London, England (Day 9&10 of traveling)

Today we took a plane to london from amsterdam about 45 minutes.  when we gout to out "hotel" in london, we freshened up and headed into the city.  we walked around saw big ben and parliment, walked through St. James Park, walked to Harrods spent a while in there, then took the bus to Notting Hill and saw a movie there! It was so cool because the movie theater was like a play theater. We saw bad teacher.  After that we took the bus back home!

the next day we got up and took the bus into town.  it came right as we were getting there so we didnt buy a ticket because we were planning on buying an all day pass when we got into town.  So about 20 minutes later the bus pulls over at a stop with about 12 police men there. maggie and i freak out and give the cops a ticket from the day before and they let us go whef!! no fine!! woot woot! So anyway we're walking the rest of the way in town and im just talking london in looking at the sights and what do i see but a Pader Pio gift shop!! (for those of you who are like so? my dad is obsessed with him and he would of loved this!)  So anyway of course we go in and look around big statues of him everywhere.  we start talking to the lady and she takes out this wooden box and shows up one of padres gloves!  then she took us in the basement to the shrine of padre pio and other saints a little creepy but cool at the same time!(pictures below)  so after we left there we headed to the changing of the guards.  pretty cool.  then we went to westminister abbey. so pretty there was a will and kate room too! after that we went to london tower and bridge.  we didnt do the tower because it took 3 hours and it was closing in 45 minutes and we had a show to catch! so we walked the bridge, saw it go up and down and then headed back to Victoria for Billy Elliot!!!!!! SOOO GOOD!! Everyone must see it!  we ran into our friend alex there who studied with us in Italy.  After that we went home, packed and set the alarm for 5:30 to catch our plane back to the homeland!  

It was a phenominal trip and i really wish everyone could experience it!! Thanks for tuning into my blog!! Any questions or comments just leave a comment or email me!! 

Catch ya on the flip side!

Traveler Ellen

Heading to Amsterdam, Netherlands! (days 7&8 of traveling)

From Paris we headed to Amsterdam by train.  When we go there we couldnt get into our hostle right away so we sat at a bar down the street and had a few brews.  after we moved in, we got our warm clothes on and headed to the Anne Frank house. (top picture) It was so cool!  We learned a lot about the franks and the holocaust in general.  After that we went to dinner had a couple drinks and walked around town. We did happen upon the red light district.  We were very scared but curious at the same time! We walked up one block and back and got ourselves out of there! It wasn't scary, just weird.  Amsterdam was a very safe place, just soo different. going into the stores i noticed there were a lot of americans working there so they could smoke the reefer and it be legal!  It was completely different.

The next day we headed to the Van Gough museum.  very cool paintings!  After that we went to the Heineken House! SOOOOOO cool! You have to go there!  At the end of the tour you have two choices- you can either have 2 beers or learn how to pour the perfect heineken and drink the beer you pour so of course I choose that one! It was very fun!
After the heineken house we headed back towards our hostle doing a little shopping.  3 of the fab girls we were trveling with had to take a train out that night to brussles so they could go to rome.  maggie and i were going to london the following day so we stayed the night.  After we dropped them off at the train station mag and I just walked around got dinner then I passed out at 9pm!  It was a good slumber! In the morning we were off to London!!

Paris, France (Day 6 of traveling)

So our 2nd day in France we went to the Louve to see Mona, walked around, went to the LONGCHAMP store, got myself some CUTE yellow shoes,(pictured above) had lunch, went to the Notre Dame on the way saw two tappings one Jimmy Kimmel singin a song and another one right down the street and Italian film called wedding in paris.  we just happened upon sooo many things!  On the way to the Notre Dame I bought 2 berets to make up for the 2 hats I lost! then we checked out the church, got some crepes then headed back to the hostle to change because it was cold!! Then we went on a boat tour on the siene! super pretty!  After that we went to the Latin quarter then got stuck in the rain then went home to bed!

