Rome, Sweet Rome

Upon returning from Dublin to Rome, I began trying to plan out my last month in the Eternal City. I thought maybe I could stretch my last dollar for an excursion to Prague, and I was getting so excited that my parents were coming in less than two weeks.

Suddenly my whole perspective changed. I hadn't spoken to my parents in a few days which is normal, but the fact that I had been actively trying to get in touch to plan their trip, and hadn't heard back was strange. I called my mom on Skype and finally got in touch. I started ragging on her about not answering my calls, and what would she do if I wasn't an only child etc., the usual teasing I give my busy working mother, when I could tell something was wrong. She laughed but sounded tired and upset. I had to go to class, but I knew something bad was coming and we made a date to talk later that night.

A few hours later I learned my Nana was in Kidney failure, and would probably not make it through the holidays. After having a good family friend pass away while I was gone in October, I had a weird paranoia that something bad was going to happen while I was gone. Hearing this was like getting hit and not knowing how to react. I was stuck in a foreign country with no way to easily communicate with my family, and no way to see my Nana.

I will spare you all the details, but I ended up on a flight home on December 4th landing in JFK. My parents cancelled their trip, and I made emergency plans to leave. I needed to be home, the stress of everything was too much for me to handle being away.

I got to say goodbye two days before my grandmother passed way. December 7th, 2009 was the last day of a long a beautiful life that touched everyone who was a part of it. When I went to see her even as sick as she already was she asked about my trip and told me how lucky I was to be such a "world traveler".

Therefore I would like to dedicate my blog, and my experience as a whole to my Nana. I still have a whole in my chest from losing her, and it's something that won't be filled for a long time. I know how proud of me she was for expanding my outlook, and doing things that she wished she could have done in her lifetime. Her light and amazing sweetness is with me everyday.

Packing my bags and leaving Rome was bittersweet, and I wish I could have left under different circumstances. I gained so much from my experience and wouldn't trade my time abroad for anything. The amazing people, places, and experiences are things I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Anne M. McCabe

July 17th 1925- December 7th 2009

"Grieve not...nor speak of me with tears, but laugh and talk of me as though I were beside you. I loved you so...'twas Heaven here with you"

Back to the Motherland

The last trip I had planned during my semester abroad was to visit my best friend, and Boston roommate Emma at University College Dublin where she was studying abroad for the semester. I thought that I may make another quick foreign excursion while I was still in Europe, but it turns out fate had another plan.

I got into Dublin on Thursday night and Emma came to meet me at the airport. Since Ryan Air is the main airline of Ireland besides Aer Lingus, I was taken right into the major Dublin airport and didn't have to take the usual crazy shuttle. I got in late and since Emma had class in the morning we crashed for the night in her dorm.

UCD was so much different than AUR. For lack of a better way to describe it I'll just say it felt like a "real" school. I often described AUR as a building that someone just decided one day could be a school, put a bunch of desks in and called it a day. UCD was very similar to Northeastern and it was interesting seeing how different my educational experience would have been if I had chosen to study there.

I'll quickly some up the weekend as a best of Dublin tour. We walked around the center city in the beautiful weather and saw the great pubs and shops that make the city so unique. The Guinness and Jameson factories were must sees for any (college age) tourist, and were actually really put together experiences that had more to do with the culture than the alcohol. A bus trip up the North Coast stopping at the amazing powerscourt gardens topped of the trip Sunday The last day was great because I got to see some of more rural Ireland where my Great-Grandparents were originally from.

Ireland's economy is currently struggling and this was apparent during my visit. Along with much of the rest of the world there was unfinished construction and for sale signs littering the country. I hope to come back again someday, and that the natural beauty of the country will allow it to flourish again.

Just touched down in Londontown

On my second to last adventure I made one of the trips I was looking forward to the most. I went to London to visit my good friend Keily who is a resident student at Richmond University. I decided to extend my weekend here and stayed for four nights Thursday- Monday.

Landing at the airport it was so exciting to hear everyone speaking English. There is so much less stigma associated with being American when there is no barrier to understanding and communicating (minus the green street hooligan slang).

Thursday night after I landed that afternoon we went to the local pub "The Bull". It was a really entertaining night and nice to have that built in group of friends that comes from visiting someone you know. I was about six inches taller than everyone there which is always a good conversation starter especially after they hear that I'm not British.

Friday we slept in and while Keily went to classes I walked around Kensington and High Street. Even window shopping here I felt guilty, considering most of the clothing and materials are worth more than I spent during my entire time abroad. I shopped as is one of my favorite things to do and lounged around coffee shops...one of the things I missed most in Italy.

