I was so excited to be able to fit in one last trip before the end of the semester. For our girls’ trip, Nicole, Chrissy, Brittany and I first traveled to the United Kingdom. So we may not have seen Robert Pattinson, gotten inside the majestic gates of the Buckingham Palace or touched Kate Middleton’s baby … Read more →

I was so excited to be able to fit in one last trip before the end of the semester. For our girls’ trip, Nicole, Chrissy, Brittany and I first traveled to the United Kingdom. So we may not have seen Robert Pattinson, gotten inside the majestic gates of the Buckingham Palace or touched Kate Middleton’s baby bump, but I loved London! Flowers were in full bloom for the springtime, we didn’t see a single rain cloud while we were there, and we had the best time perfecting our British accents and taking on the royal city.

My favorite day in London started off with a free walking tour of the city! We grabbed lattes for the tour and our first stop was the Buckingham Palace, right in time to see the Changing of the Guards. Outside of the Palace was beautiful as rows upon rows of blooming flowers were seen everywhere. Since the Royal Standard flag was not flying, we were told the Queen was not at home.

One of our guides told us a funny story about a man who got drunk one night, climbed the fence to the Palace and got inside! He set off so many alarms that security thought something was wrong with the system, so they shut it off. The man found his way to the wine cellar and helped himself to a bottle of the Queen’s wine, before visiting her in her quarters. The man was arrested when the Queen found a way to call security, but then soon released because there was no law set in place about trespassing in the Palace! The very next day a law was made.

On the way to Trafalgar Square, where many public events and demonstrations take place, we were taken down little side streets and were told stories behind special buildings we would have never noticed if we had toured London alone. It was so cool to hear the funny stories behind the city! In London you have to pay more money the more windows you have, so many windows are bricked up in order to avoid paying for them. Also, on the roads, the words “look left” and “look right” are written, in order to help confused travelers when crossing the street, since they drive on the opposite side of the road in the UK! Thank you London for saving my life multiple times during my visit.

The tour took us to Parliament Square, where we saw Big Ben! I always thought that Big Ben was the clock tower, which is actually quite small, but it is the name of the 13-ton bell inside of the tower! Westminster Abbey is also in Parliament Square, where I of course asked how much you had to pay to get married where members of the Royal Family have their weddings. Our two tour guides were stumped, but agreed that you would have to have quite a sum of money. I guess I will just have to marry royalty.

After the tour, we grabbed sandwiches (I tried a cranberry brie baguette for the first time ever and loved it!) and headed back to Parliament Square to enjoy lunch on the grass, in the bright, warm sun, with a view of Big Ben and the London Eye in the distance. Afterwards, we hopped into a red phone booth nearby and had a fun photo shoot session. On the tour, two different phone booth styles were  pointed out. We learned that the second version was made because men were complaining that they had to take their top hats off when going inside to make a call, so a second, taller version of the phone booth was created.

The rest of the afternoon we spent walking the guided tour route backwards, this time going at a slower pace to take pictures and soak it all in. We took pictures with the guards, walked through St.James Park and throughout the city.

That night Nicole and I decided to head out to see London all lit up. We were exhausted, but we were so glad that we went! We walked to the London Bridge and down the “Queen’s Walk.” We also went to the Tower Bridge and made our way to see the London Eye and Big Ben. Blue and white twinkling lights illuminated trees and walk ways, making the city quite a site at night. It was almost 2 a.m. and the metros were closed, so we hopped on a double decker bus to take us back to our hostel. It was a bit of a challenge figuring out which bus line would take us back, but we eventually figured it out and enjoyed the view of the city on the top level of the double decker.

The next day we went to Camden Square, where there are open air markets and little shops. Then we made our way back to the city center for more shopping around Piccadilly and Bond Street.

I loved everything about London and already miss hearing “Cheers, love!” in cute British accents every day. I was sad to leave, but also excited to continue our girls’ trip in Holland! Cheers, London!

Check out my video from London here!

