The Hunt for Loch Ness:

December 22, 2008

The next morning came and I woke up relatively early to get a head start on the day’s events. I quickly emailed my Mom’s work buddy Fraser letting him know I’d arrived in Scotland and had all day today and the next, and that if he was free and didn’t mind showing me around I’d be forever grateful. After that I set out to find and buy postcards, get some breakfast (this hostel didn’t come with breakfast but I wasn’t complaining), and set out to either find the ever eluding post office or find a way to unlock my cell phone. Also deciding that if worst came to worst I’d have to purchase a whole new cell phone instead. So I set off in search of a cafe or some small place I could enjoy a nice warm breakfast before beginning the day ahead. It was at this point that I found a grocery store and decided that the best and cheapest way would be to buy breakfast, lunch and dinner for the day here. So I bought some fruit for breakfast, and a premade pizza for dinner, deciding to keep it simple. Realizing the time I made no point to do lunch as breakfast was about to become brunch.

After that I went back to the hostel to check email and eat. I received a response from my mom telling me that Fraser’s email was being tricky and he may not answer right away. So I headed back out after cleaning up my mess and decided to do as I’d done in Dublin and just lose myself in the city. I spent most of my day following the river upstream on a hiking trail to the edges of the city. Something in the back of my mind told me I wasn’t going to find Nessie this way but it was well worth a shot. I spent several hours walking down this trail through a forest area during the afternoon hours. It was here I found an assortment of things from an ice skating rink and sports center, to old soccer and rugby pitches, to Christmas lighting and decorations placed through out the woodsy area I’d been traversing through. I saw mom’s and dad’s taking some “Baby’s first Christmas” pictures by placing the baby on the backs of the reindeer Christmas decorations and even took a family photo or two when asked. This was a most enjoyable experience, wasn’t much in the way of excitement and adventure other then my meeting with this strange bird that kept following me until I turned around and it hopped back and flew off a few yards until I once again started walking in the other direction. I have a picture of this little guy and it was an amusing 10 minutes or so. It started after I took his picture. I found him on a pitch of grass placed a few feet away in the river and thought he was a strange looking thing so I snapped a quick photo. As I began to walk away I heard a flapping of wings and glanced behind me to see the bird landing a few feet back. Thinking nothing of it I continued on my way hearing little feet on the leaves and twigs behind me. It was when I turned around abruptly I noticed him look at me for just a moment before jumping and launching himself back a few feet. My eyebrows creased in wonderment, did I somehow obtain a stalker? And not just any stalker but a bird? I shook my head thinking it impossible and continued it was the second and third time I turned around and saw the bird react the same way as before the I realized I truly did have a stalker. I chuckled and continued on my way wondering why this creature of all creatures would be following me, but knowing it made for a comical story none the less. As I made it back from the ends of Inverness night was beginning to fall. Darkness falls surprisingly early in the UK, and thinking it later then it was I went back and did a little more shopping this time purchasing a few things for a few people as well as some post cards to send out and some to keep.

I spent the rest of the evening reading the fourth twilight book and enjoying my pizza in peace as well as trying to use the internet until I lost it completely. After a few chapters of my book my eyes started to close and I decided that turning in early once more might’ve proved a reasonable idea.

Bagpipes, Kilts, and Celtics.

