Rome

This was the last part of the journey of studying abroad. We got to Rome at 4 the first day and we literally saw Rome in 8 hours. We saw the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, St. Peter's, the Coliseum, and we even saw the President of Italy! We were worn out after that day!

The next day we started out at St. Peter's Basilica. We went inside the beautiful church and we got to see the Pope. We spent half of the day there. Then we made our way to the Vatican, which is right beside St. Peter's. This is a museum filled with A LOT of statues and paintings. This is also where the Sistine Chapel is.

Friday we went to the Forum, which is a bunch of Roman ruins. There was so much history there! Then we went inside the Coliseum. It wasn't as big as I thought it would be on the inside. That day we also went to Circus Maximus, where the Romans had their chariot races, and we also walked along the river. I had a really great time in Italy, but I was really ready to get home!

Florence

After Venice we left for Florence to spend 2 1/2 days there. Florence was a bigger, busier city than Venice. The main thing to do there was shop, and there were a lot of street vendors and markets selling sunglasses and purses. I got a purse from here. The guys in Florence were not shy, and some girls and I got followed by 2 Italian guys.

I also got to see the Duermo, which is a very beautiful church on the outside; the inside wasn't impressive. I also got to see the David Statue by Michelangelo.

After the first 1 1/2 days in Florence I had done everything there was to do in Florence, so a group of people and I decided to go to Pisa the last day we were there. We took a train there and got to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It is amazing how much it is leaning, but is still standing!

Venice

Venice was our first stop of a week long trip to Italy. Venice was exactly what I expected. It was peaceful and beautiful. I went on a gondola boat ride but there weren't a lot of things that we had to see as tourists so we mainly just walked around and enjoyed what we stumbled upon. The main thing to do there was to shop, and we did plenty of that. The main thing Venice is known for is their Murano glass; all of it was so pretty that I wanted to buy all of it! We had gelato (ice cream) everyday and some really good Italian food for the 1 1/2 days that we were there. Venice was very relaxing and fun.

Easter in Paris

I left for Paris this past Wednesday afternoon. I went on the school trip so about 100 of us rode down to London and got on the EuroStar to go to Paris. We were all excited that we got to ride on the EuroStar because it goes under the English Channel. However, we were pretty disappointed because we couldn't tell when we went under the English Channel. We got to Paris at 11 that night.

Thursday morning we got up early, ate breakfast at the hotel, and headed towards the Eiffel Tower. This was an interesting experience because there were 12 of us that were walking around together. We rode the Metro, which is like a subway in New York, and you can imagine us trying to figure out were we were trying to go and trying to get 12 people on the same train close to each other. I'm sure it was a sight to see. We finally got to the right part of Paris, and when we saw the Eiffel Tower we were all awestruck. It was so pretty. There were tons of people waiting to go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, but the line moved pretty quickly. The view from the top was amazing. There were blue skys and you could see everything.

We left the Eiffel Tower at about 12 and headed to L'Arc de Triomphe. It was also a sight to see. We couldn't go inside because there was a civil servant strike in Paris that day. A lot of the museums and tourist attractions were closed. Just our luck, but luckily most everything opened back up on Friday. We also walked down the Champs Elysees, which is a street that has a lot of high priced stores like Gucci, Chanel, etc. Needless to say, we walked down another street to do some shopping. After some shopping we explored Notre Dame. It was very pretty. The group of 12 had split up when we left the Eiffel Tower, but we all meet back up at the hotel that night to eat dinner together. By the time we all got back to the hotel after dinner we were worn out after walking all day.

Friday the 12 of us met up again to go to Versailles, the palace were Marie Antoinette lived. This is on the outskirts of Paris, and we had to take a train to get there. This was also an adventure. We didn't know how the trains worked and met a pretty funny French guy on the way, but we finally made it. Versailles wasn't as impressive on the outside as I thought it would be, but the inside was very extravagant. The gardens were also very pretty and while we were in the gardens we got caught in a rainstorm, which was pretty funny. I think 3 umbrellas were ruined because of it. I also met a guy from Texas at Versailles that had seen WKU's basketball team play in the Sun Belt conference, and I saw him the next day in a totally different part of Paris. Is it a small world or what?

Friday night we all went to the Louvre. We didn't go for very long, but I got to see the Mona Lisa and I even got to take a picture of it! On the way back from to our hotel we got crepes, which are really thin pancakes that have fillings in them. They were so good.

