Turkey!

Hi everyone! Finally getting around to updating my blog on Turkey. I had such a great time it was such an interesting Country and it was really nice to finally be out of my element culturally.
        The first day in Istanbul I went to the Grand Bazaar with two of my friends. We first went to lunch at this very authentic looking restaurant that had an outdoor patio. We didn’t understand the menu at all because the way that they used english was by naming random ingredients that weren’t real words. We told the waiter to give us two large plates of what he recommended and we would just split it between the three of us. The lunch turned out to be one of the best meals I have had this entire trip. They had chicken and meat and cheese with red sauce and vegetables.
After lunch we went walking through the labyrinth of the bazaar. Words and pictures can not even begin to describe how massive this place was. Rows and rows of shops with all sorts of items being sold from jewelry and trinkets to hookahs, carpets and lamps. We spent all day wandering in and out of the shops, haggling the prices, which I love, and trying turkish tea at multiple places. One of the cultural customs of Turkey is the shop keepers frequently invite you to have tea with them. Now, in the United States, if someone asked you to come have tea with them you would book it the other way. However in Turkey, the ship told us ahead of time, it is safe to have tea with them they like to see the different people and share their culture with you. It also probably had something to do with three pretty girls, but we will stick to calling it cultural.      One of my favorite parts of being in the bazaar was when there was a call to prayer. Five times during the day the call to prayer came across the speakers all over the town and people would close their shops, grab their carpets, and go in the aisles of the markets side by side laying down their mats and would pray. It was a beautiful sight to see that sort of dedication and lack of need for personal space in order to pray.
        Once the Grand Bazaar came to an end, we ended up at the spice market and the pet bazaar, yes a pet bazaar. The pet bazaar had everything from fish, rats, snakes and rabbits to parrots, dogs and monkeys (though I didn’t personally see the monkeys, I heard they were there). The spice market was a lot like the la boqueria in Spain with bins and bins of spices, candies, and fruit. The smells were very interesting and the candies were all made with honey and one or two other ingredients. After spending hours wandering through the markets we went to the new mosque and were able to go inside. In order to go into a mosque in Turkey you have to have your shoulders, head and knees covered and you also had to take off your shoes before going in. It was very interesting to follow all these customs and then once we got inside we sat on the floor and observed others around us. That night we ate on the ship and started packing for our trip to  Cappadocia which we needed to get up at 5am for.
The next morning we woke up at 5am and headed off the the airport for our flight to Cappadocia. We arrived in Cappadocia at 9am and started a full day of touring around the amazing city. I am going to include a paper I wrote for my global studies class mixed with personal comments in the following paragraphs because it details what I did and saw, as well as some of the history on Cappadocia.
        The Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia were officially inducted into the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as a World Heritage site in 1985. (UNESCO) Cappadocia is a term that traditionally came from the Christian religion to describe the region in Turkey that refers to the fairy chimneys and pigeon holes, as Christianity was the prominent religion at the time Cappadocia came in to existence, as can be seen by the rock churches and monasteries. The underground cities were necessary to be used as a fortress because Christianity was not an accepted religion in the Roman Empire. Cappadocia also consists of  caves and underground cities.
        Due to the natural terrain of Cappadocia, many homes and churches were built in to the rock which created a cave like atmosphere. The Christians came to Cappadocia seeking a refuge and found it in these underground cities, which throughout time, due to technology, they were able to make deeper thus creating additional levels. Due to the central location in Turkey, Cappadocia was an idyllic location for Christians to hide from persecutors, as armies rarely would travel through that region which followed with Christian tradition, as “St. Paul established the first Christian colonies here”. The caves consisted of living areas, kitchens and even an intricate ventilation system so they never ran out of air. The tunnels connecting the rooms were quite tight and short at times, I imagine it would have been difficult being a man living in the caves. Most of the churches, underground cities, and monasteries date from the Roman and Byzantine periods.
        The terrain of Cappadocia shows the effects of erosion through out time due to wind and water. The natural rock has been carved into for many functions including a fortress, which was built underground, churches, homes and storage. Wine is a commodity that Cappadocia thrives on and the cave storage centers create the perfect temperature to store wine in. An interesting feature of the caves were the way that they produced their wine. They used a large boulder with holes created in them to crush grapes that they used for their wines. The underground cities, previously mentioned, were used as a way to escape invasions, and was an extremely effective means of  hiding until the numerous cities found out about them. Boulders were placed in a strategic way as to make it impossible for intruders to move it, but when the people of Cappadocia needed to leave, it was easy by means of leverage. The city itself is interesting on its own because it was mainly formed due to an ancient volcano, Erciyas, erupting through out time. The “recurrent volcanic eruptions blanketed the area with boulders, ash, and lava, over time creating layers of sediment, with the underneath layers more solid than the newer, softer upper levels of sediment.” The people of the city decided to build their homes and churches into the hardened rock, which can still be seen today.
        I was in Cappadocia for two full days, July 30-31st, of guided tours and one night at the Gamirasu cave rock hotel. It reminded me of the grand canyon of Europe. The scenery was breath taking and it was amazing to me how such beautiful and diverse of rock formations were created in that city. When we arrived in Cappadocia we went to Uchisar Rock-Castle to have a panoramic view of the valleys of Cappadocia. After this we took a  tour of Göreme  open air museum, which was a village that was made into a museum. The homes, kitchens and churches were all built in to the rock and still stand today. The most interesting fresco I saw was that of a person that was half woman, half man. I asked our tour guide why this was and she said that it was originally a girl who wanted to dedicate her life to be like the virgin Mary. Her father wouldn’t hear of this, so she prayed to God that he would make her ugly so that no man would want to be with her. In return, he made her half male and half female. There were many other interesting frescoes that depicted the things such as the last supper, the washing of feet, and the resurrection. The monastery itself was created by St. Basil the Great, who believed that people should live a simplistic life, consisting of “self sufficient units with an emphasis on poverty, obedience, labor, and religious devotion”. One of the most interesting parts of the Göreme open air museum, was the communal kitchen area which was used for all the people of the area. There was a large dining table, benches, and storage units. This area is referred to as the refectory, and at the end of the table there is a “trough  in the floor that was probably used for pressing grapes” which we also saw in the underground cities.  After visiting the open air museum, we traveled to see a panoramic view of Cappadocia and the table top mountains. 
  Our tour guide took us to lunch and to see Sobessos, which are newly discovered mosaic houses and an archaeological excavation site. Next we went to see the Keslik Monastery that slightly exposed frescoes that had been painted hundreds of years ago, behind a very thin smoke layer which was shown to us by a flashlight, as there was no other way to view it. After lunch we we saw a demonstration in a traditional pottery workshop. After this went to another vista to view another side of the Cappadocia valley before going to our hotel. Our hotel was incredible. The rooms were caves that were built into the rock mountain. We had a bed that consisted of three twin beds pushed together so four of us decided to sleep in there so we could have a girls night. The room also had a fireplace and a Jacuzzi with a waterfall trickling in to it that lit up with different colors. We went to dinner at the hotel with our group of people (All semester at sea people, as I planned this trip through a tour company and shared it with others on facebook before the trip)
        The next morning we woke up early (4AM)  and were able to see the fairy chimneys, table top mountains, and rocky terrain from an ariel view in a hot air balloon. We were greeted by Goreme hot air balloon with traditional turkish tea and pastries. We were up in the air by sunrise along with at least 75 other balloons.  The "fairy chimneys" are called this because it is considered where the voice of wind mixes with the "songs of fairies" and were created due to wind and water erosion. We got spectacular pictures and had such an amazing time. At one point we all freaked out because we got really close to the top of one of the mountains and even hit the bottom of our basket on it! After our amazing hour long hot air balloon ride, we went to Kaymaklı Underground City, which was said to be one of the most interesting underground settlements in Cappadocia. (Tour guide)  After this we went to Sinasos, an old Greek town with multiple cute old Greek houses to walk around and have lunch at a greek restaurant. Our tour finished with going to a jewelry workshop that specialized in black onyx, which comes from the rocks of Cappadocia. We got back to the ship around 9pm and were exhausted!
        The next day a group of us took a ferry over to the Asian side of Turkey (Cappadocia was in the Asian side as well) and walked around the streets and had lunch. It felt and looked the exact same as the European side of Turkey but it was neat to take a ferry across the water and get those views of Istanbul. After this we went to a traditional turkish bath which was one of the most culturally interesting things I did the entire trip. We all went in to this giant room with a big round marble plank which we laid down on with our towels. The room was like a steam room with water flowing out of faucets all around. After a while a woman came up to me and dumped a bucket of water on me. She then got another bucket that was full of suds and put it all over my body. She then took the exfoliator they provided each of us with and scrubbed me down. Next the woman moved me over to a step near a faucet and washed my hair and poured buckets of water on me. After this we were able to soak in a hot tub before having a massage. This experience was so unique and an interesting part of Turkish culture, and I was very glad I got to experience it.
        After our Turkish baths we got ready to go to a whirling sufi dervish show. The purpose of the performance is to get a deeper connection to God. The performance was done by men only who wore long dresses. They would twirl around in a circle as the circled around the room. They performed the same set of moves about five times which took an hour. It got a bit long seeing the same thing being repeated, but the performance is not for entertainment purposes so it was interesting to watch the full ceremony.
        The next day Danielle and I went to the bazaar for lunch and met two local Turks that took us around the city to see the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, and Sophia Park. All of the buildings were so grand and beautiful. The architecture used to create the mosques was so distinct and amazing.
        Turkey was so incredible and was one of my favorite countries because of how unique it was. I had incredible experiences there that I will never forget.

