whats that?

i'm sitting here trying to pass the remaining two hours of my last shift, on my last day of work, and i realize that the last time i composed a blog entry i was still over the pond. much has happened since my european adventure!

1. i am a college graduate! mom, dad, and brother michael came down to madison for commencement weekend to help me celebrate. it was nice having everybody down here for the weekend, rather than just a quick day-visit. i took the fam to the terrace where we enjoyed the lake view and sipped some beers. when mom and dad retired to the hotel for the evening, mike and i hit up the town. he was able to meet up with some of his college friends and enjoy himself. the graduation ceremony was long and boring---part of me wishes that i wouldnt have gone, but walking the stage will be a valuable memory.

2. i spent my summer earning big bucks (not) as a leasing consultant at The Towers (private housing for students). basically, this means that i was paid to sit at the front desk and chat with co-workers, surf the internet, read celebrity magazines, and watch television. i cant complain, it was the easiest job i've ever had, but it was SO boring. i never thought i would complain about an easy job, but now i'm very eager for a challenge.

3. CHICAGO! on august 17 i will be moving into a spectacular apartment in wrigleyville! i'll be moving with hannah and alison (whom i met in italy) as well as erin. i'm very eager to experience life in chicago. now all i need to do is find a j-o-b so i can afford the lifestyle that i like to live! due a wonderful past employer with many chicago connections...hopefully this task wont be too difficult.

4. my summer in madison has been absolutely wonderful. i can honestly say that i have enjoyed everything i've done, and will be sad when its over. here is a list of my highlights (not like anybody cares about my list of highlights, but i like to think of the memories):
-canoeing on lake mendota
-terrace afternoons and nights
-michael franti and spearhead concert
-4th of july weekend (brewers game, spending with weekend with ashley, tom petty concert)
-noahs ark
-discovering madison's finest/sketchiest "dance club"(?)---ram head
-and finally, the highlight of all highlights....wing night wednesdays at brothers! the sauce is amazing!

i'm definitely going to be sad when the summer comes to a close. the summertime group will be going their separate ways with some remaining in madison and others moving far away. my current roommate and long time friend, inthava, will be relocating to philadelphia. sam (aka jones) is going to grad school in balitmore. andee and stacy (the only students left) will stay in madison. hannah, alison, erin and i area off to chicago. the upcoming month will bring many changes, but they are changes that i am excited for!

*i hope to start posting regularly in my blog. i realize that my "regular" life will not be as exciting as it was abroad, but i may still have some entertaining stories....at least i hope so!

Budapest

This past weekend, Hannah, Alison, and I took an amazing trip to Budapest, Hungary. We arrived in Budapest around noon and met up with our lovely hosts Sam and Erik. They had afternoon class, so we were on our own for a few hours to explore the city. After getting acquainted with the metro system, we were on our way. Our first stop was the beautiful Saint Stephen's Basilica. To our disappointment, the dome was closed and we couldn't climb it. However, the basilica was still very interesting. We made our way onward to the Opera on the famous Andrassy Avenue. The Opera is quite a magnificent building. We were also very pleased to find that Budapest was fully decorated for Christmas, with lights and Christmas trees almost everywhere you looked. After the Opera, we headed back to Sam's to eat dinner and get ready for one of their friends birthdays. For the birthday celebration, we did a walking tour of the city. At first this idea seemed odd, but it actually turned out to be pretty cool. We started at Hero's Square and then continued up Andrassy Avenue. Next we hit and crossed Szechenyi Chain Bridge which took us from Pest into Buda and at the foot of Buda Castle. Everything looked really pretty lit up at night time. After the tour, Sam and Erik introduced us to Morrison's Karaoke Bar. It was very entertaining and interesting to see a group of Americans attempt to sing Hungarian karaoke. We ended the night there and had a blast.

Day two introduced us to Budapest's famous baths. We relaxed at Széchenyi Medicinal Bath, which is the largest medicinal bath in Europe. The water is heated and supplied by two thermal springs. While the temperature of the air is freezing, the water felt great. We probably stayed longer than we should have, but we couldn't resist. After the baths, we went out for a lovely dinner and met some more of the students from Sam and Erik's program. It was interesting to see how their program is different from ours. Also fun to exchange travel stories with one another. After dinner we went to a local bar that once again turned out to be quite entertaining. The bar atmosphere put 9 Americans in a small room with 4 Hungarians. Turns out, Erik can speak Hungarian quite fluently, so conversation was far from dull.

