travelingfrenzy

[travelingfrenzy]

NYC 2017 - Birthday Celebration

This post is a little delayed but I told my aunt that I would blog about our trip so I will. One of my best friends, my sister and I decided to go to the Plaza in honor of our 25th birthdays a few years ago. We love doing tea parties so going to the plaza for afternoon tea seemed fitting. Now that we all have full time jobs we can afford to splurge every once in a while and we decided to make a weekend of it. 

Living so close to NYC (about a two hour drive), this wasn’t our first time in the big city by far. However, we did take the bus which is something I have never done before. Getting on the bus from our hometown was easy, getting on the bus at the Port Authority in NYC, not so much but more on that later. We got on the bus at around 6 pm on Friday so we didn’t have to take anytime off from work. Once we got off the bus, we were tired and ready to get to our hotel so we did the non-local thing and got in a cab. It was a good reminder of the crazy drivers of NYC. I’m pretty sure our cab driver wanted to be a NASCAR racer or in fast or furious or something. He drove so fast, cut off so many cars, and almost killed us a few times but somehow we made. Actually, he past our hotel and dropped us off two blocks past it but we didn’t want to pay for him to loop around the block and his english wasn’t great. Checking into the hotel was pretty easy and we wanted to find somewhere to eat once we dropped our bags. It was late and in the city that never sleeps, a good amount of the restaurants were unfortunately closing soon. We found the cutest little Italian place with the nicest chef/owner ever. If you’re ever in Midtown East, I recommend you check out Fabio Cucina Italiana (214 E 52nd St). The food was so good, so fresh tasting/authentic (I’ve been to Italy so I know, kind of ;)), the atmosphere was fantastic and the staff and chef were so friendly. We were there a little after close and they didn’t make us feel rushed at all. They even suggested we try the dessert. After we told the chef that we were in NYC celebrating our 25th birthdays, he gave us the desserts for free. After we left the restaurant, it was drizzling a little so we went back to our hotel and drank a bottle of wine that we brought. We had a corner room at the hotel with windows wrapping around the building so it was nice to relax with my friends, drink some wine and watch the hustle of the city. 

The next day was the day we’ve all been waiting for... Plaza day. We were in NYC and we didn’t have afternoon tea until 1 so we had to have a bagel in NYC. Luckily there was a bagel place a block away (we could actually see it outside our window). It was called Ess a Bagel and it had all the cream cheese and bagel flavors you could imagine. The line was kind of long but it was definitely worth it. Actually, we got lucky since the line was long but it was inside the building. Later and the next day, we looked out the window and the line was wrapping around the block. After we ate our bagels it was time. Time to get ready for the day we have all been waiting for since high school. We started showering, curling our hair and doing our make-up. While we getting ready, we were drinking a rose bottle of sparkling wine. We were living the high life people. Something really unfortunate happen while we were getting ready. Something really unfortunate indeed. While getting ready, I stepped on the curling iron. It burnt the bottom of my foot pretty badly but it was Plaza day. Nothing was going to stop me from going. My friend freaked out though and ran to Duane Reed (Walgreens in NYC, I’m not sure why the name is different) to get something for my foot while I put it in cold water in the tub and continued to do my sister’s make-up. It is semi funny to look back on but it has been a week and I’m on crutches so only semi. It’ll probably be funnier as time passes. Anyways, it was time to go to the Plaza. Our hotel was only a ten minute walk and we had planned to walk down 5th Ave on our way and see the fancy stores but burnt foot so... also it was raining so it was fine. We were going to take a cab but Uber was so much quicker and honestly cheaper so. However, there was a science march in central park that day so our cab driver dropped us off about two blocks away from the Plaza and we walked/limped the rest of the way. Even though I’ve been to NYC many times, this was my first time in the Plaza I’m pretty sure. It was beautiful. Afternoon tea is at their Palm Court restaurant and its pretty much in the lobby so it isn’t hard to find. We sat down and we were in heaven. It was so nice and we couldn’t believe we were there. We got the New Yorker afternoon tea. They let us switch out sandwiches we didn’t want which was good. We all got to pick a flavor of tea and the pots were huge. They have you a good amount of sandwiches, a lot of cute mini desserts and scones. We even got champagne because ya know, Treat Yo Self!! The waiter forgot about our champagne so he gave us all another free glass which was totally unnecessary because we were preoccupied with tea and food but we weren’t going to turn it down. We were so full. We didn’t finish it all. We were there for about two hours. Honestly, I think we could have sat there all day and just enjoyed the moment but we were meeting up with our friend Nina so we had to move on... to the Empire Hotel.

Nina said the Empire hotel was right around the corner and I guess technically it was but it was about a 10 minute walk in the rain... on my burnt foot so that was a little rough. Nina suggested the Empire Hotel since they filmed some scenes from Gossip Girl there. It was cool. We all got the ‘Chuck Bass’ drink which was vodka, champagne, honey and lemon water. I don’t drink vodka so I replaced the vodka with Gin. The drink was really good. We just sat there and drank our Chuck Bass drink and caught up with Nina. There was some kind of party for professor at Columbia University so at first it was hard to find a spot to sit but once we did it was good. 

After the Empire Hotel, we took an Uber back to the hotel (well to the McDonalds a block away) and got changed and went out. Nina suggested a place close to the Empire Hotel to check out but since my foot was burnt we decided to stay close to the hotel. There was a place Alicia found that had Karaoke at midnight but before that it was just a normal bar. We walked by a bar that had live music so we decided to go back there for a little and that was a lot of fun. Then we went back to the bar with Karaoke and it was a little strange. They kept playing songs we didn’t know but we sang along for a little until we were ready to say goodnight to the night. 

Sunday, we didn’t have a ton of time before the bus so we went to brunch at The Redemption. We picked it because it had unlimited mimosas (are you seeing the theme of the weekend, not intentional..kind of). The food was really good too. It was definitely what we needed since we had a long bus ride. So after brunch we headed toward the Port Authority to get on our bus. Unfortunately, we were dropped off on the opposite side of the Port Authority but we were able to get tea/coffee for the bus ride so we thought. We got to our bus at 1:50-1:55 and the bus driver informed us that he had one seat left on the bus. We were so confused since we had tickets for the 2pm bus but yet there weren’t enough seats. So we didn’t get on since we had to stick together and went to the information center where the guy said that the driver was suppose to wait until 2 to let the standby line on but he didn’t so we lost our seat. So if you ever take a Greyhound to NYC, remember to get there early, otherwise you might lose your seat. The next bus that had three seats available was at 5:30pm. This would have been alright if my foot wasn’t burnt. There’s plenty to do in NYC to waste 3 hours, Time Square was only a block away but I couldn’t walk. So we honestly sat around on the ground since there were no seats, complained then waited in line for the bus back home at 4 where there apparently wasn’t enough seats. Honestly, we were tired, my foot hurt so we didn’t do the best thing. We gave the driver our tickets and he didn’t look at the time I guess and let us on the bus. I was so nervous that we would be kicked off but we didn’t. The bus started moving and no one said anything. NYC was so much fun. I wish we could always live the high life but you know, you need money. 

