MOM and I in the Tuscan hills while it is SNOWING

Paris

Kelsi: Hey everyone! I know I know it has been a while since I have posted anything. I think it is ok to say that I am a slacker! haha ok so Paris was amazing. We had to experience the overnight train for the first time and so that was very interesting to say the least. It was a 6 passenger cart and me, Kate, and MSD were in there with one other guy who was from Sri Lanka however you spell it. Well ok so it was very very small and we all had our backpacks and well it was just really a tight squeeze. As americans we are all about our personal space and what I have found out real quick is that you have to FORGET THAT when you come over here. I mean forget all of it there is no such thing as personal space over here. When we were getting ready for bed of course the beds were totally on top of each other and well you could't really move... it was one of those things like you find a position and stay in it because you aren't going to be doing much moving after that. Me and Mary Shannon brought our hoodies well because like she said there are alot of scary stories and there is nothing sanitary about a train. haha so not only did I put my hoody on my head but I also put a t-shirt of mine over the pillow as well. haha just to be safe! Like MSD we all took a sleeping pill and went to sleep and once we got there well we were somewhat rested. We got off the train and went to our hotel which Kate picked out and she did good. It was a good location and it was a nice place to stay. Oh and the shower!!! OMG was absolutely amazing. If you haven't heard our shower is awful. It is one of those handheld shower heads that you have to hold and the pressure well there is no pressure so when your washing your hair pretty much your freezing from the waist down!! haha ok but that is another story. So anyways we got ready for the night and headed out. Ok so I'm not going to go into as much detail since MSD covered it earlier and well there is a whole other trip I want to talk about so I'm just going to cover the basics. We went to the Eiffel Tower which was so awesome. We had to wait in line for about an hour and once we got in the cart going up well... I got pretty nervous. I mean there was like 50 ppl on the cart again no personal space and on top of that we are going up the Tower at an angle which isn't very fun especially if your afraid of heights. Once we got up we went to the next elevator which was taking us to the top and that WAS SCARY!! I felt the wind on our elevator and the windows were the walls so you could see everything!! WOW it was quite an experience!! Once we got up there it was freezing!! The wind was so strong!! OMG we couldn't even talk to each other once we were outside... the wind was actually feeling like it was going to blow you over. We literally were out there long enough to take a picture and appreciate it and blah blah blah then we ran back in along with everyone else. haha It was awesome though!! The next day we were suppose to go and meet our international marketing teacher named Mossimo at this fashion show. Me and Kate have his class and he wanted to take us to this fashion show so it would help for our project that we had to do at the end of our semester. Ok so well my teacher Mossimo let's just say he is anything but a teacher. He is a CEO of this huge advertising company and he teaches on the side. He is a little scatter brained and is just out there. We got all dressed up to go and meet him to get our badges to go in because it wasn't opened to the public so we had to have an i.d to get in. We were supposet to meet him there at like 2 or something and when we got there we waited and waited and waited. Mossimo oh where oh where can he be?haha We waited for a hour and then it started raining oh but wait while we were waiting Kate who wants to be in the fashion industry pointed out this girl who was carrying this huge gold bag that well to me was just too much! She then said that is a $20,000 purse!!! OMG you have got to be kidding me. She said that the guy who designs louis vouton merchandise designed this purse and only made like 20 in the world.... and well that was one of the 20. OK wow!!! crazy huh!! So anyways after waiting forever we decided to go and get lunch and while we were at lunch Mossimo calls and says that his flight was late and he would be there in 20 minutes. Ok so we ran over there and met up with him. MSD was with us so we were going to talk Mossimo into giving us another pass for her. Well he did and the funny thing is... is that I don't think he even realized that she wasn't in our class. haha so we got in and it was so cool. It was this huge trade show and like all these little different booths set up representing different designers at each one. It had all the clothes on display that were going to be next winter's hot items. I thought that was so cool but I wanted to buy so much and nothing was for sell well because it was a trade show not the mall! haha Me and MSD walked around forever in awww while Kate talked to Mossimo. hehe She does better talking to him then I do. After that was over and we had hung out there for a little bit we left cuz we had a cabaret to go to. Ok so I saw all these brochures in the hotel that was talking about Cabaret's and Moulin Rouge and I just