Well the busiest and craziest week of traveling ever has just ended.

On Friday the 12th Gabie, Emily, and I began our long journey of spring break. We woke up very early and got to the train station around 7. We went to Dover and got on a coach there. The coach then went onto the ferry. We went across the English Channel to Calais, France.

Then we got to spend another 4 hours on the coach. Eventually we reached Amsterdam, Netherlands. We got off the coach and immediately got onto a boat. We took a boat tour throughout the canals. It was really cool, although it was freezing and very foggy.

After the tour we walked to our hostel. I forgot to mention. We decided to do a tour to Amsterdam. There was a man promoting "International Friends" at our school the first day. They're a tour company and will take you everywhere from places throughout England. They do tours to Paris, Amsterdam, and lots others. I highly suggest them if you want a tour and are going to Europe. Anyways, they're pretty reasonably priced and they provide hostels and such. So we go to the hostel. There were about 40 of us in the group. All college aged kids. Mostly Americans, if not all of us. So we go to the hostel. It was a really cool one. Gabie, Emily, and I get put in the same room with 4 other girls, Katie, Kimmy, Megan, and another Megan. They were all really cool. We unpacked and talked. Then we went downstairs to the bar to get food. After we ate, our guide took us on a tour of the Red Light District. It was interesting to say the least. haha It surprisingly wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be though. However, most of the things you've heard are probably true. It's all prostitutes in windows and live sex shows every corner. At this point, we were very happy we decided to do a tour of Amsterdam all weekend. If we had gone on our own, I think we would have been a little too uncomfortable. It is kind of a scary place, very creepy. But we felt safe with our group. Our tour guide was so awesome too. He knew his audience and told us the interesting history. He told us about how Amsterdam was a huge port and that was what it was known for. He explained the history of the Red Light District and why it has lasted.

(This is the house of the only male prostitute in Amsterdam. When we were leaving the next day our bus driver waved to him and he responded back by showing us a little too much of himself. hahahha)

After about an hour or two walking around, our tour was over and we were free to do what we wanted. We stayed close to our hostel and just checked out some shops and looked around. We went back to the hostel and slept.

Saturday, we had to meet at 9am and we got in the coach. We drove to a small working Holland cheese factory. They showed us how to make wooden shoes and we got to try on some.

They had a ridiculous amount. Then we went into the cheese factory and learned about that. We tasted all the different cheeses. They were so good! We then got time to explore. We went by all the windmills and took pictures doing cartwheels in front of them. ahaha

Then we went back to Amsterdam and our guide dropped us off at the museum of our choice and gave us maps of everything. We went to the Heineken Brewery, but it was very expensive, so we just took pictures outside and got some souvenirs. haha

Then we walked to the Anne Frank House. The line was so long we decided to go eat and come back. We went to a small little shop and ate some wonderful food. Then we went back to Anne Frank's House.

We queued for about an hour, but it was well worth it. We went in and it was amazing. Some of you may not know, but the Holocaust is something that has always interested me. Since I was younger the books I always seem to read are stories like Anne Franks. This was so cool to see. You walk through the house of the family who hid the Franks. Then we got to walk into the staircase hidden by a bookshelf. We walked up into the space the Franks and others had to hide everyday and be quiet. I got to go in Annes room which had cut outs from magazines still on the wall. She liked the put up pictures of the outside world. The rooms were so plain and tiny. It was incredible. After Anne Frank's house and some shopping we went back to the hostel and met up with three of our roommates. We hung out with them for a while, then met up with Tom, Pat, and Dan. They were in Amsterdam at the same time, but didn't do the tour with us. We hung out with them for a while, then called it a night. We got some of the best asain food walking back to the hostel. Called Walk to Wok, greatest food ever!!

The next morning, Sunday, we woke up early and packed everything. We got back in the coach and went to Brugge, Belgium. It was such a beautiful city.

So quaint and adorable. I loved it. One of the cool things Brugge has is the Madonna sculpture by Michelangelo. It's the only sculpture by him to leave Italy. Big Deal!

We walked around and then got some Belgian waffles.