Bulgaria

Unfortunately I do not have too much to say about Bulgaria. It was a country that reminded me of a European Mexico, where people just go there to relax and lay on the beach or go shopping. I just got back from Turkey though and will have a lot to say about that in my next blog!
The first day in Bulgaria Danielle, Mary and I went out to find a place to get some lunch. We hadn’t had an opportunity to exchange our money yet, and none of the places we found seemed to want to accept credit cards. We found a restaurant that a few people we knew were at and they said they took credit cards. We visited with them for a bit and then one of the kids Dad, who came to see him in that port, bought our lunch for us and told us we could just buy his son a drink at some point, which was really nice of him. After lunch, we went on an SAS trip that took us to the “highlights of Varna” lets just say I knew right then if what I saw were the “highlights” Bulgaria would soon be my least favorite port. We went to an archaeological museum, some Roman ruins which were just some pillars and stones where there used to be a bathing house, a Cathedral which was very beautiful, and a typical old fashioned Bulgarian house, where we saw the types of tools, clothes and food they would eat.
The next day we went to the beach for a couple of hours and then went to the mall. Yes I know that is sad that we travelled this far just to go to the mall, but there wasn’t anything else for us to do or see without traveling several hours away. After that I went out to dinner where I proceeded to get food poisoning and was therefore in my bed for the rest of the night.
On wednesday, I went to lunch with Meghan and Ashley and then went to the beach for an hour before going on an SAS trip I had. The restaurant we went to was called happy bar and grill and they had all sorts of wraps and skewers that were really good. My SAS trip took us to a botanical garden with waterfalls and all sorts of flowers. Next we went to an old palace which was very interesting because it was not how I would have imagined a palace looking like. It was fairly plain, yet charming. After the palace we went to a cape that is the furthest jutting cape in Europe. It went very far into the ocean and had incredible views, definitely the most beautiful thing I saw in Bulgaria. After the cape, we went to a dinner and show. The dinner was buffet style and had typical Bulgarian food which was very interesting to try. The dance show was really neat because they performed a few traditional dances, and then incorporated some more modern dances. The neatest dance I saw was a girl that did a hula hoop routine where at some points she would be spinning up to 10 hula hoops on her hips, legs and neck. At the end, a woman threw hula hoops to her which she would grab and put on while still spinning all of the hula hoops she had on her. The dance show ended with a man and woman walking on coals together. We didn’t get back until 11:30 at night.
The last day, I went to lunch with my friend Abby and we tok our computers so we could email and skype. I was able to skype with my mom for a few minutes although the quality was really bad because of how many people were on the internet, but it was really nice to see her face for a minute. I then got back on the ship and wrote some post cards before it was time for us to take off.
The next day we only had one class which was our global studies class and it was 2 hours long instead of the typical 1:15min. We talked all about Turkey, and different things to know about the history and monuments. After class I had a paper to write so I spent the next 3 hours locked in my room researching and writing it. That night we had a preport lecture that informed us about the weather, current political situations, money exchange and two speakers who were from Turkey that told us about what to do or see.
That's all for now, will write all about Turkey soon!

