RUSSIA!

St. Petersburg
"A Winter Wonderland"

Last night we arrived at our final destination for the trip, St. Peterburg, Russia. We arrived by train late at night, around 10:30. I am now eleven hours ahead of the United States; crazy concept to grasp!
Although we were all very tired from our long 6 hour train ride, we were dazzled by all the lights that welcomed us into the city. There was still tons of Christmas decorations and lit up trees and streets, that it was truly a gorgeous site.

Look how weird the McDonald's are spelled in Russia hehe. Our hotel is about 30 minutes from the downtown area, but it is very nice. We are staying at the Park Inn, which is actually the same branch that we stayed at during our visit to Berlin, Germany on opening tour. I like the hotel because it is so modern- yet comfy at the same time.

Apparently Cierra's alarm clock went off the next morning, but since I am so used to using my phone as an alarm clock, I didn't hear it or recognize it. Oh I forgot to mention, soon after I wrote my blog post the other day before leaving for Finland, I took some ibuprofen for a headache, and I guess the water bottle top was not completely secure because it leaked all over my purse, and my phone shorted out and my ipod was temporarily unusable. (As of today it is working though, thank goodness!). So yeah, that has made the past couple of days interesting. I am so dependent on my cellphone (for those that know me, know this VERY well). Anyways, it kind has taught me how dependent I am on my appliances and without the distractions of a cell phone is maybe a blessing in disguise. Its not that I use it a lot here or anything (its ridiculous in price), but its more the concept of being "connected to the outside world" and having the option to use it when and if I need it. Its more of security blanket that I have, that when its gone, I feel very vulnerable...

Anyways, I woke up super late with only about 15-20 minutes to get ready, which is not a lot at all in Laura time... I did it though, and Cierra and I had a quick Breakfast at the hotel. I ate the eggs, which I heard is probably not a good idea, but oh well. They are like my favorite thing to eat for Breakfast! :). Yeah, forgot to mention also that we are not supposed to drink the tap water here, or eat fruit without peels, and eggs and dairy products. What's left? Honestly... I think I will just not eat so much fruit and definitely not the water (that's what they recommended the most). I guess you could say I live on the edge... haha just kidding.

Check out all this ice! Well, on with the rest of the day! We had a lovely bus tour and we stopped at several pretty spots and took pictures. I will post them on facebook when I get a chance, for all those that are interested. For lunch, we all ate together at the top of this shopping mall and it ended up being a very nice restaurant! When we first got there, there was a salad/veggie on our plates, but I wasn't too fond of it. We had a really good chicken-noodle type soup after, but it was SO hot! The next course was super hot as well (temperature wise- we are talking SCOLDING HOT!) but it was pretty good as well- it was some sort of beef stew with potatoes. I am not a fan of beef, so I didn't eat that, but the flavors were pretty good. It was kind of a gravy-like consistency, and I really liked the potatoes that were with it. I love potatoes! For desert, we had vanilla icecream, which I proceeded to put in my coffee because no cream was present. I had never done this before, and I think it is a fabulous invention! It cooled down my coffee, as well as added a hint of vanilla flavor and creamy consistency. :)

Once lunch was over, we had the option to go on the first bus which could take you directly back to the hotel, or stick around the shopping district for a couple hours and then pick you up at 5:00. I was ambivalent at first as to which bus to go on, but I decided to go on the first bus to avoid breaking the bank (I tend to go crazy when I shop hehe). I was also tempted to buy a phone before lunch was over, but I realized... hmm no one speaks English and I don't want to get ripped off! haha. I think I can live a few days without a phone... it will be good for me, right? :)

NOW its dinner time! Ciao buddies!

Off to Finland!

Today has been a pretty relaxing day so far; the Christmas tour has been jam-packed with activities and today we actually got to sleep in which was nice for a change. I am not used to such a busy Christmas break- its nice but also exhausting after awhile.

We are heading to Finland today at 2:45 and we are loading onto a ferry boat and staying in cabins for the evening. This part of the trip reminds me of heading to Croatia from Italy; we stayed overnight on a boat and some friends and I paid extra to stay in cabins for the night. Let me tell you- it was so worth it! Everyone else was super exhausted from staying up all night on the boat. No thanks!

