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Carolina Football

Looking back I can't really tell you the minute that we became Carolina fans, but every since middle and high school, we have made the trip to Columbia to see the Gamecocks play. My dad explained the rules to me and it have been a great relationship every since, except when my beloved Gamecocks lose and that is not a fun day. So, any given Saturday in the fall, you will find me at Cockaboose #13 with great friends and food, getting ready to see if the Cocks can pull out a win. It doesn't hurt that we have the coolest mascot, Cocky.

If you have never been to a tailgate and game in the south, you haven't been to a football game. You are there, cheering on your team with 80,000 of your closest friends. Tailgating is no simple feat either. There is a lot of planning that goes into making sure there is enough food and what the theme is. And, if it is an early game, then you must plan for breakfast and lunch. There is an art to tailgating and those in the south know how to do it. If you don't believe me, come visit us for a game!

Until the next game, Go Cocks!

SC Heart Gallery

Probably one of the coolest things I have gotten involved with through a friend is the South Carolina Heart Gallery. Photographers throughout the state volunteer to take pictures of foster children in different regions of the state that become part of galleries that travel around the state to promote adoption. In the past year that I have worked with the Heart Gallery, I have meet some amazing kids. This past summer marked a year and I returned to Florence to shoot for a third time. This time I had four brothers I took pictures of last year and a brother that I shoot last year with his sister, who was no longer adoptable because she reached 18. It was great to see the boys again, but at the same time sad because they hadn't gotten a home and they desire an amazing home. They have so much spirit and joy and are truly great kids.

The other day I was eating lunch with a friend and her roommate from undergrad ate with us. She is getting her masters degree in social work and we got to talking about the Heart Gallery. She said she had just gotten some pictures of a boy that she worked with and I curiously asked to see it. It was unbelievable, but it was a photo of a boy I had shoot last summer. He was really quite, but it was so special. I will never forget before I left for the day I went over to say bye and let him know I would get him some pictures that we had taken. He asked if I would print some for his mom and I said I would and at that moment, he reached out and gave me a huge hug. It was at that moment I knew I was making a difference to him. I don't always feel like I can or do actually do a lot to help others, but getting to use my love of photography to help these kids means the world to me.


This past year I also took photos in Columbia at the zoo. Jakaar was deaf, but had a hearing aid. His foster mom realized half way through the it wasn't on even though he said it was, so he hadn't heard anything we had been saying, just shaking his head yes to everything! He had this huge smile from the moment he walked up and I was hooked. We journeyed around the zoo and seeing him experience the animals was priceless. That day I also had two brothers who at first were a little unsure of things. I gave them the zoo map and asked them where they wanted to go. They picked the train. The volunteer with us asked if we were allowed to let them ride and I asked her, "what are they going to do, fire me?" They loved the train and we continued our trek through the zoo. I got some great pictures of them and then they helped me and took pictures as well as come up with their own poses! That day I have two others girls that rounded out whole I shoot.

I can't post the photos, but you can check them out at scheargallery.com and click on Galleries.

In Region II, you can see Hadrian Zyanvious and Jakaar, in the first panel of photos (center bottom and right bottom) and in the third panel of photos, Brittany is the left photo in the middle.

In Region IV Brandy is the top left on the first panel of photos, Danny and Darius are center left on the second panel of photos and Jaivon and RaiQuawn are the far right on the same row. They are brothers to Jerone and Jimmy on the next panel top left. In the next panel is Tereka and Rayquan that are the brother and sister I mentioned from last year and Tyre is the boy I mentioned that my friend's roommate was working with (middle row far left). As you look through, the photos with the read heart logo mean the children now have families!

UPDATE!!!

Recently I learned that two of the boys I got to photograph found a home! This project is so special to me and these kids deserve the best.

Making up for lost time

Okay, so the last few weeks have flown by. Lots of work has begun to be due and most of that is group work! So let me catch you up. Of course, it is football season and although we had a rough start, we had a great win again number 4 ranked Ole Miss (though I am not sure how they were 4 because they were bad to say the least). Either way it was an amazing game.

Two weeks ago it was a quick road trip to Atlanta to see The Color Purple. I had no real expectations about the show. Fantasia was reprising her role from Broadway and it was an excuse to see a show. It was torrential downpours in the hour leading up to the show, so we sloshed in and were a little wet to say the least. They didn't hold the start time, so the must have sat more than 150 after the show started, some up to 45 mins late! I know that sometimes things are out of your control, weather being one of them, but don't come in with a soda and pop corn and block my view. To say the least, the show was brilliant. It exceeded any expectations I had and the entire cast was ridiculously talented. I think Sophie was my favorite with her "Hell Nos" and (if you haven't seen it don't read this) when the sister's are reunited at the end, it is a truly magical moment.

There were a few awkward moments where it felt weird being the minority. This is only the second time I have ever felt like the minority, the first being two summers ago in Germany when we were at the Bavarian Film Studio and we had to go on the English language tour, which was walking instead of riding on the cool train because that was for German only.

This past weekend after the Thursday night football game, it was off to the mountain house. So Ashley and I headed up Friday night, stopped to grab P.F. Chang's (which is one of my all-time favorites) and see Fame. I will have to say I was disappointed in the movie. If you haven't seen it, just YouTube the commercials and you will be set. Saturday morning Jordan, Cole and Laura drove up to meet us. We were planning on going hiking and to the corn maze, but the rainy weather stopped us for going on with our plan. So we changed things up, grabbed lunch at Jukebox Junction, a must eat stop and then hung out the house and watched more college football games on TV than I have seen in my whole life! I am looking forward to our game against Kentucky because they are awful, but we have no change against Florida and Alabama. Thoughts might be slaughters.

This is all for now. Headed to bed. As Tigger would say TTFN (ta ta for now).

Where was my head! I almost left out the most dramatic part of the weekend. Saturday night Laura made an amazing dinner and then we played apples to apples and made smore in the fire the we made. Yes you heard me right, we started a fire from wood! So it rained all Saturday, but Sunday was beautiful. We had breakfast at my grandparents house, which was my favorite sausage gravy and biscuits and then went back to the house to plan to the day. Laura had homework, so the rest of us decided to head to the Blue Ridge Parkway to hike and see nature (we were in the mtns) and then we would come back, get Laura and got the corn maze. From there, they would head home and Ashley and I would head to my cousin's third birthday at Chuck e Cheese (which I call chunk e cheese) and then drive back.

