it’s hard to summarize a four-month experience in words.  the most annoying answer I can give is that it was amazing, but of course everyone wants details, stories, memories. most people who I met who traveled abroad came back and acted, what I thought was, arrogant. it’s hard to have seen nine different countries in four months and not feel cultured. the problem with the word “cultured” is that no one understands it but those that have experienced it. your life truly changes without you even noticing when you have experienced and seen so much of the world. i have now eaten Swiss chocolate, Belgian waffles, French crepes, fish & chips from London, Portuguese fish, everything Italian we know and love, & homemade Spanish cuisine on the daily… so my palate has been extraordinarily extended to include delicacies, like Quail, I would never have known I liked. i have been to one of the largest raves in the world, discovered a new love for house music, been thrown into the middle of an Easter procession at 4am in Sorrento, partied harder on a Monday night than I ever will again in my life, spoken Spanish every single day for 116 consecutive days and seen a European soccer team advance to the finals… to name a little. it’s hard to come back and return to reality after living a life that truly was a fantasy.

some things I will miss:

-my three precious niños (grandchildren of my host family)

-home cooked Spanish meals

-not tipping anyone for anything

-speaking Spanish

-having a beach at my disposal

-experiencing something new almost everyday

-the Boqueria

-spanish ham

-magnums (even though they are coming to the US shortly, they will never be the same)

-Bo de Be

& some things I am happy to leave:

-shitty airlines (only having ONE carry on item)

-people thinking I am just a stupid American

-the crowds on Las Ramblas

-worrying about my possessions at every second of every day; having to put my purse in my lap at every meal

-rude european people

the best part of this trip was by far our entrance. we arrive in sorrento at 4 in the morning to discover that our bus is not able to pass the easter procession occurring in the middle of the street. our only option was to get out and walk, which would have been fine except that this meant walking literally THROUGH the procession. the sidewalks were jam packed with people and their damn cameras so we had no choice but to walk on the street, side by side with men and women dressed from head to toe in white cloaks carrying torches and gigantic crosses. this is not a joke. i have never in my life felt so uncomfortable. all i can see is these men and women staring through their cloaks at me as if i am the worst human being on the planet. woops.

day 1 was spent in capri roaming around & laying out (mostly sleeping because we had only gotten 2 hours the night before - thanks bus2alps- we did get a pretty cool boat tour & entrance into the blue grotto though)

day 2 was “beach day” in positano. we didn’t get great weather & the beach was pretty much a heap of rocks but all in all we enjoyed the sun and the outdoors and got to relax, which was awesome.

day 3 was a guided tour through pompeii & a visit to mt. vesuvius. once again our bus2alps guides let us astray when telling us that the hike was a piece of cake & you didn’t even need tennis shoes. pretty sure when they hand you walking sticks for your trip up you know its not a piece of cake. after climbing through cincca terra it was pretty easy but nonetheless required more effort than they led us to believe. 

day 4 was pizza in naples. don’t get me wrong… the pizza was great - but it tasted like every other piece of pizza i had in italy. i don’t get the rave? apparently the best places were closed because it was easter - once again poor timing bus2alps. guess i’ll just have to go back to europe to try again. 

we got to rome by train tuesday afternoon, dropped off our bags at the hostel, and headed straight for the colosseum. a lot of friends who had previously been to rome had informed me that the colosseum was a disappointment and not that great. i’m not sure what colosseum they were looking at but the one i saw was incredible. whoever said it wasn’t that big must have been on stilts because i couldn’t be the enormity of the structure, let alone the fact that it was still standing. we went across the street to check out the roman forum which, although is just a pile of rocks, is still pretty cool. 

one of the best pieces of advise we got was to buy tickets ahead of time for the vatican. we got there around 11:30 and the line was out of control. although we got to go straight in, i can’t say my visit there was perfect. i hate crowds and people constantly shoving themselves into me - and that pretty much sums up my experience there. don’t get me wrong, the sistine chapel was incredible, but next time i plan to get there at the crack of dawn when i can explore the building in peace. 

the spanish steps and trevi fountain aren’t over-rated either, except that you can’t actually see the steps because so many people are on them. it’s more of the spanish monument on the top and hoards of people that you actually get to see. the fountain is pretty incredible & of course i made my good luck wish. 

the pantheon is also pretty cool. my favorite part was that unlike the vatican it had a place inside with an explanation of the architecture. what a concept - i actually knew what i was looking at and the importance of the enormous dome above me. 

