I moved!

All my Europe posts are still here, but any new content is on my new blog www.thisgrandexperiment.com. Hope you like the new setup and thanks for keeping up with me!

An Eternity in Rome

Yes, I am dramatic and it is a well known fact, but in this case I truly did spend way more time than necessary in the lovely Italian city of Roma. I showed up with my mother and her boyfriend last Saturday afternoon, spent the week living with the Kruse family (Katie's family) in their apartment that they so kindly let me live in with them, and finally left this Sunday.

When you've been away from home for this long, you no longer like wasting time in a city for more than the appropriate amount of time. Or maybe that's just me? :) Or it could be that I am impatient and get bored with particular cities after more than three days. However, here is a brief overview of what I did in the actually quite neat city of Rome:

Day 1: Checked out the Vatican area and went to St. Peter's Basilica. We even climbed to the very top of the dome, which nearly caused my mom a panic attack. Saw the Spanish Steps and ate at a yummy restaurant.

Hanging out mid-trek down after HIKING that Catholic dome... 

Day 2: Toured the incredible Coliseum and Roman Forum, then saw the Trevi Fountain. We were very worn out after all that walking in the heat, but we pushed through and shopped for the remainder of the late afternoon. ;) Had drinks and then ate at a decent restaurant (not amazing).

Happy to see the AMAZING Coliseum!

Day 3: Sent my mom off (sad) and switched all of my belongings to a smaller room. It literally had a single bed and was super cute/hilarious. Spent most of the day with my "F.R.I.E.N.D.S." in my room and ate alone at that great restaurant. Chatted with my new waiter friend after for a bit and then returned home to the hotel.

Where I spent my day! My first solo day in 8 weeks.

Day 4: Woke up, ate breakfast alone, killed time in the lobby, ventured out into Rome with all my luggage to find the Kruse's apartment, which turned out to be pretty close. That night I escorted the Kruse family to the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain (again for me).

Breakfast for one at Hotel Due Torri (stay there -- great service). 

Day 5: Left the apartment at 6:20AM to leave for a bus tour to Naples and Pompeii with myself. Spent most of the day on the bus, learned little to nothing about Naples, watched how cameos are made from shells (WHO KNEW!?), learned about pistachio farming from the Iranian friend I made, and obsessed over Pompeii and how intact that ancient city still is. Returned home after 9:00PM. Got gelato and crashed.

Hanging out in the remarkably well put together main square of Pompeii!

Day 6: Got up and shopped with myself and toured the Pantheon alone. What a blast! Enjoyed a lunch of microwave popcorn and pop (you can seriously only eat so much pasta and pizza). That night I accidentally spent 48 euros on a sea bass......I almost cried, but then recovered and got gelato to make it feel less painful.

My loner picture in the Pantheon taken by a stranger. ;)

Day 7: Enjoyed a morning in Rome from the comfort of a Mercedes van with the Kruse family and their tour guide, Mia. She showed us the "Off the Beaten Path" places and I personally enjoyed seeing the famous keyhole, a statue by Michelangelo, the firing of the gun at noon, and S. Maria del Popolo Church. We ate together that night at a restaurant that brought out six limoncello shots for the whole table. The best part? Mama Kruse pushed four of the six my way... Thanks!

Day 8: Rode the bus to a fruit market in one of the piazzas and then to Capuchin Crypt - the place that holds the bones of thousands of monks and has them arranged as art in the building. Crazy stuff! After lunch with the crew,  I spent my day with myself shopping for gifts and flying through the Vatican Museum to see Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel masterpiece. My feet hurt so bad after that day that I returned to my bed and later went out to our final dinner together in Rome.

Oh no pictures with the masterpiece? Sorry!!!
(I really didn't see a sign...?)

Day 9:  I LEFT FOR GREECE!!!!!!!!!!

Seeing Europe in a Whirlwind

Alright, people.

MUCH has happened since you have last heard from me and although I have finished my 6-week study abroad program, I am waiting to gush about it until I am finished traveling. To fill you in a bit, I GOT TO SPEND 10 DAYS WITH MY MOM IN EUROPE. And her lovely boyfriend, Jake.