Goodbye Greece, on to Bulgaria!

Hey everyone,
I am now back on the ship, and will be for the next two days on our voyage to Bulgaria. Greece was great, the waters were crystal clear and the people were, for the most part, extremely friendly. The city of Athens itself was very dirty though, with graffiti everywhere, which was fairly disappointing.
The first day in Greece, we got tickets for a hop on hop off bus that would take us from the city of Piraeus, where our ship was, into the city of Athens. We first went to the Acropolis which was really interesting and reminded me of some of the ruins I saw in Rome, just different column designs. Getting up the hill wasn't very fun however, the ground was very uneven, slippery, straight up hill and 100 degrees out. It was definitely worth it though to say I have seen it :) After the Acropolis we went to the new Acropolis museum which held many artifacts from the Acropolis that they have preserved, including the original statues that were in the front of the Parthenon. After the museum we found an authentic little Greek restaurant where I had my first authentic greek salad, that would be the first of about 10 greek salads I would have on the trip! Obviously, I thoroughly enjoyed it, in fact, all of the greek food was so delicious. It is always hard to get on the ship and have salad pasta and potatoes after the flavorful food of the ports. Next we went to the flea market where I got some handmade leather sandals! They are super cute and I wanted them all! Then we got back on the hop on hop off bus and saw more of the city from the top of the bus. We went back to the ship for dinner and then started packing for Mykonos. We went to bed fairly early, as we had to wake up at 3am to catch our flight since the airport was an hour away and starting at 5am cabs were going on a 48 hour strike, so we knew we had to be at the airport before that happened.
We got to the airport early enough that I was able to skype with Kyle, and then the family. It was great to see all of your faces! By the time we got on the plane, the sun was starting to rise and we were able to see the sunrise over the islands since we never got high enough in the air to lose sight of the ocean. When we got to Mykonos we were able to put our bags in the hotel lobby and go to the beach until it was time to check in. We spent the day walking around the island near the beach, and laying in the sun. The water was so clear that we were able to see the fish swimming around by our feet when we were in the ocean. More greek salads and more beach time later, two nights in Mykonos and we were heading back to Athens.
The plane took off a half hour late and then when we got to Athens we found out the taxis were still on strike so we had to take a bus back which took an hour and a half. Then we had to walk for a half hour "shlepping" our stuff around only to get to the ship to realize that there was a huge line to get back on because there were only two people working to look through luggage.
So... A half hour flight followed by a 20 min taxi turned into a half hour wait, half hour flight, hour and a half bus ride, half hour walk, and a 45 min standing period just to get on the ship. We should have been back by 9 at the latest instead of 12, so we even got to see some people going out to bars as we were coming in with luggage.
The last day in Athens I had an FDP for class which was attending a lecture on Athens pride, and organization advocating gay equality. It was a really interesting presentation and it was sad to hear some of the stories about how the gay community is still treated today by their family, friends, and strangers by means of people spitting on them, being beaten or cut off from the family, and getting turned away in restaurants. After the lecture we got on the hop on hop off bus again and went and strolled Athens for a few more hours before heading back to the ship to leave for Bulgaria.
Bulgaria is probably the place I am looking the least forward to because no one has seemed to be able to tell me what to do there except lay on the beach, which to do that for an entire port seems like a waste of experience, so if anyone knows anything about Varna, Bulgaria, please share! I am doing a trip through the ship that is a dinner and dance show where there are fire dancers and breathers, so that should be fun!
Miss and love you all, hope everyone is doing well.

Croatia!

Hi everyone! I am going to try and get all caught up in this blog so that I am prepared to write for more after Greece!
Croatia was so incredible! It was my favorite country with Italy being a close second.
The first day in Croatia we woke up and went walking around the first half of the city and found a cute sit down restaurant to have lunch at. I wanted to have a salad but when I asked what was in each one the ingredients included pineapple and mayonnaise....no thank you! So I ended up just getting a grilled chicken breast. The conversion was really difficult to get a grip of because it is a 5 to 1 ratio so my glass of water was 20 kuna and my chicken was 50 kuna, but when you get a bill that says 70 Kuna you start to freak out until you realize that is only 14 dollars. After that I went to a village folk show that was...well, not worth my time or money.
The next day I went to Kotor, Montenegro which is a little old village in the mountains of Montenegro. It was a charming little stone walled village but the most amazing thing was all of the mountains. There was literally mountain behind mountain, so everywhere you turned there were mountains. After touring the town of Kotor we drove up one of the mountains for a great view of the Country, the roads were so narrow and so windy I didn’t know if I was more carsick or more nervous at the fact we were on the side of a cliff! After that, we drove down the mountain and went to lunch at a little outdoor restaurant, toured the beach side town for a half an hour, then came back to the ship. It was a lot of driving but it was totally worth it for the views (and to say I went to another Country). That night we went out and a friend and I decided to go back early and grab something to eat on the way. Unfortunately everything was closed so people told us to keep going and there was one a bit further. We kept walking and checking and every place had just closed, until we finally got to one that had a big chunk of dough sitting on the counter. The man told us three items we had to choose from and we only understood one which was “like a pizza, bread, tomato, cheese and ham” we said ok we will take two of those. By tomato we soon found out he meant ketchup, when we realized it was ketchup we were grossed out at first but were so hungry that we ate it anyway. I dont know if it was actually good or if we were just really hungry but it was SO good!
Wednesday we had a boat tour planned with about 13 of us that took us to three different islands. We ended up getting the boat to ourselves because we had a big enough group. It was so great to have the whole boat to ourselves, especially since we only paid 50 bucks each! After the first island, we went to the second and the Captain took us to his home where his wife prepared lunch for us. It was such an amazing experience. We started off with fresh homemade bread along with thin ham and cheese from a local farm. It was all the best of all those things I have ever had! Next they brought us soup, which I had a hard time even thinking about eating because it was so hot and humid out. It was like a minestrone  soup to the max because it was loaded with fresh vegetables. Then they brought us a place of lettuce, tomato slices and cucumber all from there garden. After this they brought us out fresh steamed mussels which they had caught earlier that day down at the ocean! The mussels were seasoned with olive oil and fresh tomato. The next course was the main course and we had fresh fish and homemade pasta, it was all so fresh and flavorful! Then, as if we were not stuffed enough, they brought us fresh doughnut holes that they made. We were all so full, but it was such an incredible meal! While we were eating our desert our boat captain came out and started playing an accordion and singing. It was such an authentic experience and probably one the best memories I have made yet. We then went to the next island for an hour and then returned back to Dubrovnik.
The next day I had an amazing time with my friend Ashley. The two of us decided to wake up at 8:00 and go see Dubrovnik for the last day. We went into the heart of the city and took a gondola ride (kind of like a chair lift) up to the top of a mountain to get a view of Dubrovnik. We got some beautiful shots of the city and one of the islands. Then we walked around the city a little bit and wandered upon the port where we decided to take a ferry to Lokrum island which is an island that is a natural reservation, so there were no houses on the entire island. The island was also inhabited by peacocks which were everywhere! It was a lot of fun to walk around and see peacocks at each turn. It reminded me of a park my Grandma used to take me to when I was younger that had peacocks all over the place. After Lokrum we went back to Dubrovnik and walked around the town and then had some authentic kebabs which are not like the kebabs us Americans think of. I kebab is a sandwich that has three types of meat on it (one was veal!!!) and then fresh vegetables, and cheese. It sounded disgusting and I tried to order it without the veal but apparently the meat was all combined already so I decided to plunge in to the deep in and try it. It was surprisingly really good! After that we walked to an internet cafe where I was able to skype my mom before the ship sailed.
Yesterday I did a bridge tour where I was able to see how they operate and steer the ship. The best part of it was that I got to sit in the captains chair and take a picture :) We get to Greece tomorrow, so I will update you with more after that!
Love to all,
Lauren

