After a relaxing couple of days, it is time to head to the beach for my last few days in Guatemala. We took a nice 2 hour shuttle ride(no sickness!) to the beach in Monterrico. Along the way, we saw a volcano erupt, which was pretty neat. We stayed at Johnny's, which is a cute little resort on the beach. The biggest decision of our days was whether to lounge in a hammock or on the beach. Lex did attempt to go swimming and almost drowned. The waves there were the largest that I have ever seen, and a local guy [View Full Entry]

---

---

When we arrived back in Antigua from Copan, lex had remembered that Handel's Messiah was playing that night at a convent ruin turned hotel, so we rushed home to get ready and quickly headed there. It was so so so amazing!!!! Thurs. morning, we got up and headed in to the market to buy things to cook for dinner. It was amazing, in the end we ended up with enough food to last probably 3 days for about $2. All fresh and amazing! We did have to pick up some things from the grocery store though, so that was about another [View Full Entry]

---

---

Its just one thing after another down here,and my brain cannot remember it all. So, where I left off... going to copan. We had a lazy morning, and our shuttle arrived at 1pm for a 5 hr trip to copan, honduras. Well, it arrived at our house at 1, but then we drove all around town picking up what ended up being 14 other tourists-all piled in to what was basically a minivan. It was a little tight, but not too bad. After a stop for gas, i think we finally left antigua around 2 or 2:30. The beginning of the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Oh my, my, what a day! I guess it was just typical of the interesting things I get myself into. Well, Alexis's roommate Gg(not what you would think-white ex-dancer lesbian photographer from NYC) invited us to go to Chichicastenango with her and a Mayan priestess friend of hers, Cahlista. Cahli was performing a ceremony, and we thought it would be really interesting to go. We had to be ready to go at 7am, but what a surprise, we were late! When we left the house, it was probably going to be a 15 minute walk to the market to catch the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Alexis, my friend from college, is living in Guatemala for a few months studing spanish, so of course I had to go visit. What kind of a friend would I be if I didn't go? Anyway, on my layover in Miami, I noticed that no one waiting in my departure lounge was speaking English-no one, and we were still in the states! I soon realized that my old high school and college spanish was not coming back as quickly as I would have liked. On the plane, I think I was the only American, or at least the only English speaker. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Amy and I had a 24 hour layover in Madrid, so we tried to make the most of the little time that we had. From the airport, we took the Metro downtown. The metro in Madrid was such a nice change of pace from Italy. It was clean and efficient and very easy to navigate. Our hostel was easy to find and absolutely beautiful inside. The room wasn't the greatest because we were in a 16 person co-ed dorm, but it worked for the night. We went to La Plaza del Torros de Las Ventas first. I just had to see [View Full Entry]

---

---

Amy and I arrived in Florence after the longest trip ever. We took Amtrak to Chicago, then a flight from Chicago to Naples with a layover in Madrid, followed by a train ride from Naples to Florence. All together we traveled for 29 hours straight. EXHAUSTING!! The first night we saw some sights, had dinner, and got lost on the way back to the hostel. Nothing too crazy though. The next day we walked all over the city. My keen sense of direction landed us about a half hour walk outside of the city center. After a couple of hours of [View Full Entry]

---

---

Jason and I made the trip down for Ashley and Joey's wedding. The first night started out fine. We had dinner with the family and bridal party at a great Mexican resturant. After dinner, we picked up some beer(I chose fours because I am a moron), and the younger crowd all went back to Chris and Meagin's . By about midnight almost everyone had gone to sleep, but Ashley and I decided that it was time for shots of Patron. We stayed up until(from what I have heard)6am or so doing shots and drinking beer. That night just set off the [View Full Entry]

---

---

On Thursday, Meagin, Anne, Ashley and I boarded the Carnival Sensation for our 3 day Bachelorette Extravaganza. The first day was kind of cold outside, so we spent our day exploring the ship, drinking, and then hitting up the clubs onboard that evening. The ship was quite interesting. Meagin was the only one of us that had cruised before(and it had been several years ago), so we didn't really know what to expect. I am pretty sure we walked into a 1970s roller rink with all of the flashing purple neon. It was a far cry from the elegant ship I [View Full Entry]

---

---

After Costa Rica, we flew back to Birmingham, AL and went to the NASCAR race in Talladega. It was my first race, and I will have to admit it was more fun than I had expected. However, tent camping with only one port-a-potty and a community motorhome bathroom for showers wasn't exactly my thing. Oh well, Jason enjoyed himself, and I had a good time too. The race was a lot more fun to watch in person than it is to watch on TV. [View Full Entry]

---

---