Last post from Rome :(

Ciao from Rome, for the final time L.

This is B & K’s last international blog (for now…) It is our last night in Roma, Italia because tomorrow we are headed back to the windy city. But before we return we will recap our final days in Europe. Yesterday we went on a tour. Our ticket said we were going to be going to the Spanish steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, and St. Peter’s square (not the basilica), which is what we said in our last blog.  However, at some point in time they changed the itinerary, and after we were on the bus headed to St. Peter’s square, they told us the next stop on our tour would be inside the basilica. We were confused and angry (we were not dressed appropriately to be going into the Vatican). So Kelly had to buy two scarves (one for her shoulders and one for her legs) and Breanne had to buy one scarf to cover her legs. The scarves were black and white and said Rome all over them. So needless to say, we were the most fashionable people in the basilica. Anyways, we took a lot of pictures and walked around a lot. After our tour, we decided to visit the Spanish steps on our own since our tour never went there. There were a TON of steps…but B & K conquered ALL of them (up and down mind you). We also went to this place called “Time Elevator” which was a very unique experience. Basically we sat in a movie theater (with 3 screens), but in groups of 10. Each group of 10 chairs were on a rotating/moving machine. So as we watched the movie, our seats moved and we felt like we were a part of the movie. (Water even splashed us from the ceiling when they talked about the fountains of Rome). But the idea of the movie was to “go back in time” and see what Rome was like back in the day, and relive scenes from Rome’s history. It was really neat!

                Today, we had another tour planned for the Vatican! We were dressed appropriately today, so no scarves were needed. (Although B carried one in her purse JUST IN CASE!). We began the tour by going through the Vatican museum. It was really cool, because they had old sculptures, tapestry, mosaics, and paintings. They were all so old! One of the ceilings in the museum looked like it was 3D, and the sculptures were carved out….but really they were just painted to look 3D. We’re still not sure that they weren’t carved, because they looked so realistic. After the museum, we were “going to the chapel and we’re gonna see paaaaaaintings” (sung to the tune of “going to the chapel and we’re gonna get maaaarried”.  (AKA the Sistine Chapel). We saw all of Mikey’s (aka Michelangelo’s)  paintings. They were incredible! The entire ceiling was covered in paintings (it looked 3D, but again wasn’t) and all of the walls were covered. There were sooo many people inside, the guards sssshhhhed people almost every minute or two. We felt like we were taking standardized tests. But unfortunately we were not able to take pictures inside the chapel, so you might have to Google the paintings if you want to see them. Then once we left there (and after a quick breakfast/coffee break) we went to the basilica (again!). However today our guide was 100x’s better than yesterday, and we saw more and learned more about St. Peter’s Basilica. It is absolutely gorgeous.

                For the last supper tonight, Kelly and Breanne decided to splurge a little (and by a little we don’t really mean much), but went to a nice restaurant called “that’s amore”. Kelly got the lasagna and Breanne got the fettuccini alfredo, and they were DELICIOUS! A great last meal for us. Then we saw the Spanish steps at night, and now we have to pack to make sure everything fits into our suitcase.  Next time we all chat, we’ll be back in the states. Have a wonderful day, see you all soon!!! P.S. internet is too slow to upload pictures, we will post more when we get home!

Arrivederchi for the last time….

B&K

Ten-four.

Ciao from Roma!

 The view from Piazzelli Michelangelo

 The fake "David" statue... but they look almost identical!

 B&K at the leaning tower!

 The colosseum!

 B&K at the Colosseum

 And again!

And a view of the inside of the Colosseum! 