Paris, France (Day 5 of traveling)

We left Poland and flew into Paris, France! When we arrived at our hostle, we had a little run in and the people who were staying in the room before, had not moved out but left their stuff so we had to wait there for a bit. So we played cards!! It was fun!  Then Taylor's cousin who was studying in paris for the summer met up with us at the hostle and we went to dinner with her and a friend.  After that we toured the Latin corner where all the cool kids hang out then headed towards the Eiffel tower! We got there just in time to see it sparkle before the lights went off for the night!  After that we walked home and went to bed.  The next morning we woke up kinda late on accident, went to lunch, mountmart, and the church right by that.  then we went to moulin rouge took a picture and got right out of there and then headed to the arc de triumph and the street with all the expensive shops! after that we went to the garden then to see the lilly pads!! so cool!!!! (pictured above)

for dinner we got some cheese and crackers and sat on the lawn in front of the Eiffel with a couple bottles of wine and had ourselves a good time! After dinner we climbed up to the top of the tower! It was beautiful!! We went when it was still light out and then it got dark by the time we were all the way up so we got both views! After we came down a few friends went to a bar and crashed a work party right on the seine river! great time!

Last day in Kracow, Poland (Day 4 of traveling)

Our last day in poland Tay and I got up and showered and headed off for the morning while the other girls got their beauty rest!  We went to the Jewish part of town and went on a Jewish heritage walk. (picture above of the map)  It was so cool I went into my first synagogue!! It was a cool experience! After the walk we headed back to the center of town and saw this really cool fire breathing dragon! (picture below) WOAH!! it was along the river. we had a train to catch so we had to be back by noon to head to the train station to catch a train to the airport to fly on easyjet! to Paris!! When we were at the airport in poland we most of us put all our poles together and bought a mini bottle of wine and VODKA for the plane along with a fruit tart :) It was a great plane ride!

Kracow, Poland (Day 3 of traveling)

So we arrived from the overnight train at bout 7am. we got some poles (money) then headed to our AWESOME hostle.  Greg and tom! We loved it! The whole reason we went to poland was to go to Auschwitz. so right when we got there we had to go. there were 2 tours a day and the bus for one left at 8 am so we had to move it!  We got on the bus and it was about 1hr and 45 min ride so i saw the back long seat so of course i laid down and slept on it!  little did i know that the driver was not so good so about 40 minutes into the ride i fell right off the seat and slipped into the aisle! the whole bus was laughin at me!!  There is only one thing i can say about auschwitz... you need to go.  that is the only way you will truly know how much the prisoners of the holocaust struggled to stay alive and fight for who they are. You need to go.  I didnt take any picture because it is my personal oppinion that it is disrespectful.  But my friends did so if you are friends with them on fb, you can look at them there!!

After this we went back to greg and toms and showered and got ready for dinner!! Yummmm polish potatoes and sausage! After that we signed up to go on a bar crawl with a guide and some other people from our hostle. they specialize in VODKA so we had 4 shots (horrible) and went to another bar and had a tube of beer!! Yum! It was a great night!!

Day in Praha (Day 2 of traveling)

Today we woke up got some breakfast and headed for the castle.  we walked around it for a bit then headed down the hill for lunch!  Before lunch we got a yummy cinnamon circle thingy. no idea what its called but soo good! (pictured above! Cool sunglasses huh?) then we got some lunch walked to the John Lennon peace wall, walked across the bridge.  Went on a boat tour of the "Venice of Prague!" It was quite hilarious because we kinda just went in circles but the best part of the boat ride was when caroline fell on the dock!! She slipped legs in the air and everything!! I was right behind her and was able to see the whole thing!! Another funny part on the boat ride was we got a free beer.  well this beer was absoutly disgusting so when maggie wasnt looking tay poured most of her beer in maggies cup!  She had no idea until allyson broke it to her about 15 minutes later!! After the boat ride we headed back to town and searched for a deck of cards for the overnight train ride we were about to go on.  when we found the cards we walked towards the hostle to get our stuff and head to the train station for our 9 hour train ride!!! Yikes!! I slept about 4 hours the entire time!! rough night!

the last day in bologna... 2 days= 1 long day! (day 1 of traveling)