Seeing my Mom for the first time in SIX weeks! :)

We started our tour of Europe in Barcelona and quickly realized that we are not the trio of tourists you will find at every monument, museum, and tour guide suggestion spot. We are the three eating at random restaurants, attempting to communicate with non-English speakers, and getting lost trying to get a feel for the city. That is basically how the remainder of the trip played out. So, highlights:

BARCELONA:

Ate by the Mediterranean. Had a VERY nice hotel that was randomly chosen by my mom. Had a waiter immediately notice a stain on my chest and point to it to offer a cleaning product. Used my Spanish skills multiple times. Introduced Mom to Zara. Toured Sagrada Familia and became obsessed.

Lunching by the Sea. 

 Gorgeous stained glass in La Sagrada Familia.

MONTE CARLO:

Had the best hotel room ever that looked right into the massive yachts in the Monaco Port. Saw the famous hotel/casino. Gawked at yachts and shiny cars. Enjoyed dreaming about being able to afford more than one night in the tiny country.

An example of what I will someday own...

Posing by the port of CRAZY expensive yachts. 

Mom and I in front of the famous casino!

CINQUE TERRE:

Had three erosion workers drive us through a construction zone (of terror) to arrive in Vernazza at the bottom of a crazy steep mountain. Kayaked into a random cave we found that basically had illuminated water. Took the train to the wrong city and drank at a convenience store to make it better. Swam in the Mediterranean. Met a British jazz singer and his wife and spent an entire night with them.

Us and the erosion workers by the truck they brought us into town in. 

Colorful boats in our secluded little town. 

Wrong city....Snacks and drinks!

Loving that Mediterranean!

PISA:

Spent maybe 1.5 hours there. Stared in awe at the tower that actually leans. Laughed at everyone (including ourselves) taking the exact same tourist pictures. Paid to use the bathroom.

Holding up that leaning tower. 

Mom and Jake's joint effort!

CASTEL DI CASIO:

Struggled to find this tiny little Italian mountain town. Was invited to the park by a group of Italian middle schoolers, DEFINITELY the cool kids. Translated Italian to English with what little Spanish I know (tough). Stayed in a three-story castle. Dressed up. Watched an Italian documentary outside with almost every resident of the town. Accidentally joined a kid’s day camp. Spent a significant amount of time terrified in the backseat while Jake whipped around mountain roads in our rental car.

My room! Felt like a princess for sure. 

Our castle from outside the courtyard walls. 

Small-town movie night!

Me and my friends (the cool kids). 

Day camp with the little Italian children!

Jake found these. Then made us wear them. And pose in the courtyard.

ROME:

Checked out the Vatican and enjoyed meeting other non-Catholics trying to understand. Slept three people in a tiny room. Frequented a restaurant based around mozzarella cheese. Tossed our wishes in the Trevi Fountain. Bought gorgeous Italian purses. Found the Coliseum unbelievable. Enjoyed the Roman Ruins. Sat next to a Dallas Mavericks player at dinner (Jake’s highlight, not mine).

 

The THREE of us (rare) in Vatican City. 

Mom and I outside the Coliseum!

My wishes lie at the bottom of the Trevi Fountain.

The queen of purse shopping!

CHEESE and wine for the McConnell girls. 

It’s not even possible to describe in so little words, but Mom, Jake and I had a great time together and enjoyed being constantly on the go. :) Go visit all of these wonderful places if you have the chance!

Staying in Valencia

Shockingly, I stayed in my city of Valencia last weekend, for the first time since weekend #1 here in Spain. As for what I’ve been doing, here is my last week and a half in pictures. 

I ate these pescaditos, which literally translates to "young fish" with friends on the beach. 

I took part in a wine excursion with some classmates and decided that I want
to marry a winery man! I also got to test 6 tasty Spanish wines.
Did you know Spain makes the most wine in the world? They just don't know how to market it very well?

I enjoyed the Mediterranean at night... Gorgeous. 

I had paella at a friend's house and ate it outside on their deck. 

I have spent a lot of time doing as the Spainards do.... going topless on the beach. ;)

I found a theater that shows movies in their original language (with Spanish subtitles)
and convinced my friends to see Monsters University with me. :) IT WAS GREAT.

I've been eating this... (San Jacobo, which is right out of the freezer and delicious)

And this, a mouthwateringly good Spanish tortilla (made with potatoes, eggs, garlic, onions, etc.).