It takes 24 miles to get the parkway. We actually have a map, but I am directionally challenge, so one of the cohorts has taken over than task. We drive past a couple overlooks, stop to look at a couple overlooks then finally decided on hiking Graveyard Fields after we couldn't find the waterfall trail we wanted. I had actually hiked this last year and upper falls at the end were pretty disappointing, but with all the rain, we were thinking they might be better. It was a pretty muddy hike, but we had lots of fun and were making fun of Tebow (who got the crap knocked out of him in the Saturday game). It was earlier and we really didn't pass but maybe 4 or 5 people on our hour trip to the top. The falls were pretty cool and we gots lots of pictures. I got my sneakers soaked trying to climb to the other side to get a better picture on the rock and then slide and got my shorts soaked too. Luckily they dried pretty quickly in the sun. We had made it all the way back and were joking about people getting hurt. We are probably 20 minutes from being back in the parking lot when Jordan jumps funny off this dock-like ramp (they had wooden planks like a dock over some of the fields, probably like 5 inches off the ground). On her was off she must have twisted her ankle and she falls to the ground landing on her left side (which is why we figure she twisted her right foot pushing off, sort of jumping the puddle). I was right beside her, having gone through the grass to get around the mud. Ashley and Cole were behind us and at first we thought she was laughing, but we soon realized that was not the case. She had done something to her ankle, she thought it was broken and it had swollen really bad. She immediately freaked out and it took us a while to get her calmed down.

Finally, we were able to get her up and hoping, working to get her back to the car. It was a slow trek and I soon realized she wouldn't make it the rest of they way. The path was really narrow in places, we still had about five steep flights of stairs, a bridge over rocks and a river and a very steep end paved with asphalt before we would be at the parking lot. Cole and Ashley were helping her hop, I wasn't of much use there because I am shorter than her by a bit! I decided to run ahead and called 911. First it took a while to get signal, remember were in the mountains. It was an interesting call because they asked me what county I was in and I didn't know. I knew where we were on the parkway, but not the county. They finally figured it out and transferred me. The guy I got then asked what happen and then asked me if we had overnight gear. I then told him that we didn't and what was he implying by this. If they couldn't come we were still getting her off the mountain that afternoon. We went on like this for a while and then he finally dispatched people.

What you must realize about the mountains is that they don't have people sitting at fire stations waiting to come. Instead they have people with pagers who get called in when something happens, thus it took 45 minutes before any one got there. In the mean time, Cole and Ashley are helping her hop along and I finally get Cole on the phone to let him know that help is on the way. The 911 operator called me back and told me that the emt was arriving. This included a 4 year old who came with his grandmother. He was a great motivator! So off me and this emt woman go running back down the path to find where they were. They had actually gotten pretty far and were waiting for us to get there. The woman examined her foot and put a splint on it. They then brought in a more rugged version of a gurney and got Jordan loaded up. In the mean time, they have put up fire line do not cross tape between two trees to stop other hikers. It felt very official.

The hike back to the parking lot was a bit of a struggle. The stairs were narrow and tall. The hand Jordan's head below her feet for that part, and she gets really motion sick, so I wasn't sure how well that would go. For the asphalt part, they had a wheel they put on the bottom of the cart to push her up more smoothly and then the wheel came off the take her up the last flight of stairs. We joked that she was discouraging others from hiking after they saw her being carried off the mountain! They got her loaded into the ambulance and Cole got in the front to ride with her. It took them almost an hour to get the hospital and the driver talked to Cole about everything from football and the infrastructure of bridges and tunnels. They had been sent to the hospital in Asheville because the Haywood Hospital didn't have an obstetrician to treat broken bones, which was a little weird. Ashley and I meet Cole at the hospital and we waited to see what the doctor would say.

I was with Jordan when the doctor finally came and before he even looked at her foot he said that he had seen this a thousand times and then she just had a sprain. He then looked at her foot and said that her swelling was a little higher than the normal sprain, so he had it x-rayed. It ended up that it was just a severe sprain, which was good news. In the mean time, we were all starving because we hadn't had lunch at it was 5 (she fell around noon), so we had a picnic in the waiting room. It was more like a circus: a prisoner, a homeless man, this girl who weighted upwards of four hundred pounds and would have easily taken Cole out for a brownie. Luckily Jordan got her cast and we were all able to get on the road home!

A Whole Lot of 'Glee'

To be entirely honest, I didn't watch the pilot episode until early August. Until this summer when Rachel mentioned if I had seen the show, I really hadn't heard about it. So, in short it is the reintroduction of the glee club in an Ohio high school while the cheer leading coach, football coach and other students work to bring down the group of, well, not so popular kids. When you explain it, it sounds like a bore, but it is the funniest thing I have ever seen. The cast is so talented and you are instantly captivated by the characters. We now have a group that gets together on Wednesday to watch So You Think You Can Dance and Glee. If you haven't seen the show, check out the extended preview. I guarantee it will make you a GLEEk!

What the show has also given me is a topic for my case study in Integrated Communications Principles class. What makes this show so unique too is their method of advertising and use of social and online media to build awareness and hype for the show. What is cool about my masters work is that we get to choose areas that interest us and then do our projects from that. So far this semester i have gotten to read a book about the making of the Broadway musical Big and as I mentioned, a case study on Glee. It certainly makes the work a lot easier and more interesting.

Complete Randomness

I have two things I have been thinking about, so here they are:

1. I am so ridiculously excited about Carolina football starting this Thursday night. Sadly the first two games are away, but soon enough we will have a home game. Looking back, I couldn't tell you where or how my family became Gamecock fans. Neither of my parents went to USC, but nonetheless we starting coming to games a few years before I applied and I am proud to say that I have one missed one home game in four years! There is nothing like tailgating with 70,000 people cheering on the same team. Though we are not always winners, there is still fun to be had. We have a cockaboose, which is a train car (there are 23 behind the stadium, so close you can throw a football and hit it- it's been tested) that was hollowed out and set up for one good tailgate. Kitchen with fridge and sink, toilet and shower and space for a sofa and tv inside. Upstairs is a deck that can have a tv with plenty of seating and a awning to shade the heat. It is the coolest spot to watch people, the game. I love it and am so excited. Wish us luck this season!

2. I have been watching Freedom Writers the I dvred and have been thinking that during my lifetime, I want to do something that really make a difference. I have been so fortunate: amazing parents, the best group of friends, great mentors and teachers, a wonderful childhood and a family that introduced me to so many things like theatre and dance and art. In the end I don't think it matters how much you make or the actually possessions you have, but rather the difference you can make in the world. I am not sure what or how I am going to do it, but keep posted because eventually I will find my "Purpose." (had to add the Avenue Q reference)

"Story of Our Lives"

The assignment for our U101 kids was to make a lifeline to show us abou their lives and what was important to them. Although some of them thought the assignment was sort of lame, what we all learned about each other was way more than I expected and I think they would agree.

First the class did a great job and some of the timelines were so creative. One of the girls in class helped others draw there timelines and there was such a sense of teamwork in the projects. What I think surprised everyone the most was how much they all have in common. It is also surprising what students choose to share. From travel experiences to state championships in sports, getting an Eagle Scout Badge to signing to play basketball for the Gamecocks to getting a part in the spring opera. Probably the hardest thing was a student who shared about the death of her father, but on the day her father died her mom found out she was cancer free. This reminded me of a student from last years class who shared that her mom missed her flight one morning. Just so happened that it was 9/11 and she was flying out of Washington. It is a crazy world we live in and so much of what happens seems to make no sense.

Our class is sort of split between the kids who live in the same dorm and those who don't. Hopefully in the coming weeks we will work on becoming one big family.