We got back from barcelona the day before we were to depart from school.  a few of us went into town to get some gel at the best gel place ever!! Then the night came!! time to party!! 5 of us were leaving the others to go travel. the others were going on a cool trip too withthe school.  So we all went to dinner that night, then went to some of our favorite bars.  It was a great night!  The next morning the fab 5 was to depart at 4 am for the train station.  We got home at about 315am!  So what do I do but go take a little badger snooze!  tay cam it at about 355 to wake me up!! When she woke me up I freaked out because i didnt know what to wear... i looked to my right and i set clothes out for the trip ;) i think i needed  a bit more sleep!! so anyway we headed to the train station and got on the train from hell.  It was overbooked so we had to stand and it was 2 hours so we ended up sitting on the gross floor.  people kept trying to get through but ya know it was just part of the experience!! so we got off the train and headed to the airport by bus.  We were flying to Prague!!  It was about a 2 hour flight. when we got there we checked into our 70s theme hostle and headed out for the day! w just walked around seeiing the sights had some sausage and beer ya know livin the life in the check repub.  we went to dinner right by the astronomical clock. it was so cool but after the 4th time of it going off.... ya know.  So after that we went to the biggest bar in praha, an irish one of course, got one drink then finally went to bed after our 48 hour day!! (tired girls pictured below)

Note to my blogees

I arrived home today june 22.  i made it safe, in one piece, with onl a couple bumps and bruises.  I just want to thank everyone for their thoughts while i was abroad and for reading my blog.  I must warn you that as i post i am posting from memory.  No blog will actually live up to each incredible experience i had.  One tip: save up and go to europe.  it will be so worth it!  I went to 7 different countries in 2 weeks and saw some phenomenal stuff.  I know how lucky and fortunate i am for what i was able to do this past month and i only wish that for each and every one of my 11 followers!! love you guys....

here it goes!

Barcelona!!

We went to Barcelona for a day and it was the best ever!!! The mosaics and views are incredible!! You must go!! We had suck a great time and it was pouring the whole time!! Its beautiful!!

Venice the city that will still be with us in 15 years!

So we went to Venice on tuesday for a badger environmental trip. It was very fun.  We walked around in the rain for a bit then we went to this lecture about the lagoon.  I kinda fell asleep for most of it but what I did get from it was that the lagoon is very polluted, what you put in the toilet goes into the lagoon, and the people of Venice are more than just gondola drivers.  they have a lot of pride in their city and they want to save it, therefore they arre working on it and say it will never sink!  So... we'll see! On Monday night we had a badgger dinner at this cool resturant in this marina type thing where they make the boats!  It was delish some meats, pasta and dessert! yum!  then we went back to out creepy hostle that didnt lock and passed out.  On Tuesday we went to a bunch of different islands.  It was pretty cool. we had lunch on one island and then headed back to the main land.  went to s. marco square walked around for a bit then made our way back to the train station!! Great little trip!

Tonight weìre headed to Barcelona!!

xoxo

weekend 2

well... on the train ride to ravenna I put my fab hat from firenzie up top on the luggage thing and of course i forgot it!! so since we are poor planners and couldnt find anywhere to stay this weekend, i just had to go back to florence to get another hat.  So a group of us went.  We went to the market while those who didnt see david went there.  We ran into the Shore again, not as exciting as the first time but still really fun.  Caroling G  breezed caroline e right infront of their pizza place.(top picture)  it was great.  We bought a couple bottles of wine, chips, crackers, salami and cheese and headed up to Piatza Micheangelo.  It was beautiful!!!! So great.  after that, we called our awesome cab driver, fab and he took us to the best resturant in Firenz. Had penne with creamy meat sauce.  Never even knew it existed but it is the best thing in the whole world.  (we got it last weekend too... thats why we went back to that place) from there we walked to the train station, grabbed a bottle of wine and headed home to bed because the next day we had to get up at 5:30 AM!!!


Cinque Terre (5 cities) (bottom pic)
we got on the train about 6 got off about 10.  We arrived in the first city, Monterossa had a delish lunch and hiked 2 brutal hours to  Vernazza.  BEAUTIFUL!! I will be putting up pictures donta worry! the hike was really hard but really pretty!!! it was well worth it!! when we got here we were all hot and bothered so 3 of us took our socks and shoes off and jumped into the med sea! it was sooo refreshing. We we swimmin swimmin and i swam up on a rock and sliced open my knee! ooouuuchh!! thennn while I was climbimg out of the water i ran right into a sea erchant and he got right in the top of my foot!!! ughhh.  Always mom, always! haha.  well anyway that hurt but oh well. 
for some reason the next town was closed to we took the fairy to the last one.  we were going to go to the 4th one but we were crunched for time. So we got a beer and hopped on the train. 

