Fall Break

Mediterannean Cruise


Okay so I've decided to do the cruise this way...I originally typed out the first two days and it was sooooo long, almost as long as my Wales entry. So I'm just going to post brief descriptions and pictures and would love to talk to you more about it when I get home, because there's just so much to tell...so many great things that I got to see. Anyhow I'll post brief descriptions of each city/day/port etc. with the pictures I've stolen from my friends! Sorry it took so long, the semester has really picked up and things have gotten so busy.

Day 1 - Villefranche/Nice/Monaco/Monte Carlo
The first day we woke up off the coast of Southern France at a port called Villefranche. First impressions of the French Rivera...you need to win a few lotteries to live down there. Bill gates recently bought a house there, it's the most expensive house in the world now officially (550 million?....something crazy like that). Anyways the port if gorgeous and it almost looks like a movie set its so perfect and colorful. We make our way along the coast to Monaco, the smallest sovereign state next to the Vatican in Rome. It is the wealthiest place in Europe, lots of tax benefits if you live there but you need tons and tons of money obviously. We saw the roads where the Formula One tracks are for racing...it is literally the streets of Monaco. You can hear the engines of the ferraris making their way around the streets. You can rent one for one loop of the track for something like 200 Euros. Anyways it was a beautiful day! We made it up the hilltop to Monte Carlo which is a lot smaller than you would think. I played slots and walked when I was up 1 Euro! The tour driver talked a lot about Grace Kelly, she is Monaco's Princess Diana. We saw the church she was buried in and also the Palace of Monaco.

Port of Villefranche in the morning
Race Track of Formula One on the streets of Monaco

Driving up Villefranche looking back over the port...our ship is the furthest/biggest oneMonte Carlo!

Palace of Monaco.
Day 2: Pisa/Florence, Italia!!
So quickly having switched from Spanish/Catalan in the cab in Barcelona, then French in Monaco, now we were onto Italian! We pulled into the port of Livorno in northern Italy. We hopped a but that would bring us to Pisa and Florence for the day. Our first stop was Pisa...we got to see the leaning tower! It really is funny walking up to the tower watching everyone doing 'the pose' for their cameras holding the tower up! It is a lot harder than it looks! I don't think we ever got it right. I had better ones on my camera but thats a story for Rome. We took some fun pictures and then headed onto Florence. Funny fact, Pinocchio is everywhere in Italy...he is the official Disney star of Italy. So Florence was beautiful. We would up is a piazza (Italian for 'open space') and spent about 3 hours eating lunch...a typical Italian meal lasts for hours so we were carrying on with that tradition. We got Italian pizza and calzones...so delicious. If you have read the description in 'Eat, Pray, Love' about how she believes the food actually loves her back...that's how it is. After lunch we wandered the back alleys and lively streets of Florence. Florence smells entirely like leather, this is one of the things they are famous for. There are leather shops everywhere! Also Chianti wine has its home in Italy, it is sold absolutely everywhere as well. 'The David' is located in Italy however museums are closed on Mondays so there was not a chance for us to go view it. The streets are filled with statues and street performers though. We made our way to the Ponte Vecchio a famous bridge that is only allowed to sell gold in its shops. A street entirely of things I cannot own! This day was the beginning of the realization that the Italian people are some of the nicest in the world (though some of my friends would swear Ireland has them beat). Everywhere you go if you look lost, people try to help you...they offer up English without being asked and everyone calls you 'bella' (beautiful) and 'carina' (cutie). Italian culture is addicting. I wish I had had more time in Florence, but alas it was time to move on.

The leaning tower of Pisa

Trying our best...
Wine and a cappuccino in Florence (I needed caffeine badly)
Playing around at lunch with Ashley while waiting for our food...
The Ponte Vecchio
The girls and I on the Ponte VecchioDay 3: ROMA!
We pulled into the industrial port of Civitavecchia (took me so long to pronounce properly). This would be the day that I quickly figured out how to so..'where' 'right' 'left' 'at the end of' 'how far' etc. because Rome has to be one of the most confusing cities in the world. Doesn't have a grid system at all...streets curve at their own will and change names without informing you that they have done so. We got left off just outside the Vatican and made our way down and across the Tiber. Finding the Pantheon took the better part of the next hour even though the map told us it should have taken 10 minutes...oh well....adventure. The Pantheon is huge, amazing, I could use every adjective to describe the sites of Rome but I'd rather leave it to the pictures and my second trip back (November 28th-December1st). We enjoyed a lovely day finding the majority of the monuments that makes Rome so famous.

