final thoughts....

just a quick summary...

So even tho I was only in Europe for 5 weeks, it seriously seemed like I was there for SO much longer. Looking back on all the things that I have seen and done these past 5 weeks... things that I never thought I´d ever be able to do in my lifetime, makes it seem like I was here forever. I´ll summarize the main aspects of each place...

London - Not going to lie... I fell in love with this place. Being there for 3 weeks, i was able to truly live in the city. I got to see so many wondeful things such as stonehenge, Bath city, castles and churches. I was able to go to Hillsong London not once but twiceee, and I met amazing ppl that i will never forget. Also, the study abroad experience was amazing. I met 24 of the most amazing ppl that i would have never met otherwise!

Scotland - bagpipes. I flippin love bagpipes!! they were everywhere! the ppl of scotland are truly some of the nicest and kindest ppl you will ever meet. The castles are aweosme. my favorite part about scotland tho was when we climbed up that mountain. it was soo amazing at the top and a true experience. Also scotland wasn´t planned at all and it was a spur of the moment thing. So it was more of an adventure if anything and that´s what I loved about it!

Paris - eiffle tower!! haha I coudln´t believe that I actually saw it. My favorite part of paris was the palace of versallis tho. The gardens in that place were just beautiful. To be honest tho, paris was the least favorite for me out of all the places we went to.

Florence - pure beauty. Firenze was less touristy as well which was a nice change actually. This place was soo beautiful and peaceful. I would encourage everyone to go there if you had the chance. I loved the food!! my favorite was seeing the david sculpture by michaelangelo himself. I even snuck a picture of it!

Rome - When in Rome... haha. Rome was by far one of my favorites! There was just soo much to see there and it was an AMAZING time. our hostel was great, and we instantly met awesome ppl! my experiences in rome are ones that i will truly neverforget. I never thought I´d see the vatican, coloseum or the trevi fountain. It was amazing to live in a city with things that were 2000yrs old and with things that are completely new. sooo completely different from the US. our oldest thing is like wat... 250 yrs old??? ahaha

Barcelona - also, one of my favorite places. such a chill and relax city! everyone here seems to be at a slower place, and not in such a hurry all the time. I really enjoyed that and it was extremely eye opening to me. The ppl here were all so nice and friendly as well. I loved lovedd the beach and loved playing volleyball! The night life here is amazing tho. but goes untill the sun comes up! hahah. ppl dont´start going out till 2am and then come home at like 6am or later! soooo crazy, but it was neat to experience it for a few days.LOL


overall, I loveddd this expereince. It truly has opened my eyes to the world around me. I realized how much Inever get to experience other cultures. beingin europe I was able to meet ppl from ALL over the world, it was just awesome. and when traveling ppl are so eager to meet you and get to know you, you make friends instantly. I now have friends from all over the world... and it´s awesome! I honestly encourage everyone to travel. It is an experience you will NEVER forget :)

Day 33... Last FULL day in Europe :(

So here it is... the last full day I will spend in Europe for quite sometime.

To start... IT WAS A SUNNY SUNNY day!!! you know what that meant.... BEACH DAY!!! woo woo, I was soo stoked. We slept in a bit, which was super nice and then we headed for the beach. It was seriously SUCH amazing weather. Not a cloud in the sky and the hotness was just perfect. We found our spot on the beach, laid out for a bit... took my first swim in the mediteranian sea :D I then spotted some ppl playing volleyball, and of course, if you know me, I def. went up to them and asked to play. hahaha

And...they accepted! Brandon and I played wiht the otherppl 4 on 4, and it was awesome. I loved that I was playing volleybally with ppl from spain, finland and italy. Like, that just doesn´t happen in the states. haha I loved it!! I played for a few hours, then went swimming again and laid out some more. boy was I in heaven.

After that, we went back and cleaned up before going out to dinner. we picked a place where we could watch the world cup! goooo USA. We tied... guess that is better than losing eh? I decided to splurg on my meal tonight and got soup and pasta and then the biggest gelato I was allowed to get. haha. it was awesome! and now im back at our hostel on the computer watching a movie with a bunch of the otherppl staying here :) its gonna be a chill night since we are leaving early tomorrow.

Day 32!

so today was another wondeful day :D

our plan was to go to the beach all day, but when we woke up to rain, we planned otherwise. lol. we decided to see the Sangria familia church, which was super neat and then we went to the Guell Park. This park was AWESOME! It was so massive and it was a very unique park. There were tons of statues and cool architecture buildings to look at within. Also, it was up high, so from the top there was an amazing view. There were entertainers playing their guitars and other instraments all throughout the park which was soo fun! haha i love the live music!

After that, I went back to our place and took a nap before we went out again. Earlier we had met a group of ppl from our hostel and we decided that we would all go out together tonight. so i was pretty excited for that!

We met up in the lobby at like 11pm, and just hung out for a bit, and then we went out on the town. It was really fun! we had a pretty large group turnout from our hostel, so that made it even better! So far, the barcelona night life is just fabulous. I really do enjoy this city!

Day 31!! Barcelonaaaaaaaa

So today we arrived in Barcelona! I've always loved the spanish culture (I mean it issss my minor) so I was pretty excited to finally arrive in this city!

We took a 1.5 hour plane ride to Barcelona and arrived here around 12pm. We checked into our last hostel of the trip and then grabbed a bite to eat. One thing I noticed about this place is that life is just so laid back here. I love it! They actually have "siesta" time hahaha. And ppl eat dinner around 10pm! And ppl go out until like 5am! It's soo nuts! haha.

So after we had our lunch, we walked around the beach area and watched some SWEET volleyball, these ppl were like pro, it was awesome! And then we headed back to take a nap considering some of us only got 30 min of sleep the previous night. lol

I ended up going on the computer when I should have been sleeping, so I didn't get a nap in whatsoever. haha, but it was all good! We then went to dinner at like 1130pm, which is completely acceptable here, haha and I bought some gelato. yummyyyyyyy!!