December 21, 2008

I woke up relatively early the next morning (especially early for the long adventurous night I’d had just hours before) and got ready for the day. After I’d packed up I made my way down to breakfast not really knowing what to expect but surprised by what I saw, at least at first. At first I noticed a table with three sets of juices set out, three different cereals, some milk, and a weird oat cake looking thing, and a bowl of yogurts on ice. I gawked at first wondering if that was all, thinking about the price I’d paid and how stingy that had seemed to me. But then one of the very friendly staff passed by asking if I wanted coffee or tea and showing me the breakfast menu. At first I wondered if I was going to be charged extra for ordering something on the menu but something told me that wasn’t the case. So I ordered scrambled eggs and bacon but noticed the other options including French toast, and a “Scotsman breakfast.” Along with hot cereal and several other items which eased my mind some. I was also served two pieces of toast cut into halves, one wheat and one white, and two types of jams as well as butter. I took my time thoroughly enjoying the lavish breakfast and eating as much as my stomach could hold which included a yogurt, a bowl of cereal, both pieces of toast, the eggs, the two pieces of ham like bacon, and an oatmeal cake covered in jam, and two glasses of orange juice and a cup of tea. I left stuffed to the max and on my way to check into a hostel which turned out to be right down the road. I checked in and stashed my stuff. By the time this was finished it was nearing the afternoon. Not having much of an idea of what to do and slightly exhausted I decided to spend the day just self traversing the city and not call my mom’s work friend. I quickly found a shopping center which distracted me for several hours.

It was around this time that I also discovered that there were no phone companies in the UK called Moviestar which is the phone company I’d gone with in Spain, thus I would not be able to call anyone anyways because I would first need to put more money on the phone as I had run out on my last minutes during the last day in Spain. So I then set about finding out how to solve this problem. Noticing I was picking up a signal from two other companies I decided to talk with them first. They first store told me the only way to do it would be to go to the post office and “top off.” I asked where that was and quickly followed the man’s directions. Either his directions were poorly directed or my ability to follow directions was poor because twenty minutes of searching wielded no results. Not that it mattered much anyway since the mail was shut down on Sundays; I had just wanted an idea for the next day. So I went back to the are where the hostel was (a very central location, probably the exact center of the city of Inverness and conveniently located right by a big shopping plaza and mall) and go to the other cell phone store and see what idea they had to offer me. The second one told me I could do the same as the first or I could get a new SIM card for free and a new number for the UK and then add money to the account. So I decided to go with him on the second choice as the first was proving to be more difficult then was necessary. So he switched the SIM cards, turned the phone on, pressed a few buttons on the keyboard to the computer and sighed. I knew immediately something was wrong before he even spoke. But when he did he told me that the phone must be locked and in order to switch SIMS I needed to first unlock it. I sighed and asked if they were able to unlock phones and he said no. Defeated I decided to give in for the day and walk around a little, get some food, before heading to the hostel for the night.

I ate a wonderful meat pie at a little pub alongside the river. And spent the rest of the night relaxing in the common area of the hostel chatting online and with a few of the other occupants.

The Journey to Scotland

December 20, 2008

I’d left the hostel after enjoying my cereal and toast breakfast one last time and made my way to the airport arriving with ample time to get checked in and head to the departure gate after going through security. I arrived at my departure gate with a little over an hour to spare and searched for a place to either sit and grab a coffee or just meander through. It was then I noticed a bookstore across from my boarding gate. I wandered over to the bookstore looking through the sale shelves when I spotted it. The third book in the Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. Eclipse. I quickly snatched the book having been eager to read this edition for several weeks as I’d finished the first two in a day each. I noticed the fourth one sitting next to it and debated how long it would take to read the third one first. Then I noticed a sale on the books and couldn’t resist. All in all I paid $20 bucks for three books as I received a third book for free. I was excited and quickly paid for the books before wandering back over to the departure gate and begin reading.

As it became time to board I stashed a bookmark to keep my place and boarded the plane ready to continue reading and excited to begin a new adventure. I arrived in Glasgow little over an hour after the plane took off. I went into the airport and used the internet to book both a hostel and a bus ticket to Inverness up in the northern part of Scotland as that’s where the Loch Ness as well as several of the filming sights for the Harry Potter movies lay. As well my mom’s friend from work lived up that way and I wanted to meet the infamous SMARTRecoverie’s Scotsman. So I booked a ticket for that evening on Megabus.com and decided to sit around at the Starbucks cafe in the airport and enjoy a small lunch and continue reading “Eclipse.” After making it through a large portion of the book I thought about exploring Glasgow only to find that there wasn’t much to see or much to do. Glasgow was a place of airports as it had to airports both international airports. The one I’d arrived in being only Ryanair planes the other one a larger hub containing many other companies. So then I decided that it was around the time I should start making my way to the bus station where my bus was set to depart from.

