Today was.....

Interesting. So I skipped like a week of our Road-trip (whoops) but we have been having so much fun and are so exhausted by the end of the day that there just isn't any time to write anything. But this afternoon was to great to not write a quick post about. I should probably back up to this morning. We have been in Macedonia the past 2 days and made our way to Albania this afternoon.  

This morning we drove to the big lake that connects the borders of Macedonia to Albania. As we got to the beach I realized that it was a swimming beach and my swimsuits were all packed at the bottom of my bag that has been packed Tetris style and takes about 10 minutes to close every morning. So since I was being extremely lazy there was no swimming for me, but after stepping out of the car I was completely okay with that. The place, although it was beautiful, reminded me of a stinky bathroom in China. I don't really know why, but I think it may have been all of the people and trash around, or that the bathrooms were big and stinky to begin with. The beach that we picked was also a campsite/super crappy trailer park, which had cars, people, tents, trash, and old trailers thrown about the area. I was completely satisfied with sleeping on our wonderful Picnic mat. After the rest of the gang jumped in and out of the water for a while we decided it was time to get some lunch seeing that it was almost 3 pm and hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast. 

After lunch we stared on our drive to Albania. The drive from the lake to our hotel was suppose to be around 2 1/2 hours so we set off. After about 30 minutes we made it to the border. Border crossings have started to become one of my favorite part of the trip. Something funny or unique always ends up happening and I also get another stamp in my passport. We waited in line at the Macedonia gate and after finally pulling up and waiting for a few minutes with nothing happening Alex got out of the car with our passports and went to the police office. Typically thy take a look at out passports and vehicles registration. Sometimes the give us a fine or make us pay a tax to leave the country, but Macedonia was different. He walked up to the border patrol and told them that we had 4 Poland citizens and one U.S. while trying to hand him all of our passports. He looked at the car and we all waved and he said something along the lines of "okay, you can go." A little shocked but excited that our wait time was cut down we drove around the corner to get into Albania. 

We heard that it is difficult to get into Albania. You need extra paperwork and sometimes it takes a long time. We waited in line watching as people in cars unpack their trunks with police men watching, then it was finally our turn. We rolled up to the window with big smiles on all of our faces looking at the officer. After a few minutes he waved us through. It was easy. I grabbed my passport to look at my cool new stamp from Albania and gasped. He didn't stamp it. There was no way that I was going into a country that I would probably never travel to again and not have proof. I yelled out and Alex stopped the car and I got out and ran back to the border. 

When I got back to the window I put on my biggest smile and explained to the 4 officers that were standing there that I really wanted a stamp. They agreed and gave me some big creepy smiles back asking where I was from. I exclaimed that I'm a California girl and they all got so excited that I was from probably one of the few places they know in America... A little overly excited but I wasn't going to ask questions. I smiled some more and finally got my passport back with a stamp from the Albanian border. 

After getting everyone situated in the car we were off. We started driving down a well paved road, completely unexpected in such a rural country, and did switchbacks down the mountain. Unfortunately as soon as we left, we got stuck behind a truck pulling a trailer, so Alex passed it. One minute later a women police office pulled us over. We had made it almost 3,000 Kilometers without being pulled over and 2 minutes into the country and they got us. We pulled over not knowing what was in store. Apparently you aren't allowed to pass super slow cars on switchbacks down mountains in Albania. Who knew?! At first it seemed that we were going to have to pay to get out of the situation... Then she asked where we were from and Alex told her explaining that we were tourists from Poland and America. She looked at all of us squished and tired in the backseat. I grabbed the kids hands and we started waving. We had big smiles on and did the biggest and happiest waves from the whole car. She gave us back our papers and told us that we had a beautiful family and could go as long as we didn't pass anymore cars. Excited, we drove off. A few minutes later we got to the slow truck pulling the trailer again. After contemplating and looking around for police cars we quickly passed. A second later a police car, which came out of nowhere turned on its lights. We all held our breath for a minute as Alex started slowing down, and a
second later it zoomed passed us. We decided our one run in with the police was enough for the whole trip. 