Not quite sure what we are doing in Finland; to be honest, I have no idea what to expect. We are only there for the day, so we will have to make the most of our short trip. After our day in Finland, we are heading towards our final destination, St. Petersburg, Russia. I am expecting it to be very cold, and I am hoping there will actually be snow on the ground! Speaking of snow, I can't believe all the snow Washington has been getting these past few weeks! I talked to some of my friends from back in Spokane, and they said they had to stay an extra couple of days or more before Christmas because of the snow conditions. Apparently a bunch of airports were closed because of the dangerous snow conditions. I am not sure how the flights are doing right now, but I think the snow is slowly melting. My mother has been sending tons of pictures of the snow fall as well- she said that they were practically snowed in for days and almost no one dared to go out on the streets. As of a few days ago, there were 18 inches- CRAZINESS! At least they had a white Christmas- I still have yet to experience that.

Anyways, that's about all I have to say for today. I am currently just chilling in the hotel lobby attempting to surf the internet and check emails and such, but the connection is awful. Seems like a common theme in all of Europe- haha one thing I definitely miss in America. We are having lunch together as a big group in the hotel at 1:00 so I only have about half an hour to kill at this point.

Arrivederci and take care everyone!

Like I said before, check out all the new pics I uploaded on facebook! :)

And the Christmas adventure continues...

Again, these past few days have been jam packed full with lots of activities! Yesterday, which I believe was Friday, we went to an Open Air Museum which had tons of stuff to look at- my favorite was the zoo portion which housed a pack of wolves, moose, a beautiful horse (see picture), owls, and other various "Scandinavian animals". Before we took a look at the animals, we stopped inside a small cafe to warm up and have a hot drink before going out into the freezing cold again. Isn't the design on my late adorable? The Open Air Museum also had a furniture gallery which was closed, and a glass blowing section which was pretty cool. After we walked around for awhile, we took the metro bus back to the main section of town and then we mapped out how to get back to our hotel. We only had an hour or so to rest, so we hung out for awhile and met the bus back in front of the hotel to take us to the hockey game.

This was my first "real" hockey game that I have attended. I have been to one at Gonzaga, but not anything like the intense ones I have always heard about. The game ended up being a lot of fun- but what I found interesting was the fans were much more into the fighting and aggression than the actual players. At one point, a huge group of the home fans came over to the opposing team's fan side and were yelling and about to cause a scene and fight. Luckily, just in time an army of security officers patrolled the scene, but the game was momentarily paused until the fuss was over. It was pretty interesting and it was kind of funny because our group was literally in the middle of what was happening between the two sides. The home team ended up winning- which was pretty neat.

I just love the look of bare winter trees! They are pretty mysterious- like this one to your left. Anyways, after the hockey game we were all pretty hungry so we went to a sports bar called O'Leary's across the street from our hotel. Cierra and I split a Chicken Caesar Salad (haven't had one of those since I left the states!) and chicken quesadillas which came with sour cream, guacamole, and salsa. YUM! After dinner we were so pooped from our long day, that Cierra and I just came back to our room and attempted to relax. We had to deal with the situation of changing a flight ticket of mine to a different date though, because as we both clicked "pay now" on an online Lufthansa site, my price went through and her connection timed out and when she refreshed, the price of the ticket practically doubled. For the past few days we have been trying to contact Lufthansa seeing if there is anything they can do to help us out, or cut us a break- but unfortunately it is not under their control if the price changes. (its a supply and demand thing I am assuming...) Anyways, after a lot of calls with a low internet connection, we managed to move my flight to another weekend for an 84 euro additional fee and Cierra was able to book her flight at the same price that I had gotten mine originally. We didn't end up going to bed until around 2 AM last night so needless to say we have been pretty exhausted today!

