That's All, London!

Well friends, this is it... My grand and awesome adventures have come to an end. Today is my last day in London. It is a day full of mixed emotions! I think the closest I came to crying was when I had to tell the lady at the chocolate store I was leaving for America tomorrow and would never be returning again. It's been a rough few days, full of laughter and tears. I've never been more bipolar in my life! :)  I just wanted to write my one last post, to give London a final farewell... in a short 15 hours from now, I will boarding a plane headed for home. And though I'm confident I will miss this city, I can not deny that it has been the absolute best time of my life! An experience I will never ever forget!

I have learned so much, and made so many life-long friends since being here in London. So many incredible people who have touched my life in so many ways! They will never be forgotten, and forever loved!

There are so many things I am so excited for upon going home! And here they are:

1) My family... I've missed their jokes, their teasing, and just them in general.

2) My favorite person in this world... Eric Hutchinson! I pretty much love him!

3) Food. I'm sure at this point, anything will taste amazing!

4) My closet full of clothes! Cute ones! Ones that I will actually enjoy wearing!

5) My shoes....

6) My very own bed, in my very own room!

7) A warm shower. I love that Americans know what warm means...

8) Driving in a car, on the right side of the road.

9) My friends! (yes, surprise! I actually do have some... haha)

10) Seeing my new niece for the first time, and getting to play with my adorable nieces and nephews!

I can't believe that this is actually happening.... I feel like I'm living in a dream! It's so bizarre. Where has the time gone!? I guess it's true, what they say: time flies when you're having fun! And believe me... I've had fun! It has been the best four months of my life, and it's been a blast! I would not trade this experience for the world! I don't regret a single thing. And I am looking forward to the future and what it holds in store for me! So many great things are going to happen this summer! I'm sure I"ll keep you all posted! :)

Thanks for reading about my lame life, I hope you've enjoyed reading my stories, as much as I've enjoyed telling them! Thank you London, for the experience of a lifetime! I love you, and I will never forget you!

Until next time... over and out!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.... or if you'd rather: The Things I Will Miss and Not Miss About London

The Good: (things I will miss)
*My London Lovies!!! These are my roomies... just to clarify. They are the most amazing group of girls I have ever met in my life, They have changed my life in so many ways, and it will definitely be sad to say goodbye to these great friends! Thanks for the memories girls! :)
*My wonderful Professors, and the awesome London Classes. Best semester of my life!
*The gorgeous-ness of this great city! Everything about it is incredible! The buildings, the people, the streets, and most of all the parks! I wish America knew the secret to having awesome parks like London does! They are not even comparable... London dominates!
*The food... NOT the centre food of course! haha  But the wonderful cafes and pubs. So yummy!
*Markets. I have become a market junkie. I'm pretty sure I could go to markets every single day! They are the best!
*Yogurt covered banana chips. Enough said. They are heaven!
*The shopping!!!  I'm sad already, and I haven't even left yet!
*The rain... only because it creates the absolute best puddle-jumping worthy puddles! :)
*The sunshine. I'm sure that I will be going home to snow. Yuck!
*The history!
*"Please mind the gap between the train and the platform"
*The accents!

The Bad: (things I won't miss)
*The smokers. I can not even begin to express how much I hate walking down the street, and getting giant puffs of smoke in the face. It kills me!
*Nasty old men in speedos laying in the park...
*Dogs. I hate them. And they are everywhere!
*Having to dodge puke on the sidewalks at night outside of the pubs.
*Being hit on by nasty drunk men!
*The lack of personal space that Londoners have... I'm sick of people being all up in my business when standing in line, riding the lift, or while on the tube.
*Which reminds me, I will not miss the tube... It is dirty, nasty, and germy!
*The loud screeching brakes of every single bus in this city.
*The 66 stairs that I must climb multiple times every day.

The Ugly: (he bitter-sweet feeling)
Where in the world has the time gone!? My time here in London is limited... only 6 more days! CRAZY!!!  So many things to do, and so little time. haha  I am so sad to be saying farewell to the greatest adventure of my life! London has been absolutely fabulous, and there are many things I will miss. However, I am also very excited to get home! I have so many amazing people waiting for me back in Utah, and a very exciting summer to look forward to! :) Needless to say, I'm having tons of mixed emotions right now... I can't decide if I'm more sad or excited to be leaving! Either way, this has been the best 4 months of my life! I don't regret a single thing, and I loved every single minute of it! So... maybe it's not all the ugly afterall.  :)