Hi everyone,

                We have made it to our final destination! No more trains and travelling … except the 11 hour flight home! We love Rome so far! But for now we will tell you about Florence and Pisa! In Florence, we took a tour where we got to go to the Piazzale Michelangelo where we had a beautiful view of the entire city of Florence.  Later on the tour we walked around and went to Galleria del Accademia, where we saw Michelangelo’s “David.” Unfortunately we were unable to take pictures inside the museum, but we do have pictures of the “fake” David! This is the copy made of a different material, done by Michelangelo’s students. We also got to see the cathedral of Florence, known as St. Mary of the Flower, but everyone calls it the Duomo because of the dome on top. After dinner that night, we had the best gelato of our lives! Seriously, Rome has some big shoes to fill or should we say cones! Then yesterday we were still in Florence, but we took a day trip by bus to Pisa. It was about an hour drive to get to Pisa and then a fifteen minute walk from where our bus stopped. We got to see the Piazza Duomo square with a church, baptistery, cemetery, and bell tower. The bell tower is more commonly known as the leaning tower of Pisa! It is still leaning, don’t worry. Although Breanne and I did push it up a little in our pictures! Overall we both really liked Pisa, or at least what we saw of it! Then this morning, we took an hour and a half train ride to Rome. Then we had to take a 15 to 20 minute taxi drive to get to our hotel. We were able to check in and go to our room which is very schnazzy.  We left the hotel to go to the Colosseum and within two minutes of leaving our hotel we found ourselves at the Trevi Fountain. Having our hotels by big landmarks makes it easier to find our way back. So we kept walking and walking and walking and walking some more. Then we looked straight ahead to find the Colosseum. We went in walked around got a tour and learned a lot! It was very educational. J We wanted to go today because neither of our tours will take us there, so this way we still got to see it. Now we are home, our feet are hurting and we are sunburnt! Oops! That’s the Irish skin for ya! Overall we are enjoying Italy very much! We are so glad to have this opportunity to come here and be able to see all of these amazing parts of history! Tomorrow we will see the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and the Pantheon. Then on Thursday we will get to see the Vatican, and on Friday we get to see Chicago! While both of us love it here in Italy, we are missing everyone back home very much and are looking forward to coming home on Friday! Arrevaderci!

B&K

Adventures of B and K in Italy Part two

View from our hotel room in Florence, Italy

Our Florence hotel, right in between Tiffany& Co. and Burberry

Our super fancy hotel in Florence!

Bre with her pizza in Vernazza, Italy

A list of every shop/store/restaurant/hotel in Vernazza... yep thats it!

B&K in Vernazza

Again in Vernazza

A view of Vernazza in Cinque Terre

The glass blowing man with the vase he made in about a minute

All of the hand made ridiculously overpriced blown glass!

Ciao friends!

Breanne and Kelly here for round two of our blogging experience together! We made it to Florence today! But let’s go back and tell you about our past few nights in Italy that we weren’t able to share with you earlier. We left off after our first night in Venice. The next day we had another walking tour of Venice, hitting more historical sites of Venice. When we arrived at this tour, we were given a nifty piece of paper,  that told us we had earned ourselves a free trip to the island of Murano, which is known for its glass-making. Basically we hit the jackpot!!! We got a free boat ride to the island, where we got to watch the glass man make a vase and a jumping horsey. NEIGHHHHH! It was sweet but sweaty. There were 5 ovens in a small area, which made it toasty. We saw some awesome glass dishware. Only slightly out of our price range, and by slightly we mean (A WHOLE LOT).  Later that day we did some shopping and eating. The food was delicious.  Nom Nom Nom.

                The next day we left bright and early (for real) to catch a water bus (since cars aren’t allowed on the island of Venice.) We took a train from Venice to Milan and then had to catch a connecting train to Monterosso, which is one of the 5 cities in Cinque Terre. Then from there we had to take another train to Vernazza, which is where we stayed. It was b-e-a-utiful. But tiny. Super tiny. But literally it was one street, a train station, and lots of rock, and water and that’s Vernazza for ya! Once we got the key to our place, the owner took us to our room. We had to carry our suitcases and backpacks up around 30 really steep steps, we will post a picture, but it will not do the stairs justice. Other than that it was very relaxing, we were able to spend time together laying out in the sun and kayaking in the water (were still unsure of what body of water it actually is.) Laguna beach? I think so. Anyway, we had a nice relaxing time there. And then Breanne screwed it up and went and broke our key. LAME.  But for real. She snapped our key in half. She’s been lifting weights. J Don’t worry we got it fixed, the man didn’t live very far away (no one does.)

                So we were there for 2 days, ate lots of pizza, and left this morning to travel to Florence. We got on our first train back to Monterosso, and then caught another train to Pisa, and then finally to Florence. But here we are, sitting in our super sweet hotel room, hyper, tired, and writing a blog for you to read! You better be enjoying it. I feel these posts have been getting way more enjoyable to read since Breanne arrived. Hmmm. Anyway, we will post lots of pictures, were in Florence for 2 more days, one of which we will take a trip to Pisa. Then finally off to Rome! Only 6 days of our trip left! L ahh! Do you miss us yet?

Love Love Love

 K&B

Italy!

 Venice, Italy

 Rialto Bridge, Venice, Italy

Breanne and I on our gondola ride!

Hi everyone!