[travelingfrenzy]

Last Day in Paris

Today was our last day in Paris. Tomorrow we head to Disneyland Paris and we are all very excited. For out last day in the center city of Paris, we went to the Louvre. We read online that the best time to go to the Louvre is either right when they open or when they are open late. Since we get up so early and run all over the city, we decided that it would be best to try to get to the Louvre right when it opened. Well, we weren’t there right at opening but we were there within the first hour. There is an entrance near the exit to the metro so we got in line there. There was a sign that said the wait to get in would be 30 minutes but it didn’t take that long so that was good. The first line was to check bags and there wasn’t a line at the ticket counter so that was good. In order to get the best view of the Mona Lisa, we ran to that first. So did everyone else that got there that early. However, there was probably only a three rows of people trying to take a picture of the Mona Lisa. Since we are small, we squeezed up to the front fairly easy. The Mona Lisa is so tiny. We have bigger paintings at our house than the size of the Mona Lisa. It was a very nice, detailed painting though and I’m glad we saw it. The Mona Lisa was on the other side of the entrance though so it is a long walk to get there.

Once we were done looking at the Mona Lisa, we decided to check out the other paintings, sculptures, and exhibits. Some of the paintings by the Mona Lisa are so old that they are painted on wood which is cool (I think they were painted in the 1400s). We also saw the Egyptian exhibit which had mummy, hieroglyphics, and sarcophagus. We also saw Greek vases/pots, sculptures, and other artifacts. The bottom of the Louvre had you walk in what appeared to be a dungeon, maybe. We aren’t entirely sure but it was all brick. It kind of looked like you were walking around a castle. They had an area for Mesopotamia and the Ancient Middle East. That’s everything we saw. The Louvre has many other areas full of things as well. However, we were done looking at everything in the Louvre and was ready to move on. The Louvre is a massive museum. Probably the biggest one I’ve ever been in. It used to be a castle so the ceilings and building itself was really beautiful. We got lost a few times though. The map in our opinion takes a little getting used to. I think I figured it out by the time we were ready to leave. Insider’s tip, at the entrance of every room is a color and a number. This lets you know which section you are and what room of the section. That is very helpful. Otherwise, you would definitely be lost.

When we left the Louvre, it was raining but we still got some pictures in front of it and the iconic glass pyramids. They also have a mini Brandenburg Tor look alike right outside the Louvre, which made us think of Germany. We walked through the Jardin des Tuileries (which is the gardens right behind the Louvre). It had flowers and lots of sculptures. On the side, they had a little festival with rides and everything. The whole reason we were heading this way was because Alicia watched an episode of Keeping up with the Kardashian months ago and Kim Kardashian flew all the way to Paris to have cheesecake from Hotel Costes. At first, Alicia led us to a restaurant that got good reviews online but unfortunately they were away on holiday and the restaurant was close. Good thing she had a backup restaurant. Oh wait, they were also closed and away on holiday. You win some, you lose some. Don’t worry though, we didn’t starve and actually really enjoyed where we ended up for lunch. This part of town was very ritzy. The street that Hotel Costes was on had all the expensive stores and you could tell everyone walking around had money. When we walked into the hotel to the restaurant, we felt so out of place. It wasn’t a good day to leave my designer clothes at home. Kidding, however, the awkwardness that we felt subsided and we tried this cheesecake that Alicia has been talking about for months. Honestly, it was alright but I’ve had better cheesecake. I guess that is what we get for living so close to New York Coty. Don’t get me wrong, it was good cheesecake but that is a really long flight for it. Since this was such a nice hotel, it was the most expensive meal we’ve had all trip and all we got was tea and cheesecake (Christine got a mojito and chocolate cake that was also good).

After we fulfilled that dream of Alicia’s, we walked over to Pont des Arts which use to be Love Lock Bridge. Now they have glass on the sidings so no one can place a lock there. So it wasn’t that great since now it looks like a normal old bridge. The other side of the bridge is where the Latin Quarter are, so we took a stroll on that side of the river.

Once we did that, we headed over to the Palais Galleria, which is a fashion museum. It was small but had some interesting clothing. They had clothes that Napoleon wore and Audrey Hepburn. Some people in the museum were really into fashion. They just stood there and admired the clothing. I think more people in that museum were admiring what they were looking at more than I have ever seen at an art museum. Normally it is one or two people. Here, it was 75% of the people. It was cool to check out and it was something Christine wanted to do. After that, we used the rest of the afternoon to enjoy the atmosphere of Paris. We sat on a bench and just chatted then walked by the Eiffel Tower. By the Eiffel Tower, they were having some kind of street market. It was mostly souvenirs and food. After the little rain in the morning, it turned out to be a really nice day.

I can’t believe tomorrow is our last full day in Europe before we head back home. I’m excited to see everyone but sad to say goodbye to our adventure! Tomorrow is Disneyland Paris. Alicia has that all planned and it seems like a very busy day so no promises that I will blog about it! In the end, Disney is Disney right?

[travelingfrenzy]

Paris - Day 2

Today we did a lot of walking around. We went all around Paris. We decided to start our day at the Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart). It looks like it is a lot farther away from the city center than it is. Once you get off the subway, it is all uphill and up a fair amount of steps. However, it is definitely worth it because Sacre Coeur is beautiful. It is all white and has beautiful domes. It also overlooks the city and we were able to identify major monuments. We couldn’t find the Eiffel Tower though. It might have been behind the trees around the church though. They had a scultpture of Saint Anthony of Padua in this church which was cool since that is where we went to grade school and high school. The church also had a lot of stain glass windows which we haven’t seen in a lot of the other churches on this trip.

After the Sacre Coeur, we went back into the city center and to the Arc de Triomphe. The arc is really cool. The arc is in the center of a really big round about. Probably one of the biggest in the world. To get to the arc, you have to go underground so you don’t disturb this big roundabout. After we took our pictures, we walked down the Champs-Elysees. It had all the famous fashion stores and other stores as well (including the Disney Store). The avenue was very nice and it was nice to just walk and take in the Parisian streets.

