Sail Away Captain!

The best thing that one can do while working in hospitality is go some place where people are hospitable to you... and if that means stepping aboard a cruise ship well so be it. To be completely honest, this was my first big trip on this 13 month adventure... which means this was back in Jan... which means that I am eight months too late with this blog post. So sue me "better late than never" is a wonderful and very much used saying in my life. Cleaning my room. Doing the dishes. Blog posts. Better late than never.

When a group of girls decide to have a week away from real life, booking a cruise in the middle of Jan is the way to go. Cheap cheap cheap! Of course it will be raining and freezing most of the time, but so be it. Also choosing a cruise line that may have recently had a shipwreck and stranded some people in the ocean will get you a GREAT deal! Our beautiful, but dreary cruise went to Rome and Genoa, Italy; Marseille, France; Barcelona, Spain; Tunis, Tunisia; and Palermo, Sicily. Even though they were all amazing stops my favorites were Barcelona, Rome and Tunisia, so let's stick with those shall we?

Rome, Italy- It is funny what you remember and what you don't of one of your first trips after seeing 15 other countries, even more cities, and countless other international famous landmarks. I wrote St. Ignatious- so beautiful took my breath away. I'm not doubting that it did... I just don't remember the church. However, ask me about the Church our Savior of Spilled Blood in Russia and I could talk your ear off. I really don't mean to brag, this is just me sharing I swear. Anyways, there is a fantastic night time free walking tour that meets by the Spanish Steps (some of us may have gotten the movie poster, Roman Holiday right by those steps... a lifetime purchase I assure you) and tells you a whole lot about this beautiful place called Rome. And if you go to Rome during Christmas time, there will be a Christmas tree right in front of the steps, so really it blocks the entire view. Not cool Christmas, not cool. Saw the church with John the Baptist's head (something to write home about), Piazza Colonna which is actually a person's tomb, no one can did more than 3 feet deep in Rome without archeologists just in case they find something or someone historical, Queen Margaret buried in the pantheon was the one responsible for the marghertta pizza (bless that woman), etc. Such good info for the small price of a tip. Do it.

Also walked over (actually may have been the metro) to the Colosseum. Absolutely stunning. Huge, extravagant, takes your breath away... still talking about the Colosseum thank you very much. Also walked around the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The French, they really go all out. So huge to walk around and so many steps! One of my favorite pictures taken thus far was on the Tomb of the Unknown soldier (well not actually on, but definitely on those steps). We then took the metro (or walked) to the Vatican City to see the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica. Of course the one day that we are there... the Vatican museum and church was closed... how does that work?

 Concerning the Vatican, I do have to say that I was there 11 years ago.. and google images full screen it is pretty top notch, so pick your battles. However, I will always remember St. Peter's Basilica. Gold. Colored Marble. Columns. Everywhere. Google images full screen does not do it justice! There is a Mary and Jesus statue by Michelangelo which is so elegant and the workmanship is impeccable. Sometimes I wish I took Art History in college.. I might be able to tell you all more than.. well it was made out of marble.

Last stop: Trevi Fountain! I can't tell you what I wished for when you traditionally throw a coin over your left shoulder into the fountain....but I can tell you that the gelato wasn't good... thanks a lot Disney not all your wishes do come true. So Rome- you can be there as long as you like you will always only scratch the surface. Don't get frustrated your just never going to see it all.

Cruise: All you can eat food 24/7. All you can eat fancy food- almost 24/7. Getting bumped up to a balcony room- great. Even though it rained almost everyday- still great. Having someone ask if YOU are loving your vacation- best moments ever. No matter what they say everyone needs a little TLC. .. and if that includes all you can eat desserts it's an automatic win over.

Barcelona, Spain!