For the night, we went to this club called, Opium. It was SOOOO COOOOOL. It was like out of a high class movie! They played great music, and the venue was just super super awesome. I met some girls from Belgium and danced with their group for the night! (it was nice actually hanging out with some females! hahaha) I had a blast tho. we then headed back and I pretty much passed out due to sleep deprivation. haha

And right now, it's currently raining :( my all day beach day is obviously not happening. hahah, but we are going to see all of the sites today, and hopefully we can have our beach day tomorrow! Coming home in 2 days!! :D

Day 30! When in Rome... the most ridiculous things can happen :D

so today was definitely an interesting and yet amazing day... hahaha

So we decided to sleep in a bit today since we've been averaging around 4 hours of sleep a night, with walking pretty much all day, so we were uber tired. We woke up around 1030am and decided to go to these gardens in Rome and just walk around in them. We went again with the other guys we met in our hostel, and it was a grand time :D We got to see these Italian children playing in the fountain, so that was pretty neat.

After that,we walked around some more and then we headed back to the hostel which was about 430pm, and decided to take a nap and be ready to go out to dinner at around 7pm. So 10 of us met up and went to eat at this place near the coloseum! it was soooo good, I got some type of sweet pasta. We then went back to our place to meet up with two more girls from our hostel before we went out!

so this is where the interesting/fun part starts happening. haha. The other girls we were meeting didn't get ready until about 1230, so we were debating whether we still wanted to go out or not, and of course we decided.. ughh yesss! haha. so we walked and used our map to try to find this place that we heard was pretty sweet. about 40 min into our walk in Rome, we somehow randomly end up in a commercial set at like 1am in the morning. LOL. It was a beer commercial for FIFA world cup! there were actors, directors, producers, set props, catering and EVERYTHING! it was unreal. haha. we're like ughh, are we aloud to be here?? but no one yelled at us, so we continued to stand there in the middle of the set while they were setting up. some man (he states he was one of the actors... hmm) came up to us and started talking to us about our travels and what not. It was just a really random, funny thing. like who honestly runs into a set in Rome at 1am at night??

So we decided we should better leave and find this place before it closes. So as we are walking more, we run into a guy named Mossimo. haha, we kindly asked him where thsi place was, and he happened to know the owner. so we followed and he got all 10 of us in. let me tell you, this was like the COOLEST club ever!! not too big and trashy, and not small and boring. it was perfect. We were dancing like mad,they played new songs, old songs, italian and american songs. and it was awesome. We danced till about 430am and then took a taxi home. I then got in the shower and took a 30 min nap as the sun began to rise.

It was just a super fun night with our new friends we met in Rome, and it was def. one I'll never forget! Now I'm in Barcelona for our last stop! We are gonna go out tonight and then hit up the beach all day tomorrow. I'm hoping to totally get in on a vball match :)

miss you guys! love you!

Day 29!!! when in Rome... ?? :)

So today was honestly one of the best days of my eurotrip! it was AWESOME :D

First off, I got about 5 hours of sleep, which was better than the 3 hours I had received the previous night. haha. We headed to the vatican at about 9am. I was super stoked to see the vatican city, and i learned that it's actually its own country??? say whatttt??? anyhow, last night I met some guys while checking my facebook and they decided to go to the vatican with us in the morning as well. So we went with them, and met a few other cool ppl on the tour with us.

The vatican... gosh was it beautiful. I can't even describe to you what the fresco paintings of michaelangelo looked like in the sistine chapel. I even suck a few pics of his artwork of the sistine chapel. Totally didn't get caught, proud of my picture. haha. The Basilica (aka, St. Peter's) was absolutely BEAUTIFUL... oh my word was it HUGE and just soo magnificant. Gold and marble everywhere. it was seriously so crazy gourgeous... The pope is actually coming to the city tomorrow, so that was neat to find out.

After our tour of the vatican,we walked up St. Peter's and went to the top of the dome (aka cupola). It was about 530 steps and it was totally worth the walk being able to see all of Rome from the top!

Then, after that, we decided to go to the Spanish Steps. Saw them, took some pics and then headed back to our hostel and took a 30 min nap to just regather ourselves. lol. We ended up going to this really cute place for dinner, and I had literaly the BEST PASTA EVER! it was soo soooo goood. We then went and saw the colloseum at night and got some sweet pics!

And afterr thattt, we bought some wine and sat on steps of a fountain in front of the pantheon and watched some entertainment. Then we moved to the trevi fountain and just chilled. We found our friend claire from our hostel as well, and hung out with her. it was nice to finally be with another FEMALE. hahaha. tomorrow we are all going to explore Rome again together and then go out at night :D should be a grand grand time! miss you guys!

Day 28!

When in Rome :D

Today was our first day in Rome, and let me tell you, it was just beautiful! We did soooo much in our first day here, but it was wonderful. First, we checked into our hostel, which is WAY nicer than the last one. haha. We get free breakfast! haha

We then decided to go to the coliseum and it was absolutely magnificant. It was so old and HUGE. We got a guided tour and were able to see the inside. After getting the tour we went to the Roman ruins and had another tour there. This was super interesting because I learned so much about everything!

After the ruins, we walked to the Trevi Fountain... oh mylanta is that HUGE and beautiful. It was soo pretty. and I def. took the picture of me making a wish in the trevi fountain. and somehow I managed to miss the fountain with the first penny I threw in. how did i do that?? i have no idea. Then i almost hit a bird with the next throw that i threw... I did cause many laughs, but it was fun. hahaha! We then went to dinner and back to our hostel for an hour nap. Then headed back to the trevi fountain to see it at night. sooo pretty. it was just a nice calm time. I even looked up and saw the big dipper. pretty neat that halfway across the world we see the same stars :)

tomorrow is the vatican! super stoked!

Day 27!

Amazing, Beautiful, JUST LIKE THE MOVIES... is what I call Florence (Firenze) Italy. This place was just awe strucking,and words honestly do not do it justice. When we arrived we grabbed our cab to our hotel. This hotel was flippin' NICE!! Brandon got us a discount so we were able to get our room for super cheap. mannn was it nice to have a REAL nice hot shower, and clean EVERYTHING!