We finally pulled up to the hotel after 4 1/2 hours of driving through the crazy highways in Albania. Complete with 45 minutes of the freeway being gravel rocks, potholes the size of a small car and a beautiful sunset.  Our hotel greeted us with happy faces and yummy food so it was the perfect ending to a great day! 

A Roadtrip for the books

I have now been with my Poland family for a little less then a month, and it has been a roller coaster to say the least. After hanging out with the kids and exploring Warsaw for a week we loaded all 5 of us (including 2 car seats with me squished between them) and left for a month long road trip around the Balkans. I have been on some great road trips with friends during college, but driving for hours and hours and hours with 2 kids in foreign rural countries where you cross the border and have sex trafficking signs all over is completely different. 

Our first stop: Romania. We drove for what seemed like hours and final made it to the Romanian border the first night. At the border they  decided they needed to hold onto my passport for a long time. It is interesting because at a all the borders they take my passport for however long they want to have it and barely glance at the families European passports. We finally made it to our first stop for the night and passed out from exhaustion. We spent a total of 6 nights in Romania. Though I should have been writing ever little detail down, I didn't so I'm just going to write down a few of my favorite parts. Every day we traveled to a new city to spend time looking at all of the old towns, churches, Gypsies, landmarks, and sometimes yummy, often times not very good, foods that Romania has to offer.

One of the best parts about our drives have been the rows and rows of Sunflowers that seem like they go on for miles. Every time we passed a field full of them I can't help but smile. It seems like we end up spending most of our time in the car during this road trip, but We have found ways to have fun... Oh like having Maks throw up a couple times from eating to much and the whole car getting motion sickness except for Alex who is driving up and down windy roads like a maniac. But honestly it has mostly been good. When the kids are asleep we put on a audio book, but most of the time we just sing songs, dance, eat pretzels, and play a game of who can spot the stork nests first. 

The first town we went site seeing in was Spanta and saw the amazing artwork on the Merry Cemetery. While driving through we also stopped at an old Village Museum. Apparently these type of museums are really popular in Europe, they are a village where they bring all of the old country houses that they could find to one place and made a town with them. Featuring all of the old tools, barns, and the simple way of life. It was fun for the kids to run around. 

The next day we went on a very long train ride through the mountains. We thought we were getting the best deal because when we got there there was a cart that was completely empty, but then after sitting around for an hour we learned that our train was going to be the slowest. We were suppose to leave around 9, but didn't end up leaving until 10:45. It was pure beauty riding around and through the valley, but after 2 hours we were all hot and tired. We ended up getting to the top and jumping on a different train to ride home in 1/3 the time it took to get there, but we still did not end up getting back until 16:00. 

That night we went to the beautiful town of Sighisoara for a medieval festival. We slept in a AirB&B right next to the main town square so we were blessed with the Irish/polish/Bulgarian folk bands jamming until late at night. The music was awesome!!!!!! We spent the whole next day around the town watching sword fighting, dancing and climbing the bell tower. 

Those first few days were my absolute favorite so far. We also traveled to Bucharest, which is Romania's capital, but there was nothing fun about it. The rest of the country was beautiful, filled with colorful buildings and happy people. Unfortunately Romania, like a lot of the countries over here, have been ruled by communism for a long time, so all of the building in the big cities are boring, old and look very dirty. Though times have changed it has still taken them a long time to get where they are now.

 

 

Riding on the train 

The Kajdy Family

 One of the beautiful churches

On top of the bell tower

At the Old Village Museum 

I made it to Poland

   For those of you who do not know, I am now officially an Au Pair (or nanny) for an awesome family right outside of Warsaw, Poland. Most people asked me why I decided on Poland, and it was easy for me. Obviously I love to travel and see all the tourist sites, but I love being in places that are off the path. Places that not very many tourists go... like Poland. I am living with a family in their home, eating their food, driving their car, going on all of their trips and hanging out with their children for the next few months. It's going to be an adventure to say the least.