Hola, amigos! Flamenco, sangria and lots of tapas filled my days in Barcelona on a weekend trip with my friend Tyler (you can check out his blog here). Spain has always been on my “must see” list and I am so thankful that I got to take the trip. Although it rained every day we were … Read more →

Hola, amigos! Flamenco, sangria and lots of tapas filled my days in Barcelona on a weekend trip with my friend Tyler (you can check out his blog here). Spain has always been on my “must see” list and I am so thankful that I got to take the trip. Although it rained every day we were there, it was easy to see past the gloomy, grey skies and realize how beautifully colorful Barcelona is.

To my surprise, there was a Starbucks right around the corner from our hostel, so I started off each morning perfectly with a chai tea latte. Our first day there, we tackled both my and Tyler’s number ones. Since our hostel was also a minute walk from Tyler’s number one, the Sagrada Familia, we started there. The Sagrada Familia, a church designed by Gaudi, has been in the works for over a hundred years and is planned to be completed in the year 2026. I am so glad we got to see it because it was absolutely beautiful! Colorful stained glass windows towered along white walls and lit up the whole building inside. I loved it and hope to come again when it is completely finished! After the Sagrada Familia, we made our way to Park Guell, my number one! I have seen so many pictures of Park Guell in the past and was so excited to see it for myself. It was very colorful and fun! A huge mosaic lizard in the park reminded me of my brother because he has a little lizard that looks just like it, that he painted during a family vacation to Jamaica when we were younger. The first day in Spain we also got our first taste of paella, a typical Spanish rice dish.

The second day we ventured to many Gaudi sights in the city, including the famous Casa Batllo. It was so funny to see such a unique and colorful building in between “normal” buildings. Along with doing some shopping along the streets, and stumbling across Barcelona’s Arc de Triomf (what little copycats of the Arc di Triomphe in Paris!), we also ventured into the park, where we saw the Gaudi Fountain. Tyler immediately stated that the Gaudi Fountain is Barcelona’s own Trevi Fountain and I couldn’t agree more. I actually like this fountain over the Trevi Fountain! It is beautiful!

Our next move was to take a funicular up to Mount Juic. Once there, we could take a cable car to the castle, but we opted for the walk, through the gardens, to get to the castle instead (which was much needed after our afternoon snack of sugar covered churros dipped in chocolate). After seeing a breathtaking panoramic view of the city from the castle, Tyler wanted to check out the Olympic stadium, where the 1992 games were held. Afterwards, we headed back down the mountain to the Magic Fountain! Every night there is a water show at the fountain. Fun pop music played while everyone gathered around and enjoyed the fountain spouting out water high into the sky in all directions.

Our last day in Barcelona we made sure to walk up and down the famous street “La Rambla.” There were many vendors selling gorgeous flower bouquets, jewelry and small trinkets. I fell in love with the hand painted fans I came across (like the ones Flamenco dancers use) and decided on buying a turquoise and white one for in my room! La Boqueria Market, an open air market, was also on La Rambla. This market was just like the others in that it had fresh fish and fruit, but it also had so much more. From fresh fruit popsicles to frozen fruit drinks on ice to empanadas, this market had it all. Of course when I came across a crepe vendor packed with customers lined up, I had to check it out. Although it wasn’t my intention, I ended up walking away with a strawberry banana crepe with white chocolate and milk chocolate chips, and a fresh kiwi banana coconut frozen fruit drink, for lunch.

The rest of the afternoon was spent slipping into little shops, in order to escape the rain and cold. I came across what are now my favorite souvenirs that I have purchased since arriving in January (although I can’t say what they are, in case some readers might be receiving the gifts).

We ended our trip to Barcelona the perfect way. The night started off with a flamenco show! It was so much fun to watch. I was really surprised to hear that there are actually more flamenco shows in Japan now than there are in Spain, because it is so widespread. The guitarists played such pretty songs and you could tell the dancers were so passionate. When I thought of flamenco I thought of girls in big poofy, red dresses, but there was actually one female and one male dancer.