So much work, so little time

Today I went to the last class for the semester that I hadn't had yet because it only meets on Wednesday. I think it will be my favorite class. The professors is one of my favorites and I really enjoyed the class I took from him this past spring. Again there is lots of work to be done, but you can work in groups (although the project is lengthened depending on group size), so that helps a little.

I am so excited about the U101 class I teach. The kids are very enthused for the most part and we have some really exciting things planned. As I mentioned, a little more than half the class lives on the same floor in a dorm and is part of the Journalism Living-Learning Community. They have all gotten to know each other so well and it is exciting to see how much fun they are having. We have one kid who is a real jokester and in his journal wrote about an emotional text he got from dog and Bruce Willis coming in to kill a tyrannosaurus rex that was eating the dorm. Tomorrow they have to share time lines of their life, so we will see how creative they are! Check out what some of the Living-Learning students are up to at their blog.

On a random note, my research teacher keep using food references for example in class and then went on to talk about chocolate chip cookie recipes. This made me giggle remembering a cookbook our class made in 5th grade and Kenny submitted the recipe for chocolate chip cookies. It went as follows:

open the package
put the dough on the tray
bake

I don't think that's what they were looking for, but they included it anyway.

First Day of Classes

So summer is officially over and classes have begun. It is crazy, I know. My first class today was University 101 at 8 a.m. One of our students works for the Great American Cookie place, so she brought in this ginormous cookie with a Gamecock on it. Not exactly a nutriuous breakfast, but very delicious. The class did have 23 students, but one was a liberal arts major and since the class if for journalism majors, I think they changed. So with 22, we did the normal introducions and went over the syllabus. About 15 of the kids are living in the Journalism Living Learning Community where they all live on the same floor in Columbia Hall. It should be an interesting living situation. I then thought I had a class at 9:30, but it got moved to Monday Wednesday which just isn't cool.

I had some free time and then I headed to the SC Arts Commission for my first day interning. I am so excited about working there. Everyone is so nice and interested in so many different areas of the arts. I never realized how many people worked there and all the programs they have. There are so many opportunities to learn from working there. Then it was off to my last class today from 6 - 9 p.m. By that time in the evening, I really don't have much of an attention span and then the teacher isn't all that interesting, so it was a little tourtores and with the rainy weather, the ceiling leaked so that gave an added element to the class. The best thing that came of the class was that he told us we wouldn't have class the night of our home Thursday football game which is so exciting.

The Fab Four

All my life I have been the type of person to get the job done. In high school I wan't really popular and never actually won (except once) my positions in an organization, but the teachers would always make something up so that I would still help. It is just my personality that I can't let something not get done and get it done right.

So this is my first semester not working at the alumni association with the student membership program since my freshmen year. It has become my second family and the program has had such a big part in my life for three years. There are four student that work for the program and the last group of us were the Fab Four (pictured). We had many, many memorable moments both at work and out our many adventures. Though it hasn't always been easy, I wouldn't trade that time.

The first event of the year is Cool Off Carolina, and unlike the events throughout the rest of the year, it is open to all Carolina students and for the past two years has been at the Strom pool. In the past it was in the center of campus, but it didn't offer the refreshing pool and atmosphere that the Strom has. I volunteered to help because, well I wouldn't miss it, and when I got there about 20 minutes before it was supposed to start, it wasn't near ready. It is weird because three of the four new officers have never worked this event before along with the graduate assistant. The last events office put the event from 11-2 instead of 1-3, so when I left there wasn't a huge crowd. The set up was a little off and none of the ad board really knew what they were doing. It is hard to let it go because it was so much a part of my life for so long, but at the same time it isn't my problem any more either. Ahhh!

On a more exciting note, I am beginning an internship at the SC Arts Commission tomorrow and it is the first day for my University 101 class.

Getting Organized

After living in the dorms for my freshman year in college, we bought a condo which is practically on campus (attached to a University parking garage). We looked at so many places around Columbia, and couldn't find the right spot. Then we looked at Senate Plaza and found a great two bedroom condo that was all white walls carpet and a really outdated kitchen. During the summer before I moved in, we came up and worked to renovate it. Tour out the closed in kitchen and opened it up to the living room adding a bar sitting area. With a coat of paint and new floors, it was ready to live in. But you know how there are those projects that you mean to do, never get around too? Well, I have great closets, but they only had one rack across the top, but the rest of the closet was wasted space. So with an idea in mind I headed to Lowes to look for closeting materials and got the shelving and mounting supplies and headed back to my condo to start installing. I did get a little offended when the guy at Lowes asked me if I owned a drill. Of course I own a drill!!!

Back at the condo it ended up being simpler than I thought to install and start getting everything organized and set into place. So the closets are done finally after three years on the to do list.

Learning to Let Go

Staring from a young age, I have keep everything and always had an order to the things I had. For instance, I was the kid who copied the boxes and set up all the Barbie sets just like they looked on the box. Maybe it is partly because I am an only child, but I can fondly remember organizing and re-organizing stuff. As I got older I continued to save things. Some of it goes into scrapbooks, like tickets, playbills, posters, but then I have every paper from every class I every took. Lack of cabinet space and the realization that I will never use the stuff again has prompted me to finally throw out this stuff and how much space I have gotten! It is such a good feeling to be ride of all the junk and start the year out without the clutter. Now if I could only get the closet of clothes organized!

Life in the Fast Lane

So one of my friends starting blogging and her blog is way to funny. You can check out Rachel's blog by clicking here. She also yelled at me for not updating mine. I normally write when I travel, but have never really figured out what to write about in the mean time. Today has wrapped up my summer intership at The Brandon Agency and what a fun and busy summer it has been. All of the interns came together to enter the Intern Hero contest by Little Debbie and we won muffins. Yum! (which came in today, just in time). Braden, a sort of intern, worked with our ideas to take pictures and create our amazing entry.

I am still trying to figure out where the summer went. And procrastinating on reading a book that I need read by Monday that I am 10 pages into. Tomorrow is my last full day in Myrtle Beach before heading back to Columbia. This means getting to see so many friends I haven't seen all summer, but also missing all those who have moved away. It's hard to do the same things, like game night, when the orginators aren't there. Those stories that start, remember when we..., aren't known by the newbies and they just never find the stories as funny.

Since returning from Europe, I did get to visit DC for a weekend and althought it was a really quick trip, it was lots of fun. It just so happened that Spring Awakening was there and Rachel's(from the blog above) Claire was playing Thea. We got to see the show and it was amazing as always. If you haven't seen Spring Awakening, do yourself a favor and find a tour date near you and buy tickets now! While we were in DC the cast also did a cabaret show to benefit Make-A-Wish. It was fun to see the cast sing songs that they had choosen. It was a great show and you can see clips of the performances posted on YouTube. Also, when you have time, make sure to check out Extended Run, which is a series written and directed by Perry from the show staring the cast. So back to the trip, DC was great and Ashley and I got to visit with Michael, a friend from USC and also some other friends Dustin and Cami, who showed us some great local restaurants and bars.

Now it is the countdown to football season. Everything in the fall revolves around the weekends when the Gamecocks play. Tailgating in Columbia is an experience you have to see for yourself, cheering on your team with 70,000 fans in Williams-Brice. Sadly our first two games are away, but soon enough we will be at the Cockaboose tailgating!!!!!!!