There were two mishaps that I should note. Upon leaving the Spanish steps with Ashley while walking I felt a very sharp pain in the bottom of my foot, knocked the wind out of my a little. It was a piece of metal...it had gone through my flip flip and about a cm. into my foot! Enough to have touched a nerve, because I lost feeling in my two smallest toes (left foot). So we were too nervous to pull it out on our own, a policeman noticed and motion that he called for help....so then I hear and ambulence and I'm like 'greattt'...because as chance would have it...I had left my passport on board that day and had no form of ID...oh well I'm here, I'm fine...it all worked out! So the paramedics show up and I ask 'Parla Ingels' and they all laugh but then seriously say 'No'. So though painful, this event was serious comedic relief...because we all had no clue how to communicate...I had also left my translation book on the ship (the few phrases I was getting were from a tour book). HAHA, really its funny right? So they count down in Italian and yank it out...fun fun...then they really need to say something and its not working so I start yelling to the street' DOES ANYONE SPEAK ENGLISH PLEASE?!?!" My friend Ashley is laughing pretty hard, but someone responds, helps with translations enough that we successfully leave the situation, me limping, but not in an Italian hospital. I saw a few more sites, made it back to the bus, left my camera on the bus, ended up needing a tetanus AND penicillin shot when I got back to the boat that night....but hey dinner was great that night....and I think I got to watch Enchanted on tv while I rested my battle wounds from Rome.

The Pantheon


The Trevi FountainThe Paramedics!!

Spanish Steps
Arch of Constantine
The Collosseum
Day 4: Naples/Vesuvius/Pompeii
Probably my favorite experience since being here in Europe and definitely my favorite day of the cruise. We docked in Naples...a beautiful city...didn't actually get to see it but I hope to get back there when I go to Rome again. Ashley and I hopped a bus to make our way through Naples to Mt. Vesuvius. There was a morning fog and though sunny it was originally hard to see. It eerily crept into view the closer we got. The climb in the bus up Vesuvius was interesting! The roads are soooo windy and the bus has to beep the horn before every turn...which was about 40 turns...because if there is an oncoming vehicle one of us would need to back up a ways. So we made it a good portion up the mountain and began our climb to the crater. It was about an hour to an hour and a half total...the entire hike was stunning. You can look down over the city of Naples and as you slowly make your way up to about low cloud level it looks almost heavenly. I just can't do the pictures justice but the climb was probably the most amazing thing I've done since being abroad.

After Vesuvius we made our way to Pompeii which is equally as creepy sitting in the shadows of Vesuvius it literally looks like everyone just decided to pack up and left everything exactly how it was. The roads, houses, stadiums, bars, temples, town squares etc are all still in tact like you couldn't believe. In the groves of the road you can see the marks carts made almost 2000 years ago. The wall paintings in homes are still visible and vivid in color. If you don't know the story Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. Pompeii is far enough away that they were clear of lava flow however the volcanic gas and ash shot out for miles. Though 8000 citizens fled to safety it is estimated that 2000 lost their lives...mostly children, women and the elderly (those that couldn't run). They were killed by the poisonous gases which is why the body casts that have been found are mostly of people covering their faces trying to protect themselves or their children in their final moments. The city was covered in about 20+ feet of ash and excavation will not be completed entirely for several more years.

Driving towards the Volcano

Upon reaching the crater....just to give you an idea of size...it would take over an hour to walk around the edge.
Playing around on a volcano....why not.
Yes, it's still active....volcanic gas rising.
Above cloud level...beautiful
Me and Ashley
Incredible
City of Pompeii as those left it in 79 AD
Stepping stones and groves in the street
Wall paintings in houses
Me and Pompeii
Cast of a victim of the 79 AD eruption.
The volcano always watching over the city.
Day 5: Sicliy
I can successfully say I saw Palermo, Sicily for 20 minutes. There is not a whole lot to do if you didn't book a tour and after getting metal stuck in my foot and hiking Vesuvius I was limping so we got off...said hi...and got back on the ship to rest by the pool for the afternoon.

We really did have an amazing time. I was ambitious enough to set my alarm from 7:30 every morning and saw the sun rise in almost ever port we made it to. The southern coast of Europe is truly beautiful, a completely different world that I was lucky enough to get a glimpse of.


Barcelona was absolutely beautiful as well for the final two days of our vacation...the majority was spent lounging around local cafes or mozying around the city to see some sights. The Segrada Familia is a beautiful church that was the idea and project of Gaudi a famous Spanish architect and artist. He is responsible for much of the art in and around the city including Park Guell and Casa Batllo. Again I didn't have my camera so I'll pull some pictures from the internet. I hope I make it back to Barcelona some time it's very beautiful and full of culture.


