Americano

Following my lavish days in Salzburg I rushed through the rest of Europe to make time to see my friends back in Cork. A shame I didn't have more time but thats always how it goes. There are always places your not going to be able to see and adventures you just have to turn down. But I did make time for this one. Rick Steves, who I took with me on this trip, highly recommended this place so I detoured to see some castles and taste some wine. Great trip! In fact I think a day and two nights would be perfect. I had one night and half a day... great time though. I woke up EARLY! Which was surprising since 20 12 year olds kept me up half the night running down the hall. ... read more

Yes, I'm still here. But after all bustling, sleezy Italian men, and wrong trains its nice to stay somewhere for a couple of days. I've been doing day trips and walking through the city. I think this is one of my favorites. Its quiet and calm, but still a city. There is beautiful architecture and its clean. My favorite place to go is up the mountain behind the castle to the abbey with the red roof. This was supposedly the abbey Maria Von Trapp belonged to. I don't know for sure. Walk up all those stairs (theres a lot!) and you find one of the best, most peaceful, views of the back of the city looking towards the mountains. In the afternoon it grows hazy to where you can hardly see the mountains anymore but the ... read more

What some people will do in the name of tourism! San Marco piazza is without question the best thing to see in Venice. The laid back feel of the city combined with the amazing wealth and history make it a great place to see. Expensive to visit though! I walked around pretty much the whole time I was here. There were so many shops everywhere. The shop windows were amazing. Owners must know they've got competition out there so they decorate their store windows in bright colors with lavish display. Glass is the big art here. One of the smaller islands off of Venice called Murano has a glass factory on it. I read that the venicians moved it there because they were afraid of burning down their city. So they let Murano take out fire ... read more

This is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. It was filled with Australian and American tourists but I stayed in a smaller town so there weren't that many people at all. Got to hike along the cliffs to other towns. I stayed in Riomaggiore just for one night but it was worth it. My first night I took the train to Montorosso and ate pasta in a restaurant on a balcony over the water. It was dark by then so I could only hear the waves and see the sand just below. However, as soon as I sat down a lightning storm started over the ocean. It was incredible! Very awesome and humbling even. When the lightnening would strike the water below and the clouds above would light up just for a ... read more

My second day in Florence I decided to see the famous leaning tower of Pisa. I was accompanied by my very nice roommate in the hostel named Sylvia. The only problem is that Sylvia is from Argentina and only speaks Spanish. I took three years of high school Spanish which came out retirement that day. We ended up having a great time together. As the day wore on I remembered more and more. What we didn't remember we looked up in the dictionary and what the dictionary didn't have or we were too lazy to look up, we acted out to each other. Quite funny to watch I'm sure. It took us an hour and a half to get to Pisa which is a nice but very small town. As the train pulled into the station, ... read more