Flying Home

The trip has been amazing, but I am so ready to be home. Our flight leaves at 12:40, so we were headed to the airport around 9:20. Good thing we left early because the lines were crazy to check in. The metro is so easy to take right under the airport and up into the terminal. Like Rome and other airports in Europe, your flight checks in at certain numbers, so we had to find our spot and get in line. The line was long and it moved so, so slow. It took us upwards of an hour and a half to get checked in. I can’t believe we left on time because there was such a long line behind us and I didn’t see how they could check them all in. Security was pretty smooth and quick and we got to our terminal where they didn’t have much food to eat before boarding. Their airports just don’t have the snack shops or fast food selections which is not much fun when you are hungry. We are flying Air Canada to Toronto and then US Airways to Charlotte and finally Myrtle Beach. The Air Canada plane was super nice and had TVs in the back of each seat! I watched Bride Wars, Hotel for Dogs, Escape to Witch Mountain, He’s Just Not That Into You and about half of Coraline. The food was actually pretty decent, some sort of chicken (the other choice was fish, weird!) and the flight staff was really friendly. The only thing that is annoying is that everything is done in three languages, so announcements go on forever.
Customs is never fun and this was no exception. It took a long while for our luggage to come out and then we went through boarder control where our guy was a butt hole. He was kind of on a power trip and was asking questions and then being very snappy about the answers. He asked how long we had been there, what we had bought, accused us of being cheap and that being the reasons Europeans didn’t like us and so on from there. Next was dropping off our bags and then going through security. I made the mistake of being the only female in my line, so I got chosen for the rub down security check because the person in our line for that was female and she couldn’t check males. So I got rubbed down from head to toe and then my camera bag searched, which I felt bad because there is so much junk and cords in there, but I survived and am looking forward to getting home.

The flight to Charlotte was good, small plane, but good. The weather had been bad up north earlier in the day and Toronto had delays to New York and New Jersey, but nothing about down here. We leave Charlotte to fly through the worst weather ever. I have only been on one flight that was so turbulent I didn't I was getting off until this one. The pilot told us he had flown around some of the bad weather, but we were up close and personal with the lightening and thunder, so I am not sure how far went went away from it. Did you know that lightening glows off the clouds in the sky? Well, it does. It was raining so hard and we were just bouncing around in the air. We finally get the warning that we are descending into Myrtle Beach when we seem to be circling. The pilot came back on to tell us that the weather was too bad on the ground at the airport to land. It took us one other failed attempt before we finally got to land 40 minutes late on the third try. I have NEVER been so glad to be off a plane and on solid ground. It was amazing to see mom and be home. My bed, kitty and hairdryer and hair straightener. It is also extremely exciting to be able to text again!

Madrid

Since I got back, I have been so slack and not updated the parts missing from my trip. And to be honest I am a little rusty! By the time we got in Madrid, I was pretty tired, especially of hauling luggage. We sort of went to the wrong hotel at first, right brand, but wrong location. Madrid has a lot of prostitutes and one hour hotel rentals if you get my drift.

We got in pretty late in the afternoon, so we just wondered a little that evening and found a bike tour for the next morning. Our tour was lots of fun and we really saw so much of the city and got a good idea of the things we wanted to go back to. We visited the Prado Museum which had amazing works by Goya, Velazquez, Dali, Picasso, Miro. There is something to be said about seeing the works in person. I have seen so many of these works in art history classes or on TV, but to see the real thing! We also went to the The Reina Sofia Museum, which is a little more modern and boasts some amazing Dali as well as the highlight for me, Picasso's Guernica. Again I had seen the piece in a class, but to see the real canvas. It is 25 feet wide and 7 feet tall. It commands your attention when you enter the room.

Throughout Europe we have run into a lot homeless people or beggers, gypseys in Paris, etc., but in Madrid we meet The Lazy Beggers. In a word where so many people tend to lie or bend the truth, their refreshing honesty was not what one would expect. They have laptops, sleeping bags, everything they need and they admit to being lazy. They even have a Web site where you can keep up with them and even donate. They were really friendly and we spoke to them ever time we passed going to our hotel.

A must in Madrid is eating at Botin, the oldest resataurant in the world. Fabulous food and a fun atmosphere. The third night we went to see Grease The Musical, but the catch was it was in Spanish. I really do believe that the English version of the soundtrack played in my head. Even though we couldn't understand exactly what they were saying, it is such a classic we knew what was going on. It was weird though because radom parts were in English, like the song "Blue Moon" and then the movie scene, all the titles were English as well as the music the DJ played before the show started.

Our last night we got tickets for a bull fight, which we thought was a must since we were in Spain. With tickets in hand, we catch the metro to the arena. It is like a big concert or something, with concessions and merchandise, though after seeing the fight, I am not sure how anyone could eat there. I just imaginged that it would be more skillful maybe? At first there are 6 matadors to 1 poor bull. Then he gets stabbed twice in the back by this man on a horse, and luckily the horse wears armor because the bull then rams him for getting hit in the back. Then three different matadors stab these stick things in the bulls back and then you have the one on one fight between the bull and the "head" matador. And if the bull starts running at them, they just run and hide behind the wall. The last matador then stabs a sword down the bulls spine to kill it. If they miss a couple times, that is when the crowd gets mad. To sum it up we didn't like it and left after the second bull was killed. There are a total of three bulls killed at each fight. It is something you need to see, but I can bet you won't like it.

That was a weird event to end our trip on, but that was it. One more Champaign Sorbet and then it was time to pack and get ready to go home. I LOVED everything I got to see and do on this trip, but I was sooooo looking forward getting home.

Snap Happy (and the worst sound ever - click and wind)

So each trip I have something that I continuously shoot throughout the whole trip. It has been flowers a lot in the past, fruit, whatever random thing I see and it just sticks. Poor Chelsey has been around for the flowers and us climbing to Timbuktu to get the perfect shoot and just the right flower. Let’s just say I think we got a picture of every flower at Atlantis when we went a few years ago! So this trip it took me a couple stops to figure it out. I guess I sort of happened into what I started shooting and was shooting it before I realized. This trip I have shoot threw things as a style in each city. What I have shoot threw has changed between cities, from gates, fences, doors and windows. It has been an easy task to shoot because there is always something to use in the foreground to frame parts of the city. It has been really interesting using things to frame the main subject and playing with the light to give it just the right look. It sort of became an unconscious thing and I just began shooting in this style without really realizing that I was doing it.

And I guess while I am talking about pictures, I will go on my soap box about how I hate disposable cameras and see no point in their existence. They take awful pictures, especially in dark situations and they make the most obnoxious sound. I can always hear them before I see them. That click and the winding noise. I mean they even have digital disposable cameras and disposable cameras with zoom. Seriously?