wanted to go to one of these shows so bad cuz everyone says that you have to witness it once. Ok so we bought 3 tickets to go and we were headed that way. Ok so it was raining and we could not find the place to save our lives!! Oh and yes we did buy an umbrella which I was holding and well what do you think happened yes Ms. Bad Luck Lucy over here was holding it and the umbrella snapped in half!! Ok I have never heard of such I mean I have heard of it getting turned wrong side or that part breaking but not the freaking steel pole. It broke in two and went flying off!!! So the umbrella thing didnt't work out and so we are now almost late for our bus that is taking us to the show and we are literally running through Paris in soaking wet trying to catch the bus. We finally make it and of course everyone else is dressed all cute and we have massacara running down our faces and our hair wow you can only imagine that!! So the bus driver takes us to this square which has name that I can't think of right now but MSD might have it on hers. We got out to take pictures and when we were taking pictures of the Eiffel Tower oh which is what the square is known for which is having the best view of the Eiffel Tower anyways it started lighting up!! It was the most beautiful thing ever!!! Lights were going everywhere and it was awesome!! So we took pictures and went on our way. We dropped off these other older couples at Moulin Rouge which did I mention was beside all these sex museums and stores and wow yea we were pretty glad that we decided not to do that one. Our driver dropped us off at ours which was in a much safer area right on Champs Elsseys (Can't remember how to spell it). Anyways we knew we were in a good area. So we went in after waiting awhile and it was so nice. The place was set up like an opera show or something. I men dressed to the T took us to our seat served us champagne... it was amazing. The place was packed and the show started. Ok so yes I know these ppl weren't all the way dressed but the style of art was just amazing. They had everything from dancers to ice skating on the stage. It was one of the most interesting things I have seen yet. It was so much fun to go and see! The next day we went to the Louve which was really cool. Mary Shannon had to tell me about the Davinci Code so that I could really appreciate the Louve and the whole story that goes behind it. We saw the Mona Lisa and all the other famous artwork. It was a pretty cool day there. Of course it is soooo huge that even being there for 2 hours we still didn't see everything. Once we left I decided to go and shop while they went to another museum. Ok so I took off by myself who yes I will admit that I'm a little directionally challenged but I knew I would be ok. So Paris was my first experience with the metro which was pretty interesting. I headed off to the Champs Elysses to shop and well I followed the map but you see I am use to looking at the Florence map which is a way smaller place than Paris so when I was following the directions I didn't realize that I was an hour away from the street I mean I am usually like 5 or 10 minutes away here in Florence. Ok so I was a little upset but I was doing ok then I finally get there and well its Sunday and all the stores are closed!!! Ugh!! I was so mad!! So I was just going to get on the Metro and head back towards MSD and Kate. Well I got on the right Metro haha going the WRONG way!! Only me !!! haha thats ok I just got off and figured it out and got right back on. I was good I got lost but quickly found! Oh and I was also going to say that we went to eat Sat. night at this restaurant Buddha Bar which was totally awesome. All the lights were dim and there was this huge statue of a Buddha man in the restaurant. This place did I mention very expensive. And we got that point when we realized it was beside a hotel that costs $15,000 a night!!!! Yes a night!!! And then right outside the door was a porsche and a bentley!! haha but we had made reservations and we wanted to go so bad so we went in and got really creative. We budgeted real quick I mean a meal there was like 150 euros so we got a bunch of sushi which wasn't that expensive at all and then a less expensive glass of wine and we loved every bit of that meal. I mean sushi was like 10 euros hehe so we got really creative. We sat in that place for like 2 hours!!! It was so awesome and so peaceful cuz the lights were dim and it was so relaxing and they were so nice to us!! You all need to try it there if you ever get the chance. Just be like us and get hte sushi!! Creative financing!!! When Sunday came around we packed up and headed off to the train station. We got there and got on our train back and of course all 6 ppl were there this time. These 2 women that could not speak any english and this one guy who was a backpacker and well did't smell the best. We were a little squished and just got in our little bitty beds and went to sleep. Of course I had a quiz the next day at 9 a.m and we were to arrive in Florence at like 8. So I tried to study but it didn't really work for me!! I did ok on the quiz but hey I was in Paris!!! It was so worth it!! I will soon be writing to you all about the Czechs and that story is the best by far so keep an eye out!! Love you all and miss you all!! Talk to ya soon!

