Chaquita

Hola!! This we I am proud to announce that I have gone and returned from my first SOLO trip in Europe! I planned, executed and wondered all by myself, woop woop! Monday morning I headed down to Seville, on the southern coast of spain. After taking only one wrong bus I found my great hostel, Oasis Backpacker's Palace, fit with lounge, pool, and bar. I grabbed some breakfast, locked up my bag and joined in a free walking tour of the city. We had a great guide, Angel, a local working for Pancho tours and started our tour at the Cathedral, the third largest in europe and the absolute largest in Spain. Attached is the arabic Giralda tower, used back in the day to sound when people should take a break and pray. Along the way ... read more

Ciao from Capri, Sorrento, Positano and Pompeii Italy! WHEW! What an amazingly beautiful and serene weekend I had with the Bus2Alps crew heading down the Amalfi Coast. After flying into Rome, taking a bus into the city just to have dinner (crazy right?) we were ready for the 3 hour ride to our hostel, Hotel 7. This hotel was absolutely beautiful with pebble stoned flooring in the main room with convertible open rooftop, both base floor and rooftop bars and comortable 8 person rooms it was definitely the best place I've stayed at so far! Each room had a cute name that started with the same letter, changing depending on what floor you were on but of course we were the "Sweet" room! The first day started off pretty early and after a bit of a ... read more

Hallo!! I can't believe I only have about a month left! Time is FLYING! This weekend I hopped a flight to Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands. Its located on the Amstel river but the whole city is built over and around dozens of canals. We took the train from the airport and landed right in the middle of the city. Central Station is HUGE, although Grand Central is still my favorite station ;) We checked into the Flying Pig Hostel, packed with students decorated mis-matched wtih a pool table bar and "Piggies" menu. After dropping our stuff off we wandered our neighborhood checking out little shops, including one truly amazing cheese shop with endless amounts of free samples. If I had room in my backpack and suitcase of treasures, I would have bought at least 4 ... read more

Hola! As many of you know, and have celebrated, it is Holy Week! I know that it isn't celebrated very intensely, except for Easter Sunday with egg hunts, candy baskets and a nice ham back home but here it's an entire week-end of celebration! Each day has it's own sort of festival and special dinner. Good friday, we ate catfish with hard boiled eggs artichoke and red peppers, yum-o! Usually the meals here are up to 3 seperate plates, but this was so big and had all the nutrients we needed in one. Later in the afternoon there is a Procession "The way of the cross" down on Ramblas, and through the Gothic Quarter. It is with the priests and other religious folk of St. Jaume church dressed in robes. Following them is two decorated floats ... read more

Hola! This week new classes started and while language classes stay the same, my culture classes are now Spanish Modern and Contemporary Art and Hispoamerica Culture through literature art and painting, and we get to go on a field trip tomorrow! Field trips, siestas, beaches and sangria? This just might be paradise! After travelling around the past couple weeks, I decided to take and easy weekend and enjoy Barcelona and take a trip to nearby Montserrat! This is an area built into the mountains with a lot of religious and catalan historical value. When Nepolian found the town, he destroyed it and once the people started to rebuild Franco put the laws that rejected Cataluynian culture into affect and the project was postponed. Franco's death fueled the reconstruction and rebirth to this amazing landscape, which is ... read more