So we took a bus to get into the center of florence. It was just awesome. I kept relating it all to the movies.andd what was really neat was that everyone kinda looked like me, considering I'm part italian. brown hair, brown eyes, tan... slightly larger nose... it all fit! haha. We first saw the "David" statue sculpted by michaelangelo himself. It was aboslutely wonderful. I totally got a picture of it even tho you are DEF not allowed to. and yes, I did get yelled at, and got a death stare for what seemed like 20 min. but I still have my picture :) hahaha.

After seeing that, we walked around florence longer, and saw one of the oldest bridges in the world. It was built in the 1300's, so that was really neat. Then we walked along the pretty river and took lots of pictures. It was seriousyl just so pretty, I was just taking it all in! We went into this cathedral as well, adn that was just a pretty. AFter that we walked up this mountain to get a better view of the whole city adn then we ate dinner. I got REAL italian pasta. boy was it wondeful. Then I got Gelato... man is that ALWAYS wondeful. hahaha.

After we headed back to our place, adn I went for a run on the streets of Florence. it felt good to run again. I should be sleeping now because we have to get up in about 3 hours to get on another train and head to Rome! I'm so excited. I cannot believe that I'll be in europe for only one more week. I love it here, adn it's wonderful having all these adventures, but I am noticing myself getting homesick hard coree! haha. but i know that this is a trip I will def. always remember. I miss you guys, and i love you :D

Day 26!

So today was our last day in Paris, but we were def. excited to go to Italy!

We first woke up and packed up all our stuff, cuz we were going to be leaving later that day. We then went to the catacombs of Paris, which is a place where they burried a TON of bones from ppl who died in the past of disease and quite a few from the plague. It was unbelievable how many bones where in these caves, pictures can't even do justice (I'll be sure to put pics up anyhow) after that one of my friends from Hillsong - London gave me information of another girl that goes to Hillson - paris. haha. So I sent her a message and we ended up going to the park and watching Futbol being played throughout all of the age groups of the hillsong - paris church. It was really neat meeting christians from london and now paris! Now I feel like i have friends all over the world :)

After that, we had to leave and get somethin little to eat, adn then to grab our bags and catch our 12 hour train ride. Our train ended up being delayed about 2 hours, which really wasn't too bad. I walked around and got a few souveniers and ended up getting some free old postcards from one of the sellers! woo wooooo. Then we boarded our train, and we got like bunk beds in this lil room we were in, so it was super comfy. We played euchre for awhile and then got some sleep :D

Day 25!!

So today was by far, probably my favorite day in Paris! We went to the Palace of Versailles! it was HUGEEE and absolutely beautiful! We got a guided tour in the Palace, and I learned that it was the Palace of King Louis XIV. Pretty neat stuff. My favorite part of Versailles, wasn't the Palace itself, but rather the beautiful gardens that surrounded the palace. They seriously went on FOREVER!

We decided to rent these sweeeeeet bikes to ride around the gardens in. I seriously felt like a little kid again. It was awesome. We rode around the beautiful ponds, fields and trees of the palace. It was wonderful. We did that for prb 2.5 hours and then we had to turn the bikes in. We walked around the gardens just a bit more after that. We spent what we thought would be 3 hours, yet turned into 7 hours at this palace. it was suchh an amazing time!

After the palace, we went and got dinner, I ordered this omelet, cuz it was cheap, but it was wonderful! We then went out to this sweet Irish pub (yes, irish pub in france) and there was a live band. they played ALL English music which was sweet, and it was a very cool place to hang out for a while at night. Then we went to sleep and prepared for another busy day ahead!

Day 24!!

So today was our second day in Paris, and it was another wonderful day! It was eiffel tower day!! haha I feel like that thing is my best friend, considering I have wat seems like hundreds of pictures of it. haha

going to the eiffel tower was the first thing we did that day. right when we got there, you see all of this Indian like ppl selling cheap eiffel tower souveniers. hahaha. it was quite entertaining, because when the police would ride their bikes near where they were all standing, they (like 30 of them) would all sprint and scury away with their merchandise. hahaha. it was just really funny. there was also a guy dressed up in a gorilla suit who would just randomly stand by ppl and take pictures with them, and then want money in return. I was thankful for those ppl, because it made standing in line to go up the tower to go faster. haha

We ended up going to the top of the eiffel tower, and let me tell you, it was TOTALLY worth it!! it was so amazing to see the whole city of paris from the top. gosh, what a feeling. we then went down to teh grass by the eiffel tower to take some sweet pics, and then up to the steps to get our "money maker" shot. haha. I made the boys do both of these, but they appreciated it in the end :)

after that, which was about a 4 hour long event, we met up with my friend, spencer and the boys friends, tim, diana, heather and ben. So our 4 person group turned into a 9 person group! it was really interesting to me that we were able to meet up with ppl from home, halfway across the world, without cell phones. how neat yeah?? so we went out to a nice dinner with all of them.

after that, we went on a night cruise on the river and got to see the city at night. it was beautiful! I got to take even MORE amazing pictures of the eiffel tower at night! haha. it was super fun! then we walked around some more and called it a night. another early morning awaits us the next day!

Day 23!!

so today we woke up at about 5am, and made our journey to Paris, france!! so exciting :)

We arrived in Paris at about noon, and went to our hostel. haha, the hostel was interesting to start with. we couldn't check in to our room yet, so we had to put our bags in the luggage room. so we walked down the stairs of the place to put our luggage away and it was basically a dungeon. hahaha. it was SOOO awesome. I was like "ughhh whatttt??" but our room was pretty sweet, it had 2 beds downstairs and a spiral staircase with two beds upstairs. the bathroom did NOT have a toilet seat, and the shower was interesting, but it's all "part of the experience" right?? <-- that's the line we always use. haha

so after we settled into our hostel, we first decided to go to the arc of triumph. It was WAYYY bigger than I thought. It was awesome to actually see it in person. after the arc, we then went to Notre Dame cathedral. that place was hugeee, and really neat to walk in!! after that, we then went to Louvre and saw the Monolisa!! It is def. WAYYY smaller than most ppl think. and it is covered in glass. but it was super cool to find it. that museum is just amazingly huge by the way! it was awesome to walk around it and see all the famous paintings by famous artists!

after the louve we went to dinner and walked around, and then headed back to our place around midnight. had an early morning the next day!

day 22!!!

so today was another wonderful day. On a sad note, it was my last day in london :( this place really has felt like another home to me, I could easily go places by myself, I knew where things were, I've met some friends... it was beginning to feel like another home!