Day three consisted of Erik giving us a guided tour of all the top spots Budapest had to offer. We began at the Budapest Christmas Market. Different vendors lined the streets with their goods. We sampled Hot Wine, which was excellent, and I purchased some Hungarian Christmas Ornaments. We then walked along the Danube River and over the Szechenyi Chain Bridge. From there we trekked up the hill to the Hungarian National Museum, Castle Quarter, and Fisherman's Bastion. Unfortunately, it was extremely foggy out, so our view of the city was very limited. After some time, we headed back towards Hero's Square and City Park to the ice rink. Once again, we were disappointed as all of the skates had been rented. We still got to walk around and take some great pictures though.

We had lots of fun on the trip and it was a nice way to bring a close to the semester. Budapest definitely is one of my favorite cities and I would love to go back some day. Hard to believe I only have one more week left before I return home! Time sure has flown by.

Interlaken, Switzerland

November 29-December 2 2007



I decided to go on somewhat of a last minute trip to Interlaken, Switzerland this past weekend. Stacy convinced Hannah, who then convinced me, to take a weekend trip to experience the Swiss Alps. We headed out on Thursday night with Bus2Alps for the 7 hour bus ride to Interlaken. Our 8:00pm departure time put us in bed at the lovely Balmers Herberge hostel at around 4:00am. Needless to say, we were quite tired on Friday. That being said, we decided to walk around Interlaken during the day. After some shopping, we decided to hit up the indoor ice rink. Non of us are very skilled skaters, so the hour and a half spent at the rink turned out to be quite entertaining. After a few falls and some "interpretive" skating, our rink time came to an end. Come 4:00pm, we headed to Outdoor Interlaken to rent our ski and snowboard equipment for Saturday and Sunday. I've wanted to try snowboarding for quite some time now, and what better place to start than the Swiss Alps, or so I thought. The rest of the girls all decided to ski. Stacy, Petra, and Katie were the experienced ones of the group, while Hannah and I had absolutely no clue what we were in for. After getting all the necessary equipment, we went back to the hostel to grab some dinner. This turned out to be a great experience. Balmers had a wonderful hang out/restaurant area where just about everyone from our bus decided to congregate. To make the evening even more enjoyable, they had happy hour featuring a local Swiss beer. Better yet, Interlaken's most popular night club, Metro, was in the basement of the hostel. A fun time was had by all. Saturday started bright and early, as we caught the 8:15 train to Grindelwald. Upon arrival, we had about a 10 minute walk with all of our gear to the gondola, which was our first leg of the journey up the mountain. The gondola ride lasted approximately 30 minutes. As the altitude increased, Hannah and I began to worry. The mountain was looking intense and our survival was in question. Finally, after reaching the area known as First, we exited the gondola. Our next step was a chair lift ride. This brought us to Oberjoch, at an elevation of 8206 ft. Intimidating to say the least. The experienced skiers were eager to hit the slopes while Hannah and I feared for our lives. Apparently, the Swiss do not believe in Bunny Hills, so we were forced to learn to ski/snowboard on a rather difficult slope. After a quick lesson from Stacy, I was off and boarding, but not for long. I soon realized that I was going to be spending more time on my butt than on my feet. After easing down the first part of the run, we discovered there were numerous cliff edges that one could easily fall off of. I began to fear for my life. Needless to say, it took me quite a long time to finally make it to the bottom. However, the views were absolutely breathtaking. I felt as though I was on top of the world. After countless wipe outs day one came to a close. We made the trip back to Interlaken to rest up for day two. Upon our return, we went to a nearby restaurant to taste authentic cheese fondue. Delicious! We were all exhausted from the day and were in bed by 10:00. Day two started off early once again. Our bodies were quite sore from the day before, but we decided to try our luck at Kleine Scheidegg. From Interlaken, it was about an hour and 20 minute train ride right up the mountain. There were unbelievable views the entire ride. Finally, we reached the destination at an elevation of 6762ft. The ski runs literally began right when we get off of the train. Hannah and I were relieved to see an area marked as "Beginners Park", so we headed that way. After looking at the run, we realized there were no cliff edges in sight and knew that it would be a much better day. We both actually did pretty good. I was able to stay up on the board for quite awhile without falling. All in all, it was a much smoother day than Saturday and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Before we knew it, our time was up and we had to make our way back to Interlaken to catch the bus home. The trip was a complete success and we all came away injury free! I'm so glad I decided to go. The landscape was amazing and it will be pretty neat to say that my first time snowboarding was in the Swiss Alps!