Saturday was my major tourist day in London. I went to the Tower, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and the London Eye. The weather was AWFUL...cold and rainy but I guess part of trying to be a true Englishwoman is dealing with the inclement climate. The sights were amazing especially the Tower of London. It has been brilliantly restored, and also modernized to be entertaining and interesting without becoming cheesy or historically inaccurate. That night we went to a club with a friend of Keily's and his "Uni" mates which was hysterical and such a great evening.

Sunday we relaxed and walked around the city, as well as made a trip to Harrods. During the holiday season their window displays could rival even the Macy's on 5th Avenue. The store was a mix of retail and theme park and was for me like a kid in a candy store. This relaxing day ended at the pub for a pint, and a good night sleep for my Monday flight.

Going Dutch

Oh Amsterdam, you put up a front as if you are just waffles and weed...when really there is so much more right over the bridge.

Our last stop during Eurotrip 2009 was Amsterdam, and we were there for two days. We took the train from Paris to Amsterdam, which was an enjoyable (besides the annoying American students from France two rows up) and scenic 3 hour trip with a short stop in Brussels.

As with Paris, we fell asleep at the hostel around 10pm the first night. I know what your thinking we are crazy college kids with no shame in Holland, what is wrong with us?! I realized I just can't force myself to go out like other people. If I'm dead tired, you won't see me passed out on the bar, I would much rather be in my "cozy" twin hostel bed with a book on the pillow next to me. Feel free to call me a grandma behind my back because sometimes I feel like that. A friend in Rome has said "You can sleep when you're dead"...to this I say "You can sleep when you're tired".

Our hostel was an old converted school house situated on Vondelpark, which is a picturesque area of green grass with constant bike traffic. The most popular mode of transportation in the Netherlands is by bike...and the Dutch mean business when it comes to pedestrians walking in their lanes. On no less than 3 occasions did I almost cause bike related injuries, and I don't think I really want to know the translation of what was being said under the riders breath.

So the next day Martin and I wandered around the square close to our hotel called Leidsplien. There were many different restaurants and shops, as well as several "coffee shops" that Amsterdam is famous for.

A coffee shop is the only place in the Amsterdam is where Marijuana is legally sold. It's sort of like going into your local starbucks, but instead of expertise in coffee, your barista knows exactly what sort of herbal remedy to recommend. Personally I found it a pleasant change from the United States strict policy on "soft" drugs...but that's another topic for another blog. Smoking isn't for me, it never has been, but I think their attitude suggesting there are may worse things you could be doing is one I agree with.

Later we went to the Heineken Experience. There are several of these types of attractions throughout Europe, such as the Guinness Factory. I think this is because the lower drinking age is the perfect target market for these media centric fan experiences. It was really interesting in general and I felt like a true Heineken expect when we left.

We also took a canal cruise around the city later in the day. We met some law students studying abroad from Pepperdine, and I don't think I've heard as many crazy travel stories the whole time I have been in Europe as I did from the three blonde 24 year old's sitting next to us in one hour. I think I should have felt inspired to see more of the world from this conversation, but honestly in made me miss the normality of my friends and family back in New England.

For now this is all I have on Amsterdam, this is one post I hope I can go back and improve when I return to New York. It really was a great city, with an interesting point of view to back up amazing history. All I can say is Holland isn't just windmills anymore, but a forward thinking destination with old world charm.

Paris the City of Love (?)

Next stop on our European vacation was Paris the city of lights. I had heard a lot of mixed things about Paris from other students traveling around Europe, especially that if you don't know French you are looked at like Sarah Palin saying she can see Russia from her backyard. I was definitely pleasantly surprised at how accommodating people were. There wasn't the same friendliness as Spain, but coming from Rome I'm not shocked when people aren't smiling and happy 24/7.

I also loved the French style. Every single girl was dressed impeccably in a wardrobe of black tights, long sweaters, and amazing boots. I wish that I could look 100% put together like the girls of Paris. Looking at everyone it's exactly how you would picture cosmopolitan Europeans strolling around with cigarettes, baguettes, and well behaved children.

Our first day we checked into our hostel "Oops!" which was the first award winning designer hostel in the world. There were many cute features and decorations, but overall it was just like any other hostel we stayed in so far. The first night we were so exhausted from all the traveling I think we may have been in bed before 9pm. It's so hard when you want to cram so much in to such a short time and you are just too physically exhausted to do so.

