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Published: February 25th 2008
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Ciao everyone!! I wanted to brighten up my blog with a MUCH happier one this time. Sorry if the last email was so depressing. Everything in it was accurate though-it truly was a life changing experience. I never did talk about the wonderful things I saw in Poland though! Krakow is one of the most amazing cities I have seen. The castle, Wawel (pronounced Vavel) is the symbol of Poland, and only a 15 min walk from our hostel! We went inside and saw some old swords used for sword fighting back in the 1700s I believe, and viewed some of the quarters where the royalty sat. We also went into a beautiful cathedral, tried 100% authentic Poland perogi (basically noodles filled with cottage cheese and potatoes, or whatever unique filling you could think of), and even made way to "Bagel Mama," since Poland after all is the "home of the bagel." Imagine, 5 college students traveling to Poland, deprived of bagels and cream cheese for over a month and a half...it was amazing. We went all three days. In the process, we met some interesting Italian men, er boys, staying at our hostel, and it was actually pretty fun to
interact with a new culture (even though they were Italian), because usually I have minimal interaction since our program through the UW is all English students. Overall, Poland was incredible. It was very refreshing to travel to a new country. Surprisingly, they spoke a lot of English as well, since I would say the majority of tourists won't be learning the Polish language before their stay. I bought a beautiful necklace, and some Polish slippers, and the best part--we even made friends with our hostel manager! She was only 25, ran the entire place herself, and was a student. She bought us all drinks, and we've kept in touch with her. It sounds cheesey, but it's so exciting to say I have a friend in Poland!
Besides Poland, there is a lot more to update on. Before Poland, we traveled to Florence. We went to the Uffizi, one of the biggest art galleries in the world, and of course saw the painting of the Birth of Venus by Bottecilo, and made way to the Academia, where we saw the Statue of David. While no photos were allowed, I managed to sneak one in. 😊 Florence was just gorgeous, and
a very fun atmosphere. I bought four scarves, went inside the beautiful cathedral, ate some great food, saw some historical paintings/sculptures, and of course, ate a lot of gelato!
Last weekend was one of the most fun/relaxing/physically enduring. Hard to imagine all of those feelings can happen in one weekend! Let me explain...we went to Pisa, and saw the Leaning Tower. Pisa was a quiet little college town, and the only thing to see really was the Leaning Tower in the main square, and an amazing Bapistry. I went to the Bapistry by myself, as everyone was shopping, and walking around it (it was up high), I began to think about my vacation/"study" abroad. Could there really only be 4 weeks left? It felt like I just got here! Looking up high at the Leaning Tower, and passing it by on my way back to the hotel, with the blue skies and the Tower in the background, I felt like I was almost in a state of shock. This whole time, I have been experiencing sights and visiting monuments straight from the history books. For some reason, at that moment, it really hit me. My time is running out
in Europe! It seemed like my time would last forever, and now I am on a countdown of all of the things I have left to do!
After leaving Pisa, we traveled to Cinque Terre, which literally means "Five Villages" in Italian. We did a seven mile hike, and it was around the Mar Ligure waters. We hiked for a total of five hours in the Tuscan sun, and went into the beautiful villages, and had an amazing lunch and dinner. What was great too was that our prof's friends were visiting, and bought me and five other people a bottle of wine!
Overall, it has been amazing here. In the midst of everything, I have seen the Sistine Chapel (once again, snuck in a photo--they are very strict about not taking photos!!) Check out the neat photo I did get--yes my face is in the way--I had to take it from my purse!! I have also gotten to know a lot of people in the group. After we had a paper due (15 pgs with a partner on German television, YUCK!) we went out to Happy Hour near the Pantheon. Today, yet again another Happy Hour in
the Campo De Fiori, a big market square, with music, and authentic Italian cuisine! Next up: Berlin. Brauts and beer baby! It's my home people!!
Ciao! <3 Megs
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