Amsterdam day 2

On Sunday we took the train back into the city for another fun filled day. Our first stop was the Heinken Factory for the Heinken "experience." It wasn't really a tour is was more interactive. The first room had two screens with a guy talking to you about the history of the company. You walk through and see old labels, you learn how beer is made, you try the beer, you go on a virtual ride of making it feel like you are being brewed, you can make a bottle with your name on the label, its was just really cool and I don't even like beer. After the factory we walked quite a while to our next stop the Ann Frank house, where she hid during WW2. It was really weird being in that house. The stair case up to the 3rd floor was so steep. Then there is a hidden passage behind a book case that you enter to go up to where the people in hiding lived. There is no longer any furniture in the building b/c it was taken away once they were discovered but in Ann Franks room there are pictures all over the wall they she had cut out of magazines to decorate the room. I got goose bumps when I was standing in her room thinking that Ann Frank herself was hidden in this room for so long, never saw the light of day and was the one who put the pictures on the wall that I was looking at, it was very sad. At the end of the house her actual diary is in a glass case. Janne was trying to translate it for us but she was having trouble b/c she said it was in an old dutch dialect. After the house we went back to Jannes house and met up with one of her friends. We yet again hopped on our bikes and went to downtown Utreck to a club. Everyone in the Netherlands rides bikes everywhere, there are an insane amount of bikes everywhere. Everyone also buys really cheap bikes b/c they get stolen all the time. The club scene in the Netherlands is defiantly different then Italy. Everyone there goes for the live DJs everyone is most likely on Ecstasy and they are just like moving around to the music and just absolutely loving the music. In comparison to Italy where you have no room to move and have to constantly be dodging Italian men in order to not get groped. After the cluh we went home and went to bed.

Amsterdam, Netherlands Saturday

This weekend I went to the Netherlands and it was amazing! I was going to obviously see Amsterdam, but my friend Janne as well. Janne is from Holland and she studied abroad in America at Champlain this past fall semester. Maggie (my roommate) and I stayed with her. She picked us up at the airport and gave us little wooden clogs and "typical dutch cookies" to welcome us to her home, she is so cute! She drove us through her home town and showed us where she worked, and the house she grew up in. It was so crazy because honestly when she left in December I never thought I would see her again, yet there I was with her in her home town in the Netherlands. Once we got to her apartment we refreshed ourselves and headed to Amsterdam. Janne lives in Utreck which is a 20min train ride from Amsterdam. We rode bikes to the train station which was interesting because the bike I was riding was too big for my short legs so I had to get a running start in-order to get on and whenever we stopped for traffic I had to throw my body off the bike, but I WAS RIDDING A BIKE THROUGH HOLLAND... so I didn't care that much :) Once we got into amsterdam I instantly fell in love. The buildings were beautiful, everything had bloomed including the tulips and there were canals everywhere. Our first stop was a "coffee shop" where they have a weed menu. It is so crazy there are people smoking in the streets and you can smell it everywhere. They also sell "space cakes" which are weed cupcakes. I had a bite of the space cake just to try it .. to say I tried a space cake in amsterdam...After the coffee shop we walked to the Van Gough Museum where I got to see the famous painting "starry night" it was so cool to see it in real life among with all his other famous paintings. After the museum we got some wine and sat in the park and just talked and sipped on wine. While we were doing this I dropped my entire cup on myself so it looked like I wet myself.. it dried eventually. After relaxing for a bit in the park we headed over to the red light district....In the red light district there are windows after windows with half naked women just standing there shaking their boobs. If someone is interested in them they walk in the glass door and they shut a curtain. There are sooooo many I couldn't believe what I was seeing, so I took a picture from a far, but apparently this one prostitute had tunnel vision and saw me. She got off her little platform, came out of the door and yelled "NO PICTURES YOU BITCH" and threw a cup of liquid at me...which I later learned was URINE which apparently they keep on hand for when people try to take pictures of the. Luckily she missed but I thought it was funny that a whore called me a bitch! It is a story to tell my grandchildren for sure. At this point we had been up for almost 24 hours so we went home and passed out. 

Sunday and Monday

On Sunday we all slept in, I finally went for a run, I was feeling really fat after eating out every night this week. When I met up with dad and sharon we went to the Bobili Gardens and the Piti Palace, which is on the other side of the river. Both were beautiful. After the gardens we went to a bakery and my dads third one of the day and got basically one of everything. We went home napped and then met up for Tijuanas! (where I go every thursday) We went and got two pitchers of margaritas... dad and sharon got a bit tipsy, it was rather amusing. My dad started talking to the two Italian men next to us and we ended up talking with them for 45 min. Then my dad bought them dinner. I also got a Tijuanas t-shirt(all my roommates are jealous) When we left my dad said "that was fun I like that place" and I responded dad.. that is why I go every week! 

Today we took a bus trip to Siena, a small medieval town. We got there walked around saw the sights and ate lunch. On the way home the bus was like a sauna and I could barely breathe. When we got home I had to do HMW! (weird) I had a great week with Sharon and my dad and I am sad that they are leaving in the morning, but I will see them again in 6 weeks!