Change Your Life

Imperial War Museum

Tuesday, April 5, I had the opportunity to take a little visit to the Imperial War Museum of London. And can I just say... it was incredible! Normally when you hear these kinds of stories, you hear all about the cool airplanes, submarines, and war tanks that people saw there, or about the cool exhibit on the best kept government secrets... This however, is a different story. For although all of those things were amazing and spectacular, the thing that stood out most to me, was found in the Holocaust Exhibit. Though it was tucked away in the small reaches of the basement corner, I feel like it was perhaps the most historically important room this museum had to offer. I absolutely loved it! It went through the entire story of the Nazi Party and the rise of Adolf Hitler, all the way to the Jewish persecution, concentration camps, and then the ending of the war. It was phenomenal. I have to admit, I usually have a hard time with this period of history. It makes me sick to my stomach to see those pictures, and hear those stories. But there was something about experiencing it first hand, that changed me. Looking at the real artifacts from this period of history really hit me. The wall of shoes... knowing that those shoes were actually worn by innocent Jews in a concentration camp, really touched me. I honestly think this is one of the most important lessons to be learned from history. The lesson that we must learn to get along, We can not afford to let anything like this happen again. And we have no excuse for it to either. Although we can't undo the past, we can still prevent the future. Acceptance and toleration is key! As I was walking out of the museum, I found this large piece from the Berlin Wall, with the words "change your life" painted on it. That is the ultimate lesson we should learn from history! If we don't learn from the past, and change the way we are living our lives, we are bound to repeat those mistakes of the past. So do it... change you life! Make this world a better place!

England v. Ghana

Perhaps one of the best nights of my life was this past week, on Tuesday March 29, 2011.

This was the day that we ventured into the far reaches of the city, and found ourselves standing outside of the Wembley Stadium... Most incredible building I think I have ever seen... it was seriously huge. There was over 80,000 people attending this game! And the field was absolutely beautiful!

And the game began!!!  England vs. Ghana! And let me just tell you now... I was torn! I couldn't decide who I wanted to cheer for! I felt like I should cheer for England, maybe just because I love it, and because I have lived here for the last 4 months of my life... but then I felt like I needed to show my devotion to Ghana. It's not like my little brother is going to be living there for two years or anything...  But in the end, I made the decision to wear my lucky green shoes in honor of Ghana! And of course, it worked!!!

England scored during the first half, and Ghana was struggling the whole way through... I started to doubt myself! But alas, the lucky shoes pulled through!  :) Ghana scored in the last two minutes of the game, tying the match! And it was insane! I have never seen anything like it! Fans were going absolutely crazy! I loved it! We had so much fun cheering and yelling, and just watching the action down on the field.

I loved every minute of it! And would definitely do it again... European football, you have my heart!

"Mr. Rutley... that's for your sword!"

Tonight, we had the opportunity to travel down to Westminster, and hear from David Rutley... the one and only LDS member of Parliament. He was hilarious! We taught us tons of awesome facts about the way things are run within the walls of Parliament. My personal favorite was his story about his first day on the job...

He walked in, and was lead by one of the guards, to the cloak room. As he was hanging up his sword, he noticed a bright pink loop of material attached to the hanger. Confused, and very curious, he whispered to the guard, "What is this fabric here for?" The guard got the look on his face, making him feel very stupid for having asked, and said in reply, "Mr. Rutley... that's for your sword! You hang it there so that it doesn't get in the way of your work throughout the day!" As if everyone should have known that!  haha 

 But he was a great inspiration to me, as he encouraged us to be our best, and live to our fullest potential. He told us that the greatest things we will do with our lives, will be done now.

He concluded with a fantastic quote that said:

“All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible.”

He reminded me that it's always really important to follow your dreams. He said: "Dream big, and set outrageous goals for yourselves... You'll never achieve anything if you don't." Always remember that no matter what we do with our lives, we are the ones with the power to do it. And we can do anything we could ever want to do and accomplish. So get out there, and make it happen!  :)

Shakespeare, Shakespeare! Wherefore art thou Shakespeare?

Stratford Upon Avon

This past week, we had the opportunity to venture off into the Greater London area of the UK, and explore the birthplace and home of the great William Shakespeare!

We first were able to go and visit his home. It was really pretty, and we had tons of fun! It was so awesome to walk through the house and listen to the tour guides tell little stories about him and his family. He had quite the life, I tell you what!  haha  But it was indeed a great learning experience, and there were things I learned about Shakespeare I had never even heard before! So it was great!

