Paris, France: Part II

Today was a long day but fun filled indeed!

We woke up early this morning and visited the Louvre, a definite MUST SEE if you are ever in Paris. Since we bought a 2-day Museum Pass we were able to skip the long lines and get in right away (thank you Rick Steve). We went straight to Leonardo da Vincis the Mona Lisa, arguably one of the most famous paintings ever. It was there in the Denon section of the Louvre that Jessica proceeded to sneeze 26 times. There must have been something in the air because I dont think I have ever heard anyone sneeze that much. Or maybe it was because she was being pushed around by all those impatient Asian people, who knows. She probably ended up sneezing around 30 times today overall, if not more. What a freaking record!

After the Louvre we walked to the Notre Dame Cathedral which is one of my most favorite churches. I immediately fell in love with the Gothic architecture and the detail of the saints and gargoyles. There were so many people there it was almost overwhelming. We didnt end up going in but I think I would have enjoyed it immensely.

From Notre Dame we walked A VERY LONG WAY past the Tulleries Gardens to the Champs-Elysees and then the Arch de Triompe. Though the walk made us extremely exhausted, it was well worth it. The Arch was massive and in the middle of the cities most interesting traffic. Think the middle of the Orange Circle, but BIGGER.

Next, we walked to the Eiffel Tower. No one should ever go to Paris and not see its most famous sight. We ended up eating dinner close to the Eiffel Tower where I met up with my friend Kiersten Stevens from high school. She is studying in Paris and came to meet us for dinner, a scenic night cruise on the Seine River, and then crepes under the Eiffel Tower. The night cruise was delightful and it was so good to hang out with an old friend and reminisce about home/catch up on life. From there, we parted ways, but it was definitely one of my most favorite days in Paris ever.

Next on the itinerary: AMSTERDAM!

Paris, France: Part I

Bonjour!

Paris has been quite interesting so far. It didnt take us only one train transfer to get to Paris like we thought, but FOUR train transfers! Then we couldnt find our hotel therefore I had to walk around for about an hour and a half with my 30 lb. backpack on. It was pure torture!

Yesterday when we FINALLY found our hotel we were pleasantly suprised and became very fond of the location...only a couple blocks from Starbucks. Needless to say, Jessica was thrilled!

Today was definitely better than our day of a mess yesterday. We visited the Orsay Museum in the morning and then rode a train to Versaille. In Versaille we visited the main Chateau and Marie Antoinettes house. We were able to view the beautiful gardens and were amazed at how beautiful Versaille is and probably was back in the day. It was a long day but well worth all the walking and sightseeing. I cant wait to show all of you my pictures!

Tomorrow will be fun packed as well. On the agenda: the Lourve, the Champs-Elysees, the Arc dè Triompe, and of course the Eiffel Tower.

Talk to you then!

Interlaken, Switzerland

Greetings from Interlaken!

Yesterday we spent a whole day traveling from Florence to Interlaken. We left Florence for Milan, went from Milan to Brig, Switzerland, then Brig to Spiez, and finallz Spiez to Interlaken. With 3 destination transfers you can imagine how our day went. From having to pay for seat reservations to sprinting to train terminals to telling our life stories in front of 4 complete strangers for a tourist interview, then getting yelled at by border police and having to walk about a mile in the rain to Balmers carrying our luggage made the day exhausting to say the least.

We are staying at Balmers youth hostel and we were immediately impressed by the nice receptionist and pretty much free everything beside the room and internet. We definitely recommend Balmers if you ever come to Interlaken. After we settled into our small log cabin-ish room we headed out to dinner where I tried my first Thai meal ever and had my first Heineken on the trip. The dinner was completely and utterly scrumptious after such a long day.

Today we took a bus to train to a gondola to a train to walking to a gondola to finally reach the top on Mount Schilthorn. Mount Schilthorn is about 10,000 ft. high and had a gorgeous view of the Swiss Alps. After about an hour of taking pictures and standing in awe of Gods gift to the Swiss we eventually toured the inside of the lodge and watched a Touristarama on the making of James Bond 007 at that very mountain top. It was awesome. When we eventually got down the mountain we walked around the city of Interlaken and ate the most delicious meal. We ate a Swiss delicasse called Rösti, which is hashbrowns with an assortments of toppings. Jess had fried egg, bacon and cheese, whereas I had plain ole ham and cheese. We were hungry considering we had no time for lunch but it was well worth the wait.

Tomorrow we leave for Paris, France for four days. Lucky for us we only have one train transfer this time and then its a straight shot for the Eiffel Tower. Talk to you then!

Florence, Italy

Ciao from Florence! Jessica, Patti, and I have been exploring the city for the past 36 hours. We hit the ground running, and all have blisters ALREADY! Jessica and Pattis are a little worse considering they have been here a week longer than I but we are all getting used to actual tennis shoes.