This morning we got up around 8:30 and then walked downstairs and had a lovely Breakfast at the hotel. I have been impressed with these hotel Breakfasts! In Italy, normally we just get one croissant and maybe a yogurt. After Breakfast, we met the rest of the GU group on the double Decker bus and headed towards the Vaso Museum, which housed a real ship that was built in the 1600's and it sank after just 20 minutes of use. The ship was under water for about 333 years and it was just recently discovered in the Baltic Sea in 1971. They carefully lifted the ship which was preserved by the low levels of salt in the water and it practically looks brand new! Apparently, the water worms did not get to the wood because they tend to thrive in salt water. We had a nice tour guide at the museum, and then we watched a little documentary about the ship and how it was taken to the museum, etc. After the museum visit, we went to a place where we went curling! I had never really heard of curling before this trip, but I heard it was a fun thing to try. The sport takes place on the ice and the point is to shuffle a broom and stone across the ice and have it hit a target on the other side of the room. It is quite tricky- I found it difficult to measure how much force to put on the stone while maintaining balance, direction, curvature, etc. Before actually playing the game, we did some practice drills and just got acquainted with the ice and what not. Overall I thought it was a lot of fun! Even though I did slide and fall a lot... haha.

After curling we went to the old town district of Stockholm and had an hour or so to walk around and get something to eat. We were all pretty hungry, so Cierra, Georgina and Emily and I stumbled upon "Sally's" which had a variety of food- I think primarily Italian, ironically. It was pretty good though! I got a pizza which ham and cheese on it and ate the whole thing! (with some help of course hehe). It was the perfect amount of "fullness" and it instantly gave me some energy that I was lacking... the last thing on our agenda for the day was a ghost tour that met at the huge Christmas tree in the old town center.

The ghost tour was fun, but it was awfully cold out! At one point I thought my toes were going through the beginning stages of frost bite because they were super tingly at first, and then they just went numb and felt kind of puffy- haha not a good feeling for sure. But the tour guide was great- and he had a lot of great ghost stories and tales of the town. We walked around for a little over an hour and a half and at various location sites on the way our tour guide would stop and tell a story about a certain monument, building, or house. The various stories reminded me of my dad's ghost stories, which he was always creatively make up and tell on family camping trips back in the day. Anyways, our tour guide was super funny too- which made the whole tour more entertaining. At the end, we were given the responsibility to find our way back to the hotel so a bunch of us gathered together and headed towards the subway station. It wasn't too confusing but I relied on other people to get us home because for those who know me know I am horrible at directions haha. After we got back, Cierra, Georgina and I went to the local grocery store and got some snacks. I was able to use up the rest of my Kronas so I'm happy about that.

Here is a picture of all the girls on the Christmas tour! :) Tomorrow we are leaving for Finland! I think we are there just for the day and then we head towards St. Petersburg, which is our final destination.

Stay tuned for more information on my trip! Check out the new pictures I uploaded from Copenhagen! (on Facebook)

Christmas in Sweden!

Christmas tour has been a blast so far. The first few days we spent in Copenhagen, and tonight we made it to Sweden. Today it is Christmas Day, and to be honest it totally does not feel like it at all. I have never been away from my family for Christmas, and we have so many traditions and things that without it, it just doesn't feel the same.

Here is a picture of Emma and I on the bus :) The first night in Copenhagen we were all pretty excited from traveling all day, so most of us just relaxed. We had an interesting dinner at the hotel... the first course was a salmon dish and the main dish was lamb. I didn't eat either of the dishes because I am mainly a chicken kind of girl so I asked for the vegetarian meal. The salad was really good- but the main course was a little too veggie for me. I am just starting to like vegetables and this was an intense vegetable dish (like the main part of it was this boiled leek), but I made the most of it and ate a large portion of it. That night Cierra and I just walked a little bit on the town and got a feel for the city.