I remember loving it 11 years ago and what do you know I loved it again 11 years later! It helps that it was a beautiful day and one of our friends on the trip had just been to this city, so she knew exactly what to do in out eight hour time slot in Spain. Segrada Familia, one of the weirdest but refreshing experiences/churches I've seen. Gaudi started this church, but had planned for it to take longer than his time frame (aka his life) and have had others add their own way of architectural perspective to this church. We did not go inside, but just the outside I wish I had a tour. It looks 50% Gothic block like, 50% sand castle, 100% intriguing. We then bargained for a cheap taxi ride to the Gaudi park. Definitely reccomend this! Mosaics everywhere, a column space to get lost in, a fantastic view of the park and city, and little walking paths that take you who knows where. Fun for kids fun for us adults who act like kids.

Even with very limited time in barcelona, one must always go for tapas (ours was Txa Pela). Little appetizers upon appetizers upon appetizers that then become a meal. Paired with sangria it is delectable. And for a cheap price why not try those foods that you would normally make a face at if you saw on a menu? Now saving the best for last- the market within La Rambla! La Rambla is this fun street to walk down with the tree branches hanging all over, souvenir shops every two stores, and even a pet shop on the street. Not sure I liked the rat section right there. Anyways, there is a food market that sells anything and everything (every part of an animal's body you can think of), chocolate, and.....drum roll please...

fruit juice/smoothies. May not sound amazing, but they are so good! Every type you can think of is available and only a euro! A bargain if I ever heard one. Now here is the secret: go at the end of the day when they will have to throw them out anyways. You pay for one and then they give you another as a gift. Buy two and they go crazy. Greatest. Thing. Ever. My first stomach ache from too much fruit juice. Was it worth it? Of course. My favorite was blackberry and coconut. I didn't even finish my five...do I still regret it to this day eight months later.. yes yes I do.

Last stop Tunis, Tunisia; AFRICA!

My first time in Africa.. this was a big day. We really didn't know what to do in this city, so we splurged and got the all day tour. A good decision to say the least. We were greeted with beating drums and men on camels. Welcome to Africa!
First, went to the Medina- Old Town. Blue and white everywhere. Blue doors, blue windows, blue everything. Also, like Morocco they would have prayers played on loud speakers (used to be from a man and now from a cassette I am told)  throughout the city several times during the day. I love that. Very well known for their perfumes, so naturally we were taken to the perfume shop and were sprayed with countless perfumes (we smelled good by the end of that tour I'm sure) and told how they were made. The famous one is Jasmine- the country's flower. Do I still regret that I didn't get one? Yes. Next the carpet shop! Saw a woman making a rug- from a stencil you may say. No no from memory I will tell you and yes it was perfect. A full carpet takes 6 months to make. More patience in the world those people have. The carpet store was in an old King's palace... sat on his bed no big deal. Went up to the top for a panorama view and it just struck me as funny that here we were in Old Town and clearly the buildings are  unlike any in America, yet the majority have satellite dishes. The old and the new mixed together.

We survived the Bazaar. So I have survived Tunisia's Bazaar, Morocco's Souks, Turkey's Bazaar, and New York City- I'd say that's quite the accomplishment. Next we went to Sidi Bou Said- the Santorini of Tunisia! All blue and white buildings with flowers growing all over the sides. Pretty perfect. Last stop- the Roman Ruins.  Is that the exact name... no, but eight months later I really couldn't tell you so hey the Roman Ruins! We walked through the ruins of an arena where they held gladiator fights... creepy. So different than the United States. The U.S. would have it all roped off and you could only see it from afar, here we took pictures standing where the animals would have been let out. No. Big. Deal.

A cruise is a great way to start traveling. You have a warm, safe bed to come home to, meals prepared for you with no dishes, and (not so free) entertainment aboard the ship! A great start to this journey, amazing company, and no work for a week- can't beat that! Five countries in nine days. Wowza this is not real life. And to think my next trip would be Morocco. 

Quote for the blog- this is a long one I fully realize. And to be completely, totally, 100% honest I haven't even seen this movie. Sorry Mr. Roth, but I do love the last three sentences. I hope you're happy and if not I hope you have the courage to change something to make it so. 

