Lads and Lasses

Scotland!  One of my favorite places!  We stayed in Edinburgh but visited St. Andrews and saw the old golf course, caste, and cathedral.  Loved the culture in Scotland!  Lots of fun!!

St. Andrew castle

The golf course

Edinburgh

Love it!

Ireland... take two

My second attempt to visit Ireland was a success!  We flew into Cork and spent the first night there.  Then we traveled to Killarney, where we stayed in a thatched cottage!  It was so cute!  We visited Killarney National Park and went to the Blarney Castle on the way to Killarney, where I kissed the Blarney stone.  We had a blast!

Kissing the Blarney stone

Our thatched cottage

Rowing in Killarney Park

Ross Castle

If only I spoke Welsh...

We spent a day in Wales and saw the Chepstow Castle and Tintern Abbey.  It was a bright and sunny day making for the best pictures:

Tintern Abbey

The group

Chepstow Castle

J'adore Paris

Paris is now one of my favorite cities that I have visited thus far.  Sadly, I only had 24 hours to see all that I wanted.  I saw a majority of the sights: the Eiffel Tower, Champs d'Elysee, Arch du Triumph, the Louvre, Moulin Rouge, and Sacre Coeur.  I also visited an amazing pastry shop and restaurant named, La Duree.  They have the best macrons ever!  We also got to go on the Fat tire Bike Tour at night so we saw the sights all lit up. 

Tour Eiffel

Louvre

Mona Lisa

Arch du Triumph

Louvre at night

Worship with the Monks

Once we dominated the Swiss Alps, we were off to stay at a Monastic Community called, Taize, in France.  This is no ordinary Monastery, it was open to the public to visit and to worship with the monks.  As part of our Christian Worship class, we visited and stayed in the community for a couple of days.  It was a very enriching experience.  The community was very simplistic and that is exactly what makes it so appealing.  You can go there and forget all about material possessions and focus on worshipping God.  We would pray three times a day and would work during the afternoon by contributing to everyday responsibilities around the church or other buildings.  People come from all over Europe and the world to visit this place.  We met Asians, Germans, Americans, and many French visitors.  For them, this is the one place and time for them to worship the way they want and to be open.  They all come from different areas that don't necessarily have churches on every corner, like we do.  Makes you take a second look at your attitude towards time of worship.  The fact that people from all over the world can come together and put differences aside to simply worship together is so inspirational.  Extremely eye-opening.

  

Skiing Down the Alps

After Strasbourg we headed to Switzerland.  My opinion of Switzerland can be summarized in one simple word...  GORGEOUS!  It is the most beautiful place I have ever visited!  No joke!  A definite reminder of God's creative ability.  Loved it!  We strolled around Interlacken and then headed to Wilderswil (pronounced: V-ilders-vil), where we stayed in a lovely hotel nestled in the mountains.  The next day I hit the slopes... that's right, the Swiss Alps!  It was awesome!!  Such a cool experience!  Photos for proof: (btw these pictures do not do it justice!)

Swiss cheese fondue... mmmm!

On the Lift

View from my room

Bonjour!

Our class trip was spent in France and Switzerland.  We traveled to Metz, Verdun, and Strasbourg, France the first couple of days of our trip.  In Verdun we visited the Ossaire and the Douaumont, where the soldiers of WWI fought and are buried.  It was a very emotional day as we saw the trenches in which they fought as well as monuments to commemorate their efforts.  Strasbourg is a huge political city--the Council of Europe is found here.  We got to tour the assembly room in which some of the most important decisions are made in Europe.  It is a really pretty city as well; I enjoyed walking around Petite France and other areas in town.  Here are some photos:

  

Council of Europe

After lunch in Verdun

The Douaumont

The Ossaire

Another Week in England

This past week I got to see and do many things. I went to tea with a couple of friends at the Randolph Hotel in Oxford. It was delicious and well worth the time and money. On Saturday I spent the day in Salisbury and Stonehenge. Although I am glad I saw Stonehenge, it wasn't all it's cracked up to be. It is astounding that the stones are still in their original positions--for the most part. So crazy! The fact that we still are clueless as to why or how the stones are there is fascinating. Here are some photos from this past week:

Our beautiful tea spread

All dressed up for high tea

How did these get here??

The group

Beautiful Florence

Our last place we stayed was Florence, Italy.  Such a pretty city!  We only got to stay there for a day but really enjoyed it.  We went to see David at the Academia and saw the Duomo and climbed the dome to see the city from the top.  There is also a leather market and other markets around the city and we did lots of shopping there.  So much fun!!  Here are some photos:

A snuck picture of David 

The Duomo Cathedral

At the top of the Dome

View from the top

Some famous door near the Duomo (it is a replica, the original is in a museum)

There was a beautiful bridge where we watched the sunset

When in Rome...

After Cinque Terre we stayed in Rome.  One thing I definitely don't recommend to put yourself through is doing Rome in a day!  It was super stressful.  I'm glad we did it though.  We went to the Vatican Museum where the Sistine Chapel is and it ended up taking us a total of 5 hours to see all there is to see there.  We also visited the Coliseum and the Roman Forum.  The Ancient parts of Rome were really cool!  It stretched out farther than we thought and took about 2 hours to see the Forum and Roman remains.  We had to come back to see the Coliseum the next morning.  Here are some pictures from Rome:

The Spanish Steps

Trevi Fountain

St. Peter's Cathedral

Sistine Chapel

Roman remains

The Roman Forum

Coliseum

Inside the Coliseum

An Amazing Birthday in Italy

For my 20th Birthday I was in Cinque Terre, Italy.  I absolutely LOVED it!!  With a couple of days composed of sitting on the beach, watching the sunset, eating lots and lots of gelato, and relaxing, it made for a perfect birthday.  We toured the five cities, shopped, and soaked up the Italian culture.  

Some of what we did while in Pisa and Cinque Terre:

- eating Pizza in Pisa (ironic, haha)

- riding the train to get to Cinque Terre and seeing the sea as soon as we exit the tunnel

- the beautiful sunset and beach

- gelato, gelato, gelato, and yet even more gelato

- Pesto! They are known for the pesto in Cinque Terre and it is on everything (pizza, pasta, with bread)

This is definitely my favorite place yet!  I plan to return someday.  Here are some photos from Pisa and Cinque Terre:

Leaning Tower of Pisa

Attempting to take a jumping picture

One of the five cities...gorgeous!

Birthday dinner