We then were able to conclude our adventure by attending the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of KING LEAR! And it was amazing! I surprised myself.... and I ended up really loving it! The acting was incredible, and even though the play was a little long, and the story was a little strange, it completely pulled me in! I had a blast!

And as much as I may hate to admit it... I may find myself eventually looking at some of Shakespeare's other works... who knows? I might like it just as much as I loved this one!  :)

Welcome to No Man's Land...

We set off on our last grand European adventure together, on Monday, March 21. We were greeted by our beloved coach driver Glen, and loaded up! We then had a two hour coach ride to Dover. This is where we were to catch a ferry to take us across the English Channel… remember how something always has to go wrong? This trip was no exception. We arrived, only to discover that our ferry had been cancelled due to technical difficulties… great! But because we had already checked in and passed the gates, there was no turning back. So in the parking lot we sat! For two hours… sounds like fun, huh? Haha  No worries, we kept ourselves entertained with my handy dandy deck of Irish cards! It’s a lot harder to play cards on a coach than you think… It’s very tricky business! We finally got a spot on the next ferry, and the bus just drove straight on! It was pretty cool… then we all got off the bus, and continued our card game extravaganza on the ferry. This was my first time on a real boat… and let me just say, we don’t get along. Haha But we finally made it to the other side of the ocean, and continued our drive until we reached: BRUGES, BELGIUM!

Bruges is a magical place… the end. Seriously, it is so adorable, and it has the most open and friendly atmosphere, I absolutely loved it! So we got to Bruges, and checked into our hotel. Then we were set free to explore! So we wandered around the cute little cobblestone roads, and passed the cutest little cottages and shops you’ve ever seen! We just enjoyed the evening sun as we walked, and then we found the river… so gorgeous! So of course, we took a boat tour! It was so much fun. I loved just sitting there in the sun, with the cool breeze blowing, floating my way through the city. AHH! I just loved it!

After our ride, we went and found us some ever so famous Belgian Friets! And oh my goodness… they were soooo good! Best fries ever! On our way back to the hotel, we were absolutely drawn into a chocolate shop… never had I seen anything more delicious in my entire lifetime.

The next morning, we all walked over to The ChocoStory Museum…. Or if you prefer, the museum of chocolate!  J It was really awesome. Not going to lie. Not only because we got a free sample of legit Belgian chocolate, but because we learned the entire history of chocolate! And because I’m such a history nerd, and a chocolate lover… it was fantastic!

After that, we just wandered for a while. Me and Kaylee and Ramzi just went and sat in the city square, and soaked up the sun! It was absolutely amazing! Then we went and got us some legit Belgian Waffles…. Oh my. I about died. Best waffle I have ever had in my entire life. It absolutely blows my mind as to how they make them taste so delicious… I never knew it was possible! Haha  

 Our next adventure took us to the city of Ieper, where we attended the In Flander’s Field Museum. This is a World War 1 museum, and it was incredible! They gave us a little ticket at the beginning that had a name on it. The name of a soldier… and as we went through the museum, there were little booths that you could scan your ticket on, and it would tell you a bit of the story about that soldier. And at the end, you learn what happened to them. My man lost his leg in one of the small battles, and as he was being taken to the medical tent, he died. It was really a cool experience! I spent almost two hours in there… unfortunately, it had to end, and we continued our journey until we arrived in Amiens, France.

After checking into the hotel, me, Kaylee and Ramzi went out and explored the town. The only down side… nobody in this town speaks English. Hooray. Haha  Needless to say, we had a great time trying to buy groceries at the store! J But we eventually figured things out, and went on our way. The next morning, we ventured over to the cathedral… which just happens to be the largest cathedral in all of Europe! How cool is that!?

So after wandering around inside there for a little bit, we went out and walked along the river for a bit before we had to get back on the bus. One of my favorite parts of this entire trip was here, on the bus, driving through the countryside of France. I loved it! There were endless green fields, stretched as far as you could see… and seriously, about every 200 yards or so, there was a cemetery… tall white headstones surrounding a big white cross. They were everywhere. Close to the road, off in the distance… and along the edges of the fields, you could see piles of old war things like helmets, bullets, and shrapnel that the farmers dig up each spring. It was such an incredible sight! We made a stop at the Newfoundland National War Memorial, and visited the battle field of the Somme battle, the largest World War 1 battle. It was awesome!

We got to walk around the trenches, and listen to the stories of the battle. It was so cool… I had never really been a huge fan of WW1 history, but I honestly think that has changed! It was so amazing to actually be here in these countries, learning about this kind of history, and being able to actually see the real effects that it has had. It’s amazing!