When we got back to Bolog. we got some pizza, I got mine with tons of onions! yummm and then i went home and my wonderful nursing major plucked the urchents out of my foot while i read my book.  then I fell fast asleep till noonish. then we went to lunch, got a delish sammy and then of course we had to walk off lunch to the gel place.  So i got my first gel shake! YUM try it world! And now im trying to write my paper on The Decameron any suggestion are much appreciated!!

Peace and love

Bologna Ellen :)

Carolines birthday

For our friends carolines 21st birthday we went to Revenna!  it was so beautiful.  we took a red velvet bus to get there and along the way we stopped at a DELISH pizza place! sooo good!!! NOM  we just hung out at the beach the rest of the day.  that night we went to dinner and then to this cool club!! it was a good good night! Happy 21st Caroline!!

Correction from the best weekend of my life

Maggie did not say lets go, allyson did.  Sorry for the the confusion :)

The best weekend of my life

My feet are permanently black.
I have a toms tan.
My hips are aging.
My toenail has a slice in it.
I am having the time of my life!!

This blog will not do justice to the weekend we had.  It's thursday. I've been so busy that i have not been able to blog and i know i will leave some things out.

It all started thurday at 1pm.  we took a train to firenzie, checked into our awesome hostle ***Shout out to Clare bear who got us the best hostle!! We kinda goofed up on this trip because we didn't book in advance for the whole weekend. oops. It actually turned for the best.  Thursday we saw the sights walked around the town, met up with caroline's friend from home saw their cool apartment.  in the process of walking back to our hostle, we ran in to some americanos (surprise, surprise) they told us where to find the JERSEY SHORE! so we worked our way there and when we go there they weren't letting us in. Maggie was all like lets go home. And tay and I were all liek nooo we turn to the right and who is it but the JERSEY FRICKIN SHORE.  We acted totally cool. I said hey Snook wat you doin tonight and she replied "toodles" this whole 15 minutes was hilarious.  We went into the club with the 59889 other americans and ran around taking pictures of them. You can def tell they hate what they do.  For realz.  So look out for the badgers on the 3rd season of the shore!! after this we went back to our hostle, caroline broke the door handle, taylor stuck her head in the freezer and the fan was pointed on me all night.  It was a great night :)

Saturday we had to move out of our hostle and into our hotel.  The hotel had a great location right by the duomo.  we were trying to sneak 5 people into 1 room but of course that blew up in our faces! so we had to get another room.  it all worked out.  but that morning we spent at the marker :D I bought a fab hat of which I left on the train yesterday on the way to Ravenna which is why we're going back to Firenzie tomorrow :) But florence was amazing!! we all loved it.  I had my first class on friday. it was terrible! it was so hard going from a traveling butterfly to sitting in a hot classroom with swass.  not fun! but we got over it.  After class we went to Mikeangelo hill. Only tay and i hiked up it with a bottle of wine and a bag of chips :) the other lazies took a cab.  After we went to this fab restaurant.  we all had a delis meal lasagna, pasta, yummmmmmmy!! we ordered 2 bottles of wine not knowing they were a liter and a half each!! we had to take one home.  while at dinner we turned around and surprisingly, a family from mobile was sitting right there! Connections.  It was also taylor's bosses sister!!! imagine that.  we talked to them for a bit hoping they would pick up our tab but  no sauce :( After this we met up with our other badgers by the fake David.  We chilled there for a bit then decided to go to a bar.  We were there for a bit then wanted to go to Be Bos another cool bar we hear about but while getting lost, we ran into a wedding party! Boy do we love weddings!!! They were from london so we literally joined them at their reception in this bar.  One of the guys told us that another guy was a professional soccer player but of course he was lying and of course he believed us!! So leaving that bar we got lost so i just ripped up the map pointed in a direction and thankfully it was the right one and we fo sho made it home! Safe and sound.

