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!