       It’s Kelly and Breanne!! We are officially in Italy! Wooooo :) We are tired. It’s been an exciting but overwhelming past 2 days. We met at the Heathrow airport yesterday, after very long trips for the both of us. (Breanne from Chicago, Kelly from Paris), and eventually made our way to Brighton. Kelly was able to show Breanne around Brighton a little. We went to her school’s small but pretty campus, then to the Brighton city center, and then finally to the Brighton Pier.  We had fun, but we’re exhausted. So after a few hours of sleep, we were up again at 4:15 am to catch our 5:00 bus to the airport. Once we arrived in Venice, we had to take an hour ride on a waterbus to get to the main island of Venice. Then we wandered around a bit trying to find our hotel, and once we got into our room we had to figure out how to use the power and shower, because nothing would turn on. We were under the impression that our room had no power. But being the Nancy Drew’s that we are, discovered a key slot to put our key in (and keep it there) and it works our power. It’s also really nice to know where your keys are when you’re in the room. Double whammy!!! Then there was the shower problem. This was really just Kelly, because Breanne didn’t really struggle with that part. She is really smart. But it was not the same type of shower we have back in the states.  After the power debacle of 2011, we had a planned tour at 3:00! So we walked around Venice seeing some of the hot spots. To conclude our tour, we went on a gondola ride through the main canal and mini canals. FACT: they do not sing :( BUT, they do all wear a striped shirt  (either blue and white or red and white). AND we did hear one gondola man sing, but that was it…  Then we wandered around a bit, got some dinner and then gelato! Now we are relaxing, and are very excited to get some good sleep tonight. We miss you all, and hope to update you soon!! 

Bodiam Castle!

 Bodiam Castle! East Sussex, England

 All 14 of us at Bodiam Castle!

 The inside of the castle!

 My lack of a handstand... at Bodiam Castle!

 My last class with  my awesome teachers, Dave and Kate!

In the process of packing back up!

Hi everyone!
  So this may be my last post for a little while, after tonight, I don't know where I will be able to have internet access! I will be in Paris from tomorrow until Monday morning! And then I will be back in Brighton with Breanne for a day and then we will be headed to Venice! So it all depends on whether the places we stay have free wifi or not! But on to more exciting things that i have been able to see ... Yesterday we made a trip to East Sussex to see Bodiam Castle. For one of the classes I am taking here, two of my classmates and I had to make a powerpoint presentation about the castle, so I got plenty of pictures! The castle was really cool to see, but after we went through the parts we could (the inside had been blown up a long time ago so there wasn't much to see on the inner courtyard area) we still had an hour before we were leaving to go home. So we started messing around taking funny pictures, one of my friends is a gymnast for ISU so we took some pictures doing handstands in the castle! Needless to say mine didn't turn out very well! But it was a fun day and we finished our power point project right when we got back and turned it in! So I have no more homework! Today was our last day of class so I took a picture with my teachers! They have been great, and I really enjoyed them as my teachers! I'm officially all packed to leave bright and early tomorrow morning ( around 530am) to head off to Paris! There was a bit of an issue because when I come back on Monday I won't be staying in these dorms anymore, and I have to have all my bags out of my dorm room by Monday at 9am, and I won't be here that early. So the people in the office for the dorms kindly said they would hold my suitcase in their office where I can pick it up on Monday afternoon when we get back, so I don't have to drag my suitcase all around Paris! I can't wait for Paris to hopefully use the few phrases of french I remember from my 2.5 years of french I took in high school! I will try to update my blog but like I said, it all depends on where I have wifi! Au revoir! Cheers! Ciao!
Kelly

Beachy Head, Alfriston, Bath, and Stonehenge

 Delicious Food in Bath

 Beachy Head

 Me at Beachy Head! (no railings at all!)

 Pretty area at Beachy Head

 Alfriston

 Pretty area in Alfriston

 Amazing Chocolate place in Alfriston

 Pouring at Stonehenge

 Stonehenge!

 Roman Baths!

 So pretty! Roman Baths!

 Roman Baths again!

 My delicious cucumber sandwiches, scones, tea, and cupcake!

Famous "shopping" bridge in Bath!