So today I woke up, and decided to do a little bit of shopping. I may or may not have spent more money than I usually do, which my parents saw and found out already. woops. but I really liked the clothes, and welp they don't sell them in the US! haha.

After I went shopping, I met up with some of the friends I had made, and went to this little coffee place for one last hang out. It was fun! we just talked and chilled for a few hours. Then we left and had to say bye... it was really sad :( but I'm hoping and hoping that I will see them again :D

Then the boys who are joining me for the second half of the trip, met up with me and we went to dinner and went out for the night. came home at around 1am, and had to wake up super early in the morning for our trip to france :D!!

Day 21!

Today was by far, one of the best days on this trip! :)

In the morning, around 10am, everyone in my study abroqd group left to go home. I then met up with Brandon, mark and Steve and we checked into our hotel. After that, the boys went to go site see and I hung out with some new friends I had made.

So from going to hillsong, I met some friends there, but didn't have time to really hang out with them during the Study Abroad Part of my trip. So today was the day. My new friend Dave invited me to watch a 10k race with him. A group of the youth leaders from hillsong ran it to raise money for youth camp. So I went to it, and ended up meeting more and more ppl. It was really neat! We then walked to this place called, "Nando's" and we ate there. Let's just say we def. need one of those in michigan! So it was fun hangin out with everyone there. Then after that, a group of about 8 of us went over q girl named, Hannah's house. We made pasta and salad for dinner and hung out for awhile. oh and watched Britains Got Talant. hahaha. Then Dave went on the tube home with me, thank goodness cuz it was an extremely confusing way home and i went to bed! It was just so fun and nice to actually hang out with ppl from london. They were all so nice, and it made me actually want to stay in london even longer! haha

day 20!!

Day 20 was just awesome... I loved it! We went to Hillsong London again and it was once again, amazing. It was even more amazing because Bobbie and ryan, the founders of hillsong in australia were there, and bobbie spoke the message to us. It was a great message as well. And I found out that all the songs that we have been singing the past two weeks are not on cd yet, cuz they are new hillsong songs. So that was pretty exciting news.

After church, we then went back to our flats and packed. Then our whole group went out to dinner at this Indian restaraunt. It actually wasn't bad to be honest! It was a good last outing with everyone, and it was free for us, so that made it even better! haha. I was sad that everyone would be leaving me the next day, but I was ready to move on to the next part of the trip!

Day 19!!!

sorry for the delays of posts... Ive just been so busy lately!! anyhow on saturday i decided to actually relax for a bit in the morning. I went for an extra long morning run... In the rain to be exact, and it was wonderful. and then we went and saw another play called, "The 39 Steps." It was actually very funny, I really enjoyed it!! After that, we watched movies and hung out :) overall it was a wonderful day!!

Day 18!!!

Today was just wonderful!!! We did so many exciting things!!

First off, I woke up early and went for a morning run to the park and back. It was lovely. then we took a lovely lovely boat ride to greenich, which is a city off the main river in london. It was a beautiful day for a boat ride might I add. When arriving at Greenich, we were able to see the line of the Prime Meridian!!! It was sweet. I got to stand between both hemispheres. It is also the place where everyone else sets their time off of. It was pretty neat.

AFter that, a small group of us went to Abby Road (yes, the road where the Beetles took that famous picture). And we totally replicated their picture. It was extremely entertaining trying to do that with oncoming traffic coming from both ways, and with other ppl trying to take the same picture! hahaha. But nonetheless, we go the picture, and I think it turned out pretty nicely if you ask me :) And now we are back at our flatts. I'm thinking of going for another run, but I'm not sure. I'm actually pretty hungry, so I'll prb just eat. lol! Hope you guys are doing amazing... I miss you all so much

Day 17!!

so today was an adventure. We had to be ready at 730am in order to go to the "Dover Castle." This place was beautiful! It was right on the water. This is where a lot of war with the british took place. My favorite part of the castle were the underground war tunnels. They were soo cool. We were able to see who did what, in each area of the tunels. After that we once again explored the castle. It was super fun. hahaha.

After the castle, we then went to the city of Canterberry, and went to the cathedral there. We stayed for the "Evening song" which was very neat and interesting to see. The choir was SO beautiful, it sounded like angels and it was made up of boys that looked the age of 7-12yrs old. It was def. a neat experience. Then we arrived home at about 830pm, and we all just chilled for the night! It was overall a very good day!

Day 16!

So today was a very busy day, but a fun one to say the least :D

I woke up early to have a morning run in the park and then got ready for the day. I went to the store to return some things and then we went to the Tower of London. Funny thing, I def. thought the Tower of London was this tower that you just walked up thru in order to see the whole city. welp, news flash to me... that was NOT the case. haha It was where the crowned jewels were stored, where their main military base was held in the past. It was also where ppl where torchered to death. It looked like more of a castle rather than a tower. haha. it was very interesting walking thru it and learning about it. The crown jewels were VERY cool to see as well.

After that we walked on the Tower Bridge which was awesome! It's a very cool bridge, and it was a good time.

AFter that, we then went on the "Jack the Ripper Walk." Completely awesome. Jack the Ripper murdered 5 ppl back in 1888, in the city of london, and we were able to have a guide give our group a tour about Jack the Ripper and we learned about what it was like back then in 1888 when the murders happened. it was very interesting. We then got back at around 9pm, we watched American idol, and now we're all hanging out watchign the muppets. hahaha. oh good times. Gotta wake up at 6am tomorrow morning. ugh. lol. we are going to see a castle tho, so it should be a great time :D

miss you guys!!