Fall Break: Paris

Friday November 2

Our day started off very early, as we had a 6:00am flight scheduled from London to Paris. However, the airport was an hour outside of the city and with us being unsure of exactly how to get transportation to the airport, we were ready to go by 2:30am to be safe. Our journey required us to take a city bus and then a coach bus to the airport. Despite the long journey, we made it to the airport with time to spare. Upon our arrival in Paris, we were exhausted. However, our lovely hotel accommodations allowed us to rest/nap. Our first stop was the Louvre. There was a special exhibition for students that night, so we were lucky enough to get in free of charge. The entire area of the museum is beautiful. Upon seeing the glass pyramids I couldn't help but think of the Da Vinci Code. We saw tons of neat stuff including THE MONA LISA. They even let you take pictures of everything. I could have spent a whole day wondering the museum, so much to see. After the museum we went to the Arc d' Triumph. By this time it was dark, so the arc was lit up, which was awesome. We had a quick dinner and then returned to the hotel for bed as we were all still tired.

Saturday November 3

Our first stop of the day was the Eiffel Tower (my number one site for the trip). We got there early enough to avoid a long line and began our trek to the top of the tower. Andee, Lisa, and I climbed 700 steps to get the second level of the tower. From there, you take an elevator to the top level. The tower seems absolutely massive in real life. The views are fabulous. I would recommend climbing to the second level as opposed to taking the elevator because you can see so much more. It was also really neat to be climbing up the inside, you get a closer view of how big it is and how many pieces compose it. The Eiffel Tower was definitely one of my favorite parts of the trip, an experience I'll remember forever. After the Eiffel Tower, we were in for more climbing. We headed to, and up the Arc d' Triumph. While there weren't nearly as many stairs, the Arc provided great views as well. However, the entire staircase was a spiral, so I did get a little dizzy. Still well worth it. Our next stop was Notre Dame Cathedral. The cathedral was very beautiful with huge stain glass windows and tons of chandeliers. As our time was running out, we wanted to cross one last site off our list, Père-Lachaise Cemetery, where the famous Jim Morrison is buried. Stacy, Christa, and I (the only Doors fans) navigated our way on the Paris Metro and made our way to the cemetery, we were devastated to find that we were a mere 3 minutes too late. The cemetery had just closed its doors. We put in a great effort and came up short. After the blow, our next move was to meet back up with everyone else
at the Eiffel Tower to see the light show that happens every hour on the hour at night. For about 10 minutes, the entire tower appears to glitter as tons of lights flash. Almost as if there are millions of cameras flashing. Stacey and I were so pleased with the light show, that we decided to check out the view from the tower at night. This time, we took the elevator to the second floor of the tower. Once again, I loved every second of it. A stunning way to end our stay in Paris and put a close to fall break!

Three cities in three countries in 10 days was the trip of a lifetime. Dublin, London, Paris - what more could you ask for? Each city had something different to offer and I loved all of them. My only regret is that I didn't have more time. However, I loved every minute of the time I had and saw amazing things that I will never forget!

Fall Break: London

Part Two: London

Tuesday October 30

We arrived safely in London to begin our second leg of the trip. After getting settled in our hostel in the area of Kings Cross, we were off to explore what London had to offer. Our first stop was Kings Cross Station. For those of you that are Harry Potter fans, this is where platform
9&3/4 is. They even have a cart pushed halfway into the brick wall for photo opportunities. We took advantage. Next we were off to the British Museum where we saw wonderful things (highlights include: the Rosetta Stone, mummies and other Egyptian things, and pieces of the Parthenon). Following the museum, we headed to Hyde Park. The park is very pretty and very large. We only got through a little bit before it became dark out. We did manage to see the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, which was very cool. Our next stop was the River Thames to get a look at the famous Tower Bridge. The bridge was very beautiful as it was all lit up for the night. After more picture taking, we decided upon dinner in Notting Hill where everyone enjoyed a lovely meal of fish and chips.