And THIS. Katie and I eat this corn every time we hit the beach...which is often.  (I miss Iowa) 

And here is my bed. My homework is sitting there, you see, but there is also a
computer, book, nail polish, movie, and purse full of fun to distract me.
School sucks in every country.

London Calling!

My girls and I at Buckingham Palace! 

Well, the weekend started off with myself nearly in tears in a disgusting hostel shower shared by dozens of people…. I used a t-shirt as a towel. Then I slept in my raincoat because my pajama shirt was wet. YAY hostels.

The hostel life... ( please note the random Brazilian)

Luckily, the next day my six friends and I embarked on quite the day of London tourism spots. Starting, of course, with the Changing of the Guards and Buckingham Palace. We had a front row spot in front of the center gates of the palace for the whole processional changing. 

The band (that played "Skyfall" by Adele haha...as well as classics).

After two hours of standing/waiting/watching, we decided to walk through Hyde Park – the equivalent of NYC’s Central Park. It was fun to speed walk through the gardens and see the famous Peter Pan statue!

We'll never grow up, either.

Next up was our first adventure on the Underground. May I just say that I am incredibly thankful we had two little map wizards with us (Brynn and Maddy) to direct our crew through every train change and station. We spent a significant amount of time both days riding “the tube” and definitely learned how to “mind the gap” quickly. ;)

Fish and Chips with Matt.

We arrived just in time for the showing of “Macbeth” at Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, and were shocked to find that the tickets we all had purchased were for the next weekend… Regardless, we happily took pictures of the outside of the theater and used the extra time to recharge with Starbucks. We wandered over to the London Bridge and walked across the famous structure. And may I just say that it is very surreal to be seeing all of these famous places in real life? PINTEREST IS NOT LYING, friends. These places exist!

The London Bridge! Still intact.... not falling down.....

We toured the Tower of London next, which is basically an entire little city within two thick exterior walls that the royal family lived in for many years back in the day. The whole complex also served as a torture zone for prisoners as well. Very disturbing learning about their methods of torture… We also saw the Crown Jewels there!!!!!!! HUGE diamonds and every other stone you could imagine - so beautiful that I can’t properly describe them all.

Guard securing the Crown Jewels.

The rest of the night was spent eating fish and chips on the street (delicious), walking across Abbey Road (I WALKED WHERE THE BEATLES DID) and seeing the studio the Beatles recorded in, and ending up at T.G.I. Friday’s for Maddy and Katie’s birthday dinner. Why not?? We miss American food. And they made balloon hats for our two 20-year-olds!

Atop the London Eye! Look at the sites below...

The next day, we spent one of the few sunny moments all day on the London Eye, which was such a blessing. It was frightening/amazing to be up so high and seeing the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, the Royal Palace, etc. from that perspective - DEFINITELY worth the money (discounted tickets online ahead of time, if anyone was wondering). After that we hit up some gift shops, observed those special monuments up close, and gazed longingly at Westminster Abbey, where I will marry Prince Harry someday…

Tourist Pic! 

Later, we saw the Egyptian preserved mummies at the (free) British Museum, had tea and more fish and chips at a place called Munchkins, spent a few hours walking through the Portobello Market and trying not to buy everything, and lastly, we went to Harrod’s. If you are not familiar with that name, just picture the most glamorous and expensive department store of all time…then exaggerate it even a little more.

Fish and Chips at Munchkins! AND tea. 

I looked at dresses worth more than my four years of tuition combined, saw some of the Tiffany jewelry made for the “Gatsby” movie, walked through the Gucci section of the children’s floor, and saw an incredible amount of ridiculously expensive alcohol from all over the world. My mind was blown…it was amazing.

BIG BEN! It is quite large.

That night we went to a Turkish restaurant and I enjoyed delicious cheese stuffed mushrooms, some leftover rice, and bread and butter pudding. We basically took a nap for about two hours and woke up at 2:45AM to walk to a bus stop, to ride the bus for an hour, then to wait at the airport, to ride on a plane for a couple hours, and finally to ride the metro home. We were exhausted, but we made the most of our time in London and celebrated Maddy and Katie’s birthday the best we knew how! :)

HAPPY 20th TO MY BEST FRIEND!! :)