All Good Things Come to an End

Saturday December 10, 2011

So it is my last night in London and I am sitting in my room looking at two packed suitcases.  I feel like I just unpacked them to start my journey here.  These past three and half months have been truly amazing and this experience has been an absolute blessing.  I am so glad I was able to have this opportunity.   I leave this beautiful city with tons of stories, and pictures that I cannot wait to share with everyone.   The memories and friends I have made will last me a lifetime. 

Thank you to my parents who were there to listen to hear me cry when I was homesick, and for being my support system even from 3,000 miles away.  Thank you to everyone who read this blog and followed me on my adventures this semester.

See ya later UK...Hello USA

Liz (:      

  

Hampton Court Palace, Ice Bar, and Mom’s Visit!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Hampton Court Palace

My friend from home, Anna came to visit me for a few days.  While she was here we went to Hampton Court Palace where King Henry the 8^th lived.  Anna is fascinated by King Henry and his wives so she really enjoyed it.  We walked all around the palace grounds, it was quite confusing…we got lost a few times.  My favorite parts were the gardens; all of the trees, the fountains, and the flowers were so pretty.  We went to Hampton Court right when it opened so we wouldn’t have to wait in long lines.  The weather was a bit overcast and cold so not many people were there.  However there were about 5 or 6 school field trips going on; there were kids running around all over the place.  It was funny to think not so long ago I was that young going on field trips and now I am 21 getting ready to come home after living in London for 3 months.  Crazy.  We headed home to relax before the Ice Bar that night.   

Ice Bar

On Monday night there was a group of about 20 of us ready to go to Ice Bar.  Ice Bar is exactly what it sounds like, a bar fully made of ice.  It is a very popular attraction in London; we had to make reservations a few days in advance.  When we walked in they gave us these big blue cloaks with furry hoods.  The cloaks also had gloves attached to them; even the glasses they gave you to drink out of were made of ice.  You are only allowed to stay in the bar for about 45 minutes because it is so cold!! It was so much fun, the concept is really cool.  We all felt and looked like Eskimos. 

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Mom’s Arrival

I was SO excited to see my mom.  I see her on Skype at least 2-3 times a week but seeing her in person was so great after 3 months!  We had a very busy 4 days ahead of us so we got started right away.  We shopped a bit on Wednesday, and then went into the National Portrait Gallery.  Wednesday night we went to dinner and then saw The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre in Covent Garden.  Seeing The Lion King on stage was amazing.  It was unlike anything I had ever seen; it gave me the chills.  I highly recommend it to men and women of all ages, you will not be disappointed.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday morning we went to Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and the London Eye.  The London Eye was very cool.  It is like a large enclosed ferris wheel where you can see the whole city of London for miles.  After seeing those sights we headed back to the hotel, we had to get ready to catch our train to Paris.  We got to Paris at about 7:00 pm. After we checked into our hotel we went straight to the Champs Elysee.  It was so gorgeous; the entire street was lit up for Christmas.  Every tree had 3 rings of neon colored lights; they looked like they were floating around the tree trunk.  We ate dinner which unfortunately was not Turkey; but we were in Paris so I am not complaining! 

The weather was overcast Thursday and Friday, the fog was so thick that we couldn’t even see the top of the Eiffel Tower!!  Friday we went to the Musee D’Orsay which houses Renoir, and Monet.  My mom was in heaven at this museum.  We then went to Notre Dame which was absolutely gorgeous.  Then we went on the hunt for Longchamp bags (my main mission in Paris).  Two train rides and 45 minutes later we found the store where we waited in line for what seemed like for ev er. 

After we got the bags we were happy and hungry campers.  We took the train back to our hotel and sat down to grab lunch.  Unfortunately we had misread our train tickets and it left 2 hours earlier than we thought.  We sat down to eat at 2, our train was at 3.  We cancelled our order, panicked a little bit, and then grabbed a cab to the train station.  We made our train about ten minutes before it left!! As my mom says “God was on our side that day.” 