france

Mary Shannon: Bonjour! Wee, Kelsi and I just got back from Paris, France! It was such a GREAT weekend. We got to see and do a lot. We are also really getting a sense of what seperates European culture from American culture, and what seperates each European city from the next.
Thursday evening Kelsi, Kate, and I packed our bags once again - actually I hadnt even really had time to unpack from the weekend before so half of it was done for me. Then we headed out for Santa Maria Novella Train Station, where I only had to walk back twice, first forgetting my phone..then my iPod! So after having to take a taxi to catch back up with Kelsi and Kate, ordering McDs no.8, and validating our Eurail passes for the first time, we were finally on the train.
The sleeper cart we were placed in was made for 6 passengers. I am still amazed how our bodies and luggage all fit in this extrordinarily small place. The only other passenger in our cart though was a middle-aged family photographer from Sri Lanka (he said we should all go there because it is hot this time of year...) Even though it was only about 8:30pm when we got our stuff settled, we all realized how exhausted we were. Kelsi figured out how to unlatch the seats on either side of the cabin to make them fold down into four beds. Up above these beds, were mattresses on either side. We were also given blankets (ew), pillows (ew!), and sheets (thankfully wrapped in plastic and unused). Kelsi and I slept on the very bottom row across from each other, this was comfortable except for the head rests protruding off the tops of the folded down seats onto our bodies... Kelsi and I also both had hoodies on to cover our hair-heard lots of scary stories of shared head lice on trains, buses, etc! I also took a sleeping pill for the TWELVE hour journey, and after locking, tucking in, and tying my bag to my foot, fell asleep.
The next morning around 7am, I woke up to see the Dijon mustard fields south of Paris. It was a sight I hadnt seen in six years and was just as magnificent as I had remembered them being. Unlike Tuscany, the villages of France seem to have more of a medieval look to them, lots of stone and rock buildings. We then pulled into Paris-Bercy train station around 8am and took the metro to the Republique subway stop. This stop is where we first saw classic, magical Paris. We also were only a short walk from our 2-star PLUS hotel room. (Which was actually really clean and perfect for us three girls)!
After showering, Kelsi, Kate, and I jumped on the metro again to find the Paris su mode fashion trading show. Kelsi and Kate had planned to meet their international business teacher there at 2:30pm on Friday - I was then going to just wander around Paris and shop and sight-see - but then I decided, 'hey why not tag along?' So I did. We walked past the Louvre and Palace, through the big gardens to the big white heated tents, bustling with fashionable people from all over the world. Here, I was definately out of my element haha; I can't really relate to the woman I saw walking past with her 10,000USD gold Louis Vutton bag....hmm. We then had to leave and go get lunch because their teacher's plane had been delayed, and without him and a badge there was no way to get in. For lunch I had a club sandwich and pom fritz (french fries) with real Heinz ketchup! The girls sitting behind us were also study abroad students from Illnois, one from Paris, and the others from Madrid-small world.
Back at the fashion tents an hour later, we met up with their teacher Mossimo, wearing a fashionable sports outer-wear jacket, big sunglasses, and tangled hair. He didnt really strike me as the stereotypical American teacher haha. He's actually the CEO of an advertising company in Florence, with clients from all over in many different business fields-including the fashion industry. So even I got to go in with the girls to see all the different booths set up, with samples of each designers collection for winter 2007-2008. It was neat to walk around and see all the clothes that will be in style next year, hint: lots of greys, blacks, dark browns as usual, and a lot off different shades of purple. Also, more of the different flats (all colors and fabrics) and boots with leggings or tights, really tight jeans. Lots of loose, draping tops and dresses, lots of tapering.
Hungry and wanting to walk around a little more before dark, we walked across the Seine River towards the St. Germaine area. It started raining again and got really windy (we had bought a €9 umbrella earlier bc of the weater!) and then our umbrella blew inside out and the pole broke!! Of course! So, soaking wet, we ran into the closest restaraunt where Kelsi and I had apple tart with cinnamon ice cream! We sat here trying to waste time until we had to meet at a tourist office around 9:30 near Notre Dame. Then, we lost track of time and ended up having to sprint through the streets of Paris in pouring rain, people looking at us out of breath with lost expressions on our faces. We never ever ever look native to ANYWHERE we go. Finally finding the right streets, we started looking for the bus that would take us on our next destination. No one was in either bus parked at the location that had been directed to us!!! Thats when we realized we were supposed to meet inside the office, doors we had been standing in front of for like ten minutes while still getting rained on. (Looking at a map of Florence, when you see that a building is just one street over, it literally is. We figured out in Paris, that one street over might mean take a metro then walk 20 minutes then look to the left, and over that hill you will see what you are looking for)haha.
Finally meeting up with the rest of the group, we boarded the van and began driving around Paris. We got to get out and look at the Eiffel Tower while its lights were going off (I think it does this on the hour every hour for like ten minutes...) Then, we drove into the 'red light district' to drop off some the tourists at the Moulin Rouge. I never knew an area like this existed-I will leave it to your imagination instead of using creative imagery! : ) Last, we pulled over on the Champs Elysses (the main strip in Paris) in front of the Lido cabaret! Kelsi, Kate, and I, though soaked to the bone, were really pumped. Kelsi's passion is dance, she has grown up working and learning at her own mom's dance studio in Stuttgart, so going to cabaret was a really cool experience for her. She could tell you technically how it was, but we both agreed it was extremely entertaining with a contortionist on a trapeze, feathers and glitter, singing, stage airplane that came down from above us to drop off dancers, an ice skating floor with a couple doing olympic-type tricks, a man using just muscle to balance one-handed upside down on a pole and do tricks, a million costume changes, etc. (Oh yeah, and a glass of champagne)!
On Saturday, Kelsi and I made our way on our own through the metro to the Eiffel Tower. Thankfully this day was much prettier, only absurdly windy! We waited in line for about an hour to get our tickets and ride the elevator up to the middle of the tower. Here, we waited another 1\2 hour to get to the very top! I hadn't been to the top during the day, and I have to say it was a much different experience. Paris is much more industrial than what I always imagine it to be. It was hard picking out where the Grand Palace, Petit Palace, Louvre, and Notre Dame were. The wind was even crazier up here and we could barely stand up straight! After about 20 minutes we decided to head back down (not after I used the toilette on the top-thats a long wait after drinking a big bottle of water haha)! At the halfway point heading down, Kelsi and I got off and I had a Fanta and sandwich - just for you Mrs. Tatman!
