R~O~M~A

Heyyoo

Same as the last post, this was a little outdated - oh well...

After visiting Milan (which I wouldn't recommened to anyone for longer then an hour), Venice (which I am going back with my husband someday for a gondala ride), Florence (which was beautiful...including David - Big David :)), and Rome...I can say that I am NOT a museum/Church fan...Well, let me take that back. One or two would be awesome....(I highly suggest the Vatican Museum and St. Pauls in Rome)...but after the 6th, 7th, 8th...not so cool anymore. Which is why the next place I want to visit is South America - sounds scary - I know! But visiting with people we have traveled with it sounds awesome!

A kid from Aussie that we met in Florence stayed hostels that were in caves and tree houses - how cool does that sound. He also went to a butterfly forest and did so many other cool things which are more up my alley since we all know History isn't my strong subject. :)

Out of all the places we went Rome was probably one of my favorites because of the colosseum. I didn't even really know what it was before I went sadly - but it was one of those places that gave you goose bumps. Another reason I really enjoyed Rome was because of the Catacombs. I am not really sure the story behind them. You will have to look them up. Something with everyone wanting to be buried by these two Christian men. Because of this they built a 11 mile city like thing underground with nothing but graves. They would dig out wholes in the wall and just lay the bodies in. Probably one of the most creepy but cool at the same time. I wish I had a picture but none were allowed. And I guess the Sistine Chapel was okay - just kidding. It was cool, especially the Last Judgement.

All for now....

xoxo

"Drinking" Fountains

Hello all!

These posts are going to be a little out of order since I haven't gotten a chance to upload any pictuers/write recently. After I made the blog I soon realized I don't think I am much of a blogger or atleast not yet - they are harder to keep up with then you think!

I think I am safe to say if you know me pretty well you know I hate sharing drinks with other people. There is nothing worse then when you open up a new pop, take your first drink and then someone asks, "Hey, do you mind if I have a drink of that"...Or haveing to drink out of a old water bottle...and the absolute worst of all is having to fill up your glass from anywhere but a kitchen tap...But after arriving in Switzerland/Italy I soon realized I was going to have to give in.

There were no kitchen taps around for me to use and buying a new bottle of water for 5 dollars every time I was thirsty wasn't going to work...So we were taking a walking tour of Switzerland one of our first days and the guide said that every drinks from the fountains since the water is so clean. I thought it was absolutly sick that people would do this - people were practically bathing in them. But, by the end of the day I was soooooo thirsty I gave in and it was actually REALLY good water. SO Pure!

Canyon pictures!

Ciao Ciao!

We got into Florence the 31st and our hostel is beautiful! We even have free interent which is a huge plus. My muscles are finally starting to return back to normal after the canyoning. I ordered a CD with pictures on it from canyoning and decided tp put some up for your enjoyment. I think you will get a pretty big kick out of a few of them!

have to run! our laundry is done.

xoxo

switzerland/canyoning/milan

hello all!

trip is going well so far. all of our flights were on time and the jet lag wasnt as bad as i thought it was going to be.

our first stop was zurich, switzerland 27th. i dont think it hit me that we had gone over seas until we took our first steps out of the airport. we soon realized that no one at the airport spoke english and 10 p.m and nothing was in english. thanks to a nice bus driver who let us on for free because we didnt know how to buy tickets we found out hostel...finally. we took a boat tour of the lake the next morning (and i didnt even get sea sick :) ) and then a little later in the day we did a walking tour of the town. overall the town was very pretty, a little pricy though. the best part of the day was dinner. we were in the mood for a truely swiss meal. this consisted of veal and hashbowns - it was pretty good. but when we got our bill not so much. 130 swissfranks. ha, we all decided that was our big meal of the trip.

our next stop was interlaken, switerland - canyoning 28th. it was awesome! probably the most extreme thing i have ever done, and will be the last until i get into better shape. i was honestly holding on to ropes for my dear life and thught i wasnst going to make it. i woke up the next day and couldnt even sit up in bed i was soooooooooo sooooooo sore!! ha ha i think u used about 1000 muscles i didnt even know i had.

today the 29th we are in milan. i bet we walked around for 40 mins looking for a atm. we kept seeing the world atm but every time after following the sign there wasnt one. it took us 40 mins to realize that atm stood for area trasit malin. duh! they are called banks over here! we went to the duomo this morning, pretty cool and huge! we also did alot of walking around the town today. it is so interesting to look at all the different people - iowa is so sheltering when it comes to other cultures.

hopefully i will be able to post pictures when i get to london! sorry blog is so blah, very limited time on computer.

miss you all!

p.s. julie

i found the man of my dreams - italin. so hot! he was in a pizza joint we ate at today he was totally checking me out. i probably would have married him on spot if he would have asked me and never came back....you could be right :).....just kidding...kind of!

Hello Europe...Here I come ! ! !

Leaving for Europe TOMORROW! (May 25th)...So....

I decided it would probably be a good idea to start packing. I began packing my backpack and suit case at 11:00 a.m. . After packing/unpacking/repacking 4 times, 20 shirts, 8 pairs of pants, many many more things(that I will probably never need), and 8 hours later I am officialy finished packing. - Whew!

Oh and by the way...this picture to the right is all I will have for two weeks...no biggie right?...WRONG. I will definitly be taking a trip back in history to the ancient times of handwashing. But, on a more positive note I am hoping that carrying this 24 pound pack around will make me buff. - Ha, wishful thinking! And this pack is supposed to fit into an overhead compartment...I will let you know how that goes :)

My two friends and I have 12 days to backpack around before our classes start in London. First stop - Switzerland. After a layover in Dublin and droping our suitcases off at a storage area in the London aiport we will arrive in Zurich, switzerland May 26th at about 10:00 pm (6 p.m in the states). All and all over 24 hours of traveling!

Wish me luck ~

Lauren- xoxo