Wednesday October 31

We were all a little worn out from all of the travelling, so we decided our best way to see the city was by riding a double decker tour bus. The tour gave you the opportunity to hop off whenever you wanted in order to see more of each site. However, we just decided to ride the entire route and then decide what we really wanted to see. We had an entertaining tour guide who made continuous jokes about us being from Wisconsin and being "bred tough"(we are still not sure if he was referring to our size or due to us withstanding the cold). We saw all of the major sites including the Tower of London, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Madame Tussauds, and London Bridge. After the tour, some of us decided that Westminster Abbey deserved a closer look. The Abbey was beautiful both inside and out. Almost everywhere you look inside, there is a burial or a commemoration site for someone. Kings ,Queens, poets, you name it.

Thursday November 1

Thursday started out with us making our way to Buckingham Palace in order to see the Changing of the Guard. While this seemed like a good idea at the time, and I'm sure at some point in my life I will be glad I saw it, I was somewhat dissatisfied. The entire area of the palace was packed with tourists and it was very hard to see what was going on. The guards weren't even wearing the traditional red jackets and big black hats (which was something I wanted to see). Our next stop was the National Gallery. The gallery was fantastic and we saw works by Van Gogh, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Monet. After the gallery, time was running low as we had tickets to see the musical Rent that night. We made our way back to the hostel to get ready for the show. The show was playing in the West End at the Duke of York Theater. We got there early for general admission, which paid off as our seats were great and the show was fantastic! A great way to end our stay in London.

Side note: the Tube (London's subway system) is absolutely fabulous. Very fast and easy to use. I loved it!

Fall Break: Dublin

After much anticipation, fall break has come and gone. I travelled with 7 other girls from my program on the ten day journey. During that time we managed to hit 3 cities in 3 different countries. Here is the overview:

Part One: Dublin, Ireland


Friday October 26, 2007


Our trip officially started as we hit the railways for Pisa to catch our flight to Dublin. We thought we were in the clear after everybody's luggage was under the weight limit (this was a huge dilemma while packing) and we headed towards our gate. Our 5:55pm flight was scheduled to put us into Dublin at approximately 8:30. In our minds, this was plenty of time to get settled in the hostel and explore the night life of Dublin. Turns out, we were very wrong. The flight ended up being delayed until 12:15am, reason unknown. This ended up with us arriving in Dublin around 3:30am. Not exactly what we wanted, as 6 of us had scheduled a 8:00am bus tour to take us to the Cliffs of Moher on Saturday.


Saturday October 27, 2007


After a quick 3 hours of sleep, the crew headed to Dublin's train station in order to get to Limmerick, where we were to being our tour with the lovely Barrett Tour Company. We were greeted in Limmerick by Richard Barrett who would be both our bus driver and guide for the day - a real comedian as well. The tour showed us everything that the countryside of Ireland has to offer. We saw Leamenagh castle (famous ruin), Poulnabrone Tomb, the limestone landscape of the Burren Region, the village of Ballyvaughan (the site of an ancient fort as well as a gift shop that had a Vince Lombardi book), a lunch stop in Doolin at the famous Gus O'Connors Pub (where i had an excellent bowl of seafood chowder with fish caught fresh from Galway Bay), and finally the main destination of the Cliffs of Moher. Even though it was cold, windy, and misty, the cliffs were absolutely amazing. No matter where you were, the views were fantastic. I would highly recommend visiting if you have the chance. Definitely one of my favorite places on the trip.


Sunday October 28, 2007


On Sunday we checked out the campus of Trinity College. It had beautiful lawn areas with exceptionally green grass and neat buildings as well. Very nice. While visiting, we happened to stumble upon a rugby tournament. We sat and watched for about and hour. After watching, I realized that rugby is a very intense sport, and one must be insane to participate. After the tournament, we decided to hit the famous shopping area known as Grafton Street. A big chunk of our time was spent exploring the overwhelming amount of shops. Some of us did more damage to the credit card than others. After shopping we headed back to the hostel to clean up for a night on the town. We dined at an Irish pub that had traditional music and a dance floor. Some of the Irish really know how to move on the dance floor. Others do not. After dinner, we made our way to The Porterhouse Bar, in the Temple Bar district. Besides the lovely selection of Porterhouse brews, the bar also featured a live band to celebrate Halloween. A great time was had by all, as the band was American and played classic hits such as Roxanne, Sweet Home Alabama, and Dont Stop Believin'.