The End.

JUST KIDDING!

So you know how everyone has one of those travel stories that you're like 'ughhh, you're an idiot'...

well today was my day...YAY

Got to the airport in time...hand my passport to the agent. He says 'You're not listed as on this flight'. I hand him my reservation. He says 'Oh the ten a.m. flight?'...'yes'...'well mam, you're flight was ten a.m....YESTERDAY'

Note to self - check not only the time of the flight, but the date as well.

Hope you can laugh as much as I did.

Enjoy your evenings!!!

<3

-Kate

Dublin...

The photos are coming I promise, my hard-drive decided it hated me once I put them on my computer so I've been transferring them off to have enough space.

Anyways I'm heading to Dublin for the night to see the sights. I'll be home tomorrow in time to say hi and goodnight!!....

Love you lots,
Kate

(Insert theme song to Boondock Saints) :o)

Cruise Photos......and update today!!

....get pumped. (please note I posted 2 entries late last night)

ANYWAYS I got a hold of my friends photos finally!!! They are great so I'll be getting those up with the cruise update later today. I'm mid-working on an essay I have due for my history of London class and updating this, as well as going to Dublin early Saturday with Ashley...busy busy.

So I have the pics on my computer now, can't wait to share them with you....I think what I'm going to do is do an entry per country/port because there are so many great photos and things I want to share....I'll do my best!!!

Lots of love,
Kate

Remember, Remember....

“Remember, remember the fifth of November,

The gunpowder, treason and plot,

I know of no reason

Why the gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot.”

Tonight being the 5th of November was Guy Fawkes Night...this night commemorates the night that Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the House of Lords at parliament in London in the 1600s. This is typically celebrated with fireworks and bonfires with the burning of effigies. Tonight our school sponsored a boat cruise on the Thames as a costume party/celebration. I was originally not going but changed my mind last minute as my class for the evening got canceled!!! So I quickly put on a dress, found a mask...called it a costume and ran out the door, to the tube, and down to the river. The evening was a lot of fun had by all.

Obviously more exciting even is the electing of a new president! Last night we had a party in the common room of our dorms where they had balloons, live CNN and free beer...they really know how to draw the crowds. Either way it was a fun coming together for the American students to watch and see how the election unfolded. I called it a night around 3 a.m. my time and left my computer open next to me while I fell asleep so I could re-fresh it straight away in the morning. The British public would seem to be very happy with our decision as a nation...Obama is the change that the world wants to see in our country. I have high hopes and even an ocean away was very excited by the fun graphs on CNN...don't lie you were too!

Anyways it is late late, but just wanted to pop in to say hi and I miss you all

Love you,
Kate

Wales Pictures...

Me...taking the plunge (from 30 feet above sea level)

"Please mind the gap between the grass and the jagged rocks below"....WALES!

Hey everyone,

Okay so I’m going to get this up for you and plan on trying for tomorrow with the Cruise updated. First of all Wales was amazing...despite freezing cold wind and water it was beautiful and an incredibly adventurous weekend.

Friday we left London around noon from Victoria Coach Station. About 9 of us were taking the bus together so we listened to our Ipods, read, attempted to sleep, and played hangman for the next 8 hours. It was about hour 6 (5 pm) when I saw a witch and realized it was Halloween...really weird...I had completely forgotten!! It isn’t celebrated widely in the UK but I saw a surprising amount of people dressed up and windows decorated....weird to feel like you missed a holiday, if anything I probably saved myself a cavity though!! We arrived in Haverfordwest, Wales around 8 pm exhausted and ready to kick the bus as we exited. A van from Preseli-Venture met us and with a full van we made our way about ten minutes to the lodge. There we were brought to our rooms and made our way to the lodge for dinner with the approximately 35 other Richmond students at Preseli for the weekend. The lodge was quite nice: our rooms were almost hostel style with odd numbers of bunk-beds in each room spread our over a few floors. My room was with 3 other girls and the weekend consisted of hanging clothing everywhere to dry.