I absolutely loved this trip! And I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. J Belgium definitely wins the prize here! It was amazing... I’ll give it a close third place on the list of favorites!

Everybody's IRISH on March 17th

We left bright and early Tuesday morning, 3 am, and drove on our beloved bus to the airport. Remember that every so classy airline I flew on to Italy, RyanAir? Yeah, we were on that one again this time. And since we all know that I have the best luck when it comes to travelling, something of course went wrong.  :)

I checked in, did everything I was supposed to, walked through the metal detector. No problem. Until I got to the other side... only to see the security guard on the end holding my bag in the air, shouting "who's bag is this!?" I shyly raised my hand, and she led me over to a different table. She then asked if she had permission to search my bag. So I said yes... by 'search' she really meant "can I take every single thing out of your backpack and test it for bombs?" So yeah! I stood there as she took every single thing out of my bag. Underwear and all. Just held it all up and examined in front of the world... joy! She then took this little wand thing and stuck it in every pocket of my backpack, and on everything she had taken out of my bag, ordered me to repack my bag quickly, and then stormed off as she took out the little reader from her tester, and put it into this huge machine that I am guessing tested it for any evidence of explosives or something... I guess I look like a real threat, they just had to check to be safe!  :)  haha  No, what actually happened was this: So we have to carry absolutely everything in one bag, right? This means that I had to cram my purse into my backpack too. So when we got there, I shoved it in, forgetting that I had a small bottle of hand sanitizer in there that I hadn't put into my little liquids bag. And they just happened to see it on the scanner... so lucky me, I was the winner of the public humiliation prize once again!  :)  hahaha

Well, since there was such a large group of us going, and we waited until the last minute to buy tickets, we had to take two separate flights. So when my group finally landed in Dublin, we had to wait for the other half to arrive for two hours in the airport... so not ideal. I hate airports! Mostly because we just spend our time sitting on the hard floors, with nothing to do.  But once they got there, we got to step into the real world of Ireland!  :)  It was so fantastic! I love it! The city is huge, and it was so much fun! The very first thing we did in Ireland, was go on a tour of the largest beer factory.. that's Guinness!

It was actually really cool... it probably would have been cooler if we actually drank beer. haha  Mostly just because they give you a free pint at the end! We however, were good children, and asked for orange fanta instead... the bar tender seriously laughed at us, asked if we were serious, and after we assured him we were not kidding, gave them to us. It was hilarious! 

That night for dinner, after wandering around Dublin for a few hours, we all met up at the Brazen Head Pub... this is the oldest and longest running pub in all of Ireland! It was way cool.

 We sat in the candle light, and were served a full three course meal. And it was fantastically delicious! We had tons of fun. Then we just kind of wandered a little bit more, and then returned to our hotel and played cards... we've done a lot of that with all of this travelling! It's tons of fun! I am getting good, so you guys better watch out!  ;)  haha

The next day we had absolutely nothing planned, and were just set free to explore Dublin! So that is exactly what we did. We (when I say we, I mean me and my two buddies Ramzi and Kaylee... we're practically inseparable, kinda like the three musketeers, but better! We do seriously everything together.) So yeah, we started off our morning by taking a stroll through the largest city park in all of Europe - Phoenix Park. It was huge! It is over 1,750 acres! Crazy huh? So we frolicked through the flowers, had a picnic, and then we made a stop at the National Irish Museum and took a peek at the Celtic Crosses. They were awesome!

Our next adventures found us in the courtyard of St. Patrick's Cathedral...

 

Then we wandering the markets. We also had tons of fun shopping in preparation of our great holiday celebrations to come.

 

We then, get this, went Irish dancing in the streets! They had a stage, and they were teaching the crowds legit Irish steps! It was so much fun! The music is seriously so great, and we had a blast! :) I am now an expert river dancer... I may be willing to give free lessons when I return.  haha

 

Thursday was, of course, ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!! And we were in the heart of Dublin, Ireland. Does it get any better than that? I submit that it does not! :)  We went crazy... we wore green, lots of it, and had the best day ever!

 

 

We started off by checking out the boat races down the river, then we went and watched the huge national parade. Let me just say this... it was absolutely Bizarre! I have never seen anything so weird in my entire life. Not a single thing in that parade made any sense... but it was funny to watch still. And the Irish loved it! There were literally thousands of people crowded on the streets, and it was insane! It was so much fun!

