Travel Journal

Just a few of my latest pages to correspond with my latest posts on my brother and I's trip to Rome, Barcelona, Paris, Switzerland and Venice for the Holidays. 

Venice

January 4^th 2012

Waking up at 3 am to get ready and packed was brutal. But we did it and made it to the airport. the first flight was a little over an hour to Dusseldorf, Germany. We had about a 3 hour layover there. We slept on benches like bums then had breakfast in a café. We got on our flight to Venice with no problems. We watched “in 30 minutes or less” on the plane then landed and began trying to find our hotel. We had to stop and ask someone. With directions, we found it and checked in. from the check in desk  the lady working there took us down 3 or 4 streets to where our room was. It was very nice. Definitely our nicest accommodation of the trip. We got settled and then headed out to explore Venice. We walked around and did some shopping and went to see st. marks. We found an awesome place for dinner and shared a tortellini, lasagna, and a seafood pasta then each got our own tiramisu. It was delicious. I also had a glass of cabernet. I did not know I liked that. We got lost going back to the hotel and went to bed early because we were exhausted from waking up at 3 am.

January 5^th 2012

We woke up early with the idea of going to Murano island to see some glass blowing and do some shopping. When we got off the boat (which was only 6 euro round  trip each) there were guys standing there telling us to go left to see a glass blowing exhibition. So we went and saw a guy make a vase and a horse like it was the easiest thing ever. That shop was too expensive so we walked out and walked around to the right side of the boats. It was nicer and cheaper over there. We finished Jeremy’s shopping. He got every woman he knows something murano. He wanted to get someone a wine glass but we could not find one for less than 100 euro. We finally found a nice place that had glasses for around 25 euro. He got 4 and I got two that I loved. We were so excited about these cups. We took them back to the hotel then went to st. marks. We could not go in because they do not allow backpacks. I had somehow pulled a muscle in the arch of my right foot and every step was putting me close to tears. So we went back to the hotel to let me soak my foot in the sink and have a sit. After that we set out to find dinner. After walking around for more than an hour we found a good place. We ordered 3 meals again. They had the best tortalini. Ever. They make it with cram sauce and ham. So good.

January 6^th 2012

We woke up in time for breakfast in the hotel and packed up and checked out at 10. Then we decided to go back to murano because we both wanted more cups. That’s all we went for so we left quickly and went back to Venice and went to the same place to eat lunch that we had gone for dinner the night before. Still delicious. Then we went to get our bags from the hotel and go to the train station to go back to Bologna. We got onto the train and watched “the change up” on Jeremy’s ipad. It was really funny. We got into Bologna around 4 and could not remember which bus to take so we took a cab to the hotel and got settled in. we made some vodka and cokes and then went to some shops to get Jeremy a bag to put all his souvenirs in to take home. We found one and took it to the hotel. Then we went to dinner at a great place. We had tortellini again. After dinner we drank and watched just friends.

January 7^th

We packed up and went to the airport. our flights were just about 20 minutes apart so we waited together. We said goodbye at the gate and I went off to Germany and he went off to Georgia.

It was the best trip I have ever had. I am so sad its over. I am so happy I got to share it all with my brother.

Switzerland

January 1^st Zurich

We arrived in Zurich and began trying to find our hostel. At this point we were not sure what language they spoke in Switzerland. We thought maybe it was English after going through the airport and seeing everything in English but turns out it was German. I got a little excited at that because it was a little familiar to me. We had a hard time finding the hostel. We walked about a mile in the wrong direction. We were exhausted. And my suitcase lost a wheel so Jeremy was carrying it. This is the second suitcase that lost a wheel on this trip. The cobblestones just destroy them. We finally found it, checked in and used the internet. We finally got in bed absolutely exhausted from our past few days of travel. We were in a 4 bed dorm and some older lady in our room was snoring so loudly neither of us could sleep. Around 12 I leaned down to Jeremy who was on the bunk under me where the Tylenol pm was and he took me to get it from his bag and we stood there for a while laughing uncontrollably at this woman’s unusual snores. We finally got some sleep thanks to Tylenol pm. I planned on waking up around 9 so I could get some breakfast but didn’t end up waking up until 11:30. I slept so well.

January 2^nd 2012

We woke up around 11:30 and got ready to explore Zurich. We had no plan. We set out around 3 after a few set backs. We went to the main train station and walked around the streets near by. We went into countless stores looking at watches. Mom had sent us an email asking us to get dad a watch. But she did not say what kind of watch or how much money to spend. Jeremy ended up getting himself a watch and watches for a few friends. I wanted to get one but I was low on money and I had to spend over $100 on a backpack to replace my suitcase that broke. After shopping we walked to the river and looked at all the buildings. I didn’t have my SLR because it had been raining heavily when we left the hostel so I did not get many good pictures. We went back to the hostel early to make a game plan for the next day.