Seville Day 2

The second day was much smoother in the city. Even though we had seen a lot on the first day, we decided to go on a bike tour of the city just to get to ride bikes and waste some time. The tour was fun, but it was probably the hardest tour in terms of maneuvering through people. There were only nine people on the tour, which was good because any bigger wouldn’t have been able to move. After the tour we went to the cathedral and the real alcazar, which was a series of palaces and gardens. The cathedral was one of the more memorable ones from the trip and had many side rooms with jewels and great architecture. There was a tower at the cathedral and you could climb the ramps to get to the top. It took almost 40 ramps to get to the top, but the little windows on the way up gave a breeze and offered great views. The style of the real alcazar buildings was amazing. They had a big Arab influence in the construction and so the building really stood out from the Gothic and Gaudi styles of the other things we ha seen. You can’t go to Spain with out seeing the Flamenco, so we got tickets to see the dance performed at the museum dedicated to the dance style. It was interesting to see, but gave you a headache because there was a lot of stomping. It was sort of a mix between Stomp, clogging and bad dance recital costumes. The two dancers were accompanied by a guitar player and singer, who were good, but were way to into their music and it really wasn't that exciting. The dancers were talented, but their facial expressions were so stupid it was hard to take them seriously.

Seville

Arriving in Seville was interesting because I am assuming we were the last flight of the day because they pretty much locked up as we were exiting. It was out first flight with SpanAir and it was good, but not Aegean Air (they didn’t give snacks!) Our hotel is kind of not in the middle of the city. When the travel agent booked our hotels, we were supposed to be at another one, but she booked this one. I was busy and didn’t really bother with it, but I definitely should have. We have to take the bus into the city and it is just a lot of hassle. Night one we went to Burger King for dinner because it was down the street from the hotel and it had more to offer than the hotel restaurants. Seville is frustrating because the travel books didn’t have much about it before we got here and heaven forbid the hotels over here actually have brochures! We got up on Tuesday and headed into the city center. I am sort of embarrassed to say we did the Hop On Hop Off bus! If nothing else, it was a bus to get to various spots in the city with a little information while you ride the bus. We rode around for a while and then got off near the cathedral. They had a walking tour in the afternoon so we grabbed lunch and went on the stroll of the city. It was probably the most inefficient thing because it was one guide who did Spanish and English, so he told the information in one language and then the next, so the tour was twice as long as it would have to have been.
For dinner we stopped at this restaurant that was really gross. Dad has lasagna, but it wasn’t red and I had noodles in tomato sauce with meat and dad said it tasted like garbage. Again, I don’t care what people think, but McDonalds here is amazing. And, you get an extra item: banana sundae, yogurt or apples. Once I thought they had forgotten the banana sundae, but no, they waited until I was finished with my meal! That is service. We had a time finding the bus stop for number 34 and wandered for a while searching. It is light here until like 10 p.m., but it was getting dark because getting your check around here is like flying to the moon and back. We finally find the bus stop, but it goes backwards and we missed our stop because the hotel had not lights and then got off and eventually found out way back.

And the Tony goes to....

Most of you know I am obsessed with Broadway and on this Sunday was the Tony Awards. Chelsey and I went to the show last year and it was more spectacular than you could image. So being six hours ahead we didn’t get the broadcast and all the results weren’t out until 4 a.m., so I couldn’t find out anything until Monday morning. Internet is not an easy thing to find over here. Either it is everywhere or nowhere. So we had seen lots of places that had Internet in Barcelona, but you know how you can never find something we you actually want it? Well, we trekked and couldn’t find any so it was after our tour that we finally got Internet. I was a little surprised by the results and a little disappointed. I have seen Billy Elliot and Shrek and love both of the shows. It is hard to compare shows for things like best musical because they are so different. Billy Elliot tells the story of a boy who wants to dance and the workers strike in London. It is a brilliant work and the boys who play Billy are extremely talented, but to me Shrek is Broadway (the show also has amazing Webisodes at swamptostage.com that give you a behind the scenes look at how they created the show and interviews with the cast). It is spectacular sets, characters, costumes and talent. The show takes the story of Shrek that you know and takes it one step further. The show is quarky and funny, but you fall in love with the characters and their struggles and the happy ending! I was surprised it didn’t take best musical and that Sutton Foster didn’t take best actress. I don’t think donkey was nominated for best supporting actor, but he should have been. It is always a tossup because I was shocked Wicked didn’t win in 2003 when Avenue Q took the top prize. It took me many years to get over the grudge and see Avenue Q and while I love the show and think it is great, I love Wicked and wish it had won. Off my soap box and back to Barcelona….
Our flight to Seville didn’t leave until 5:30, so we had the morning to get a few last minute things in for Barcelona. We had already seen the music palace, but decided to go on the tour. The only disappointment was that you could not take pictures. The music hall was original built for a choir of townspeople that is still around today. The main auditorium has a beautiful stained glass sky light that was of the sun and the decorations on the ceiling, columns and walls were flowers and trees. The sky light actually domes inward and above is another floor that has a glass ceiling that lets the light in so that water doesn’t get in it. The stage has 18 statues of women whose bodies were mosaic with their heads and instruments made of porcelain coming of the wall. In the center of the stage was the organ, with 3,772 pipes. The organ had not be used in more than 30 years when they restored it and also made it electronic, so it can play by remote control. The size of the stage can be enlarged by adding to the end toward the audience, covering up the first two rows of seats. The stage also has risers that can come out to accommodate various size choirs or productions. The facility can hold some dance performances, but with a maximum of two dancers at a time and it also hosts concert versions of operas but they don’t host full versions because the stage has no curtain and can’t accommodate sets or backgrounds. It was built in three years, which is impressive compared to how long they took to build other things. Another intresting thing was that the statues on either side of the front of the stage were constructed of artificial stone so that they did not affect the sound waves from vocals or instruments on the stage.
Another thing that has puzzled me this trip is having to show your passport to switch currency. I have traveled to Europe four times and never show my passport to switch money. Dad and I stood in line at this bank for like half an hour and got up to change money and he asked for a passport. Well, we don’t carry them with us (the pick pockets are bad) and so we couldn’t switch any. And it is not like other people know this and we are out of the loop. The two Americans behind us who needed to do the same thing didn’t have their passports. Here is a travel tip: Even if you plan on switching money once you get to where ever you are going, go there with some currency already. Currency exchange at an airport is highway robbery. AAA charges $12 to exchange up to $1000 or free above that and most banks can send off to get other currencies as well. It makes things much less stressful when you already have money for transportation or food when you first arrive.
After the tour we wander to see a few more of Gaudi’s architectural works before heading to the metro and aerobus to get to the airport. Our flight was on SpanAir, which was night, but not as nice as Aegean Air.

