First day of school

Today is the first day of school for the year. In all honesty, any excitement I had for today and the quarter was based on
1) Having something to do since I have utterly failed at finding someplace to hire me
2) Finally finish my degree that took me 6 years.

Suffice it to say, I dragged myself to campus in a most depressing fashion.

To try to start my first day on a positive note, I hitched a ride with my roommate and we got coffee together. We arrived early which gave us some extra time to just hang out before scurrying off to class. This was awesome and put me in a much better mood than when I woke up.
My first class started at 9 and I walked in quickly noticing the young age of the crowd. I would say that there were maybe 15 or so people including the professors and TA that could legally go to the bars. This class has over 100 people in it, so I felt super old. (For those of you unaware, I am very uncomfortable about my age and the fact that I haven't finished my undergrad yet. Silly as you may find it, I feel as though I stand out. Seriously, I feel like I am fully clothed at a completely nude beach). So I was uncomfortable until the professor started speaking (this man is awesome! Five years ago I took an intro class with him and immediately decided I wanted to double major until the faculty refused to allow it. So now I minor in it instead). This man immediately put a smile on my face and although I still felt a little out of place, I enjoyed my time listening to him.
My next class was a class for my major and I think it should be very interesting since I have already taken a similar one back in Leeds. I am a little concerned about the overlap, but after talking with the professor, I think I will enjoy taking it anyway.
My final class of the day has yet to happen. I have two hours until it starts and am using the time to write this and do some of my course reading. I was hoping to meet some new people today that I could be friends with, but that hasn't really been the case. I met a very nice 70 year old man who is writing a grant to restart the research he was doing here fifteen years ago and then a little freshman who was too scared to actually talk with me after he asked if he could sit at the table I was at. All in all, today has been good and I just hope that it continues!

Canal Madness

Venice is by far one of my favourite cities. It is both majestic and modest without even trying. It is just one of those cities that speaks to you. Well, it spoke to me. The pictures don't even come close to doing it justice, but my love of Venice may also stem from the three awesome people I got to know a bit while I was there. 

I don't know if any of you have been to Venice, but I think it should be on everyone's must see list because c'mon people, it is sinking into the water. I mean it is literally slowly sinking into the water and eventually the city will be overrun by water and then after that it could be on the bottom of the see. Besides the fact that the city is sinking, Venice is a city that you can easily get lost in. One may think this is not a draw, but they would be completely wrong. Seriously, they are completely and utterly wrong. In most cases, that way of thinking is best, but in regards to Venice, you can be completely lost and utterly safe. Plus it is easy enough to find your way home once you learn a few key landmarks (or would you call them watermarks?). I mean there are so many canals and alleyways that it can be tricky, but once you figure out the general direction you need to go in, you are golden. 

Alright enough of the text and onto my story and the pictures! After Roma (during my Easter Break), I got into Venice by train and followed the directions my hostel provided to find them. I walked past the hostel twice until a man working there came and got me. Once I checked in, I stared tentatively at the complex looking map before I headed out to get myself ridiculously lost. Right outside my hostel was the Grand Canal and Campiello San Geremia (pictured at right).

I eventually found myself at a supermarket and decided to buy myself some food since it was almost dinner time. I headed back to my hostel and made my simple dinner of bread, mozzarella, and parma ham. As I ate my dinner at the dining table, I was joined by a couple of Australians. We got to talking and hit it off really well. After we had finished eating, we discussed what we wanted to see in Venice and decided to take a walk around to burn off some of our dinner. We did quite a bit of wandering and eventually found ourselves at the Pointe Realto S. Marco. As you can see from the picture, it was quite dark. After marvelling at the view, we made our way back to the hostel.



The next day after eating breakfast, I meandered around and found some cool small areas. The picture on the left has this awesome tree that hangs over the wall and the small canal. The picture on the right shows an adorable little private bridge to someone's house along with a gondola.

Now one the activities that I really wanted to do was take a ride in a gondola. I didn't just want any gondola ride though, I wanted the stereotypical ride with the singing gondolier. This pretty and peaceful  trip would have cost me 80 euros, so I sighed and allowed my imagination to be suffice. When I think about it, I realise that it wouldn't have been a cheap experience, so I don't know why I thought I could afford it. Granted if I hadn't bought five Venetian masks (one of my slight obsessions), I could have paid the price. But I bought my masks and I couldn't be happier (except for one which I allowed myself to be bullied into buying, but whatever!)

As I wandered, I ran into the two Australians I had hung out with the night before. We ended up spending the day exploring Venice together. We made our way to Piazza San Marco (shown below). Next to that is the Saint Mark clock tower. It was cool because it not only showed the time, but also had the zodiac on the clock face.