Kelsi and I then met Kate at the Louvre. Kate had wanted to walk around Paris and find the little boutiques while we climed the Tower. There were no lines at this museum, probably because it was SO massive! It was only €8.50 for a ticket, and we also paid €5 for the audio headphones (it was €10 for the 'Da Vinci Code' audio tour haha). Then we realized we only had an hour and a half until closing! So, like Americans are known for, we sprinted passed room after room of paintings, sculptures, artifacts, and statues to find the Monna Lisa by Da Vinci. Then, we came upon this one wall, in the middle of a room, adorned with only this one painting. I'd probably have to be an art major to appreciate this piece on some level, but it truly was an experience to behold something you have heard so much about. I feel the same way about the Madonna and Child, and the Aphrodite sculpture. My personal favorite was The Wedding of Canaan, the largest painting in the Louvre, and the French royaltys' coronation crown and HUGE diamonds! I loved the fact that this big BIG huge gargantuan building was where people had lived, I imagine to get from one side to the other would at least take an hour. (And then they wanted a bigger one and built the Palace of Versailles out in the country)! Goodness.
After searching for about 20 minutes, I finally humbled myself enough to ask where the inverted pyramid from the Da Vinci Code was! haha. I had to see where the fictional, supposed 'holy grail' was in the movie-I mean, I was there, why not?? It was actually in the shopping center of the Louvre! Right next to like a Guess store and a Starbucks! So we stopped and had a caramel macchiato (mmm).
For dinner we walked from the Louvre a few blocks to a restaurant suggested to us by a former study abroad student in Paris, called Buddha-Bar. It had one of the coolest atmospheres! It had two floors, dimly lit by candlelight. Instrumental Indian music was playing low in the background. The first floor was a bar wrapped around by a balcony over looking the bottom floor where all the dining tables were set up. We had reservations for 7pm and ended up sitting there until 10 because we were so relaxed! We had Vietnamese spring rolls, these salted peas, bottle of red wine, fried rice, and three different types of sushi! Kate and I also got dessert; she had a chocolate cream-filled chocolate cake, while (since I gave up choco for Lent) an assortment of three differently flavored sorbets! A great choice on my part I must say: there were three small scoops with mango, peach, and wild strawberry surrounded by three different dipping sauces!!! MMM! After dinner and discussions on life, we decided to walk down the Champs' Eylsses then get home to bed.
Sunday morning we checked out of our hotel at 10am (storing our luggage there for the day since our train didnt leave until 7pm). We ate brunch on Rue de Rivoli at a place renowned for its hot chocolate-Angelina. There is also a scene from this cute French-style cafe\restaurant in the last episodes of Sex & the City when Sarah Jessica Parker is sitting alone feeding a big dog. Since on Sunday I can cheat with my chocolate I had a mini choco-filled croissant with a piece of toast with the BEST strawberry jam and honey I've tasted. I also, of course, had the hot cocao which was literally melted chocolate brought in a small ceramic pourer with an empty cup, and a bowl of whipped cream. I dont think I have to say how great it was! Then, why Kelsi shopped at all the cool stores on Rivoli, Kate and I decided we would go see Monet's Waterlilies at the Orangerie Museum. HOWEVER, we realized that on the first Sunday of every month in Paris all museums are free, which also meant HUGE crowds. So after scrapping that idea due to the three hour wait, we took the metro to Sacre Coure, or Montemarte. Its the only hill in Paris, and on top is a magnificent old church, great view, lots of green green grass, and a quaint village with an artist market. (It is also the location of one of the scenes from the movie Amelie-where she has him follow arrows up the hill to look through binoculars so she can put his book back on his scooter, near the carousel..which is there).
Kate then took out her map to indicate the world's largest antique market on the outskirts of Paris. Her teacher had told her to ignore the first ten minutes of stuff, and that at the end would be magnificent antiques, no trinkets or crap. So, since Kate has an interest in fashion we jumped on the metro towards the last possible subway stop. And what do you know, Paris is NOT all magical. Parts of it are real-big-city-metropolitan-scary-new-york-type-stuff! We got off that subway looking like two scared puppy dogs dropped off in the middle of an unsuspecting land! It was very industrial, crowded, and dirty. We thankfully ran into two American girl students who knew where they were going. So we followed them like 5 blocks to this big outdoor market. Here, we did like her teacher said and put our heads down and walked ten minutes through the most disgusting, cliche tourist booths filled with Ecko, Levi, and fake Nike. Only, after a few blocks it still all looked the same and the booths started spreading out in all directions...I saw no antiques! Right when we were about to turn around and sprint back to the subway, we stumbled into the center of the enormous market. Little shops lined so close together they made small alleys just big enough to walk through. The roofs of the stores (no bigger than the size of a room) on the left, touched the roofs of those on the right. It was like a small hidden town of antique booths! My granny would have a fit if she saw this! After wandering aimlessly for about 20 min, and buying a €2 ring, we got on that dirty subway and headed back towards the romantic center of town! Then- I finally had my chocolate Nutella crepe! mm. Then we headed home.
Back in Florence at 8am, Kelsi and I only had to time to run from the train station to our apt, then back to the school for class at 9! These weeks are getting shorter and shorter! I cant believe it is already Wednesday! We are hopefully already about to leave for Prague TOMORROW! I am really excited about it, but even more excited about mom coming the next week and relaxing in Florence-finally getting to visit all the museums and Tuscan area!
New Stories? Well, not really. Except that yesterday I walked out of our front door to see a construction site being built literally three steps from our apt. This morning starting at 8am there has been non-stop hammering, talking, smacking, banging, and LOUD noises! Then, last night our land lady came by to fidget with our hot water because she said it was set on the incorrect dial or something. Since our hot water has actually been really great and we've finally gotten used to our shower, its only possible that now our hot water won't turn on AT ALL! When you turn the faucet, not even a DRIP comes out. We called her about it last night and she said she'd be there in a few minutes...24 hours later and we are still waiting...
O well haha. love you all, miss you all. CIAO