Barcelona day 3

I am behind in writing, so I don’t remember all the details of the day. We choose a couple of museums that were going to be free to visit. I hate to be rude, but staring at art piece after piece gets boring and so not paying doesn’t make you feel guilty for going quickly or bypassing some of the ugly stuff. First we went to the Picasso Museum. It was interesting to see some of his early works and sketches from school and the museum did a great job with the chronology of his life and showing the work while explaining where he was. What the museum lacked was any of the famous pictures you had actually seen before. They didn’t really have any of his works that you knew, but there are some other museums down the road we are going to that should have them. Then we headed to the museum of modern art that was supposed to be free but wasn’t, which was just as well. We then headed to the Park Guell to see the mosaic lizard Gaudi did. It is funny because there are two buildings there that were supposed to be model homes for this community that Gaudi had the idea to build, except when people came to see it, they thought the design was crazy and they weren’t interested, so it is now a park. It has the lizard you see in all the pictures of the city and a beautiful bench that is tiled that overlooks the homes that must be 200 or more feet long. Well of course we start at the far end of the park from where the lizard is so we are tromping around, it’s hot and we really don’t know where we’re going. Heading down hill to where we see crowds I had to fall. It really was inevitable because I hadn’t really fallen this trip. I did scrap my arm on the spiral stairs at the Sagrada Familia, but I caught myself so that really didn’t count. They think that they can just take slippery rocks and stick the uneven ones together and call them stairs. So I slipped on the edge and slide down a couple ones before catching myself and trying to shield my camera from the fall. Of course it made this huge noise and everyone was looking, so I hopped up as quickly as possible. I guess it hurt my pride more than anything, but my tail bone hurt too and luckily I had the sun shield thing on the end of my camera, so it made it safely through the fall as well.
After all that we did find the lizard and the house and got our pictures. We walked up a couple more streets to see some of the other homes Gaudi created and then headed toward the water to grab dinner before calling it a day. We have a few hours in the morning before we journey to the airport for Seville.

Seeing the Sites

In Munich Chelsey and I did Mike’s Bike Tour and online it said that there was one in Barcelona. Actually Mike changed and is now Fat Tire Tours, so when we waited for a bike tour that didn’t exist. So when no one else showed up, we headed out to find Internet to find out about another tour, but couldn’t find that so we ended up finding the Fat Tire office and went on the 4 p.m. tour. That gave us just enough time (four hours) to find the Hard Rock for lunch (we needed some normal food) and wander. Before meeting up for the bike tour, we ran into a group of break dancers who were performing in the plaza. They were amazing and you can see one of them in the photos. We meet up at the new meeting point at 4 p.m. to go on a bike tour. Yea! We had been on tours last year in Prague and Berlin and loved them so we were looking forward to this. The tours always depend on the group. Our group was a little boring, but our guide was fun. The tours go to so many places and you get to see so much of the city you don’t always see walking. We went to the governmental buildings, city park, Olympic park and by Sagrada Familia again.
So probably the funniest thing we learned on the tour was that streaking is completely legal in Barcelona, but there are a few stipulations, so read below to make sure you don’t get arrested.
-You must be completely naked, having a shirt on and no bottoms will get you arrested
-You can’t run up to someone and flash them, you must be naked from a distance at which someone can tell you are naked and I guess have time to try to avoid you
Just a few tips to ensure the streaking goes as smoothly as possible! The tour finishes up and we go to pay and these girls that were backpacking had been on some of the tours in the other cities, but had forgotten their coupon for the 2 euros off. We were hanging around to get some suggestions for restaurants and directions and there were two girls that went to college with the tour guide and another guide that worked for the company there. Our guide said that he couldn’t give her the discount without the coupon and she keep on about it. The other tour guide was very funny and made a comment that it was coming from daddy’s bank account, so what did it matter. I don’t think they heard, but the comment was funny. The girls were very preppie and had been rude throughout the tour, so it was a perfect fit. Well, we found a Mexican restaurant, which was a great find. I mean it wasn’t Burro Loco (if you haven’t been to Burro Loco, you need to come to Myrtle Beach and get their queso dip – amazing!), but it was good.

Year of the Scaffolding

You know how the Chinese have the different animals every year? Well, in Europe this is the year of the scaffolding. I can’t name a country that we have been to, starting with Chelsey and I in London that hasn’t had scaffolding. Tower of London, Versailles, Gaudi’s architecture in Barcelona (multiple locations), Barcelona Cathedral , the Coliseum and many more that are being “restored.” That is quotes because some of these places are constantly being cleaned and they never seem to get finished. So when you see pictures that seem a little odd in the way they were taken, it is probably to avoid scaffolding in the photo (this is not always the case and it may just have been a crappie picture!).

Barcelona

All the flights so far between the cities have been on Aegean Air. I would compare them to our Spirit Air, but they are nicer planes and you get snacks still included. All the seats are leather and your knees don’t hit the seat in front of you. Better yet they run on time and in all the flights we have had on them, none have been late or delayed. Waiting for our baggage, I read a sign and within the European Union countries, you are entitled to monetary compensation if your flight is changed within 14 days of your travel, canceled or delayed for more than six hours. I thought it was interesting that the airlines have someone watching out for the consumer and they are therefore encourage to service the passengers better.
Arriving in Barcelona, we hoped on the bus to the city center and then got the subway to our hotel. Well it really didn’t got that smoothly. We got on the first subway, but ended up at a stop that connected to the tram not the right line we needed and then finally got to the right line and to our stop. What isn’t cool about these metro stops is that they don’t often have escalators or elevators, so luggage gets hauled up and down stairs and this gets old really fast. The afternoon we headed to Sagrada Familia, the work of the great architect Gaudi. The church has been in the works for more than 100 years and is not expected to be completed until 2030, but many here believe it will never be finished. The design is unlike anything you have ever seen for a church. Shapes and forms of nature mixed with religious scenes are depicted through the columns, ceilings and facades of the building. To get a view from the church and a little closer look at the spears, we took the lift up the bell tower and then climbed down the spiral stairs, seeing out through the windows and balconies on the way down. The spiral stairs were extremely steep and they had a hole through the middle, just big enough to fall through. Needless to say, everyone stayed close the wall and held tight to the railing. The views were great, but it was nice to be back to the ground floor. Our journey of the city continued as we wandered toward La Rambla, the big street with everything from restaurants, food markets, shopping, street vendors and street performers, not to mention tons of people. It is such a lively and exciting place. Like many of the other cities thus far, Barcelona has a great metro system that makes it easy to explore the city.

Beach Day

Third day is the charm! Today we got on the bus and rode to Kamari, a beach area about 20 minutes from Fira. Since it was still early morning, we walked around the area and scoped out the restaurants. Since the island is formed from a volcano, the beach has black stones as sand. It takes a bit to get used to and it is a little hot, but neat. There are multiple rock jetties both leading from the beach and also a little ways from the coast. The locals used them as diving boards to swim in the ocean. It is hard getting into the water because it is a little steep and when the stones get wet they are slippery and you sink as you walk in them. The water was way too cold. I can’t ever remember our ocean being that cold. I never got in more than about knee deep because it just wasn’t worth it. What is also interesting is the swim wear or lack there of that you see there. Speedos are popular, but not an attractive alternative for most who worth them. Then there were those wearing bikinis, some of which should not have been wearing them, but if you waited long enough, they would sunbath without their top.
It was a nice, relaxing day in the sun and then we ate lunch at a café that was right on the beach. Heading back into Fira, we got ready for the evening and headed back to Dionysos, the same restaurant we had eaten at the night before. The prices were really reasonable, but better than that the food was amazing. Probably the most memorable meals I have had during the trip. I had spaghetti and dad had meatballs. The staff was friendly and you could actually get your check in a reasonable amount of time. It was almost too good to be true. The island has many great pastry places and I had been eyeing this chocolate cake every time we went by one of them, so we went by there for dessert. The cake was chocolate icing with sprinkles and inside was vanilla cake layered with a chocolate mouse. Yum! Tomorrow is an early morning, flying into Athens then to Barcelona. I will be excited to back in a bigger city with a better transportation system.