Saturday me and 4 other girls went to the part of Paris called Montmartre. This is an artisty part of town. While we were there we went to the Sacre Clure, a very pretty cathedral, and we also went shopping. I got a really pretty painting of the Eiffel Tower. We also went by the Opera house where the Phantom of the Opera originated, and we got to see Moulin Rouge, a cabaret. After we were finished with Montmartre, we went to the Musee d'Orsay, a museum with paintings of Monet, Degas, and others. Saturday was one of my friend's birthday so all 12 of us went out for her birthday dinner and got some more crepes. After eating crepes we headed to the Eiffel Tower. We got there at 10 just in time to see it sparkle. It was soooo pretty!! It was cold too so we didn't stay for too long.

Sunday we got up really early. We wanted to got to Easter mass at Notre Dame, which started at 8:30. We figured there would be a huge line to get in so we got there at 7. There was no one there! It was pretty funny. So we went to a cafe and had coffee until the doors were opened to Notre Dame. The service was neat, but it was in French so I didn't understand it. We left to go back to England that afternoon.

I loved Paris and it has been one of my favorite trips so far. I learned some french, and contrary to popular belief, the people there were so nice and helpful. I didn't want to leave!

London & Cadbury World

Friday everyone in the school went to London for a field trip. We went to the National Gallery, and the National Portrait Gallery first. I had already been to these museums, but of course I hadn't seen everything. The weather was so nice that I didn't even have to wear a coat, and we ate our lunches in front of these museums.

That afternoon we went to St. Paul's Cathedral. This is such a neat church. We went on a tour of the main floor and the tombs in the bottom floor. After the tour was over I climbed 500 steps to get to the top of the building. It was a really great view of the city from up there. After the cathedral, I went with my theatre class to watch a play called Major Barbara. It was a pretty good play. We didn't get back to the manor until 2 this morning, and I was sore and tired.

Then I had to be ready to leave at 8 this morning to go to Cadbury World. I was so excited about this because I LOVE chocolate. We went on a tour of the history of chocolate and how they make their chocolate. I always thought that Cadbury only made the chocolate eggs at Easter but they make all kinds of chocolate. The main chocolate distributor in England is Cadbury, and their chocolate is sooooo good!! We got free chocolate bars during the tour and bought a lot of chocolate at the gift store.

We left Cadbury World at 1 and then went to Birmingham. This is a big shopping city. It was neat but not some place I would want to go again. I was glad when we got back on the bus so I could have a 2 hour nap and sit down. I am so tired now!

Edinburgh, Scotland

Sorry that I haven't written in a while. The school work has definitely picked up lately.

This weekend me and three of my friends went to Scotland. We left early on Friday morning and took a train to Durham, England first. While we were there we saw the Durham Cathedral, the castle, and went in some shops. That is a really neat town. Then we caught another train to go to Edinburgh, Scotland.

We didn't get to Scotland until 2 in the afternoon so Friday, we mainly walked around, shopped, and went to the Scottish Museum. There were people wearing kilts everywhere we went. However, Edinburgh is a very diverse town, and there were a lot of people from the US, Australia, and Canada there. That night we ate a restaurant called "The Elephant House." This was the restaurant where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter. From the restaurant there is a great view of the Edinburgh castle, which I'm sure was an inspiration for the book.

Saturday we got up and made our way to a mountain called Arthur's Seat. We made it about halfway up before the wind started to blow so hard that it literally almost blew us down. We decided not to climb to the top because we didn't want to die that day. It was a good thing we came down because after that it started pouring rain. The weather there was so unpredictable. You could see the fronts moving in and out, and one minute it would be so sunny and the next it would be gray and raining. After that we did some more shopping on "Princes Street" where the major department stores are. Then we went on a ghost/historical tour of Mary King's Close. This was a series of underground roads that the modern city was built on top of. It was really neat.

Sunday we went to the Edinburgh Castle. It was huge, and there was a lot to see here. I got to see the Royal Crown Jewels, a tribute to the soldiers in WWI and WWII, and the prisons that were once used. It was one of the best castles I have seen so far, and I have seen A LOT of castles! The rest of the day we shopped just to kill some time before our train left. It was a really good weekend, but now it's back to school work.

EARTHQUAKE!!! & Belvoir Castle

Well I knew that I would experience a lot of new things while I was over here in England, but I didn't predict that I would experience my first EARTHQUAKE!! At exactly 1 am this morning an earthquake woke me and everyone else up. The shaking and loud rumbling sound lasted for about 10 seconds . There was no damage in my room, but in other rooms pictures were knocked off the walls. It was a strange experience! The epicenter of the earthquake was in Lincolnshire, which is the county that I am living in, and it was a 5.2 on the Richter Scale. It has been the biggest earthquake in England since the 80's. Pretty crazy!

Today we went on a field trip to Belvoir Castle (pronounced Beaver Castle). It was a really pretty place and the weather was gorgeous. We just learned the history of the castle, but I did get some pretty pictures. Enjoy!