~ Me and Mary Shannon on the ski lift to take us to the top of the mountain~

~All of our friends that came to celebrate with us~

~ Me and Mary Shannon celebrating my 21st birthday~

~ Us getting a picture with the people that really dress up for Carnivale~

~All of our roomates hanging out in Venice~

~We are getting ready to go night sledding in the Alps~

~ We got our face painted in Venice in celebration of Carnivale~

Let's Try This Again :)

Kelsi: Okay so I originally had written out a long novel on everything that has happened and unfortunately it was erased but that's ok I'm over it and I'm ready to try again! :) ok so My birthday was amazing my roomates made me feel so special! I was having a great birthday week yes "week" that is what we do in my family we get a week for our birthday and dad usually gets a birthday month! That's my dad for ya! Neways so I went and bought my brother a birthday present and was taking it to the post office to mail it when I walked in to a nightmare. No one could speak any english which is crazy to me because I mean it is an international post office. Neways I went to buy a box which took me 15 minutes to even put it together because the directions were in italian and this was not a typical box I promise! So after I put it together I walked back in and let me just say this place is huge and there were so many different lines to choose from and of course I couldn't read what anything was saying so I found this woman who spoke very few english but what I got out of her was to get a number, take a seat, and when my number appears walk up to the line. Ok so I took a seat and waited for an hour or so and then I saw my number well as I was walking up there this old man who I thought was going to be so nice to me just started yelling! Well I'm looking at him in confusion and am asking him if he spoke english and then he continued to yell and poked his head around the corner and yelled at everyone in the building for someone to speak english. Of course now everyone is looking at me and no one is responding so I just stand there. Well then he starts waving his arms in my face and I just start to tear up when someone told me I didn't have the right number... well I guess that's what they said, they just kept pointing at my number and so I just turned around and walked off and had a break down! I guess you could say I had my first bad experience or break down where I just started crying and griping! haha well after a few phone calls to mom and dad I was calmed down and decided I would go back tomorrow and try again. Me and Mary Shannon went to this other place the next day and they were so nice to me and spoke very good english so everything went well and my brother did get his present:) Well then came my birthday and when I woke up Mary Shannon had me a card and some flowers by my bed. The 2 yellow roses were beautiful and the card with bugs bunny was cute too! haha I walked into the kitchen and it was decorated with a bouquet of yellow roses that were gorgeous! Mary Shannon told me that I needed to go downstairs to get something so I walked downstairs and when I opened the door there was a man standing there with a huge bouquet of peace lillies!! It was from my family so of course I got all emotional because well that's me I'm kind of an emotional person! haha So the day was going amazingly and that night we went out to eat to a restaurant which I wasn't able to know about. All my roomates asked me was what kind of food I wanted to eat and of course I said STEAK!! That night we went to this beautiful restaurant that looked over the Ponte Vecchio. When we arrived we met up with some of our close friends and sat down to enjoy a tasty dinner. We all ordered a huge piece of meat of course I ordered the big Florentine steak which was absolutely amazing! Well later to find out my dad treated us all to the meal so I was very excited about that!! He has such a big heart and he always takes good care of me!! Oh I almost forgot the night before this which was midnight me and Mary Shannon walked to the Ponte Vecchio and I cut my fake i.d. (which I never used :) ) hehe and threw it into the arno. We sat on the bridge and just talked for a little bit and then I decided I wanted to go get a beer so we walked to a club might I add no showers, no makeup, hair in a ponytail and both wearing t-shirts and loving life!! We had a few drinks and then went back. There is no one better to spend my birthday with then Mary Shannon. We had so much fun. Ok so now fast forward to my birthday night, after dinner we went to the club Yab and had a blast the rest of the night. Well we were now getting ready for Venice for Carnivale! Once we got to Venice it was the most beautiful place I have ever seen! Everything is on water from the postman, to the ambulances, policeman and everything else in between. It was amazing. There were no cars and the roads were so small. Everyone was dressed from head to toe in costumes from older couples to 3 year old kids. There were also a ton of americans just running around in masks dancing and laughing and just enjoying life. Me and Mary Shannon bought some really cool masks that we wore and we also got our faces painted which was fun. The people there weren't very happy to see tourists this particular weekend I guess because it was so busy but wow they were mean to us. It's not like you can say anything back to them because well there is a huge language barrier between us! haha I will say this trip has definately made us hard women who have to clinch our fists and smile and walk right by them. I can't even tell you how many times we have been yelled at but that's ok because we are getting really good at it now! You know us 2 Arkansas girls who "think" we can take care of ourselves no ? about it :) Well once we got home we were so tired and ready to be back home. Let me tell you this past week went by so fast and before you know it we were getting ready to head to Interlaken, Switzerland. WOW can I just say that place is amazing! There were about 200 students that went and we took a bus that was about a 6 hour drive. The ride wasn't all that comfortable but I mean the view itself was just phenomenal. Once we got there which was at 3 a.m we got our keys and went to find our room. Ok now here is where it gets interesting. This was our first hostel experience which was very well let's just say different. We asked for a 4 bed room so that we could all room together. Well when we walked in there were 8 bunk beds in a room maybe as big as one very small bedroom. There was no room to even move around. Well as were all got the 4 bottom bunks we see these 4 random ppl come into our room. Yep there were 3 girls and 1 boy that were going to be bunking with us. They ended up all being from NYU and they weren't that bad they were pretty cool but it was just really weird sleeping in this little bitty room with ppl you don't know. Well now it was about 4 a.m and me and Mary Shannon were going skiing the next day at 7:30 so we knew we needed to get some sleep. As we were all getting ready to go to sleep the girl above me starts snoring!!! OMG I thought I was going to die! I layed there for about an hour and then thought hmm. maybe I can start coughing or clearing my throat to give her a hint to quit snoring... well NO that did not work! So then