After marvelling at the Piazza, we made our way to the Basilica. Inside was beautiful, but I found the outside ceilings to be wondrous with the gold  and all of the painted scenes.

Afterwards we made our way to the Doges Palace. It was a little pricey to go in, but it was pretty cool, so I guess it was worth it. Here is a photo inside the courtyard. There were so many rooms that I started to get a bit tired. The rooms were so elaborate and stunning, but as I moved from room to room the wonder started to decrease. There was just so much of everything! Towards the end of the Doges Palace, there were a few rooms full of weapons and other interesting artefacts. In fact, the piece I was most interested in was the sword gun. It was a legitimate sword with a gun. If you look closely at the sword in the middle of the photo, you can see the barrel of the gun on the blade. And if you follow the barrel to the hilt, you can see what I believe is the hammer of the gun. It was pretty neat!

After the Palace, we did a bit of shopping and some more wandering. By a bit of shopping, I really mean that I made them go into pretty much every single mask shop with me. Soon after we headed home to make ourselves dinner.

If you didn't realise how tiny the "streets" were in Venice, here is a good example. You could maybe fit two people shoulder to shoulder if you needed to, but it would be tight.

I found the street art to be outstanding in many areas. This cutout is pretty awesome looking.

The  Museum of Natural History sign was also pretty awesome looking. I didn't go in, but it looked pretty nifty. What was also pretty nifty was that they had foot prints leading to the museum like the one in the photo on the right.

The graffiti was cool to look at too.

My second morning in Venice, I hung out with the two Australians and we met a Canadian friend of theirs. He was pretty cool. The four of us went and got espresso, got a little lost in the streets, and did a bit more mask shopping before I parted ways with them to catch my train.

Overall, I absolutely loved Venice and cannot wait to go back and explore it better (and do some more mask shopping). Next time though I will have to tread carefully or I may forget that some steps lead to the water and nothing else. It can be a costly mistake especially when it is dark!

Rome-in' Around

From Ancona, I took the train to Rome! Again, I got lost from the train station to my hostel. It was rather pathetic too because it was pretty much just a straight shot. By the time I arrived at my hostel, it was late so I went to sleep.

I was here for a few days and ended up seeing most of the touristy areas. Below are some of the standing columns that  saw on my first day out. 

I spent a good chunk of my first day around the colosseum. Although the area was interesting, there were just so many tourists that it was a bit overwhelming. I honestly have no idea how people survived during the summer when it was full blown tourist season.  The colosseum itself was nice, but expensive.

I retired somewhat early on my first day. Being surrounded by so many people was exhausting plus I stood in line to get into the colosseum for a little less than two hours. The following morning, I headed out away from the colosseum to a huge garden surrounding Villa Borghese. I was hoping to actually see inside the villa, but you have to reserve a spot early online, so I ended up just wandering around. It was a very pretty area with fewer people, so it was a nice change of pace compared to the day prior.

Below is this cool little car/train that people could ride around part of the garden. I just thought it was adorable!

After the gardens, I made my way to the Trevi Fountain. Originally, I took the metro to where I thought the fountain was, but it was just a tiny fountain and I headed back to the hostel before realising that the tiny fountain wasn't the Trevi Fountain. I headed back out and wandered a bit until I finally found the real fountain. I didn't get very close to it because it was crowded and I was concerned about getting pick-pocketed.

Just incase you didn't believe me about the crowd, here it is!

After finding the real Trevi Fountain, I headed back to my hostel to recharge for my final day in Rome. I woke up early and made my way to the Vatican. The line outside was outrageous! It wrapped all the way around almost three walls! Eventually I got inside. The exit was the first thing I actually saw and it was awesome! Just look at it! It was a little awkward to walk down, but it sure looked cool! Why did I see the exit first? I don't know. I was just wandering! 

Overall, I wasn't that impressed with Vatican. There was a lot of gold and even more angels and art dedicated to Jesus. Yes I do understand that it is a religious building, but it was overrun with them! hahaha I was also a bit disappointed with the Sistine Chapel.  I mean it was crazy that it was painted everywhere, but after everyone built it up, I was let down. I don't have any pictures of the Sistine Chapel because they were forbidden, but if you haven't seen it, I am sure there are billions of pictures online.

Here are a few pics inside of the Vatican.

There was a room devoted to the Pope-mobiles. I thought this one was the most interesting/coolest looking on. It was so shiny and gold and intricate.

After the Vatican, I headed to Saint Peter's Square. I was hoping to go into the Basillica (pictured below), but if you look at it, the line was monstrous and it was going to close shortly. Instead of standing in line, I headed to the Castle of St. Angelo.

Here is a beautiful bridge (Ponte St. Angelo) that runs right into the castle.