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Mario Kart, Raki, and Snot- Greece

Ten months ago my family went to my grandparent's beach house for a final weekend together before I went off on my adventure. My father and I were looking up places to visit, he suggested a few things, and finally said, "Talk to the people around you. They will have better ideas than what we can possibly come up with." I smiled but secretly made a list of my own... where is that list now? I have no idea. What was on that list? Doesn't matter.  I have been to places I would never dreamed of (or embarrassingly knew of) visiting because we have such a great group of eclectic travelers here on the Edelweiss Program. Greece was never on my list, but when a friend asks if you want to go, the beach is involved, and it just happens to be on your birthday the correct and only answer is yes yes yes!

In ten years or so from now I may have the money to wine taste luxuriously through Italy or where ever, but for now I am on the budget friendly tour of Europe. So flying from Munich to Crete, Greece via Ryanair is where its at. Good ol' Ryanair. Like I said a strict budget.  So to Crete we went!

If you go to Greece I recommend Santorini, Mykanos, Athens, all those places, but this was my first time going to a beach in 10 months so Crete was just fine in my eyes. Really, this blog is going to be real short. Why? Because we were on the beach ALL THE TIME.. and I was perfectly okay with that. The first day we decided to take a quick boat ride to Gramvousa and Balos- which really turned into an hour bus ride, 30 euros, and an all day adventure. Not complaining just unexpected. This was great to grab a beer (vacation, it doesn't matter if you start drinking before 10am), talk, and just look out at the b-e-a-utiful water. In Garmisch, I have never seen so many different shades of green. In California, its beautiful, but hot and dry heat aka not much green. So Garmisch there is green everywhere, but in Greece it is teal and blues for the water. Its a lot like Hawaii, there is a different shade of blue every 10 feet of water. I will attempt to show you a picture, obviously it wont do justice... free crappy picture or just buy a ticket to Greece.. this shouldn't be a question! Gramvousa is this small island that has castle ruins at the top, so of course when you send a bunch of tourists on this tiny island with a time limit it is like a pilgrimage to the top. Or its like Mariokart- people passing each other, all in a sprint to the finish line, I wouldnt be surprised if I saw some banana peels thrown to trip us up! Anyways, it gives you a great view of the blues, but we remember why I was in Greece right? Well I'm pretty sure I sprinted to the top, threw myself off the top to the bottom, just to get to the beach part five minutes earlier than the others.

Moving on, Balos is this beautiful island, lagoon if you will with some pink sand, small waves (a mavericks surf competition will be held there any day now I'm sure), and in our case cloudy sky. Laying out was not so much fun, but still the beach! Like I said in Morocco it is not until you live in the mountains that you realize you were born for the beach. I'd like that quoted on pinterest now please. 

For a little bit of history we went to the Venetian Old Port at City
Center in Chania, Crete. A 45 min walk from our hotel along the
beaches. Hard life. You walk to the lighthouse, tour the touristy
 shops, and now lets get down to business... on a beach vacation you are going to do two major things the entire time... no not that. Lay out in the sun and eat. Lets be honest my traveling revolved around food.. and food only. Let's just say if I ever get lost from my group they can find me at the nearest cafe, restaurant, whatever. To me its experiencing the culture to others its stuffing your face.  Your choice. The seafood is absolutely amazing in Greece. Again Garmisch is inland when a goldfish is about as much seafood as you will ever see, so it was time to stock up! I highly recommend sharing with a friend the seafood platter. All the restaurants have this option. Squid, octopus, little fish, calamari, and more all with a slice of lemon. You have to do this! If anything you take a picture with the octopus tentacle. Profile picture for life. And if your at all like me and you like to play with your food this is great fun. I'm pretty sure that lunch lasted 2 hours too long.