The next day we decided to do a bike tour around Paris. After doing one in Munich I thought it would be a really cool way to see everything since all the monuments are in a somewhat close area but too far to really walk to. So we did this and overall it was really entertaining and interesting even though I think Martin is cursed for life when it comes to bike riding. We saw Notre Dame which was amazing, as well as many buildings built by Napoleon.

Later that night we went to the Louvre since it's open late until 10pm one night a week. I was a huge nerd and bought the audio tour which was actually really interesting, and explained some of the lesser known works along with their history. I got to see the Mona Lisa (disappointing), Winged Victory (one of my favorites), and the Louvre's amazing collection of Egyptian and Middle Eastern artifacts. They say that if you spent 30 seconds looking at each piece that is housed in the Louvre you would be there for 58 days, which just speaks to how incredibly expansive it is.

Later we went to a club Le Queen down on Champ Elysees which is one of the main streets stretching down from the Arc du Triumph. It was a relatively small dance club, with an owner who had a fondness for giving away Moet. We ended up here for both of our nights out in Parigi due to the unexpected closure of another club we had planned to go on Thursday.

We spent most of the next day wandering around Champ Elysees, window shopping and strolling around Louis Vuitton where Martin will be spending his riches as a famous design manager. My Visa was buring a whole through my pocket, but I was good and realized maybe in the future when there is money in my pocket to back up the credit card.

I also got to experience the Eiffel Tower. It for me was a highlight of my whole trip. I met some other people traveling from Boston (crazy coincidence) and took the elevator ride all the way up to the top level. Since I went at night I had AMAZING views of all the city light and landmarks. It was sort of sad though not being there with any friends or loved ones. Seeing all the couples at the top made me miss that feeling of being able to share that incredible moment with someone who means so much to you. But it was still something I will remember forever and hopefully in the future I will be able to come back and do it all again in the name of love <3.

So in general we had an amazing time in the city of light and love. Paris is unlike anywhere else in the world.

Dear Barcelona, you're crazy, but I think I love you

Oh Barca,

Where even to begin. I think landing at the airport was probably the start of my attraction to this city. When we touched down we were in a futuristic terminal of glass and lights. When I got off the plane the excitement that I already had was reaffirmed by the uniqueness of our surroundings.

We landed the morning of the 23rd and spent the rest of Friday wandering around Las Ramblas and down by the waterfront. Las Ramblas is the main drag of Barcelona with shops, restaurants and bars. There was always so many people there, and it connects to all the side streets with even more to explore in the Gothic neighborhood. Our hostel was in Plaza Real which was an adorable little plaza with palm trees, and a fountain in the middle.

Emma arrived at the hostel around 6pm, and was greeted by the cute love note I wrote her and left at reception. We went to dinner, and were all struggling to keep our eyes open with the Barca lifestyle. So to explain this everyone in Barcelona is superhuman. They someone don't eat dinner until around 10pm, and don't get to the club until literally 2am...I thought it was crazy last call in NY was 4am! Here that's the high point of the night and places don't close until way after dawn. So this first night Emma and I went to small Spanish bar in Barri Gotica, and what was supposed to be a low key night ended up with us taking and catching up until 4. It's so nice to have her abroad at the same time as me! We will be meeting up again in Dublin in a few weeks, so I've been able to see her three times this semester which has definitely been a lifesaver in my want for all things Boston. Park Guell

Saturday we decided to do one of the open air bus tours of Barcelona. Getting on the bus I had scary flashbacks of being harassed in NYC to the big apple tour, and right then I decided this is the single most touristy thing I have done in my entire life. It was so worth the trauma! We saw every major attraction in Barca and got it done in such a more convenient way than we could have on our own. My favorite part of the day was Park Guell, which is a public park that the architect Gaudi designed. I think all the Gaudi architecture was my absolute favorite part of Barcelona, I have never felt more drawn to a certain style of design and architecture. To all of my architecture friends...this is only until you design your fabulous and amazing buildings :). Later that night we went to a club called Razzmatazz. Most ridiculous nightclub I will probably ever go to. There were about seven different mini-clubs inside a huge warehouse...without rambling and going into too much detail it was basically the stereotypical European rave, you would picture in a Eurotrip movie. Walking home at dawn was the end of our amazing Saturday.