I thought I will get my ipod so as I was getting up I saw Kate get up to get the same thing I was getting! haha all of us 4 girls were wide awake and could not sleep because this girl was sooo loud. Let me say I have uncles who snore really loud and I can sometimes deal with that but this girl was snoring with the best of them! haha As I got my ipod and got back into bed I smiled and put on my headphones and went to turn on my ipod when of course my ipod is dead! That's just me of course no luck! Well I leaned over and told Mary Shannon to lay her head by mine so we could share her ipod. Hey best friends are willing to do anything to help each other out! Well so we got maybe 2 hours of sleep and had to get up and go ski. We were sooo excited and so exhausted at the same time the next morning when we went and got our ski's and headed up the mountain. This was the cool part we had to take a train up the mountain. This train went up, over, around, and under the mountains to get to the top where the ski lifts were. Oh and my parents sent me my ski jacket so I was feeling pretty stylish let me tell ya! haha Once we got up there we just kind of stood there in amazement realizing that we are about to ski on the Alps. As we were thinking that we looked down the mountain and started getting a little nervous :0 When skiing in the Alps the level of difficulty colors are different so we couldn't really tell so we just said oh well and headed down the mountain. We of course fell a few times towards the beginning when trying to get use to being back on the slopes. Once we got the hang of it we were off. We did a few hard ones and also the very top which was so cool because at the top there was a sign saying that this is the top of Europe and it's the highest point in Europe that you are allowed to ski on. That was a pretty cool experience! The view made everything so worth it though I mean when your skiing down the slopes and you look up and just see cliffs some with snow on them and some without mountains for days! What I really liked about it was that its not totally based around tourism. I mean there is like one hotel at the base and maybe 4 shops and a couple of restaurants and the rest is just mountains! So there isn't much up there on the Alps but that is what I most enjoyed about it because like in Colorado it's just a huge cluster of buildings and tourists and it's even hard to come down the mountain without almost running into someone. This was alot more peaceful although it was a little icy but not as much as I thought it would be. We ate lunch outside of this restaurant that overlooked the Alps and it was just beautiful. The weather was perfect not to cold not to hot. After we got done skiing we went back and went out to the bar like club that was at our hostel. We danced and all had a good time and then the next day we got up and went into Zurrich. We spent the day there which was really cool. There is a lake beside the city that we went and looked at that was so pretty because if you looked beyond the lake you saw the snow covered mountains in the background which was just so peaceful. We also ate at this small Tai food restaurant that was so good. I got shrimp fried rice and ate every bit of it!! I mean we are so use to eating pasta the second you put something else in our face that is not pasta we go crazy! haha That night we went night sledding with the group which was so much fun. We kind of had the wrong idea at first I mean when we though of night sledding I though of like 40 of us on this huge sled getting pulled around the mountain and Mary Shannon thought that dogs were going to be pulling us so as you can tell we had the wrong idea. Night sledding is like a sport I mean they gave us our own sled and we had to steer it and everything! They sent us down the mountain which was like a green if you were to ski on it and we had to steer the whole way and let me tell you we got some speed and were having so much fun screaming the whole way down! We fell of course a few times but night sledding if you ever have a chance you have to do it. That and skiing just made the trip for me!! I mean its not every day one can say they went skiing and night sledding in the Alps! Once we got down the mountain our guides treated all of us to cheese fondue. They bring you a big pot of cheese and little pieces of bread and potatoes and then you dip them in the cheese and then eat them. Oh it was so good, I know it sounds strange but its so good. We were going to go out that night when we got back but we were so tired that we couldn't so we just went to sleep and got up the next morning to pack. We decided to go into town so I could get some things for my family to give them for when they came over here. As we were walking it started to rain which was not good considering we didn't have an umbrella! Well we wanted to get something to eat and the one place in Interlaken that you eat at seeing that it is a very small town is Hooters. haha yea so we ate there along with a ton of other americans. The food was actually really good however the atmostphere not so much! haha Afterwards we went to this chocolate factory and decided to take a tour of the factory. That was pretty cool even for me considering I don't like chocolate. I know it sounds crazy but I just have never been a huge fan of chocolate but I will be honest and tell you that I ate a few pieces of white chocolate and milk chocolate and loved it! The swiss chocolate I mean its so different over there, it has a better taste than most of the chocolates I have tried. Mary Shannon who lives for chocolate was loving every bit of it. Our guide told us that we could take some if we wanted well Mary Shannon decided to get a few handfuls! haha See she gave chocolate up for lent so when Sundays role around its nothing but chocolate for her! She deserves it though because I will say temptation is everywhere I don't know if God is giving her a hard time or what but every store we walk in there is always huge displays of giant chocolate bars that are her favorite right beside the front door!! Crazy huh!! Yea that's what I thought!! He's got a good sense of humor let me tell ya! :) I went to get my swiss army knife that I was getting engraved with my name on it before we left and of course they spelled my name wrong. Well I was upset but was to scared to say anything but like they say when one friend is down the other one fixes it and sure enough Mary Shannon got my knife took it back up there got them to fix it. From what I heard it wasn't that easy of a process to do but Mary Shannon she found a way! We are always taking care of each other :) We got on the bus to come home and got back into Florence at about midnight. Oh yea me and Mary Shannon washed our sheets but since there is no dryers we had our sheets hung all over our apartment all weekend so we were hoping they would be dryed when we got back and they were thank goodness. They weren't very soft though I will say that. But that is about everything that has gone on the past couple of weeks. This coming up weekend we are going to Paris which I think is going to be pretty amazing so we are getting really excited about that!! It will be our first overnight train experience so I'll be sure and let you know how that goes! I miss everyone and will talk to you all soon!! Love you all!!!