All the while I continued to read the exciting adventures of Bella and her vampire lover Edward. It wasn’t soon before long that I was on my to Inverness. I had to change buses once in Perth and shortly afterward I arrived at the bus station in Inverness hailing a cab to take me to the hotel I’d had to reserve just for that night as there were no hostels available for the night of the 20^th. I arrived at the hotel and the cab driver handed me my luggage wishing me a happy holidays before heading back down the road. It was then I realized how seemingly far out of the way I was even though the ride was short and not extremely costly. I walked up to the front door peeking quietly through the windows of the old Victorian looking house hotel to see several sets of lights on. Anxious to get a glass of water and get to bed I rang the bell and waited several seconds before ringing again, then knocking once, twice, a third time, and even a fourth. I rang the bell once more a matter of several minutes having passed since I’d begun the tedious actions and my mind began to wonder why no one answered the door. I didn’t remember reading about a specific check in time or that there would be no members of the staff after a certain time so I continued to ring and knock in hopes that someone would answer. After more then ten minutes had passed I set my luggage down and tried to make my way around the house to see if maybe there was another door. But this old house was very secluded and the grounds were poorly lit and I became edgy at the fact that my luggage was sitting alone with my laptop inside so I made my way back around the house beginning to get a little frustrated with the lack of service.

Another twenty minutes more or so after this I’d sat down on the step beginning to get chilled by the wind and light rain that had been coming down since the start. It was at this point in time I ran through my options in my head. Make the seemingly long trek back down the large hill I’d come up, on the slick gravel road in hopes of finding another hotel or at least an open bar with a phone so that I may phone the hotel, continue knocking in hopes of someone eventually asnwering, or sleep here on the step and yell at the staff responsible and demand that I not be charged for the room I’d booked but not slept in. It was then a rather large gust of wind hit my tired body and sent a large chill through out. I stood up quickly with determination and a set mind to find a warm place to sleep for the night.

Taking out my cell phone from Spain I pressed a few buttons to keep the thing lit and use the tiny light to help guide me back down the steep slope. Once I’d made it down to the bottom I looked left once, right once, and left once more deciding to follow the road that appeared to lead to several more city lights then the other one. I walked for what seemed like forever and as the time was nearing one am I finally made it to the road and continued to follow the road to where I saw lights. After another 25 minutes or so of walking I noticed a Travelodge. The roads of Europe and the UK being the way they are it took another ten minutes to get there because the end of the small grassy slope that lead to the parking lot was fenced off and however small I was not risking barbed wire just to race to the hotel. I made my way to the desk and requested a room for the night only to find out with sheer disappointment that they were over booked. Looking at my tired and forlorn face the woman at the desk took pitty upon me and allowed me the use of the phone and several other hotel numbers and I called until I finally found a hotel that had room for one for the night. It was a costly venture denting my account over 100 dollars (an amount that could get me a hostel for several nights). But the woman assured me a great breakfast was awaiting me in the morning.

So losing patience as well as hours of sleep I made my way to the new hotel and quickly hopped on the internet and made a cup of tea with the little electric kettle that was in the room. Fully taking advantage of everything the hotel had to offer for the steep price I’d had to pay. I let my parents know where I was and that I was safe before turning in for the night knowing that I had a long Sunday ahead of me the next day...