They were so good!! Then we got back on the coach and went back to the ferry, but stopped at Belgian Chocolate Factory on the way.

Fantastic chocolate!! After a long day, we got on the ferry and back to Canterbury.

Monday we spent the day in Canterbury at then at around 8 pm we took our packed backpacks and walked to the bus station. We got on the bus...luckily on Gabies part. She had to do a little running to make it. haha So we took the bus to London Victoria Station. Then we waited in the station until around 11:30. Our bus finally got there and we were on our way to Gatwick Airport. We arrived around 12:30 or 1am. Unfortunately, we didn't know that the airport isn't always open. So we sat outside of security until 4 am when they opened. We checked in and waited until 6:30am for our flight. We flew to Prague and got there around 9 am their time. It was cold, but pretty sunny. We arrived at our hostel and the manager was so nice. He gave us a map and told us all the places to go. We went upstairs and unpacked. Then we went out for our one day of sight seeing in Prague. We spent the whole day walking around and just looking at everything we could. We saw the Prague Castle and could see all of Prague from it. It was so pretty.

We got some dinner and went back to the hostel. We ended up going to bed at 7 pm, because at that point we had been up for about 33 hours. We slept for the most part until the next morning.

In the morning, Wednesday, we hopped on the train and went to Bratislava, Slovakia. For those of you who don't know. That is where my mom's side of the family is from. We arrived in Bratislava at 4 and Peter and Monika, my relatives, picked us up. They took us to their wonderful house and just let us relax. They were so welcoming and we were so grateful to have a real house for the first time since the US. Monika made a wonderful dinner of Halusky and strawberry and plum dumplings. They were wonderful.

Again, so great to have a real home cooked meal. After dinner Peter had us try some homemade authentic Slovak Vodka. haha It was an interesting try, that's for sure. haha Then Gabie, Emily, Peter, and I went to a pub down the street. Poor Monika had a toothache while we were there. :( We tried some Czech beer, which was good, but of course not better then Slovak beer I'm sure. ;) Then we went back to the house and had a good night's sleep. In the morning they had breakfast ready for us, so kind of them. Then we went around the city and saw everything. We went to the Bratislava Castle and walked around all of downtown. Then we got to eat lunch with Peter's sister too, Veronica. She was so sweet. She walked around with us too. It was great.

(If you rub this statues hand, you are supposed to become rich!)
UFO Bridge

After a long day of walking, Peter and Monika drove us to the airport. They sat with us until we had to leave. We appreciated everything they did!! Thanks guys!!

So Thursday night we flew to Rome. We arrived pretty late. We walked around, trying to find our hostel. It took a little while, but we eventually found it with the help of the manager, Glen, who is so awesome. Our room was adorable and made everything better. Friday we woke up expecting clouds and rain, and it was incredibly sunny and hot. We went outside in our long sleeve shirts and wandered. Glen told us how to get to everything fast. And we did it!! We saw the Palatine Hill,

Foro Romano (Roman Forum),

the Colosseum,

then Vatican City,

the Sistine Chapel, the Spanish Steps,

gelato

and the Fontana di Trevi (Trevi Fountain),

and finished up eating an amazing pasta dinner with wine.

So good! We shopped for a bit and walked around then went back to the hostel to sleep.

Saturday bright and early we woke up and it was pouring. Luckily we were leaving. We went to the airport and sat around for a while. Then we flew to Athens, Greece!

In Athens we just soaked up the sun, it was about 70 degrees. It was wonderful! We walked around for the day and got some food and just wandered. It was nice to be off a schedule. The next day we met up with a girl we met at the airport. Paula. She was at the same hostel as us, so we hung out with her all day. We went to the Acropolis and Parthenon.

It was so cool, but soooo windy. After that we just walked around looking at all the ruins and going to all the street markets.

It was great. Then Paula had to leave, so we said goodbye and we went back to the hostel and ate and slept.

Then Monday morning we got up ate and went to the airport. Our flight finally left and after a long long long and busy flight, we arrived back in London.

We took some trains and finally arrived in Canterbury at around 8:30 pm. It was a fantastic 10 days, but we were so glad to be home!