Santorini

When you see images of Greece, you are likely seeing pictures from Santorini. An island that is part of the Greek Isles, it is the picturesque location used in such films as Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Flying onto the island, you get an ariel view of the c-shaped island formed from a volcano many years ago (now doormat I hope). People make fun of the Myrtle Beach airport, but this really was a small airport with one baggage carousel. We meet up with our hotel transportation and began the trek into town. Arriving at the hotel, the outside was okay looking and the lobby inviting, but the room leaves lot to be desired. There are four twin beds with gross, old bedspreads on them, a tiny bathroom where I almost don’t fit in the shower and it suffocates me because the waster hits me in the fact the whole time and you have to put the key chain for the key in the hole for the electricity, so the air conditioner doesn’t run when you aren’t here. There is also a lovely draping of a fabric piece above the beds and I think the TV is maybe 13 inches (with no English channels, though we did find and E! from May 2008 on earlier).
So we just had to laugh about it because if not you would be miserable the whole time. We began venturing out, but don’t think you are going to get a map. The people here, like in Italy, aren’t very friendly or helpful. Even before getting here it was hard to get information on what to do and see. We spent the evening wondering through the hills and got dinner in time to see the sun set over the Caldera, or volcano area. One of the most irritating things here is trying to get your check. After finishing our meal we waited at least an hour to get our check which we practically had to beg for. Then dad needed to make a phone call so he is talking on the cell phone it’s windy and this old guy at a table too far away to be bothered is yelling for him to keep it down. First off, he was way louder in his request and very obnoxious. I keep my mouth shut or I would have chewed him out because if the idiots would bring out bill we would be more than happy to leave. Next they don’t accept credit cards, which is very stone age and annoying as well. And if we are complaining, I would like the woman behind me to stop puffing on cigarettes the whole we are there. Needless to say it wasn’t a great experience and the food was not great.
Many people make fun of eating at chains when you are abroad, but I have never wanted a McDonalds so much in my life. Safe, consistent, reliable food. We passed one restaurant where they offered the fresh fish of the day. I personally wanted the fish with the flies on it for the extra seasoning. Gross!

Never Fly US Airways

So I can't remember a time that I have flown on US Airways that there hasn't been a problem: cancelation, flight time change, etc. Even this trip they canceled the flight dad and I had coming back from Spain forcing us to stay a day later and leaving our connecting flights in the US the day before. Chelsey too has always had trouble and so far this trip it had been going smooth (if you don't count the fact that the plane we flew on over here shouldn't be allowed to fly overseas; I have taken bigger planes to NYC and Chelsey and I barely fit in our seats). So as I said earlier, I never got to talk to Chelsey after I got to the airport. When I spoke with mom yesterday I asked her to call Chelsey and make sure she got home because I couldn't get her. Come to find out US Airways had NO flights to Charlotte which is what Chelsey was scheduled on and they had not sent me an e-mail saying she had any changes in her flight. She almost had to stay another night in Rome by herself, but ended up on a flight to Philly and then got home on Sunday instead of Saturday. Point of the story: Don't fly US Airways!

Athens

So no sleep and the overly friendly people in Italy (I am highly exaggerating, they were the worst people we met on the trip) made the Rome airport experience one I would like to forget. Unlike the rest of the normal world, the Rome airport has hundreds of check in areas throughout five terminals where you have to find your flight and then find that number to check in. And don’t think you can find where you airline departs if you are not in that terminal. No one will help you or answer your questions, they just snub you. I have to think that in the US we don’t treat people like this. So I get in the line where I am supposed to check in and Chelsey heads to another terminal for US Airways. At this point I am hoping she got on her plane and is on the 14 hour trip home. Cell phones aren’t easy to come by and once we got split up we didn’t see each other before we departed. We laughed about this trip and how a couple years ago we would have killed each other being together for 15 or so days. But back to the airport. I am in line but it is like 7:30 a.m. and I get in line only to find out that I can’t check in yet, but it isn’t this clear as they are telling me this. I get pushed around some more and then move over to the side. Putting no sleep with a flashback to our last experience in this airport six years ago where after more than six hours we almost didn’t make our flight, I just broke down. This sweet couple from American ask if I was alright and I just felt silly. I was so tired and really wanted food, but I couldn’t get through security because I couldn’t check in for another hour and a half.
As 9 neared, I got in line again to check in. Behind me this man asked me if I spoke English. His sister was flying to Athens on the same flight I was on, but had never flown before and didn’t speak English or Italian. He asked me if I would make sure she got to the gate. It was weird to met someone who in their late forties had never flown and had a language barrier too that made the journey hard. After checking in we got to the security area (more flashbacks to last time and how long it took). It was about 45 minutes and we got through the throngs of people to the security. It was funny because we couldn’t communicate, but she just did what I did with her stuff. Took off her coat, put her luggage on the conveyor belt. We got to the gate and I showed her where our flight would leave from and then wondered around for a while. I was flying Aegean Air, which had a great plane and amazing snacks! It ended up that the woman I met was sitting two seats over, so I showed her where to put her luggage above in the compartment and how to buckle the seat belt. Being on the clean plane, it took me about five seconds before I fell asleep. Arriving in Athens, we wondered to baggage claim and got our belongings. Before she met who was picking her up and shook my hand and thanked me. It was a great experience to meet someone who had just as much of a language barrier as I did. I got into a taxi and headed to the hotel to meet dad, who was waiting in the lobby. First off it was amazing to see him and be at a Marriott, where I wouldn’t feat the beds! From the pool at the hotel, you can see the Acropolis on the hill. It is such a neat city. My taxi driver was very informative and told me a lot about the sights as we rode in.

We are staying at a Marriott, which means great beds and sheets that have more than a two digit thread count (so of the hotels should have advertised exfoliating sheets because they were such rough sheets!). Today we went off to see the Acropolis and Agora, which were really neat buildings, but with lots of work being done to preserve them. It is really hot here are well, so I am pleased to say that I will have a head start to the summer tan by the time I get home.