im not sure if this is typical of all roman days or not but we got to experience a parade of people dressed up in roman costumes walking around town protesting something. i didn’t understand the situation at all, but watching these character like men escapade through town really made my visit feel authentic.

and of course, when in rome, we had to eat gelato dipped in chocolate. yum.

we arrive in florence on the 15th and make our way to the hostel from the train station, a short walk later we arrive haul our bags up two flights of stairs for the lady to inform us that we are actually staying at a different hotel down the street. awesome. we get to the new location which thankfully has an elevator and check in. 

we walked around the city and headed to up Piazza Michelangelo for some wine and a sunset view of the city - amazing. we then headed to dinner where i ate pear fagottini. not only did i not know what type of pasta fagottini was but had never thought to stuff it with a fruit, it was delicious. 

the 16th we decided to stay in florence and tour the city. our first stop was the Duomo - really impressive from the outside but nothing truly special from the inside. we then headed to find our friend Massimo, who owns apparently the best leather shop in florence. upon finding him we learn that he has family in plano so of course because i am from plano too i got the special plano girl discount. he loved us. my big purchase was a black leather jacket that fits like a glove. to demonstrate how great the leather is the salesman decided to whip out a lighter and light the coat on fire … nothing happened. he also dumped a bottle of water on his jacket to show that no liquid can do damage. after this circus show i obviously had to buy the coat, and so happy i did because i wore it every night in florence (we didn’t pack for cool weather & of course there was a bit of a cold front). after our big purchases we headed to wait in line at the Ufizzi for 2 hours - our consolation prize was that it was cultural week and our tickets were free. we ended the night at a restaurant called Al Aqua 2 where i had blueberry steak - absolutely incredible.

the 17th we devoted to a day trip we found in our hotel lobby.  we assumed we would be the only ones on the trip and it had the potential to be very lame but we were all pleasantly surprised. the tour was packed and it was one of our favorite days we spent in italy. the tour was a bus ride through the tuscany region, starting in San Gimignano (which none of us can pronounce correctly) heading to Siena and ending in the Chianti region with a wine tour. we had a hard time understanding what exactly the Chianti region was as it is part of the Tuscany region and contains no real city of its own. we finally agreed that it can be described as the North Shore of Chicago. San Gimignano, which we have nicknamed San Giranamo, was breathtaking. the views were absolutely incredible and the medieval town was nothing i’ve ever seen before. i still can’t fathom that people actually live there but the people seemed to be very happy in their tiny medieval bubble.  Siena was exactly what my parents told me it would be, a place full of young people. we walked through the city and came upon the big square to find all college aged kids laying out on the pavement soaking in the sun on the beautiful day. the Chianti region was exactly what a wine tasting should be, unlike our pathetic attempt of a wine tour in Valencia with school. the vineyard was owned by a couple who sells their wine very exclusively. he doesn’t believe he should hire more workers to mass produce his product but rather believes it is best to leave it the way it is to only sell to a select few places to maintain the quality of the product. we not only got to taste three different types of wines and desert liquors but also his homemade honey, cheese, bread, and balsamic. the balsamic was given to us on chickpeas, a pretty interesting taste and also on vanilla ice cream. my friends constantly make fun of me for absolutely loving barbeque sauce on ice cream and not i can accurately prove them wrong because balsamic on ice cream is the exact same and was just as delicious. in his spare time he also has his dogs go out and search the vineyard for thousand dollar truffles, which were just as good as he made them sound. we ended this perfect day with dinner at an all you can eat all you can drink restaurant - eating way too much and leaving feeling grossly full. 

monday the 18th was my favorite day in italy. we hiked the five towns of Cinque Terra (pretty hard but worth all the pain my body experienced the next day). i can’t even put into words how amazingly breathtaking the views were. we were literally walking alongside the cliffs of mountains with the view of the water to our side. it felt like we were on top of the world. most of the normal paths were closed (so obviously we just walked through the do not enter signs and did them anyway like all the other tourists). there was one path, though, that was actually closed so we had to do the two hour alternative route - a path that was literally straight up one side of the mountain and straight down the other - my calves are still yelling at me. only the pictures can show how truly amazing this day trip was.