Saturday November 26, 2011

We decided to do a Hop on Hop off bus tour; it’s the easiest way to see all the sights in London.  We went to the Winston Churchill War Rooms which is now my favorite museum that I have ever been to.  It was my second time there because I had gone with my history class.  It has so much to see and do.  I have a newfound obsession with Winston Churchill.  I was also really excited for my mom to see the Tower of London which has the Crown Jewels.  There happened to be a guided tour starting right as we arrived at the Tower.  Our tour guide was extremely informative and very funny!  I had been there before, but it was my first time taking a tour.  After the Tower we headed to Buckingham Palace and then to Harrods.

  It was a jam packed few days but we had a blast!! It was so great to show her what has been my home for the past 3 months.   As of Thursday December 1, I am done with classes and finals!  I come home in less than 2 weeks and I still can’t believe it. 

More adventures coming soon (:

Liz 

Everyone at Ice Bar..chilly

Harrods lit up!

         

 

Tucked into the Gardens at Hamptpn Court Palace

Hampton Court Palace

Caitlin and I with Harrods Bear



Passport to Paris

Friday October 28

“The Eiffel Tower”

After our two hour ride on the Euro Star (the Euro Star is the train that goes all over Europe) we had finally arrived in Paris.  We checked into the Hotel de Paris aka Hotel from Hell.  This was literally the most disgusting hotel I have ever seen.  Our room smelled awful, there was no shower curtain, and the sheets were stained. I could go on forever, but I won’t bore you with the details.  Lisa, Caitlin, Johnny and I shared a room.  We wanted to get out of there the moment we arrived.  So we dropped our bags and headed to the Eiffel Tower.  It is so amazing to look at in real life; all the pictures and images you see on television do not do it justice.  Caitlin and I kept thinking about the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen twins’ movie “Passport to Paris.”  We quoted it most of the weekend.  It was around 4:30 5ish when we got in line to climb to the top.  All of us wanted to say we climbed to the stop so we opted for the stairs instead of the 2 minute elevator ride (not to mention it was cheaper to take the stairs too).  We waited in line for about a half an hour, and then began our trek up the stairs.  700 stairs to be exact; at about 200 we took a break and walked around and watched the sunset.  It was definitely one of the best sunsets I have ever seen for sure.  As the sun sets you see all of the buildings and streets start to light up it was so pretty!!  The sun set and we continued up 500 more steps.  Once you reach 700 you can’t take any more stairs; you must take an elevator up, it is about a 20 second ride.  When we reached the very top, we were all speechless…it was an amazing view of the city.  City of Lights is absolutely the right name for Paris because the lights were so pretty and they were all twinkling, especially from so high up.  After about 20 minutes of ooing and ahhing at the view, we were starving and dreading our 700 step walk down.  As we neared the bottom our legs began to feel like Jell-o.  We walked to the closest restaurant and had a much needed long sit at dinner.  Then we headed back to the hotel to relax and rest up for Saturday.

Saturday October 29

“The Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees”

I really thought the line at the Louvre was going to be really long, and that we would be waiting there for hours.  We waited in line for a total of five minutes and did not have to pay since we are students studying in Europe which was a nice surprise.  The museum is SO big; there are so many wings and hallways, and exhibits.  You definitely need a full day if you wanted to go all over the museum.  We basically just wanted to see the Mona Lisa, which isn’t even that great in person (sorry art lovers).  It was really small, and the area around it was so crowded that it wasn’t even really enjoyable to look at.  We walked around for about an hour, and then decided it was time to go.

The Champs Elysees was really cool, there were so many shops that Caitlin and I couldn’t afford but loved looking at such as the Louis Vuitton store.  However Caitlin, Johnny, and I relived our childhood and hung out in the Disney store for a while…it’s the same in every country in case you were wondering.  We also dragged Johnny into the biggest Sephora store Caitlin and I had ever seen he was a trooper.  Finally we made it all the way to the end of the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe.  Again pictures and television don’t do it justice.  It was such a unique structure and the ceiling of it was like looking at an optical illusion.  We headed back to our hotel to get ready for dinner.  Caitlin and I enjoyed dinner very much because they put gummy bears and glow sticks in our cocktails, it was so weird but awesome at the same time. 

