Recent pictures!

Here are some pics from the past couple weeks!

All the girls on the Prague pub crawl!

The John Lennon wall in Prague

The giant Heineken museum/brewery in Amsterdam.

Eiffel Tower!

Jaz, Me, Caroline, Natalee, and Dana in front of the Eiffel Tower!

Arc de Triomphe.

The Louvre!

The Moulin Rouge... kinda disappointing but at least I finally got to see it my 3rd trip to Paris!

Another thing crossed off the bucket list, we toured the Paris Opera house, it was absolutely stunning! Jazmine wants to get married here. It's gorgeoussss!

The Grand Staircase in Opera Garnier! I had Phantom of the Opera songs stuck in my head for days after this!

Notre Dame!
More to come later of the French Riviera, which is absolutely gorgeous! Barcelona tomorrow!
XOXO <3

So I'm a little behind...

...Okay I'm a lot behind, but here's what's been going on!

When I left off we were spending our last day in Munich before going to Prague! Maybe it was all of the hype that I had heard about Prague before I got there, but I really wasn't terribly impressed. I think I may have been expecting too much. Don't get me wrong, it was a pretty city, but a large percentage of it seemed a little sketchy. The John Lennon wall was one thing that was really cool and I LOVED! Also Prague had an amazing nightlife. One night we went to this really neat 5 story club, and another we did a planned out bar crawl where they lead you through the city to 5 of the coolest bars and clubs. If you're ever in Prague, make sure you go on one of the many pub crawls!

After leaving Prague we drove through Austria (which apparently makes it count as one of our 9 countries, even though we were there for 3 hours), and continued on towards Heidelberg. It was a very relaxing 2 days because we stayed out in the countryside outside of the city and there was literally nothing to do. When we did head in to the city it was a really pretty little college town. We walked through the campus of Heidelberg University and through the old city streets, even spent a little while in the college bookstore and reading for a while in the Starbucks near campus.

After Heidelberg we headed to Amsterdam. It is SUCH a cool city! It's very relaxed, a gorgeous city, and a monkey could navigate it because their public transportation is amazing. The coolest thing we did while we were there was go to the Heineken museum/brewery. It was literally the best museum ever! (Even Jazmine agrees and she hates all beer). They take you through the history, then through the entire process they go through to make beer, and then there's a ride! They teach you the technique to drinking Heineken to get the most out of it, and included in your entrance fee is free beer! I have a new found love for Heineken after that trip.

After Amsterdam we headed to Belgium. We spent a few hours during lunch time in Bruges before heading on to Brussels. Unfortunately, we didn't get much time in that city. We got in that evening, had one night in the town, and left the next morning. From what I saw I liked it, even though the area of our hotel was a little sketch. I may try and head back there at some point in my life to try and get more out of the experience.

We've now entered France and are spending 3 nights in Paris! It's already been amazing 2 days and I'm so sad that we have to leave tomorrow. Every time I come to Paris I love it a little bit more. Yesterday I finally saw the Paris Opera house and the Moulin Rouge, which I somehow had never seen before. We also took Eiffel tower pictures, started at the Arc de Triomphe and walked down the Champs Elysees to the Louvre, and ended the day touring Notre Dame. Today we opted to skip out on the Louvre since many of us have been there before, and are spending a relaxing day shopping and seeing SATC2 before going out for a nice dinner our last night!

Tomorrow morning we're waking up ridiculously early (like 5:30 am) to hop on a train to take us to Nice in the French Riviera. Should be a gorgeous couple of days before heading to Barcelona, then back to the U.S.!

Pictures from Venice and Germany!

The Neuschwanstein Castle!



Hofbrauhaus!

Hofbrauhaus!

The Exterior of Hofbrauhaus.


Canals of Venice!


Venice gondolas!

View from our Gondola!

Doges Palace!


The beach near our hotel in the little city outside of Venice!

On to Germany!

Venice was absolutely GORGEOUS!! The day started out a little rocky (AKA we got caught in a monsoon and I was convinced the city was just going to sink right there), but surprisingly enough the rain went away and turned into one of the most gorgeous days I've ever experienced. We walked through the streets, over the bridges of the canals, rode in a gondola through the city, and left no stones unturned. I only wish we had had more time there, and that the pictures could do justice to just how amazing it was.


