus or town hall getting maps and asking the lady at the desk. Once again Cindy's excellent German skills helped us out and we found out we were only a few streets away. Unfortunately Cindy lacks map skills and didn't believe me as I read the map and we got lost for about 10min anyway.

Luckily we found Oma's street walked around for a bit before realizing that her house number 5 no longer exists. It has now been converted to either a school or apartment buildings. We took some great shots anyway grabbed a sandwich and a pastry and got back on the S-bahn.

We decided to go to Olympic park where the 1972 summer Olympics were held. It is now a great park complete with running and biking paths and paddle boating on the little lake. So we walked around sat on a park bench ate our pastry, took a picture of a typical european family because they just looked ridiculous and then headed back on the subway to the main square.

We were in search of new birkes unfortunately our search failed. They were all 65-70 euro. Way to pricey for us. So we walked around town saw the Frauenkirche, the Salavator Kirche, the glockenspiel again which never went off either time that we sat there with our cameras ready and many other sites. We ended up having a seat at the beer garden in the old town of Marienplatz which is my favorite area because it has that german feel with lots of little shops around and little markets for you to wander through. We had a beer and a pretzel and ended up taking pictures of Cindy's favorite Germans, German's with socks and sandals. Yes ladies and gentlemen we have an entire album of this. We stalked people too to get really excellent pictures. We had a great time.

After we tired (yes I know we tired of the picture taking) we hopped back on the tram and headed to the hotel where we ran into the rest of the group that was heading out to where we just were to watch the Netherlands vs. Uruguay soccer game. So we grabbed some warmer clothes since it cools to about 60 degrees at night and headed back with them.

We sat in the beer garden and enjoyed a beer and the game and cheered for the Netherlands. After a stressful first half they finally scored and kept it up!!! There was a lot of cheering and it actually got a little close at the end of the game but the Netherlands came out on top and will be in the finals on Saturday. We will arrive in Amsterdam on Sunday so it could get interesting if they win the cup! After the game we headed back to the hotel with the group but Cindy saw a Doner place that was open and she leapt up (yes leapt it was the most exercise I've ever seen her do) and ran from the tram as I followed and got herself a Doner at around 1130pm. We enjoyed the doner and hopped onto a subway and headed back to the hotel to pack up prior to our departure the next morning to Prague.

Day 15 Day in Venice

Sorry for the delay our lovely hotel in Venice seems to have free wifi but non-working power. So that was fun....again.

Anyways so we started the day quite early with a 6am wake-up call and catching a "water taxi" or ferry boat to Venice. We had a guide that toured us throughout the city, which is an absolute maze. There are 118 different islands that make up the city of Venice and they are connected by 420 bridges. So after weaving through the back streets of Venice and hopping through lots of different islands we ended up in St. Marks square. From there we saw the jail, two large poles in the center of the square where hangings would take place, the church and the Doges Palace. The square has Lion's everywhere in honor of St. Mark. Not to mention a beautiful clock tower that actual has a zodiac clock.

We ended the tour at the Murano glass factory and had the opportunity to watch a guy blow glass into a vase and then make a horse. It was amazing. We toured the shops and decided it was a bit pricey for us but still beautiful.

From there we hightailed it to a smaller canal where we loaded up onto 5 different gondolas with 6 passengers each and went for a 40min gondola ride around town. Including a bit down the grand canal. It was hilarous. Our gondolier was a bit hungover from the previous night so we was "singing" or shouting a random tune because he had it stuck in his head (for which he also apologized for) He then gave us a bit of a history of the area. It was really fun but really hot.

Then us girls decided we would hit to the streets and do some shopping. Cindy had her heart set on getting an original Venetian mask in honor of Carnivale. So we went into a few different shops and goofed around a bit before she found one that suited her. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon shopping in all the glass jewelry stores.

After we were exhausted from the shopping we headed to see the Doges Palace and the jail. The palace was beautiful and filled with gorgeous artwork but geez was it hot. We were pretty positive that we were roasting during our little tour so we sped it up and got to the jail in hopes that it would be a bit cooler. It was not. We walked across the bridge of sighs which was named because as prisoners walked across it it was the last glimpse of the town they saw before being executed. So we stuck our hands out the windows and waved at all the "tourists" as they flashed pictures of us.