January 3^rd 2012

We went to the train station and bought tickets to Luzern. It was a little expensive. It was about an hour train ride. The scenery on the way was beautiful. We got to Luzern around 10 and it was just gorgeous. The alps were so close and there was a precious lake right at the base with swans everywhere and a cool old bridge. We walked around looking at the few sights in the tiny little town. We had gotten an email from mom specifying more of what kind of watch she wanted us to get for dad so we looked around trying to find one but decided to get one back in Zurich because the prices and selection were better. We found the old city wall and walked along it. It was awesome. We left Luzern (sadly) around 2:30 to head back to Zurich. When we got there we bought mom and dad each a tissot watch. We went back to the hostel early because our flight to Venice the next morning was at 6:45 which meant we had to be at the airport a little before 5. 

Paris

December 30^th 2011

We arrived in Paris on the overnight train from Barcelona around 8:30 am and began trying to figure out the metro system and how to get to our hotel. Paris is huge and its system is too. It was a little overwhelming at first but we got to the hotel alright and left our stuff there as we went out to explore. We went to Notre Dame which was cool then we got back on the metro and headed to the Louver. The line was very long so we decided to go back later. We walked from there to the Champs Elissies which is a famous road where they end the tour de France. From there we walked to the Eiffel tower and enjoyed that for a bit. As we were walking under it I heard someone calling my name and turned around to see Sasha Thompson! We made plans with her and her friend to meet up the next night for New Years Eve and Jeremy and I left to find food and check into the hotel. We had a delicious dinner and went to the grocery store and liquor store to get things for NYE. We went back to the hotel from there (we had a private room here) and did laundry until midnight and went to sleep!

New Years Eve Paris

Woke up late and got ready. We planned to go to the catacombs but the line was too long. We spend 2-3 hours looking for tiffany + co to get will cuff links. When we finally found it they had closed 15 minutes before we arrived. We went back to the hotel to change and get ready for NYE. We had made plans to meet Sasha and Tara at a metro stop at 9. We got there early and waited and waited. At 9:45 we decided to leave. When we were walking into the metro we saw Sasha. They had gotten lost. We made our way from there to the Eiffel tower. Some friends of Sasha and Tara met up with us and we had fun under the tower popping bottles and talking. We could tell from our watches it was getting close to midnight but didn’t know exactly what time it was. But Sasha’s friend Bob yelled to our whole group (which had gotten bigger and bigger) “hey I don’t see an official count down… do you guys want to start our own?” so we did. We counted down from 10 and exactly when we got to 1 the Eiffel tower began sparkling. It was amazing. Jeremy got a video. It was perfect. It was my favorite moment of the trip. Quite a while after midnight we went to get food and the plan was to catch a cab to a club. But we could not find a cab. So we decided to take the metro. Which was a terrible idea. It was free for NYE and it was insane. We got in a physical altercation with a terrible French man and left the metro. We tried for over 30 minutes to find a cab with no luck. Finally we found a really shady dude who tried to take us. But had no idea what he was doing. We made it back to our hotel after over an hour. Sasha and tara called a cab from there. Even with the terrible ending it was a wonderful night.

January 1^st 2012

I set my alarm for 7 because we had to check out at 9. Apparently I turned it off in my sleep. But Jeremy had a alarm set for 8:40 and that woke us up. After we checked out we headed to the louver in hopes of doing that before our 5:10 flight to Zurich but they were closed. We ate breakfast at a wonderful café and had the best omlets ever. From there we went to some shops and finished our Paris souvenir shopping and headed for hotel Deville. It was cool. Then we went back to the hotel and gathered our things to go to the airport for our flight to Zurich. 

Barcelona

December 28^th 2011

Woke up around 9 and went straight to the sagrada la familia by metro. It was amazing. So ornate and HUGE. Such detail. Just amazing. We marveled at it for a bit and decided to come back to it later because the line to get in was quite long. We went from there to park Guell which was quite a hike. It was also a Gaudi work and was amazing as well. We walked to the top and took pictures then walked to the buildings at the bottom. I fell in love with Gaudi’s work. From there we went to one of Gaudi’s casa buildings then back to the segrada familia. We waited in line for 30 minutes or so and bought audio guides and tickets. I am glad we did the audio guide. We learned so much about the building and Gaudi. It was incredible how he did it, so precise and purposeful. We walked through for a long while and then explored the museum. After we were finished we went across the street and sat on a park bench to watch the sun set behind the segrada familia. It was beautiful. From there we took the metro to the water to find somewhere to eat. Our feet were so tired from all the walking that we settled for a place that was too expensive and decent. I had my first sangria. It was lovely. We went back to our hostel and changed to go out for dinks. We could only find irish pubs. First I had a jameson. It was serious. Then I switched to sangrias. We talked for a bit before going back to the hostel for sleeps.

December 29^th 2011

We woke up and packed and checked out and then headed out for Gaudi’s casa ballo it was awesome. His architecture is just fascinating. Then we went to the Picasso museum. From there we decided to go to the water again. We walked along the water on the beach collecting shells for a while. There was no one out there it was bizarre. We sat on a pier and watched the sun go down. It was gorgeous. We had a wonderful time. From there we went to a few souvenir shops and got a few things. Then we went back to the hostel to get our things ready to go. We went to the train station early to board our 8pm overnight train to Paris!