Rome

Sorry it is taking me a bit of time to update my blog! There is always something going on or things to do. Here is the remainder of Italy:
        Mom and I woke up and walked to the Colosseum to meet our tour guide Stephania, to begin our all day tour of Rome. When we got there we were greeted by Stephania and found out that she thought it was just Mom getting the tour, and didn’t realize there were two of us. We had to go get another ticket for me, and then we began our tour of the Colosseum. We went inside and I was in awe, it was so amazing to see it all and realize that so long ago gladiators fought there and to imagine the thousands of people that packed the entire place, and the roar of the sound of the cheers that there must have been. I thought it was especially interesting that they had part of a wooden stage over the basement area, and then the rest of the ground exposed the basement. Because we had this view, it made it easier to imagine how it would have looked just seeing the wooden stage with the dirt on it (what the spectator would have seen) as well as where the Gladiators waited to fight and where the animals were kept. It is amazing that the Colosseum is still standing today after earthquakes and stone robbers.
        After the Colosseum, we walked through the ancient Roman ruins, and were told the history behind the pieces we saw, what we found the most interesting is that all of the architecture and sculptures were created before there were power tools, or tractors, or any type of machinery that we now depend on to create anything. After the Roman ruins, we went to the pantheon, where we saw more sculptures in a beautiful building with an oculus, which was a big hole, like a skylight in the roof, but it didn’t have any glass protecting it from the building, so there were drain in the building for when it rains! Next we were off to the Trevi fountain. It was a lot bigger than I expected and was very beautiful. Of course Mom and I had to throw a coin in. Turns out, one coin means you will return there, two means you will fall in love there, and three coins means you will get married there. Of course we each only threw one in after discovering this :) Then we went and had lunch at a little to go pizza place. Mom and I had the best pizza we had ever had! It was flatbread with thick bright red slices of tomato, mozzarella, and basil. After it was toasted they put olive oil on it...let me just say BUONISIMO! After our amazing lunch we went to the Vatican. Words can not even explain what a labyrinth of beauty and intricacy the pieces were that we saw inside. Beautiful statues made of various rock and bronze, tapestries that you could stare at for an hour and still not see all of the detail that went in to it (which were all done by hand!) paintings, and artifacts. But of course the most spectacular thing in the Vatican museums was the Sistine chapel. We both teared up at the marvel it was and the stories of Bible the paintings showed. We stared at the ceiling for over an hour and a half and know that there was still so much we hadn’t seen. If you have never been you absolutely must go and stand in awe of the magnificent ceiling and wall that was all painted by hand, by one man, who had to lie on his back to create it. When we left we went to St. Peters Basilica, which to me, was the most spectacular thing I had seen yet. This was largely in part to the time of day we went. We went when the sun was setting, so the light was trickling through the church windows and lighting up the place in a way that was so magical that I don’t know how anyone could see anything so moving and not believe in God and Heaven, I felt like I was able to experience a piece of it right then. There were beautiful sculptures that were over 15ft tall, they were so magnificent. After St. Peters Basilica our tour was over and we were so glad that we decided to have the private tour guide because we were able to have a personal relationship with her and ask her as many questions as we wanted, plus we were able to go at a pace we wanted.
Next we took a metro to the Spanish steps, walked up them, and people watched for a little bit. We left to go to our hotel to get ready for dinner but on our way we passed a restaurant with a display of home made pastas in front. We decided that was the place for us so we went in. The manager was standing at the front of the store and we listened to him singing Italian songs to intrigue people in. It was a very authentic Italian experience and we had a very good pasta dish with fresh tomatoes, home made pasta and olive oil. The power went off three times we were there which we thought was very entertaining.
Next we were off to find some gelato, our last one together :( Then we went back to the hotel and went to sleep. The next morning I woke up with Mom and had breakfast with her before she took a cab to the airport. I cried of course! We had such a wonderful time, thank you so much Mom for coming, Dad for letting her, and Uncle Bud for watching the kids :)
That day I took a metro back to the Spanish steps and walked up and down Via Condotti looking at all the shops there were. Then I wandered the streets some more and saw many more statues and churches on various streets before I went back to the hotel to get my things. When I got to the train station, there were two trains leaving for Civitavecchia. They were both leaving within 20 minutes of each other so I chose the later train which was 10 Euros less. I soon found our just why it was cheaper! There was no air conditioning and they oversold tickets so many people (including me) were standing. So there I was, packed in a train, with no air conditioning, with a 30 some pound backpack on in 90 so humid degree weather. After I got off I had to walk for 15 minutes to get to the shuttle for the ship. Needless to say, as soon as I got to the ship I took a shower and went to bed. Italy was so amazing, next stop Croatia (which I actually just left) so I will be reporting on that as soon as I can!
Love to all,
Lauren

More on Italy

Hi everyone!