After the tour we headed to the bell tower to meet with the rest of the group and head back to the hotel. Where again right around 8pm the power went out. So we packed in the dark and showered in preparation for the next day for our transfer to Munich.

Day 14 Arrival in the Venice-ish Area

So today we boarded the bus early this morning and headed off to Venice. It was a 4.5 hour cramped ride. The bus is completely packed from everyone's luggage and there were actually about 5 bags that had to be put in the middle stairwell because we were out of room under the bus. The ride went smoothly though with the two of us napping and snacking and listening to music.

Once we arrived in Venice we got our bags and walked the block to the hotel, carried our bags up to the second floor and started to unpack. We are staying in a small town Jesolo right outside of Venice just a water taxi away. We are staying in a room with 2 other girls so there are 2 twin beds and a set of bunk beds. This hotel was a huge step up from the last one with a more normal shower that has actual doors that shut (woot woot!) a ceiling fan, free wifi (which I'm using right now to type this on!) and not much but a bit of walking space! YAY!

However I did say was because at about 8pm the power went out and we just got it back on at 10pm. They still aren't sure why it went out but whatever it is back on! While it was out though I managed to shower in the dark and shave my legs in the bedae (spelling??) while Cindy held a flashlight for me so I could see. Gee what a great bonding experience.

Earlier though after we arrived we headed out for a light dinner of sandwiches and watched the Argentina vs. Germany soccer game and Germany won!!!!! We were super excited, 4 to 0. YAY!!!! We are hoping we will be in Munich or Heidelberg for the finals.

Now we are getting ready for bed for our early 6am wake up call so we can catch the water taxi to Venice.

Day 12 and 13 Florence

So the next morning we were up quite early and headed out for a walking tour out and about Florence. We mostly saw the sights from the previous night, the Duomo, Santa Croche, Ponte Vecchio bridge etc. So the tour wasn't super exciting for us but we did get some great day shots. After the tour we went to the Uffizi Gallery which is mainly a Renaissance art museum. It was really interesting but Cindy and I decided that we really aren't into Renaissance art. We then spent our free time meandering around the city.

At 3:30 we met up with some other girls to wait in line at the Galleria della Accademia to see The David. Our tour guide had told us that anytime after 2pm is great to get tickets because the line will take you no more than 20min. 20min my butt. We waited in line for an hour. Cindy and I practically melted in the heat and even the 2.00 euro water we purchased didn't help, probably because we finished it in under 5min. We are also lucky to be alive after dive attacks by pigeons while in line. These European birds have no fear, freaking ridiculous.

Around quarter to 5pm we finally got in only to be told that the student discount only applies to European students so apparently our education means nothing to them and not only were we going to be paying more but you couldn't take pictures of David! I decided that my 10 euro was worth at least one shot and I'd take my chances against their Italian jail. While sneakly trying to get shots we made friends with a couple from New Jersey who were doing the same thing. They had a much cooler camera than I and offered to email us their shots. We spent about a half hour staring at David and learning the history of how he was sculpted and why. After the David we walked around the city looking for a new camera for one of the girls in the group that had gotten hers stolen and then had a quiet dinner at a local cafe.

We made it back to the hotel and all passed out. After a bit of laying around and getting one of the boys on the trip to manually override the AC in the room we decided we needed some munchies. We ended up getting chips, cookies, and Iced Tea and played a heated game of Uno before heading to bed.

Day 13

Cindy and I woke up early got some breakfast at the hotel of what is our favorite these days, old bread & butter, some European version of corn flakes with whole milk (don't worry mom we just add a splash to kill the awful taste of the cereal) and sugar (once again to kill the taste of the cereal). We then boarded the bus and headed to Pisa. It was estimated to be 104 degrees in Pisa that day and Cindy and I walked off the bus and were instantly dripping in sweat, so glad we showered. I now understand why Europeans don't shower, whats the point. The lack of shaving though I still don't understand. Okay, so anyways Pisa, we walked around for about a half hour taking the usual tourist pictures, yes we are those people. It was very enjoyable. Then we used the rest of the free time to hide out in McDonald's because they had the AC on. We were ecstatic to find out that milk shakes were 1 euro so we got one of those too before heading out for the walking tour of Pisa.