Monday October 29, 2007

With Monday being our last day in Dublin, we still had a few more tourists sites to squeeze in. We headed towards St. Stephen's Green, a well known park in the center of the city. The park was very picturesque, with a pond, fountains, and neat paths. On the way to St. Patrick's Cathedral, we ran into the Dublin Marathon. We stopped near the finish line and were early enough to watch some of the elite runners cross the finish line. They didnt even look tired! We continued to St. Pat's. I'll have to admit, I wasnt that impressed from the outside, but upon entrance my opinion was quickly changed. The floors had a beautiful pattern in them and the high arches of the cathedral were great. Glad I decided to go in. Our focus quickly changed from churches and traditional site seeing to the Guinness Factory. The Guinness Storehouse is a massive building that actually housed the fermentation of Guinness beer until 1988. Now, the building is actually modelled after a giant pint glass. An opening stretches from the ground floor all the way to the "Gravity Bar" on the 7th floor. The tour of the factory is self led, and was actually very interesting and entertaining. It takes you through the complete process of how Guinness is produced and the history of Guinness. Once you make it to the top floor, you are welcomed with a free pint of Guinness to enjoy in the Gravity Bar. The Gravity Bar is circular in shape and provides you with a panoramic view of Dublin. The entire tour was really enjoyable. If you are ever in Dublin, be sure to check it out!

Dublin was a very enjoyable city to visit. The city itself is a completely different atmosphere than the countryside. So glad I was able to experience both the city and the countryside. All in all, I would say that the Cliffs of Moher were my favorite part of Ireland.

Some interesting things have happened in the past week. Here is the recap:

on tuesday, our Modern Italian Culture class took a hike up Mt. Morello. apparently, the area of Sesto Fiorentino was very active in the resistance movement. partisans used the mountain to hide from German soldiers. The hike meant the return of the mountain god Mario. having already gone on the previous hike that Mario led, i thought i would be fine. come to find out, the last hike we took was the "easy" one. when Mario told us this, i knew i was in for trouble. so, the group started out on what was to be a 4 hour hike. basically, once we got to the mountain, we just went straight up. the path was steep, with loose rocks along the entire way. i was terrified. we took the exact route that the partisans would have taken. along the way Mario pointed out specific spots in which the partisans hid, and he also took us to some monuments to remember those who had passed. it was definitely neat to see. if i was terrified on the way up, i cant begin to describe how i felt on the way down. in my head i thought there was no way that we would go down the mountain the same way we came up. i was wrong. we headed straight back down. at every step i thought i would lose my footing, fall down, and take everyone out in front of me. surprisingly, we made it down without anyone falling. it was a good hike and my body was feeling it days later.

this week i also started speaking with a conversation partner. the program contacts people in Sesto that would like to work on their english and help us work on our italian. my roommate meg and i were assigned the same partner, which i'm very glad about because my italian is extremely limited while meg is in advanced italian. we made our way to the home of angela, a 30 year old teacher to students with special needs. she was very nice and already speaks english quite well. it was very interesting to talk to her and learn about her life. meg and i will meet with her twice a week from now on. hopefully my italian will improve.

this week also marked my trip to eurochocolate 2007. the city of perugia hosts the biggest chocolate festival in europe. loving chocolate myself, i figured this would be the perfect day trip. tents of chocolate vendors lined the streets...we didnt know where to begin. seen as it was a little chilly that day, we started off with a cup of hot chocolate. this turned out to be more like chocolate that was melted, it was so thick. it was delicious, but i had to toss it after about a half cup due to the richness. we moved on, chocolate bars, chocolate popcorn, chocolate covered apples, the list was endless. we also saw the worlds largest chocolate bar, weighing in at 3,000 kg. it was definitely large. after we had enough chocolate, we explored perugia a little bit. the city is set on a hill and has some great views. a fun time was had by all.

this will me my last entry before the big fall break trip. hopefully i will have some entertaining stories to tell after my journey to dublin, london, and paris! ciao!