Monday was another busy day. Mom couldn't sleep past 3:30 so at 5:00am she decided that it was time for us to wake up and leave for the day! We were rolling by 6:00. We caught a boat to the train station and bought tickets to Verona. Mom told the man we needed tickets to Verona, he said when, and she said "non so" and he said ok, two minutes train 7!!! So we ran to the platform and just barely made the train. 
When we got to Verona we checked in to our hotel and found out that we ended up getting the room we requested which was the only room in the hotel with a cute little balcony looking over piazza erbe. After checking in, we went to the coolest little coffee bar and had an authentic Italian experience of "due cappuccino and croissants", at the bar (meaning standing at the bar) that's the way it's done. After our cappuccino we went to the arena, duomo, another church, and Juliet's house. Mom and I both touched juliets boob to keep our love! We had a nice lunch in the piazza erbe near our hotel. Afterwards we walked to a castle and it was amazing, spectacular views of the city that we hadn’t even seen yet, and lots of fun pictures on the castle wall. By then both of us were in so much back pain we struggled back for a short rest. Then back out for a little shopping and gelato :) We went out at about 9:00 for dinner at the best place. We had the best pizza and some yummy wine. Then we went to the piazza bra (outside the arena) and strolled, people watched, listened to Ricky Martin sing (he was at the arena) more gelato :) and then back to the room at 11/12 with another busy day ahead.

Tuesday morning we headed to Siena! When we got to the train station we found out that our trip was going to consist of getting on 3 different trains. We were a bit nervous because the train system was already confusing enough only having to worry about one train, let alone 3. Fortunately we made each of our trains and made it to Siena around noon. We met a girl a little younger than me at the train station that was heading in the direction of our hotel so she offered to walk with us and point it out. Our hotel was so quaint! It was a large home that the woman had inherited, which she turned into a bed and breakfast. Our room overlooked a little valley and made us feel like we were living the authentic Italian experience instead of the more touristy side. We went out to explore and find some food, by this time it was 2pm. We had three restaurants written down that had been recommended to us so we went in search of them. We soon found out that every single one closed down for a few hours between lunch and dinner, and we just so happened to go during that time. We found ourselves in Il Campo, which is a huge Piazza, and found a restaurant facing the open area so that we could enjoy our food and do some people watching. The food was pretty good there, but the best part of it was our location. It was such a beautiful day and it was so much fun sitting and visiting while watching all the different types of people around us. After lunch we went to see the Duomo which was so incredible and massive. All of the churches have so much detail to them! Siena is divided up into four or five major areas and we are in one, so that gives you an idea of how much there is to see and therefore how much we must have missed as well. The streets are just a little wider than Venice and not many cars. Lots of motor scooters you have to watch out for. The streets are also very steep, lots of up and down, and all cobblestone. It's wonderful. They are lined with private places and stores of all kinds. Beautiful hanging lanterns of assorted size, shape, and style and decorative doors all add to the charm. Swarms of people of all ages, babies to elderly, exude an energy that is both intoxicating and comforting. The campo is huge and surrounded by these amazing old buildings with so much detail and statues of all kinds. It makes you feel as though you are in an arena.  The campo is also a large sloping cobbled area surrounded by trattorias, pizzerias, and gelatorias filled with outside visitors. People play, sit, visit on the campo all day. That night, mom and I went back to one of the restaurants we had tried to go to earlier, and were so glad we did. It was this beautiful, almost cave like but in a good way, place and the owner was the host. He was very convincing when he told us, "madammosele, why do you not want to just relax?" we had pasta and wine and chatted from about 8:30 until 10:30 before heading out to stroll again. It was 11 when we returned to sit in the campo, with a gelato of course, and there were probably 500 people there, again all ages, sitting chatting, and enjoying the evening. At 12:30 we were finally heading to bed.

Wednesday morning mom and I were so excited to have our private tour of Tuscany! Our driver picked us up and we went driving through all sorts of back roads to see the more local side of Italy. We went to this little town that looked like a giant brick and stone wall from the outside. When we went inside we discovered that it was a little village that you wouldn’t even know existed if you just looked at the outside. We were amazed by how big the village was inside, with shops, restaurants, and homes. After that we went to Montachino for wine tasting at Brunello. We had some of the best wines we had yet there! The tasting room was located right inside a fortress that was beautiful. After the tasting we were able to go up on the walls and see the beautiful view of the country. I had the best pasta of my entire trip after that! Next we were off to another wine tasting and tour a winery. The most interesting part of this tasting is that we tasted olive oil, which our driver knew a lot about, so he told us how to do a proper olive oil tasting and spot a good olive oil from a bad one (who knew there was such a thing)!  Following this we drove to Orvietto, another quaint town, in which we went to see the Duomo, which our driver said was one of the most beautiful in the world, and it really was. It was so massive and there were mosaics all over the outside of the building. Mom then spotted someone who looked a lot like Sarah Jessica Parker, and it turns out, it WAS! I was so excited as she is one of my favorite actresses. I was able to snap a picture of her discretely, and mom was able to get one of me and her in the same frame. After seeing the town of Orvietto, we headed to the train station to go to Rome. The ride was only a little over an hour long so we got there by 8pm. We then walked to our hotel, unwilling to pay the 30 Euros that the cab drivers thought we would be naive enough to pay, which was only 10 blocks away. We were so exhausted that we just went to bed since we had another busy day planned for thursday with a private guide to show us all of Rome.

Will write about Rome later! Having a great time, miss you all!

Venice!

Ciao from Italy! Mom and I have been very busy doing so much I don’t even think I will be able to cover all of the good memories we have made.

Saturday the ship pulled in to Naples and I was so excited to get off the ship and get to my Mom in Venice. We were texting back and fourth once I got there and we both decided that going by air instead of train would get me there quicker and since it wasn’t too much more we decided to go with flying. I looked at prices online but since it was so close to the departure time we thought it made more sense to just go to the airport because maybe I could get on something sooner.

I went outside without a clue where to go and a man yelled taxi? I said yes! He then informed me that the taxi ride to the airport was 60 Euros...which is about $75/80! I said I can’t do that and asked where a bus was. He said he could go down to 50, I said that was still too much so he asked me what I wanted to pay. I said 30 Euros max and he started yelling to the other drivers to see if anyone was willing to take me for that much and one guy said yes! Off I was to the airport and for half the price they wanted.