We had a tour of the Pisa Duomo (Church), the baptistery, and got to hear some history about the leaning tower of Pisa which was constructed to be a bell tower. Back in the day all baptisms were conducted in separate buildings than the church because unbaptized people were not allowed in the church because they were considered to be full of sin. The entrance of the baptism was on the west to symbolize that people were full of sin and the exit was on the east facing the church to symbolize the washing away of the sins. The baptism had a dome and at noon a man came in and sang to demonstrate the acoustics of the building it was really cool and I got a great video.

The tower had leaned up to 8 degrees due to faulty foundation from water. Now it leans i believe 2 or 4 degrees after much construction to the surrounding foundation. They tried liquid nitrogen for awhile but discontinued because the area is prone to earthquakes. Then they brought in cranes and did some construction work to make it more stable. Now you can go up to the top of the tower by climbing the 292 steps and paying the fee. They allow 40 people up every 20min. to take pictures. We decided to skip the 15 euro fee each and just take more embarrassing photos of us pushing the tower over.

Once we were done in Pisa we boarded the bus and headed back to the hotel to meet up with some of the girls that didn't go to Pisa to hit the shops and spend some money. We walked around and toured the leather shops. Cindy and I each got leather purses at a small mom and pop shop where the mom does the sewing on all the bags and ended up getting a deal on leather jackets. So it turned out to be a good day in Florence. We had our last day in Florence meal at a traditional Italian restaurant called Za za. Cindy ordered the Ravioli and I had the gnoochi. It was delicious!! The best gnoochi I have ever had. We then walked to Vivoli for our last gelato of the evening at our favorite gelato shop. We each had a scoop of chocolate and strawberry and sat and enjoyed the rest of the evening. We then headed back to the hotel to repack our bags and get ready for our departure to Venice.

Day 11 Florence

Day 11

Yesterday we arrived in Florence by bus. On the way here we stopped just outside of the city in Tuscany to visit a vineyard and have a wine tasting. With the tasting we were also given sandwiches, and probably the best bruschetta we have ever had. It was absolutely amazing. There were 6 different wines that we sampled, 2 white, and 4 red. I'm not a huge red fan but those were probably my favorite. After the tasting we explored the grounds and the bottling of the wine. Cindy assisted the workers by placing bottles on the belt before they were to be filled. It reminded me of Laverne and Shirely.

Once everyone had explored we got back on the bus and headed into the heart of Florence to our "hotel". The bus driver dropped us off about 1/2 mile away from the hotel and we had to carry all of our luggage to the hotel and then up 4 flights of stairs. I thoroughly enjoyed my backpack suitcase for the stairs and it worked just lovely. I helped Cindy with her bags and then we collapsed onto our beds to cool off for a bit. Our room is tiny and we are sharing with 2 other girls. The shower hardly has any normal pressure and takes a while to get warm so that was a treat too. After cooling off for a bit we headed into the downtown area to walk around with a few others and looked for Vivalis a well known gelato shop. We walked past Santa Croce, the Duomo, Uffisi gallery, and Ponte Vecchio a bridge that is over the river. We snuck into another hotel along the river got onto their rooftop deck and took some great shots of the surrounding city. Then we headed home and got ourselves settled for the next day.

Day 9 and 10 Rome

Day 9

We woke up early and had the best free breakfast of the trip so far. Chocolate filled crossants, yum!! Cindy and I stuffed our bags and ate as much as we could. We were supposed to spend the morning at Ostia Antica the Roman Port however the workers decided to be on strike that day so instead we went to see St. Paul's Basilica and the Catacombs. Both were amazing. The church was beautiful and we took a lot of pictures.

The Catacombs on the other hand were a bit creepy. The particular catacomb that we visited was over 11miles long with 4 different levels. Back in the day Catholicism wasn't highly regarded and so most Catholics kept their religion a secret. However they wanted to be buried because they believed that if they were buried their soul would rise to heaven. At the time though cremation was most popular burial procedure due to the cost efficiency. The catacombs became a burial place where Catholics could be buried underground secretly. The bodiess were wrapped in a white shroud like Jesus and then just buried into the walls of the tunnels and then a marble tombstone was placed in front of the body. They believe that there were over 150,000 tombs in this particular catacomb but no one knows the exact number of bodies because some families were buried together. Also only about 2,000 graves remain unopened from the original 150,000 due to grave robbers.

