South Of Spain.....

Ok Guy! Looks like this is our final blog :( and this is my final trip that i took while abroad so it works out well :) So as my trip was coming to an end we had a long 5 day weekend, so i decided to travel throughout southern spain with my boyfriend. We were able to go to both Seville and Granada. Seville is known for having the 3rd biggest cathedral in Europe and Granada is known for the fortress called "Alhambra". We started out flying RyanAir a really cheap European airline service to go from Barcelona to Seville, then from Seville we took a bus to Granada since it was only about three hours. My boyfriend and i stayed in hostels at both of these locations however, they were much nicer then the ones in Amsterdam, we were in 6 person rooms. Seville, was very peaceful and beautiful. The women there were very beautiful and everyone was kind. Granada reminded me of being in the little middle east, there were tons of really small windy roads with pebble grounds and a bunch of vendors selling little things. It was a cool vibe though. The Alhambra in Granada is the biggest tourist attraction. We had to wake up at 7am and hike for 2 hours to try and find the place were we buy tickets and once there, there was a chance that they would be sold out because it is so popular. Luckily we were able to get tickets for the afternoon entrance. We spent about 4 hours touring this old fortress that had breathtaking views of the mountains and town of Granada. I am very glad that i chose to have a relaxing last trip and had the chance to explore more of Spain (southern part) instead of going say to another country. Overall, i was able to see Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid, Seville, Toledo, and Granada, Spain :) I must say for anyone who still has a year or two left in school, i would highly recommend studying abroad it was truly one of the best experiences of my life and i am so lucky to have embarked on this journey :)

When In Rome....

Hey guys! So it is feeling like forever ago since I've studied abroad since graduation is fast approaching and this semester has flown by, however I am going to continue with my theme of my blog and talk about my next excursion which was to Roma :)

Before arriving abroad I new that Rome was on the top of my list to visit no matter what. I love Italian food and i new i wanted to see the history Rome had to offer. My trip to Roma consisted of just me and one of my roommates from studying abroad Mona who went to school at UCLA.We booked this trip for a total of $200 USD after just a few weeks of being in Spain but we both knew that it was an incredible deal and had to just do it!

Rome was truly Amazingg, however it wasn't all that i thought it was going to be cut out to be. The city itself is filled with rich abundant amounts of history however it was not very well-kept. In almost all of the areas (touristy and non) there was trash and debree. I had the vision in my mind that it was going to be so clean and like i have seen in movies, despite it being slightly dirity everything else was breathtaking.

We got to go inside and down the colosseum, to the imperial forums, trevi fountain, arch of, the vatican museum, the pantheon, spanish steps, st. peters basilica, sistine chapel and the borghese gardens. Needless to say all of these monuments were unbelievable. St. Peters and the Trevi Fountain were probably my favorite two spots. Going into the largest church in the world was something not many get the chance to do. Michael Angelos sistine chapel was also great, however you were not allowed to take any photos inside.

The Spanish Steps lead way to the shopping district of Rome. There were countless streets of high end designers and of course leather boots! When we went to the Trevi Fountain we enjoyed some gelato (ice cream) and watched the water trickle, it was such a beautiful and breathtaking experience.

The food in Rome was very good as well, even though i think if we searched harder we could have found better :) I had a large 5euro gelato all three days, but i just couldn't resist!

I am so happy I was able to travel to such a well-known historic place in Italy and look forward to going back in the future possibly to Venice or Florence :)

Passport to Paris!!

Hey Guys! I hope you all had a wonderful Spring Break :) I feel that I haven't blogged in forever haha...but anyway continuing with my theme of my Study Abroad trip I am going to let you in a little bit about my trip to Paris this past November.

My boyfriend and I went to Paris the first weekend in November in celebration of our 2 year anniversary. It was not a place he 100% wanted to go to, but i knew that while i was in Europe i had to visit the Eiffel Tower! Needless to say our trip turned out amazingg.

We were about a 5 minute walk to the Eiffel Tower which was awesome. We didn't really use their public transportation system all that much, because it was very complicated, so instead we walked everywhere.

We went to the Louve which was amazing. As some of you may know it is the biggest palace/museum in the world. It is where art such as the famous "Mona Lisa" painting is stored. The building itself was breathtaking.

We went on a boat tour of the canal ways, went up inside the Eiffel Tower which was gorgeous, but very cold. We also went inside and to the top of Notre Dame. We saw the arch de triumph, the pointe nuof bridge. We also went inside Napoleans tomb.

The food in Paris was also great! We had a lot of pastries. Paris though was a very expensive city and for good reason. There was tons of high end shopping as well.

Overall, Paris was an amazing city that offered so much to see and partake in. If you haven't been yet, i would definitely recommend going sometime in your life! It is a trip i will never forget :)

Amsterdam Adventure

Ok, so continuing with the theme of my blog "my study abroad experience" I am going talk about my 2nd trip while abroad which was to the well-known city of Amsterdam. Now many of you may know about Amsterdam whether it is b/c of it’s "coffee shops" the river canals, red light districts, the Ann frank mea sum, the van gough museum or perhaps the Heineken factory. Well whichever of these you know about I got the opportunity to experience them all first hand back in October.