A Pint A Day Is The Irish Way

December 19,2008

This was my final day in Dublin before I was to leave on a flight to Glasgow Scotland. This time I’d woken up with ample time to get ready and get to the meeting point for the free tour and so that is what I did. I woke in the morning, showered and went down to enjoy a nice breakfast of cereal and toast. (Breakfast was included in the price of the 10 euro hostel thus I can’t complain about the lack of substance.) After sitting around for a while I met three people from Canada and the four of us chattered happily about our travels where we were headed, where we were from, and our adventures through the different customs check points along the way. After sitting around for a while I decided it was time to head out to the meeting point and maybe grab a coffee along the way. As I ventured to the spot I quickly realized that I’d arrived rather early. So instead of sitting around I decided to venture through the area once more and take more pictures of things I’d not taken photos of the day before. After wandering around for several minutes I decided to return to the site and wait. So I waited... and waited... and waited... and finally I saw two other girls wandering around with the same little flyer for the free tour I’d had stashed in my pocket. Stopping them I asked if they too were searching for the guide to the free tour and the affirmed my assumption that they too were on the hunt for the free tour.

So together we waited a little longer realizing that after about ten minutes or so that the guide wasn’t coming. So the girls kindly offered to allow me to go along with them but they were venturing through things I’d already seen yesterday so I thanked them and we parted ways with well wishes for our travels. I headed back to the hostel to look at the map and figure where I would venture for the day. As I arrived I noticed the Canadian woman I’d met earlier that morning sitting outside the hostel to the door waiting for someone or something. I greeted her and asked what she was up to. She told me she was waiting for an Irish man she’d met last night to help her get to another hostel as she’d only booked one night in Abigail’s (the hostel where I’d stayed during Dublin). She then asked what I was doing back so early having known I was going on the free tour since I’d spoken with her during breakfast.

I then explained what had happened and she asked what my plans for the rest of the day were to be. I explained that I really didn’t have any having seen all the tourist attractions (for the most part) that Dublin had to offer. I’d had thoughts of maybe going to the whisky brewery but two breweries in one city seemed a little on the alcoholic side in my mind so I told her maybe I’d go get lost again today since there was one side of the city I’d not gotten lost in yet. She chuckled and asked if she could tag along having no plans for the day either. At first I was enthralled to have a traveling companion as talking to myself was beginning to strain what sanity remains with me. I said yes and we parted with plans to meet up in a few more minutes so that she could check in to the other hostel and I could check my email and facebook page.

Less then moments later after I’d finished checking my email we looked through the little rack of business cards hanging in the common room of the hostel looking for special events and discounts on local attractions. I found a discount to the brewery as well as the local zoo and aquarium. Then we headed out and across the bridge to the other side of the river that parted the city. She explained that she needed to purchase a camera first as the one she’d brought broke upon arrival. So we went to the camera store and she bought a new digital camera while I waited. Afterwards we went to a cafe to sit around and possibly make plans for our day. While at the cafe I enjoyed a chai latte and she told me of a castle on the outskirts of Dublin in another county of Ireland not too far away that was supposedly the most haunted castle in all of Ireland. My interest was instantly struck, maybe today would be the day for an adventure was the first thought that entered my mind.

She explained her interest in going to the castle and asked if I too wanted to go see the wonders of other worldly beings. I nodded excitedly at a loss for words and we began our search for a way to get to this city. First we asked a travel agency how we could get to this place. They explained which county it was in, and where the bus station was. So then we walked for several minutes around ten or fifteen to the bus station and tried to order tickets. First we went to the ticket counter and the man explained that this county was large and there were several busses that went to several parts of it and asked which part we were headed. Having no idea we went to information. Information was little help and told us where we could go look up the exact address of the castle.

So we walked several more minutes down the street to an internet cafe where we searched for the address. After it was in hand we once more went to the bus station and back to information to check on the time table for the buses headed to that area. We were then told that there was one bus that left in an hour the trip would take close to two hours. We both had our hands on our wallets ready to purchase the tickets until she then told us that the only return bus was the next day and I wouldn’t make it back in time to catch my flight to Scotland. And just like that the excitement of an adventurous whim slipped steadily away.

So we spent the rest of the traversing the city and I showed her the castle I’d seen earlier that morning, the Cathedral I’d seen yesterday and afterwards we ventured to the very edge of Dublin to take a tour through the old mysterious jail that lie there. The disappointment of not being able to see this glorious castle lingered quietly through out the day but I did not allow it to hinder my time in Dublin. A few drinks at some local pubs ended my last hours in Dublin and I returned to the hostel to sleep and prepare for the adventures that lay ahead on my next journey into Scotland.