At the end of the Champs-Elysees, there are two palaces. The Petit Palace and the Grand Palace. Right before the palaces is where the French president lives. The funny thing is right next to the French president’s house is Abercrombie and Fitch and they had this very majestic gate. I think it actually belongs to the house but Abercrombie took the opportunity and ran with it. But back to the palaces, the palaces were very nice. It is funny that they are right across the street from each other. The palaces lead right to the Pont Alexander III which is a very beautiful bridge. It has gold sculptures and nice lamp posts. I think there were some angel sculptures on it. It also had a nice view of the Eiffel Tower which was a good picture opportunity. The other side of the building is called Invalides. It was a nice building with a gold dome-like top. Then we walked over to the Flame of Liberty. This was given to France from America after they helped restore the Statue of Liberty. It was the exact replica of the flame of the statue of liberty. It looked smaller than the one in New York. I guess because a massive green women isn’t holding it up high in the sky. This flame also acts as a memorial for Princess Diana since the car crash that killed her happened in the tunnel right below the flame of liberty. Annnnddddd….. this was our plan for the entire day but we finished at 1ish. It sounds like a lot but all these things are really close to each other. Christine is also a fast walker so it sped up the pace which isn’t a bad thing since we got more accomplished.

So naturally, we went to lunch and got some drinks to kill some time. The restaurant we went to was right next to the offices of some fashion stores (like Givenchy) so everyone was really fashionable. I think they worked in the fashion industry. So we decided to go to the Le Marais district. This district is a shopping district so we were hoping to find some souvenirs but we didn’t but it was nice to walk around the area and see the old buildings in all its French style-ness. After walking around the Le Marais district, we walked right by the area where Notre Dame of Paris is which was originally on the plan for tomorrow. However, since we had time and it was right there, we decided to go in. There was a line outside the cathedral that wrapped around the front. It looked really long. However, it moved really fast. I think we only waited in line for 20 minutes. It was just so the security could check the bags. Notre Dame is beautiful and huge. They have the big organ in the back like all the other churches. I really like the gothic style so I enjoyed walking around Notre Dame and just observing the architecture. The doors and the doorways getting into Notre Dame is extremely fancy. Just thought about the Hunchback of Notre Dame the whole time. The Disney fan in me. The altar was really long and they also had stained glass windows. Notre Dame also had a lot of sculptures of saints and of course, Mary and Jesus.

After that, we took the subway over to the Eiffel Tower and took pictures in front of it since the weather was nicer today. Actually, the sun came out for part of the day as well which was nice. It gets dark here so much later than at home. I think it isn’t completely dark until 10. However, we wanted to see the Eiffel Tower lit up so we went to dinner and then sat by the Eiffel Tower and waited for it to get dark. We sat on a park bench for probably about an hour. The Eiffel Tower lit up was kind of disappointing. Maybe because we waited an hour for it to happen and then it wasn’t anything special. I thought they used little lights all over the tower but they really use a spotlight shooting up each leg of the structure. It also wasn’t completely dark so maybe that was the problem as well. I guess a building lighting up isn’t going to be that cool. It was nice to see the city of lights starting to light up though.

Tomorrow is our last full day in Paris. I can’t believe how quickly it has gone by. We got a lot more done today than I expected so we have to think of more things to do tomorrow. This is going to be a problem since Paris has an abundance of things to do, we just have to plan it and after these longs exciting days of sightseeing, it is hard to plan the next day. The weather has changed once again, and at this moment, it isn’t supposed to rain tomorrow so hopefully that continues to be the case. If it does rain though, I have a rain jacket so it is all good!

[travelingfrenzy]

Eiffel Tower and Versailles

Today we started our day at the Eiffel Tower. This is the first day that was truly a rainy day. It didn’t rain all day but it was on and off for majority of the day. However, since we only have some much time in Paris, we went along with the original plan. We did get breakfast at a place called Kozy before we went to the Eiffel Tower and got some quiches. This quiche was very meaty but it wasn’t bad. We noticed when we got to the Eiffel tower that they are doing some kind of landscaping work or construction in the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower. I think it might have to do with the flooding they had not too long ago since there was a lot of mulch down. This is just a theory though. Since we did get breakfast before we went to the Eiffel Tower, we got to the tower around 10. They had a security line to get underneath the tower and once you bought your ticket. I guess we were there early enough though since the lines were not long at all. The longest line was to get underneath the tower. We took the elevator to the first landing when had very nice views. Then we took the other elevator up to the top of the tower, which is very high up. Since the weather was only alright, it was very windy up on the top of the Eiffel Tower. They had countries flags on top of where we could look out in the direction that they are in. So we took a picture of us facing towards New York and Washington DC since home is somewhere in the middle. The views were great and it was fun to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Even though the lines weren’t long to get in, sightseeing around the Eiffel Tower took all morning so we grabbed a quick lunch then headed to the tour meeting location. The tour was for the Palace of Versailles and Le Domaine de Marie-Antoinette. I like going on these tours since they give you background information about what you are about to see. The place of Versailles belong to King Louis XIV. We started our tour with the Marie-Antoinette area. It was really pretty with a very large garden in the back. Apparently Marie-Antoinette didn’t like living at the palace of Versailles and this was her getaway. Our tour guide said the gardens are so big since this was the period of enlightenment so they needed someplace to be able to think. In her garden, there was a grotto, a farm and the Queen’s Hamlet with her lady’s companions houses. Unfortunately, the Queen’s Hamlet is being restored so we couldn’t see it. Dior is apparently sponsoring the restoration so they basically had a big Dior advertisement wrapping around the building. The farm was nice. They had roosters, hens, donkeys, sheep, goats, cows. The whole nine yards. Fun fact, apparently the king had to ask to come over to the Queen’s area for dinner. She was a diva to say the least. Apparently the king gave her the land with a bunch of flowers on it and she got rid of them because she didn’t like the smell of the roses.