The castle was a bit disappointing due to its size, but it was still cool. After seeing the castle, I headed back to the hostel for dinner and to take my shoes off. I had the biggest blisters ever! Gross!!!!

The next morning, I headed to the train station to go to beautiful Venice!

I am Going Home?

What do I say about the year? My plane leaves in less than 4 hours for me to go home. It doesn’t seem real. I know people say that all the time, but in this case, it is so true. Actually well, no. I take it back. It feels like I am dehydrated and the sun is intensely  shining on my fragile body and I just had a large coffee. You know what I mean? It sort of feels like you are floating halfway outside your body. The things around you are moving faster than you can and you just try to sort of stay with the crowd as much as possible so you don’t get run over.  It seems like you are in a dream state. I have been in this state on and off for the last week or so. It makes it hard to function. I have been away from home for so long that it sort of seems weird to call it home. For so long, I called Leeds and the UK my home. It feels like I have been here for much longer than a year. Well a little less than a year. Let’s start by putting some numbers to my year.

I have been away from my family for 347 days.

I have been out of the US for 343 days.

I have been to 13 different countries (if you separate Scotland from England)

I have been to over  45 cities

I have seen

§       UK

o      Leeds

o      London

o      Ilkley

o      Manchester

o      Dover

o      Windsor

o      Bath

o      Burmingham

o      Stratford

o      York

§       Scotland

o      Edinburgh

o      Glasgow

o      Isle of Skye

o       

§       Ireland

o      Dublin

o      Kilarney

o      Tralee

o      Dingle

o      Ennis

o      Burren

o      Galway

o      Dingle

o      Aran Islands

§       France

o      Paris

§       Belgium

o      Brussels

§       The Netherlands

o      Amsterdam

§       Germany

o      Bremen

o      Berlin

o      Dusseldorf

§       Greece

o      Athens

o      Nafplio

o      Olympia

o      Patras

§       Italy

o      Ancona

o      Rome

o      Venice

o      Verona

o      Messina

o      Palermo

o      Catania

o      Florence

§       Switzerland

o      Zurich

o      Basel

§       Spain

o      Madrid

o      Seville

o      Barcelona

§       Portugal

o      Lisbon

§       Malta and Gozo

In a year, I have seen a lot, but not nearly as much as I had hoped. Some places were fantastic, other places were eh and there are a few that I don’t need to return to. That is how life is though. Not everything can have a hold on your heart.  People though, people will always have a presence, even the people who probably don’t deserve it. Luckily for me, there were very few duds in the year. I met many amazing people  and a few that I would consider part of my family. These amazing people were there to see me through some of the hard days and nights and they all dealt with my crazy conniptions  and beliefs. Granted I would hope that they all would acknowledge some of the great times too!

I can’t remember if I shared my fears about this trip, but one of them was that I would just float on my own for the year without a tether. Part of me planned to not make lasting friendships with people solely because saying goodbye is too difficult, but I realized that not bonding with these awesome people would be much harder.  I needed them to hold onto so I wouldn’t drown in the ocean of despair. (crap I started mixing metaphors, but whatever! You get it)

My year is a blur of birthdays, mistakes, deaths, crying, laughing, smiling, ridiculous shenanigans, gossip,  yelling, FOMO, adventure, chocolate, fighting,  insecurities, reassurance, and love., but mostly love. I am not talking about  the head over heels, sexual attraction, want to marry sort of love. I mean the warming feeling that you get when someone cares about you and your life and the reciprocation you give to them. A two way street sort of love between friends, but I guess since I share this bond with more than one person maybe I should call it a multitude of streets or maybe a roundabout? I did have a few one way relationships, but at this point they have reached a dead end. Actually no. Not a dead end. I simply stopped mid street. This post certainly is full of a lot of analogies. Sorry about that!

This year has been of loss and gain. I lost a few people; one physically, some emotionally, but I gained more.  I lost part of myself that needed to go and gained something else. I am not sure what exactly I gained, but I know I have changed. I lost a lot of money, but I gained a lot of memories, photos, and experience, which is much more important and profound. 

And with that and the ridiculous length of this post (especially since there are no pictures), I will stop here, but may continue later in another post. 