The next morning Cierra pointed out the beautiful sunset outside our hotel window! Here is a picture of it on your left :) After Breakfast, the whole Gonzaga group loaded onto the buses and went on a driving tour of the city. We stopped at various locations along the way and took some pictures. One place we stopped had a copper statue of a mermaid on a stone next to the gorgeous Copenhagen waterfront. Towards the end of our tour we stopped to watch the changing of the guards next to the Queen's house. That was really interesting; a bunch of the students were trying to make the guards laugh. After the tour we all went to the hard rock cafe for lunch. Again, it was a limited menu so my choices were a burger or a veggie burger. I am just not a fan of burgers in general, but I sucked it up and got a burger; which is huge for me for those who know me well. I am definitely not a beef fan... the burger wasn't too bad but I was craving a chicken burger for sure.

After lunch we had tickets to the Tivoli Christmas festival which was probably the highlight of my day. There were lights, decorations, food stands, and souvenir shops all in the little Christmas town. There was actually a China town section and next to it was a large red roller coaster which was amazing! We convinced my friend to go on it, even though she hates rides that go upside down. The funniest part was when she had a scared expression on her face and she goes, "Oh no... it's called the DEMON?!" haha. Good times for sure.

Once we looked around at the festival, we wandered the long shopping street and peered in and out of stores for boots. My friend Megan was in desperate need of warm boots for Russia. She wanted something like Uggs- but they were no where to be found. Eventually she found a place where they sold actual Ugg Boots for a hefty price. When in Copenhagen, I guess, right? haha. Things in Copenhagen were so expensive! I couldn't believe it... the food was outrageous and the souvenirs and shopping was even worse. Needless to say all I bought was a winterish hat for Russia at the Tivoli Christmas Festival.

That night Cierra, Jen and Annie and I went to this Chinese/Indonesian restaurant. I ended up getting two little starter dishes: chicken skewers (which had a peanut-type sauce), and spring rolls. I also got this yummy cocktail. It was really good and just the right amount of food after a big lunch earlier.

The next day we had on our own, so Cierra, Emma and I decided to rent 3 of the bikes from our hotel and wander the city ourselves. Cierra brought along her handy dandy Europe book and they suggested to rent bikes and take a 6 hour tour around the city. Well, since nothing was open because it was Christmas Eve, we ended up just looking at the outside of these buildings and taking pictures. It ended up being a lot of fun! I am glad we did it. For lunch, we went to Burger King because it was pretty much the only thing open at that point. After lunch we took a small break and then headed out to the old-fashioned windmill. Here is a picture of me doing a handstand at a windmill! Anyways, the windmill was so cute! We definitely took lots of pictures there. The rest of the day was pretty chill once we got back from our tour. We watched the Holiday (with Jude Law- so cute!, Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet)- it is a very cute movie if I must say so myself. I would recommend it for sure! After the movie we had a nice Christmas Eve feast in our hotel. I again did not want the meat dishes, so I got the vegetarian salad and veggie dish. It wasn't that satisfying, but at least the bread was good and they served us plenty of drinks! The group had liver for the starter course (GROSS) and then duck for the main course. I just find it shocking that they serve such bizarre meats on a student sponsored trip; oh well. ANYWAYS, the next day was pretty much just traveling to Stockholm, Sweden. Cierra and I got up early to have Breakfast at the hotel (which was great because it was buffet style :) ) and then we loaded onto the buses around 11 30 am. We caught the train about an hour later and our train lasted about 5 and a half hours. I mainly just slept, finished my book (Pretty Little Liars- thanks Lillian!), read magazines, listened to music, and watched an episode of Sex and the City (my new favorite show!). Once we got there, we took a short bus ride to our hotel and then had a quick break before our dinner. I am so happy that we have free internet here! Its a nice change for sure- it is very slow because there is like 70 of us all trying to get on at once, but it works none the less. For dinner we had a shrimp salad (yuck, didn't get it, surprise surprise) and then the main course was chicken and mashed potatoes. ALL I could say was thank GOD! Finally something I can eat... I hate being such a picky eater but I have gotten a lot better since my childhood. AND I did try the shrimp and all those weird things we had previously (besides the Liver- I just won't go there) and I honestly don't like the taste. I know it gets annoying and maybe sounds stupid to some people, but its just who I am haha. The dinner was really nice though- I sat with Cierra, Emily, Elliott, Chelsea, and Scott. We had some great conversations and laughs. The rest of the evening I caught up on skype with some friends, and now I am just relaxing!