   At the end of the meal sometimes they will give you a free dessert or even "better" a bottle of their Raki. To those who are Greek or Turkish I would say its a great cultural experience to those who are not my own opinion is that the stuff is vile. However, when one must take shots at 12pm one must simply rise to the occasion. However, when two of your friends tap out after one shot, the cultural experience gets tougher! Hard vacation. Get the one with honey that is much much much much much much much much much much much much  better. Everyone I met in the restaurant business where nothing short of the sweetest people ever. I'm sure it helped that we tipped, but everyone was so nice I cannot recommend Greece enough because of the people.  

Now my FAVORITE part of the trip. If you are in Chania, Crete you must go on Captain Nick's Aphrodite Glass Bottom Boat tour (look on tripadvisor- over a hundred ratings and all five star!). Captain Nick was so nice, funny, personable, and sincere. And a great way to kick up your feet, grab a beer (one is free on the 2 hour tour- reason enough right there to go!), and look at the scenery aka all the blue.. and then you will casually snorkel. He will snorkel with you looking for starfish and other sea creatures. So he calls us all over to this one area and he is holding something that just looks like a huge thing of brown snot. But suddenly the big bowl of snot has tentacles and starts moving around. Why yes he was just casually holding an octopus... well what does clever Debra say? Can I hold it? When your mom brings you up telling you to think before you speak I must have been napping during this one.. suddenly he is swimming toward me with a big bunch of snot! I stick my arm out and he latches the octopus onto my arm. I don't think the best writer in the world can describe this feeling. The octopus was gooey and slowly moving its tentacles up my arm onto my shoulder.
This is the part when I start squirming and screaming. Its like a gooey spider wrapping it's legs around you and just moving up. My reaction is like Ron's in the second Harry Potter. Nope nope not okay! Anyways you would think he would just grab the octopus off right? Well let me just say those tentacles with suction cups work! I think the octopus had a crush on me cause he WOULD NOT let go, Captain Nick had to peel all the tentacles off one by one. I'm sure I didn't help because I was trying to swim away while screaming the entire time. Welcome to the world little guy sorry for the rough awakening. Like I said those suction cups work, I had lines of hickeys all over my arm. Trying explaining that to the waiter at dinner afterward.

A great way to bring in one more year of my life- eat, lay out, and have an octopus climb up my arm. Where do you go with life after that? You can tell you should diagnose yourself with a case of wanderlust if you are writing a blog on a past adventure while taking short breaks and looking up flights for the next adventure. I will never be done! I cannot recommend Greece enough- so beautiful, the people are great, the food is delightful... just beware of that Raki it will sneak up on you!

You can always make more money, but you can't buy more time

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The Lucky 13

Visiting my  lucky 13th country on my 13 month adventure... lets just take a stab at how my trip to Budapest, Hungary started shall we? Put together a 2 1/2 hour late bur which pushed us back from a 10pm journey to starting at 12:30am, a person in front of me who thought it was all right to put their seat all the way back to my lap, and the police questioning me why I was still in Europe after 10 months of travel...yikes. Anyways after a disgusting amount of traveling we were in Budapest!

Let's count down the "lucky" 13 things you should do (and really just what I did) while visiting Budapest. These can all be done on a 33 hour limit.. there is some hustlin involved, but all good for the sake of traveling on a time limit. The last five are my favorite, but all are necessary. Lets start the count down!

15. Central Market Hall- What girl doesn't like where all the souvenirs are in one spot and what guy doesn't like where lots of food can be had in one place? This is a fun place to go and to get out of the heat for a little while. A place for postcards, mystery meat, and fresh squeezed orange juice!

14. Funicular- I have to admit that this was not such a big deal for me, but it is for most people. It is a cable car (hence why its not such a big deal for the girl from San Francisco) that will take you up to the Castle District. However, it saves many steps and gives you a beautiful view of the city. A beatiful view without the sweat and you can use the excuse that you're experiencing Budapest's history. Done deal.

13. Chain Bridge- Now because you are using the cable car to get up the hill you have to get your exercise somewhere right? The Chain Bridge connects both parts of Budapest....Buda and Pest. Didn't see that coming did you? Anyways, it is an easy 10 minute walk that provides great views of both sides of the cities.. the Parliament Building, the Royal Palace, and more all along the Danube River.