   I have been in Poland for two weeks now, and it has been a blast! I got picked up at the airport by the Dad, Alex. He then drove me to the summer house, which reminds me of Sun Valley with tree’s, streams and the great outdoor with no shops or anything nearby. I stayed there for a week with Grandpa, Anna’s brother, Mickey, who is handicapped, and Maks, the five-year-old boy. Around 9 or 10 at night Grandma would come home from work and then leave again early in the morning. Our days consisted of taking walks, fishing, playing tag, eating a lot of yummy Polish food, reading books while Maks watched TV and sleeping. My first week in Poland was nice with relaxing while not doing much, but after a couple of days I was tired of being all cooped up in a house where the closest town is 15 minutes by car.
    On Tuesday afternoon, the whole family went to pick up Julie, the seven-year-old girl, from summer camp. She went to a performing arts camp and at the end they put together a show where they sang and danced a few songs and after we watched a few LONG movies that they put together over the week. Imagine watching six movies, which were all 10-14 minutes long, all in Polish that little kids created. It was great. But honestly they were done well, I was just bored by the end. After we packed up Julie and the car we drove to their house in Warsaw.
    I have been here for the past few days, and we have had a lot of fun. The kids are great and play well together until about 3 PM, when they start getting tired and annoyed of each other then are super cranky, and they fight and yell and scream and cry. I guess that’s kids though, right? It hard because I can adequately communicate with everyone in the family (even the extended family) except for Maks, so he starts to get annoyed with everyone speaking in English. I think that has been the biggest struggle for him so far, but we are working on having him learn English. My biggest struggle is when they all start speaking in Polish. Usually, they are just discussing things like parents or explaining to the kids what is going on, but every so often I hear my name being said or the few words that I know in Polish. I usually have NO idea what they are saying, but I know that it is about me. Sometimes they will translate it and other times I think they forget that I don’t know Polish. Everything about becoming an Au Pair is a learning experience.

me with the 2 kids, Julie and Maks.

We went sailing one day on the lake by the summer house

Fishing on the river with Grandpa and Maks

There are beautiful views everywhere here!

While we went on our daily walks at the summer house we became butterfly catchers.

Becoming a true Parisian

Now that I have been out of Paris for a little while, I realized that when you are there conforming to their Parisian lifestyle is the key to a great trip. I put together a few of my favorite things that I learned over the past month. 

To be a true Parisian while traveling in Paris, you need to …

- Learn a few words in French… if you walk into a bakery or a restaurant saying “bonjour” you will have a way better experience. Learning “hello” “please” “thank you” “pardon” “may I have” and “goodbye” goes A LOONNGG WAY in the eyes of a Parisian.

- Dress like a Parisian. And by that I mean don’t wear your short Free People or cute Jcrew shorts. You are telling everyone that you are an American and want to be looked at/touched/cat called/pickpocketed. [Quick story: I was doing my laundry and decided to throw on my one pair of jean shorts just to walk the 2 1/2 blocks to the laundry mat. On my 3-minute walk, I was cat called, honked at, grabbed, and glared at by a few people. The cat calling may boost my confidence for about half a second and then you look at the guys and realize they are gross fat old men 99% of the time. And that was the first and last time I wore shorts in Paris.]

- But seriously dress like you live in Paris. Fun fact about Parisians: they always wear pants. If it's 95 degrees outside most people will be wearing jeans with a shirt/blouse/tank with a winter coat thrown over their arm or in their bag. They are always cold. Buy some cute summery scarves and you are golden.

 - Learn how to swipe your Metro pass without opening your bag to get it out. The first few days we (mostly me) would continuously hold up everyone in line to get home or work or wherever he or she is going at that moment. It sucks, and it makes all the Parisian annoyed at the stupid American. You can swipe your pass through anything. After learning that I always knew where my pass was in my purse, and it was an easy swipe to get through quickly.

- Do not use big bills to pay for small things. I think this goes almost everywhere in Europe, but if you have a 50€ chances are most people will not have change for it or will not take it even if they do have change for it. I have had times where I am buying something for a few Euros, and the cashier won’t even take my 20€ … UGH, Annoying.

- Do Not Smile. Okay, well you can smile, but not towards anyone. If you accidently do smile towards someone, do not show your teeth while you are smiling at them. In the French culture smiling with your teeth is a sign that you are interested in them and may or may not want to go home with them if you catch my drift. ;) On that note, don’t look at people when you are walking around. Most people in Paris enjoy keeping to themselves. Parisians do not look at people. Parisians look through people.