Sorry the pictures are somewhat out of order :(


Hi everyone!
  Thanks for still reading my blog! I hope you're enjoying it so far! So these past few days have been very busy. On Friday (7/15/11) the whole group took a trip out to a place called Beachy Head. Beachy Head is an absolutely gorgeous cliff. From here you can see France on a very clear day! It was a very windy day when we went up there but still an amazing view! While it's a beautiful place, Beachy Head is also known as the number one place where people commit suicide. So that's pretty depressing, but still pretty view none the less. After Beachy Head we drove not too far away to a little quaint village known as Alfriston. Alfriston is the typical English village that you would picture in a movie. There was a really beautiful church and some cute shops where we stopped and got ice cream! We finally made it back to Brighton later that day and early the next morning we traveled to Stonehenge. Unfortunately we had some really awful weather, it was down-pouring the whole time, but we expected it would be slightly less crowded because of the weather. We were very wrong, the place was packed. Our program advisors had set this trip up way in advanced, so luckily we were able to skip the lines! We quickly walked through the puddles of grass, rain, and mud with our umbrellas (or brollys as they are called in England) After a very fast tour around the stones we headed back to our mini bus and we were all completely soaked and muddy! We then left and headed for Bath to see the Roman Baths. When we arrived it was still raining in Bath, our program advisor who has been doing these trips many times said this was the most she has ever seen it rain on one of her tours! So we made it to Bath and again were able to skip the line and go right in to see the Roman Baths. The tour was really cool, and took about an hour and a half! It was all very interesting! So we had a little free time before we were heading to our hotel, so we went to a restaurant. The place was called Garfunkels. It was delicious! I decided to have a "traditional British meal" aka afternoon tea! I took a picture of it, because it was really cute, but it was also amazing! It tasted so good! So then we were off to our hotel in a nearby town called Bristol. We got to go in the pool at the hotel (the hotel smelled like chlorine when we walked in, I've missed that smell!) So that was fun, and we had a very delicious pasta/melon/tiramisu meal for dinner/dessert. And we were able to tour around Bristol for the night. The next morning we had some more good food! The breakfast was not what you get at your usual hotel breakfast! I expected some gross eggs and bread. But we had a feast! There was 2 different kinds of eggs, 2 different kinds of sausage, bacon, scones, croissants (many different kinds) every sort of fruit you could imagine, cereals, and a few other items that I wasn't sure what they were exactly! But needless to say it was delicious! So that day we had 4 hours to go to Bath and do whatever we wanted! So we did a little shopping and a little sightseeing. There is a "famous" place called the Royal Crescent, which is a bunch of buildings that are connected and in the shape of a crescent. The only facts we were able to find out about it was that it took 8 years to build. We were walking around and saw a bunch of buildings in a crescent and we thought that was it, but apparently that was known as the royal circus, which I'm still not sure what that is! But Bath is a beautiful city! We finally stopped to get some food and we ended up going back to Garfunkles because it was so good the first time we wanted more! So we brought some friends and went back to eat, where I got the same meal again! Just as good as it was the day before! Finally we had a 3 hour drive back to Brighton, and we all crashed, we were so tired from such a fun but busy weekend! Now I only have 20 minutes of class tomorrow and a review of the program on Thursday. We are going to see Bodium Castle tomorrow afternoon, and that about sums up my time in Brighton. I will be travelling with a few friends to Paris for the weekend and then Monday morning Breanne will be arriving and we will meet up in Heathrow Airport! I'm getting more and more excited for her to come! But I have loved my time here in Brighton so much! But all this talk about the delicious food is making me hungry! So I will post a few pictures and I'm going to go make some lunch!
Cheers!
Kelly

British Schools

 Entrance to Portslade Community College

 Another view of Portslade Community College

A very poorly taken picture of my visitors pass to Portslade!

