Now that midterms were finally over it was time to kick back, relax, and head out for a ten day euro vacation! My roommates and I packed up our suitcases and it was time to head to Santa Maria Novella train station, where our bus would be picking us up! Luckily, Deanna and I decided to split a big suitcases for the 10 days that way we could take turns lugging the suitcase everywhere we went. It was probably the smartest idea we could have comp up with and made traveling a lot easier for us! Upon arrival at the train station the bus2alps tour leaders checked us in and gave us wristbands for the week. There was an overwhelming amount of students gathered at the train station waiting to board the bus for the experience of a lifetime that awaiting us in the ten days ahead. Finally we boarded the bus, and we were en route to our first stop!
Prague: The buses were not your most comfortable accommodations, but I was going to have to make due because this was my form of transportation for the next 10 days. There was not much leg room to really stretch out, especially when the person sitting in front of you reclined their seat and was practically crushing you. Luckily, the us ride was throughout the night, so I was able to catch a little sleep. The leaders put a movie on for us to watch, but eventually I fell asleep. In the middle of the night, I woke up and looked out my window. I did not know where I was, but the view outside the bus window was incredible. I have never seen so many bright stars at once in my entire life. The overwhelming amount of stars twinkled in the pitch black night sky over the peaks of the mountains. After falling back asleep I woke up again a very happy girl to see that it was fall outside the bus window. In Florence, there is no grass of tress for that matter. I have honestly and truly missed the fall weather and festivities. The trees on the mountainside were technicolors of vibrant red, yellow, and orange colors! Once making a stop for a bathroom break, the air smelt of fall and crisp fall leaves! Upon arriving to Prague, we checked into our hostel. Unfortunately our room was not ready yet, but to accommodate us they upgraded us to an actual hotel room. Mia, Deanna, and I had a king size bed for the three of us to share with chocolates left on our pillows! We then headed out on a three hour walking tour of Prague! 
Loving the Fall Weather
The first stop on the tour was old town square! In old town square we saw the Astronomical Clock! It is the oldest astronomical clock in the world to still be working! To fully appreciate the clock's intricate construction, join the crowd in front of the tower to observe the procession of the Twelve Apostles: on the hour, every hour, a small trap door opens and Christ marches out ahead of his disciples, while the skeleton of death tolls the bell to a defiant statue of a Turk. You would think that seeing the clocks activity on the hour would be extremely exciting by the overwhelming amount of people who gather in the square on the hour to watch it. The astronomical clock is actually the second most disappointing sight to see in Europe. Next stop on the tour, was new town square. New town square was filled with restaurants, shops, and food trucks! Food trucks are a very big thing in Prague. One of the most popular items to order from a food truck is Smažený Sýr, or fried cheese. It is a block of fried cheese on a roll, usually served with ketchup. Mmmm mmm good! Throughout the door we also visited the jewish center, the estates theater, wenceslas square, republic square. At the end of the tour, our tour guide gave us some tips about Praha! She explained to us the czech koran currency. She warned us not to get frightened when we received a bill for 400 czech, which is really equivalent to 16 euro. After the tour concluded, we had the rest of the day to explore ourselves! First stop was Starbucks! I had not had Starbucks in quite sometime so it tasted like heaven in my mouth!
Astronomical Clock
We ventured to the outdoor markets, where vendors were selling fresh fruits and veggies, flowers, tshirts, and homemade trinkets! That night Mia, Deanna went back to new town square for dinner where they were having a food festivals. We enjoyed chicken veggie kabobs, roasted nuts, and hot wine! You would think that hot wine would taste weird, but it was actually delicious and mixed with spices such as cinnamon. Considering how could Prague was considering the 70 degree weather we were used to in Florence, it warmed us up! After dinner we walked along the river. It was so pretty to see the bridges all lit up. While standing on the bridge you could see the Prague castles lit up in the distance. We can thank Mick Jagger from the Rolling Stones, who has kindly paid to keep Prague and the castle lit up at night! After a long day of traveling and walking around we headed back to the hostel to call it a night!
