http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Scrappy/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Scrappy en-us Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:19:19 +0000 Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:19:19 +0000 For my very last trip of my time in Europe my friend Ally and I decided to go to Istanbul. It was the best decision and the best way to end my travels during my study in Italy. It is a beautiful city and incredibly large much bigger than I thought it would be actually. The people seemed so happy and very friendly. I had a fantastic time there and didn't want to leave. Sadly we didn't get to do e http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-411543.html Nearing the end of graduate school my friend Ally and I went to London for the weekend. It was a fantastic decision and a beautiful city. I absolutely loved it there and couldn't believe I actually got to see Buckingham Palace Big Ben Westminster Abbey Tower of London and everything else. There were also quite a few things like home Starbucks Borders and certain foods I haven't seen in a real http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/London-City/blog-409053.html For a nice relaxing weekend I went with my friend Ally back to Heidelberg to show her around and then we went to Strasbourg France just over the border to where she studied abroad. We had a fantastic time together and it was great having each other as our own private tour guide and interpreter. We were able to see everything in each place and it was nice to go back and somewhere new they're abou http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Baden-W-rttemberg/Heidelberg/blog-406239.html While Mom and Dad were visiting we took a trip to Rome and Vatican City to have a general audience with the Pope and then tour the Vatican Museums and what not. It was so much fun and I'm not sure I've ever seen my Mom so excited or happy to get to see the Pope live. It was pretty cool. He also spoke Italian German French English Latin and some SpanishPortugesePolish. It was pretty cool. Als http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Vatican-City/Vatican-City/blog-394387.html I went to Pisa for the day with my friend Christina and her Undergrad program from when she studied in Florence. It was fun to spend the day somewhere else and go to a place that's close to Florence and a new place in Italy. Pisa is pretty and very similiar looking to Florence. It's about the same size and only around 4560 minutes away by train. It was also a beautiful sunny day that was around http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Pisa/blog-377794.html Here are the other pictures that I have. These are from Mdina which is an ancient Medieval cityfort that remains the same as it did when it was built. It was really cool and I loved it there. Also down the road from Mdina was where they did handblown glass which we went and visited as well but no pictures of that. Also there are pictures of the beautiful town and view from Qawra which is wh http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Malta/Malta/blog-375319.html I decided to go to Malta for my February break this time. I went with my friend Christina for five days. It was an amazing place very relaxing and a fantastic choice for break. It is not a place that many Americans go or know where it is for that matter it's an island near Sicily in the Meditteranean. Malta seems to have a sort of identity crisisimagine a country that is a mix between Italy B http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Malta/Malta/blog-375310.html Florence had a chocolate festival this weekend which was absolutley amazing. I went on Friday night with my friends Cara and Christina where we had hot chocolate which was basically melted chocolate and was absolutely amazingly good. We walked around and saw all kinds of amazing chocolate and many people. I also went back today with Christina to get that all amazing Italian dessert known as can http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Florence/blog-366970.html The second half of our trip we went to Athens. First we left the Pink Palace on the bus then got on an hour and a half ferry ride at 1130pm then get back onto the bus for an overnight 7 hour bus ride. It was pretty bad and really provided no sleep at all. We checked into our hotel there and then headed out to the Acropolis with our tour guides. I walked around the Acropolis and saw the Theater of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Attica/Athens/blog-338061.html For Fall Break my roommate Allison and I decided to take the week and go to Greece. It was an absolutley amazing time and incredibly relaxing. The first part of break we were on the island of Corfu where it was sunny and in the 80s the entire time we were there. We stayed at the Pink Palace which is this huge hostel where everything truly is pink and upon arrival you get a shot of ouzu that's di http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Ionian-Islands/Corfu/blog-338052.html On Monday we visited the Basilica Santa Croce in Florence. It is a beautiful church and one of the oldest in Florence. Later on we went to the European University Insitute where we will be using the library for research and what not. At the end of the pictures are a few of the countryside and the city of Florence from the EUI. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Florence/blog-322041.html Yesterday a group of us visited the Santo Spirito Church which is in Santo Spirito Square that is right next to the Palazzo. You can see the square out my bedroom window. It's a beautiful church. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Florence/blog-320909.html Orientation began the day I arrived 2 September. So far so good and I'm sure I'll have more photos next week from orientation as well but for now here's what I have. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Florence/blog-320385.html Phill Katy and I walked up the mountain in Heidelberg on Monday Whit Monday since we had off. It was a long and tiring hike that took around 45 minutes but it was definitely worth it. It was very cool. We had some lunch up there and enjoyed ourselves. It was interesting to see where the Nazis did things and just how far from the city it is set. From the mountain you can see Heidelberg very coo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Baden-W-rttemberg/Heidelberg/blog-66470.html Phill Katy and I went to Schwetzigen a couple weekends ago. It was very cool. It is one of the largest castle gardens in Germany especially the south. It has very many passageways and areas to cut through. It was very cool. We did a tour of the castle as well but no pictures allowed inside. It was fun but a little hard to understand everything he said. It was good to go through though. Good t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/blog-66462.html This is the second half of the Brussels pictures. Hope you enjoy them http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/Brussels-Capital-Region/Brussels/blog-63147.html Phill Katy and I ventured to Brussels this past weekend because we had Thursday off for Ascension Day. We took a train which took us about 5 hours or so. It wasn't bad at all actually. Brussels was fantastic. I loved it tons. The only bad thing was that it rained most of the time we were there which to me is a reason to go back.We saw Grote Markt Mannekin Pis St Michaels Cathedral and four o http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/Brussels-Capital-Region/Brussels/blog-62950.html Katy and I ventured to Amsterdam for the weekend. It was a ton of fun. Amsterdam has more canals than Venice and it was incredibly beautiful. Everywhere you looked it seemed as if boats were parked on grass but there were canals all over. Everyone seems to have a boat in Amsterdam. It's pretty cool. It was Queen's Day the Saturday we were there which was tons of fun. There were people in orange http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-58630.html Here are the rest of the pictures from Ireland. They include Cashel and the Dingle Peninsula. It was incredibly beautiful there and I would reccommend it to everyone. Also it reminded me of the Cape quite often. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Kerry/Dingle-Peninsula/blog-57111.html Here are the Louvre pictures. The museum is huge and filled with tons of stuff. We did not make it through the entire museum but I think we finished a wing. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-56836.html