Dublin Day 1

Luck ‘O The Irish

Day one proved to be an eventful day in Dublin. I’d made plans the evening before to wake up relatively early and go on another free tour through the company we’d used in France, and afterwards have a small lunch before heading over to the Guiness brewery. Didn’t work out quite as well as I’d been thinking and I’d been more tired then I thought and over slept that morning missing the appointed time for the free tour. So instead I made my way down to breakfast and decided to do my own self guided tour, checking out some of the things I’d seen on the map and just wander for the morning portion of the day. And so that’s exactly what I did.

I began wondering somewhere around Trinity College, then took some shots over at a very large and famous Cathedral. I continued through the city traversing my way through the streets in no particular hurry and no particular direction. As often happens time began to wonder away from me and after around a good three hours of wondering I realised I was lost. So I continued walking in the direction I believed to be the right direction only to stumble upon a small rugby pitch. Intrigued I entered the pitch snapping a few shots before asking the friendly staff at the sports gear store for some help. I first asked the man to show me where I was on my map, surprisingly or maybe unsurprisingly however you care to look at it, he told me I was a good 20-30 minutes off my map. Meaning I’d really gotten lost and REALLY wondered through the city of Dublin. He then continued to explain to me how to get back by bus to a location I knew so that I could find my way home. He wrote down the number of the bus, the name of the stop and street, and even pointed out where the bus station was. I thanked him profusely and made my way over to the bus stop to wait. By the time I’d made it back to the hostel it was around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. So i dropped off a few things and headed downstairs to the desk.

Absolutely enthralled by the kindness of the Irish people I asked the desk how I could get to the brewery from the hostel. They told me it was good twenty minutes walk. I asked if there was a bus that headed that way since I’d been walking around a good three hours that morning and was beginning to tire of walking. She too gave me a bus number and told me where to catch the bus. Even told me the approximate cost of the bus. I then asked her if my little bus hopper card I’d purchased cheaply at the airport (yes I just put those two words together in the same sentence.) would work and she said yes and that I was smart for purchasing said hopper.

So I walked leisurely down the street to catch the next bus to where I was headed. I arrived in under ten minutes time and quickly purchased my discounted students ticket for a self guided tour of the brewing process in the Guinness storehouse where a photo was taken of me, and I was aloud a taste test of a new Guinness product as well as a pint up in the Gravity lounge afterwards. It was in Gravity lounge that I was able to snap some amazing pictures of the night skyline of Dublin, reminding me slightly of a time when I’d stood freezing atop the roof of the tallest skyscraper in New York and took a similar photo of the night skyline. After this I headed back to the hostel to turn in for the night planning to try once more to get to the free tour the next day.

Winter Vacation, Trip of A Lifetime Pt. 1

Day One of the TRIP: Saying Goodbye

Saying goodbye is not an easy thing to do. And December 17, 2008 was a day of goodbyes. Earlier that evening we finished making the apartment all shiny and clean and as we took one last look around I think we could all agree that the place felt almost empty and there was going to be a spot in our hearts that would forever miss our second home. Which is exactly what it had become was a second home. It was then that we parted ways with the fourth roomy, Matt, who was headed to Pamplona while the rest of us were off to Madrid to say our own goodbyes to one another. I shed a fear tears as Matt and the gang had started to become like family over the time we’d spent together and even though there was the glimmer of hope called summer in which I will be able to see them once more, the several months that separate us are still painful none the less.

And so saddened Casi, Tom and I shut the door to 21 Segunda Espanola for the final time. Hailing a cab we made it just in time to the bus station to catch the 7pm bus to Madrid which would put us there at 1am, afterwards we made our way to the airport in order to figure out Casi’s flight details as she was set to leave that same morning at 6 am. She was heading back to Washington while I was headed off on my European tour. After another round of tear shedding and hugs we said goodbye to Casi leaving Tom and I to roam the airport and figure out the luggage situation and check in situations. Tom wasn’t scheduled to leave until the next day (the 18^th) while I was set to head out to Dublin from Madrid at 11:30 in the morning. And flying with Ryan Air I was only allowed one piece of luggage before I had to start paying for each additional piece. So Tom and I stored my luggage (as well as his) running into one minimal problem along the way.