Sunday October 30

“Notre Dame”

Notre Dame was gorgeous inside and out.  Disney did a fabulous job of depicting it in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.  This was one of my favorite parts of the trip because the moment after I asked “Where’s Quasimodo?!” the bells started to ring, it was so funny.  The stained glass windows were the prettiest windows ever.  It was easy to tell what the stories were depicting because the pictures were very detailed.  We took the Euro Star back to London Sunday night and crashed, we were exhausted.  Caitlin and I then watched Passport to Paris and said oh we've been there and there we are such little girls. 

Overall my trip to Paris was so much fun.  I can’t wait to back at Thanksgiving with my mom!  Staying in London this weekend….My friends and I have a few day trips in England that we are planning for the rest of the semester.  It is coming to an end very quickly, so bittersweet!!

More adventures coming soon!

Liz (:        

In front of the Eiffel Towe

Caitlin and I in front of The Louvre





Caitlin, Johnny, and I in front of the Arc de Triomphe

Notre Dame

Eiffel Tower by night



Wishing I was 5 years old again so I could have bought this in the Disney Store



Ciao Bella!! Fall Break in Italy Part Three

Thursday October 20

“Rome”

Another train ride and we were in Rome.  Our hotel was 2 blocks from the main train station Termini which was very convenient.  We got to our hotel and wasted no time.  We did another Hop on Hop off tour of Rome.  We “hopped off” at the Trevi Fountain; I am in love with this fountain.  I could sit there all day.  It was absolutely amazing.  We got back on the bus and just kind of familiarized ourselves with the area.  We saw all the major sites on the bus and planned to get off the bus to do more sightseeing on Friday.

Thursday night we did a pub crawl which was so much fun!!  It was 15 Euro for open bar for the first hour and a half. You also got a free t-shirt!! If you know me well; you know my love for t shirts…so excited.  It was tons of fun and all of the people on the pub crawl were Americans which was cool.  Most were studying in Rome and then there were a bunch of boys from the US Air Force that were on vacation in Italy who happened to be stationed in London, one boy was from North Reading, MA….small world.

Friday October 21

“Sightseeing”

We bought this thing called the Roma Pass which is good for three days and it gets you free use of public transportation and entrance to 2 museums for FREE.  SO worth it, if you ever go to Rome get it, only 25 Euro. 

Arielle and I went to the Capitoline museum.  It is the museum that houses the famous She Wolf statue.  It was a really cool museum; there were so many outdoor courtyards, and hidden hallways and rooms to go in.  The other statue that Arielle was happy to see was of Marcus Aurelius on his horse.  The statue was originally all Gold.  The legend is that once all of the Gold chips off the statue…Rome will fall.  So they moved the original into the museum, and where it used to be in center entrance, there is now a replica.  The original has minimal amounts of Gold left, but I am pretty sure Rome will be around even if it chips.

We were then off to the Colosseum .  It was closed to go inside which was unfortunate, but it was still amazing to look at from the outside.  There were so many men dressed as Trojans it was really funny.  We took a bunch of pictures and then went back to my favorite place….the Trevi Fountain.  We grabbed lunch and then headed back to the capital building.   We ended up back in front of the capital building and we went and looked at the sunset over the Roman ruins which were really pretty.  Then it was time for our adventure….we didn’t know which bus to take so we kind of rode a bunch of buses until we got to where wanted to be. 

We stayed in Friday night because we had a big day Saturday. 

Saturday October 22

“Vatican City”

We signed up for a full day tour of the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica.  Our tour guides name was Stefano.  He was very intelligent; he had his PhD in Art History.  He was extremely informative and really nice.  The Vatican museums were filled with amazing sculptures, paintings, tapestries etc.  It was kind of overwhelming, yet completely amazing at the same time.  It is said that if you want to stop and look at every single piece of art in the Vatican it would take you a full 8 months.  Everything was art, the floor was all marble mosaics, and the ceilings were painted with the prettiest pictures I have ever seen.