Day 15 :D

So today we woke up to an amazing home-cooked english breakfast. We then went to shakespear's birthplace, and was able to see the house that he was born/grew up in. It was really sweet actually. Then we walked around stratford and saw more shakespeare stuff. We then Got to go to the church which he was burried in, and we were able to see his grave.

After that, we went to a castle!!! It was AWESOME!!! we were running through it like children on a playground, it was SO fun! hahaha. It was so beautiful, with medows all around it. Def. a site I could stare at for hours.

We then went to another cathedral and headed back home. I ate a lot of food because I hadn't eaten since breakfast. but boy was it tasty. haha. And now im on here, and will be getting off shortly to hang out with everyone tonight :) I'm sad this is my last week with our study abroad group, but i am so excited to continue to travel europe :D Tomorrow we will be seeing the tower of london, and then we are going on a "jack the ripper" walk. I hear it's kinda scary, cuz this Jack guy killed a bunch of ppl??? guess I'll find out tomorrow. woo woooooo!

Day 14!

ok, so today we woke up quite early, and hopped on a bus to Oxford University. This place was awesome. It was really neat to see a COMPLETElY different college set up. This university is beautiful, let me tell you! We had a guide take us around one of the colleges, so it was really interesting learning about what the students do and live etc. After that,we went to Stratford and checked into our Bed and Breakfast. SOOOOO CUTEEEE. It was the cutest lil thing ever! haha. We then saw the shakespeare play "King Lear." let's just say it was a 4 hour play LOL. But it was cool, I won't lie. We then ate at this pub afterwards called, "The dirty duck" which was pretty sweet. We then went back to our bed and breakfast, and enjoyed the night! It was a pretty sweet day, and I was super excited to see all of shakespear's stuff the next day!

Day 13!!!!!

So today was absolutely perfect!!!

Today me and 5 other girls woke up and went to Hillsong London church! I was so excited that the other girls wanted to go with me, and literally could not wait all week to go. This Hillsong church was located in a theatre, Dominion theatre to be exact. We found it very easily, and once we got there, we instantly met ppl. They were all so nice and talked to us, and let us sit with them (3rd row.. watt wattt) This place was seriously Packed, from the first floor to the balcony. So awesome!

The worship was like I was watching a hillsong dvd... it was amazing. And the message was moving as well :) My friends loved it so much too, and we're going back next week!! I can't wait.

After church, they invited us to go have lunch in the park with a group of about 30 of them. of course we went, and it was awesome. It was really neat to actually get to know ppl from England. A few of them want to hang out later in the week actually. I'm def. hoping that will happen.

After spending time in the park, we went back to our flatts, the girls got their bathing suits on, I got my running clothes on, and we went to the park. I ran about 4 miles (soooo hottttt outsidee btw. haha) and then we tanned in the sun. it was awesome, and I loved it. haha, and now im at the internet cafe and will just be chillin it out tonight since we are going to stratford/oxford tomorrow early morning. We are staying at a cute lil' bed and breakfast, so it should be a grand time. I think we're learning about shakespeare and whatnot. fun funn. haha

I miss you guys, but I am loving it here. It's so neat experiencing a different way of living, but don't get me wrong, America def. rocks my socks.

Day 12 :D

Fee day number 2!!! Today the weather was just BEAUTIFUL!! Literally it could not have been more perfect. Not a cloud in the blue sky and it was just hot enough, but not too hot.

We headed off to a place called portabello street, which is a street with a TON of little markets and shops. oh boy was it crowded with tons of ppl. It was super fun tho! We got some gellato ice-cream and i bought some sandwiches to eat later. It was good stuff.

We then walked to St. james park again and ate lunch there. After eating we just kinda laid out in the sun, since it was so perfect outside. Oh boy did I get some sun... adn loved every bit of it!! then we got on the tube and now im here. We are all going out tonight, so that should be a good time, but i am super stoked for tomorrow.

Tomorrow me and a couple of others are going to Hillsong - London church!!! I'm sooo excited, hahah I've been waitng like all week to go. I couldn't go last week cuz i was in Scotland, woops. hahah. But yes, I will def. be telling you guys more about that experience tomorrow. Righ tnow im going to search for it to find the directions. LOL. ttys. love and miss all of you!!! :D

Day 11!

Free weekendddddd :D

So this weekend, we didn't have anything planned with our professor (yes, this is a study abroad trip lol) so I was super excited to just do whatever we wanted :D

Today we went to this museum that we decided to go to because we had to finish a homeowrk assignment. It was quite entertaining to say the least. It was a victorian museum and we couldn't find any of the rooms we needed. haha we seriously had to ask the workers like every 10min where to go. It was awesome. After that, in the courtyard of the museum we ran throu the fountain water and just sat and enjoyed the beauty/air/ppl. I love watching the little kids here, so picture perfect.

After the museum, we decided to go to St. James park to eat lunch... beautiful, I felt like i was in a movie. ppl everywhere just sitting in little circles enjoying eachother's company eating lunch. We sat there for awhile, walked around and then decided to find this cleopatra needle thing (it was in steph's 25 things to see in london) we basically wanted to find it just to see if we could, and....we found it!hahah, we felt so accomplished. Then we decided to navigate to another park, and this one was even more beautiful! it had a river with paddle boats and canoes. So awesome. We sat and talked on a bench there for ahwile, then headed home. Went for a run in another park and then we had a big spegghetti dinner alltogheter. It was fun :)

Pretty much to some the day, I love parks here. It's like those scenes in movies that you say to yourself (if only places like that really exist) ...welp, they in fact DO exist! :D

day 10!!