After sitting around for several more hours and chatting with Tom we too had to say goodbye as well as it was nearing check in and call time for my flight to Dublin. So Tom and I said goodbye as I went through security and he went on his way to his friends house in Madrid to wait for his own flight the next day. And so I was off and on my way to Dublin having had very little sleep.

I arrived at the Dublin airport and quickly caught a bus to the city center where my hostel was located, checked in and settled down grabbing a quick dinner before bed a preparing for the long day ahead.

Ah Paris! Mon a'mi- Je no para le pa France

And so the next week came and went in a flash, classes had caught up to me and loaded me with the work as the weeks were beginning to slowly draw to a close. As a matter of fact at this point in time there was just under 8 days of classes including finals left and everyone was beginning their excited countdown. For some it was the countdown of the day they'd go home, for other's the day they'd start a journey of a lifetime. For me it was the countdown till the realization of a dream. But before that time came the roomies were to plan one final trip together to bring us closer together and to begin our uneasy goodbyes to one another. We booked a weekend get away to Paris the city of love. Originally we'd planned for all four of us to be there but it turned out that Matty poo wasn't going to be able to join us. So Friday after Tom and Casi finished with classes we headed on on the first train we could catch to Hendayaon a little thing called the Eusko train. From there we caught another train that headed straight into Paris. Total time took us just over 6 hours to get from San Sabby to Paris.

When we arrived it was almost a feeling of deja vu, walking out once more into the scene of a movie once more. The Eiffel Tower, the symbol of France was no where in sight at this point but we knew that would be seen in the days to come as we'd arrived late and hadn't much time for then checking in and getting a quick meal before heading off to bed.

The next morning we awoke relatively early and set out for a free tour offered by a group in relation with the hostel we were staying at. This tour took us through almost all the famous high points of Paris. It was through this tour that we got to see the Notre dame Cathedral, another famous Cathedral whose name I don't know, a bunch of famous statues of king Henry's and the likes, The arc de Triumph, Champs Elysee, The christmas ferris wheel, the xmas market, The spot where the guillotene used to be but now stands the golden point, the Louvre (outside), Petite Palace, Gran Palace, and the Eiffel Tower. The tour lasted a good majority of the afternoon with a break for lunch. After the break we made our way back to the Christmas market to look around, then over to the Arc de Triumph to take more photos. And then over to the Eiffel Tower to see about going up. We arrived somewhere in the late afternoon at the Eifell Tower to see some street performers and thought about going up the stairs to see the view from the top only to find out it's price as well as the issue we were all having with our cameras. Everyone's batteries were dying so we decided not to go up at that point that we would come back and go up at another time. So we decided to head back to the hostel and get ready for our night out that evening.

After a short siesta we awoke to get ready to go out and spend a night on the town in Paris. We went out only to find that the Spaniards seemed to know how to party just a little better then the French and returned to the hostel early the next morning (around 1 or so). After sleeping off a hard night of dancing we awoke the next morning and headed to the Monmarte district for another tour through the same company. This time a paid tour where we saw many more of Paris' amazing sights including the Moulin Rouge, the Van Goh apartment, the arts district, the Basilica of Paris, and also where we got the best view and shot of the Paris skyline that was even better then what we would've gotten from the Eiffel Tower. Thus allowing us to skip that other part of our day so that we didn't have to make another trip across town and then take the long walk up the stairs. After that tour was over we went quickly over to Louvre to enjoy the free entrance as it was the first Sunday of the month and they wave the entry fee on that day. We made our way around the Louvre as quickly as possible as it was getting close to closing time, but we got to see a good majority of the building as it's nearly impossible to see it all in one day anyways let alone a few hours. But we did rather well for having only two hours. After that we headed back over to the arts district to grab a nice dinner before heading back and turning in for the night.