Sunday, I had my little dose of travel drama with forgetting to pick up the tickets I had ordered us for the FC Barcelona game. It somehow slipped my mind that NOTHING, and I mean nothing in Europe is open on Sunday. After this minor setback, I took a little hit to the wallet, and we bought new tickets for the game. We went down to Las Ramblas in the morning, and as even more of a downer, Emma had her bag stolen from Starbucks. It was my first real exposure to the crime in Europe that all the guidebooks warn you about. She filed a police report and the rest is history. Luckily her passport was back at the hotel, and it was just "things" that were taken which I guess is how you have to look at it. That afternoon we went to the Picasso museum which was a great showcase of so many works. At the game later that night, Emma and I ended up sitting lower level, using our concert sneaking skills to make it closer to the action.

Monday Martin and I wandered savoring our last day in Espana. We split up and walked around doing some window shopping, and ended the night at two clubs on the beach.

Barcelona was such an amazing city. It's one of the few places that I have been to so far that I can actually see myself living as an expat. The weather, the people, and the city itself were perfect in my eyes. I can't wait to go back in the future.

Once you jump in the Med...It goes to your head

Capri, Sorrento, Positano, and Pompeii.

I keep thinking one day soon I'm just going to wake up and be back in Saratoga, watching Law and Order reruns and that this whole experience was one long daydream.

The "Costiera Amalfitana" or Amalfi Coast was a trip that can only be described as what you think of when you think of vacation Italy. The views and scenery literally looked like you were floating on a movie set, and made at least me feel like I had no right to be disturbing this crazy natural beauty.

So to start off with a little drama for our movie scene vacation, our original trip was canceled two days before we supposed to leave. According to the student travel company we booked through "48 hours was more than enough time" to book our own transportation, hostel and tours. For 7 novice travelers, I assured them this was false. Luckily another company was running a trip that same weekend and we got our refund, hopped on the bus, and had a gorgeous weekend on the water.

Thursday night we arrived in Sorrento and moved into our 10-person co-ed hostel. It was my first experience in a room with that many people and also with 3 random boys sleeping straight across. Surprisingly it wasn't that weird, everyone was super friendly and we made some way too small world connections with our roommates.

Friday morning we took a bus to a campground. Sounds exciting right?...Well at this campground we caught a ferry that took us to The Blue Grotto. The Blue Grotto is a luminescent cave where the water literally lights up from below you. It has something to do with the chemicals or bacteria in the water. You have to lay down flat in a row boat just to get under the cave entrance and the rock literally comes within inches of your face. Our rowboat captain was screaming Italian profanities at another rower for stealing his oars. Everyone was staring at us and it was probably one of the single funniest moments to me so far. When I asked him what happened he said (in slightly broken English) "WHY DOES HE TOUCH MY OARS, HE SHOULD BE TOUCHING HIS WIFE!". The grotto itself was so amazing, but it was a bit of a downer because we weren't able to get out and swim.

We next took the ferry to the island of Capri and spent the day walking around. Between the limoncello and chocolate tasting, the homemade sandals, and the chairlift that took us to the top of the mountain it was such a memorable experience. The cliffs of Capri literally just fall right into the Ocean.

Saturday we spent the day in Positano. We got on a bus in the morning and were then driven about 20min toward our destination. At this point our driver pulled over to the side of the road and told us he didn't have "jurisdiction" to drive us all the way in. Oh those silly Italians. So we proceeded to walk 30min around a highway with about 3ft between us and the what seemed like 468364ft cliffs. But hey it was a great view. When we got to the beach with the rest of our group we rented a boat for 2hours and went cliff jumping, as well as cave swimming. I was the 3rd person, and first girl in our group to jump off the 35ft cliff. At first when I started climbing up it didn't seem bad at all, then looking over the edge...I thought I was going to have to rock climb all the way down. I decided I just had to run and jump. It was such a cool feeling, although I have to admit I'm still kind of surprised something bad didn't happen.

Sunday we went to Pompeii and saw the ancient ruins. Being the History nerd that I am I loved it...hearing about all aspects of their day to day life. We took a few group photos to try and get on the MyNEU homepage...so maybe you'll be seeing my face next week when you log on to check huskymail. I imagined being there when Mt. Vesuvius erupted and how it literally must have been the scariest thing to see the dust coming at you with no where to go.

So that was my beautiful weekend in the Amalfi area. Pictures can't do any justice to looking up from the water to the villas dotting the coastline. My grandfather was stationed in Capri during WWII, so as he reminds me I'm not the only one in my family to go to Italy. I consider myself lucky to be able to see what he saw 60 years ago, but be able to enjoy it fully. Hopefully 60 years from now I'll be able to say the same thing.