italiaaaaaaaa!

post 2 for today!
last week was our break for semana santa (aka - the week before easter).  so naturally...we traveled. since i'll be home in a week and a half-ish to tell you ALL about these trips in person - here's the condensed version :)

1. we flew into milan, italy friday night.  saturday we explored the city for a bit

we found the duomo!

2. saturday afternoon we took the train from milan to verona.  saturday night we explored the city a bit and found some interesting sights.  sunday morning we got up to do some exploring and find juliet's house (officially obsessed with the movie letters to juliet. watch it NOW if you haven't seen it.) 

verona by night

the i <3 jesus festival we found

juliet's house!

shakespeare and i both LOVE verona

3. sunday afternoon we took the train from verona to pisa (ps - in case you haven't noticed, i am a HUGE fan of public transportation now. and pretty much a professional at taking trains).  we went to the leaning tower in pisa on monday morning. annnnnnnnd...thats it. thats all there is in pisa.  but we enjoyed our fake senior picture time there :)

i am SUCH a tourist.

4. on monday afternoon we walked flew took the train (DUH) to ROMA!! monday night we were pooped and chose to devour authentic italian pizzas and sleep.  tuesday we explored st. peters basilica, the vatican museum (and the sistine chapel), and trevi fountain.  tuesday night i was sicker than a dog.  but wednesday morning i was ready to rock and roll to the colosseum, the roman forum, and the pantheon. rome was incredible and i hope that the big bucks 20 centavos i threw in the trevi to guarantee a return trip works :)

hangin out at the collosseum 

in st. peters square

at the top of st. peters basilica. thats a 551 stair trip (one way).

throwin the big bucks in the trevi

4. wednesday night we took the train flew to BARCELONA! we got there the night of the HUUUUGE barcelona - real madrid soccer game.  luckily all the soccer crazies were watching the game so we had no problems on the metro to our hostel.  thursday we planned to have a beach day but mother nature had other ideas. so we sat on the beach in scarves and jeans. barcelona was WONDERFUL. loved every part of it.  we visited the olympic port, las ramblas, la sagrada familia, park guell, a holy week procession and other crazy things.

the magic fountain on our last night in barca

cool beach day.

the famous lizard in park guell - designed by gaudi (who is a GENIUS)

just climbed a mountain in park guell to get here

la sagrada familia - another genius gaudi project that has been under construction for 100+ years

at la sagrada familia  

the inside

part of the procession

again 

port vell by night - tropical paradise 

port vell by day 

friendssssssss!!

we returned to santiago on easter sunday (exhausted as ever).  today we had our last activity which was a picnic in the park.  we totally hippied out and the boys played the guitar so we could have a sing-along. it was a nice relaxing way to end our time here.  tomorrow is our last day of class for the week. we have one more big assignment due monday then finals.  can't wait to say SEE YOU NEXT WEEK on sunday! yay! it feels like just yesterday that i got here but now i am SO excited to come home and share all my adventures!

adios for now! xoxo - t

camino de santiago

you're in luck. today i'm double posting because i have some free time and lots to share.

a couple weekends ago we went on the camino de santiago.  for those of you who don't know, santiago de compostela is where the found the tomb of st. james is said to be found.  the amazing cathedral that i have posted pictures of was built on the site of his tomb and since then people have made pilgrimages here to pay tribute to him.  santiago is the third holiest city in the world (behind jerusalem and rome).  the pilgrimage to santiago was the safest one so thats the one many took.  most people start the camino in the france area and walk from there to santiago.  it takes about 30 days to do it when walking about 30km per day.

we did the 'cheating' version of the camino. :) we left santiago on a saturday morning and took a bus to a city about 2hrs from santiago.  from there we set off walking to another close town where we ate lunch. after that...we walked some more. then took the bus to the town where we spent the night.  we did the same thing on sunday until we reached the cathedral.  you could tell we weren't real peregrinos (spanish for pilgrims) because we were smiling and laughing waaaaaay too much when we got there.  the camino was an amazing experience and i would love to do the full camino someday (maybe...)

the yellow arrows that mark the way of the camino

tonya and i following the camino signs

just playing on the rock bridge :)

waaaaaay too close to cows for my liking

the camino map

just enjoying the view during a break

brace yourselves...its a long one

i am awful at blogging. lo siento. TWO weeks ago we had our break for carnavales. celina, liv, and i went on our mega trip to london, paris, prague and poland. Recap...

1) london
we flew into brussles and then took the train to london. i rolled my suitcase in dog poo on the way to the hotel...booooooooo. we stayed in a hotel in the newbury park area so we were masters of the london underground (mind the gap). we went to buckingham palace, westminster abbey, the tower of london, big ben and the house of parliament, the london eye, the tower bridge, and saw various other places on our lil bus tour

big ben/house of parliament

phone booth!

london taxis

at westminster abbey

the london eye

tower bridge

2) paris

we took the train again from london to paris. that means we went UNDER the english channel to get there! in paris we saw the louvre museum where the mona lisa is, the sacre couer (highest point in france), the eiffel tower (liv and i went to the top of the tower!), the arc de triomphe, notre dame (we went to ash wednesday mass there), and a cemetery where ocsar wilde and jim morrison are buried.

at moulin rouge

the eiffel tower

arc de triomphe

paris from the top of the tower

the tower at night - we were inside when the lights came on

notre dame on ash wednesday

at the louvre

the stained glass in notre dame

the mona lisa

walkin like an egyptian in the louvre

3) prague

we flew from paris to prague. my favorite city by far. not only was it BEAUTIFUL but we also had the best food (and beer :]) there. we saw the castle, the bridge, and the john lennon wall.  i would go to prague again in an instant.

budvar (aka budweiser) on the train to poland

the king had the clockmaker killed after he completed this so no one could have the same clock. ever.

central prague

statues on the bridge

the lennon wall

the city

the dancing house

4) auschwitz

our last stop was the krakow, poland to go to auschwitz and birkenau.  we took an overnight train from prague to poland.  i slept pretty much at the top of a tree fort in our midget room on the train.  the bed was TOO SHORT for me (hope y'all are as excited about this as i was :]) we got to krakow at about 7am and went to our hostel to relax a little before we headed to the camps which were about an hour away.  it was an unbelievable experience to be at the camps.

work makes you free

cans from the gas used in the chambers

30,000 shoes were found when auschwitz was liberated

pictures of the people in the camp

the courtyard between blocks 10 and 11 where prisoners were shot

site of the largest public hanging in auschwitz

the entrance to birkenau

whats left of the crematorium at birkenau. it was destroyed by nazi soldiers before the camp was liberated.

the monument near the crematorium. this is written in 20 languages - one for every language spoken by people in the camp

the end of the railroad tracks used to bring prisoners into birkenau. prisoners sent straight to the gas chambers upon arrival waked this path along the tracks

this was truly the trip of a lifetime and one i will NEVER forget.  there are more stories to share once i get home but are far too long to share on here. miss you all! xoxo

ps - the countdown is at 43 days...in case you were wondering :)