Charles Bridge & Prague Castle
The following morning we headed out for another full day of tourist activites! Our first stop was the Charles Bridge! It is one of the most visited sights in Prague! The old stone bridge is aligned with baroque statues, musicians, and souvenir vendors on either side. After having time to explore the bridge, it was then time to visit the John Lennon wall! The John Lennon wall was covered it bright colored paintings, Beatles song lyrics, and signatures and quotes of visitors from all over the world! I made sure to sign the John Lennon wall amongst the other thousands of tourists who visit the wall each week. Next, it was time to visit the castle! Upon arriving at the castle Cait and I tried to get the guards to laugh or even smirk, but needless to say it was no luck. The only thing we got out of him was a small wink! The castle and the cathedral were really pretty perched up on the top of the mountain. From atop the mountain you could view all of Prague! It reminded me a lot of the Piazza di Michaelangelo back home in Florence! After all the walking around our tummys were rumbling so we decided it was time for a late lunch early dinner! We found a traditional Czech restaurant where I had beef goulash and bread dumplings! For our last night in Prague we went to Lucerna, which is an 80/90s dance club! We danced the night away to grease lightening, dancing queen, and ice-ice baby! We even danced up on stage! After dancing the night away it was time for some sleep because we were en route to destination number two early the next morning!
John Lennon Wall
John Lennon Wall
Beef Goulash with Bread Dumplings
80s & 90s Dance Club
Berlin: At 9 o'clock the next morning we boarded the bus and headed for Berlin! The bus ride was about 6 hours long before we arrived in Berlin. By the time we arrived in Berlin we checked into the hostel and headed out to find something to eat! We were starving so we literally went to the first restaurant we could find. We found an international restaurant where you could watch them cooking in the kitchen on a TV above your table. I had pasta with chicken in a peanut butter, coconut milk, chili, lime, and pineapple sauce. It sounds like a weird combination, but it was delicious! After dinner we walked around and decided we wanted to climb to the top of the Berlin TV tower. The tower was constructed by the former German Democratic Republic administration and was intended to be a symbol of Berlin. It is the tallest structure in all of Germany, and the fourth tallest freestanding structure in Europe. We rode the elevator up to the tope of the tower. From the top of the tower you can look out at all of Berlin. It was exquisite to see Berlin all lit up at night. We even saw a boat parade, as the lights flickered from the bows of the boats. For the rest of the night we walked around exploring to see what the rest of Berlin had to offer!
Berlin TV Tower
The next morning we had walking tour to show us the historical city of Berlin! The tour began in Pariser Platz where the Brandenburg Gate is located. The Brandenburg Gate is one of the most well known landmarks of Berlin and holds great significant meaning. It is the only remaining gate of a series in which was used to enter Berlin. The US Embassy is located directly next to the Brandenburg gate. Also in the Pariser Platz is the hotel from which Michael Jackson first held his son up over the balcony and showed him to the public! Next stop on the tour, was a Holocaust Memorial. The memorial contained 2711 cement blocks which left many people filled with emotions and different interpretations. Next was the place where Hitler's bunk once was. The bunk where he once stayed was filled in with swamp land and has never been on display. It was really scary to think that I was standing once where a major tragedy throughout world history once occurred. The tour continued with visits to Check Point Charlie and the original Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall was not what I expected it to be. It was a lot smaller than I had envisioned it. It was interesting to listen to the tour guides stories of how many people tried to escape over the wall, but only a select few were successful in doing so. My favortite story is of a man who worked in a building adjacent to the Berlin Wall. Very early one morning he snuck his wife and his children into his office and hid them there. When the time was right, they zip lined across to the other side of the Berlin Wall. When the tour concluded we had the rest of the day to explore for ourselves! Deanna, Mia, Cait, and I decided to learn how to use the train and head to the East Side Gallery! The East Side Gallery is remaining pieces of the original Berlin Wall stretching 1km and has been painted by professional graffiti artists! Some of the wall paintings were powerful and expressed vivid strong messages to the viewers. It reminded me a lot of the John Lennon Wall in Prague! That night for dinner we met up with our entire bus2alps group and went to a traditional German beer garden for dinner where I ate zucchini schnitzel! After dinner we headed back to the hostel in order to drive through the night to head to destination number three!
