Paris to Spain

Our time spent is Paris was wonderful. After the girls visited the louvre, we went and had dinner at an Italian place right by our hostel. It made us miss Italy as the food was just not the same. On Thursday, Isabelle and I went to Montmartre hill while Sarah and Maggie went to Monet´s Gardens. We walked around the church and had an awesome view of the city at the top of the hill. We then got crepes for lunch, which I absolutely love. We met up with Maggie and Sarah that afternoon at Versailles. We walked around the palace and the gardens before heading back to our hostel. For dinner that night we went to a restaurant off recommendation of our hostel. The food was so delicious and it was mostly locals there. We had blue cheese scallop potatoes to start followed by duck covered in a cheese sauce and more potatoes. It was one of the best meals we have had and we all left very happy. The next day we walked around Paris in the morning before going up the Eiffel Tower. That afternoon we did some more exploring of the city and ate another good French meal of french onion soup, lamb chops, and apple torte. That night we left Paris on a night train for Irun, Spain. The train ride actually went better than I expected. We share a room with a crazy spanish dude and his wife. The minute the man walked into the TINY room and saw our huge 4 suitcases taking up the whole floor, he instantly started cursing in spanish. He then proceeded to shove the suitcases in our faces trying to get them up on the top shelves. We eventually got everything squared away and went to sleep for the night. The next morning our train stopped one stop away from Irun (about a ten minute drive). Our next train was scheduled to leave in 50 minutes for Madrid. The train company told us they didnt have a driver, but the train was obviously on a strike. Therefore, we missed our train to Madrid which had us spending eight hours in the tiny town of Irun. Maggie, Isabelle, and I set off to explore and ended up drinking sangria and eating Paella. It was great!
We finally got on a train to Madrid at 4 that afternoon and got to Madrid around 11. We checked into our hotel and then went to get some tapas. It was very strange finishing dinner at 1245 at night. You wouldnt believe how many people were still out and about at that time. The streets were packed, but we ended up going home to go to sleep after our worldwind adventure to get there. The next morning I got up to use the restroom around 7 am. The room was completely dark and as I crawled back into bed, I hit the bottom of my chin on Sarah´s top bunk. I slammed down on my jaw and my first instinct was "oh no, another chippped tooth". Fortunately all my teeth were in tact, but when I went to feel my chin, it was soaking wet. I turned on the light to find a huge gash in my chin. At this point everyone was awake and Sarah and I knew we were ER bound. The hotel employee at the front desk was just finishing his night shift and offered to accompany us to the ER. We first went to an ambulancia because he thought it would be less crowded, but they refused to assist me because they didnt have any face stitches. I honestly believe they didn´t want to help an American. We then went to the hospital where I was finally taken care of. Thank goodness the hotel employee, Louise, came because he served as my interpretator. I would have been so lost without him and he also cracked jokes the whole time while giving advice on food and places to go in Barcelona.
That day we went to the Royal Palace in Madrid and walked around the city. We left for Barcelona that night at 7:30. We have to go to dinner now so I will right more about Barcelona later...

Here's to the Chicken Coop

Well its been forever since I've had access to a computer but I managed to find the apple store in the louvre mall..

My last two nights in Florence were awesome. On Thursday we went to dinner at Ciro's and sons and enjoyed our last bit of Italian food. We then went to a club called Space, I had been there in high school and it still looked exactly the same including the number of Italian high schoolers there. We ended up finding our Australian friends from the night before. On Friday I went to the central market one last time and then walked through the market to buy gifts. Morgan, Worth and I went to Oil Shoppe for lunch to get our last Italian paninis even though it was a tough decision between that and the school cafeteria me and Isabelle's fav restaurant. That afternoon Worth and I went to Santa Croce Church and saw Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and Galileo's tombs. The church was so pretty and really interesting. We then got our last gelato, probably the saddest moment ever. In the evening we watched the sunset at Piazza de Michelangelo with a nice bottle of Chianti. For dinner, we headed down to Gusta Osteria, the restaurant of the brothers of our favorite pizza place, Gusta Pizza. It was delicious and such a great way to spend the last night. The owners even gave me a free I love Gusta Pizza tshirt. On Saturday we left Florence early for Lake Como. We stayed in a nice hotel in Cadenambia and laid out by the pool all day. The lake surrounded by the mountains was gorgeous.

Sunday morning we took off bright and early for Interlaken. We spent the day watching the parade in town while eating brats and beers. It was national swiss day so the town and our hostel were very lively. We all bought Swiss attire and celebrated the holiday at our hostel because they had a cookout and party for it that night. We made friends with lots of Australians and English. The next day it rained on and off all day. Isabelle and I took a boat cruise to Speiz and got to see lots of the Lake Thunesee. It was really pretty despite the clouds. That night Sarah and I made friends w a guy fro, Georgia and hung out with him. On Tuesday Isabelle and Maggie went to Geneva while Sarah and I paraglided. It was definitely one of the coolest things I've ever done and such an amazing view. We then left Interlaken for Paris and arrived around 8 pm; Sarah and I got crepes fro, a hostel suggestion and they were so good. I got one with ham and cheese..best French food I've ever had.

This morning we went to the Arc de Triumph and walked down the Champs Elysess. We then got lunch at Rue Clar near the Eiffel tower garden before venturing to the train station to book our train to madrid. After a three hour fiasco of thinking we would never make it there we found a train leaving Friday night. The other three girls are now in the Louvre and I'm exploring the lovely apple store haha..its been an interesting day to say the least. I hope the rest of our time in Paris goes a little smoother.