When I got to the airport I went to the ticket stand and they told me that the plane that left the soonest was 400 Euro, the same flight I saw online for under $200. I then was in quest of internet to find and book the flight I originally saw. I found a computer that there was internet at, put in 10 Euro only to find out from some people I stopped, that the machine ate my money and there was nothing anyone could do about it because the airport was not in charge of the machines. I then decided to see if there was wifi that I could buy a day pass with. I found it, booked my ticket for the price I had originally seen, and was off! My flight to Rome was delayed 20 minutes and my flight from Rome to Venice was delayed 30 minutes, but I eventually made it there.

I then walked about 10 minutes with the 40lb backpack on, to the water taxi and took the hour water taxi to my Mom. I was so happy to see her waiting for me at the dock!! We walked to the hotel which was a quaint little place away from the hustle and bustle of the streets. We set my stuff down and went off to explore Venice. Venice is such an interesting city (its sinking!) the only taxis were water taxis, and the buildings were so tall that you could never figure out where you were going. Pair that with the fact that the streets were never ending and what you have are two mice in a maze in search of cheese, or in our case, PIZZA!

Unfortunately, the best luck with we had with food in Venice were two places that had pizza; and gelato from anywhere. The pasta didn’t seem fresh and the sauces were potently salty. We were bummed about the food but were not about to give up the search!

That night in Venice we took a water taxi from one side of town to the other and back again. It was neat to see the city lights from the water. Mom described it the best way, it felt like we were on a Disney ride! The buildings were all in the water with doors coming right up to the water, and all the buildings were tall, old, and beautiful. The sky was clear, the stars were sparkling it was all so magical!

The next morning we got up and went to explore some more. After roaming the streets for a few hours we decided to splurge and go on a gondola ride! We went by Cassanova and Marco Polos house. It was a very neat experience and we were both very glad that we decided to do it. Venice was great, there was so much to see and there never seems to be enough time to see it all. We got to bed around midnight, looking forward to our next adventure in Verona! Ciao for now!

The rest of Spain and Sea Olympics!

Spain was so much fun, I am so sad that it is already over. Let me just tell you about everything I did after Montserrat...

We had our first tapas after we all got back from our different day trips. We ordered two things we thought sounded good, and two things that the professor recommended and one liter of Sangria to split between 3 of us. The tapas were small portion appetizers and very interesting. One was chorizo, sausage with an interesting flavor to it, croquettas, which is bread and I think cheese that has been deep fried, bread and tomato, which I thought would taste like crostini and bruchetta, when really it was just a couple pieces of bread with a tomato rubbed on it, and a spanish omelet, which is potato and egg. We were glad we ordered them, to say that we did, but did not feel compelled to try them again during our trip.

That night we all went to a discoteca (dance club) and we waited until midnight because they said that the night life didn’t begin until 11:30. We soon found out that they weren’t joking. We got there and we were the 10th or so person in line, with no one else inside! It got very busy about an hour later and we soon learned that they do not seem to have a maximum capacity limit. None of us wanted to pay for the expensive taxi ride back so we walked the 2+ miles to the ship where we then watched the sunrise since it was so close to that time.

Tuesday, after not much sleep, we went out on Las Ramblas, a huge street that has every type of souvenir, store, person or outfit that you can think of. It took a few hours just to see a little bit of it. After we walked on Las Ramblas for a good 4-5 hours, we rushed back to the ship to get ready for the Flamenco show. The dinner was buffet style with plenty of options, they just were not labeled which made me a little hesitant. I stuck mostly to cheese and bread type items and some paella after I was told one of the items I thought looked good was rabbit. The show started after dinner in a quaint little theatre in the restaurant. We had front row seats which was really neat because we could watch how fast their feet were dancing, and when the women dancers would dance near us their dresses would hit our knees. Flamenco is a dance where the women do not need men and they tell you that through their dancing and singing. We had a really great time and I am so glad I made sure to include that in my trip.

Wednesday we went to lunch at a cute little restaurant we found down a small alley. There were about 10 of us together that day and after lunch we went to park juelle which is a “park” designed by Gaudi, a famous architect. The park was a large gravel area that was located on top of columns and cement so it felt like we were floating in the air. We were above all of Barcelona so we were able to get some really pretty pictures of the whole city. There were little vendors everywhere selling little interesting trinkets and there was even a live performance. The performance was by a man in leopard tights, high top shoes, a leather jacket, and guitar shaped sun glasses. He sang classic songs like Rock around the Clock, however he put them in a rock beat and threw in multiple unnecessary obscenities. After park juelle we went to Las Ramblas to explore some more. After another couple hours we still hadn’t seen all of the strip, but needed to get back to the ship to get ready for the “concert” (which was really just a house DJ playing music).

That night I never went to sleep, I just got back from the concert, got ready and went out again. That day I went on a hop on hop off bus with a friend where we were able to go all around the city and see the places we hadn’t been able to get to. I am really glad we did that because Barcelona is just so big it was impossible to see it in just 4 days. Time flew by, and before I knew it I was having to run to a cab to get back to the ship for an FDP (Faculty Directed Practica) on Doctors without borders, which I needed for class. As soon as that was over a basically went to sleep for the rest of the day and night.

The next day was Sea Olympics, in which we participated as a team with people from our deck against the other decks. We all were given a color to represent our “sea”, ours was green, and then there were different events through out the day that people participated in. Events included, jeopardy (which I competed in), tug o war, volleyball, soccer, pull ups, stand up comedy, musical chairs, poker, and synchronized swimming. The synchronized swimming was by far the most entertaining, especially when they consisted of the all male teams. One all male team performed to the song single ladies, in which they rolled up their shorts to be really short and right before they jumped in the pool they took their shirts off to reveal bikini tops they were wearing, it was extremely entertaining! After the long day we were all exhausted. I went to my room and packed for my week away from the ship in Italy, so excited to see my mom, that it was hard to fall asleep.

Finalmente Espana!