The next day we went to Lucca!! WE LOVE LUCCA!!!!  Go there! ***Shout out to Aunt Betty and Uncle Ralph- you guys need to rethink living there! Mom will be your cook and I'll be your maid!! We got there had pizza YUM! Checked into our B&B so cute! Then we rented bikes!!! It was so fun!! We rode around Lucca all day!! We got lost about 87 times but we finally found the circle thingy! It was so beautiful.  We went Back to out B&B to freshen up for dinner and we decided to so a cheap food tour of Lucca.  We walked out of the touristy parts and found us a wine bar.  We got a glass and some antipastas  for like 4 euro all together.  then we went to the circle thingy for dinner! YUM i had magic asparagus rosoto! We love lucca!! It was so much fun!!

On sunday we took the train to Pisa. We were there for about 30 minutes, just took our pictures and headed to Siena.  When we got to Sienna we saw the drummers a drummin.  They have a famous horse race track thingy 2 times a year and the day we were there was the day that they were picking the racers. They were drumin all around town! It was a little eerie! But cool. We went to go see Catherine of Siena's head. Got a pic- no worries! (first pic)

From Sienna we went to Rome (just me and mag). We stayed sunday night went to the best restaurant in Roma. Got up the next day did the colosseum, vatican, trevy got some popeners, piatza novona, got some paintings went to santa maria got delish ravoli dinner then hoped back on the train to Bologna!!

Shoutout to me and all my education ladied***We passed the PRAXIS!!!! whooo!!

Sorry it's long :) miss you all xoxo

996 steps!

Padova

View from the top of the tower!

Another view from the top!

Big dinner!

So much to tell!!! On hmmmm oh Tuesday we just hung out in Bologna because classes started that day (not mine of course Mag, Taylor and I have just been living the life of college travelers :) Rude awakening on Friday :/) So we went out that night for one of our Badger's birthday! Of course they gave us free shots of limonchello! Then, we came back home and started planning our trip for the next day! Yesterday (Wednesday) ***Shout out to Clare Marie, My beautiful sisters birthday!!! We went to Padova which is where the Basicilla of St Anthony is.  Of course we walked allll the way there and I couldn't get in because my shorts were "too short" not real life.  But anyway, it ended up being real life and when your shorts are too short for a guard that means you no get in church. But Taylor, Sarah, and Mag said it was bella!!! After that we had a Pinnini in the park and walked to the botanical gardens! BEAUTIFUL! Then we hopped on a train and got back to bologna by 4. We thought we were going to the beach today and of course Mag and I didn't bring suits so we wanted to go into the centre and get a tank and Mag some shorts. So, we walked into town and ran into Dr. Baggot, one of the professors here from SHC (Badger).  He told us where to go to get the best gillati in town! We of course got lost BUT my map skills improoved!!!!!!!!!!! Shout out to myself!  It was such an adventure... as we began walking we ventured by the towers.  We decided to check to see if they were open (because they normally aren't) but they were and we climbed up them!!

http://www.google.it/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=towers+of+bolona&oe=UTF8&redir_esc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&hl=it&tab=wi&biw=1256&bih=569

Above is a link to the towers. Or you can of course just do what I did and google towers of Bologna. So we hiked up 598 stairs, dripping sweat but we did it!! It was beautiful.  The towers were a sign of wealth in the medieval times.  You should all come to Bologna to see them!!! So as we were coming down we were waiting for some folk to climb up because of course there is only one way. (Side note: I got pooped on by a bird right before we left for Italia which is good luck) So as we were waiting for these kids to pass, I spepped back a little bit and almost fell into a hole!!! My life flashed right before me! The hole was 2 inches long and wide but it was the scariest thing ever! I literally pulled a muscle grabbing the railing because I thought I was going down!! Maggie and Taylor of course laughed at me and so did the kids who were passing, but that stupid bird saved my life!! So then we had a BIG dinner to go to with everyone but we were not about to walk all the way back to school and then back to the centre sooo we found some people to tell us where the resturant is and we met them there.  This dinner was amazing and worth the 23 euro!! Eggplant, zucchini, salad, bread 11 desserts ***shout out to Mom- You would have died!!! AND the pastas were amazing!!!!!! NOM NOM! So then after dinner we of course had to go for a drink but I was of course out of my daily Euros so I just chatted like a good americano :)  then we got back, I finished my math hw and today we leave for Florence!!! We're doing Lucca, Siena, Pisa Florence and Rome all in 4 1/2 days!! I know kinda crazy but we all love the way we travel so it works out! Any suggestions for these cities would be wonderful!!! I'll tune in when we get baack!!!
xoxo gossip girl

Waterfall!!!!!