Stefano likes to say the Recycling began in Rome because a majority of the floors were recycled marble from ancient Roman homes and palaces.  The museums were great, but the thing that Arielle, Andrea and I were most excited about was the Sistine Chapel.  Words cannot even describe it, and pictures do not do it justice.  I still can’t believe I had the amazing opportunity to see it.  There were guards making sure no one was taking pictures, which didn’t stop people.  And if it got to loud they would tell people to be quiet, it is still an active place of worship for the Pope.  We were in there for a good half hour while Stefano pointed out important parts of the masterpiece.  Arielle, Andrea, and I want to go back with beach chairs and just lay and look up at it for a whole day.  Our necks started to hurt, there is just so much to see! It is so amazing.

After the chapel we went to St. Peter’s Basilica.  Another gorgeous site, the marble was so pretty.  The altar was one of the prettiest things I have ever seen.  Clearly I have seen a lot of pretty things this trip haha.  We then went outside where we got a great view of the Pope’s Palace.  Stefano pointed out which room was his bedroom.  We also saw the chimney that blows the smoke when they are electing a new Pope. 

My trip to the Vatican was definitely one of the highlights in my life never mind this semester.  We were dead tired by the end of the tour.  It was a total of about 6 hours and 4 miles.  It was amazing, still in shock.

That night we had planned to go to the Hard Rock Café but it was too long of a wait so we went this cute little place called Pepperoni’s.  We happened to be only a few blocks from the Trevi Fountain.  I was SO excited….we went and ate gelato by the fountain when it was all lit up.  Gelato and the Trevi Fountain was a fabulous way to end a fabulous week.     

I have a new love for art after traveling with art history lovers all week.  It was one of the best vacations of my life.  The food, the people, the history, and all the sights…simply amazing.

Off to Paris this weekend….rough life right?

More adventures coming soon! (:

Liz*

Duomo de Milano

468 steps up to see the amazing view of Florence

Gelato=Heaven in your mouth

Just hanging out at the Colosseum

In front of St. Peter's Basilica

Vatican Courtyard

Trevi Fountain by night

In front of the Trevi Fountain

Ciao Bella!! Fall Break in Italy Part Three

Ciao Bella!! Fall Break in Italy Part Two

Tuesday October 18
"Florence"

We took the train from Milan to Florence.  All 3 of us were super excited because we all have heard how beautiful it is.  Well we heard right.  From the moment we walked out of the train station we had smiles, all the buildings and restaurants were SO cute and pretty.  The hotel was only about a ten minute walk from the train station.  Our hotel was so fabulous.  The concierge man was a gem.  He was so welcoming and gave us directions and sights to see in Florence right when we got there and he booked us two musesum visits within 20 minutes of being there. We made reservations at the Academia Gallery and the Ufizzi.  Reserving tickets is much easier...skipping the lines was fabulous.  We had a lot of time to kill before we went the Academia Gallery so we decided to climb the dome of the Duomo in Florence. 

468 steps later we made it to the top.  It was so worth the pain in our legs and feet though; the view was breath taking.  You could see all of Florence all the way up to the mountains.  We sat up there for about 45 minutes just taking it all in, admiring the view and taking pictures.  When were making our way to the stairs to leave the funny/scariest thing happened.  There was a line to go down the stairs because people are coming up so its basically the patient game; waiting until theres a break in people to head down.  This little boy had to be about 6 or 7 comes up the stairs and sees the view  at the top step and just screams "THIS IS AWESOME!"  His parents were still at the bottom, all of us around him were laughing hysterically it was so funny.  THEN he goes to like climb the poles that are seperating the dome platform from the roof.  10 people must have screamed stop because we all thought he was going to go right over the fence and plunge to his death.  His parents came running up and he still had the biggest smile on his face. 

After we made the climb down the stairs our legs were shaking a little bit.  Then we made our way over to the Academia Gallery.  The museum was really cool, the ultimate reason we went there was to see the famous Michel Angelo's Statue of David.  It is HUGE in real life, I didn't realize how big it actually was.  Arielle and Andrea both have taken art history courses so they were in heaven. I thought Arielle was going to faint.  It was a pretty amazing sculpture though, I would definitely go back and see it again. 

