The End of the Adventure

I am officially back in the United States! After roughly 75 days abroad, exploring the wonders of Rome, Venice, Berlin, Paris, and Barcelona, I am back just in time for the New Year.

I have had the most amazing time in Europe and I know that I will go back. I wish I had had more time for travelling, but beyond that, the trip was excellent.

I want to thank my family and friends for their help and support in this endeavor. I missed you all very much, so it is good to be back. I could never have lasted two and a half months without all of your help.

Grazie a tutti e Ciao,
Kyle

Adventures in Barcelona

Today, I finished up a few days in Barcelona. On the plane, I met three Americans from California who were traveling to Barcelona before they caught the same plane as mine to Rome. After an extremely painful landing (my ears hurt bad and I got a pressure headache), I arrived on Sunday night and made my way to the hostel. My hostel was located in the western part of the city, but was right off of a metro stop.

On Monday, I walked around the Montjuïc Park which is the major area of the Olympic stadium and village from the 1992 Summer Olympics. The park is situated on a hill that overlooks the city to the north and turns into cliffs along the south that fall into the sea. After I took in the park, I made my way to Las Ramblas, the main drag in the city center. The street is a major shopping district and splits the old city into its major divisions.

View of Barcelona from the Park, the grey spikes in the back
is Sagrada Familia, the Church of the Sacred Family.

Around dusk, I climbed back up the hill of the park to the Castell at the top. The Castell overlooks the sea and the park with the city in the background. It was a fortress and still has the cannons and artillery to prove. Either way, it afforded great views of the city at night!

Castell Montjuïc (What my dad kept calling Hercules' Castle)

Unfortunately, on Tuesday, I was sick...I stayed in bed at the hostel to avoid getting more sick.
This morning, I got up early to catch a 6:25AM flight to Rome. I cut it close, but I made the flight and the landing in Rome was much better than in Barcelona.

Ciao for now,
Kyle

Christmas in the City of Lights

This Christmas I spent a few days in Paris, the city of Lights. My flight from Berlin was delayed, but when I got into Paris, I made my way to my hostel in the 15th district on the south west side of the City, close to the Eiffel Tower.

The 3 Ducks Hostel in Paris.

On Christmas Eve day, I planned on taking a walking tour of the city, by the same company from Berlin's tour, but the guides made a good point that their tour was probably one of the only open/running things to do on Christmas day. Instead, I saw Notre Dame, the Arc de Triumph, and another Christmas Market. On Christmas Eve night, I kept the night receptionist at the hostel company while he worked on Christmas Eve. The night ended up being a blast, Loïc (aka Lucky), the receptionist was a Frenchman who studied in Virginia, so his accent was almost non-existent. He played DJ and bartender all night and the hostel residents put together an impromptu dance party at the hostel bar.

On Christmas Day, I went on the tour with another hostel resident, Josh was from Seattle. The tour started at the Fountain of Saint Michel and took us to Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Tuilleries Gardens, the Champs-Elysees, the Arc du Triomphe, and other Paris monuments. That night, Josh and I attended a Noël Mass at the Church across the street from the hostel. 

Wearing the Eiffel Tour as a hat.

Today, I took walked to the Eiffel Tower then checked out the Arc du Triomphe close up before I caught a bus to the airport to catch my flight to Barcelona.

Ciao for now,
Kyle 

A few days in Berlin!

Tonight, I am finishing my stay in Berlin. On Monday, after a delayed flight from Venice, I arrived in Berlin and found my hostel...

Generator Hostel in Berlin as viewed from the S-Bahn
station at Landsberger Allee

The Generator Hostel in Berlin was HUGE. I later found out that the building is a former East German government building which had been heavily remodeled. Now, the interior is very "industrial chic" in blue and green.

On Tuesday morning, I went on a 3 hour walking tour of Berlin. The one of the tour guides picked up a large group of us at the hostel and we met the rest of the tour guides and participants at the Brandenburg Gate in Mitte.

My tour guide, Simon. A British student in Berlin with a witty
attitude...he worked on  tips only... and well I might add.

The tour started at the Pariser Platz, the plaza behind the gate which is the location of the US and French Embassies as well as the Hotel Adlon, made famous as the location of the Michael Jackson baby-dangle...
From there, the tour took us under the gate and up the road to the Holocaust Memorial, formally named, The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

The snow-covered blocks of the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin.

After the memorial, the tour continued to a small section of the Berlin wall and Checkpoint Charlie before a short break for lunch. After the lunch break, we checked out Museum Island and the State Opera House, which was under construction.

Overall, the tour was amazing, especially for a free tour! Simon did great and I found out that the same company offers a Paris free tour...I'm totally there!

After the tour, a few of the other people from my Hostel and I went back to the Holocaust Memorial to tour the museum attached. The place was very different from any museum I have been to before. I couldnt take pictures, but I'm not sure I would have anyways, the place was very solemn.