Hi everyone,
So today, we went to visit a British School. We went to one on Monday, but that was more of observation than anything. Monday we were at a school in Hailsham the school was called Grovelands Primary School. Instead of using the term grade to determine which level the children are in, they call them year. Comparing the grade to the year is very similar, usually if a student is in year 7 they would be considered in grade 6 in the USA. So the Primary school we went to on Monday was Year 1 to Year 6, and the school we went to today was Year 7 to Year 11. After Year 11 the children will be 16 and they will then go to 2 gap years if they choose to continue on to university, but many students choose to only attend through Year 11. Today we were at Portslade Community  College. Community College is their version of middle/high school. Not what we consider to be college. The children were doing a project on America and had to come up with questions to ask us, and they had to make a poster with the information they learned. The questions we got asked were great. I was asked if I lived in a teepee, and if all I eat is KFC or McDonalds. I was also asked why I talk so weird and if I knew any famous people. Another question was if I like Justin Beiber or not, as well as why we drive on the wrong side of the road. I was also asked if I have a gun, and if I shoot people, and they were wondering if everyone in America is fat, and what kind of food do I eat? The questions continued, one girl had a book open about the Native American Indians, she pointed to a picture of shoes that would have been worn in the 1500's and asked me if those were the kind of shoes I wore. The students also thought that everywhere in America is very similar to Disneyworld, because that is one of the few places they have actually heard of. In this school community not many students ever leave the area, some rarely even travel to Brighton, a mere 20 minute drive. So they really did not have a general idea of what life was like in America. It was a really interesting day and I met a lot of great kids, and was able to have biscuts (mostly really delicious cookies) and tea with the other teachers in the staff lounge, during their "tea" break that they have everyday! A teacher asked me if I wanted tea or coffee and I asked for tea, she wanted to know if I wanted milk in my tea, I told her I had never heard of milk in your tea, so she told me I HAD to try it and that it was the most delicious thing ever. So I tried it, didn't taste much different to me! haha We got a tour of the school from some students, and were able to meet students in different Years. I mostly ended up with what they called the bottom level. The students who need some extra help in different areas, for whatever reason may be. The day was filled with many many questions from students and the staff members as well, many who had not been to America themselves. Overall the whole day was very exciting and a really "lovely" experience that I am so glad I was able to do. I got a real kick out of the questions they were asking, and I'm glad I got to set them straight that American's aren't all fat people who eat KFC everyday and shoot people with their guns!!
Kelly

Still here! :)

 Blarney Castle, Cork, Ireland

 Brighton Pier, Brighton, England

 Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, London, England

 Countdown to London Olympics 2012, London, England

 The famous "Telephone Booth" picture, London, England

 Big Ben with the London Eye in the background, London, England

 Port of Cork, Cork, Ireland

I saw Healy on the back of a car in Cork, so I took a picture! Cork, Ireland

Hi everyone!
  Yes... I am still here! Haha, I have been busy running around England/Ireland! So let me tell you all about it! :) I started class last week. The class is about using drama in the classroom to help the children understand the material better. Needless to say, as long as I show up, it will be an easy A+. So I like that part so far, even though it gets a little dull at times! We spent the day on Friday in London! We got to see a lot of the real "touristy" things like Big Ben, Parliament, Changing of the Guard at the Buckingham Palace, and the London Eye. I'll post a few pictures! Then later that night my whole group took a quick flight over to Ireland! It was great. I fell in love with it! We had a really great time in Dublin on Friday night, we went to the famous "Temple Bar" It was packed. There were all tourists everywhere! We were able to find some other places with some true Irish people, so we made friends and got a feel for what Dublin is really like from someone who lives there! Saturday morning, we took a 4 hour bus ride down to Cork. Cork was so beautiful! We went to the Blarney Castle and kissed the Blarney Stone! Definitely a very cool experience. And then my camera died. :( But we went touring around Cork that night and stayed in a hostel and headed back to Dublin Sunday morning on another 4 hour bus ride. (We spent a good portion of the trip travelling) But we made it back to Dublin and took a tour of the Guinness Storehouse/Factory. Also a very cool experience. The whole factory is shaped like a very large pint glass! It was 7 stories high and at the very end you get a free pint of Guinness. Then we began what turned out to be a veryyyy long trip back to Brighton. We got our bus back to the Dublin airport. Then our flight left a half hour late. (It was supposed to leave at 8:55pm, didn't leave till 9:30pm) So we finally landed and then sat on the plane for 30 more minutes! Because the doors to the plane wouldn't open, so they finally managed to get the back door open and we took stairs down outside at Heathrow! They took us through a back door security exit and we didn't even have to go through customs, which was probably unintentional on their part. But we hurried along to catch the tube (like underground train) and we found out the one we needed was being fixed in the middle section. So we had to take the tube to one stop get off take a bus to the next stop and then get back on the tube. As you can imagine it took a long time! Then we got off the tube and found out the LAST train to Brighton was leaving very soon! So we all got our tickets hopped on and it was another hour and 15 back to Brighton. Finally we got to Brighton and you're supposed to take another quick train to the station right by our dorms. Well that train had stopped for the night so we all took our bags and walked into Brighton somewhere close to 2:30 am. Finally we found a bus stop where we waited for another 20 minutes and were able to scrummage up some pounds to head back to our dorms! Needless to say we made it back around 3:15am! and we had to be at the bus stop at 8:45am to go to a school in town! So that was quite the trip home. But we went to the schools, which was such a great experience to see the similarities and differences between that and American schools! So needless to say I have been keeping myself pretty busy around here! I miss you all and I will try to post a few pictures on here for you to see! Love you all! Thanks for reading about my trip! :)
Love,
    Kelly