Tomorrow we have a tour of the flight museum and then I am going to a hockey game. It should be a lot of fun!

I will post later--

CIAO for now and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

London remarks

It seems like I never have a chance to write in my blog anymore! Sad day... I have been so busy this past week with finals I just haven't had a chance to breath! Well, literally yes, but figuratively... no haha. I thought I would reflect on my experience in London with Emma, Lillian, and Chelsea.

We planned the entire trip ourselves- impressive in my opinion because its hard to coordinate traveling, places to stay, and things to do; especially for such a short visit! We left mid-day on Thursday and walked with all of our stuff to the train station. From there we took an hour long train to Pisa. At that point, we had to figure out how to get to the actual airport. We all had thought that at least one of us had been to the Pisa airport by train, but ironically none of us have; Chelsea and Emma had taken buses before that took them directly to the airport. Hmm, joys of traveling... Anyways, we asked around and we were able to figure out a bus that took us to the airport; luckily it was just a quick 5 minute ride. Once we got to the airport we realized that we could have gotten a train that took us directly into the airport... live and learn right? We arrived in plenty of time and there was no lines to check in which was nice. We took Ryan Air which is known as the "budget" airline for European travelers. I have heard stories of their horrible customer service, such as just canceling flights (see Amsterdam entry), instead of delaying due to weather. However, lets just say I was in for a "treat" once I embarked on the aircraft. The take off was very abrupt, and there was constant turbulence. Lillian and I were holding onto each other for half of the flight... no joke. The worst part was the landing... basically it felt like we were crash landing because they zoomed right onto the landing strip with full force. It felt like we were nose diving! All of a sudden- BOOM we landed and it was not subtle at all- everyone screamed. Once we stopped everyone on the flight clapped; that's when you know its bad! Ha Ha. I am just glad to be alive!! Coming back was pretty much the same thing- do they just hire non-experienced pilots? Geez!

Anyways, once we landed we had the lovely task of attempting to find our "flat" that we rented for the weekend. We ended up getting a really good deal for our package- only 16 pounds a night! WOW! That's less expensive than most budget flights! We first took a 75 minute bus into downtown London, and then took the subway to our stop after long research... we asked a few nice people for directions and then we finally arrived at the hotel that gave us our keys around 11:30 PM! We had been traveling since 2:15 that day. We were starving at the point so we quickly got our keys, took a taxi (on the hotel!), and dropped off our stuff at the flat. It was super hot in the flat the entire time we were there- we never were able to figure out how to turn down the heat. It was really nice though! It was equipped with a TV (with English channels of course!) and a kitchen, a bathroom with a shower, and two rooms with bunk beds. We walked around aimlessly trying to find something to eat at around midnight- we ended up going to Subway and Burger King. I was so excited to have Subway! I have missed it for sure. After we ate, we stopped by a local Shell station (who knew those were in London?) picked up some snacks for the next day, and then went to bed.

On Friday we walked over to the hotel that provided us the flat and they helped us plan out our day. We ended up signing up for Chicago and getting tickets for a 48 hour doubledecker bus ride tickets that made a big circle around London. This ended up being a great deal because we were able to get on and off as we pleasured at the various stops. We went to Starbucks (another thing I have missed from the states!) and got onto a bus. We road around on the top even though it was freezing and took lots of pictures. We got off at the shopping district (of course) we went into TopShop (so huge!) and H & M. I ended up getting two nice shirts. The exchange rate is pretty bad though so I didn't really splurge on a lot. Later that day we met up with a few of Emma's friends from Gonzaga that were studying in London for the semester. We caught them at a good time because they were all leaving the next day to come home! We went to this really cute coffee shop that served sandwiches. After our lunch date, we got on the buses again and road it until it got dark (which is pretty early in London). We came across the Big Ben, major parliament buildings, and other various spots. That evening, we got ready for our broad way show, took the subway there, had a few drinks at a local pub and then watched the production! It was fabulous- I really enjoyed it. I always love going to shows... my mom and I went to a bunch of them in New York and we saw Wicked a couple years ago when we went to Chicago.