12. Go inside the Opera House- We just happened to go inside so we didn't see a performance, but the inside and outside is beautiful. When I have money later on I'm coming back to this world famous opera house to see a performance! You can take a tour... I would recommend it if you have more time than 33 hours.

11. Nighttime in Budapest- I was told to take a river cruise at night when all the lights are lit up on all the buildings throughout Buda and Pest. Well, we couldn't find the boats, so we just walked around Castle District at nighttime. I highly recommend doing one or the other at night to see all the lights and a different view of Budapest. Pictures don't do it justice.

10. Hosptial in the Rock- Confession I didn't actually do this one, but everyone was telling me I should have. Woops. it was a secret hospital that was built underneath the Buda Castle. Thank you visitbudapest.travel! If you go, take pics and tell me how it is!







9. Fisherman's Bastion- This is a terrace right by the Royal Palace/Buda Castle. To me, it looks like Gaudi came over to Budapest and made it himself. Or part of Candyland was built. Either one its a toss up. We went at night so it wasn't nearly as crowded, there is a restaurant, but I just recommend simply walking along and seeing the Parliament building right across. Great view!

8. City Park- You can walk through the park after seeing Heroe's Square (#6). There is a very cute castle, Vajdahunyad Castle. You can walk through and it's honestly like you've stepped into Fantasyland at Disney World, which you can all suspect that I loved. The park is very fun-you can rent paddle boats, get a beer, or just walk around. Perfect.

7. Walk through the Jewish Quarter- This is an important part of Budapest. There is the Great Synagogue that is the second biggest next to the one in New York. We didn't actually go in, but there is a touching memorial that you can see from outside of a willow tree out of what looks like barbed wire.  It has the names of all the Hungarian Jews killed in the Holocaust (thank you again visitbudapest.travel). This is also where the ruin pubs are (more about that later), so it is a mix of different types of architecture, abandoned buildings, and lots of culture.

6. Walk along Andrassy Street to get to Heroe's Square- This is on the way to the Szechenyi Baths and is talked to be like walking in Paris. There is much history I am sure, but can you tell that the walking tour didn't go there cause I don't have any facts for you all? It is a very beautiful walk with many trees, different types of buildings, and the City Park at the end. A simple, yet a must thing to do while in Budapest.

5. Free Walking Tour- Who can say no to learning about the facts, history, famous people, and more while getting a workout for free? Lets be honest- no one. Being on a budget has pushed me to look for the things that have "free" written next to them, but these people work hard for their tips! Great information like did you know the person who made the Rubik's cube was from Hungary? Or to save a statue built in the Stalinist time period they simply put a white sheet, cut two holes for eyes, kept it there for a few days, and called it a symbol of freedom? Facts upon facts people! It's a history lesson mixed with some physical activity that leaves your precious money in your pocket. It doesn't get much better than that.

4. St. Stephen's Basilica- This is embarrassing, but I've become a bit of a church architecture snob. I know terrible terrible, but it's the truth. Well we stayed about 100 meters (said the hostel's brochure) from this basilica (Art Boutique Hostel- if you are ever in Budapest this is a great value for money, perfect location, and very nice staff). Anyways, this Basilica will not disappoint! Covered in marble and gold from top to bottom. It is actually not too old, 1900's, but it looks like the person who built St. Peter's in Rome just came right over to Budapest and built the St. Stephen's Basilica. Look at that cross country reference would ya? Actually sounds like I know what I'm talking about. Very worth looking at... and there is the dead hand of St. Stephen in the back. Dead hand and gold? Worth one euro if you ask me.

3. Ruin Pubs- These famous pubs can be found in the downtown part of Budapest and are pubs that were created out of abandoned buildings. So really the owners lucked out- they found a building that looked demolished, didn't have to decorate it, but simply put some chairs and alcohol in the space and called it done. I am told that this trend started about 10 years ago and have become extremely popular throughout that time. Usually when you see an abandoned building you stray away from it, but this time we were walking to them.