Berlin
Brandenburg Gate
Hotel Where Michael Jackson Held Up His Son
Holocaust Memorial
Original Berlin Wall
East Side Gallery
East Side Gallery
Traditional German Beer Garden
Amsterdam: Luckily, we traveled throughout the night and did not have to waste any day time to travel. we arrived in Amsterdam at about 6am so needless to say after checking in we went back to sleep for another 3 hours! Once we woke up again we had breakfast and then headed out for guided tour! I honestly did not know what to expect when I visited Amsterdam. Did you know that Amsterdam has more canals than Venice? Because I did not know that. We set off on our walking tour to learn all about what Amsterdam has to offer. Most young people who travel or move to Amsterdam do so for the sole purpose of two things: sex and drugs. In Amsterdam prostitution and smoking weed is legal. Amsterdam was the first place world wide to legalize gay marriage. Our tour began walking through the red light district. To be completely honest it was kind of uncomfortable walking around seeing girls in windows belittling themselves as that to make a living. It was interesting to hear and to see that most people in Amsterdam get around by way of bike instead of car. It was funny to see more bike traffic than there was car traffic. Our tour concluded at the Anne Frank house. Deanna, Mia and I decided to wait online to gain access into entering the museum. Going into the museum was extra interesting considering everything I had just learned in Berlin. The museum was the actual house that Anne Frank and her family had hidden in for such a long time. Her original diary was on display and other pieces of writing from that time. Walking through the museum left me filled with emotions knowing what the family had gone through. After visiting the museum we went to a little cafe on a canal for a bite to eat for lunch. After lunch we decided to walk around in hopes of finding the IAMSTERDAM sign, but it was a complete epic fail. Since we were unsuccessful we headed back to the hostel to meet up with Cait and Michele. Three times a year there is a giant fair filled with rides and food stands in the middle of town. Luckily, the weekend we were in Amsterdam the fair was there! We spent part of the night walking around the fair and eating stroop waffles! At 7 o'clock at night we went on the red light district tour. The red light district is the are of town in which all the prostitutes stand in their windows waiting for customers to come aknocking. It was really interesting to learn the history of it and how it came to be legalized in Amsterdam.
The Canals of Amsterdam
The next morning we woke up and thought what would be better than renting bikes in Amsterdam since it was their main mode of transportation! We went to rent bikes, got our maps, and headed out for a day full of riding! We were on a mission to find the IAMSTERDAM sign, so thats where we rode to first! Luckily, we finally found it! We locked up our bikes and took tons of pictures on the sign. The letters were lots of fun to climb on and made for some great group photos! We then preceded to ride our bikes around to find a little cafe to have some lunch. After lunch we walked around the flea market and did some shopping. We also rode our bikes to the Heineken Brewery and walked around there for a little bit. We returned our bikes around 6pm and then headed for dinner. Amsterdam was really pretty during the day, but turned into some sort of freak show at night. We called it an early night, because in the morning we were headed to our final destination of the trip.
Bike Riding
IAMSTERDAM
IAMSTERDAM
IAMSTERDAM
Paris: Our final destination was Paris! Although I have already had the experience of traveling to Paris, I was excited to see if Paris had anything else to offer me since the last time I was there. In Paris, we would finally be meeting up with our sixth roomie Megan who had been doing some traveling with her parents throughout Italy for the majority of fall break. We arrived in Paris in the later afternoon and checked into the hostel. We purchased metro tickets and headed to our first sight seeing spot just in time for sunset, the Sacra Cour. The Sacra Cour is the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris perched on top of a hill. It is one of the highest points of elevation in Paris, in which you can view the entire city including the Eiffel Tower! Since the weather was quite chilly, we decided it was time for dinner and some heat to warm us up. For dinner I had some french onion soup which hit the spot! After dinner we headed to the Moulin Rougue district for the pub crawl with the rest of our program.
Sacra Cour
Moulin Rougue District
The next day we went on a walking tour of Paris. During the tour we saw Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, the lock of love bridge from Sex & the City, and the Louvre. Once the walking tour was complete we finally found Megan! Then we were on a mission to find CHIPOTLE! It may have taken us a while to find, but it was time well spent. After having a mexican feast, it was time to explore the Louvre. While in the Louvre we saw the Mona Lisa and some of the compositions I have studied in my art class this semester. That night the entire program bought bottles of wine, hopped on the metro, and spent the night underneath the Eiffel Tower. We also picked up french baguettes to reenact the scene from the Mary-kate and Ashley Passport to Paris! The is nothing more beautiful than to see the Eiffel Tower light up and sparkle on the hour for five minutes. We spent most of our time gazing at the tower until we were frozen from it being so cold. To warm up we had nutella crepes and headed home for a good nights rest! The next day we hopped on a train and headed to Palace of Versailles for the day. After touring the palace we headed back to Paris and spent the rest of our day window shopping and browsing on Champs Elysees. Sadly, we then had to return to the hostel in order to pack up and board the bus for a long 14 hour drive ahead of us.
Locks of Love Bridge
Outside the Louvre
Palace of Versailles
Gardens of Versailles
Outside the Palace
Roomies Reunited
As I stood their gazing at the Eiffel Tower twinkling in the night I realized I had just spent the past 10 days exploring more cities than some people may see in a lifetime. Not to mention being able to share this experience with some of my best friends creating memories that I will have and cherish for a lifetime. 10 days, 4 countries, 4 cites... MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! By the time the ten days were up I was beyond ready to head back to Florence!
Eiffel Tower!
Eiffel Tower!
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