So today We actually got to sleep in a little bit :) Woke up around 10am so that my friend katie and I could go running in the park. It was SUCH a beautiful day today. After the run, we got ready and went to a walking tour, which was actually pretty interesting! Then we went out to dinner and now we are all deciding on what to do for our free weekend :D

London is awesome, but I'm definitely ready to move on to the other countries! Just one more week. We have pretty fun stuff scheduled for our last week in london this week comin up, so it shoudl be fun. I just wish that I was able to text/call my friends and family without it costing so much. It's weird having like absolute no communication with family/friends except for the small amounts of time i have to go on the internet.

So, if any of you feel that you want to send a message, please do so!! haha! I miss everyone, but I am loving it here, and I'm thankful for this experience :D

Day 9!!!!

So day 9 started off excitingly. we woke up at about 830am and left for Wimbeldon to see the real tennis courts!! ahhh I was so excited. I play tennis, so that is prb a great deal as to why. We got off the stop and had to walk for about 15 min. to find the building.

We ended up getting to see the Center Court, which is the court where all the final tennis matches are played. I was seriously on Cloud 9, it was so exciting. We then went to a history museum of the Wimbeldon courts. This was really neat because we were able to learn about the past tennis players and see the equipment they used to use etc. I really enjoyed it. :)

Then we had to go back to do another group history tour of london thing... lets just say im glad that was the last history outdoor tour thingie wiht our tour guide Ingrid. haha. My favorite part of the tour was when we got to see the "Changing of the Guards." And the funny the funny thing is, is that we werent even supposed to see it. I just ran over there because i wanted to and other's followed. haha. it was really neat tho to see how precise they do the changing of the guards for the palace. I'm really glad \I got to see it. So after I'm on the internet here, most of our group is going to go out and just have a good time around London tonight... I'm really pumped :) I will try and come on here more often :D I miss everyone so much!!

Day 8!!!

So Day 8, was the beginning of our second week here in London. I coudln't believe that we have been here for a week already, yet it seems like I know the city so well. Though we've only been here a short time, it feels as if I've lived here for years.

So today, we woke up and went to westiminster Abby. This was a beautiful cathedral. It is also where the Coronation of the Kings and Queens take place! I thought that was really interesting. Isaac Newton was burried in there as well. I was pumped to see his memorial and grave. AFter the cathedral, we went on a walk/history tour of the town. That part wasn' the most interesting. lol. We then went to a play called, "The War Horse." It was AMAZING. We all LOVED it. It was such a great story, and the acting was wonderful :) So far week two was startign out wonderfully!

Day 7.. Scotland continued!!!

We woke up around 9am so that we could get our last day of Scotland started early. I forgot to mention that there are literally bagpipers EVERYWHERE. hahaha. I seriously LOVED it!!! I couldn't help but do a little river dance everytime I would hear it. Oh and if you're reading this, right now youtube the "Red hot chile pipers" <--not peppers... pipers! SOOOOO GOOOOOD!! haha. anyway, we woke up and decided to go the Edinburgh castle. It was amazing! I've never beein to a castle before so to go inside one and read all of the history, was awesome. We even got to see the crown, sceptor and sword from way back when. It was the real deal because the doors were safes in the room that held the jewels. I loved it. After the castle, we ate at an italian pizzaria (soo cheap) and had literally the best pizza ever. I ate so much. haha. We then caught our train ride and headed home.

I felt that this weekend trip to Scotland was a huge accomplishment (as lame as that might sound). I think it was because my 2 friends and I did everything ourselves with no help from anyone else. We bought our tickets, found our train and traveled to another country together. Found a hostel and navigated through a different country and had an amazing time while doing it. It was a spur of the moment decision and I think that is wat made the experience so much better. I couldn't thank God enough for keeping us safe! Scotland was definitly the highlight of my Eurotrip so far :)

Day 6... SCOTLAND

Day 6 was awesome... complete adventure to say the least.

My roommates and I all woke up at 430am. There was a group going to paris (I'll be there in a few weeks) and a few of us went to scotland. our train left at 615am. Half awake, we got to our train with 5 min. to spare lol and found our seats. I seriously couldn't believe that I was traveling to another country with just 2 other friends my age (I was actually the oldest... scary thought eh? haha) Anyway, I was super excited, cuz this was like a complete adventure. We honestly had no idea what we wanted to do in Scotland. All we know is that we were goign there and we had a hostel to stay in. lol The train ride was about 5 hours, amazinggg view, the ride was awesome. Cept for the fact some guy from Egypt randomly sat by me after one of the stops about 3.5 hours in, but it wasn't too awkward. lol. but we made it there safely.

walking out of the train station, we were like... umm where do we go. Us 3 were just like, "idk... lets just go!" haha. It was awesome. I can't describe to you the amazing beauty of Scotland. Green rolling hills, old historic buildings, castles and the nicest people ever! We first went to eat somewhere, then went to find our hostel. To be completely honest, my first reaction to when we found the door to our hostel, I couldn't stop laughing. You just hear all these bad/weird things about hostels, and knowing that I was staying in one was for some reason quite comical to me. I was pumped for it tho. We went in, and it was completely safe and I was happy!

Then we went on a bus tour so that we could get an overall look of the city. We decided that first we must climb arthur's hill (where "king arthur's" seat lies.) haha. It was suchh a beautiful mountian, and ridiculously tall (pictures will be up) so we decided to do that! realizing that I only had these 2 dollar flip flops and kali had flats on... we still decided to do the climb. lol seriously, climbing that mountain was one of the most amazing things ever. We were able to see the whole city of Endinbugh, Scotland. It was actually pretty difficult, and the top was supperrrrr windy, I thought I was going to fall over. haha. But it was an experience I will never forget.

We then went to a Pub at night, and it was SOO fun! I met some Rugby players and talked with them a bit about Rugby and Scotland. They were quite upset we were going to be in London for 3 weeks and Scotland for a weekend.There was live music and we danced with the scotish ppl singing songs. Pretty much amazing. Poeple from scotland are seriously so nice and geniune. I definitely LOVE that city and would go back in a heartbeat.