After the show we were taken to a nearby restaurant/bar where we were served endless tapas and sangria! My favorite tapas (a variety of appetizers) were the patatas bravas and cheese and potato croquettes. We met many other travelers at the bar. From an Australian man traveling through Spain for a conference that included bungee jumping one day and rock climbing the next, to two sophomore students participating in a study abroad experience on a ship, who had to sleep in cots with hundreds of ants crawling all over them in India, we could have stayed there for hours exchanging stories. However, we had a 4:30 a.m. wake up call to catch our plane back to Italy. Adios Barcelona… until 2026 (I have to see the Sagrada Familia completed, don’t I?).

Today was such a great spring day in Viterbo. The weather got up to 80 degrees outside! I woke up, had breakfast and headed to my last Travel Writing class to hand in my portfolio and take my final exam. After class I met Henal and we went to the San Pellegrino Flower Festival, which … Read more →

Today was such a great spring day in Viterbo. The weather got up to 80 degrees outside! I woke up, had breakfast and headed to my last Travel Writing class to hand in my portfolio and take my final exam. After class I met Henal and we went to the San Pellegrino Flower Festival, which is to celebrate the start of the season! It was absolutely beautiful and made me so happy! Every piazza and street we entered was filled with hundreds of different, colorful flowers. Whenever the wind blew you could smell the fresh flowers. Lauren’s favorite, hydrangeas, were everywhere! She would have loved it. I wish she could have came to the festival!

After the festival I went to the new gelataria that I have been wanting to go to. It opened a few weeks back and I always kept telling myself “Oh, I’ll have to go soon!” However, I realized that “soon” I will be going home!!! I don’t know where the time went. It flew by so quickly. I can’t believe I only have three full days left in Viterbo. There are so many little spots left to explore and cute little restaurants to try and gelato flavors left to taste! While I have been missing my family so much at home, I all of a sudden wish I could stay for a few more months! Today I don’t want to leave at all.

At the gelateria, called Crema and Cioccolata, I ordered a crepe with cookie and mint flavored gelato. I was expecting a nutella crepe with a scoop of gelato on top, but instead they made the crepe and put the scoops of gelato inside and folded it up. While the gelato melted everywhere and was a big puddle, it was still delicious and refreshing after walking around in the hot sun!

After my yummy crepe I walked back to the apartment to pack for my trip to London and Amsterdam tomorrow! Then I grabbed my final projects that I have been working on and headed to art class to hand them in and show my teacher my portfolio.

I wish time would slow down and that the next 10 days would go by slowly, but at the same time I am anxious to be with my family and friends at home. This experience has been so amazing and I can’t wait to make even more memories and experience the world further within the next few days. I better go since I have an early wake-up call tomorrow to catch a train to the airport. London’s calling! Maybe we will see the Queen!

The past two weekends the program set up field trips for us! Our first field trip was to Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Waterfalls. These are man-made waterfalls, created by the ancient Romans. It is the tallest man-made waterfall in the world, coming in at 541-feet tall. As it turned to spring literally overnight in Viterbo, … Read more →

The past two weekends the program set up field trips for us! Our first field trip was to Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Waterfalls. These are man-made waterfalls, created by the ancient Romans. It is the tallest man-made waterfall in the world, coming in at 541-feet tall. As it turned to spring literally overnight in Viterbo, we had perfect weather. That morning was the most peaceful one I’ve had in Italy. It was so nice to be outside, enjoying the sun. After the waterfalls we went to Lago di Piediluco, Piediluco Lake. We had lunch by the water and relaxed on the docks in the sunshine for the rest of the afternoon.

It was mom’s birthday that day and although I had a great day, I was anxious to get back to Viterbo and call her. I really miss mom and the first thing I’m doing when arriving back in the States is giving her the biggest hug possible.