After visiting Marie-Antoinette’s area, we headed over to the Palace of Versailles. I’m pretty sure Marie-Antoinette’s house and garden is on the palace’s property so it didn’t take long to get to our next destination. The palace of Versailles is massive and beautiful. You can definitely tell that the Linderhof was inspired by this castle. King Louis XIV was the sun king. So much gold and so elaborate. They had paintings on the ceilings, gold on the doors, chandeliers in every room. It was great to see. This was probably the most crowded place we’ve been in our whole trip (Other than Christopher Street Day in Berlin). There were so many people visiting the palace so we aren’t the only ones not afraid to visit Paris. On the note of safety, the police presence here is crazy. I’ve seen military presence at both the Eiffel Tower and Versailles, and even on the street when we were eating lunch. Anyways, back to Versailles. It is hard to explain without being there and taking in the scenery. Apparently, King Louis XIV loved attention and winning. He bragged about his winnings in one of the rooms. The attention you could just tell by how elaborate and fancy this palace is. Most rooms had somewhere where his people could watch him or adore him. So the palace had his royal seal all over the place. On the back of the palace is an even bigger garden than on Marie-Antoinette’s garden. It had flowers, sculptures, and vases. Half of it was on a big deck so you overlooked even more of the garden. It was really beautiful.

On the way back from Versailles, we saw the Statue of Liberty look alike. It is in such an unimportant place in Paris on a bridge. It is also a lot smaller than the one in New York. Someone on the tour bus claims that this one is looking directly at the Statue of Liberty but I don’t know if that is true. Hopefully tomorrow will be better weather. We were lucky in Germany, so far not so lucky here. Weather wise. However, a rainy day was bound to happen.

[travelingfrenzy]

To Paris We Go

Today, we took the train to Paris. Our last stop, which is crazy. This vacation/European adventure is flying by! Steffen helped us get from their house to the Stuttgart train station which was nice. The Paris train was a little stricter than the other trains in Germany. All the other trains, we have gotten one ticket for the three of us. To Paris, we all got our own ticket. The ride was easy. It was nice to look out the window at the countryside. There is a river on the border of Germany and Paris which was cool since we knew exactly when we crossed the border into France. When we got off the train, there were three police officers staring us down. One had an old fashion rifle. It was a little intimidating to say the least. Then we took the metro to the hotel. The metro was pretty easy to use and we had no problem. Unlike Germany, their metro is like the rest of the world. You need to scan yourself through a turnstile to get to the metro.

The hotel is nice. The room is pretty small but there is air conditioning and wifi so that is all good things. One weird thing is that the key is a fab and when you leave the hotel, they ask for the fab. We took a little break after getting to the hotel then we headed over to the River Seine and the Eiffel Tower. Romy and Steffen suggested that we do a river tour which was really pretty. We were able to see many of the monuments from the river and it was more relaxing than walking around. It also helped us get acquainted with what is around each other. The Eiffel tower is cool. Very big. We got dinner at a small café by the Eiffel Tower. It was alright, nothing special. There dessert menu was a tad disappointing and we were hoping to walk past a bakery on our way home. Unfortunately, in Europe, many things close early so half the stores were close. However, we only walked by one store that may have been a bakery. Tomorrow we are hoping to go to a bakery or café for breakfast. It will be weird not having fresh bread from the bakery since Emma and Steffen went and got fresh bread every day that we were there. This morning, he got us a chocolate croissant to get ready for Paris. Hoping to find of those here! Paris is very different than the cities in Germany. Differently a lot of old buildings and the buildings are styled in a way you would expect being in Paris (I know I’m not explaining that well). We are going tomorrow to take pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower and then to Versailles so busy day!

[travelingfrenzy]

Last day with Romy and Steffen

Today we headed a village over to Steffen’s hometown. Here we went to a vineyards where Steffen’s father owns some land. The vineyards here are on some pretty steep hills which is interesting. Since Steffen’s father owns some land we didn’t have to park all the way on the bottom of the hill which was nice. We still had to walk a little but it was cooler today and the breeze was nice. We walked through the vineyards into a wooded area. Here they have a tower that has a very nice view of the German countryside stretching as far as the black forest. Around this tower, they have a place where you can buy some drinks (beer, juice, coke, etc) and some food. We had sausages that tasted like a very good hot dog. After we had lunch up here and spent some time relaxing we went back down the hill.

We went back to Romy and Steffen’s for a quick break where we tried some black forest cake. Alicia has been looking for this cake in all the cities that we’ve been in. Mind you, she wasn’t looking very hard but luckily Steffen knew of a good bakery that made black forest cake so it was probably better than having it in either Berlin or Munich especially since they live closer to the black forest. The black forest cake wasn’t what I expected. It had a lot of whipped cream in it with slices of cake and a few cherries dipped in schnapps. It was very good. I’m glad that Steffen was able to get us a piece to try before we left Germany. After our snack, Romy and Steffen wanted to take us to their version of the ice cream farm back home in Delaware. It was very good. They had cows that people could pet and you could even get some milk that was fresh from the cows. We only got the ice cream though.

For dinner, Romy and Steffen wanted to take us to a winery/golf club place that apparently has very good German food but it was very crowded so we decided to get some take out. We picked up Chinese food since we had pizza when we were in Stuttgart. It was interesting since it was different than the Chinese food we have in America. After dinner, Steffen gave us some tips on what to do in Paris. We are expert metro riders so I think we are going to take that to our hotel tomorrow. The one in Paris is definitely more complicated that either Berlin or Munich so it will be interesting. Today was Mom’s birthday, so we skyped her as well. It was good to see everyone.

Romy and Steffen have been great host and I’m sad to leave but I am excited for Paris tomorrow.

[travelingfrenzy]

Heidelberg

We took the train from Romy and Steffen’s house and went to the city of Heidelberg. Today Emma and Frida both joined us. Emma has gotten so much bigger from the last time we saw her. She sings a lot and is a really happy baby. It took a little bit but I think she warmed up to us. Anyways, back to Heidelberg, we spend our day in their old city. First we walked over the old bridge that crosses the Neckar River. Here you can get a very nice view of the castle. On the other side of the bridge, they have a baboon statue. Romy and Steffen said if you touch the gold plate that the monkey was holding, it was good luck so we did. You could also put your head inside the monkey’s head and pose for a picture so we did that as well. Steffen and Christine fit the monkey’s head nicely but Alicia and I were a tad too short. I’m not explaining it well but I will show you a picture if you ask.

Heidelberg has a famous university and chocolatier. The university specializes in medicine but it has been around for a long time. We walked into the library since it was a historic building and it was really nice inside. All the buildings were old fashion since this was the old part of the city. The chocolatier was called Heidelberger Studentenkup. Michelle Obama was given chocolate from this place and the Clintons went there. Very presidential. The chocolate was very good. This is Heidelberg’s old confectioner’s store, established in 1863. There were a lot of streets with cobblestone as well. It made you feel like you were in an older European city. The street were really thin. When a car drove on them, sometimes we wondered if they would fit. Steffen said that is why took the train. Parking is hard in the city. They have a train station so close to their house, I’m not sure why we wouldn’t though.