2. Szechenyi Baths- Oh the things that they would never allow in the United States. This is

 one of the most famous baths in Budapest and actually the biggest thermal bath in Europe. As said by wikipedia (our best friend) it was opened in 1913 and there are 3 outdoor and 15 indoor pools. I am sure tha
t we looked like 5 year olds running around trying out all the pools! There was a sauna that got to 99 degrees Celsius (thats right 230 degrees Fahrenheit- don't you cook at that temperature?) and then an ice bath right next to it. I felt quite classy relaxing in a pool with a wealthy looking building behind me. The one thing I warn everyone before doing this is that you will be so relaxed and useless the rest of the day! Take a night cruise or something after that doesn't require walking.. or really moving for that matter.

1. Shoes on the Danube- My last year of college I took a History of the Holocaust and Other Genocides class. Needless to say I had a LOT of ice cream after the depressing class, but definitely one of the best classes I've ever taken. A wake up call indeed. Anyways there is a relatively new work of art (2005) as a memorial for the Holocaust in Budapest. In front of the Parliament there are bronze shoes all over the edge of the Danube. In Budapest 600,000 Jews were killed. Some were taken to the edge of the river and shot. They were forced to take off their shoes because that was what was considered valuable. I've been to Anne Franks, the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C., and many memorials, so I was relatively together with this one until I saw a pair of baby bronze shoes. I cannot imagine anything worse than being a parent and knowing there is nothing you can do to save not only yourself, but your own child. This memorial is so simple, yet one of the most powerful things I've ever seen. I cannot recommend it enough.

As always I say walk around! Who knows whom you will meet, what you will see, or stumble upon. So get lost cause who knows you may find this:

Okay quote time: If you want to do something stop thinking and dreaming about it, just do it already! Life only goes by faster the older you get. Even if it doesn't work or isn't what you thought it's always better to say "oh well" instead of wondering "what if." No regrets.

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A Little Big Dream

So half my life ago (oh dear) my parents took my brother and I out of school and into Western Europe for six months. Home schooling included museums for history, math was taught for one hour a day (to my despise), P.E. was just walking and hiking everywhere, and our journals (like this one but with a pen and paper, that old fashioned stuff) was English. Anyways, the world looks very different to a 11 year-old than to an adult and at the time despite my 11 mosquito bites, the hot hot hot weather, and at least a million (maybe two) tourists, Florence, Italy was my favorite city....not by an inch but by far.

Anyways, jumping ahead 11 years I was given five days (wowza!) off work with one place in mind.. Florence! I have to admit a part of me was extremely nervous to visit a place that I had such high hopes for... but then again I had high hopes so can't go against that. So let's dive right in shall we and compare the "then and now:" 

Physical Education Then:
It is alarming (and more than slightly embaressing) how hard walking is when you're an 11 year-old. I mean I would blame is on my short little legs, but I don't believe I've grown since then..Going away from that point, it is shameful to say how much I dragged my feet and how much of a chore walking to explore a new city felt to me.

Physical Education Now:
My absolute favorite thing to do in a city is get lost. Now, lets be clear not when it's dark, lonesome, and creepy shadows start to pop up, but when I am in a new (or visiting after 11 years) city I love to just walk. The answer to this is simple: Adidas or Nike. The best friends I could have on this 13 month adventure. To be fair and so everyone should know, Florence is not a big city. We walked all around it in about three hours. Don't waste your time on pricey taxis... unless the creepy shadows start to pop up. We discovered my favorite street musician (the man looked like Bruce Springsteen and played classical guitar- what more do you want?!), a leather market (goodbye savings hello obviously priceless leather jacket), and many many gelato places that needed tasting. 