The next day we knew we had a lot to cram in, so we first went to Starbucks (yum!) and then we saw the place at the subway station from Harry Potter of "Platform 9 and 3/4". I am not a huge Harry Potter fan myself, but I have seen most of the movies and Emma is obsessed with the books so we made sure to go there and take pictures. After our little visit, we went to the Tower Houses which holds the world's largest diamond! I especially loved all the crowns on display with all the jewels and velvet. Too bad it was rainy and windy all day- but what can you expect? Its much like Seattle in that it is known for its rain. My two umbrellas broke that day; that's how windy it was! Good thing we brought rain boots for our trip! After walking around the Tower Houses we took the subway to Buckingham Palace and walked around for a bit. We were pretty hungry again by that point so we had lunch at a pub restaurant. After our late lunch we took the subway (yet again- thank goodness for our cards we got!) and road the London Eye.That was super fun! It was nice to see a view of the whole city- a few of the hot spots were the Parliament buildings/Big Ben and the London Bridge.

That evening we ended up meeting up with one of Chelsea's friends who was studying in London for the semester as well. He took us to one of his favorite restaurants and Lillian and I each got a Coke, and split an order of garlic bread (which is nonexistent in Italy as well- I thought it was an Italian dish?!) and a grilled chicken salad. YUM! Lillian and I were exhausted by that point and we knew we had to get up at 4 AM for our flight the next day, so we said "CIAO" to our friends that were hardcore and partied for a few hours after dinner. Before we departed though, we got some sweet pictures by a classic red telephone booth. You have to do that while in London, right?!

Let's just say the next day was hell-- Like I said we all woke up at 4 am and then took a taxi (because the subways are not open that early) to the Victoria station and then caught a bus that was about an hour and 15 minutes away from the airport.That's another bummer thing about Ryan Air flights; although they are cheap, they take you into the most bizarre and inconvenient airports! This was the main reason why Lillian and I didn't show up for our flight that we booked from Milan to Brussels to go into Amsterdam a few weeks ago- its just plain stupid as my mom likes to put it. We arrived again with plenty of time (go us!) and we made it safely home (regardless of the crazy landing again). The one nice thing about only having a carry-on was not having to deal with the hassle of getting your bag at baggage claim. Oh yeah, that's another thing- Ryan Air will only let you bring one 10 pound carry on without extra charge. Let's just say I was forced to pack light- a very difficult task for me!

Once we got into the airport we took the bus again to the Pisa train station, but for some odd reason our train to Florence was delayed for like an hour so we just chilled outside at the train station for a good long while. At this point we were all tired, cranky, and stressed for finals the next day. I had two to study for once I took a nap- marketing and econ. It was definitely pretty stressful- but hey I got through it right? Finals are over! Woohoo!

I am so happy I made the trip to London even though it was before finals week (not a normal thing for me to do haha). It was my favorite place we visited so far; I loved all the sights and places, and the best part was the English speaking accents! I absolutely love them! I would recommend going to London if you have the chance to visit Europe- its worth it for sure. We were not able to do a few things that I wanted to do like go to Herod's (the world's biggest department store) and Abbey road (Beatles famous spot!).

I am so relieved to be done with finals! Now I can take a breather and just relax... today I did laundry so I am all set for clothes for the Christmas tour. One thing I need is heavy socks because I heard St. Peterburg is especially freezing! We are leaving mid morning on Monday so I have a lot to look forward to!

CIAO!

Amsterdam and Rotterdam memories

This past weekend my current room-mate Lillian and I went to Amsterdam and Rotterdam. We had such a blast! We had some complications with our flights, but it all turned out for the better I think. We left around 3:30 on Thursday and then took a taxi to our local Florence airport. It was my first time in the aiport- my impressions of it were that it was very crowded and super small. We had to wait a loonngg time for us to get checked in, so we were glad that we got there close to 2 hours ahead of it. (This is instilled in my brain by my mom!). Anyways, so once we got checked in we got a little snack and looked around the cheesy stores, and then shortly boarded our flight. One thing that was a little strange was we actually had to board a tight bus and then from there we were transported to our airplane. I thought the bus was a bit stupid, because it would've been just a couple minute walk; oh well... I'm sure they just want to make sure we all board the aircraft together (in case someone gets lost, right?)

Once Lillian and I got to Amsterdam, we had the adventure of attempting to find our hostel that our friend Jen booked a couple months ago. Like I said in the last entry, Jen and all my other friends who we were going to stay in the hostel with had their flight canceled so we were on our own to find the location. Before we researched on a map, we got some dinner at Burger King (very disappointed in the chicken nuggets- they tasted like frozen ones at the store!) and then we went to Starbucks. I can't tell you how happy we were to find a starbucks! There are not starbucks here in Italy! I love the caffe latte's here, but they only come in one size (8 oz) and there is no flavorings that you can add, and that is like my favorite part haha. Anyways, I had a mocha and Lillian had a chai tea. We found our port for our train and once it picked us up we were on it for about 45 mins. After that, we asked around on where to find tickets for the tram and after getting lost for a little while, we finally found our little hostel. I was very happy that they still let us stay there for the night, even though Jen canceled her reservation. Once we were all settled in, we went to a local bar and had a few beers (for only 1.50 student special!). This random guy across from us ended up buying us a couple rounds but the weird thing was he didn't even talk to us! He just stared... haha oh well.

The next day, Lillian and I got up around 9:15 and then had a quick Breakfast at the hostel which consisted of toast and an assortment of cheeses, jams, and nutella-type stuff. It was simple, but much appreciated. We checked our email at the hostel and then we went to H & M while we waited for Tara, Martha, and their friend Matthijas to arrive from Rotterdam where they are studying abroad. I definitely got some cute things at H & M. Its one of my favorite stores! They opened up the first one in Florence last week- I will have to check it out for sure when I get a chance. I also heard that there are now two H & Ms in the Seattle area. I got a letter from my friend Kristina today, and she said we will have to go there when I get back. Can't wait! Anyways, once we were done shopping, we met up with the gang and walked around a quaint little park. Unfortunately there was a lot of construction going on, so many parts of the park were blocked out but we still had fun. Also, I noticed that my camera was having troubles with saving the pictures on the memory card. It often said, "read card error" and I come to find out that after I downloaded them to my computer, most of them were distored and had little lines all over them. Luckily I swtiched over to my other memory card half way through the trip so not all my pictures are destroyed.

After we walked around the park and had a Olliebollen (so good!) we split up because they wanted to go to a Historical type museum, and Lillian and I wanted to go to the Van Gogh museum. Lillian was originally going to go to her class today in the Hagh, but since almost everyone missed their flight the day before, she figured that no one would probably show up to class anyways. The Van Gogh mueseum was great! Apparently it holds the largest collection of his works. I really liked his flower pictures that he painted while he was in Paris.

After the museum, Lillian and took a tram towards Central Station and then stopped for another quick snack. I had a bagel and cream cheese (one of my fav foods back home!) and Lil had some sort of Margerita pizza thing. After our snack, we went to the Anne Frank House where they were in hiding during World War II. I read the book many years ago, so this had a great impact on me. It was really sad- but also very interesting. Once we looked around the house, we met up with our friends in the Central area again, and we walked over to the Red Light District. Very weird- let me tell you! I thought it was going to be much bigger though; it ended up only being a couple streets. After we walked around a little more, we caught a train back to Rotterdam where Lillian and I stayed for the next three nights. Martha lives in an apartment in a student housing area, so we were lucky enough to be able to stay there free of charge for the remainder of the weekend.

Friday night for dinner, Lillian, Martha, and I cooked a mean curry type dish with tofu. It was so good! We put in fresh bell peppers, seasonings, oil, and garlic. We ended up having the leftovers on Sunday night as well because we made so much! That night, we went to bed fairly early and we were able to sleep in the next day. It was much needed!


The next few days consisted of us eating, walking around, and shopping in Rotterdam(tons and tons of shopping!). I particularly liked the Open Air Market. It is very different than the one in Florence. Lillian and I ended up buying some cute mocassin type slippers with fur. They are so comfy! Also, we couldn't resist buying some delicious Gouda. That night, Martha, Lillian, and I ate the entire thing! Here is a picture to prove it outside Martha's upper deck in her building.
On Saturday, Lillian and I took a short tour through the "cube houses".

I couldn't believe people actually live in these! We went inside one of the typical homes- and boy was it trippy!

On Saturday night, a group of seven of us ate at this restaurant called Bazars, which specializes in Turkish food. It was pretty good! I split a couscous chicken kebab dish with Tara, as well as a Chicken Salad with Tabooli (sp?). After dinner, a few of us went to a bar which ended up turning into a club later. On Sunday, we walked all around Rotterdam and in the morning we ate at this fabulous pancake house.
I had a cheese and ham omelette; it was very different than the pancakes in America! They are very thin and they fill up an entire plate. It was definitely an experience! After Breakfast, we walked around some more and toured the beautiful sites of Rotterdam such as one of the windmills, the bridge,
the walk of fame, the Euro-star (a monument that is much like Seattle's Space Needle), and a park. Here is a picture of the windmill that we found:
It was a fun filled day for sure!

Well that concludes my remarks for this past weekend. I am going to London tomorrow so I will post all about that when I get back!

Also, more pictures from my trip are posted on facebook! :)

"Life is like a box of chocolates... you never know what you're gonna get"

This is one of my favorite quotes. It is taken from the movie Forest Gump, staring Tom Hanks. I find this saying extremely applicable to everyday life situations.

For me, chocolate boxes are definitely luck of the draw. I was known back in my younger days to eat one bite of a chocolate and then put it back in the box, as if someone else would actually want to eat it later. My parents always told me not to do it, but I continually "taste tested" all the chocolates in the box until all that was left were mere remants of the pieces I did not want.

Unfortunately, life does not work this way. One cannot simply take a bite of a situation, decide they do not like it, and simply and put it back in the box to forget about their current dilemma. Instead, one must commit to the action and follow through with the consequences; in more simpler terms, one must eat the disgusting chocolate piece (such as cherry... yuck!) and (hopefully)learn from the experience.

I can definitely relate this quote to my everyday trials and tribulations being abroad. Overall, the experiences or "chocolates" have been delicious and enjoyable, however a few bad experiences have temporarily let me down. I have learned not to dwell on the small things being abroad; I tend to get very hung up on the "small stuff" but than I miss out on other great experiences because I was too focused on the negatives around me. I also have been forced to relie on myself for my complete happiness. My year in a foreign country is truly a once and a lifetime experience for me, and I must treasure every moment that I have before its gone. I often wear my emotions on my sleeve because I am a very sensitive person; being completely indepedent in a culture so unlike my own has put me in a vulnerable situation that has made me a more flexible, adaptable, and open person. I am extremely greatful for that.

One thing that I found to be ironic is the plane flight that all my friends were scheduled to go on to Amsterdam got canceled this morning due to weather problems (perhaps snow?). Now, Lillian and I are most likely responsible to find another place to stay tonight, as my friend Jen is going to cancel the group hostel package (unless she can still manage to reserve two spots in the room). Also, we had to change our flight because Lillian and I were idiots in scheduling our flight to Amsterdam out of Milan, instead of Pisa. We found out that we would be traveling from two in the afternoon today until 9 or so in the morning on Friday due to layovers in trains, etc. Like the saying goes, life really is like a box of chocolates with no predictability. Often times you can asses the outside of the chocolate and be confident it is the flavor you want, and although many times you are correct, once and awhile you get an unfavorable taste that you want to spit out. This is what makes life interesting though; unpredictability. Often times things work out better in the end after struggles occur. The fact that the future is unforseeable is frightening yet exciting at the same time. If we always knew what lies in our future, where is the fun in living?

I will leave it at that. Those are my thoughts for the day... I will post later this weekend or when I get back on Monday.

Ciao Ragazzi!