The next morning was our last day in Paris and so we spent it doing the things we felt needed to be done and tying up lose ends before booking a train ticket home. We went inside the Notre-Dame and had a truly strange catholic experience. Entrance was free to the Cathedral but to go up to the towers would've costed so we decided we didn't like that idea and walked around the church enjoying the sermon that was taking place on a Monday morning and the pretty voices of the choir that filled the church hall. After that we walked around Paris a little more taking a few more snapshots before we decided to find a grovery store where we could purchase some French wine and possibly some Champeigne. After that we went to the train station to book our tickets home.

We booked tickets for the next time that afternoon which was set to leave around 3 ish putting us into San Sebastian around 9 that night. But when we booked the tickets little did we know we'd booked them at a seperate station and the woman we'd purchased the tickets from didn't bother to explain to us that these tickets were for a train that was to leave from a station ten minutes away by metro. So we sat around that afternoon waiting for our platform number to be posted only to find out ten minutes before the departure time that we'd been waiting at the wrong station. So we booked it over to the metro and tried our best but missed our train by a good twenty minutes. Thus causing us to change our tickets to the last scheduled train leaving Paris putting us into Hendaya very late and making it so that there was no metro back to San Sebastian which forced us to take a taxi all the way into the other city. All in all it was one heck of a journey and the taxi only costed about 15 a person which pleased us not to have to dish out the big bucks in order to get home. Ending our eventful trip through Paris.

Ciao Bella Fotos

(These are only some of the shots from Italy, I'm having trouble getting photos to upload, once I have a more reliable internet connection I'll finish posting the rest.)Some shots of the ruins in the cities center.
More Ruins.
The other side of the ruins.

Pensive photo.
(repeats can't delete them once I've posted them, or I haven't figured out how to do that yet so these are stuck.)


Group photo in the colosseum. L-R Me, Silvia in the sunglasses, Matt, Jessica and Robin with Casi in front.
I'm a roman statue!!
The floor was removed to show where the slaves used to stay before the fighting began.
Me posing in front of the colosseum.
A nice shot of the colosseum without people in the way... how'd that happen... hmmm.
This arch was across the street from the colosseum.
I really wanted to get a picture of me picking his nose but, I didn't... oh well.

The staircase... i almost fell down this thing, it was weird.
The garden with orange trees outside the vatican city.
The famous Rome Duomo
This statue of the kid strangling the duck is all over, there's even a fountain of it in San Sabby.
The ceiling of the vatican.
I thought it was cute.
This was set up to show the discoloration between new and old bronze cause the pineapple straight across on the other side of the field was aged while this was new.

There's the aged pineapple.
Entrance to the vatican.
The Vatican.
Importnat government building looked pretty at night though.
Police car with out the glow in the dark effect that came from my flash.
Glowy.
Casi enjoying her bolognesa.
Matt and his tortellini.
My chicken cacitorri
And my gnocchi (I shared with jamil I'm not THAT much a pig.
The group hiding behind the pillars.
Pretty xmas lights in a square somewhere in Rome.
The Pantheon.



We got roses from some gypsy who didn't even try to take money from us.
Casi and I in front of the sea shell fountain.
Pretty fountain in the middle of a square we wondered upon while searching for our meeting spot with Jessica's friends.
Rome.
A nice little church we found.
Another pretty fountain.
Random buildings, we did lots of night exploring not really knowing what it was we found.
The guys fooling around at the metro stop. Underneath the map is casi, from left to right is matt, Silvia, Jessica, and Robin.
The view over Rome... pretty.
This is a nice little random shot I got on the plane, I'm not sure but I think that island is Sicily.
Everyone getting ready to board the plane. Left to right is Jahmil, Erica, Silcia, Casi in front, Gloria jumping up and waving from behind, then jessica, Matt and Robin. I'm snapping the photo of course.
This was what Santander looked like.