We left Venice and after a 7 hour bus ride and getting to see a little bit of Austria during lunch and from the bus, we have arrived in Germany. Everyone, including myself, absolutely loves it here. The food is amazing and the beer is cheaper than water (not cheap, just cheaper lol). Last night we got here and went straight to the world famous Hofbrauhaus here in Munich! The atmosphere in that place is amazing! If I lived here I'd be there all the time. The place is huge and seats like 4,500 people throughout the many floors, and it's basically a giant party and people are dressed up in traditional German clothes all over the place. Definitely a must see for anyone who is ever in Munich, even if you don't drink beer!

Today we woke up and went to the Neuschwanstein Castle about an hour and a half away in Bavaria. After th drive and a refreshing 45 minute hike up the mountain we finally got there. It's the castle that Sleeping Beauty's castle was modeled after and it was gorgeous, despite the really awkward and creepy tour guide. He was a tiny little British man and I had trouble deciding whether he'd be better suited for a Monty Python film or a slasher movie. Each time we entered a new room of the castle he slowly and eerily closed the doors behind us and each time I thought to myself "Yup, this must be when he pulls out his gun and shoots us all while laughing hysterically." I only wish I had a video, but if you ask later I'll do my best to impersonate it for you. Pictures weren't allowed inside of the building, but I have some great exterior ones I'll post soon.

Now we're napping, showering, and contemplating tonight's plans before heading to Prague tomorrow!

Love and miss you all!

XOXO,
Sarah <3

Pictures from Italy!

Here are some pictures from Italy!
Florence Duomo

A Vineyard in Tuscany, aka where I want to live.

Trevi Fountain!!

Trevi Fountain again!

Spanish steps!

Colosseum, weather sucked but still impressive!

St. Peter's Basilica

Pompeii.

More to come later! Venice tomorrow!

XOXO,
Sarah

Italy!

Monday, May 31, 2010 5:00 PM (11:00 am Orlando time)

We’re in Florence! I’m way behind in blogging due to lack of internet access and time, so I’ll catch you up!

We left Corfu on a ferry to Italy and were in Rome for 3 nights. That’s definitely one of my favorite cities in Europe and even though it was the third time I’ve been there, it’s still gorgeous and breathtaking. We saw all of the tourist spots; the Vatican, the Coliseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, etc. We did a tour of Rome at night with our tour group and had an amazing time! The city lights up at night and is absolutely gorgeous!

After Rome we decided as a group we wanted to do a wine tasting so our tour guide set it up for us! We stopped in Tuscany at a Vineyard that has been owned by the same family since the 1700s and had a wine lesson and tasting. Tuscany is GORGEOUS! I’m obsessed, I could live there forever and be okay with that. I have several pictures that I’ll post when I get a chance that don’t even look real they’re so pretty.

Last night after our wine tasting we finally made it into Florence. Our hotel is a 15minute walk to the city center and Duomo, so it’s nice to be centrally located. We grabbed dinner with the 4 of us and some of our fabulous new friends and then ended up coming back and going to bed early because we were all exhausted.
This morning was a walking tour of Florence where we ran into Colleen randomly! We knew we were going to be in Florence at the same time but we didn’t have phones so I never dreamed we’d be able to see her. Such a lucky coincidence!
After the tour we grabbed lunch, did some shopping, and took a lazy afternoon to reorganize our lives! Tonight we have a bar crawl through the city and tomorrow is our last day in Florence before heading to Venice!
We had wifi for about half an hour and lost it, so photos (and this blog) will be posted as soon as we get it back!

Love and miss you all!

XOXO
Sarah

Photos from Corfu!!


One of the many beautiful streets of Corfu town!


This random duck posted up under our umbrella on the beach for like 20 minutes til jazmine decided she didn't like him there haha.


Corfu's gorgeous beach!


Fabulous little beach bar where we spent some time, the owner/bartender loveddd Americans so she gave us all free shots. Fun times for sure!

Today was our last day in Corfu and it was an extremely long, fun, and interesting one! We're currently sitting in a ship port waiting for our ferry to Italy! More to come soon!

XOXO,
Sarah <3