perhaps the best part of climbing Cinque Terra was the train ride home. we left the last town and got on a train that was ten minutes early but going to the same place so we decided to just get on. at the next train station the train came again ten minutes early, and thinking we just got really lucky we got on again. you know its probably bad news when there is absolutely NO ONE else on the train. thinking this was odd we had almost decided to get off when the doors closed and the train started moving. shit. we sprinted to the front of the train to try and let the conductor know five idiot girls were in an empty train going who knows where. we get the front and start frantically banging on the doors but he can’t hear us. finally the train stops, whew. i then see a man walking along the train tracks past us as the doors open showing us that we are at a dead end - aka the train was done for the day. we start yelling at the conductor and he looks back at us obviously really confused as to what the hell we were doing on that train. we explain that we thought the train was early and he ends up walking us across the train tracks back to the station. we have 4 minutes to catch the correct train so we start sprinting over the tracks. our parting words to him (said screaming down the tracks) “sorry we’re so dumb” we did make the correct train and headed back to florence for some much needed sleep.

our original departure of barcelona thursday night at 9PM was changed when vueling decided our flight was going to leave at 9AM… missed class but got an extra day in venice, can’t complain.

we got to venice, took the bus into town and asked a police offer which way to our hotel - his response “oh its really easy just over these two bridges”. over these two bridges means lugging a gigantic bag up a huge amount of steps to the top of the bridge then running down the other side - twice.  then of course we got lost and happened to run into a nice man who spoke english who walked us to our hotel because the hotel he owned was just down the street, he told us next time we can afford to stay at a nice hotel we should pick his. we checked in and began roaming around the city. found an awesome jewish restaurant -gam gam- and started our passover off right with some matzah ball soup & latkes. headed to the jewish quarter and then walked toward the main square where we had original bellinis from harry’s bar. 15 euro for a glass the size of my pinky but they were really good. 

kim remembered earlier in the day that mark wolfon’s dad once studied in venice and recommended a restaurant for us to eat at that night, Oliva Nera. thanks to our blackberry devices we were able to get in touch with him and he made us a reservation for later that night. we arrive at the restaurant and notice that it’s a little pricey, so we are cautious while ordering. we asked for two appetizers for the five us us - one white asparagus flan and one stuffed zucchini flower. when they came out with the food they told us there was a change in plans and brought each one of us our own plate of both appetizers. i don’t even like asparagus and that was the best appetizer i have ever eaten in my life. we were dying it was so good. they asked us if we wanted wine and when we responded “ehh, idk” they said no no the wine is on jeff you must have some, so we said okay. they bring us out a bottle of the best red wine they have - delicious. then we ordered our food - traditional spaghetti, quail with a cheese honey sauce, & gnocchi all of which were absolutely to die for. as if the meal couldn’t already get better she came back and asked if we trusted her to surprise us with desert - of course we said yes. she brings out three plates of amazigness and we are all crying we have never been so happy and eaten such amazing food. then she comes out with two more. in total we had a chocolate cake, cheesecake, tirmasu, some type of flan, and creme brulee. when we finished the deserts, Isabela came out and looked at us then looked at the plates and said “wow, what did you do”. well, we hoarded down the amazingness you just placed before us. the best part was yet to come. we asked for the check knowing it was going to be a really expensive meal but didn’t even care because we had all died and gone to heaven. kim actually made the comment that if i had thrown up my food she would have eaten it - that’s when you know it’s damn good italian. so the waitress looks confused when we ask for the check - looks back at the owners - then tells us no, jeff has the meal. aka it was free. we have never been so grateful in our lives - it was truly a once in a lifetime dining experience. i don’t remember laughing, smiling, or crying that much out of happiness in my entire life. as if this wasn’t the greatest news ever, they gave us free tiny bottles of their olive oil to take home. party favors at a restaurant - can’t get much better than that. 

we woke up the next morning all still full from the night before. we took a tour of the jewish quarter synagogues and then scouted out a good price for a gondola tour. the ride was fun but the best part was that our boat driver was on his cell phone for 75% of the time, paddling with one hand and talking with the other. he even gave rachel his phone at one point to talk to his friend who spoke english - i’m sure he got a kick out of it because he had her speak something to him in italian which we are positive was something inappropriate but we have no idea what. he was also serenading us in song the entire time signing mom’s favorite song “que será, será”. great ending to our trip. 

the trip with the best everything

#1 the trip with the best hosts. we stayed with a friend of mine from home, josh katz, and his three roommates in their apartment. we went thinking this was just a place to crash but the boys showed us a great time. 

#2 the trip with the worst public transportation… mainly because we took a tram one night & about 30 seconds after leaving every single person was covering their nose because the tram smelled like actual shit, as in someone must have shit their pants on that tram. not to point fingers but there were two homeless men sitting in the back.

#3 the trip with the best late night food - aka fried cheese. basically a giant circular flat mozzarella stick in a bun - amazing.

#4 the trip with the best wall - aka the lennon wall. only regret is that i didn’t spray paint something on it myself.

