There and back again, a European Trip.

Well the Journey is over but the memories keep bubbling back up to the surface and i realized i had not yet posted on this blog. I felt a quick summary of my travels would do very nicely.

London:
SAVED BY THE UNDERGROUND!!!!!
Got to experience a high society theatrical performance in which one of the highlights was a lady passing out in the crowd.
Bowling could become an Olympic sport if combined with ice skating like the sign implied: "Bowling and ice skating HERE!"

Florence:
THE BELLLS!!!!!!! EARLY MORNING, MID MORNING, AFTERNOON, EVENING, AND LATE AT NIGHT! I WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THE BELL DOWN ON CAMPUS WAS AS LOUD AS IT GETS.
Gelato: love hate relationship. Liquidarizi (hate), everything else (love). GM
Cant forget Tulio the jealous ghost.

Venice:
I cannot remember a time i was more mistaken about a city. Upon arrival it was hot and muggy and I was almost pick pocketed on the vaparetto. But as soon as we ditched our luggage our attitudes skyrocketed. PS we also had a delicious meal which may have impacted it in some way
Creepy Italian men.
Learning small amounts of Italian on the boats.
More gelato. GM
More Tulio.
Luckily the Kracken stayed below the surface the entire trip.
Helped Flip a group of Italian's boat after it flipped in Lido.

Vienna:
A bit of a dip in the trip.
Did laundry.
Hung out with Ali.
Ate Kurrywurst.

Prague:
EURO2008!!!!!!!!!!! Who ever missed out on this splendiferous extravaganza has slipped a few notches in my book.
Ate some delicious gnocci.
Realized i was outta cash.
Cheered with the crowd.
Met some very cool folks at the club.
Cheered a lil more.

my life is now complete haha
Devin

Euro2008

So I hope that everyone is home now, safe, sound, and sleeping in to catch up on all the lost sleep from this whirlwind trip. It's been a blast. No one was pickpocketed, no one missed a transfer bus or train or flight ... Success!

We got to end our trip in the extremely beautiful and friendly city of Prague, which--like Vienna--is one of the hosts for the European Cup 2008 (or Euro2008), so we got some exposure to football (soccer) frenzy. The beautiful old square created quite the contrast for a huge soccer-ball tent, giant screens, and port-o-potties.

On our last evenings, we discussed some of our favorite memories from the trip, and our favorite cities. Most of us agreed that Florence was among the best of the cities we visited, though not the most livable (too touristy, too small). That was at a point in our trip when we weren't too tired, and most everything went right there. Plus, it was small enough to navigate without public transport. And beautiful. Dr. Zellmer took a group of students on a walk through the countryside while Ms. H went wandering on the north side of the city with Grainne, Cate, and Michaela. Both great ways to end the day in Florence.

For my part, London and Prague remain the most livable of the cities we visited, while Florence and Venice -- and other Italian cities I've been to -- are the most fun for tourists. So pretty that no matter how talented you are with a camera, you will get gorgeous pictures. Vienna was the most lack-luster: just another big city, not particularly pretty or friendly, but with a nice palace (Shoenbrunn gardens were definitely the best part of that trip).

We also discussed what, if anything, the U.S. does better than Europe. The list is short:

1. Free water in restaurants and free refills. (Fighting dehydration was unfortunately one of the themes of the trip.)

2. More school and job flexibility, though we didn't get much chance to discuss this with Europeans.

3. ... I know there was something else, but I forgot!

What Europe does better than the U.S. was easier:

1. Pedestrian walkways in its cities. Much easier to get around on foot.

2. Bread. The kinds and options are so much better than in the States!

3. Cheese. And fizzy water, according to Dr. Z. And most food-related items. (Good food is available in the States, just expensive. Not the norm as it seems here.)

4. Public transportation.

5. Dance clubs, and other opportunities for teens to have fun and mingle outside of the shopping mall.

6. Architechture - the new and the old.


And so EuroDash2008 comes to a close. I would like to hear final comments from all of you when you have had a chance to recover and reflect.

Welcome home, everyone!