We went to a brewery called Scheffel’s Kulturbrauerei Heidelberg. Here we had some German food. It was nice having Romy and Steffen there since they could tell us what was in everything. Having people who speak the language of the county is also very helpful. German people are very friendly to each other. At least it seems like it. I don’t know what they are saying. I’m on the same speaking level as Emma, who is two. They talk to each other on the subway, trains, in stores. They seem friendlier than Americans.

After lunch we went to the castle. The castle is very medieval looking. Romy and Steffen were troopers. They said the walk wasn’t that far but it was a good 20 minutes on a steep incline and they had to push Emma and Frida up to the top. Inside the castle, they have the largest wine barrel in the world. It was a whole room size. Definitely very large. They also had a museum about the evolution of pharmacies. The castle also had really nice views of the city from above. After the castle, we went down and got on the bus to head back to Romy and Steffen’s. Funny story about the way down. Romy and Steffen got in on the lowest level since they had the strollers with Emma and Frida. Since this cart was very full, Alicia, Christine and I decided to sit in another cart. Since there were two trams that came at the same time, we assumed that we could go on either one of them. We were wrong. When the trams started to move, we saw the one Romy and Steffen were on go down (like it is supposed to) and ours started to go up. I was a little nervous since I know we needed to catch a train back to Romy and Steffen’s house. Of course, our cart had all Americans in it. I guess none of us knew there was a difference in trams. Once we got back to where we started, we were going to switch trams since we figured one always went up and one always went down. Luckily, Christine noticed the arrows on top of the trams and realized that the same tram we were on was now going down (so the tram goes all the way down then all the way up). Good thing she noticed, since then we stayed on the tram and started to go the correct way. We made it down to the bottom, got on the bus and made our train on time.

At Romy and Steffen’s, we skype Mimi for her birthday and then Steffen made barbeque which was very good. It was nice and relaxing after our long day in the city. Tomorrow is our last full day in Germany. We’ve had a lot of fun but we are also exciting to go and explore Paris.

[travelingfrenzy]

Stuttgart

Today we left Munich and headed to Stuttgart to meet up with Romy and Steffen! They met us at the train station and brought little Frida along with them. She is so cute! She was very good all day long. Then we headed off to explore Stuttgart. They showed us the old and new palaces (Schlossplatz) and the popular squares. Then Steffen took us to the top of a hill to see the city from up above. Stuttgart is very hilly. One lady on the bus said that it looks similar to San Francisco but disclaimer, she has never been there. However, it is very hilly like that so she is probably right (I wouldn’t know either though). Then we went and got ice cream from Eis Pinguin. It was very good ice cream. After that we walked around some more and saw more of Stuttgart. It is a very nice city. A lot smaller than Berlin and Munich so it was a nice change in scenery. Then we got some beer and Hugo (a trendy drink in Germany) and listened to some music at a little music festival they were having. I don’t know if you can call it a festival because it was very small, about a block but Steffen said it lasts about 4 days. We went to dinner at a very good pizza place that was close to where we had drinks and listened to the music so we were able to hear the music from our dinner table. After a long day in Stuttgart we got on a train and went back to Romy and Steffen’s house. Their house is very nice. It is very modern. They can even enter their home by using their fingerprint. I’m glad we get to spend the weekend with them and see Germany from a local’s point of view. It is also nice to meet Frida and see how big Emma has gotten since the last time we saw her.

[travelingfrenzy]

Castle Tours - Our Day in the German Alps

Today we ventured out into Munich bright and early so that we could travel to the southern part of Germany to see Castles! This is one of the days we were most excited for. We woke up early and went to the train station in search of food. Once again we ended up at Starbucks. They do not seem to have as many easy and quick breakfast places around here as they do in the States. After a quick bite we headed to the catch the Bus. Our tour guide was Lucy and the driver was smiley. Once on board the bus we were seated next to the loudest crowd of teenagers ever. We could not hear what Lucy was saying!

First castle on our tour was Linderhof Castle. It is much smaller than any other castle I have seen but just as fancy! It had a huge garden attached to it that we did not even get to see. Outside the castle there was a large fountain that would shoot water up every 30 minutes. The water would be shot up using nothing but natural pressure. This castle was the castle of King Ludwig II. He loved King Louie the fourth of France also known as the sun king so King Ludwig II called him the night king. King Ludwig would sleep during the day and stay up at night. Linderhof Castle was so pretty on the inside. All the rooms were not very big but each one was decorated all around. It is very fascinating to see castles like this one since we do not have anything like it back home.

After we left Linderhof Castle we headed out onto the next stop with was a town called Oberammergau. As we drove into this town Lucy pointed out plenty of houses that had paintings of fairy tales on them such as Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel. This town was still fashioned like an old German town, or what I would think of as an Old German Town. Here we did some souvenir shopping and got some ice cream. While in this town we asked Lucy if we could change seats since the people behind us were so loud. We were able to switch seats which proves the power of asking.

The next stop was the main event, Neuschwanstein Castle! This castle was also built by King Ludwig II. This one was much bigger and definitely had a palace feel. Walt Disney was so impressed by this castle that he made Sleeping Beauty’s castle similar to it in the movie. I also think it reminds me of Cinderella’s Castle in Florida! We took a shuttle up to almost the foot of the castle, there was still a 10 minute walk.  Both the Castles were situated in the German Alps. It was cool to see all the mountains around us. Linderhof was not up the mountain too far so the bus could easily got there. Neushwainstein was quite a way up the mountain so it was a bit harder to get up but the views were beautiful. Inside this castle it seemed like a fairy tale. The stairwells were circular and the hallways were all in Arches. Like Linderhof Castle this one was decorated very elaborately in every room. Neuschwanstein Castle was never completely finished. They showed us what it would have looked like if they finished it which would make it even more Grand. At the end of the tour we walked back down the mountain and got back on the bus. It was a very Royal day and we all decided we would castles of our own.

[travelingfrenzy]

Munich (Muenchen)

Luckily today it barely rained until right now. The only time it rained was when we were walking around Marienplatz and the sun was out. Unfortunately, no rainbows. This morning we went to this place called Coffee Fellows. Thought it would be fast but it was actually the slowest bagel place I’ve ever been to. I guess we went during the rush and there was only three people working and they got a tad behind. However, Alicia and I ordered a bagel with cream cheese and I’m pretty sure we waited 30 minutes.

After that, we took the Metro to Sendlinger Tor. The metro doors in Munich don’t automatically open when you arrive at the station. That was new. We were standing in the metro waiting for the doors to open until the guy at the station opened them. They probably get that a lot from all the tourist visiting Munich. Sendlinger Tor wasn’t anything special but it was nice to get a picture of.

