Italia

Jetted to Milan. Managed a hectic bus-->subway-->shlep suitcase in the rain-->finally met up with Aunt Vicki and Cousin Rebecca.

My Aunt and Mom rented a car, and so we went through the Tuscan region in a stick shift. With a GPS system that pronounced "Right" as "Rice"...She was Irish.

Milan-->Forte de Marmi-->Pietrasanta-->Cinque Terra-->Firenze (again!)-->Rome 

Forte De Marmi

Framed in Pietrasanta

Funky shop

Purchased an LBD. Amazing store (and pretty bag)

Before we set off to CinqueTerra

Stairway to Heaven

Pesto and Asparagus...I ate pesto everywhere I went. Seriously.

Waiting for the train to between the Terras

Looks like a man

Laughter. Crying Laughter.

Lunch in Lucca.

Florence....

Though here for a mere 12 hours, our hotel had this thang as our view :)

Just me, my camera, and the mosaic tunnel {Cinque Terra}

BACKTRACK for the sake of...

Ah it has been way too long and I MISS this lil' baby o' mine. I feel that even though it has been ages, I should at least finish up the posts of my travels. I will keep it short, just want to have the full monty here on this blog of my amazing adventures...

Prague ended (sadly) with my energetic and beautiful mother Roberta coming in for a visit. We had an amazing time as I showed her my city I had finally figured out (navigating I mean) in my last 5 days...need to work on my sense of direction or something.

Anyways, what I learned from this part of the trip:
Prague is beautiful (duh)

Never let a taxi man take advantage of us (and we didn't uh uh!)
Drinking champagne at the ballet will make you a little...sleepy until intermission

John Lennon glasses ARE back in style

There is a beautiful Jewish Quarter and history to learn about, and I could not have been happier doing it with my mom.

Part of our family name in red (Trachten)

Our next stop was...Italy, the land of the Pesto! (for me at least)

Goethe book. In Amsterdam.

Jacklyn picked up a Goethe book for 1 Euro at the flea market.

We passed it around in the park.

A passage from the book reads (translated from German):

"Do you know the land where lemon trees blossom ,

Glow in the dark leaves the golden oranges,

A gentle wind blows from the blue sky,The myrtle and the laurel high quiet,

Do you know it?" 

Yes, its Amsterdam.

She's got the moves!

Life in Bohemia

I've been blogging so much about my travels, its definitely time I put a Czech thing in here!

Highlights of this week- Czech Beer Festival and a trip to the Czech country side.

Beer Festival is pretty self-explanatory. Drink beer, be merry. It was a great night out with my comrades, enjoying dark and light beer from local brewers in huge tents. 

The boys ordered a 'meter stick'....Eleven .5 L of beer...best of luck to them!

Na' Zdravi! (Cheers!)

Our awesome teachers, Michael and Vera, the next day invited us to their home in the country. On a school day. I love "class". They brought along their three adorable kids who love hanging out with a big group of 21+ year olds haha. A 50 minute train ride landed us in the countryside. We ate a nice lunch at this great outside Czech place, walked a mile through meadows and forests and arrived at their cute country home. We spend they day basking in the warm sun, walking around through the meadows, eating cake and just enjoying the day. SO relaxing. Experiences like these make me LOVE this trip and my group even more. Just having a good time doing all types of things, all of them new for me too :)

Heavenly meadows

Sheer Happiness

Hannah's floral arrangement

She can talk the talk, but can't walk the walk- Amsterdam Adventures!

Berlin---> Amsterdam.

Jacklyn, Hannah and I (a great traveling trio) decided to visit this Amsterdam. Amsterdam is a real life Disneyland, true happiness. The quaintest town, beautiful canals, people biking everywhere, great shopping, the NICEST people and we lucked out with some amazing weather. We arrived Thursday evening, explored the town, shared some pitchers of Dutch beer and got a good feel for the city and its...culture, including the Red Light District. Anyways the next day, first we checked out the Anne Frank museum. It wasn't huge or anything but it was definitely something good for us to see. 

The infamous bookcase

Anne Frank.

We went to funky shops and the Blomenmrkt (flower market). Holland is known for its tulips, which coincidentally have recently become my favorite flower :)

Took a lot of pictures of all the awesome things I couldn't buy :)

Had to do a Converse shot...

We really navigated the city...I was in charge of telling Hannah and Jack where to go, they were in charge of getting me there...I have no sense of direction I have realized, hence the title.

We met up with the Beta boys, checked out the FOAM photography museum...should have gone to the Van Gogh one instead (rookie mistake) and dipdued around the town.

Let me fast forward to that night...got hooked up with a local through a friend. Went to this amazing club called Truow, where Seth Troxler was spinning for the Late Night Society party (didn't know who he was until later of course). One of the best nights of my life. Met amazing people, really digging the Dutch culture...did I mention how nice the people were!?

Truow. Danced the night away until 5 in the morning. 

Last day in Amsterdam. Beautiful (and I mean unreal) weather, flea market, orange juice, parks, and taking the last of the city in. 

I will forever think about this OJ and drool.

I'm totally becoming a park person, can't wait to do this in Seattle! How nice does this look!?

Im in love with Amsterdam, and all of the Europe I have seen.

All in all, a successful and unforgettable trip.

I amsterdam

Poor but Sexy Berlin

The final CHID Prague 2011 Program field trip...in BERLIN!

Well, point blank, I love this place. The city itself is so pretty, lots of canals, modern architecture and as our bike tour guide said, Berlin is poor but sexy...and this, I dig.

So much history in this city, and now since getting the shit bombed out of them during WWII, followed by communism and the fall of Berlin Wall... this city has really got something going for it in my opinion (and it many others I can only assume). I was surprised by my feelings about Berlin, part of me was impressed, fell in love with the culture etc...I thought I would feel a little more uncomfortable being in the heart of the once Nazi Germany...but surprisingly, I feel like Berlin was the most acknowledging of their past and most eager and proactive about remembering while still moving forward.

Since there is so much I want to show from this trip, I am going to do it in little pieces. But for now, this was just the overview of how I felt about the experience in Germany...

Great boat dinner tour through the canals of Berlin. Here's Hannah and I getting some fresh air outside and seeing the sights.

Fat Tire Bike Rental...My future employer. Great tour of the city of Berlin including an amazing lunch at a beergarden near the Spanish Embassy. Though it wasn't the nicest day, it was definitely a highlight of my trip.

Top of German Parliament. SO pretty, gorgeous weather that day too.

I liked Berliner Kindl beer the best :)

Just walking through Berlin...loving everything I see.

How long IS now?

Sunrise tram ride home with the gang after Watergate. Magical night to say the least.

Sunrise in Berlin <3. Take me back.

Jewish Museum- Holocaust Exhibit. We went here on the last day of our trip. It had a holocaust memorial aspect, but also focused more on Jewish culture and history, which was really interesting. I did spend time in the Holocaust exhibit though. Here these are metal representations of the faces of those who perished. One of the most eerie Holocaust exhibits I have experienced. Very powerful. The whole room was full of these metal faces and walking on them made an ominous clinking noise in a silent room.