We then returned to our hostel, and I won't lie, I became a bit nervous about what random ppl would be staying in our room. lol. us three go in and there is this elderly scotish man (about 57maybe?) he seemed normal tho, So i wasn't too worried. Then about 30 min. later, 3 girls walked in. (Now we saw these girls boarding the train to scotland, because I asked them for help as to where we were going. lol) so We were like omggg you are the girls from the train!! We all were instantly pumped and relieved. They were from New York, and we chatted for about an hour or so. We also met a girl from spain. Being in Europe gives you so many opportunities to meet ppl from everywhere. It's quite amazing. So then I fell asleep, and that was day 6! :D

Day 5 = awesome awesome awesome (etc.) DAY!!!

so far, day 5 is my absolute favorite!!

First off, we had to be outside our flats at 8am... way early. haha. We left on our bus for Stonehenge. I was honestly so excited to see this. When getting there, the site was just unbelievable. It was SOO wonderful to see the countryside of England, rather than just the city of London. Don't get me wrong, London is wonderful, but the countryside is definitely what I love love love. Seeing stonehenge was just remarkable. Trying to figure out how they placed those stones on top of eachother just blows my mind. They are massive!! We took some entertaining pictures, and it was a great time.

After stonehenge, we went to a city called, Sainsberry (prb spelled wrong) I believe. It was honestly one of the most beautiful places ever. It had a huge old midevil cathedral, with rolling hills, rivers and old, but very nice houses. SUCH a beautiful place.

We then, went to the Roman city of Bath. this was by far my favorite. So amazing. The structure of the city was just awesome. Pictures are definitely needed in order to describe. Let's just say, if I ever became wealthy, I would buy a house here. lol. My friend Katie and I kinda walked around on our own because we wanted to actually "see" the city, and not just shop like most of everyone else. lol. It was so cool. We found some sweet tennis courts within one of the parks. and were able to see these awesome flats that were layed out in a HUGE half circle formation. After that we actually went into the Roman Baths. That was such a cool thing. We were able to see the great bath and the hot springs that were STILL there from thousands of years ago. of course my camera died after i took abnout 2 pictures of the Roman baths, but you win some you lose some. lol It was still pretty awesome. None of us wanted to leave this city. It was just a site to see and not one to be forgotten.

oh and tomorrow... I'M GOING TO SCOTLAND!! I'm so excitedd, I can't even contain myself! My 2 friends and I are leaving london at 5am to hopefully catch our train at 6:20am (we can catch the next one at 7am if we miss it) the tube doesn't open till 5:20 tho, so we will be cuttin it close. Takes about 5 hours to get there, and i'm so excited for the view in the train :D! Gosh I can't wait. I prb won't be on the internet till I get back, but maybe there Will be internet where we stay in scotland!

Miss you guys!

DAY 4 =D

okay, so day 4 was awesomeeeee... we did quite a bit :D

To start, I went for my morning jog with my friend kayla... once again, beautiful as always. Then we went to St. Paul's Cathedral. Oh my word does that place just put you in awe. we were able to learn about the history of the church and why/when it was built. When walking to the top of the dome in the cathedral (528 steps) it was the most amazing view of London that could possibly ever be seen. also, inside the cathedral upstairs of the dome... if you whisper along the wall to someone on the opposite side, you can TOTALLY hear them! haha, it was honestly soo flippin' cool, it could have entertained me for hours. A really neat part, dealing with America inside the church is a memorial for all of our soilders that aided the british in WWI I beleive. they had a stain-glass window with a symbol for each of the 50 states. It was really neat.

After St. Paul's, we went to to a flat and talked with a leader in parliment about the UK government. It was definitely interesting to hear the differences of the UK government with the USA one. I find it fascinating that they don't have a written constitution like we do, they just base their government off tradition. sooo differentttt

Then, after that we went to a play shakespeare play, "twelfth night." It was a different play, yet extremely entertaining nonetheless. It was definitely a cool experience tho! so with that.. .day four was a pretty solid day, but NOTHING compared to day 5 :D

DAY 3!!!

ok, so I will upload pictures on my blog soon (Adam Baudoux) I keep forgetting to bring my camera chord. lol

ps: day 3 was AWESOME :D... woke up at 7am, got about 3 hours of sleep. went running at Hyde park againnnnn, and it was wonderful!! I ran around the river and it was just awesome. We then got ready and went to Hamptons Court (Henry VIII's palace) It was sooooo bigg, and absolutely gorgeous. we spent a few hours there, and then walked around the town a bit!! After that, we went to the travel agency and planned our trip to Scotland for THIS weekend :D I'm literally so excited to go there and see legitimate castles! =)now, I am eating spaghetti served by our friend Jeremy and miguel. it's soooo goood, considering we've barely ate all day!! Excited for tomorrow, it's a full day planned.

DAY 2 !!

Woke up at 7am... never felt better, had an amazing night of sleep! Decided to go for a run in Hyde park. This park is HUGE and so beautiful, let me tell you. filled with dogs, bikers, runners... it's like you're in happy land. haha I'm definitely going to be running there more often :D! We then got ready and went to the British museum. On our walk to the tube (undergroun transportation) this drunk irish man started yelling to/at my professor about us being Americans. it was the funniest thing ever. haha, but anyway, the british museum, This is the first public museum in the WORLD. pretty sweet eh?? I thought so... in the useum we got to see things from the bible to egyptian mummies to greece/Rome sculptures to the rosetta stone. |Pretty neat stuf!! after the museum, my frends kalie an dmiguel went to a student travel agency to igure out our trip to scotland this weekend. :D! I'm pretty excited and I hope the trip works out! we then went back to our rooms... ate dinner and we are actually about to go out or the night when I get of here. Can't wait for tomorrow, I miss everyone so much, but Europe is truly an amazing place :D

DAY 1!!!!!

London... amazing is all that comes to mind. This city is full of so much history, people and life! so awesome...