Once we were done taking our picture, we got back on the subway and went towards the Munich Residence (the palace located in the center of Munich). This part of town was very European looking. The palace was very big and pretty. We took some picture of the outside of well as the Hofgarten then went inside the palace. We walked all the way around it looking for the entrance. Some guy was driving in his car and blowing his horn and flipping the palace off. I guess he doesn’t like monarchies or symbols of monarchies. Once we got into the palace, we got a ticket to see the residences, treasury and theatre. The residence was the longest part of the tour. Most of the palace doesn’t look like it use to. It was destroyed during World War two. However, all the rooms had old antiques such as paintings and furniture. It looks like all the palaces’ utensils survived the war. In those times, it was made out of gold though so maybe that’s why. The residences were really beautiful. So much detailed went into buildings in that era. They redid some the rooms to look like how they did back in the day. The guided tour was free, which was nice since we were able to learn the background information and the things we were looking at. The Treasury was a little disappointing. I guess I’ve been to too many castles in my days but this one only have a handful of crowns and not the super impressive ones. They had other things too but nothing that stood out to me. The theater wasn’t open until two so we had to come back to that. Once we did, it was a small theater but very fancy decorated. The seats weren’t too comfy though.

In between the rest of the castle and the theater, we walked over to the Eisbach Wave. This is in the English Gardens and it is an artificial waves that surfers ride. The surfers were all ages, I think the youngest was 11 or 12. Apparently the wave is really tough to ride (it looked tough too) but it is a must see in Munich. We all enjoyed sitting there and watching the surfers take their turns.

After this, we headed over to the Marienplatz area. We started in Karlsplatz/Stachus and worked our way up towards Marienplatz. This is a pedestrian area which is nice since you didn’t have to worry about car. I don’t think bikers were suppose to be riding in this area either. We got some Bavarian pretzels but they weren’t all they are cracked up to be. I guess we have better ones in the US. We saw a fountain dedicated to Richard Strauss, St. Michael’s Church, the towns halls and St. Pete’s Church. The New Town Hall (Neues Rathaus) was very extravagant. It was a lot fancier than any town halls I’ve ever seen. I think the building use to be a castle. It looked that way at least. St. Michaels and St. Peter’s were both very nice. Beautiful paintings and alters. St. Peter’s was the nicer of the two in my opinion. It had paintings on the ceilings and sculptures. We also walked by Frauenkirche, which is their our lady of the church. It's very iconic here. We didn't go inside though since it looked like they were doing construction.

Finally we went to Hofbrauhaus and ordered a liter of beer. It was a little ambitious. To be honest, we didn’t finish our liters but it was a fun experience. While we were in Munich, we had to go to one of the most famous beer gardens in the world. After that we went to Hard Rock Café. They seem to have one in every city. Now we’re back in the hotel room since we have a super early start tomorrow to make it to Neuschwanstein Castle. Super exciting and then Friday, we get to see Romy and Steffen and family! This trip is flying by though. I wish we had more time in each city. Munich is very pretty. They have a lot of trees and a lot of bikers. The bikers in these German cities are kind of annoying since they think they own the road. I’m glad we went to Munich though because this town is definitely a lot different than anything in the US. We all felt like we were in an old city in Europe!

[travelingfrenzy]

Berlin Post are Up!

I posted about our days in Berlin. Disclaimer: I wrote them after very long days of walking all around this beautiful city. Sorry if there are typos or grammar errors :)

[travelingfrenzy]

Train to Muenchen

Today we took the Train from Berlin to Munich. It was a very long train ride to say the least. It was 6 and a half hours. I felt a little motion sickness but got over it. We sat at a table with four seats around it so it was nice that we were able to sit together and talk. It was almost nice that we had a table when we read and eat lunch. We stopped a decent amount of times. We went to the center of Germany then down to Munich. It felt like we were going all over the place. We saw all these old towns/country side cities which was nice. It was a different side of Germany other than these big cities that we are staying in. Our hotel in Munich was only a four minute walk from the train station so that was nice. It was raining when we got here but now it isn’t. We went to dinner at Vi Vadi, which is the restaurant owned by the people who own the Hotel we are at. Since we came from a Marriott, the Vi Vadi doesn’t seem super nice but it isn’t that bad. It doesn’t have AC but so far, it has been much cooler here in Munich than in Berlin. It is supposed to rain in Munich tomorrow but hopefully it doesn’t. If it does though, we are thinking of a place. It’s our only full day in Munich since we are using a day to go to the Neuschwanstein castle.

[travelingfrenzy]

Berlin - Day 3

Today we took the metro from Potsdamer Platz to Alexanderplatz. It was fairly easy once we were near the U line. Potsdamer Platz is a very big metro station and you can only get to certain tracks from certain areas. One we figured that out, it was rather easy. When we got up to Alexanderplatz, it looked like they had a festival there but it wasn’t open yet but there was food vendors and things to do. It looked like it was probably fun. They was a clock in Alexanderplatz that had the times for the entire world so we took a picture of the time in New York (Eastern time zone). After Alexanderplatz, we walked to Rotes Rathaus which is the town hall of Berlin. We didn’t go inside but it is an older building with a clock tower. The building was red. After that we went to the Television Tower which was Neptune’s fountain (Neptunbrunnen) in front of it. The fountain was elaborate with animals spitting the water out and Neptune on top with mermaids surrounding him. It was really pretty. I’m not really sure of the significance of the television tower but it is a really tall building in Berlin. We could see it from Reichtag yesterday. In the same square is also St. Mary’s Church (St. Marienkirche) but there was a lot of construction around it so you couldn’t go in. It actually looked like they might be doing work on the church itself.

After this area, we went over to Museum island. The first thing we saw was the Berliner Dom. It was really hot outside so we decided to go in. It was definitely worth it. It was beautiful inside. A lot of detail went into that church. They also had a lot to do. We were even able to walk up into the dome (which was almost 200 steps) and see the views of the city from above. It was cool to see because it is on the other side of Berlin so it was different views of Berlin. The church was a protestant church which is different since you normally tour Catholic Church (at least when you are touring around the Italy and the Mediterranean.) This part of the city has much older buildings so it was interesting to see this part of Berlin. It made you feel like you were in an older city then when you are over by Potsdamer Platz. The buildings over here are much more modern. Museum island has 5 museum  and we decided to see the Neues Museum because they had a display for Nefari and we thought that would be the most interesting. Coincidently enough, all the museum were close except Neues and the Pergamon Museum. The Pergamon seemed a lot more popular. People were waiting an hour and a half to see what was inside. We weren’t going to do that. Inside the Neues we saw lots of pots, medals medallion and Egyptian history. The Nefari display was really small. It was just a bust of her head. I tried to take a picture which wasn’t allowed. I somehow missed the sign. I was able to take a picture before I was caught #rebel.

