Sunday, 26 May 2013

Too Long Again

So apparently I'm extremely unreliable. =(
But I'm here with my mom right now in Munich. I've been traveling with her for 2 weeks now. We met up in Rome and spent a couple days there, definitely not enough time. My favorite part definitely was the Trevvi Fountain (don't mind my possible spelling error). It's such a gorgeous fountain, and apparently the water is completely drinkable which I thought was interesting. Unfortunately I did get sick in Rome and had to see a doctor on our last day which made our stay there REALLY short. But I would go back in a heart beat, the only thing I would change is the amount of time I spent there.
After Rome we hit up Florence for another couple of days. To be honest I wasn't completely sure what to expect from Florence. It has a beautiful dome, called the Domo according to my mother, and the exterior is made completely out of marble. Michelangelo Plaza is also gorgeous. It's a bit of a walk up the hill but it is worth it. The only thing I wanted to do in Florence and I didn't was to find a puzzle ring, it's a ring made of 4 rings that combine together. It's really cool to see and play with.
From Florence we took our train into Venice. We weren't staying in Venice but a little appartment we found in a little neighborhood called Mongoliano Veneto. It was nice being able to get away from Venices hustle and bustle in the evenings. But I have to say that Venice is one sitting I have been looking forward to the most, even since I was younger I had always dreamed of going to Venice, and honestly I was not disappointed. I have to admit when we first left the train station and got into Venice itself I think I made some sort of squeaking noise. But the city is absolutely beautiful with all of the canals running through. I think I took more pictures in that city then I have in any other city. We ended up going to the little island of Murano for some glass blowing. As we walked up one street there we passed probably fifty different glass stores. One of the stores we went into I bought a little necklace that is a black glass with some gold and coppery color inside of it shaped into a starfish, it was gorgeous. The lady owner of this shop warned us to make sure every piece we bought had a Murano stamp on it so that it was authentic. So for anyone going to Venice and Murano, if you buy any glass make sure it has a Murano stamp in the glass, that way you know it's real.
I also ended up buying a beautiful mask from a man in Venice. He's owns his own shop and hand makes these masks from papier masche, paints them all, and adds any other details. These masks are more traditionally made for the Venice Carnival that is held every February for 11 days. It's an extravagant festival where people dress up in costumes and these masks. The pictures I have seen are absolutely gorgeous, so I will be going back sometime for the Carnival specifically, if anyone wants to join me.
Once we left Venice we took a very scenic train ride through Swiss mountains to go to Lucerne, Switzrland. We only had 1 full day in Lucerne which was sad but the one day we had was a good one. It was a little rainy which was the only downside but we took a nice walk through the city, then once the sky finally cleared for about an hour we took a boat ride across Lake Lucerne. It's an absolutely amazing area, kind of reminds me of British Columbia, Canada for anyone who has been there, with all of the mountains and the lake in the middle. The sky finally starting pouring after that and we just ended up heading back to the hotel.
Leaving Lucerne we took another scenic train ride up to Munich, and this city would be nice had it not been for all of this stupid rain. Yesterday was really good, we went up to Neuschwanstein Castle which is the castle that the Beauty and the Beast castle is based off of. It really is beautiful although Ludwig II was supposedly crazy. But today we spent touring the city in buses that drive  around the because it has been too rainy. I couldn't feel my toes at one point.
Tomorrow my mommy leaves me and I have to say these past 2 weeks have been amazing. I really am going to miss her when she leaves me. I have to do everything myself again, blah.
I'm putting a reminder in my phone to remember to post blogs so they will be more frequent, hopefully.

Friday, 17 May 2013

SORRY!

So I am über sorry for my lack of life on this blog. It's been like over 2 weeks and I know you're getting anxious. *cough Chris cough*. But I'm here now to update you on my life the past 2.5 ish weeks!
I believe my last post was just as I was leaving Dublin for Berlin. And not going to lie I hate flying, sort of; I hate the customs people. They are all super rude and I just do not like them at all. But thankfully the lady at customs took one look at my passport stamped it and I walked off. Best customs experience ever.
Once I got to Berlin I had a couple of days just to relax before my amazing tour started; and I would just like to let everyone know that it was the most amazing experience of my life so far. I did the Contiki Eastern Roads tour, which does Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Krakow, and Warsaw with 2 nights in each city. When I say it was the best I truly mean it. Everyone I met on this tour was just phenomenal, I made some very good friends who I will continue talking for a very long time because we got that close within that 2 week period. The tour manager and bus driver could not have been any better I don't think. Our driver is from Krakow, Poland so we got some very local insight into the city itself from places to party it up to information about the city to places to eat like the little van on the side of the street selling sausages, buns and a polish drink called Oranżada. Our tour manager went above and beyond everything that you would expect an average tour guide would do with tip sheets about each city, came out with us almost every night to have a good time, and was just super cool with everyone.
I want to say thank you to everyone from the tour for being such spectacular people. It was definitely better than what I was expecting. It was m first tour but will not be my last because I'm already planning my next one.
After the tour ended I came down to Italy and met up with my mom. We have been in Rome for a couple days, and it's super gorgeous. My favourite part has to be the Trevi Fountain, I had to throw a coin in, which might be very touristy but I don't care.
Got sick the last day and had to go see a doctor unfortunately, but oh we'll I'm feeling lots better now! Nothing serious just a stupid persistent cold.
Anyway sorry again for it taking so long to post something; and also sorry for it being so short. I promise the next one will be longer!