Greetings from England once more!
Sadly, this will be that last and final time I can say that :( We leave for the States tomorrow morning, meaning my semester has come to an end and my semester abroad will be a memory in the past. This is quite a sad realization. These last four months have hands down been the been four months of my life and I will remember it fondly forever.
Yes, it was tough in the beginning.
Yes, I missed family and friends like crazy.
Yes, making new friends, adjusting to a new school (and country!) was difficult at the start.
Yes, traveling around Europe for 5 weeks was frustrating, irritating and nerve racking.
But no, none of these things compare to how wonderful of a semester I had here in Leicester.
I know that this was a once in a lifetime experience and I can confidently say I took full advantage of it. The friends I've made, the places I've seen and the memories I've created are now some of the most precious I have and will never be forgotten.
Love from Leicester one more time,
Lauren
Sidenote: I would write more sappy stuff but I left packing for the night before the flight. Maybe another blog soon? One last one once I get home? We'll see.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Weeks Thirteen, Fourteen & Fifteen
Hallo! Caio! γειά σου !
As I had forewarned in my last post, updates are few and far between. Free time does not exist when traveling the way we are traveling, and I'm sorry to say that blogging and updating pictures is effected by that. However, I have recently updated pictures to my MobileMe account. For some reason the albums are all of out order and every time I move them - they move back. So I do know that they are not in order and trust me, it bugs me too, but I guess there's nothing I can do about it.
Moving onto the reason you are reading this post... Where have I been? What have I been doing?! For the sake of time and fear of boring anyone who reads this, I'll write what we did in each city every so briefly and then possibly go in depth about what stuck out to me the most.
Let me start with where we left off - Paris. We went to the Louvre, Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Moulin Rouge, Palace of Versailles and catacombs. One day was spent at the D-Day beaches/American cemetery in Normandy, which was so amazing. We saw remains of German bunkers (where the slept, where they kept ammunition, etc), a memorial to the soldiers lost in WWII and the beaches where fighting actually took place. So much history! An American history too! It was the first place we felt like speaking English with an American accent was the norm. It was a wonderful feeling.
After Paris came Berlin. Berlin was a city I was indifferent about before arriving. I wanted to see the Berlin Wall and that's about it. I honestly didn't think the Berlin Wall would be that cool, I just felt like I should see it. Yet in actuality, I loved the Berlin Wall. It made the whole trip to Berlin worth it. Reading all of the murals and paintings was emotional and really made me so appreciative for my life. By the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie, there was a ton of information posted explaining step by step what happened in those time periods and what it meant for the average Berlin citizen. Not only was it informative, but it was interesting to think about how many people and in what ways this wall affected people. We also went to a Holocaust memorial, a market type fair that was by far the cutest market we've been to, met up with other ISU/Leicester students for a night, and ate doners (traditional German sandwich).
At this point in our schedule, we should have been in Prague. Well, Prague ended up being a huge pain in the butt to get to and we decided it wasn't worth the hassle/money so we cut it from our list. We spend an extra day in Berlin and an extra day in Salzburg.
Salzburg, Austria is now next in line and was another city I was feeling very "mehhh..." about. Morgan wanted to go for the salt mines and other than that we had no idea what to expect. We made a day trip out of the salt mines, which was actually pretty cool. We got dressed up in these dorky white jumpsuits and got a tour of the salt mine by a lady who said everything in three languages. Although I can't say it was truly an informative tour, the four of us had a blast messing around in the salt mine and laughing at each other in the outfits. We were also the only English speaking people in the tour group (aside from the guide) so we were just cracking ourselves up. Some other things we did in Salzburg was hunting for scenes in the Sound of Music, because that is where it is filmed. I think most of the locations were a bit farther away, but we were able to go by a few. Our hostel advertises that they play the Sound of Music on a loop everyday for like 12 hours, but when we got there we saw that this was untrue and we were never able to watch it :( Yet someday soon I will watch it and be able to boast that I have been to those places! The only other thing we did in Salzburg was spent a day riding bikes along the river. That was our last day in Salzburg and it seemed to be everyone's favorite. Spending this much time with the same three people obviously gets tiring so when we rode bikes, we each were in our own worlds and finally able to get lost in our thoughts. We rode single file down the river, silently, and were able to say that we ended Salzburg on a wonderful note. (I wish I could come up with a good Sound of Music joke to go with that)
Next was my most highly anticipated city: Rome. We had planned this entire break around the idea that we would be able to be in Rome for Easter. Our goal was the be in the Vatican City in St. Peter's Square and listen to the Pope give Mass. I thought that this goal was entirely unattainable and that we could only dream of this happening. But guess what I did on Easter? I was in the Vatican City in St. Peter's Square and listened to the Pope give Mass. Yep, I sure did. It was, hands down, the best part of this entire trip. It can't even be categorized with the other things we've done (at least personally). Pictures will by no means do that day any justice because I couldn't really zoom in very well, but I could see the Pope. I saw the Pope with my own two eyes! Ah! Unreal. Other things we did in Rome were seeing the Trevi Fountain, went inside the Colosseum, inside the Pantheon, saw the Spanish Steps and went in the Sistine Chapel. You're not allowed to take pictures in the Sistine Chapel, but I figured that since I paid to see it, I am entitled to a few pictures :) So that's why they are not very good.