After museum island we walked by the Kronprinzenpalais (Crown Prince Palace), Humbolt University, Unter den Linden, and the Neue Wasche. They were just fancy old buildings. I think Humbolt University is really old. We went to the bebelplatz where the Nazi had the book burning of all the books that didn’t agree with their ideology. Also in bebelplatz is the St. Hedwig’s Cathedral. We went into this church and the inside wasn’t anything special. The outside is really nice, I guess they spent all their money on that.

Then we went over to the gendarmenmarkt which we read online was arguably the most beautiful square in Berlin. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see it to its full potential because they were setting up for a music festival. We saw the three buildings that are in the square but we had to walk around the outside instead of through it. The three buildings were the Franzosische friedrichstadtkirche (French Church), Deutscher Dom/Neue Kirche and the Konzerthaus. Good thing for us is that Ritter Sports (the chocolate Romy and Steffen always bring) was right next to the gendarmenmarkt so we were able to get some while we were in Berlin. I think I’m going to eat it during our super long train rider tomorrow. Everyone is the most nervous about Munich since that’s where that bombing happened on Saturday and apparently another suicide bomber happened two hours from Munich. I think it will be fine though. We will stay alert. We don’t get to Munich until almost 5 tomorrow so we will probably only get dinner. Finding food has been a bigger struggle than I thought it would be since we can’t read only of the menus. Probably should have seen that coming. Anyways, we did almost everything on our list. I really enjoyed my time in Berlin. It would have been nice to have a few more days but I think we saw all the major sights. We got a good taste of the city. Unto the next one!

[travelingfrenzy]

Berlin - Day 2

63 steps shy of 20,000 steps. We did a lot of walking to say the least today but we saw so much. We slept in a little bit but we were out of the hotel by 10:30 with a plan. We went over to Potsdamer Platz for breakfast, to the Sony Center. They have a lot of restaurants in there but we went to Dunkin Donuts. We just needed something to eat before out fun filled day. After that we went back to the Typography of Terror to finish viewing the museum since it closed yesterday before we were able to finish. We walked past this square that had a June 17th memorial, which was significant because it was the working class protesting the government. Not too interesting but we stopped and looked at the mural they had. They have part of the Berlin Wall still standing outside of the museum and informational displays below in a basement-like area but it is out an outdoor area. The displays were talking about the raise of the Nazi empire and the war. It mention the wall at the very end. I didn’t realize that the wall was built so late actually. They still have the line throughout Berlin to show you where the wall use to be which is cool. It make you realize how many of the buildings are new because the wall goes right through them.

After the typography of terror we went to Checkpoint Charlie. It is kind of in a really inconvenient area since it is in the middle of a road that is in use. The checkpoint is really small. It is just a shack with some people dressed up in soldiers outfits and charging tourist to take pictures. It was cool to see Checkpoint Charlie though since we all just watched ‘Bridge of Spies’ and they had the location in the movie. In the movie, it was on a bridge, or at least it looked like it but not anymore.

Then we walked over to Hilter’s Bunker. Hugest let down ever. There wasn’t anything there. There was a sign that said that this is where the bunker was but now it is an apartment parking lot. So we walked over to the Pariser Platz which is on the other side of the Brandenburg Gate so we got to see that again. There was a Hotel Adion there as well, which is apparently a must see. It was a nice building. It is probably on the older side for Berlin. They don’t seem to have a lot of those, I’m thinking because of the bombings.

We also walked by the Memorial for the Murdered Jews (the Holocaust Memorial). The top of it is a bunch of rectangle slates, we think to represent the tombs of everyone murdered but some were small and some were big and we aren’t sure why that is. The memorial also have a museum underneath these tombs and it went into detail about all the people that died and their families. It was really sad but interesting to learn about. I didn’t realize how much the holocaust spread throughout Europe. I definitely learned a lot more about German history especially how Hilter gained popularity and the culture in Berlin changed throughout the 1900s.

We went on our way to the Reichtag, where you can get good views of Berlin from the dome. Good thing that Romy told us that you had to make a reservation in advance. I did it this morning and it was rather easy. I think there was a line for people who didn’t have reservation and it was really long. It was nice to be able to see Berlin from super high up but it was super-hot in there. We walked over to the Bunderskanzlernt building but you couldn’t go inside so we just kept walking to the River Spree so we could check out the beach bar. The beach bar is just a lounge chairs alongside the river but they have a bar and they had music playing so it was relaxing to just sit back and drink a beer and chill after all that walking.

[travelingfrenzy]

Berlin - Day 1

Well we made it to Berlin. The flight wasn’t too bad, it was just long. I feel a sleep for a little bit but it wasn’t a good night sleep. Our layover in Munich was easy as well. Going through passport control wasn’t too bad. They need to make that area bigger but it was fast. We thought the security would be stricter because of the shooting in Munich that happened yesterday but it wasn’t stricter than we have in America. The flight from Munich to Berlin was so short. It was only a 50 minute flight. Getting off the airplane was easy since we already went through customs in Munich so all we had to do was wait for our bags. We followed Romy’s advice and took the bus then the metro to our hotel. It was alright. Christine was definitely uneasy about taking public transportation in a foreign country where we don't speak the language. It was hard to tell which stop was which on the bus so we got off at the wrong one. So we had to take the metro for a few more stops but it was easy to figure out and we got more acquainted to the metro system which is pretty good here. The hardest part was when we got off at our destination (Potsdamer Platz) and had to find our hotel. Luckily, we’ve dropped our guy in the front of the Marriott before so I was able to recognize some buildings. The hotel is nice, it is a Marriott so that was kind expected. Someone has to sleep on a cot since they gave us a king bed instead of two doubles. We decided to rotate. So after the plane right, layover, getting to the hotel, we were pretty beat so we took shower and took a 45 minute nap.

After the nap, we wanted to explore the city. We planned on going to the Tiergarten, the Berliner (the victory column), and the Brandenburg gate. Little did we know that today was Pride day in Berlin (they call it Christopher Street Day or there were signs that said Berlin Queer Day). They were having this big march right through the Tiergarten near all the sites we wanted to see. We still saw them, just with thousands of other people. We were laughing since our families were telling us to stay away from large crowd and we ended up in the middle of a huge event. We observed the festivities but eventually walked over to explore other parts of the city since our time here is so short.