This past weekend we went to a city called Capalbio. We first checked out the town and then we went to the beach for the afternoon! I underestimated the Italian sun and am now a burnt little lobster, but I had a lot of fun laying out on the beach and relaxing. After the beach we went to the Tarot Garden! The garden, which has 22 sculptures based on tarot cards, was built by Niki de Saint de Phalle. Her goal was to create a “small Eden” and she was inspired by Park Guell in Barcelona (which is where I will be going later on this week!). She actually lived in the garden while she was building it!

I am so happy we have been having such beautiful weather. I have been spending most days in the park, going for runs, reading and working on drawings for art class. Flowers are blooming everywhere. I love springtime in Italy!

Check out my video of my unforgettable week, traveling with my sisters, here!

Check out my video of my unforgettable week, traveling with my sisters, here!

Wednesday: The last two days of our sister travels were spent in Rome. When we first got there, we checked into our hotel and headed to lunch. Laur and I shared pizza for lunch. The girls quickly realized that there were mainly two options in Italy: pizza or pasta. They were each on a rotating … Read more →

Wednesday:
The last two days of our sister travels were spent in Rome. When we first got there, we checked into our hotel and headed to lunch. Laur and I shared pizza for lunch. The girls quickly realized that there were mainly two options in Italy: pizza or pasta. They were each on a rotating schedule, pizza one night, pasta the next, pizza the night after that… and so on. However, as mentioned before, we also broke up the pizza and pasta spree with nutella covered waffles and gelato for lunch on some days. One night I asked the girls if we could order bruschetta and Laur was iffy on whether or not she would like it since she doesn’t like tomatoes. However, after having it in Florence for the first time, she then ordered it two more times after that! I was so happy that she loved it!

The first afternoon in Rome was spent window shopping and walking around the city. We also made sure to visit the Trevi Fountain so that the girls could make their wishes and toss their coins in, ensuring them a return trip to Rome one day.

Our last day we went to the Colosseum! Although I have been there twice before, I never went inside since I wanted to experience it with my sisters. We all loved it! It was really interesting to walk around inside, especially knowing that there were actual fights to the death inside. After the Colosseum we headed to the Pantheon, doing some shopping along the way, and then made our way to the Sistine Chapel. Since I had already visited St.Peter’s Basilica, Linds suggested we see the Sistine Chapel instead. While we were all exhausted from walking around so much the past few days, it felt like it took years to finally reach the Sistine Chapel. However, it was worth seeing! The colors on the ceiling were so bright and it left me wondering how it could still be vibrant after all these years.

For our last meal together, it was a pasta night all around. After taking our time with dinner, we then headed to a gelateria that Linds and Val discovered by the Pantheon, called La Palma. It offers 150 flavors of gelato! As everyone knows how indecisive I am, it probably is no shock that it took me over 20 minutes to decide which flavor I wanted. I ended up with Kit Kat and Mars, a chocolate and caramel mixture. We cuddled up together on a bench inside the gelateria since it was cold out, enjoyed our last gelato together and each stated what our favorite part of our trip together was. Linds’ favorite was the duomo in Florence while Laur’s was the Colosseum, which is so funny considering Linds didn’t originally care to go to Florence and Laur didn’t have much interest in Rome. Val’s favorite was Cinque Terre and mine was the gondola ride in Venice. I love that each of our favorite memories happened in different places along our trip.

I will never forget the week spent with my sisters and Val. While I am having the trip of a lifetime in Italy, every beautiful or amazing thing I see, I always wish that my family were there to experience it with me and that they had the opportunity to see it as well. I was so happy that my sisters were experiencing Italy right along with me. Laur and Linds are my best friends and this trip with them will forever be one of my favorite memories.