We continued on through Italy and went into Florence next. Florence is an hour away from Pisa, so our first day in Florence we actually spent it in Pisa. Pisa was interesting because we went straight to the Tower, took pictures and left. There was an entire town around the Tower that seemed to have a lot to offer, but we just got what we came for and left. And by the way, those pictures that look like you're holding up the leaning Tower of Pisa are not that easy to get! I have about 40 pictures of me doing things like that and maybe a few turned out. It's much trickier than it looks! So once we got back to Florence, we spent it seeing the David and Boticelli's Dome. Oh, and eating delicious Italian food. That was about it. I thoroughly enjoyed Florence, but it was so strange to just come from a city like Rome that has endless sites to see. It made Florence seem like a small town with not much to offer.
One more city in Italy to go: Venice. Venice was really a neat city to see and for obvious reasons. I had heard that it was dirty and to not waste my time, but I am so so glad we went. Other than the canals and water, Venice didn't have too much to do, but that was exactly what our group needed. We had been running in high gear for so long that by the time we got to Venice, we felt like we could finally take a breath and enjoy what was around us for once. We did go on a gondola ride in Venice and let me tell you - the drivers of the gondola DO wear striped shirts and have straw hats with ribbon flowing from them. Unfortunately, they do not sing. Our driver whistled a bit, but that was all we got. It was good enough for us. Another great thing about Venice was that since there was not much to do, we were able to spend our money some where we have not in weeks - good food! We went out in Florence for dinner and I think that was maybe the third time we went out for dinner in three weeks. Our strategy is to go to the grocery store once we get to a city, buy food for lunch and dinner, and make it ourselves. We saved a ton of money doing that, but it was getting reeeeally old by week three (because there's only so many dinners four college students can make with a hot plate). I had bruschetta almost every day while in Florence and Venice, and pasta and pizza up the wazoo! Oh, and gelato of course. Italy was very good to me!
Now that was a very simple summary of where I've been these past few weeks. This does not include where I am now, which is the Greek Island of Santorini. Today was our second day here and we have two more to go. Both days we laid on the beach and plan on exploring the island in more depth tomorrow. After Santorini, we move on to Athens for two days and then back to Leicester, England for two weeks, then the good ol' U.S. of A! It's scary how fast all of this has been going by. I can't even think about it too long or I get upset. This has been such an unforgettable semester and I don't want it to be over. I just try to tell myself that I'll be back to these places one day and then I have something to look forward to :)
- Lauren
As I had forewarned in my last post, updates are few and far between. Free time does not exist when traveling the way we are traveling, and I'm sorry to say that blogging and updating pictures is effected by that. However, I have recently updated pictures to my MobileMe account. For some reason the albums are all of out order and every time I move them - they move back. So I do know that they are not in order and trust me, it bugs me too, but I guess there's nothing I can do about it.
Moving onto the reason you are reading this post... Where have I been? What have I been doing?! For the sake of time and fear of boring anyone who reads this, I'll write what we did in each city every so briefly and then possibly go in depth about what stuck out to me the most.
Let me start with where we left off - Paris. We went to the Louvre, Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Moulin Rouge, Palace of Versailles and catacombs. One day was spent at the D-Day beaches/American cemetery in Normandy, which was so amazing. We saw remains of German bunkers (where the slept, where they kept ammunition, etc), a memorial to the soldiers lost in WWII and the beaches where fighting actually took place. So much history! An American history too! It was the first place we felt like speaking English with an American accent was the norm. It was a wonderful feeling.
After Paris came Berlin. Berlin was a city I was indifferent about before arriving. I wanted to see the Berlin Wall and that's about it. I honestly didn't think the Berlin Wall would be that cool, I just felt like I should see it. Yet in actuality, I loved the Berlin Wall. It made the whole trip to Berlin worth it. Reading all of the murals and paintings was emotional and really made me so appreciative for my life. By the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie, there was a ton of information posted explaining step by step what happened in those time periods and what it meant for the average Berlin citizen. Not only was it informative, but it was interesting to think about how many people and in what ways this wall affected people. We also went to a Holocaust memorial, a market type fair that was by far the cutest market we've been to, met up with other ISU/Leicester students for a night, and ate doners (traditional German sandwich).
At this point in our schedule, we should have been in Prague. Well, Prague ended up being a huge pain in the butt to get to and we decided it wasn't worth the hassle/money so we cut it from our list. We spend an extra day in Berlin and an extra day in Salzburg.