History Then:
Again, it is embarrassing to say how much for granted I took my first trip to Europe. I appreciate it more than I can say now and fully plan to do the same idea with my children one day, but at the time I wish I had had a little more respect for the adventure. Now, when one goes to Florence one must

always visit the David at the Academia. There are many replicas around the city (shown here), but to see the "real" David is a box on everyone's bucket list that must be checked. Back then after the replicas the real thing wasn't as impressive, so I went to the "gold" room as I remember it to look at some paintings... not cool Debra not cool.

History Now:
You HAVE to see the David. Look at the replicas for a few seconds and move on, they don't do it justice! The real one- look at the muscles,  blood veins, and the curls in his hair. For someone who has never studied sculpture, art history, or really knows anything about Michelangelo, it still took my breath away! I would hear an English tour describing the sculpture and shamelessly tried to stand close enough to hear but look foreign enough (if possible) to not look like I was cheaply listening in. Now for a few short facts on the sculture for our history lesson of the day: it was built between 1501-1504, is 17 feet, and it symbolized defense of Florence against larger cities (the eyes of David were actually pointed towards Rome). Thank you Wikipedia! 

English Then and Now:

Just so you know everything in Florence has an entrance fee. Want to see a church? You have to pay. Want to see a famous tomb? You have to pay. Need to pay to breath the air? It's a scam. There's a lot of that in Florence too fyi. In the Santa Croce Church there are the tombs or remembrances of Galileo, Dante, Michelangelo, and many more. At the time it really didn't mean anything, but now I loved and respected the tombs for these famous artists, writers, and scientists. So after taking Astronomy 101, reading Dante's Inferno (one of my all time favorite high school required books), and seeing the David thr tombs meant much more than some carved out marble pieces. I mean they really are works of art on their own.

Art in the now:
Now for the secret..drum roll please.... okay, face the Santa Croce Church, now go to the left. Keep walking down that walkway and you will see a leather school sign. Go through that and you will see students and masters learning the techniques of leather making. I could watch them all day. Just cutting leather and pounding it together like it was paper. Astounding. Then you can go in the gift shop, maybe purchase a little something, and there will be someone who can brand your initials onto your purchase. Talk about an authentic souvenir! It is so fun to watch! And it's free so you can't complain. They will tell you a little bit about their school too if you ask: "It started with a little big dream." 

Let's go to a weird feeling: 

The weirdest feelings I've had during this 13 month adventure is going back to places, not knowing where I am, and then suddenly having a flash back of deja vu from when I was last there. To explain, I vaguely remember seeing an astounding view of Florence, but never really knowing where that was- maybe a random parking lot, next to a church, or so forth. Anyways, I never really put it together, but when my friend suggested we see Piazzal Michelangelo, we walked up and up and up, and then it hit me that this was the exact place I had thought of so many times before! To make it even better, this time we were there when the rose garden (with over 2500 different varieties of roses so you know).. needless to say we felt spoiled. We simply took our books the next day, beautiful weather, simply read and occasionally looked up to see that magnificent view of Florence. Spoiled, the word you are looking for is spoiled. 

Finally some similarity!
Bless my mother for writing down the gelato places that we oh so loved when we were in Italy. The day we left I sent an email asking for the name and she hurriedly responded with the name with the writing tone of "you have to go!" We went and it was just as delicious and still the BEST gelato I've ever had (with much competition I assure you). It is Vivoli Gelato at 7 Via Isole Della Stinche. So GO! I asked the lady serving us if she spoke english, she replied with "a little," and I told her my family's story. She looked at me, gave me a firm, hearty Italian hug, and said "Grazie!" A great moment, a full circle if you ask me.                                                                    
                                                         
                                                        Second similarity:

 I loved it! Loved loved loved it! Had the best time, the weather was stunning, the food delicious, the sights amazing, and the reassurance that my hopes were high for the right season. The city is wonderful through and through. And if you go- buy a leather jacket. Spend your last paycheck on a nice leather jacket... or a wallet the leather school will put your initials on. You will never regret it. 



So much to do and see and so little time! Don't waste your time, act accordingly.

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