Anyways dinner was wonderful, a real home-cooked meal of lasagna and apple pie. We were then briefed as to our groups for the weekend and allowed to hang around for the evening. Every part of the lodge is connected but the actual lodge where you eat and hang around is separate from the area where you sleep and shower, which for noise purposes was a really smart idea. The common area includes a small bar area, with very cheap beer, so all 35 of us proceeded to hang around, have some Guinness and play card games for the better part of the next 2 hours. Around 11 pm we decided it was a fabulous idea to venture out and find the beach at the suggestion of the owners. They said the beach would be lovely this time of night and was only a 10 minute walk. Word to the wise: when you’re in the middle of nowhere....and I mean like the only light is from a village about a mile away consisting of 20 houses....and its about 35 degrees.....and you only have 2 flashlights amongst all of you....and you don’t know where you’re going.....(aside from the beer as well).....you should probably think about your footwear and attire before you venture through the woods to a beach you don’t know the exact location of. (You have to do something cool on Halloween, even if you’re in Wales)

So about 45 minutes later...and about 25 people down we have encountered the longest mud-swamp path I have seen in recent history....my fuggs (fake Uggs) are soaked through and my jeans are knee deep with cold Welsh mud. But hey, it’s an adventure and I’m laughing my head off at the fact several people have lost shoes because they sunk in the mud, we have no clue where the beach is other than that we can hear it, and again little to no light and it’s 35 degrees outside. Keep in mind this vaguely resembles the Blair-Witch Project at this point, we have one tiny white flashlight, there’s no moon, I’m hearing weird animals and we’ve dropped from 35 to maybe 8 people, got my fill of Halloween scare. A few wipe outs later we decide to turn around, realizing clearly we have no clue where we are and probably shouldn’t push our luck. After a shower for myself and one for my fuggs I headed to sleep under nice warm blankets ready for the next morning.

Saturday morning...up at 8 am sharp...alarms going off and the owner wrapping at our doors! We head to breakfast and prepare for the days activities. My day is coasteering and hiking. Coasteering is briefly described to us: It was invented on the Pembrokeshire Coast (which is where the lodge is located), and is the act of making your way along the coast literally....swimming along, rock climbing and cliff jumping back down into the ocean. We had NO IDEA what we were in for at 9 am that morning. We go out to what I will refer to as the ‘barn’...it contained all the equipment for ever outdoor activity we would encounter that weekend. We were each outfitted with a 5mm winter-wetsuit, water-socks, gloves, water shorts (for sliding down rocks), life/flotation vests, and finally helmets. Sooooo being in your bathing suit in later October in literally 40 degrees is cold...just an FYI. Got on all the gear as quick as possible while singing some version of ‘Sexy Can I?’ with the girls and made our way to the vans. We were all in groups of no more than 13...we were just the first group to ‘take the plunge’. So we get to the beach and put on our sneakers (we had to bring a pair to get wet....I got cheapies at TK-Maxx...TK, I know weird). So we’re on the beach like okay cool and the instructor says ‘alright, lets go’....and heads straight into the ocean....okay!?!?! So we waddle on in behind her shrieking and being babies about the cold...but let me tell you those wet-suits do their job....I was pretty warm within a few seconds....but then told to do a ‘Mexican-dunk’....didn’t like the sound of that, for obvious reasons, we all then had to dunk under....most accurate feeling of BRAIN FREEZE ever experienced in my life.

So we swim along, and you realize kicking does no good, so you find you let your feet hang and use your arms you actually get somewhere. Making our way along the coat within about 20 feet, we made our way to the rocks, while avoiding the tides pushing us to smack our chins on them. The rocks are jagged and wet, so climbing is carefully done. We are about a foot out of water, no big drop; several people do slip and simply climb back up to re-join. Getting in and out of the water is the chilliest part of the ordeal. So we trudge through water, to a small island to make our first ‘jump’....really about 2 feet out of water, no big....we are told to do a belly-flop as the water is shallow and this will revent injury...belly flops are not attractive but I decide I can’t affort more injury this year and obey. We climb through caves to other parts of the coast and have a second jump....you think ‘oh no big’ but then you get up to where the jump is and you’re realizing it’s 10 feet out of water...so everyone screams a little on the way down but gets the feel for the adrenalin of the sport. I love this, we all do, we sit on rocks for a bit and other than spotting a seal we discuss dropping out of school and moving to Wales to jump in the ocean for a living.....sadly they aren’t hiring so we carry on. (My parents are sighing of relief right now). So we vote whether or not to take a long swim to a big cliff....or a short one to a small cliff....go big or go home...we’re off to the big one....mind you its 4 girls and 10 guys so the intensity level is set high.

So you start climbing up a rock, and you become entirely focused on climbing and not falling and suddenly you’re up there....cool, amazing view, ‘Okay this is the jump spot’....30 feet above sea level.....You will have to see the pictures.....it’s just really really high. Hardest part obviously is stepping off. So about halfway through I decide it’s my turn....I stand there....I stand there some more...no rush....then the instructor counts down from 3 and I decide I’m never gonna go if I don’t listen to the crazy instructor. So I step off....heart drops, enough time to say hi to a few people, and a scream later I hit the water....ANNNNNNDDDD I’m climbing up the cliff fast as I can to do it AGAIN!! I jump 2 more times, it’s amazing, like the ultimate diving board except pencil dive is the only way not to break limbs. Incredibly amazing, I can’t describe it.