- Do not eat the Chinese food. When you walk around Paris, there are a bunch of little restaurants that have yummy looking Chinese food. Do not be fooled by the delicious colors and smells. The TWO places that we went to over the month both turned into hot messes. Learn your lesson from me. The food has been sitting out all day. Not good.

- Hang out on the Seine. True Parisian grabs a baguette and some cheese and a bottle of wine or two (if that is your thing) and hang out on the river. Some people bring their guitars, but usually you are there to laugh, hang out and make memories. It turns into a party late and night, but it is something everyone can enjoy.

A group of us going to the catacombs one afternoon

Pasta dinner in our Apartment

There is the Mona Lisa... everyone comes to see this small tiny painting, but there are so many more AMAZING art pieces in the Louvre.

The day I ditched class

     It started out like every other day. Mia, Taylor, and I were running late (but still on time) like usual. As we left the apartment and walked to the metro stop, Mia told us that she forgot her lipstick. A few seconds I realized how bright it was outside and that I had forgotten my sun glasses. We all paused and after a short second decided that it was a sign.  We needed to go back to get those crucial things to get us through the day. On our walk back to the apartment, we remind each other how later we were going to be and decided it probably was a good day just to miss class altogether.

     After brainstorming for .2 seconds, we all agreed that we wanted to go to the Louvre instead. Once we got there and got our #basic Starbucks we made our way to the line. (Fun fact: if you are a student and have a student ID you get into the Louvre and other museums for free!) After we had got inside, we spent about 4 hours exploring about 1/5 of the museum. Imagine looking at old painting/statues/carving/bowls and other random artifacts for 4 hours. We were all tired and got a little hungry, and if you know me you know that as soon as I get hungry it is vital for me to eat within the next few minutes or else I turn into a cranky hangry monster. We left the Louvre and walked around to find lunch and settled for a gross (high-end) food court. 

     After eating our nasty old Chinese food, we walked to the Opera. If you pay a few dollars, you can walk around the inside of the Opera building. If you look at the pictures below, that obviously don’t do it justice, you will see that it is breathtaking. On the top floor you can go into one of the balcony booths and see the stage, in other parts of the building you can see rooms filled with books, old costumes, dance studios, and a balcony to get the full effect of the building. It was so worth it.

    Once we finished our self-guided tour of the opera, we started to make our way home. We had walked 12 miles (Thanks, IPhone health apps) and only had a little time to rest up and meet our class. See, our class had a night field trip to the Louvre later on that same evening. Obviously we knew that, but in our head going to the Louvre sounded way more exciting in the morning. Once we got to the Louvre for the second time that day we decided to explain to our teacher our "confusion" about why we missed class and went to explore the museum … again. After two more hours, we were burnt out. The 3 of us went back home and passed out until we had to get up for class the next morning.
Even though we missed our class, I felt that I learned so much more than I would have in class that day. Isn’t that what studying abroad is about? Learning not only in the classroom but also in the beautiful city that we are only living in for a little while.

nothing goes better with a Starbucks then a selfie right??

One of the coolest parts of the Louvre is napoleons apartment.

Inside the opera

"hey look, I am holding the Louvre"

On the roof where we ate lunch

The happiest place on earth is in Paris?

     No, I do not mean the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre, but those places are both incredible and I will talk about both of them in another blog post. I am talking about Disneyland!! If you are in Paris for an extended vacation and are tired of museums and old churches, I would 100% suggest you go. We went on a warm-ish day, and it was perfect. We got there at 11 and by the time we walked out after the fireworks show we had gone on every single ride, some twice and had seen everything that we wanted to see. Imagine a Disneyland that is a little more run down, the rides are a little shorter, and there are no churros… that is Disneyland Paris!! And the best part is that we did not wait longer than 15/20 minutes for a ride. Most of the time we could just walk directly onto the ride. It was perfect.
If you buy your tickets online a few days before they are only 55€. I have never been the one that buys my tickets when I go to Disneyland in California, but I think it is WAY more than 55€ for a day.
One thing that we noticed while we were there was that all of the rides were just a little different. The teacups only fit three people, the Haunted Mansion ride did not have the ghost sitting next to you, and Indiana Jones is a stupid roller coaster. As long as you get over the fact that you are not in California you can have an incredible day.
     At the end of the day, they have a fun light/firework show. If you think that it is like the world of color at California adventure you are wrong… remember everything in the park is a little different. They turn the castle into a screen where they play cute sing-a-long sense from a bunch of different Disney movies ending with a big firework show. I would have to say that that was my favorite part of the whole day. I was sitting with 2 of my sorority sisters singing on the top of our lungs to all of the Disney songs.
     ** One thing to remember is that if you are taking the metro to hurry as soon as the show is over. The metro starts slowing down and making fewer stops as the night goes on, so it is important to rush out of the gates to make sure you make the metro. You will be squished in like sardines, but it is so worth it making the train.