I went to Amsterdam with my 3 roommates and boyfriend. We all stayed in the famous "flying pig hostel" needless to say this was an interesting experience. We stayed in one large bunk-bed style room with 20 random strangers for 3 nights. This was a new experience for all of us, however it was not as bad as i thought it was going to be. We actually were able to meet a ton of people from all over the world.

The whole scenario of Amsterdam was unbelievable. The city itself was absolutely beautiful. There were the tiniest streets, most delicious restaurants, narrowest houses and an enormous amount of canals that ran through the entire city. There were tons of bike throughout the streets even though the weather wasn't the greatest. They also had a lot of high-end shopping which i wasn't expecting.

While in Amsterdam we attended the Amsterdam Dance Event Music Festival. For those of you who are familiar with techno music we were able to see Deadmaus and Pete Tong while there. The Van Gough museum was also very impressive. Seeing the Ann Frank house was also something I will always remember. We went on a tour of the heinken factory and was able to see how the famous beer was made. Of course we were able to take photos in front of the famous IAMSTERDAM sign as well. We also went to the Damp Kring coffee shop from the famous movie Oceans 13!

I truly loved Amsterdam and would love to go back soon especially in the warmer months!

OCKTOBERFEST.....Munich, Germany

Hey everyone! Ok, so for my second blog I thought I would start talking about some of my travels that I had while I was abroad this past semester in Barcelona.

My first trip (outside of Barcelona) was to the world’s largest festival also known as Oktoberfest! Yes the real Oktoberfest...the whole Germans, Beer Tents, Outfits...you name it. I went on this trip the last weekend of September and it was the 2nd out of 3rd weekend for the Oktoberfest festival. It was my boyfriend and I along with our two friends who flew over from the states to meet up with us for the weekend (both their parents are pilots...so the fly for free) haha.

Needless to say Oktoberfest was the absolutely craziest trip I've ever been on. It was like nothing else I had every experienced before. The whole concept of Germany and German Beers in itself is a lot to take in. But we literally woke up at 6am walked to the festival following hundreds of Germans dress in their beirgarden outfits to the festival where we the waited in line for a beer tent until about 8am...you have to get their early if you want to get in at all. So after all the waiting and German body heat on me we made our way inside the tent but not completely we only found a table in the "outside part" of the tent which was still amazing! The beers were huge about 3 1/2 beers total costing 10euros or $15usd. So the whole time we are loving being outside but still wanting to go actually inside the huge beer tent. So we start talking to one of like fifty security guards outside this particularly tent, and he decides he likes us and we somehow get to go inside.

So for the rest of the afternoon we were inside the beer tent which was decorated beautifully. There were about 5,000 Germans inside chanting on picnic tables, spilling beer, and just having a great time! Now keep in mind that this was just one of the like 20 beer tents that are at the entire Oktoberfest festival....meaning that being the largest festival in the world there was probably about ohh at least 100,000 people there (mostly Germans)

In the end, this trip was truly once in a lifetime and one that I will never forget. If any of you are in Europe in the month of September I would highly recommend trying to attend. I am anticipating going again in a few years!

More to come on my next excursion to Amsterdam next week :)

Fabulous Fall Adventure

Hi Everyone! So i am very new to blogging in fact this is the first blog that i have ever had....but i think thats going to be a good thing :) First let me start out my telling a little bit about myself. I am a Senior majoring in Communication Studies at UNCW, I am a newly 21 year old (12/26/88) and originally from the first state...Delaware!

I think that for most of my blogs i am going to be talking about my past semester abroad. I recently just got back from studying abroad in Barcelona, Spain from September until December. Those 4 months are some that i will remember and cherish forever. I can't wait to share my many stories about school overseas, travel experiences, life, culture, food and more!

I chose to study abroad mainly for the opportunity to travel around Europe...and i must say i did a fair share (5 countries total, and countless cities throughout Spain). Being a Senior and wanting to graduate on time it was imperative for me to make sure i was on track for graduation even with deciding to go abroad. Once i got the thumbs up from my advisor....i was thrilled and so ready to start this new chapter in my life! Though i must admit i was hesitant at points....wondering what would change when i came back to UNCW 4 months later, the language barrier and new people! It was pretty much just like 1st semester freshman year all over again!

I studied through a program called ISA (International Studies Abroad) and my University abroad focused on International Studies. I did take a 4 hour Spanish class 2xs a week to help and try to improve on the language, though i must addmit i am still somewhat of a beginner, but i guess thats ok seeing that i entered into it not knowing barely any!

Let me start off telling you about the details of my living situation in Barcelona! We had the choice to live in apartments or in a homestay....i chose to live in an apartment with 3 other girls who were enrolled in my specific program. Before going abroad i tried to find the apartment online, however that was pretty pointless haha. It turns out my apart although extremely small and minus the fact i had to share a room and sleep in twin bed (which brought back many dorm memories) my apartment overall was very cute! My roomates as well were very nice. 2 girls were from UCLA and 1 was from Seton Hall University in NJ.

The classes for the most part were honestly a breeze and not difficult at all. Perhaps it is just the teaching style that they use over there...but i swear i only had about 10hours of homework the whole semester throughout the entire 4 months!!! Which is why i am struggling slightly to get back into the groove of things now that i am back at UNCW!

Well, that about does it for my blog this week.....but trust me there is much more to come and great details about my travel experiences in exciting and adventerous locations such as Germany, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam and more!