Grainne's Account

This trip has been simply amazing. London flew by in a blur and I do wish we had spent more time there. It was fascinating to see the graves and execution spots of some of British history's most famous. Highgate Cemetery, too, was extraordinarily beautiful- we saw Marx's grave but were unable to find neither George Eliot nor Cristina Rossetti's gravestones. I loved seeing the David and Botticelli's Venus in person. There were two different paintings of Adam and Eve in the Academia that I enjoyed very much as well. In both, Adam simply looked bewildered and dazed out of his mind, while Eve looked very devious and entirely certain of what she was doing. In Venice, Cate, Michaela and I all went to the beach island of Lido at sunset and swim in the entirely deserted and extremely beautiful Adriatic Sea for hours, which was definitely one of the single best experiences of my life. The one full day we spent in Vienna we went to one of the oldest amusement parks in the world and got to go on a gigantic ferris wheel and plenty of roller coasters whilst taking in most of central Vienna. Prague is, by far, the creepiest city we've been to. The elevator in our hotel has not doors, only a sign that reads "Warning! Moving Wall." And finally, Cate and I have completed our mission to climb at least one large tower or building in every city (St. Paul's in London, the Duomo in Florence, the bell tower in Venice, Stephan's Dome in Vienna and the clock tower in Prague), from which we've seen beautiful views of all of the cities.

Oh those italian vendors by Molly Dee

Hey everybody, sorry for the lack of blogging. I've had quite a bit of difficulty figuring this beast out with all the foreign languages and such. It also doesn't help that i essentially ignored the invite thing back before we left. Thankfully, Sean S. has allowed me to sign in under his account to post this. I'd like to tell you about an experience i had in Florence (which was my favorite city by the way) outside of the famous Duomo. Grainne, Cate, and I all went down to the Duomo to climb the tower and on the way there we happened upon a couple of Italian vendors on the street selling prints. Grainne made the mistake of pointing at a painting and referring to it as "pretty". One particular vendor took advantage of the situation and proceeded to basically harass her into buying a print. The conversation went like this:

Vendor: Ah you want to buy print! i give it to you for 50 euro.
Grainne: No
V: ok for you 15!
G: No
V: You kiss me i give it to you free!
At this point Grainne briskly walked away... and the creepy vendor gave up.

Meanwhile, i approached the other vendor and said " hey you offered my friend 15 Euros for the print, hows about you give me one for 8?" He said yes! Woot for me!

So basically, Grainne got harassed and i got a neat print for 8 euros.
The end.
- Molly
P.S. Love you mama!

Prague by Michaela Carlson

We have just arrived in Prague. This trip is so amazing. We went to a performance of some of the famous hits by Mozart yesterday. It was really interesting. Unfortunately it caused many to stay up too late. We had to wake up at 5 and be ready by 5:30. Many slept on the train. I certainly did! Today many are just exploring the town. Everyone is having an amazing time.

Emily's Contribution:

This is emily on Diane's blog... hope you guys can find this!
So we are in Vienna right now, diane and i have already scoped out an awesome cafe and everything is going great. I brought so many shirts, i didnt even have to do luandry with the rest of them today...it really is all about the rolling technique so thank you mom. :)
So, everything has been amazing and im sorry i've been so internet retarded or i would be blogging on my own account.. which i cant quite figure out how to do and i would have checked in already.
Italy was my favorite by far. Cant wait to go back haha. Im taking tons of pics...havent been pick-pocketed...taking my medication...everything is awesome. I miss you people! oh and p.s. i want to learn to cook italian food.
Could you maybe blog back to me about how much money i have left in the account? im getting nervous!! its pricey over here.
thanks! love you guys,
emily.

Venezia

Just a quick note: There are very few internet spots in Venice, and they are more expensive than in Florence, so no one has been on the internet at all except myself now. But we all arrived safely and are having a blast! We've been to Murano (the glass blowing island) and Lido (where the beaches are - and some of the kids went swimming and rented a paddle boat). We've also gotten lost several times in the winding alleys. It's beautiful!
More later!