The Story

So travelling on my own can sometimes lead people, especially men, to ask me questions about me and my travels. As I want to be protect myself, I don't share the truth with people. So basically I am a huge liar. Now my lies are usually used to fend off the men who are trying to get me to go out with them and these men tend to be ten years my senior and working in something like retail. I often times I think they are lying to me anyway, so I have no issue not being honest with them. For example, yesterday this guy was trying to take me out for the evening and was telling me how he had two master degrees in finance and business, but he left his job in Australia to come to Florence and sell purses as a street vendor. I am sorry, but really? I know that it has probably happened before, but really?
Anyways, I thought I would share what my "life" has become.
My lies are as follows

1. I am travelling with my friend Alyssa.
2. My friend Alyssa is actually my girlfriend
3. I am travelling with my boyfriend.
1. His name is Brian. (I named him after my favourite Backstreet Boy/ first celebrity crush so it is always easy to remember. Hey! Don't judge me! I was young!) 
4. The person I am travelling with is inside that store/church/cafe/etc waiting for me
5. Although I hail from California, I am currently living in the UK.
1. If they ask for something more specific, I say I am just outside of London.
6. I am working in Student Accommodation in England.
7. My boyfriend is meeting up with me tomorrow and I can't wait! I haven't seen him in months
1. This only works if I don't say number 2
8. I leave tomorrow
9. I have plans with family friends and cannot meet up
10. I am staying with family friends
11. I have a ride from the train station/bus station/airport/etc because I am meeting up with my family/family friends/my friends...
12. I only carry my phone in case of emergencies because the charges are so high, so I can't give you my number or take yours.
13. I don't have a facebook, so we can't be facebook friends
1. They then tend to ask "What? Why?" and I respond with something like "I don't like people knowing so much about me especially if we haven't made the effort to stay in contact"
14. I don't drink alcohol
1. This one always warrants a multitude of questions about why I don't drink so I say things like
1. It is personal
2. My family has a few alcoholics in it. you know genetics and all
3. Bad decisions can occur when drunk
4. My friend had a close call, so she and I made a pact.

Sometimes I think that my lies are ridiculous and someone is going to call me out on them, but no one has. I then thank them for their interest and say that I have to go to meet up with said travelling companion.

I cannot wait to not have to do so much lying when I get home!

4 full days until I hop on a plane home!

Ferrying About

As you know (or would know if you read the post before this one), I went to Patras and stayed the night before grabbing the ferry to Italy back in Spring. It was a nice place, but man was I tired when I arrived. This is mostly due to the fact that I walked an hour and a half from the bus station to my hotel with all of my stuff and if you know me, you know I can't pack light. This was partially due to the fact that I was told it was only a thirty minute walk and mostly due to the fact I got myself lost, very, very, very lost. Luckily, my hotel had an awesome view. I mean just look at it!

After a quick nap, I did a bit of a walk around the city.  This was a cool church that was about five minutes from my hotel. I moseyed around and found myself not much impressed with the other buildings, so eventually I headed back to my hotel.

Here are some more photos of the view from my hotel room. As you can see from the bright lights, there was a little fun fair taking place.

The next day, I checked out of my hotel and made my way to the ferry. The bag show in the picture isn't mine by the way, I was just too lazy to get up and take a photo of the ship.

Here is part of the interior of the ship from where I ended up sleeping. Yes I slept in an uncomfortable chair because I didn't want to pay extra money for a bed or a real seat.

At least my spot had a nice view of the water!

The following afternoon, we arrived in Ancona, Italy.

Here is a closer view of part of the city.

After getting off the ferry, I walked about twenty minutes to my hostel and met a lovely woman. She and I ended up getting pizza and talking for the majority of the evening. I didn't see much in Ancona, but I wasn't really interested in exploring it too much.

Oh My Zeus

I only had one night in Olympia during my Spring travels because everyone and their mothers told me that it was not worth any sort of trip. Personally I think they were wrong. Olympia was such a tiny place that it was AWESOME. It was a nice quiet area and my hotel was comfy. It only took a few minutes to get to the major sites and it was just relaxing. That is what a vacation is supposed to be about: Relaxation. Yes, it didn't really need more than a day to explore (unless you want to actually hike places), but if you don't want to be bothered and want some peace, this is a nice place to be.

After I checked in, my afternoon was spent walking around the tiny town and then making my way to the Olympic Museum. It was closed. It was supposed to be open, but it wasn't. I was sad. Here is the outside of the building.

After failing to get into the Olympic Museum, I headed to the Archaeological Museum of Olympia. Here are a few things I saw.

The outside of the museum was pretty. Although the garden they had was a little pathetic. I think it might have been in mid-remodel though. I hope it was because it was a bit bare. It was still pretty even with how bare it looked, so credit to the landscaper.

Practically everything was closed and it wasn't even 5pm, so I headed back to the hostel and wasted my time on my computer. The following morning, I woke up early to check out the ruins. You can tell it was early because the sun was still coming up. I don't have the ruins map with me and I don't remember what each of these photos are of, so here are some pictures of the ruins!

Yay Ruins! Yay Olympia!
After the quick trip to Olympia, I headed to Patras to stay an evening and then head to port!