We then went and checked out the holiday carnival, and then just wandered around until we had to leave. This is when I was encountered in the hotel elevator by an old drunk Irish man... I happened to be wearing boxers, and he apparently loved the fact that I was in my underwear.  haha  it was funny. Luckily I was only on there for one floor! haha  So we left Dublin, and then drove through the GORGEOUS Irish countryside... until we arrived in Kilkenny!

Basically, we had nothing really planned for our night here, or the next morning. The only reason we left Dublin, was because BYU was rather upset when they found out that we had scheduled our Ireland trip over St. Patrick's Day... so they told the director we had to at least be out of Dublin for that night. That way I guess we would be more safe... but even in the smaller city, there were more drunk people than I ever thought imaginable! And I was only out until like 9! But we could hear all sorts of excitement from the windows all night long... J

The next morning, me and my gang went and explored the Kilkenny castle. It was pretty awesome.

The best part of it was the beautiful rose gardens. They were huge, and super pretty! Everything here is so green and beautiful. Flowers everywhere! I love it! Spring time here in Europe is absolutely amazing… I’ve never seen anything like it before! It’s gorgeous!

Our last Irish adventure took place at Cashel. These are just some old ruins on top of a hill in the countryside of Ireland. It was absolutely gorgeous, and we had so much fun! We just took tons of ridiculously crazy pictures. We're good at that game… J Then we decided to not take the pathway down, and instead, climbed our way down the cliffs of insanity!!!  haha  ok, so they weren't that bad. But it was still an adventure! What can I say? We’re living on the edge! That's what exploring Europe is all about right? haha

Basically, Ireland rocks my socks. Literally. I loved it! And being there over St. Patrick's Day... priceless. Way too much fun! Point for Ireland!  :)

Gotta "WALE" of a Tale!

This past week (March 9-11) we journeyed deep into the heart of Wales!

Day #1: We packed our bags, and loaded the trusty old WestBus... Gotta love it! Then we drove for a few hours until we reached some random city on the coast of England. There we picked up our beloved church historian, Peter Fag. And he then took us around the countryside to explore several English Church History sites... We have never had so much fun in our entire lives! Ok, so that is definitely a lie. I'm pretty sure we all hated it, and by the end, we were all ready to punch someone in the face. I guess we did kinda see some pretty cool stuff.

We went around and saw several old chapels in the area....

And we stopped at a pretty cute little town... nobody knows the name of it, that's just how fabulous it was. haha But we had fun exploring for a little bit!

We took a smile hike up some random mountain, and got totally trashed by the wind. It was unlike anything I have ever experienced before! It was so much fun!

AND the view from the top was absolutely gorgeous! :)

We ended that day by sleeping in some sketchy hostel in some crazy tiny town called Stone in the Wall in the Cotswolds... Before I go any further, let me tell you about this hostel. Nastiest most creepiest thing ever! I almost died. Not even kidding you. So I stuck in the room at the very top, right? So as we're climbing the stairs, the ceiling gradually starts to get lower and lower... when I make it to the room, I literally have to duck to walk through the doors! And if I would have tried, I wouldn't have been able to stick my arm straight in the air without hitting the top. It was tiny! The shower curtains had stains on it, and it just looked absolutely disgusting. There was no way anyone was going to convince me to shower in that! So yeah, it was gross. I then get down on the dirty floor to make my short little bed. As I pull on the sheet to unfold it, it honestly CRUNCHED! I freaked out... I was so disgusted. After my little meltdown, I crawled into my nasty crunchy bed that seriously felt more like a slab of marble than anything, and fell asleep.

Day #2: I woke up the next morning feeling like I had literally been hit by a bus... and as I made my way down to breakfast, I forgot one crucial fact about where I was: the doorways. Yeah, I kinda walked right into it. My head made the most disgusting sound I had ever heard as it smacked into the metal frame. But no worries! I only yelled, maybe threw in a few not so good words, decided I felt better, and went on my way. We got on the bus and drove to Wales. Our first stop: The Big Pit! The most famous coal mine inWales!

When we got there, we ate at some miner cafeteria place called The Canteen... It was pretty sweet. Then we were split into groups, and sent through what I call "the assembly line". We walked down the line, and the miners took turns putting our little miner gear on us. We got to wear the awesome helmets, complete with light! And even some crazy little safety belt thing with oxygen masks. It was legit!