Today was also the day that the earthquake hit Italy. We luckily didn't feel anything here in Florence!

Wine Tasting

Yesterday my dad, sharon, some of my roommates and I, along with others from my school went on a trip to chianti for a wine tasting. The trip was organized through my school and was a really great experience. We first went on a tour of the grounds and then went into the wine cellars to see how they store the wine. After the tour everyone sat down for lunch. The tour guide explained to us how to hold your wine glass (at the bottom as far from the cup part as possible) how to look at the color, to smell it and to taste it. He kept stressing that wine isn't for quenching your thirst, it is to evoke conversation, meeting new friends and having an experience. We sampled three different types of red wine and had pasta, peccerino cheese(sheep cheese), assorted meats, olive oil, bread, beans... a lot of food. The entire day was really great we made new friends with some girls who sat across from us (which apparently we can thank the wine for) and I am really glad my dad got to experience it with me. After we got back we all napped and then met up again for dinner. Even though I was still full from lunch we went to dinner. We sat at a restaurant right in front of the duomo it was cute(very touristy). After dinner I left my dad and sharon and went back to my apartment and hung out with my roommates. We went out to Moyo a bar and had drinks and then attempted to go to twice a dance club. However, florence is at the height of tourist season and the amount of people out was insane. We walked in the club and immediately left because it was so crazy. We all were getting up early so we called it a night and went home.

More Dad and Sharon

Yesterday I met up with my dad and sharon and brought them to Piazzale Michelangelo. Piazzale Michelangelo is on the other side of the Arno and on a hill. From there you can see a beautiful view of Florence. We walked around went up to the church and checked out the crazy grave yard they have there. After our hike dad and sharon were pooped and couldn't keep up with me b/c I used to walking all over the place. They went home and took a little nap and we met up again for dinner. We went to this sushi place called Kome. You sit at the bar and there is a conveyer belt that brings different types of sushi to you. If you see one that you like you just take it and at the end they tally your plates. It was really cool and I even got daring and tried something other than a vegetarian role. I made my dad proud. 

Today I woke up at 6:30 met my dad and sharon at 7:30 and went to the train station to catch a train to Rome. Once we got to Rome we went straight to the Collosseum. We walked around the collosseum it was much nicer this time because it wasn't raining so I took some better pictures this time around. After the collosseum we walked to the Pantheon and sat outside and had lunch. After lunch we walked to the Trevi Fountain and took a cab to the Vatican City. We walked around outside, went into the basilica and then made our way to the Sistine Chapel. I am pretty lucky to have gone to see all of these things twice in 2 months b/c some people never get to see them. The world wind tour I took them on today probably could have taken a week but we did it in 8 hours and were very tired by the end of the day. We went to Yellow for dinner and now I am going to pass out in my bed. 

My dad is here!

Yesterday, My dad and Sharon arrived in Florence :)! In between my class I met up with them at there hotel and brought them to get a delish sandwich. I went to class and after class took them out to this restaurant for dinner. Today I met up with them again after class. We went to the outdoor market and looked at what everyone had at there little stands for a while. We went to get gilato and I brought them to the pont de vechio, I basically brought them to all the main sights in florence. We went to Chiro and Sons for dinner and at a delicious meal. 

Last Day in Barcelona

During our last day in spain we basically just slept all day and relaxed. At night we went back to the bar we went to the night before. After we left we hopped on the metro to try and find a club called bikini. When we came up out of the metro we ran into a promoter for the club and he put us on the guest list so when we got there we didn't have to pay. In order to get into the club, you have to go down this ramp that brings your underground. Once you get inside you check your coat and go down stairs, so the club is totally underground. The club was filled with a bunch of older people, we were deff the youngest there. There was two rooms. One room was a salsa room and another was a hip hop room. We were in the hip hop room and all of a sudden mission imposible music started to play. We looked at the stage and the curtains moved. Out came 6 girls all dressed like sexy cops/ the pussycat dolls. They all started dancing to this little routine then 4 guys came out who looked like chip and dale dancers who were dressed also as sexy cops came out and danced with them. The entire time we just stared in disbelief and were like are we really watching this right now. I wished I had taped it was quite crazy. Afterwards we went home went to bed and got ready for our flight home the next morning. 

When we woke up we dinned on broccli, pizza, pesto pasta, beer and wine, we cooked everything that was left in our fridge got in a cab and went back to florence. It was down pouring when we got back, I read for the rest of the day and then on sunday it rained again, I worked on a project and watched a movie.

On monday Maggie and I put all of our dirty laundry into trash bags and basically held them in front of us and walked around trying to find a laundry mat to wash our clothes because ours was broken. We went into the grocery store to get change and I told the guy we were going to do laundry and he said "OH I thought you crazy americans were just carrying trash around" it was pretty funny. Once we go to the laundry mat I was so excited to do my laundry, b/c there were dryers. Over the last two months I have been hang drying things and my socks and underwear get like crunchy so I WAS PUMPED to dry my clothes. that clearly was the highlight of my day, I went home and did more hmw.