Salzburg, Austria is now next in line and was another city I was feeling very "mehhh..." about. Morgan wanted to go for the salt mines and other than that we had no idea what to expect. We made a day trip out of the salt mines, which was actually pretty cool. We got dressed up in these dorky white jumpsuits and got a tour of the salt mine by a lady who said everything in three languages. Although I can't say it was truly an informative tour, the four of us had a blast messing around in the salt mine and laughing at each other in the outfits. We were also the only English speaking people in the tour group (aside from the guide) so we were just cracking ourselves up. Some other things we did in Salzburg was hunting for scenes in the Sound of Music, because that is where it is filmed. I think most of the locations were a bit farther away, but we were able to go by a few. Our hostel advertises that they play the Sound of Music on a loop everyday for like 12 hours, but when we got there we saw that this was untrue and we were never able to watch it :( Yet someday soon I will watch it and be able to boast that I have been to those places! The only other thing we did in Salzburg was spent a day riding bikes along the river. That was our last day in Salzburg and it seemed to be everyone's favorite. Spending this much time with the same three people obviously gets tiring so when we rode bikes, we each were in our own worlds and finally able to get lost in our thoughts. We rode single file down the river, silently, and were able to say that we ended Salzburg on a wonderful note. (I wish I could come up with a good Sound of Music joke to go with that)
Next was my most highly anticipated city: Rome. We had planned this entire break around the idea that we would be able to be in Rome for Easter. Our goal was the be in the Vatican City in St. Peter's Square and listen to the Pope give Mass. I thought that this goal was entirely unattainable and that we could only dream of this happening. But guess what I did on Easter? I was in the Vatican City in St. Peter's Square and listened to the Pope give Mass. Yep, I sure did. It was, hands down, the best part of this entire trip. It can't even be categorized with the other things we've done (at least personally). Pictures will by no means do that day any justice because I couldn't really zoom in very well, but I could see the Pope. I saw the Pope with my own two eyes! Ah! Unreal. Other things we did in Rome were seeing the Trevi Fountain, went inside the Colosseum, inside the Pantheon, saw the Spanish Steps and went in the Sistine Chapel. You're not allowed to take pictures in the Sistine Chapel, but I figured that since I paid to see it, I am entitled to a few pictures :) So that's why they are not very good.
We continued on through Italy and went into Florence next. Florence is an hour away from Pisa, so our first day in Florence we actually spent it in Pisa. Pisa was interesting because we went straight to the Tower, took pictures and left. There was an entire town around the Tower that seemed to have a lot to offer, but we just got what we came for and left. And by the way, those pictures that look like you're holding up the leaning Tower of Pisa are not that easy to get! I have about 40 pictures of me doing things like that and maybe a few turned out. It's much trickier than it looks! So once we got back to Florence, we spent it seeing the David and Boticelli's Dome. Oh, and eating delicious Italian food. That was about it. I thoroughly enjoyed Florence, but it was so strange to just come from a city like Rome that has endless sites to see. It made Florence seem like a small town with not much to offer.
One more city in Italy to go: Venice. Venice was really a neat city to see and for obvious reasons. I had heard that it was dirty and to not waste my time, but I am so so glad we went. Other than the canals and water, Venice didn't have too much to do, but that was exactly what our group needed. We had been running in high gear for so long that by the time we got to Venice, we felt like we could finally take a breath and enjoy what was around us for once. We did go on a gondola ride in Venice and let me tell you - the drivers of the gondola DO wear striped shirts and have straw hats with ribbon flowing from them. Unfortunately, they do not sing. Our driver whistled a bit, but that was all we got. It was good enough for us. Another great thing about Venice was that since there was not much to do, we were able to spend our money some where we have not in weeks - good food! We went out in Florence for dinner and I think that was maybe the third time we went out for dinner in three weeks. Our strategy is to go to the grocery store once we get to a city, buy food for lunch and dinner, and make it ourselves. We saved a ton of money doing that, but it was getting reeeeally old by week three (because there's only so many dinners four college students can make with a hot plate). I had bruschetta almost every day while in Florence and Venice, and pasta and pizza up the wazoo! Oh, and gelato of course. Italy was very good to me!
Now that was a very simple summary of where I've been these past few weeks. This does not include where I am now, which is the Greek Island of Santorini. Today was our second day here and we have two more to go. Both days we laid on the beach and plan on exploring the island in more depth tomorrow. After Santorini, we move on to Athens for two days and then back to Leicester, England for two weeks, then the good ol' U.S. of A! It's scary how fast all of this has been going by. I can't even think about it too long or I get upset. This has been such an unforgettable semester and I don't want it to be over. I just try to tell myself that I'll be back to these places one day and then I have something to look forward to :)
- Lauren
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