#5 the trip with the best foot massage - got a thai “pedicure” where you stick your feet in a tub of water with fish that swarm your feet and eat off all your dead skin. really ticklish but really awesome for your feet

#6 the trip with the best 80’s / 90’s music club - lucerna, enough said.

#7 the trip with the best hostel - Mosaic House. had the most amazing shower in the room and a great bar downstairs. only setback was when we had to “evacuate” for technical purposes

#8 the trip with the best money - all money in europe is play money but to seal the deal you have to go to prague where 100 koruna is around $10. upon entering the country i got out 2,000 korunas - not real life

#9 the trip with the best horn blower - every hour on the dot in the city centre a magical man goes to the top of the clock tower and blows a horn dressed in a costume. my friends and I thus call prague adult disneyland

#10 the trip with the best jewish quarter - not only was our self guided tour of the jewish quarter a great experience but to make it all the better we noticed that surrounding this quarter is none other than our friends LV & Chanel, ironic? the millions of illegal pictures we took in every synagogue also makes it one of the best

a few things about brussels:

1. the waffles are over-rated. us americans take for granted that we have amazing chefs that can cook us pretty much any food from around the world and make it mouth-watering. lets just say i’ve definitely eaten a better waffle in my life.

2. the beer & chocolate, on the other hand, are legit. we got hot chocolate that comes to you in the form of one hot glass of milk, chocolate of your choice (about 15 different flavors) with a spoon stuck inside of it. you melt the chocolate inside the hot milk, stir it with the spoon, and enjoy. delicious.

3. the people are loud & obnoxious & they like to bust out in song at random moments (once on the train, once in a bar)

a few things about sensation:

the only way to really describe it in words is 25,000 people all dressed in white dancing for 10 hours straight on every drug conceivable to man. although it definitely makes the top 10 list of the most fun nights of my life, the sheer amount of people & insanity of the arena made it unreal. i think i have now reached the climax of the wildest things i will ever do in my life. lets just say it was worth every penny.

i think belgians like to play tricks on americans. we took the earliest train back from hasselt to brussels at 6:01 am. every american dressed in white was standing in the freezing cold praying for the train to come and of course, joke on the americans, we are all standing on the wrong platform. people start jumping down on the tracks running to the next platform, the drug dogs with the police are going insane, and there is mad insanity for about 10 minutes until we all reach the right platform and shove ourselves onto the train.

there is really no better explanation of sensation than to see it live…

quick facts about London:

1. it is VERY expensive, I tried not to mentally calculate the exchange rate as an attempt to pretend like I wasn’t spending a fortune on everything.. a few examples:

A. bought a drink for 14.14 pounds at a club, no this is not a joke 

B. the club’s cover was 20 pounds, thank you Austin for cover free everything

C. admission to the Tower of London is 30 pounds… just because the jewels are worth a fortune shouldn’t mean that you have to pay one to see them

2. there is VERY great shopping… everywhere

3. the food is not that bad, contrary to popular belief

4. when the weather is good, like we had, it is actually a pretty city

5. i want my child to obtain a British accent - too cute

we arrived Thursday late afternoon and took a quick walk down Kings road to explore and do some shopping. it has been the first sunny day in forever, as our friends studying their told us, and the sunset was beautiful. Thursday night we went out to a club for Michele’s 21st birthday, much smaller and intimate than the clubs in Barcelona, but just as fun - this is when I spent 14 pounds on a drink. 

Friday we spent the entire day on a Big Bus tour around the city - a great way to see everything and learn random facts on the way (like where Harry Potter went to school before Hogwarts) went out to dinner for Michele’s birthday at an amazing pizza restaurant & then went to a new club that had just opened - it sucked… worst spent 20 pounds you could imagine. 

Saturday we woke up and went to a weekend market down Kings road for lunch, followed by a shopping extravaganza at Topshop (biggest topshop store in the world, four stories full of amazigness) however great it was though, by the end of the two hours we spent shopping I was ready to get the hell out of there - big stores and me don’t mesh - too much stuff, too overwhelming. we then proceeded to see Harrod’s -seven stories of overwhelmingly nice things. we vetoed shopping since we wouldn’t be able to afford anything there anyways and opted to have some tea… Moroccan Mint was my choice - it was incredible. ended the day with strawberry beer (tastes as good as it sounds) & some great three cheese mushroom risotto. went to sushi for dinner - first time having it since being abroad = incredible & then out to a club, bigger than the first two nights and a ton of fun (included girls dancing in hoops hanging from the ceiling) ended our night at 2am at McDonalds - it has never tasted so good.