Sunday: Sunday we planned on taking the earliest train to Manarola, one of the five towns included in “Cinque Terre.” With luggage in tow, us four girls rolled our way to the train station, right up to the big screens displaying the train numbers, times and bins. Happy that I located our train on the … Read more →

Sunday:

Sunday we planned on taking the earliest train to Manarola, one of the five towns included in “Cinque Terre.” With luggage in tow, us four girls rolled our way to the train station, right up to the big screens displaying the train numbers, times and bins. Happy that I located our train on the board, I continued scanning to the right to find which bin number to head towards. “Cancellato” I read. “What does that mean?” Laur and Linds both asked. This was news to me. I had never seen “cancellato” next to any train number before. I rolled my way to the ticket desk where I was informed that there was a strike in the Tuscan region and no one was sure when it would be over. Panic began to set in. We had planned for only one day in Cinque Terre. We needed time to get there to hike along the towns. We already bought our train tickets. We already booked our hotel for that night. Where else could we go? I normally would not have been so upset, but since Linds, Laur and Val were only here for less than a week, I was pretty flustered. I knew that I could go on one of my free weekends in April, but what if they never got a chance to see it?

“Go another day,” the lady at the train station told me. After seeing my face probably close to tears from disappointment, she then suggested taking a train to Pisa, followed by a train to La Spezia Centrale, and finally another to Manarola, but she wasn’t sure this would work either because of the strike. However, we all agreed to make the attempt. So, we made an unexpected stop in Pisa! Once there, we found that we had one hour until the next train to La Spezia Centrale, so I told the girls to go check out the Leaning Tower. I had already seen the Tower when I took a weekend trip to Siena, and I wanted to make sure they had their chance. So, I stayed at the train station with all of the luggage while the girls literally ran across Pisa to the Leaning Tower and back. They made it back with five minutes to spare and we hopped on the train and were on our way.

While getting on the train, there were two men that began helping us lug our luggage on board. We said “no grazie” repeatedly, but they continued to help anyways. I thought that the men were being nice, but as soon as we were seated, they came up to us with their hands out. The girls all looked at me confused, and from my time here the past few months I knew immediately that the men wanted money. “Two euro each,” one of the men said. I was frustrated and upset because this was not the first time that someone had helped me in Italy and I fell for it. I am so naive, always believing that they are just being nice. Each time though, they end up following me, demanding money for their help. I gave the man two euro so that he would walk away, but he kept repeating “Each. Two euro each.” It was already a rough morning so I said “No! We thought you were being nice,” and looked out the window so that the men would go away.

By 12:30 p.m. we successfully arrived in Manarola and were already exhausted from the morning’s activities! However, we were SO happy that we made it to Cinque Terre. Laur picked out the absolute cutest hotel. Although the hike up the steep hill to the hotel with all our luggage was quite humorous, as we were all gasping for air at the end, it was well worth it. As if the ocean view outside of our window wasn’t enough, we also had a pink-painted room with flower petals scattered across the bed.

Although some of the trails were closed due to a mudslide, we didn’t let that stop us from making it a perfect day. We did some hiking, took tons of Pinterest-worthy pictures and hopped on a train to Vernazza, another of the five towns. Once there, we grabbed some gelato and relaxed on the rocks overlooking the town and the ocean. Vernazza and Manarola were the cutest of the five towns and I loved experiencing both. I fell in love with Cinque Terre and had the best time with my sisters and Val. Last stop for the Shaffer girls: Rome!

Saturday night: We had the perfect sunny day in Florence. Once we got there, we checked in to our hotel and set out for lunch. We got a little sidetracked along the way as we passed the duomo and Linds fell in love. She didn’t want to leave! We passed a gelateria on the way, … Read more →

Saturday night:

We had the perfect sunny day in Florence. Once we got there, we checked in to our hotel and set out for lunch. We got a little sidetracked along the way as we passed the duomo and Linds fell in love. She didn’t want to leave! We passed a gelateria on the way, called Bellamia, where we were persuaded into waffles… with nutella… and gelato… two scoops, for lunch. OK so we may not have needed that much persuading. They were so good and worth the sugar coma for the next few hours.