Some things we observed was that people walk around the city with open beer bottles or just cups of alcohol. Pride day mostly consisted of alcohol booths and nearly naked (or in one case according to Christine and Alicia completely naked people). We also walked into the Tiergarten which is their central park basically and people were off the path but still very visible peeing. It was crazy and A LOT of people were doing it.

After we finished exploring the park, we walked up into Potsdamer Platz. It wasn’t anything special in my opinion, they had signs that said it was Berlin’s Times Square but I don’t think it was that great. It was a nice part of town though. At this point we were starving, so we went to find somewhere to eat but all the menus at the restaurants were in German! We found one place called Marcedo that had burgers but the waitress didn’t understand English very well and so we couldn’t change what was on the burger. It wasn’t bad though. Since I didn’t eat since a snack on the plane going to berlin, I was starving (I slept through breakfast on the plane to Munich) so the burger was pretty good. Then we went looking for water and we stumbled upon the museum of typography of terror. The museum was very informative about how the Nazis became how they were. You definitely learn everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the Nazis at this museum. They also had a piece of the Berlin wall in front of the museum with displays but the museum was closing so we have to go back to look at that. I think that museum was on our list for things to do tomorrow anyways. I think that is it. We’re back in our hotel room now and I think we’re going to turn in early since we are still a little exhausted from our travels today.

[travelingfrenzy]

My Trip to the Mediterranean

  So we took a trip to the Mediterranean with our grandmother about a month ago. It was a little over two weeks long and it was amazing. Unlike in London, we didn’t have a dorm room to go back to with Internet so I wasn’t able to post about my day like before. I did, however write what I did everyday on my Kindle. It gave me an idea of what it would be like with an android because that’s what amazon uses. I did like the swiping technique where you don’t lift your finger! It made it a lot quicker to write these posts. I will mention though that I didn’t edit these so the grammar may be off or there could be spelling mistakes (my little disclaimer! I did quickly read them over though but it's a lot in one sitting - also my suggestion is to read them over time) Anyways, here are the highly anticipated posts about my trip to the Mediterranean! I wrote most of them but Alicia wrote some of the last few because writing these posts everyday gets a little exhausting but I love being able to go back to this page and reread about my trips!

After this post is the post from Barcelona so if you want to start where we started on our trip, scroll down to the Venice post :) Or click here -->http://travelingfrenzy.tumblr.com/post/90855216639/venice

[travelingfrenzy]

Barcelona, Spain

*** This was written by Alicia (Guest Writer) ****

Today was our last day of the cruise. Today we ported later in the day. We didn't dock until around 11. Unfortunately the view out our veranda wasn't very pretty. It looked out into an industrial loading zone. We had breakfast in the lido. It was very crowded today. After that we went back to our room. We then went out to the pool and listened to a band play and got hamburgers and fries. We got the cheese fries since we were craving then despite not being a big fan of them- it’s a odd hate them, love them relationship. I guess they are addictive. After that it was finally time to explore Barcelona.

So we hoped on a bus. The air conditioner was not working so it was hot on the bus. Also I have no idea what the name of the tour guide was, but I do know that the bus drivers name was Pedro. The city of Barcelona is really big. It was a bit far from the dock but not too far.

The first thing we did was drive up a big hill so we can see all of the city. I feel like in every city they took us somewhere high so we could see the whole city. It was neat to see the whole city. Up on this hill they also had a cool fountain. This is also where they had the Olympic buildings from when Barcelona held the Olympics. Our tour guide said that you could see all of Barcelona behind the athlete when they jumped.

After that we headed down the hill to the city. Barcelona reminded me of London in some ways but it also had a Roman flare. The cool thing about the city was that it was different depending on what section you're in. Like one section was very mathematical and like a chess board. The most organized place in all the stops on this trip. It was like a modern city where one street the cars go one way and the next one goes the other way. They also had it so the corners of the intersections, the buildings were cut in a way that there was more room and it seemed more open. However, the other part which was their old town was like the other old cities where the streets were narrow and zigzag all over the place. The architecture in Barcelona was the best best. Gaudi makes really cool buildings. They're really like no others that I've seen. It more a piece of art then normal buildings. Gaudi is amazing. I liked all of them. I really liked this one that was purple and had a aquatic, fishy feel I would say. It was decorated so beautifully. We only drove by it but I wish we would have stopped and got a better view of it. It was funny seeing it in comparison to the other buildings in the area. All the buildings in Europe seem to be more artist then those in the US. I guess that's the difference of time diverges cities are older.

The next big stop today was to another building by Gaudi. This one was a church. It's called Gaudi's Sagrada Familia cathedral. This building was really neat. They have been building it for a long time. Odd not don't yet but, they hope to finish it on the 100 anniversary of Gaudi's death. This will be in 2026. It was neat to look at this building. It had so much detail in it. Also you could see the difference between the old section and the section that was more recently built. Our guide said that they are going to clean it so the building is all the same color when it's done. I think they shouldn't clean it though since the think it's cool to see the difference. Also out was nice to be able to see the difference of time. We walked all the way around the building. And it is so different I every side. Each side almost seemed unique.

After this we got back on the bus and drove around town. I always find it funny to see men in suits on motorcycles. The city is really pretty do we admitted many buildings as we drove to our next stop. The next stop was to a 13th century cathedral in the gothic quarter. This area was neat since there was a mixture of architecture from all these different art time periods. The tour guide showed us Roman influence, gothic influence, renaissance influence, baroque influence, and neoclassical influence. So after seeing all this different influences in the architecture we entered the cathedral. It was nice and had a lot of different columns and glass windows. It was really nice. In the middle of the cathedral or maybe it was out the right door it was hard to tell since it was so massive but anyways there was a garden area. The garden area was surrounded but a bunch of statues. They were all depicting religious people and scenes. People also could light candles around this area. In the middle they had swans. It was a nice peaceful area.

That was our last stop before heading back to the ship. I would have liked to spend more time in that area to explore since it seemed like a cool area. Overall I had a great day in Barcelona. I would like to go back and visit it again some day. It seemed liked a nice city. I was a bit scared going in since we were warned of the major pickpocket and scam problem in Barcelona but luckily we didn't encounter this problem.

This has been a great trip. It was really neat to see all the different cities and cultures. I'm sad to see it end. It has also been a very educational experience since I feel I learned so much about all these places. I hope to visit the Mediterranean again some day. I experienced so much and saw so much but I know that there is so much more to see.

Until next time.