After the catacombs we headed to meet the rest of the group at the Vatican. We stood in line in about 90 degree blistering sunshine. Lucky us. Once inside we were able to walk around the grounds/gardens, view the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. The Vatican was beautiful. The artwork that went into it's creation is absolutely amazing. I'm not sure if the pictures can even give it justice. We spent the rest of the afternoon there before heading back to the hotel with the group.

We all vegged for a bit in our rooms and attempted to cool off before busting out the maps and deciding what we wanted to do with the rest of our evening. We decided we wanted to view the sites of Rome at night. So we hopped onto the Metro and headed to the Spanish steps. There we took pictures, reanacted Rocky as we jogged up the steps and took a lot of pictures. One of the girls in the group we were with told us that every 10 years the nuns climb the steps on their knees! She didn't know why so we'll have to find out about that because there are a lot of steps. While we were there we saw fireworks that were for the Roman holiday of St. Peter and St. Paul day. Yes, it's only a holiday celebrated in Rome.

After the steps we headed over to see the Trevi Fountain and stopped for some Gelato on the way. We tossed in our coins and enjoyed the view but didn't stay too long because the square was packed. From there we walked to the Pantheon and took pictures outside of it before catching the last Metro at 11:30 and headed back to the hotel after a long day.

Day 10

We woke up the next morning and boarded the bus with the rest of the group and went to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. We had a tour guide but we mostly ventured off to take pictures and stage some gladiator-esque fights. The Roman Forum and Palatine Hill was amazing with all the history that it held and the "road"that we were walking on was several thousand years old which was definitely one of the coolest parts. Unfortuantely though we decided not to climb the hill because it was close to 100 degrees and there was absolutely no shade and we were dying. So we ended up going on a walking tour to see the same sites as we had the night before in the daylight. Unfortunately the Pantheon was closed due to the holiday but we had fun at all the other sites. We also got to see the steps that Julius Ceasar was killed on and take pictures. We walked by the tomb of the unknown soliders and the home of Napoleon's wife.

After the walking tour we split from the group to go see St. Ignatiús' Church. It doesn't look like much from the outside and we realized we had passed it the previous night but the inside was amazing. The ceiling artwork makes the building look like it is dome shaped and actually has a dome however the roof is actually flat and there is no dome. It was amazing. We stayed there for a while just admiring the work of the artist before heading back. We ended up running into some other girls that were going to Piazzia de Peopolo so we joined them, which means Square of the People. So we enjoyed the fountains and the beautiful scenary and made it home.

That night after freshening up at the hotel we headed to Trastavere a smaller neightborhood across the Tiber River. There we enjoyed a more authentic Italian dinner of lasagna and ravioli and then stopped for gelato. We slowly explored the small shops and the area before making our way back to the river and there was a street fest along the river. We walked along that and found our way to the oldest still usable bridge in Rome. We took some pictures and right over the bridge was a resturant that was playing movies on the side of a bu ilding. So we watched for a bit before realizing that it was getting close to the last Metro stop and we needed to head back.

We ended up getting lost. Apparently the bus stop is not directly across from where it dropped us off last night so we just kept walking. We felt like a pretty big deal though when 2 boys stopped us and asked us how to get to the Pantheon and we actually knew how. We decided to skip the bus and walked straight to the Metro that was by the Colosseum and Forum which was beautiful and all lit up at night. We made the Metro got into the hotel and went to bed.

Day 8 Pompeii and Arrival in Rome

Day 8

So we luckily surrived the night ferry thank god. We shared our room or closet if you will with 2 other girls it reaked of diesel and was probably about 50 degrees. Lovely. Oh and you could shower and use the "facilities"at the same time! Woo!!! So once we arrived in Italy we boarded a bus and headed towards Rome. On our way to Rome we had a 3 hour tour of Pompeii.

The tour guide was hilarous. We were able to walk amongst the ruins of the city, learn about the history, drink from an original "water fountain" and visit the local brothel. It was quite the tour. The view was absolutely amazing though of the surrounding areas. We stopped for a lunch of pizza, salad (which had leaves in it finally!) and gelato at a local resturant that was run by the mafia! We then headed back onto the bus and made our way to Roma!

We arrived in Rome quite late that night so after unpacking in the room we had to ourselves (ya we were estatic) we vegged and walked around the square checking it out and made our plan for the next day.