Yesterday I was Jessica and Pattis official (and free) tour guide. We were all over the place from the Piazza del Duomo to the Ponte Vecchio to the Pitti Palace. Lets just say they got a good overview of the city for our next day. For dinner we met up with my friend Nick from LMU who is studying abroad here through Gonzaga. It was a pleasant dinner and its always fun catching up across the world with good friends from home.

Today we visited the Uffizi gallery and the Academia, in which we saw the David, and numerous (NUMEROUS) other sculptures and paintings. I finally got my own picture of the David, even though you are not allowed to take pictures of him. I wasnt even that sneaky, and I didnt even get caught! I would have to say it was well worth the second trip to see him. Forlunch we ate at the Oil Shoppe which is one of my favorite sandwich places in Florence. Im pretty sure Jessica and Patti enjoyed it just as much as I did. Then we visited the Piazza San Lorenzo for some shopping in the outside markets. After that we trekked to the Santa Maria Novella perfumaria to get my Mom some more lotion that I got for her when I studied here. Then it was back to our hostel for some relaxation and power naps.

Overall the day was a success, EXCEPT for when Patti realized she left her credit card in Venice therefore having to cancel it (which was an adventure in itself). OR maybe when Jessica spent £3 on a tiny shot of ice blended coffee which she was craving all week. Lets just say she couldnt even enjoy it, especially after Patti compared her to her mother.

We leave for Interlaken, Switzerland tomorrow. There will be more stories to come so keep reading!

DAY ZERO

Friday night was the first Day Zero of the fall and it was so SICKKK! The Bolts kicked off the night with an awesome concert. Then there was dancing, playing, and hanging out. Also available was ping pong, Wii, Rock Band, Henna tattoos, free food and drinks, unbelievable giveaways and prizes, and an awesome photo booth to take pics in. The kids had a blast, I had a blast...did I mention the kids had a blast?! The night would not have been a success without the crazy volunteer staff and the insane students who kept the night alive. The next Day Zero is on November 7th, so tell everyone you know that's in high school to come because it is a night they don't want to miss!

Eurotrip

Today I leave for Europe for 5 weeks. Yes, Europe. Yes, 5 weeks. I'm excited to say the least. The friend I'm traveling with left last week and is hitting up Rome and Venice before we meet up in Florence on Tuesday. From Italy we are traveling to about eight different countries. Our itinerary is as follows:

October 14-16th : Florence, Italy
October 16-18th : Interlaken, Switzerland
October 18-21th : Paris, France
October 21-23rd : Amsterdam, Netherlands
October 23-25th : Frankfurt, Germany
October 25-27th : Berlin, Germany
October 27-29th : Prague, Czech Republic
October 29-31st : Vienna, Austria
November 1-5th : London, England
November 5-8th : Manchester, England
November 8-13th : Limerick, Ireland
November 13-16th : Dublin, Ireland

Please be praying for our safety as we are traveling together.

That masseuse just kicked the crap out of me!

I have had a free massage for The Massage Place in Venice for over two years. My roomate Laura used to work there as a receptionist and gave it to me for my 21st birthday. Since I no longer live in LA I figured I should probably use it so it doesn't go to waste. My friend Allison found it very appealing to get a massage so I decided to make an appointment for both of us to get a massage on the same day during the same time. You know, girl bonding time. First, when I called the receptionist to make the appointments she was very nice but asked me two things: what sensitivity we were comfortable with and if we preferred a man or woman to give the massage. I wanted to scream "WOMMMAAANNNNN" but didn't want to be THAT difficult customer. So, I preferred that I would rather be choosy about the sensitivity preference, and said medium range would be fine. When she repeated back to me the time and date for our appointments, she let me know that I would be working with Ann Marie and Allison would be with a masseuse named Kelly. Two women? YES!!! I was completely relieved!

When I woke up this morning I was a little nervous because I had never gotten a massage before, but I had been to The Massage Place to visit Laura so when I got there I was just kinda like "Okay, let's do this!".

Let's just say I did NOT know what I was getting myself into. The massage itself was not as awkward as I thought it would be but it did hurt a little. My massuese Ann Marie was really nice and made me feel comfortable but I'm not gonna lie, there were instances of pain. Ann Marie said I had a lot of knots in my neck and shoulders and asked me if I was "physically active". I was hoping she was referring to sports so I said yes I play tennis. She asked me if I was good. I lied and said yes. (One lie never killed anybody). She said the tennis probably caused all the tension in my shoulders and neck and then made her own decision to work those knots out. When I went to pay, she handed me a cup of water and said drink lots of water and fluids today (ironically about 3 other people told me to do the same thing-Is it just something you're supposed to do after you get a massage?). I took her advice and finally left. When outside of The Massage Place I looked at Allison and, being as honest as I could ever be, told her how that massuese just kicked the crap out of me. Fortunately, I was not alone.

On the drive back from Venice to Marina Del Rey Allison and I decided that if we were to get massages more frequently maybe we wouldn't be so sensitive or sore. It was then and there that we decided on our Christmas presents to each other.