Our other roommate Ashley decided to make the trip to Disneyland with us for the day!

My 2 cute Alpha Phis on the Tea cups

Taylor and I being silly

After a long day it is important to have a photo shoot with the princess castle.

It has already been three weeks in the City of Lights!

I can’t believe that I have already been in Paris for three weeks, and I also can’t believe that I haven’t posted anything since I was in Italy. But to sum up the past few weeks all I can say is that it has been incredible. I can proudly say that I have had enough crepes and croissants for my whole life, but when in Paris right?

I have the cutest apartment. Our kitchen is the size of a large closet, but we make do. I am living with 2 of my sorority sisters Taylor and Mia. They have been the best part of my trip. They have been the biggest blessing in my life for these past few weeks and part of my familiar life back at home. The best thing is that we are always having a great time together. We are constantly laughing… not just little chuckles… So hard that our abs hurt (it’s like I’ve been working out every day Its great!).

We live in the 11th arrondissements, which is how they differentiate the districts from each other within the big city. Everyone in our program is scattered around the city, and loves to brag about their district... But to be honest we have it all. We even have a Starbucks and Chipotle. What more can you need? We live on the second floor in our apartment building. Below us are a restaurant and a magazine shop, at first we were worried that it was going to be super loud at night, but luckily there are rarely any people eating at the restaurant, so it has been great.

Our Mondays-Thursdays are all pretty similar. We wake up a few minutes to late, hurry around the house and pretend that we are eating cereal or a piece of fruit when we all know that we are going to the boulangeries (bakery) at the end of the block. After we grab a croissant or two or three we walk across the street to the metro stop. Remember how I said earlier that we have the best locations? Well, most people have to walk a few minutes to get to their metro, we only have to walk about 30 feet to get to ours. After we ride two different metros, we get off and walk to our school. Right now it is under construction, so it does not look attractive from the outside, but without construction I think it might be fun courtyard to hang out in after class. We have class every day from 9-12 and then on Monday/Wednesday we have a one-hour French class afterward.

After our classes, we have free time. Some days we go home and get stuff done. We do homework, watch Netflix, take naps… important thing. Other days we go out and explore. We have been all over Paris. Sometimes we go out without having a destination, other days we go to a museum/church/historic site.

Highs

+ I get to explore Paris with 2 of my favorite people

+ I know how to order food in French

+ The shopping in Paris is AMAZING

+ My bed is so comfortable

+ I am walking everywhere and becoming a Parisian

Lows

- I had to get a French phone number

- The pho place by my house has bubble tea (YAYY my fav), but it is so watery and gross

- We don’t have a laundry machine in the house, so we have to lug all of our dirty clothes a few blocks away to a dirty, gross laundry mat (first world problems)

The first day of class we took a boat tour and just happened by this awesome tower

Mia, Taylor and I on the boat tour

My bed (I'll post more pictures of my house another day, but its such a comfy bed!!)

Sometimes we honestly forget that we are actually in Paris for school because we are constantly roaming the city!

After a long night out we deserve a crepe or two :)

Oh Italy ...

     Wow. All I can say about Italy is WOW! We spent five days hiking the Amalfi Coast with a traveling company called Backroads. I had never traveled with an outdoor adventure travel company.  The handled everything from setting up our meals and hotels to making sure we have the proper attire for the day and having yummy snack or drink waiting for us in the middle of our hike somewhere. We hiked through Sorrento, Capri, Amalfi, Positano and so many cute little towns that we just passed through. There were breath-taking views, and we climbed to the tallest peak on Capri and along the cliffs of the coast. 

