Melly

Well, I am back in the United States of America now...actually back at home in Florence right now, for a few days before summer classes start- physics and differential equations should be a blast. I apologize for the lack of blog updates in the past month, I got to Switzerland and L'abri and just never did... So where to begin? L'abri was amazing. Truly it was such a great place to be for a month before graduate school begins. I was only supposed to be there for three weeks, but was there for two days and then extended my stay for another week, which meant that I gave up traveling with Sarah, but she understood, that it was just something I needed to do. So, what is L'abri?, I am sure some of you are wondering. ... read more

So yes, we left Rome and all it's eternal history and gelatto for Italy Farm Stay. It was a cute little place near Sora, which is between Naples and Rome, and consists of a Villa and self-sufficient, organic farm. We just stayed there and enjoyed the time away from big cities and Rome, but there was so much to do there. It is called Italy Farm Stay and was created by a young man, who is only 28. The farm is his parent's but he is using WWOOF (willing workers of organic farming...somthing I will be doing in the near future) to help create this bed and breakfast/farm. He has such a cool vision for the place and already has bought land for two other locations near his home. One will be a farm of 'prima-culture' ... read more

Well, I am finishing up my last day in Rome...this city is so amazing. This is the place I have participated in the most ''touristy'' things...paying for the Colosseum and Vatican Museums, but how can you not coming here?! Both were worth the euros...the Colosseum is what it is, you just sort of stand there in silence thinking about all that has happenend in that place and how much life has gone on in and around (and ended) there....the hostel we are staying at has Gladiator as an option of movies to watch and I was almost tempted just to get a hollywood version after seeing it myself. The Palantine Hill is also included in the 11€ cost and it is composed of a huge area where the foundations of the city are located. Before ... read more

Well we are now in Monterosso, Italy. The large town of the five fishing villages that make up the Cinque Terre, which are all connected by a hiking trail. This place is like out of a fairy tail, really it is. So much has happened here and we've only been here for two nights. We are here for six whole nights in an apartment, it is wonderful. The first thing we did was dump out our backpacks and put our toothbrushes in little cups in the bathroom. I made hot chocolate that night and was happy as a kitten with a ball of yarn. Then we decided to go out and see the town, which consists of three main streets and two beaches. Monterosso is the largest town of the five, maybe 1500 people...all within an ... read more

Marbella was a good relaxing time, we got lucky and meet some really great people. Sarah and I were walking along the boardwalk the first evening and ran into two old Spanish men who treated us to coffee and an evening of Spanish speaking and their thoughts. It was really wonderful to learn so much about how they felt about the EU, the weather and their grandchildren. We were going to get a dinner out of them as well, but had to go find Alyssa and Blair. The following evening we got in contact with someone we met in Granada, who was from Marbella and home for Santa Semana, and he introduced us to his friends who treated us to our first great Spanish dinner in a local restaurant after having a wonderful day under the ... read more

Sarah Farber and I are now in beautiful Salamanca...we arrived yesterday afternoon via bus from Oviedo. Blair and Alyssa journeyed off to Madrid for the next two days and tomorrow we will reunite in Toledo, which is a Midevil town just southwest of Madrid. Salamanca is really an amazing town, it is full of so much history, I really don´t even know how to describe it. The university here, which used to be considered one of the four lights of the world along with Oxford was built in 1219 or something crazy like that. There is such a deep history of the Catholic religion here as well. The most impressive thing of all though is the architecture...it is called plateresque (spelling?) and it is so incredibly intricate and detailed, it is hard to fathom how long ... read more

Well we moved on from Barcelona...west to San Sebastián, which is a much different place. It is a small city about 180,000 compared to however many million people there are in Barcelona. But wow...I know that Barcelona reminded me of Mexico City, but the longer I was there the more it made me see the differences. It really is a beautiful city, so much of it is just down right beautiful and there is always something happening. One day outside our hostel there was a festival and parade going on, for what reason, nobody knew but down our street came 20 foot tall people (not really they were in costumes) and bands of small children...then another day there was a marathon and everyday on the street near our hostel, Las Ramblas, there were street performers and ... read more