And can I just say... Miners are the funniest people I think I have ever met. Especially these ones with their little Welsh accents. Cracked me up! Our tour guide was Rob, and he was hysterical. He was constantly cracking jokes, singing as we walked through the mine shafts, and telling us awesome stories. He even tried to scare us several times. It was so much fun! And the mine was surprising really awesome!

After our mining experience, we got back on the bus, and drove into the countryside where we came upon Tinturn Abbey. We just got to run around and play in the ruins for a bit. It was so much fun!

It was absolutely amazing, and beautiful. We loved it!

After we left the abbey, we drove until we reached our final destination: Cardiff! Once there, we checked into our hotel, and then were set free to run wild around the city. And trust me, that is just what we did.  haha  Well, me and Ramzi and Kaylee did anyways. :)  We went down and just hung out at the bay...

Yeah, it was pretty much gorgeous, and of course, I loved it!

Day #3: This morning, we we left again to just wander around Cardiff. We just kinda wandered and went shopping... nothing too exciting. Although we did have a ton of fun watching all of the drunk Irish and Welsh Rugby fans run around the city getting ready for the big match! Pure entertainment! :)

We finally then loaded up the bus and came back home. To London that is.

Overall, this trip was probably not my favorite... but it was still tons of fun, nonetheless! I just love my life!

ROMAN HOLIDAY

It was a crisp, clear morning, that March 2nd at 2:00 am as we walked out our front door, and said goodbye to London for the week. This was it... the moment I had waited for my whole life... the day that I was officially making my dreams come true... it was that day, that I was going to go to ITALY!!! I was one happy girl, that's for sure. I don't think I had been more excited about anything in my entire life up to this point. I was on top of the world as I walked down that sidewalk, boarded that bus, and arrived at the Stansted Airport...

  How could you be so Heartless...

Now comes the best adventure known in Sharon's history of flying... RyanAir. I hate it! So, we bought our plane tickets a long time ago, and we all felt really proud of ourselves for finding such great, cheap airplane tickets, and we were all excited. If only we had known! haha RyanAir is the worst airline known to mankind. No joke. So, their rules are: one bag per person. No big deal right? Well, what they don't tell you is that your bag must pass the "cage test", meaning they stick inside a little box to check the size. If it fits, great! If not, sucks to be you. So yeah, we all stuffed our backpacks (the only bags we had that complied with the size regulations) and then got in line. It was here we all discovered just how heartless these people really are. So, I step up to the counter to check in, and I received the biggest glare I think I have ever even seen in my life. The lady then viciously stamps my passport, and tosses it back across the counter at me. Baffled, I turned and then walked towards the security gate. My story only got worse from here... I take my little liquid baggies out of my backpack, and place them into the little tray. I step up to the screening counter, and I'm about to walk through the metal detector, when the security guard calls me back. He gives me that look, like I'm a total idiot. He then proceeds to inform me that I can't take any of my liquids onto the plane. I was so confused... Apparently, the bottles were too big. He tried telling me that I had to go back out and check my bag. I didn't have time for that! I was already pushing my time... So he looked at me with absolutely no pity, picks up my bottle, and literally throws them into the trash can in front of my face! He then gives me some creepy little smile, and sends me on my way. AGH! I was so angry... I lost my toothpaste, contact solution, and facewash. These people! So angry! I swear, they find joy and pleasure in watching other people suffer. Anyways, we finally all made it into the terminal, and were then greeted coldly by the airline ticket ladies... one snatched my ticket from my hands, yelled at me for not having my passport out and open to the right page (she didn't even look at it...) and then viciously ripped my ticket in half. Then as I was walking towards the door, the other lady

 

BUONJIORNO!!!
The airplane took off, and we flew through the clouds. Once we got above it, I saw the most gorgeous thing I have ever seen! There was a sea of clouds beneath us, and the sun was beginning to rise, so the skies were pink and dark purple. It was so amazing! This made up just a little bit of stupid RyanAir's heartlessness. The next thing I remember, I was waking up as we were flying into Italy, and again one of the prettiest things I have ever seen: Snow-topped mountains in the distance, and rolling green fields spotted with small red-roofed villages. So adorable! I knew I loved Italy before we had even landed. Already it was climbing the charts to my number one favorite place on earth. We eventually landed in ROME, and found our taxi driver, then set off on one crazy ride... those Italian drivers. Oh my gosh. I promise, it's not just a joking stereotype. Those Italians are INSANE drivers! Going down the freeway, I swear we had to have been going over 100 mph. No joke. And they just go wherever they want, weaving in and out, and doing whatever they feel like doing! Then we made it into the city, and the streets got narrower and smaller, and turned from pavement to cobblestone...and the drivers didn't slow down one bit! I seriously thought I was going to die! Scariest thing ever! But we made it to our hotel in one piece! Miraculously... :)

We Love-a The Mario!
Our hotel was the coolest thing ever! It was called the Anfiteatro Flavio, (named after some weird historical building called the Colosseum... ever heard of it?) Oh, and it just so happens that it was on the same street as said Colosseum! So whenever we stepped out the door, it was like BAM! Colosseum! It was so awesome!!!! And instead of room numbers, they give their rooms names. Our room: Mario! How cool is that!? :) we loved it!