Mary Shannon: Back again, another eventful and long week. It is passing SO fast over here that I feel like I already miss Europe! Now that we are travelling so much on the weekends it feels like the work week is only a short recovery period, then we are off again!
Last week, during the recovery period haha, I decided to slow down a little. I took one afternoon and dedicated it to doing absolutely nothing outside in Florence. I didnt want to walk 5 miles or shop, I just sat in my camo hat on the front steps of the Duomo by myself. I didnt even try to figure life out, I just sat and watched people walk by. I looked at how they dressed, their shoes, their interactions, the venders, the tourists, the locals, the pigeons. It was nice to be lethargic and lazy in the sun. I also tried to count in 3 hours how many actual overweight people I saw: 4. A little different than in Arkansas... Then I decided to take pictures of the 'every day life' in Florence. It made me realize a lot of details-there are bikes everywhere! Men wear scarves and dress very metro! You can tell a tourist from a European based on their shoes. Still, there are Asians everywhere! Giselle the model is just as popular here if not more. They also love Demi Moore. Pharmacies and supermarkets are seperate businesses with different atmospheres than say at Wal Mart or Brookshires.
Thursday night Kelsi, Kate, Chrissy, and I met the bus2alps group at 7pm at the Santa Maria Novella train station (where Kelsi and I got McDonalds no.7 since its our train-station-tradition)! The guy in charge of this student-travel group is Simon O'Keefe, a guy in his late 30s from Australia. He LOVES his job from what I can tell haha! He actually lives in Interlaken, Switzerland and has been taking students on these weekend trips for almost 10 years. We got on charter buses with almost 200 other students from Florence and Rome of all different study abroad programs from all over the USA. On the way to Switzerland we passed Lake Como, the vacation home of George Clooney - from what we saw even in the dark it was breath-taking!! (If you ever have a couple mil laying around, I would suggest a vacation home here too)! When we got to Interlaken, Switzerland it was 3:30am! We checked in to our hostel, Balmers Herbage, thinking it would only be us four...wrong! There were four other students from NYU, 3 girls and a boy! Sara, Megan, Francine, and Mark. (They had this very northern lingo, always saying, 'Thats wicked cool')! Francine, or 'Frenchie', and Mark went skydiving the next day!! I bet almost 100 of the kids went skydiving. They also offered canyon jumping, paragliding, moped 4-wheeler or car rentals, night sledding, and ski\snowboarding! Friday morning at 7am (yes, even less than 2hrs of sleep since two of our new roomies SNORED) Kelsi and I had to get up to get ski rentals, left tickets, and rental pants and goggles. Outdoor Interlaken's , the store running all the activities, employees were pretty much all English or Australian. They were so friendly and laid back! Then we ate our included breakfast consisting of either 1. bread, roll, butter and jelly OR 2. oats cereal and a piece of fruit...mmm (not). I was pretty disappointed in the choices until they said coffee was free. I was excited, that is until I walked up to the hot water dispenser and a large ceramic pot full of powder labelled coffee. I had no idea, and still dont, of how coffee is supposed to come from this. I drank it anyways with 2 scoops ?? and A LOT of sugar!! haha. To get to the slopes, Kelsi and I had to catch a bus for a 10 min drive to Gridswal train station. The bus ride was fantastic bc it was the first time we saw Switzerland in the daylight...and wow! Everything was green, but when you looked up the valley we saw we were enclosed by large walls of pure rock covered on the tops by snow. The mountains are more like cliffs compared to the rolling Rocky Mountains. We also passed Swiss homes which looked like homes pulled right out of the movie Heidi, or gingerbread homes ready to be displayed. There were creeks and windey roads and stacks of firewood everywhere. (I continue to struggle with the feeling I am in a large, surreal theme park bc of how cliche these countries are to what I formerly thought). At Gridswal we climbed on to this small three-car train which then headed straight UP the mountain (Kleine Shredigg??) At the top Kelsi and I realized that the mountain was actually known as 'the top of Switzerland', and a small train travelling even higher (for a fee of £80 so we didnt do it) you could reach 'the top of europe'! We skied for over 2 hours before lunch. It wasnt great snow to ski on, but there were such dazzling panoramic views that we didnt care! We ate at a restaurant on the mountain for lunch where we had the soup of the day (who knows WHAT it was but it was good) in a roll and a piece of bratwurst! MMM, that really was good! We sat outside in the sun on a deck looking out over the valley below! Exhausted a few hours later, we decided to resign from our physical yet memorable adventures of skiing and get the local beer Rugen Brau (YUM!) Back home, Kelsi and I took a quick yet powerful nap on our floor mattress bunk beds with no sheets, a dusty comforter, and our less-than-a-couch-pillow pillow. yes. Then we took showers with no flip flops and shared towels (bc we didnt bring one, and the hostel ran out of rentals), where you had to keep re-pushing the shower nozzle to keep the water running every 30 sec (like in those public restrooms with the push-on sinks). That was a nice experience too... For dinner Kelsi, Kate, Chrissy, and I made reservations and ate at The Little Thai Restaurant which was ABSOLUTELY MOUTH-WATERING GOOD! We hadnt had flavors or spices like that in a long time and it was truly pleasant. Plus, even for American-everyday standards it was amazing. Under Balmer's is Interlaken's club (very convenient I know)! All night they showed the videos of the students who had skydived that day, it made skydiving seem so much less scary, different, or unimaginable...now, sorry parents, I really want to do it before I get married or 'grow up' haha.