     On the first day after we did our first short hike around Sorrento, we made our way to the dock and took a beautiful sailboat ride to the island Capri. It wasn’t just any sailboat. Backroads do everything with style, and we took the prettiest wooden sailboat I have ever seen (I don’t know much about sailboats, but from what I have noticed it was unbelievable). Over the week we went to some of the oldest churches in Italy, had a pizza making lesson, ate tons of gelato, had some of the yummiest lemonade I have ever had, slept, and one of the best parts was that I got to do it all with my mom and 16 other super-fun people! 

     One of my favorite hikes that we did was on the island Capri. We took the cutest convertible taxis to the other side of the island and hiked from the bottom all the way up, ending with a beautiful lookout. At the top, there was a café and the Backroads leaders rewarded us all with the most delicious lemon/mint slush drink that I have ever had! It was sweet yet perfectly sour, and the fresh mint made it a drink that I will remember forever.  After resting at the highest point on the island, we took a peaceful single person chair lift down the mountain.

Lows

- I got sick for a few days after

High

+ Traveling with my mom

+ The food

+ That lemon slush drink that I just want to drink 24/7

+ All the way cool people that I met

+ Not having to carry my luggage anywhere

+ I am a pro pizza maker

 (All the coastal towns are so cute!)

 (Our transportation from the main land to the island of Capri)

 (On the sail boat ride! These 3 rocks/boulders(?) are super famous. The middle one has an arch (reminds me of Cabo) and it is suppose to be good luck to go through it.)

 (All the different boats on Capri)

 (I call this one: Goat on the ruin)

 (The single person chairlift that I was talking about earlier. It was so peaceful! If anyone goes to Capri they MUST ride this either up or down)

(the Amalfi coast is so beautiful. This is Positano!)

(Such an amazing trip all thanks to this lady!)

Pompeii for the Day

            Saturday was a great day! We left Rome early morning and took a train to Naples, saw Pompeii, Drove to Sorrento, Watched an amazing sunset, ate delicious food and obviously had a gelato… or 2.

            After having a few laughs on the train trying to understand how European traveling works we made it to Naples. A short trip later and we were in Pompeii. There we met up with our tour guide, Hector and he took us around. Before being there I did not know much about the city or what happened there so it was amazing walking down streets that were built so many years ago. Obviously no one has time to write down ever-single detail about Pompeii, but I will say that it was one of my favorite things we have seen so far. The people back then had restaurants, forums (malls), public bathrooms, churches, houses (with separate rooms), water and piping system, and even brothels. It just makes me want to go back to 75 A.D. to see it all in action not just as ruins. I would definitely recommend everyone to go and see it if they are in the area!

Lows

- Having a lot of (heavy) luggage on the train

- Still being somewhat jet-lagged

- Having a sketchy driver who made me scream a few times

Highs

+ Not missing our train

+Gelato

+ Our tour guide in Pompeii

+ Our tour guide in Pompeii making up funny stories about life in 70 A.D.

+ Our tour guide in Pompeii telling us that the funny stories were true

+ Getting lost in Sorrento

+Watching a beautiful sunset off the coast of Sorrento

 

Part of the temple at the end of the forum in Pompeii

 

Our tour guide, Hector, and I in the middle of the forum in Pompeii. The forum was complete with its own restaurants, bathrooms, shops, temples, city hall, grocery store, Bath houses, and more!

 

One of the only original wall paintings

I think I am still jet-lagged

     I made it to ROME! After 15 or so hours in a plane with a layover in Washington DC, I made it. I've already taken about a thousand photos, and I have only been in Europe for two days! It has truly been so amazing already I do not even know where to start. When we [my mom and I] finally got to our hotel yesterday morning they did not have a room ready for us, so while we were smelling like a sweaty airplane seat we decided to walk around Rome.