Clueless?
I don't know if anyone else has ever had this experience, but I promise it's well worth it! Go to a different country, where you don't know the language, you have no idea where you are, or even any clue as to what you are going to do there, and spend a week exploring. You won't regret it! That's basically what we did... We landed in Rome, never having seen even a map of the city, and being totally clueless as to what was even in the city besides the Colosseum. After parting ways with Mario, our beloved hotel room, we set off into the heart of the city! I'm sure we made quite the sight too... five American girls, wandering the city, taking pictures of everything they saw. Even though we had no idea what anything was. Part of this grand adventure included going to a local pharmacy with our handy little Italian phrase book, and trying to ask the ancient dinosaur of a pharmacist behind the counter for contact solution, hairspray, and shampoo... It was actually quite hilarious. You should try it sometime! And surprisingly, we were more successful than we thought we would be. It gave us a few good laughs... :)

Ghetto Metro
We decided to brave the unknown world of the Italian Metro... definitely one of the freakiest situations I have ever been in. Although not quite as horrible as Paris, it was still awful. So dirty and smelly and crowded! As we shoved our way into the train, I thought for sure I was going to lose an arm or something because there was no way I was possibly going to fit... I was wrong. I just kept being pushed forward, getting closer and closer to all the nasty Italian people surrounding me. They fit another three rows of people in behind me! I have honestly never seen so many people in one spot ever! It was disgusting.... I couldn't breathe. Not that I wanted to anyways. Ugh. Nasty! Oh, and did I also mention that the metro trains here are very colorful? Literally... they all are completely covered in the coolest graffiti!

VATICAN CITY
Needless to say, I was very relieved when we finally made it to our stop. We got off, and then walked up the street until we reached the grand entrance to the Vatican known as St. Peter's Basilica! Most gorgeous building ever! It was incredible!

We stood in line and enjoyed the beautiful sunshine, bought our tickets, and then proceeded to climb over 550 stairs until we reached the top of the Basilica dome. We came out, literally on the ceiling of the cathedral, looking down on the inside. It was absolutely amazing... we were even lucky enough to hear the acoustics of the place as a legitimate choir sang some church hymns for the priest. It was cool! We then decided to keep going up the stairs. So we hiked, and hiked, and hiked some more until we came up outside, on the very tip top of the building! And the view of the city was breathtaking... so beautiful! :)  

(these pictures do not even come close to doing this city justice...)

We then made our way all the way back down, and took a look inside of the Basilica. And guess what I actually saw with my own eyes!? Michelangelo's Pieta!

Yup, be jealous. It was fantastic!

 We then concluded our Vatican City exploration, with a walk through the Sistine Chapel. One word: INCREDIBLE! I have never seen anything like it in my entire life. It blew me away!

(While pictures were not allowedx in the actual chapel, this is one of the hallways leading into it)

 So gorgeous, and so amazing!

"Mama-Mia!"

I love Italian people... they are just so cute, and when they speak to me with their little accents, it's absolutely adorable! I can't get enough of it! GAH! :) So, one of my personal favorite stories of the trip comes from my visit to the Spanish Steps. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.... That's all I have to say. Anyways, I decided I was going to run up the stairs, and count them as I go. So off I went: 1-2-3-...134, 135, 136! Woohoo! Look at me go!

 I got to the top, and in a cry of victory, I shouted! "Yeah! 136!" Behind me I heard a voice... "Very good-a! There-a are 136!" I turned around to see the most adorable little painter man, sitting among his papers covered in some of the most gorgeous painting I have ever seen. So I went over, had myself a look, and then we started to chat. He asked me where I was from. When I told him I was from Utah, the poor man about had a heart attack, I swear. His eyes got really big and this huge smile started to make its way across his face, and he shouts: "My-a At-a teacher was-a from-a Utah! He-a taught me how-a to speak-a Enlgish!" I tried to sound as excited about it as he was... but I'm not sure it worked. Well, I may not be the best actor, but he at least pretended to buy it. He even offered me the special Utah Discount. score! Unfprtunately, I had to fly home to London via RyanAir, and there was no way I was going to be fitting one of them paitings into my backpack. So sadly, I apologized, and declined his offer. He was totally cool about it, and even made me give him a hug before I left. So I went over, and he ambraced me, then did the cutsie little double cheek kiss thing that they do! Best moment of my life! Kissed by an Italian Artist at the top of the Spanish Steps... does life get any better than that!?