On Saturday, us four met with Simon and the other students who signed up and took a charter bus to Zurich. It was also a great drive even though we were all still SO exhausted and sleep deprived! We got to see the lake (interlaken is between two lakes) which was more aqua blue than most skies I've seen on a clear day! We also passed through the mountain pass. In Zurich it was rainin as we stepped off the bus! Us four then set off on our own to discover this town. We were dropped off in the metropolitan\shopping section which was actually really Americanized (we walked into a Claire's)!! We finally found this chocolate store (my favorite food\dessert in the whole freakin' world) with a caffe above it. Kelsi and Chrissy got the club sandwich made with three toasted pieces of bread, tomato, grilled chicken strips, mayo, egg, lettuce, and bacon. I definately had a piece and it was just as delicious as you're thinking right now. After, I went downstairs and bought milk chocolate pieces, dark chocolate with caramel, and peanut butter chocolates! (The terrible part is that I gave up chocolate for Lent so even though I can cheat on Sundays, I still had to carry that bag around all day-like a million dollars that you've won in the lottery but you arent allowed to spend it)! Then we walked across the bridge to other side of town, like 500ft away, and the town was completely different! (By this time, it quit raining for awhile). It was much older, with cobblestone walkways and no cars and just vasts amounts of stores and restaurants. Like Italy, only everyone was so much friendlier to American tourists, everything was in German, much more laid back, and all the restaurants were different: Italian, Mexican, Asian, McDonalds, etc all right next to one another. It was a melting pot, a clean, relaxed, and eye-satisfying melting pot. Kate and I stopped at this heated tent in the middle of a square where Jamaican-sounding music was being played and bought what we 'thought' were hot dogs. They gave us these huge pieces of pork off the grill and a big roll (with real Heinz ketchup)!!! It was actually one of best meals I'd had (I always say that dont I)?? Well, it was really good! When we got back to Interlaken (1hr 45min drive) Kelsi, Kate, and I had to run upstairs, throw on more layers, get snowboard shoes from Outdoor Interlaken, and climb back onto the bus to go nightsledding! For some reason when I signed up for this I pictured sitting back on a big sled, cuddled up in a warm blanket, with hot cocoa, maybe even dogs pulling us?? Ha ha. Definately wrong assumption, though this was MUCH more fun! We took the bus to Gridswal again, and were sent up the train with big plastic sleds! At the top it was pouring snow! The guides showed us how to ride our sleds, turn, hang on, and most importantly bail! There were two groups, our group had about 25 people and we all took off down this paved path down the Alps! It was curvy and bumpy and downhill and one of the BEST times of my LIFE! I screamed the whole way down, got soaking wet (had jeans on!!), and laughed so hard at Kelsi flying down this mountain like a pro..except for when I came up fast behind her and she couldnt move and caused my sled to fly off in a ditch with Kate following me haha! So, of course, we did it a second time! Then, with our new guide pal, Elliot we went into this restaurant and ate really great cheese fondue with bread and potatoes and a glass of white wine. Elliot is from England and is the head of the skydiving branch of Outdoor Interlaken. He was the main guide jumping with all of the students, and has been skydiving for 18yrs!! He has only been in ONE bad jump, which was actually base jumping like 10yrs ago. He's 38yrs old with long hair, newly married, yet very professional when it comes to talking about his job and being a boss. This weekend we met so many people like that...Elliot said a large portion of the population is made of tourists who were passing through, fell in love with Interlaken and just never left. We met some Australian guys who were like 23 who were living in Interlaken to snowboard for like 6 months, then were going to move on to another town and look around for where work is needed, then when that was done move on again! I think that kind of lifestyle is so intriging bc I could never ever do that. I would die of stress!
On Sunday, we had to check out at 11:30am. We walked into the center of Interlaken and ate at HOOTERS! They had real American food: chicken strips, french fries, and more real ketchup!! How could we say no? Then we took a short chocolate tour at this famous little chocolate store\cafe. We got all these free chocolate samples. They, Switzerland, won the worldwide competition for best milk chocolate and he was just handing it out to us!! YUM! (When the head chef wasnt looking I took handfuls of the pieces and put them in my bag...yay)! And lets remember, it was Sunday, so I actually got to eat it all!
The other things I loved about Interlaken\Switzerland: SO clean! Clean air. Interlaken has about 10,000 population, like at home. You could really tell bc everyone knew each other, they would drive down the street and wave at one another, hang out in the restaurants with the owners bc they were all friends, Simon knew everyone on the pal level. I loved that part! No traffic! Zurich had normal-sized cars...and they were all Mercedes, Lexus, BMWs, Porches cars and SUVs!
Also, figured out that Switzerland is not a part of the European Union. We had to use Francs instead of Euro. Our bus was pulled over for speeding I think on the way back home. Swiss knives were everywhere since they are known well for that, along with watches, chocolate, and crystal. The picture of the clock is in Zurich, and is the largest clock in Europe!
Love you all, miss you all

Man oh Man!!

Kelsi: Ok guys so I spent an hour writing you all and lost everything!! :( I will write again tomorrow but I am just to frustrated to start all over now!!! :( haha Sorry but hey you know my luck!