     This first place I wanted to go was the Trevi fountain (obviously because it was pretty iconic in the Lizzie McGuire Movie, but I didn't want my mom to know that was the main reason). As soon as we got there and looked around we realized that all of Rome's excavations were not going to stop once we got to town. Saddened by the site and the fact that I was not going to be able to make a wish and throw a coin into the fountain we moved onward to see a few other famous sites that were close by.

     After getting lost only a few times, we made our way back to the hotel to take a break because we were extremely jet-lagged and wanted just 30-minute to take showers and relax. Once we got back to the hotel, they informed us that our room was still not ready. From there we left on our 4-hour tour of the Vatican, not only smelling like a sweaty airplane seat, but looking like one too.

     Visiting the Vatican was amazing, though I almost fell asleep standing up a few times. I learned so much from our fantastic tour guide and saw some of the most incredible pieces of art in the whole world. There are rooms and courtyards and entire buildings lined with paintings, statues, and tapestries. It was truly breathtaking.

-----------------

    After not sleeping very well, we woke the this morning having a packed day in Rome. I am sure that by the end of the tour we stopped and saw every significant monument made for every Roman God/Godess, Pope, Emperor, President, King, and Prime Minister. We saw ruins through every old era imaginable, and it was incredible! It was unbelievable seeing apartment buildings next to ruins of ancient temples next to a palace all centered around a beautiful marble fountain. It was breathtaking!!!

    One of my favorite things that I did not realize was going to help me before I came was knowing about all of my Roman Gods and Goddesses. Last year I ended up taking a Greek mythology class where we studied all of the Gods with Greek and Roman names. As our fantastic tour guide started pointing out monuments I realized where I have seen and heard about most of the gods. I could depict who the statue was before the tour guide showed them to us. It was cool knowing that a class that I disliked so much could make traveling to Europe more exciting.

Highs
+ we made it to Europe
+ all my bags made it to Europe
+ I am so grateful I took mythology in College
+ PASTA
+ You can get a selfie stick on every street corner

Lows:
- I am still on a weird sleeping clock
- I bought the wrong size converse the day that I left the USA
- PASTA
- not knowing Italian

 

Trevi Fountain - The guard was telling me that I was taking too long so I had him jump in my great photo to let me stay longer (notice the no sleep and no shower).

 

View from a window in one of the buildings of the Vatican overlooking Rome

 

The Colosseum!!

 

Look at how amazing it is (and how cute mom and I are)!!

 

These pictures do not do the Colosseum justice! It was breathtaking! 

 

I loved all of the cute little statues on top of the buildings

 

The Pantheon Temple built forever ago to worship all of the Roman Gods

What am I doing with my life?!

Everyone keeps asking me what I am doing next in life… and I wish that I was one of those kids growing up that knew right off the bat what I wanted to be. As of right now I have the next 7 ½ months planned, but nothing more than that. Currently, I am sitting on an airplane flying to Europe to start the next chapter of my life.
My mom and I are traveling through Italy for the next eight days. We are going traveling for a few days in Rome, Capri, and Sorrento and then going on a Backroads trip through the Amalfi coast for five days. We are hiking and seeing the sites along the beautiful coastal areas.
From there I am going to Paris for a month to take my final class in my college career. We have class mon-thurs for a few hours and then are free the rest of the time to do whatever we want. As a class, we are going to Normandy for a weekend, but other than that, they house us in apartments with 3-5 students from the University of Utah, and we travel through Paris for a month!
After Paris, I am going Poland for six months. There I will be an Au Pair for a family from July until December. The family that I am living with is amazing. We have skyped/texted/talked on the phone a few times a week for the past month. They have two little kids (Girl-7 & Boy-5), love to ski, and best of all they love to travel. They are excited for me to come out to go on all of their family trips planned over the 6-month period.
Obviously I understand that this next adventure is not going to be all fun and games. There are going to be days where I want to go home and quit, but I also feel that this will be the perfect way for me to travel and see our amazing world. I will be able to grow from a life changing experience that most people do not get to have.

Graduation

 Last week put on my gown and cutely decorated cap and walked down to the stage and picked up my diploma. I finally graduated. Now, it is time to leave the University of Utah, my friends, and the place I have called home for the past three years. After taking a few (large) loads of junk to Goodwill, loading up my car, and saying the hardest goodbye of my life... I left Utah.