And the Roman Vacation MVP Award goes to....

TREVI FOUNTAIN!!!

"Hey Lady!"

Word to the wise... when approached by a crazy street vendor, run. Don't stop to talk, don't even make eye contact! Just avoid them at all costs. Trust me. I learned this the hard way...

So it was a bright, beautiful, sunshiny day in Rome, and we decided to go on a little shopping excursion! As we walked down the street, a big black man selling rip off prada bags walked towards me. He caught my gaze, and the rest is history! "Hey lady!" he shouted at me. "Want to buy one of my bags?" Realizing what I had done, I quickly tried to avoid him. But it was too late. Before I know it, he was standing in front of my, shoving all of his bags in my face. "Hey lady! Hey lady! I give you a good deal, buy my bag!" I nervously smiled, and said I didn't want one, then turned to walk away. He didn't like that very much. He grabbed my arm, and spun me around to face him. I was so angry... "Hey lady," he said yet again, "I love you! Do you love me?' Who the heck was this guy!? "No!" I shouted. "I don't love you! I don't even know you! And I DO NOT want one of your bags!" I literally had to run down the street to get away from him. He ran after me, shouting "Hey lady! Hey lady!" the whole way. Luckily I was a tad bit faster than he was, and was able to duck into some random street store before he saw where I had gone.... *sigh* Oh Italian Street vendors. How you make me laugh!

Basically, the only people on the streets who aren't ridiculous, (unless you count ridiculously awesome!) Are these guys:

This guys especially... he was our favorite. We walked past him every day, just to hear his mad skills. He even played great classics like the Beatles! Loved it!

Another great street vendor story: So, pretty much what they are trying to sell is crap. Literally. Like, who in the world wants to buy your little bubble blowing gun, or sticky gel man that splatters when you throw it on the ground? Right... nobody! It amazes me how smart and cool they think they are... who in their right mind takes a look at one of those and says "oh my. He's right! That is very nice! I must have one!" haha They're nuts! So anyways, on our last day in Italy, our good buddy Blake was carrying around a broken umbrella. When the first street vendor of the day approached us, Blake in return asked him if he wanted to buy his umbrella. He didn't like that. haha It was a great strategy! Every time we used it, the vendors would get this funny look on their face, and walk away. So if ever in a predicament with an annoying foreign street vendor trying to sell you garbage, offer him some of yours instead! :)

I lost my hand...
So there's this really famous thing in Rome called the Mouth of Truth. According to legend, when on puts their hand inside the mouth, if that person is a liar, their hand will be bitten off. So of course, I stuck my hand in. And the result: I now only have one hand.,. haha Just kidding! :) It was pretty legit, and pretty awesome. I feel so Roman now! I bet they've all done it before. haha But it was also here at the Mouth of Truth, that we got to see Hadrian's Crypt. How cool is that!? It made me happy. Mainly because it made me remember that I once wrote a research paper on that dude... I don't remember anything about him other than the fact that he built a wicked awesome wall. But still. It was fantastic!

Colossal Colosseum
One of the coolest things by far that we did in Rome, was tour the Colosseum. Like, oh my gosh. You have no idea just how awesome that place is until you go inside. Even though it's pretty breathtaking and incredible from the outside, you'll be absolutely blown away by the inside! It is a MUST DO on anyone's Roman vacation! You won't regret it. I don't even really know why it was so awesome, it just was. Trust me. I would know.

QUE PASTA!

Pretty much there is no story here... just the fact that I love Italian Markets, and the random burst of "que pasta!" that Italians shout.

It makes me happy. :)

Oh and ps. one other thing we did on this trip, was see the pantheon! It was pretty sweet...

Curse You RyanAir!

So remember how I was only allowed to take one bag on the airplane because of the gay regulation of the airline? yeah... I forgot that small detail while I was shopping all week in Italy... As a result, I was forced to wear all of my clothes on my body so that I could pack and fit everything into my backpack. It was great fun. Oh RyanAir. Thanks for the memories!