Rome

Our final day of the trip was in Rome. After spending the morning driving we stopped at yet another nasty autogrill we made it into our first stop at the Vatican City. Since Chelsey and I had both spent time Rome and toured the Vatican City, we headed out on our own to explore the city. First up was the Pantheon and then one of my favorite places, the Trevi Fountain. Tossing some coins in to the fountain, we make a wish and are really tempted to go swimming in the sweltering heat. As we continued walking through the historic city, we ran into great buildings and monuments. From an overlook of the city, we got pictures with views of the Roman Forum and my favorite the Coliseum. The one thing I hadn’t done on the last trip to Rome was go into the Coliseum and that was my goal for this trip. It really was a quick 15 minutes and we were inside, but not after getting some pictures with the Gladiators outside. I don’t think that they are original, but their costumes look pretty good! The Coliseum is an amazing piece of architecture and it is unthinkable how they built such a structure that long ago. From the top levels you could see the mazes used for animals and how they flooded the building for boats to come in. The structure even had a cover to keep out rain and heat back in the day. With all this walking, we needed some pasta to keep up our energy. Later that afternoon we meet the group back at the hotel and got ready for our final evening together at the Roman Banquet. It was a great feast spent with some great people. Pasta, pizza and cake made it a final great evening, but Peppe and Diana had one last stop in mind. After dinner, we made a stop at the Trevi Fountain a little after midnight to see it lit up and get our last pictures with the group. The bus ride back to the hotel was fun but sad thinking that it had all come to an end.

Back to the hotel. It was the nasty place I have every stayed at in my life. Paint peeling, mold in the bathroom, random kitchen the closed behind cabinets, sleeper chairs and beds (if you can call them that) and many other undesirable features. Needless to say, none of us slept there but luckily the airport departure was early and we didn’t get back in until after 1, so it worked out okay to get out quickly.

Florence

With its amazing sculptures and structures, Florence houses some of the most beautiful works of art in the world. Arriving in Florence we meet our city tour guided and did a walking tour of the city followed by a tour of Academia, where Michelangelo’s statue of David is. The tour was interesting, but we stopped at this disgusting autogrill for lunch and didn’t eat much because it was nasty, so we were all really hungry by then end of the tour. Tonight was our Florence Pizza Party, so we headed to a local restaurant for the great thin crust Italian pizza. Our second day in Florence was a free day. We started our climbing the Duomo, all 493 steps to the top to see spectacular panoramic views of the city. After lunch we met up with some others from the group and headed to shop in the open market for leather and then we walked to the Petti Palace and explored the gardens and some museums. For our last free night, we found a great little restaurant and grabbed dinner, enjoying the atmosphere and outdoor sitting for a little more than three hours.

Venice - The Sinking City

This morning was one of the earliest and we got on the road at 7:30 a.m. headed to Venice, Italy. Of course we didn’t leave on time, but that isn’t anything new. The trip to Venice was a little more than seven hours from Zell am See. We made a stop for lunch at some sort of rest area which had the nastiest food I have experienced thus far on this trip. I ate Ritz Crackers and Chelsey at potato chips. Getting to Venice we parked the bus and hopped on a boat to the island. First up was a demonstration of Murano glass blowing and then a tour of the showroom. It was neat to see again, but it was so hot. Venice was the hottest place we had been so far, with temperatures exceeding 80 degrees, and when it has been in the 60s and 70s thus far, being in the 80s was a shock. The group got time to explore St. Mark’s Square and the amazing shops before going on out gondola ride through the canals. This trip was especially neat because we had musicians on one of the boats that sang with a guitarist. Our gondolier, who went by Marco Polo, was probably the best one of the group and before the trip was over let all six of us in the boat get a try at “driving,” which none of the other boats did. By the time our ride was over, it was cooling off and we broke off the grab some amazing pizza in a little restaurant. Tomorrow it is off to Florence for two days before finishing the tour in Rome.

Probably the coolest thing about our stay in Zell am See is that we really got to know some of the others on our trip. In the beginning we talk to people, but besides city tours, everyone went with the people they already knew for free time. With the white water rafting and long afternoons on the terraces, it gave everyone lots of time to chat and really get to know people. This has made the trip since then that much more enjoyable because it is like a group of old friends traveling together.

Zell am See

The most challenging excursion we have during the trip is the white water rafting here in Zell am See. It was supposed to be an afternoon trip, but because of expected thunderstorms, the trip got moved up to 10 a.m. The river we rafted down was a level three, which made for an exciting trip. Probably the worst part was how cold the river was. We were all outfitted with wet suites, shoes, life jackets and helmets before being briefed on safety and rafting commands. Our guide was Sascha and we had a boat of eight girls. I don’t think he knew what to think of us, but after a while we got him to loosen up. Shortly after getting on the river, we pulled over to the side and they made us practice swimming down the river. There was a pretty good current, but the hardest part was breathing in the water. It was so cold I felt like my lungs were unable to expand. The trip was amazing and past the coldness, it was one of the coolest experiences thus far on the trip.

Austria

It seems to be a trend. We are on the road again today headed through Salzburg, Austria to Zell am See for our well needed Alpine Retreat. Once in Salzburg, we meet up with Gabi for a walking city tour of the home of Mozart and the film that put the city on the map, The Sound of Music. The tour was interested, but we were all hungry and it was so hot, so our attention span was minuscule. One of the prettiest sites in the city is the Maribell Gardens, where the Von Trap kids ran through during Do, Ro, Me in the movie. The gardens are beautifully manicured with statues, seasonal flowers and fountains. For lunch, we found a restaurant that I ate at last time I was in the city. What I love about this restaurant is that it has chicken. Probably the hardest part about traveling for me is the food. Being the picky eater that I am, the traditional food from many of the places we are visiting isn’t something I like. If it weren’t for McDonald’s and Hard Rock, I may starve! Well, the chicken here is fried, but with an amazing breading with French fries. Yum.
We had a little more time to wander through the city and then we got back on the bus to head to Zell am See in the Austrian Alps. Our hotel here is spectacular. We were welcomed with Champaign on the porch while they took our luggage to our rooms, which are amazing. The balconies and terraces have views of the stream and mountains. Dinner was a delicious buffet and then we headed to the Crazy Daisy for our Alpine Show and dance party with a local dj. So we had no clue what to expect with the Alpine Show, but it actually was pretty entertaining. There were traditional instruments and some fun audience participation that got everyone ready for the dance party. Dancing the night away was fun, but it was so hot in the club that many people turned in.

Munich

After a long, drawn out bus ride, we finally made it to downtown Munich at 3:45 p.m. (we left at 8 a.m. for a four hour bus ride!). A group of us were planning to go on Mike’s Bike Tour of the city, which is the coolest way to get acquainted with the area, especially with just half a day to see it. We made stops at various monuments and buildings throughout the city and then a trip into the Englisher Beir Garten. I was volunteered to be the “butt babe” and brought up the rear of the group to make sure everyone made it from one stop to the next. For my hard work and dedication, I got my very own, non-purchasable “butt babe” Frisbee. One of the neatest things is a spot in the river where it has been damned so that it creates a wave perfect for surfing. Following the tour we visited the Hofbraufhaus to look around and then gathered back up with the rest of the group to head back to the hotel. Tomorrow is an early departure for Salzburg and then onto the Austria retreat.
My biggest complaint is that some of the kids on this trip are so immature. They have literately come over to Europe to be intoxicated and they are the reason that Americans, especially young Americans are looked down upon. The looks and comments are embarrassing that we get from locals because of the loudness and the behavior of the group. And the worst part is that they don’t get it. They have no clue that their actions are inappropriate. With that same note, we have never departed on time one morning, but we are always late leaving because someone didn’t get up or isn’t ready in time.