Hola de Espana!
Today we arrived in beautiful Barcelona! I wanted to cry when I got here because I couldn’t believe that my dream of coming to Europe was finally coming true. It is so amazing to have not seen land for ten days and then having this beautiful historic place be the first thing I see.
Yesterday we stopped for fuel in Gibraltar. The total process took about 6 hours from the time we stopped to the time we left. The night before we had a cultural preport lecture on Spain which further explained some of the misconceptions and actual ways of living. Last night, we had a logistical preport lecture which focused more on the things to watch out for, traveling in groups, and what today was going to look like.
Danielle and I were so excited that we couldn’t sleep and I think we finally fell asleep somewhere around 4/5am! Today I went to Montserrat and my day started out quite hectic. I woke up at 8am and was very proud of myself that I woke up early enough to go to breakfast, the American consulate lecture, and get ready. Unfortunately, I thought it would be a good idea to watch the lecture on the TV in our room and then decided to take a quick nap since I did not have to leave until 10:45. Apparently in my sleep I decided it was a good idea to change the time my alarm was set for and therefore set it for when I needed to leave. I woke up and realized what time it was and had to frantically run around trying to get myself together. Luckily, there were many people that were running even later than me, so I made it in time...whew!
Once I got to the bus pick up, I found out that I actually knew a couple of the people going so we were able to stick together. The bus ride was a little over an hour long and our tour guide was able to point out little villages to us on the way up the Mountain. Montserrat, for those who do not know, is a Spanish monastery in the gorgeous mountains of spain. There is a monastery for women and a monastery for men. The women's monastery practices complete silence!!
The monastery we went to was the mens monastery in which we did not actually get to see where the monks lived, but rather the beautiful chapel that they worshiped in. Montserrat is one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. The view of Spain from up there (2,000ft) is simply breath taking and the story that the chapel told with its intricate and delicate designs, beautiful metals and sculptures as well as paintings moved me to tears. So much work and dedication went into the building of it in the late 19th century and the fact that it is still in as magnificent shape as it is, is truly incredible.
When we left the basilica chapel, there was a little market of local farmers selling their cheese, honey and fruit. We were able to try the cheeses and honey and every piece and taste was so amazing. I really wanted a peach but when I realized it was 4 Euros (apx $6) for one peach I had to turn away. I think eventually I will have to get used to the sticker shock if I want to eat.
I found a little ATM/ bank near by and used the ATM machine to get some cash. The ATM gave me 2 50 EU which was unfortunate because I was really hoping for some smaller bills. I then went to the teller (there was only one) and asked him if I could get smaller bills. He could not understand a word that I said. I was a bit hesitant to use my Spanish as much of Spain speaks Catilaian not Spanish, which is much like French. I decided to try anyways and was able to tell him what I wanted and we even had a joke in our conversation. He was trying to see if he could pull one over on me, I think just to see if I knew enough spanish, and asked me if I wanted one 10 back, I laughed and said NO, I want 5! He laughed and gave me the correct amount of change. Every person I have come in contact with here so far has been very friendly and most will even try and practice their English back to you, or are fluent in English.
Tonight Danielle and I are going to the flamenco show and traditional Spanish dinner and afterwards we are meeting up with a big group to go to local bar/dance club called Razmataz. The time of everything is so different here! Dinner is at 8:45 and the clubs do not open until 1am!
Having a great time, will put up pictures when I have a chance to go to an internet cafe, though the pictures will not be able to give justice to the beauty I saw today.

Will write again soon, off to tapas in a bit.

Adios mis amigos!

2 Days Until Spain

Hello Everyone!
I am now 8 hours ahead of you all and tomorrow we are done advancing the clocks forward for a while, landing on 9 hours ahead of Cali... YAY! The past couple of days have been pretty busy and they are about to get even busier so I hope I will be able to keep up to date on my blogs.
Lets start from wednesday... Our ship had an amazing race competition that involved finding different checkpoints based on clues which were word scrambles, riddles, anagrams etc. My team was made up of three guys in our hall and 5 girls. We had a lot of fun trying to figure everything out and running around the ship well, not running, speed walking :) Unfortunately we did not win (there were 80 teams!) but we had a lot of fun in the process.
Two of the people in my hall had birthdays in the last two days so we had two different birthday party dinners followed by birthday cake that their families ordered. It was fun to be a part of celebrating their birthdays and was a great opportunity for some bonding.
Yesterday was a very interesting day. I was so tired from all of the time changes that I almost fell asleep in all of my classes. As soon as they were over I came back to my room and took a nap. I then woke up....5 hours later! Needless to say I felt very refreshed and was able to take on the rest of the day easily. Due to too much sleep however, I was not tired at night and Danielle and I proceeded to stay up talking until 4am. It was pretty hard waking up this morning but we had a nice room mate bonding night.
Tomorrow we stop in the Gibraltar straight for gas, it will be the first time I see land in 9 days! I also have a test tomorrow in my global studies class and have another test on Sunday. As of Sunday we will have completed 1/3 of classes.
Tonight I had dinner with my extended family that I signed up for. My “mom” is the dean of students so I plan to get in good with her :) She seems really nice and we had a great conversation over dinner. After dinner with the “family” I rushed off to a photography seminar so I could learn about interesting ways to take pictures and how to get a different perspective of the world. Right after that I went to a seminar on independent travel in Countries where a panel of people that have traveled a lot answered questions and told stories about their experiences.
We will be arriving in Spain in two days!!! I am so exhausted, excited, and stir crazy so I can’t wait to get off the ship and explore.
Off to study for my tests, miss and love you all,
Lauren

Still in the Ocean....

Ahoy Matees!
Surprisingly there is not much to report on when you are in the middle of the ocean. I am happy to report that I am feeling much better! Today was my last day of antibiotic and I am now down to just a cough.
We are advancing another hour tonight so I will be 6 hours ahead of you west coasters beginning tomorrow. My days begin at 8am with breakfast and after that I have class from 9:20-12pm. I then have a break from 12-1:35pm where I have been napping since we seem to lose an hour every night. Then we have global studies from 1:35-3:00pm so the days are pretty busy, especially since I have already been assigned a ton of reading, have two midterms on Sunday, and even had my first quiz today... fingers crossed that I did well on that :)
Last night was pub night, so I went to that and it was a lot of fun even though I did not drink it was a nice atmosphere to meet a bunch of people out on the main deck by the pool. The boat was rocking a lot though which made it pretty entertaining because the people that had a little to drink seemed like they had a lot more.
I just got back from an informational seminar on the food and drink of Spain. Chocolate con churros are highly recommended, apparently they are dough coated in butter, lard and sugar, then fried; after this process you dip it in chocolate....sounds deliciously healthy. Bars are the place to go to get all of your meals. I found this very interesting since in the U.S. typically bars only serve alcohol. Lunch isn’t served until 2pm in Spain because before that tapas are served. Lunch will take approximately 2 hours because the Spanish are about enjoying your food and having time to enjoy the company you are with. Dinner is not served until 9:30/10pm at the earliest because the lunches go for so long, however if you are hungry tapas are served again from 9-10pm. Because the Spanish have lunch for so long the work days are longer and end at 8pm. One of my favorite things I learned from tonights seminar were the best types of white wines... The Spanish believe that “the best type of white wine is red wine”.
Well, off to do some reading, I need to get a chunk out of it and some point so in the middle of the ocean is probably the best time. If anyone would like to contact me I have access to free email at lrpruett@semesteratsea.net. Love you all!