That night we went to dinner and once again had amazing food.  I don't think it is possible to have a bad meal in Italy seriously.  After that we went to this bar called Astor.  It is the bar where they filmed Jersey Shore.  It was 2 for 1 Tuesdays which was fabulous.  The drinks were good and so was the music.  It was a great way to end our first night in Florence. 

Wednesday October 19
"Festival de Gelato"

Wednesday we walked all around the city. Florence is fairly small so you can get to almost everywhere by foot.  We went to these really pretty gardens where there sculptures, and statues all over the place.  It was really pretty; there were a lot of students there with sketch books drawing.  The view from the upper part of the gardens was also really pretty.  My knees were throbbing still from the hike up the 468 stairs.  The girls went in to the Ufizzi museum and I opted out and sat by the model of the sculpture of David and people watched.  It was very entertaining actually.  We headed back to the hotel to rest before we went to dinner.  After dinner we went to the Festival de Gelato, it was just a Gelato place but it had every flavor known to man.  It was SO good, I could eat it all day long.

Florence was a gorgeous city.  There were a lot of Americans there too.  The University of Florence is a big study abroad destination, we saw several American college students.  I loved Florence I would go back in a heartbeat.  It was so much fun and there was so many things to see and do. 

Our next and final stop was Rome...   

Ciao Bella!! Fall Break in Italy Part One

Sunday October 16

"Milan"

Waking up was a struggle but I slowly but surely got my stuff together and caught a 3:30AM bus to the airport. After waiting in the airport for a few hours, boarded my flight to Milan.  I slept most of the way, until this baby woke up the whole plane and would not stop crying (there should be an age limit for kids on flights, just saying.)  Landed in Milan and waited for Andrea and Arielle for about 3 hours, they were coming from Prauge.  We took the bus from the airport to the train station, where we then got a taxi to our hotel. 

I was beyond tired so I took a nap when we got to our hotel.  The rooms in European hotels are so different than in the states.  A double room is two twin beds.  However the beds in Milan were the most comfortable out of all three cities.  They were more comfortable than my bed in my dorm at Regents in London. That night we went down town to get dinner; all of the restaurants along this one strip had a really cool concept.  You buy one drink whether its alcohol or soda and it's 8 Euro...then there is this huge buffet set up and you can get all the food you want.  But the way it was set up was like you were at a cookout. There were paper plates, plastic utensils etc.  Then at 10:00pm they start charging you for meals and the buffet is taken away.  It was cool, and the food was really good.

Monday October 17
"Hop on Hop off Milano" 

We didn't really know what was in Milan, us being typical girls just knew that it was the Fashion Capital of the world.  We decided to do a Hop on Hop Off tour; you get on the bus and listen to headphones about the history and sites about the city.  You can then get on and off at any stops you want to.  We got off at the Duomo de Milan; it was this absolutely gorgeous cathedral.  It was so big, and the architecture was amazing.  Inside was just as pretty.  Outside of the Duomo was this big open area with a bunch of people and pigeons.  Literally there were so many pigeons, these men were walking around with bird seed in their hands asking if we wanted to feed them! Ummm no? It was so gross...little kids would take the bird seed and have literally 2 pigeons on each arm, who would let their kid do that?  Then there were these other guys giving away little string bracelets.  They look like friendship bracelets, and they are supposed to bring you luck.  The men that were giving them out were from Africa and asked where we were from and when we said the US they would High Five us and say OBAMA!  It was so funny.  Then they would ask you for a donation.  The bracelets are cute though, I got two but didn't donate....sorry.

After doing the bus tour all day we went back to our hotel and relaxed a bit before grabbing a late dinner.  We went to this small place by our hotel, literally had the best pizza EVER.  The best sauce and cheese omg I am hungry just thinking about it as I write this.  Overall Milan was good, there was graffiti all over the city though, more than the typical amount you would expect to see.  It was really dirty and I don't know if I would plan a trip back there.  I mean it was nice but Florence and Rome were so much better.

I am breaking this into 3 parts...1 for each city (: