The Netherlands

Before entering the ever-so-anticipated Amsterdam, our group stopped off in Edam, Holland. But before I begin, as some of you may be confused like I was.... Holland vs. The Netherlands?? Why the two different names?

So I wiki'd it: The Netherlands is often called Holland which is formally incorrect as North and South Holland are merely two of its twelve provinces. I continued to read on wiki. The Netherlands vs. Holland is similar to United Kingdom vs. England. I also thought that was confusing. Now it all makes sense! Thank you wikipedia!

The Netherlands is known for its traditional windmills, cheese, clogs, bikes, and...drugs and prostitution. And yes, just by going to two cities...I was emerged in all that culture!

Edam, Noord-Holland
As we crossed the Dutch border, we stopped at the lovely town of Edam. Now, heres a town I could definitely live in. I don't know how close it is to the next major city, but I wouldn't mind. We walked about 10 minutes through the town to the Bike a Dijk (pronounced Dyke, lol. Apparently many though that was funny). The canals were amazing. I thought Venice was awesome, but looking back at my pictures, Edam was definitely more photogenic.

So the bike ride was pretty much one of my favorite things. As you know, I love, love, love! to ride bikes. And these "granny" bikes as they call them are not your average mountain bike. They are sort of like beach cruisers. The seats were different because my butt kept slipping forward. It wasn't noticeable if you rode the bike using the force of your hands on the handlebars to keep you on the seat, however, I like to ride with no hands. So I had to strategically place my butt on the very back edge of the seat. Our bike instructor was impressed that I was able to ride long periods without any hands. She said not most people can do that on those bikes. I felt accomplished that I finally found a true talent. I may not be able to play an instrument or act, or cook, or anything else cool...but...I can ride my bike with no handlebars :)

Next, we visited a cheese and clog factory. Its pretty crazy how cheese is made. You can make several different cheeses and types just by the temperature. The best cheese I have ever had was called Old Amsterdam. I'm kicking myself for not buying a big chunk. Note to self: ALWAYS buy things that you love, especially if the price is reasonable (the price of the cheese was reasonable, I was just being tight). But I think you can buy that cheese here too. As for the clog making, its pretty crazy. They just get a piece of wood, and drill a hole in in, basically. And you can blow the hole and water will drip out. The guy let me demonstrate the blow in front of everyone. How embarrassing. Later during the trip, I had everyone sign the unfinished wooden shoe, and I graciously thanked Ollie and Hans on everyone's behalf, and handed them the wooden shoe. Lol, I doubt customs would have let me bring it back in the states. It totally could have been contaminated ;)

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland
Ooh, Amsterdam. The Nation's lively and eccentric (in the eyes of Americans) capital. Where prostitution is legal. I watched a documentary in my criminology class on the prostitution in Amsterdam. Prostitutes can get tested for free, and even given free needles (even though the government does not condone drugs (besides weed obviously) they realize that in this profession, drugs will probably be used. So might as well be safe than sorry. The Dutch are known for being very liberal.

We arrived in Amsterdam in the later afternoon. Later that night we headed to the Red Light District. And I saw prostitutes in the windows. We were advised to not dare take pictures of them. Yes, we DID go to a LIVE sex show. It was....actually...really artistic. I found nothing vulgar or raunchy about it. But then again, I am very open-minded to different stuff. Don't get me wrong, my jaw dropped a few times, but its only natural...being American and all, haha. The show was actually artistic and theatrical. It was a SHOW, not a porn shooting. I've seen worse in Disney movies. I was just experiencing the culture... And Peter ate a banana from a vagina!!! ahahahhahaaha. And yes, there was many coffee shops around. After the sex show, we all went out to dance and party.

omg, side note. This was the night Pete practically yelled at me because I didn't understand what the hell "chook" (pronounced something like "chalk") meant. He refered to me as a "baby choke" and I was like, what the hell, Im not a piece of chalk!! He spelled it out for me, and I replied, "Ooh you mean Chooook?" Lol, that upset him. It took about 10 minutes for us to come to any sort of understanding. Haha, you know I don't speak Australian!!

The next day, a few of us went on a paddle boat excursion. We ate the yummy dutch cookies: stroopwafels (THE BEST EVER!) and passed by Anne Frank's house. I forget why we decided not to go inside the house, maybe it was the cost or time? I still would like to read her diary; I never read it for class. Picture: This is the house were Anne Frank was in hiding during the genocide.

After, we had several hours to wander the streets before dinner. And of course the one day I didn't wear a hood or bring an umbrella...it started raining. So we ran into stores and under cover. We ended up at a mall. Actually, that's all I really remember from walking around...was going into a million different retail stores. OH and trying to find a damn bathroom that didn't charge. I was afraid I would pay money...then get stage freight, haha.

That night, we had our last meal as a group. We ate at a Chinese restaurant that is a replica of a floating restaurant in Hong Kong. But apparently, they had to decrease the number of people allowed in the restaurant, because it started to sink when filled to original capacity. The restaurant in Hong Kong floats on salt water, which allows for more buoyancy. The food was delishhhhh. And we introduced the "In Bed" ending for a fortune cookie statement to a fellow Aussie mate who was unfamiliar with the concept.

Some of us wanted to hang out more and go to the grass hopper. We pretty much just sat around a few tables, ordered some beers, and just talked, reminisced, and laughed. It was such a simple and pleasurable time, hanging out with new friends whom we would soon be saying good-bye to. It was team America vs. team Australia. We taught each other a thing or two, and tried to understand some common sayings. That night, George and I had a random late night snack of Turkish pizza/burrito?? Im not really sure what we were eating, but it was goooooooood!!!

The Netherlands was soo much fun, and definitely exceeded my expectations. I would just own a bike and paddle boat and be completely happy.

Germany

Munich, Germany
We arrived to the center of downtown Munich at the Glockenspiel with the clock. I was starving! Liz went to get some money, and I went to find some food. I bought a piece of bread or something random, lol. We didn't really have much time here, but we checked out H&M. Its weird cause there are like 5 of them down the same street. Can you imagine going to the mall with Gap around every corner. Thats what its like.

Now, let the beerfest in Germany begin! Our whole group went to a Beer Hall, filled with dancing, yodeling, and well...drinking! Dinner was delish! I ate everything on my plate, and helped Sheilah out with hers! German food is yummy! (I used to also work at a German restaurant). Our beersteins of beer were HUGE! And I was the first to finish my beerstein at my table, impressive, I know! A few steins later, and it was time to hit the night scene in Munich. Whatever that was.

I went out with some people from our group, and we took the metro somewhere, we just followed our tour guide. I dont really know where we were, but we were trying to find some bars or clubs. We ended up going to a bar/club with no cover. There were these Spanish guys somewhere along the way, and apparently, I started speaking "fluent" Spanish, haha. So we followed them to the bar. After this random adventure to the dance floor, we headed back to the hostel. There, I ran into Peter and Sami. Sami informed me that there was a "Maccas" (McDonalds) down the street. We had been having conversations about going on a Maccas run, so we decided to go. Across the street was a gas station or quickie mart or something. Sami was video taping our adventure to Maccas, while walking backwards. All of a sudden, I heard some pottery break....and I took off RUNNING!!! Sami ran into something at the quickie mart while wlkaing backwards. I kept running down the street/alley and I heard people running behind me. We were out of breath by the time we got to Maccas. There, we met up with more people from our group. Im guessing it was pretty late, maybe after 2am. Everyone had the munchies for a tasty burger. That McChicken may have cost me 6 Euros (ouch!) but it was daaaaamn good!!! The Maccas Run is pretty much my favorite random memory of this Eurotrip.


St. Goar, Germany
If you have been to San Juan, CA...then this is what this place reminded me of. Super small town with one main road. There was a pizza parlor, a bar, a church, a bank, and a small market. Actually, Im not sure if this was St. Goar, or just a really small neighboring town. Im pretty sure the place we visited on the way here was St. Goar, but maybe its all the same place? Anyways, the place where we were staying was in a really small little town. So, I dont know what it was called where we were staying at. It wasnt a hotel or a hostel. It was like a big house. The rooms were downstairs, and they were like rooms in a normal house. An old house. They had a garage with some weird ass stuff, like mannequins, bikes, etc. And there was an eliptical in the hallway, random! Well, if you walked behind the house, past the railroad tracks, there was a river. And in the distance you could see a castle that was on top of a hill (Thats the cool thing about Europe, lots of castles!). We hung out by the river for awhile, skipping rocks, then decided to walk down the main street to see what else was in the town. It was quiet, and Im pretty sure our group were the only people walking around. And because of Chantel, that night I slept in fear of bed bugs! And our bed broke, haha.


Dachau, Germany
Also, on the way to St. Goar, we had stopped at the Concentration Camp in Dachau. It was the same one I went to last year. This time, I did a lot more reading of the information that was around the camp. Last year I felt really glooomy, because I had just read the book Because of Romek, so I kind of just walked around instead of reading stuff. The information just soaks you in! It gives you a whole different perspective on life.

London Town

Soo....lets start off this European Highlights blog in London, England! Team 831 (I guess I might as well come up with a name to refer to us as....maybe Team California?) started the European trip in London. My past international travels have also been with other tour companies. Each one had airport pick-up, which made things easy. This trip, we had to get out of the airport ourselves. But it was EASY! We knew exactly which line of the tube to get from the airport and where to go. Then once we left the tube station...our hotel was 2 blocks away. Easy. Haha, but it was a fun and adventurous beginning for our little gang.

Got there early. Sat around for a bit. Checked in. Took showers and cleaned up. Met at 4:30pm to explore London Town. Got some information, hopped on the tube, and continued to jump on and off checking out different sites around London.

Highlights of London:

1. The tube experience itself. English is a good way to start the trip, and learning how to navigate public transportation. I LOVE public transportation (and NO that was NOT sarcastic, its true!) And with public transportation...always comes good stories. The tube doors would shut rather quickly, allowing maybe 30 seconds to hop on and off? We must have been on and off that thing at least 6 times with no problems. And sometimes the whole group would know where we were going, other times, some of us didnt. So on our way back to the hotel, the last ride of the day.... And the doors SHUT on 3 of us! Sheilah nearly lost her leg as the doors closed. I remember seeing Chantel's face inside the tube. Confused. What the heck! The doors SHUT on us. Peter, Sheilah, and I were left behind. Luckily it was a time when we knew where the whole group was going. I mean, I would have been horrified if it was just me that got left and I happened to not know where we were all going, right? That would have been painful. And later as I will mention, Ollie, our glorious tour guide, informed us that, "HURRY! THEY DONT FUCKING WAIT!" [about the doors closings]. No kidding. They DONT wait.


2. Places we stopped at/things we saw:

Big Ben right as we got off the first tube ride. Pretty cool to see that right away. We were all so pumped up and excited to ride the tube and figure out things to see! Picture clicking everywhere!
We saw the London Tower as we stood on the London Bridge (which most people confused the Tower for the bridge...London Bridge is just a regular bridge, nothing fancy).
Buckingham Palace. I didnt know this at the time, but if the flag is up, then the Queen is home. According to my pictures...the flag was up. And the guards told us where to go where you can take pictures with standing still guards. They are just there for show. I personally didnt find this to be fun and/or entertaining to take pictures with them. Its weird. Who does that? A lot of people!


3. Green Park. We walked through this park and it was so great! I found a squirrel friend. We kind of broke up as a group slowly. Some wanted ice cream, some wanted to sit down, etc. There were lounge chairs everywhere on the grass. I knew you were expected to pay for them. We all wanted to sit and just enjoy the fact that we were in LONDON! I mean, I dont really go to parks here in California. Its actually quite a shame. It felt perfect to just lay there and enjoy the day. Some people got kicked out of the chairs cause they didnt want to pay, I knew it! Here's a good video of Liz and her awesome commentary of the park:

4. Abbey Road. Before leaving the hotel, I made sure I talked to someone about how to get to Abbey Road. My mom would probably disown me if she knew I had a free day in London and didnt check this site out! For those who dont know...Abbey Road is the name of a Beatles album, and the cover in particular is iconic. They are walking across Abbey Road in London, apparently where their studio was located. But of course, the way tourist attractions mess up meaning, this new "Abbey Road" was moved because of traffic or something. London still wanted to make it a tourist attraction...so they moved it down the road I think, haha. Kinda lame. But still, this was my favorite time in London. Trying to capture the right pose with all the traffic was entertaining!


Its terribly hard to try and pick my "favorite" city. They are all unique and amazing in their own way. But if I had to pick....London just might take the bait. It was clean, you could tube it and walk everywhere, I already knew the language.....and London by far has the coolest music scene! If the pound didnt kill our dollar, I would love to visit London (as well as the rest of England) for a much longer period of time. And I already told Nathan to work me up an architectural drawing of my English brick house with brilliant (yeah I sait it) green trees all around. And I'll paint my own zebra crossing in front of it. Bloody brilliant! And the telephone booths. We had to.

PS....It got dark around 10pm. Talk about a looooong day!

Team 831. First group photo in London, England. Nothing but bliss.

When In Rome

When in Rome
I mentioned earlier that I took a Western Civ recently, so I was really pumped to go to Rome. The class sucked (because of all the reading and writing) but it was cool to learn about places I was visiting. At the end of the year, my teacher had asked who we thought was the most influential group in Western Civilization. I voted, hands down, the Romans. And that choice is clearly biased, since I didn't really pay attention that much to details, lol. But Roman history is much more real and interesting than Greek and its mythology, in my opinion. (Don't hate me).

In Italy, only Italian nationals with a degree in Italian History (or something like that) can give any sort of tour. Our little old man tour guide was great! He would say, "Conteeeekiiii, follow the guide!" The ruins in the Forum and the Colosseum were huge. When you think about it, its really sad that all that exists are bits and pieces. Imagine hundreds of years from now, the White House just a wooden frame. Hell, that couldn't even last hundreds of years. The Romans knew how to build. Even after a collapse, and hundreds and hundreds of years later, pieces still remain. BIG pieces.

I read Spartacus and the Slave Wars in my class, and it was actually really mind-blowing to be in the Colosseum, remembering the things I read about the entertainment of fighting to the death, the riots and escapes, and the slave wars. The slaves were monitored at all times, so that they were not allowed to kill themselves. Suicide was a better choice for the slaves, rather than fighting to the death with other slaves, even their friends. On the way to a fight, they would try and find sneaky ways to kill themselves before entering the fight for entertainment. Every cultural history has its dark points. But anyways, the ruins were amazing!

Inside the Colosseum, those are the underground tunnels that were under the main field.

After we checked out the Colosseum, a few of us wanted to head over to the Vatican. I kinda forgot my dress, so I wasn't going to be allowed in the Vatican. And the line was really long. Liz really wanted to go in, so we told her we would meet her after. Me, Peter, Chantel, and Amy mostly just walked around checking the side streets outside of Vatican City. We stopped at a few gelato places, having several scoops of the yummy ice cream. After awhile, we found some random alley next to a busy street and just sat there eating our gelato. Later, Amy and I went on a freaking journey trying to find a internet cafe.

Note: When in Italy, make sure you have clothing that will cover your shoulders and knees when you visit churches.

Later that night, back at the Contiki Village in Rome, there was a theme party going on. It was 80s night! Sara, Liz, Amy, and I dressed up with random stuff that we put together from our suitcases. Everyone was drinking outside our little cabins and going to the bar up the hill. It was fun because our whole group was there, and everyone was hanging out, dancing, and having a good time.

80s night! When in Rome...

Oh yeahh, I almost forgot! Quote of the trip! On the way to the city, we had to take the metro. As you recall what happened to us in London on the tube with the doors shutting abruptly, the comment Ollie, our tour manager, made was super funny. Our group was about 45 people, so you can imagine trying to get us ALL on the metro at the same time. He was instructing us to hurry and get on through the many entrance doors, and he yelled, "Hurry! They dont fucking wait!!!" in his cute little Aussie accent, lol. Yeah, we know they dont wait!

All the cars had graffiti on them; I thought they were artistic looking. We had to take a ride from the Colosseum to the Vatican. I love public transportation!

Italia [motherland]

Here I am back in the gorgeous Italia. I'm probably biased because it takes me back to my roots, but life just doesn't get any better than when in Italy. There is so much history, incredible art, delicious food, rustic colors, amazing photo opportunities...and hot Italian men :)

Pisa, Italy
Last year, I didn't go to Pisa, so of course I was excited to take the infamous Leaning Tower of Pisa picture!!! Its pretty funny to watch everyone trying to get the perfect picture of someone holding up the Leaning Tower. Its not as easy as it seems, it takes several tries! There were tons of vendors, with inflated prices! Stuff was not cheap in Pisa. And it was all the same, and the vendors seemed more shady. We didn't have much time in Pisa, but I guess the twins and I thought we had more time. Its always a fear that you might get left in a place if you don't get on the coach in time. And we were told to leave at a certain time because a train comes and it takes forever to cross. So our tour manager wanted us to leave before a certain time so we wouldn't get caught in that mess. Well, we finally asked someone for the time, and realize we were late! We were supposed to already be at the bus! I dont know how we lost track of time, but we did. And the bus was a good 15 or so minute walk away! So we RAN! Thank god one of the twins knew where we were going, cause I was not paying attention at all on the walk over. So here we are, running in flip flops out of breath trying to get to the bus. Then we see the train tracks blocked by those things, but the train was a ways away still, so we just went underneath them. Who knows how long we would have been on the other side if we waited for the train to pass. And we continued to run back to the bus, where everyone stared at us, haha. We were 5 minutes away from being left in Pisa! You know how expensive that taxi would have been to Florence? I dont even want to know. That would have sucked! Note to self: set a freakin timer when its stressed to be back at a certain time!

Florence, Italy
I couldn't wait to get to Florence for...you guessed it...the shopping! Don't get me wrong, the Renaissance capital of the world is delightful because of its history and art, but at the same time...its got some yummy shopping! Mostly because its like swap-meet style, with your big stores as well. Florence is the place to get a lot of good souvenirs and gifts. Last year I bought my mom this really pretty scarf, and then the style became super popular this year, and now I wish I would have bought myself some. I did buy a really cute thin leather bracelet painted red. Lots of silk and leather products in Florence. And it was funny to see guys quickly gather all their fake purses and painting when the cops were near.


Venice, Italy
On the way to Venice, the coach stopped at a designer outlet shopping mall. It started to rain! It was beautiful weather the entire trip, then all of a sudden it started to rain when we were at an outside mall of course! The rain continued as we made it to Venice. When we got to the Contiki Village, the rain had stopped. But something told me to grab my umbrella just in case. I would rather hold onto it, then be soaked. Good thing too, because when we got off the boat to St. Mark's square, the rain was hitting hard! In hindsight, it was one of the funnest times in Europe. Everyone was running for shelter from the rain that was coming in sideways. Luckily, I had my handy dandy [sturdy] umbrella, and ran with it shielding my face. Despite the rain, I was never cold being in shorts and a tank. Some people bought cheap ponchos and umbrellas for 5 euros that apparently broke after 2 minutes.

After running in the rain in Venice

Once the rain cleared, I went off with the twins and we just walked and walked all over. We ended up on an island across St. Mark's square without even realizing how far we had gone. I couldn't help but take a million pictures. I absolutely LOVE the colors of the villas, apartments, and buildings, with the greenery as perfect accents. The water is slowly rising (NO, Venice is NOT sinking, haha), so you can see old stairs corroding away under water (giving the illusion that Venice is sinking). Venice is so beautiful, yet the whole gondola ride is so cliche to me, and thats because they treat it like a ride at Disneyland. Im sure I mentioned that in my blog from last year. But riding a gondola in the channels of Venice at least once if you get the chance is a must. Just don't expect a romantic ride with singing. Its more like a tatted up guy on his cell phone, lol.

France & Monaco

Beaujolais Wine Region
From Paris, we headed toward Beaujolais Wine Regine. (Sidenote: For now, I decided on the name "Beau" for either a boy or girl, after the serene Beaujolais of France.) The place that we went to was super cute and quaint! There was a swimming pool overlooking the wine regions, but we were not staying there long enough to swim. Just long enough to drink wine and eat cheese.

One of the funniest incidents (of course, involving Sami): He thought he was being really slick sneaking a pour of the super strong wine turned hard alcohol? (extra fermented? I was confused....but the one with the snake). We all watched as he tried to be sneaky. Then his camera hit the glass and it poured out in front of everyone. We couldn't stop laughing. Thats karma, I guess.

Lyon, France
We stayed a night in Lyon, which is supposed to be the food capital of France. I probably mentioned before in another blog about how there are random/weird things in Europe, including places we stayed at. I dont even know if some where hostels/hotels/houses/etc. Well this room had a little loft upstairs with a bed, thats it, and a little gate thing. Random.

With all the jazz of Lyon being all about food, it is definitely safe to say that my favorite meal came from Lyon. Coincidence..? I had dinner with the twins, and we always share food. I ordered the famous Lyonaise salad, which was delish. The twins each ordered a different salty crepe. I cant remember exactly what they were, all I remember is that it was the bombest food I had on the trip. And we scored in terms of the cost. Sat outside on LITTLE tiny cafe tables, seated for 4. But really...it was so small, just the three of us barely fit with all our plates. Europe is weird when it comes to small things. I guess I'm used to the BIG booths and supersized plates in the US.

Sipping on my latte

Avignon, France
Taking Western Civ right before I came to Europe helped. I knew about Avignon, the place where the pope was exiled to. Thats all I knew, lol. It was a cute little place with a church. But what I liked most about Avignon was the randomness on the street. Lots of big advertising posters for theater, music, etc. Eccentric street performers, and jewelry booths, as well as lots of shopping with a huge Sephora and H&M.

Nice, France
We arrived at the Contiki village in Nice, and Ollie had told us that there was an amusement park down the street that would could walk to. We started off the night be drinking our beers and rum that we bought at the Canadian airport, because it was SOOO much cheaper to each buy a bottle with Canadian dollars rather than Pounds or Euros. Smart thinking. The amusement park was about a 15 minute walk down this little road. It seemed kinda in the middle of nowhere, but I guess it made sense because we were in Nice, afterall. The park was really California-themed, trying to mimic Disney, but nonetheless, it was good fun. The area that we were at was outside of the city, so it was fun to go on a random adventure to the theme park. I dont know why some of the other people didnt go....it was FREE Fun! And Im pretty sure we got a little lost on the way back, typical. Once we got back, it was past dusk, and everyone was drinking at the bar. I remember several international phone calls were made that night, my bad.

The next day, we went the city part of Nice. First, we all headed toward the beach, where I saw TONS of nudies. Lots of boobs! And the beach wasn't sand, it was big rocks, but the smooth kind. But still hurt to walk on. After that, we went toward all the shopping, and there was A LOT! It was like San Francisco (in terms of shopping). We finally decided to split up, because everyone wanted to go into different stores and do different things. Liz and I ended up together because we wanted to go to Sephora, of course. And then about an hour later, we decided we wanted to eat. We walked down several side streets before deciding on a restaurant. Guess who we saw at the back of the restaurant we finally picked....the rest of our friends! Weird how we could have eaten anywhere, at any time, and we happened to pick the same random restaurant as them. And Chantel fell asleep and drooled on Peter's backpack, haha.

Fountain near the Promenade des Anglais

Monte Carlo, Monaco
Late that night in Nice, we took a bus ride to Monte Carlo, Monaco, where Le Grand Casino is. I blew a quick 40 Euros. But it was just one of those things like, "When in Rome!" I couldn't be in Monte Carlo, and NOT gamble at Le Grand Casino! The casino was definitely not like the Indian casinos or Nevada. This place had CLASS. First of all, there was a dress code. It was fun to dress up and go some where fancy. Second, the cars outside of the casino/hotel might as well be in Bond movies. Third, it was pretty quiet (no loud cheesey sounds of slot machines) with a small room of elegant looking slot machines. And I never did see what the buy-in for blackjack was. Way too much for my pockets, thats for sure.

Le Grand Casino at night

Paris, round 2

How did Paris get more enchanting over the past year? Seeing the Eiffel Tower just doesnt get old. Until I see the Taj Mahal, my eyes have been opened the widest in Paris. And just like London, you have easy access to transit systems and can walk around the city. I would think....now if I was someone visiting San Diego, for example, how the heck would I get around? Would I be able to walk all around downtown...little Italy, Seaport Village, Old Town etc? And the bus system takes FOREVER. San Francisco, on the otherhand, is smart like these European cities. You think LA and San Diego would be too.

Highlights in Paris:

1. The Eiffel Tower, of course. We got dropped off before dusk, with about 2 hours worth of daylight. I was fortunate enough to go to the top last year, so this time...I wanted to get pictures from EVERY angle. As my friends took their trek up the Eiffel Tower, I decided to wonder by myself. I literally went in a circle around the Eiffel Tower across streets and Seine River. I took over 50 pictures of that thing! I tried to call my mom, thinking...how cool is that to call from a payphone in Paris, looking straight at the Eiffel Tower across the way. Too bad no one answered the phone. At night, the illuminations began. Last year the tower was lit white. This year, it sparkeled blue, and had the European Union stars. According to wiki:

"At the start of the French Presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2008, the twelve golden stars of the European Flag were mounted on the base, and whole tower bathed in blue light."

Im not sure how long the tower will be lit as such, but I thought it was pretty lucky that I got to see that in person!

3. The Louvre & Mona Lisa. You have to see the Mona Lisa if you go to Paris. Its small, very small, but worth the pushing and shoving. Its quite an adventure to even get to it! Old ladies shoving and pushing...just ask Chantel. The Louvre is just so big! So many things to see! I wish I was more into art to appreciate it more. And here is Liz entering the Mosh Pit:

4. Walking to the Notre Dame. Last year I wasnt sure how far the Notre Dame was from the Louvre, I thought it was further than a comfortable walking distance. But its not! We just walked along the Seine River. We couldnt resist stopping at practically every little souvenir vendor along the wall. I finally got to go into the Notre Dame! If you recall my blog from last year's visit, I seemed to have lost my new group of friends and in fear of losing them permanently, I stood by the exit so I could see them come out. Which meant that I never went inside, and I was rather bummed. BUT, here I was inside! And I lit a candle for my great aunt, whom had just passed away a few days before my departure.


5. The CATACOMBS!!! Ok, so this was my big story in Paris. The one thing I had crossed my fingers to make my way to this trip was the Catacombs. Last year, some of the interns had gone there and I really wanted to go there this time! I have some really great friends who were willing to help me get there. The lady at the tube (I forget what they call it) station definitely didnt understand us, so that was nice. And then finally when we figured out where to go, the lady I asked, "How do we get to the catacombs" in English didnt understand us either. I dont even know if they call them catacombs there? Because I thought "Catacombs" was enough for them to know where to send stupid tourists like me, lol. It was across the street and this lady didnt know what I was talking about! Anyways....so to try and make a long story short....the line was kinda long. My friends didnt really care to wait in line, so they went to a cafe. I waited in line, then the guy comes and tells us that they are closing soon, and that we probably wouldnt be let in. What the hell! Who knows when I would be in Paris again, right in FRONT of the catacombs. I was gonna see that shit! Some people left the line...good, I got closer to the front! The couple in front of me was so funny. The guy was just as frustrated as I was. He refused to leave the line as well. We were determined to see these bones! Again, the guy came around, and some more people left the line. Finally...12 people away from the door, checking the time every minute, the guy walks out and says....the next 20 people are the last to come in. WHEEWWW. Number 12 baby. So then...I get inside all excited and eager to take pictures. When...flash! DEAD! WHATTTT! Just my luck. And of course none of my eight friends with cameras were with me. But, I still got one really cool shot as a last breath of flash. And this site, was SO MUCH different then I thought! Here's a link, but I think not knowing was even cooler. And they check your bag at the end for stolen skulls. Haha, one was sitting on the table next to the guard. Come on people, thats sick!

Catacombs Site

6. Banana Nutella Crepes and pizza with eggs. Need I say more? Mmm...

Going Back to Europe...

I realized last summer, that another Euro trip needed to be made. But this time, I wanted to gather some friends and go as a group - Contiki style. Since the trip I had last summer was uber amazing, why not relive it with some close friends? But slightly different of course. We hit up most of the same countries, but this time around...I got to visit London, Rome, and Amsterdam!!! There were also other places along the way that I had not seen last year. Here was the itinerary:

Flight: San Francisco --> Toronto --> London

London, England
Paris, France
Beaujolais Wine Region, France
Avignon, France
Nice, France
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Florence, Italy
Pisa, Italy
Rome, Italy
Holy See, Vatican City State
Venice, Italy
Tyrol, Austria
Munich, Germany
St. Goar, Germany
Edam, The Netherlands
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
London, England

Flight: London --> Calgary --> San Francisco

And for the sake of a shorter and sweeter Euro blog compared to last year's....I will just highlight some of my favorite memories from each country.

Europe Video

Ps. Here is the video I made for European Highlights. I had to take off the commentary by Liz and origami by Ollie because it was too long for youtube. Eventually, I will make that part 2 and upload it on youtube.

Enjoy :)



First song: New Soul - Yael Naim
2nd (day song): Can't Touch It - Ricki-Lee
Last (departing song): Paper Planes - M.I.A.

Beefing my Blog

So, I got inspired the other night to really start up my travel/adventure blog. I would like to at least summarize my Europe trip from this summer.

And I recently went on a quick trip to San Francisco, and it was kinda my first time doing some traveling on my own, outside of the airport, so thats exciting.

Also, Im trying to figure out my volunteer trip that I want to take sometime before February. I was thinking Peru, but now Im thinking Ecuador, then maybe fly down to Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca (Bolivia side). We'll see how that trip will go; right now its all up in the air with lots of routes to be taken.

Maybe this weekend there will be a camping trip??? And snorkeling later this week?? I'm really into doing outdoorsy things lately, especially riding the beach cruiser around PB and Mission Bay. I've realized that there is so much fun stuff to do in your own backyard, and there is so much of San Diego that I still want to see and explore before I leave...again.

I think that because Im not in school right now (and I always had summer school) that for the first time in my whole life....I can think about doing fun stuff instead of always having school in the back of my mind. Kinda sucks I still need to study for the GRE like ASAP, but...at least I dont have to study for numerous midterms and finals and write papers. ew.

For now....I want to go on adventures!