After the museum, I grabbed some dinner with a few people I met on the tour at an Indonesian restaurant. The food was ok, but the German lessons were great!


On Wednesday, I checked out another, more prominent section of the Berlin Wall, known as the East Side Gallery. The section is roughly 1,000 yards long and is covered with art painted directly on the wall! Most of the pieces deal with peace and freedom in some way.

Tomorrow, I am due to catch a flight out at 9:00am, but with the freak snow in the west, we will see!

Auf Wiedersehen,
Kyle

A weekend in the City on Water!

This weekend, I traveled with Annie and her mom to Venice for two nights.

We arrived around 8:30pm to a city covered in snow! It was very pretty until we got a bit lost finding our way to the hotel...

View of the Church of St. Mary of Health and the Grand Canal

Walking around Venice was a bit tricky, but the vaporetti or water buses were great.

A water bus or vaporetto on the Grand Canal

On Sunday, we took a ferry to the islands of Murano and Burano in the Venetian Lagoon. Murano is best known for its glass, of which Annie and her mother bought plenty...lol

Glassblowing demonstration on Murano

 Burano is known for two things, its handmade lace and its colorful buildings.

The colorful buildings of Burano

On Monday, Annie's mom treated us all to a gondola ride! It had been one of her dreams to take a gondola ride in Venice.

Overall, the Venetian adventure was great, now its off to Berlin!

Ciao for now,
Kyle

Thanksgiving Weekend or Bust!

BUST!

So, the Weekend started great on Thursday, I had a great day of planning and relaxing in preparations for what was supposed to be a fun-filled weekend of trips to Viterbo, Bracciano, and Sezze around Rome. Then I woke up Friday...

I hadn't slept well, and I woke with a fever and could barely hold down any food for breakfast. I ended up in bed for most of Friday instead of going to Viterbo and Bracciano, two medieval towns north of Rome.

Insert non-existent photos of Viterbo/Bracciano Trip

On Saturday afternoon, I had been planning to accept an invitation to join our friend and Rome guide Ruth for a stay at her house in Sezze, a small ancient town about 45 minutes south of Rome by train. On Sunday, Ruth was making a Thanksgiving-ish dinner for some British friends of hers and we were invited as well.

Although I was feeling slightly better than Friday, I still was nowhere near ready to make the Sezze trip on Saturday. But there was still some hope! Although Annie had accepted the Saturday invitation, Jordan had agreed to take the train down early on Sunday afternoon after he attended church. I could still hitch a ride then.

Of course, that didn't happen, so I didn't get to see the little town of Sezze nestled in the hills with views of the Sea. I was still not well enough to make any sort of long distance journey, I had trouble running down to the grocery store for some fruit and juice to eat!

Insert non-existent photos of Sezze and Thanksgiving Dinner

 Thankfully, Annie was able to bring me some quail and squash and a slice of pumpkin pie. I will be eating that for lunch today, as once again, I am stuck at home!

Anyways, hopefully the week will turn around! Quickly!

Ciao for now,
Kyle

Fun in Firenze

Yesterday, I took a long day trip to Florence, Italy! I left Rome at about 6:00am on a four hour train ride, I only slept about an hour on the train. The countryside of Tuscany was beautiful!

When I got to Florence, I bought myself a map and pocket guidebook which turned out to be great! Then, I headed over to the Duomo, the main cathedral in Florence. On my way there, a parade was blocking the street.

They ended up marching to the Duomo and performing a series of flags routines. It was fun to see, but the Duomo was the main attraction for sure! The building is massive! 300 feet tall and 300 feet long!

Inside, the first person I met in Florence was a tour guide for the church who was from Puerto Rico. He was my age and we quickly figured out he goes to ISU also! Small world...or not...I think Cyclones are just EVERYWHERE!

Anyways, after he gave me a tour of the Duomo, he offered to give me a tour of the city. We did a nice long walking tour of the city, from the Duomo to Ponte Vecchio and then up to Piazzale Michelangiolo then down to Santa Croce before heading back to his neighborhood!

Map of Florence city center. My route for the day: Arrived at the Train Station (24 on the map), went to the Duomo (1), across Ponte Vecchio (12), Lunch on Via San Miniato (near Via Belvedere), up the hill to Piazzale Michelangiolo (20), across Ponte Alle Grazie to Santa Croce (17), back up to Via Guelfa (north of 4 and 2), then back to the Train Station (24)

On the way back from Florence, I met an Israeli on the train who was traveling around Italy for a few weeks, he was great to talk with. We got into Rome around 11:30pm, long day! Overall, the day was great! It was nice to get out of Rome and see something new for a day and it was nice to have a day to myself.

Ciao for now,
Kyle