I need to carry on, this is getting long...you see why the cruise is taking forever to write!!!!! So we swim our way back through another cave, find a small waterfall to shower off in and climb up an embankment and back to the beach. Now it’s time to take off the wetsuits and get into sweats....in the middle of a road in Wales...it looked quite funny....I have a picture...it’s PG no worries. So we went back, had lunch, go ready for the hike after watching people come back saying ‘don’t do the long one’...with mud up to their calves. Eh, I’d already ventured in pitch black in the mud, how bad could daylight be?! So we opted for the self-guided (they were all that way) 7 mile hike along the Pembrokeshire coast starting at 2pm. We were given a map and told to follow the ocean all the way back.

The hiking lasted 3 hours....winds had to have been high because I could lean into the wind and it held me...and the mud, well, it’s Wales, I’m convinced mud the national animal or something. No wait, actually sheep are...we aw 10 million sheep on our walk...hands down the sheep have an uprising, Wales is in trouble. Anyways....despite the freezing, it was stunning. The coast looks quite like I’d imagine Scotland and Ireland do and the amazing thing was it’s all at your own choice...there are no fences or wiring between you and the cliffs...and the ocean below...the running joke became ‘mind the gap between the grass and the jagged rocks below’...haha, my Mom’s not laughing. Well because of the wind, we kept our distance. Long hike, couple people slipping in the mud (there were very steep portions up and down) and a hike in the woods later (OH and mind you we figured out exactly where we went wrong on our hike the night before....we were 5 FEET away from the correct paths....stupid American...oh well). Found the lodge....raced for showers (hot showers, YAY)...cleaned up and went to dinner! Curry and fresh bread awaited us with homemade cheesecake and hot chocolate to finish. It is 7 pm and grown 20 year olds are hunched over asking what time it is...we decide this is an opportune time to drink Guinness once again...I would vote this as the theme decision of the group in Wales. Three hours later 7 of us are an hour into the most intense game of Jenga I have ever played in my life. We’re at 28 levels high...and although most of us have only had one or two beers it isn’t helping...so after approximately 55 minutes of play and several spectators later the tower comes down...and we call it a night (I had to share, it was a great game). Heading across the walkway to the dorms you can’t help but look up...you can see all the stars so clearly. You can even see the Milky-Way....it’s beautiful....no city for miles and miles, I enjoy this for as long as I can before surrendering to the cold and heading for my covers...it’s 10:45 pm and 95% of us have gone to sleep....this has to be a first.

Sunday (Today): My body is feeling the day before...we’re all aching pretty bad. Quick breakfast and we’re back to the barn for wetsuits round two....here’s the catch...now they’re all wet from the day before...AND the wind is howling....so it’s endurance time. We get down to our bathing-suits and chattering our teeth pull on soaking, cold wetsuits, booties, and gloves...thankfully once again they warm almost instantly! Whoever invented winter wetsuits knew what they were doing. We hop on the bus and take a 20 minute bus ride down the coast to a beautiful beach to ‘learn to surf’...the challenge really was ‘learn to walk to the water with your board without knocking anyone else unconscious....the wind had a mind of its own and really wanted to steal our boards. The instructor decides we need to warm up so we take a job down the beach, drop to the sand a few times, grapevine, shuffle and finally head out into the water with our boards. The next three hours were spent trying to catch nothing more than about a foot and a half....but it was a fun time with the friends if nothing else. I got up about 4 times...which was good because the wind really didn’t want us to. Everyone did really well, time flew and before we knew it the day was done and it was time to head back to the lodge. Race...literally we raced....for the showers...and had to quickly eat and pack for the 2pm shuttle into Haverfordwest to get the bus. They said it was an opportune time to hit up a pub...and so the drop off point is a pub...35 Americans crowded into a pub...where once again we were faced with the dilemma...Guinness or no Guinness....you know how it ended. We all enjoyed one last pint in Wales and headed for the bus station. About 8 hours later I ended up safe and sound back in London.

And now I have zero energy left in me....and I am soooo tired....but really wanted to update because I felt guilty the whole trip!! But anyways I have pictures from the weekend, I had a waterproof camera so hopefully have those up in coming days under a separate post!!

Lots of love,

Xoxo,

Kate