After lunch we made our way to Ponte Vecchio and explored around the Pitti Palace. Although I already visited Florence once before, this time it was so much different due to the weather, and of course who I was with. Every experience means so much more to me when I have the opportunity to share it with my family. The rest of the afternoon we walked around Florence to the shops and different sites. We then waited in line to climb to the top of the duomo. 463 steps and the work out of a lifetime later we made it to the top. Even the view from the top seemed different this time. Looking out onto the city, everything looked so much greener and livelier.

After the duomo we made our way through the streets and came across a cute restaurant for dinner, where we were thankful to take our time and rest our tired feet from our adventurous day. We then went back to our hotel to get some sleep before our 6:30 a.m. wake up call to catch the train to our next destination, Manarola. Here we come Cinque Terre!

Thursday: I can’t believe I’m in Venice with my sisters right now. I have been counting down the days until their arrival for months now. They’ve been in Italy for only a few hours and we’ve already had so much fun. When I first arrived at the train station in Venice, I was giddy with excitement. … Read more →

Thursday:

I can’t believe I’m in Venice with my sisters right now. I have been counting down the days until their arrival for months now. They’ve been in Italy for only a few hours and we’ve already had so much fun. When I first arrived at the train station in Venice, I was giddy with excitement. The countdown on my phone was alerting me that the event “SISTERS ARRIVE IN ITALY” was finally here. I had to hop on the water bus in order to get to the hotel. Although the ride to my stop was only a half hour long, it felt like five hours as I was so anxious to see my sisters and Val. I arrived at the hotel to find out that they did not yet arrive, so I did some exploring in the area. I was gone only five minutes when I decided to turn around. I headed back over a bridge that lead to our hotel to find three girls with large suitcases looking incredibly lost. I ran across the bridge and hugged them all at the same time as it was impossible to decide who to hug first.

Today we went on a gondola ride on the canals! Now I can cross one more thing off my Europe bucket list. It was even better than I imagined it would be. Linds got a chance to steer the gondola herself… or attempt to steer it anyways. Venice is so cute and it is amazing how the entire city is run by the waterways. I am so happy my sisters (and Val!) are here and am so, so excited for the next few days with them.

Saturday:
Yesterday it was pretty cold and raining non-stop in Venice. We had to walk on high boards to get across the piazzas since the water was so deep! Venice was literally under water. After breakfast we walked around and a bit and warmed up at a cafe with some hot chocolate. Me and Linds got Nutella crepes for lunch (Linds’ first one!). After the girls got caught up on some much needed sleep (I give them props for doing so well since I felt so tired for a week after I first arrived in January), we went to explore a little more of Venice. We came across the cutest bakeries, bridges and waterways. We stopped at a pizzeria along the way for dinner. Despite the cold, we grabbed gelato for dessert before heading back to the hotel for the night. This time I tried frutta di bosco (wildberry). I absolutely loved Venice and am so happy I got to experience it with Laur, Linds and Val. Now we are on our way to our next destination! Next stop: Florence!

Spring break was amazing and I am so happy I got to travel to Greece. It is so beautiful and we had perfect weather while we were there. I am leaving Santorini with capri tan lines, tzatziki stains on my jeans and so many fun memories. Due to many, many clouds, we were unable to … Read more →

Spring break was amazing and I am so happy I got to travel to Greece. It is so beautiful and we had perfect weather while we were there. I am leaving Santorini with capri tan lines, tzatziki stains on my jeans and so many fun memories.

Due to many, many clouds, we were unable to see the famous Oia sunset, but that just gives me an excuse to come back to Greece again one day! The last two days were filled with lots of hiking, beautiful scenery, fitting in last minute souvenir shopping, waffles and gyros and taking in as much of Santorini as we could.

Although I am sad to leave, I am also eager to be on my way because MY SISTERS WILL BE IN ITALY IN TWO DAYS! I leave early Thursday morning to meet them, and our good friend Valerie, in Venice and we will then travel for a week to Florence, Cinque Terre and end in Rome! I cannot wait to spend time with my best friends and experience more of Italy right along with them.

Make sure to check out my video here of my time in Greece! I apologize in advance for the low volume of the video at the end.