In the Middle of the Ocean!

Hello everyone! It is much harder than I had imagined to get on here to blog everyday. Lets start where I last left off.... I met my roommate, Danielle, Wednesday after I blogged. She is really nice and we hit it off just as well as I imagined. We decided to stay in that night to save on money, and since we had the sting ray adventure the next day. We woke up bright and early for our 8:30 departure time to blackbeards cay. We took the bus in to town to meet the bus only to discover that since we were the only two people signed up for the 8:30 time, they decided to have us go with the 10:30 group. Apparently, in the Bahamas, everything is on Island time, so you can be up to an hour late and still be considered on time.
We went to the straw market while we waited which is basically a flea market mixed with canal street in NYC. There were fake purses all over the place, along with souvenirs of all realms, and each item was “specially priced” for us. Our boat soon arrived for the sting ray adventure and we discovered we were on a boat with a school field trip. The boat ride was fun because we got to see the island from a distance and take some pictures. Once we arrived at Blackbeard Cay, they let us know since we were the only two tourists we could come in and out of the sting ray area as we wished, as well as they let us go in before all the school children, so we got our own private session! There were about 15 sting rays in the water and they would run in to our legs which was slightly unnerving. Danielle was afraid so I got to feed them all the food. When feeding the stingrays I had to hold the food in between my fingers and then hold it under water for them to swim over. Once they were over me they sucked it up, which basically felt like someone put a suction cup on me. We then got to hold them, which was really neat. After our experience, we got to lay out on the beach for the rest of the day.
The next morning was the day I boarded the boat! Since my last name starts with a “P” I was one of the last people to board and therefore waited in line, out in the hot humid sun, pulling two huge duffels and a backpack, for almost two hours. All I could keep thinking was “best experience of my life after this”. I was so excited to get on the ship! I found my room which is a decent sized room for being on a ship, and each room has its own bathroom. The only problem I could find was that I was STILL sick! My newest symptom was having blood shot eyes. I finally decided it was time to go to the Doctor. She put me on an antibiotic and I am just now starting to feel a little bit better. The rest of that day, and the next, was filled by informational orientations and introductions of staff on the ship.
Today I started classes, and so far so good. I think I am going to enjoy my psychology teacher, which is good because I have him for two classes. We have our first exams this Sunday and already have plenty assigned readings. I can’t forget that this is also a school experience :).
I have met many nice people and can’t wait to see which friendships end up developing in to more.

Keep me in your thoughts and prayers, especially in regards to my health (after 7 days of being sick, I am ready to be better)

Email me if you would like at lrpruett@semesteratsea.net and I will be able to respond.
Love to all,
Lauren

Nassau, Bahamas

Hello everyone,

Sorry I have not been very diligent on my blog thus far. Not only is this whole thing new to me, but I have been sick for the past three days :( The weather here is beautiful, about 80 degrees every day with a nice breeze down by the Ocean. The town house I rented is really quaint and gives us a less touristy view of the country. All of the girls I am staying with have made it, and we are all getting along well.

The first day, after we unloaded our stuff, the owner of the townhouse offered to take us to the grocery store. We graciously accepted, however, when we got to the store we suffered from sticker shock. A frozen pizza was $12, a small can of soup was $4, and a gallon of milk was $10! I have no idea how the people make it here!

After recovering, we went to a local restaurant to get some dinner, as recommended by the owners of the townhouse. When we walked in, every one got really quiet and just stared at us, we felt like it was a scene out of a movie. I then walked right up to the bar tender and asked if we seat ourselves, which we did.

The pace of the Bahamas is very slow, everyone likes to take their time and enjoy their company and surroundings, which is very different to me, as I am used to schedules and planning, and getting things accomplished. It took an hour to get our food, and then another hour before we could get our check. The food here is quite interesting as well. All of the local Bahamian restaurants seem to offer the same meal options with the same sides: Spicy Mac and cheese, lettuce and tomato and potato salad. My meal was just as "interesting" as these side options... I ordered fish....and received the entire fish! Head, tail and all, including eyeballs, teeth and lips! By night we were at Senior frogs to catch the touristy scene, and we all had a great night.

The people of the Bahamas are very friendly, the owner of the townhouse brought us all mangos off her tree to try, which were delicious. The men are VERY forward they seem to feel the need to tell you "just how beautiful you are" and then they get a bit more graphic from there... One man even free style rapped a song for a few of us.

We went to the daiquiri shack the second day, which I had read online had the best daiquiris and we were not disappointed. They used all fresh ingredients and even topped us off after we had a little.

Yesterday we went to a little secluded beach and swam out to a sandbar. It was so pretty and peaceful. Everywhere around you could see to the bottom of the ocean.

The rest of the days have been filled with laying by the beach or sleeping when I was sick. I am feeling a bit better now, not perfect but well enough to go out, so hopefully I will be better by the day we board the ship!

Tomorrow is my sting ray snorkeling expedition!!!

Itinerary

Hello Friends & Family,
I have created this blog so I can share my experiences with you all every step of the way. I am going on a Semester At Sea study abroad program which is a "floating university" I will be attending classes and studying while the ship travels from country to country, then while in port, will be able to explore.
I will be traveling to:
Nassau, Bahamas
Ibiza & Barcelona, Spain
Venice, Verona, Naples, Rome, Florence and Siena, Italy (where my Mom will meet me)
Dubrovnik, Split & Plitvice Lakes, Croatia
Athens & Mykonos, Greece
Varna, Bulgaria
Istanbul & Cappadoccia Turkey
Casablanca & Marrakech, Morocco
I will miss everyone very much and hope this will be a great way to stay close to everyone throughout my incredible journey!