Today we went to Verona!! It was bella! We took the train- it was about an hour and a half.  We went to beautiful churches, piatizzas (sp??????) AND we went to see Guillette! We saw her balcony. (pictured above) Although, Megan's super cool travel book said it was a scam because she was never actually there! Muhaha. We didnt go in the house or anything but we did go into the court yard to write our names on the wall.  Also, the movie letters to Juliet is fiction, because there are NO LETTERS!! Its just writings on the wall.  Also, if you touch Juliet's left boobie it's supposed to bring good luck. So of course we waited in line behind the Asian tour group to do it!  Then we went to duomo,  a BEAUTIFUL church that John Paul numba 2 was at.  Then we sat down for some lunch. Man were we tired! We also ran into some AMERICANOS today from the U.P!  Were were walking out of the church and I heard some english so I looked over and said americans? We talked to them for a bit. The dad was hilarious.  I had some penne pasta with tomato sauce and fresh basil. NOM NOM! Caroline had a sauceless pizza with some of that Italian meat she loves.  Taylor had some cheese and spinach thing, Allyson had some lasagna and Megan of course had a salada!  Everyone loved their food.  It is always so silent when we are eating because the food is execlente! After lunch we walked to the Palace...aka castle and walked around the courtyard.  It was beautiful. It overlooked a cute little river.  Then, we found our way back to the train station and rode for about 2 hours back to Bologna, went to the store got some 99 cent wine and went home to take a shower.  Tonight, we are going to plan the rest of our travels.  Mag and I were gunna pick up smoking to fit in around here but we quit before we could get started.

 

This weekend we're going to Florence for class on Thursday night. Stay till Saturday- on Saturday hit up Lucca, Piza, and Sienna and head back to Bologna that night because Sunday... one of the Italian students here.. pj is welcoming the Americans into his home in Verona and having some kind of dinner and wine tasting!! How cool is that!!!!!!

We're headed off to the Mensa for our 75 course dinner! Ciao!

Spring Hill Center in Bologna, Italy!!

Werea finnalli hera! My friend and I arrived Saturday around 3!! The flight was long but not bad :)  We received free wine!! After we arrived, we went to the park located right across campus which is very small and cute and had a beer.  Then, we had a meeting to learn how not to act like a esstupida americanos! Thennnn we had our first Italiano meal!! It was delisioso! After dinner we went to a concert.  It was complete noise.  They played the guitar, drum and banjo and just made noise for a straight hour!  It was interesting, but I definitely took a little snooze during it :/ (estupido americano!) After the concert one nice Italiano man from the college took us out.  We went to Cafe Pari and had some vino!  We ran into 2 bachelor parties one from Holland and one from London.  They asked if we were real americanos and we had to prove it by saying cheeseburger and hot dog! Mom- I brought your cookies well, cookie crumbs to the bar and the were a big hit! We walked home about 1:45 am.  I passed out from my jet lag whoooooo baby!

Today (Sunday) we went to a cafe bar for breakfast then walked into town to see the towers, about a 15 minute walk.  We ran into a lady who knew we were lost and she took us to the towers.  Everyone is super nice here.  Bologna is not a busy city like Rome, so it is very refreshing! We had a BBQ with the Italians today then went to the soccer game! It was soo hot, but really fun!!  Very cool experience.  After the game we went to dinner at a pizza place near school.  We got pizza and they gave us free dessert and limencello shots!!!!! They were also very nice.  P.s I hope you are all reading this with an Italian accent because that is how I am saying it in mah head.  I spilled some bruchetta on the table so I cleaned it up with my tide to go pen! Thanks mom!

We're going to Verona tomorrow. Gunna have some tea with Romeo :)

We're all having sooo much fun!! Tip of the day: a smile + no=YES!!!

Boom boom pow.

I leave for Bologna on Friday May 20th!! Follow me on my blog if you're cool 8)