Plane ride:
So day one was aesome and it all began with the 8 hour plane ride. Nothing short o interesting happened with that flight. lol Knowing that my seat was going to be COMPLETELY away from the rest of the 25ppl in our group (because i had a different ticket) was a little bit nerve racking, but nonetheless, I was ready to meet some strangers. lol As I sit in my seat (D43) I'm in the middle(est) seat in the whole plane. as far from the window and isle and you can get. hahaha but once i sat down, a guy named J.D. sat next to me and we instantly started having conversation. I was happy, and it was really neat sharing each other's traveling stories and goals. After having about an hour convo. I became distracted by the fact that AVATAR was a movie choice on my personal TV and since I've never seen it before, I decided to watch it. Great great movie btw. So then in the middle of my movie, J.D. asked me to pause it, and had asked me if i wanted a bracelet or anklet. I'm like.. ughh, what?? and then i realized he had made me this sweet hemp bracelet on the plane while i was watching the movie. I couldn't believe it, I was so excited! haha. I mean, how many ppl can say a stranger on a plane hemps them a bracelet?? what a great first experience I'd say :)

LONDON:
Then once finally seeng the city of London, I absolutely fell in love. so much history, palaces and just ppl everywhere. Being so exhausted from no sleep and with the time change, we decied to tay in or the night and just sleep. Best idea ever i'd say....

just moments...

It's midnight before I leave...
excited,
nervous,
thrilled,
scared,
happy,
ecstatic...just a few words explaining how I feel.

I am just truly thankful to God right now for giving me this opportunity. I feel as if I don't deserve it, but I'm so thankful. I hope to be a light, and I'm so excited to see God's beauty in Europe... just so excited.

I don't usually get nervous about a lot of things... but I'm not gonna lie, I am a lil' nervous. But I think it makes the experience all the more better :) Can't wait to blog about my adventures, so stay tuned....


God Bless :)

akd;bfajdbga'kdsb;gasdlf'ds

and the wings score AGAIN!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

3 days...

So right now, I'm currently watching the Wings game with my mom, and oh mylanta we just scored 4 goals in 12 min!!!! haha we're going kinda crazy. I hope we score at least 10 more...

3 days from now I will be in EUROPE... it's FINALLY starting to feel real. Everytime I think about it my heart races, cuz i'm just so excited!!! I cannot wait to be able to see the things I've been searching online in REAL LIFE. hahah :D

Not going to lie though... I am going to miss my friends/family very much. It does stink that I have been away at school for 8 months and was only able to spend a week at home, and now im leaving again.

I'm so thankful to everyone who is already praying for my travels and my time there... I appreciate it so much, and I hope God will use me in ways that I would have never imagined.

:)... I'm just soooooo giddy!

6 days...

It has been forever since I've wrote on here, but during my travels I am going to try and blog a few times a week =)

It is now currently SUMMER and I am sooo happy about that. This school year was honestly the hardest year for me, and to know that 2 years from now I will be a registered Nurse, feels amazing :)

6 days from now I will be in Europeeeeee... I am seriously SO thrilled beyond belief. Words can't even describe how I feel. I'm truly blessed and thankful to God for giving me this opportunity. I hope and pray that it is an experience of a lifetime. I've been waiting to go on this trip for so long... it's almost unreal that it's actually here!! I will be blogging as much as I can so that ppl can know how I'm doing, and just for entertainment purposes. haha

Prayers and definitely welcomed and needed :)

Psalm 97:2

The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad
Let the distance shores rejoice
Clouds and thick darkness surround him
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne
A fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side
His lightning lights up the world
The earth sees and trembles
The mountains melt like wax before the Lord
Before the Lord of all the earth
The Heavens proclaim His righteousness
And all peoples will see His Glory...

anticipation...

So today I spent about 75% of my day planning for my 6 week trip to Europe in May. I'm truly excited about it for traveling is something I'm EXTREMELY passionate about. My dad kinda feels otherwise... but that's what makes ppl different right? I just feel that God created this WHOLE earth... not just the U.S., and I want to see and experience as much of it as I can! I just find it fascinating. It's nuts thinking that I will be in the wonderful country of England in less than 4 months... =)

Some ppl think I'm crazy... who just goes to Europe for 6 weeks?! It's the crazy things though that ppl remember, and it's those experiences that you will never forget. The ones that aren't the safest, smartest, and easiest decisions. I've been starting to realize more and more that I don't want to be one of those ppl that just "dream." The last thing I want to be called is a "dreamer." I want to be known as ambitious, spontaneous, and full of life. I truly want to live as if each day was my last. And I feel that God wants the same from us. When I'm a nurse I'm so excited to use my passion for traveling for HIS purpose. I can't wait to go on medical mission trips to the location that God has for me, and I pray that I will be completely ready for that.

All in all, I guess I feel that sometimes people are too safe. They are afraid of stepping outside of the... "I don't want to be out of money, "I don't want to leave my friends or family," "I don't want to miss out on things at home," etc. etc. The disciples did not live their life "safe," for they followed Jesus wherever he went. And we should be willing to do that too. I'm not talking about Europe here, I know thats just a fun trip (tho i do hope to share Jesus w/others!) but I'm just saying this for our life in general. God wants more than just what we can give without stretching ourselves. more than average. He wants it all.

First post ever...

Many people see New Years Resolutions as something completely ridiculous, and I can totally see their point. I mean, if you want to change something about yourself, change your eating habits, workout habits, your time spent with God etc. ... why wait till the New Year?! And although this is so true, I feel that even though the start of a new year is just like any other day, it really does seem like a clean slate. Time is such a cool and almost unexplainable thing. At least to me it seems that way. The beginning of a new year is something new. And for us, it gives us the feeling of... "what about the past year do I want to do differently?"

My answer to that question? well as you can see I've started online journaling. Not saying that I will be on here daily, but I thought it would be a neat, different, cool way to express my day and to have my thoughts written down somewhere else besides inside my heart. I also am striving to have that intense relationship with my father, Jesus. Yes I've been a Christian pretty much my whole life, but I want my devotional/personal time with God to reflect that. I also want to start just being a healthier person all-round. haha

So with that, I just want to say that I'm pretty excited for what God has in store for me this year. I have grown so much these past few years... and I can honestly say that I am overwhelmingly excited for what is to come... c:

-Jessica