From Fab to Sad

Its been a while. And for a very good reason. My life went from crazy, exciting adventures to lame, sad studying and writing essays in a matter of hours. The first few days I was home, I think I was just mentally drained. I attempted working, I did (no, seriously), but I failed. I wasn't physically tired. I was actually waking up way earlier than I normally do (probably because of the one hour difference) and felt good for most of the day. But my mind just seemed exhausted. I really had trouble doing work. Last Thursday I met Quinn and Santiago at a cool restaurant/bar where we exchanged pictures. Some of Santiago's friends from the Photography Society were there too. We enjoyed a nice, cheap 3 course meal. It was delicious (and did I mention cheap?). Friday I was reunited with the girls I've made good friends with here. We were going to watch Atonement, eat cookies, and gab about our adventures, but it turns out that the UK have different DVDs here and they couldn't read my copy. It was sad. But we still talked for a good, long while. It was nice just to catch up and hear about everything they did over the break. Saturday I kind of started my essay for philosophy, but Sunday was the real day for hard working, as I learned that going to the library actually makes me do work. I've never been that library goer, but for some reason, it actually motivated me this time. Yesterday, I finished my essay, with tons of extra readings and references that we weren't assigned to do, so I think I did pretty good. I also have been studying and what not. Last night, I took a break and went out for some drinks (I have missed cider way too much!) with some friends and just hung out. It was nice to take a breather from the work. I'm not looking forward to the next few weeks. Monday my paper is due. Wednesday I have my first final in statics. The following Wednesday I have 2 finals, one in Sustainable Engineering Design Solutions and the other in Introduction to Sustainability, and one MCQ test in Physics. The following day I have two more finals, one in Construction Economics and the other in Physics. Those 48 hours are not going to be fun. Luckily, that Friday night I hop on a bus for a lovely weekend in Paris! I'm so excited. Its basically what is motivating me to keep pushing through, especially since almost all my friends at home are basically done with school. Its going to be a rough next two weeks, but I'll make it through somehow.

To lighten the mood, here are some group pictures that I got from Quinn and Santiago from the trip:

 Walking the streets of Rome

 At the Irish Bar in Rome

With the David 

 Overlooking Florence at Sunset

 On the Bus to Nice

 In Nice

 Sunset in Nice

Overlooking Monaco 

 Jumping off a Boat in Valencia

 On the Beach in Valencia

 In Valencia

In Barcelona at Park Guell

The Studying Master,

Jessica

The Roman Forum, I got a real good shot of that

On Saturday I finally got into Rome around 4ish. I met up with my friends Quinn and Santiago and, after dropping off my stuff at the hostel and grabbed some pizza, we wondered around a bit. First, we walked by the Colosseum. We walked down the road, passed Julius Caesar, where a took a shot with my bff, and strolled around the city, looking at all the ruins that are literally everywhere you look. We thought we found the Spanish Steps (we totally didn't). Finally we found our way to the Trevi Fountain. I threw my coin into fountain, just as you're supposed to.

We then roamed around a bit more, wound up a bit lost, but eventually found our way back, and sat at the hostel and had a few glasses of wine. There we met one of the most...interesting people I have come across. He was a mid-twenty-something from Chicago who was backpacking across Europe in the most literal sense of the word. By the end of our conversation with him we had some of the best quotes. He chose sleeping in a train bathroom over a hostel room. My favorite quote:
Quinn: I think we're going to try and go to the Roman forum tomorrow.
Guy: The Roman Forum? What's that?
Quinn: All of these Roman ruins.
Guy: Oh yea, The Roman Forum. I got a real good shot of that today.
It was kind of ridiculous.
The next morning it was off to do just about everything there is to do in Rome in one day. It was INTENSE. We started the day off at the Roman Forum. Lucky for us, it was Italian Culture week, so literally everything was free. It was awesome. The Roman Forum was crazy cool. We only had half of an idea of what exactly we were looking at, but it was awesome to try and imagine what it would have been like to be there at the time that the structures were all completely standing. It was also incredibly interesting to see the different pieces from various times throughout the empire's rein. Its interesting how one can tell so much about a culture's history through their buildings. Since I had been to the forum before, I also found it interesting to reflect on how I had seen it when I was 10 or so. I feel as though, even though I appreciated it at that age, I had an even better understanding of it now.

After that we found some food and then made our way to the Colosseum. You walk through the outside for a bit, then finally enter the magnificent structure. It was truly insane looking at this massive stadium that is so old and now having the understanding of structures and forces that I do. The stadium is enormous, bigger than some modern stadiums. And yet, it is still standing after all this time. I can only imagine just how crazy it would have been to walk into that stadium for the first time during its prime in complete awe.

After the Colosseum we found our way to the Pantheon, an old Roman temple turned church. The marveling thing about this structure, aside from its age, is the massive dome in the center. I still am baffled as to how it was constructed and was able to stand for so long without caving in. I will say this, the Roman sure knew how to build massive, strong structures that could withstand just about anything. Inside the Pantheon also lies Raphael's tomb, which was interesting to see as well.

We then hightailed it to the Vatican to see if we could get in before it closed. As we approached it, there was absolutely no line. We ran through, walked past the Vatican museum, into St. Peter's Basilica. That was a mistake. Because we chose to roam through the Basilica first, the museum, which houses the Sistene Chapel, was closed. However, the actual Basilica was amazing. It was insane how detailed the entire thing was. The little side chapels, as I think they call them, all have beautifully painted ceilings. The main hallway is coated in gold and other beautiful colors. You walk in and feel almost inadequate to be in the presence of such beauty. The Basilica also houses Leonardi DaVinci's statue of Mary and Jesus. It was insane.

We then strolled over to Rome's castle to see if it was open. Unfortunately, we missed the last entrance by about 10 minutes. However, we did get to watch a beautiful sunset over the Vatican while sitting by the river that runs through Rome.

We then strolled back to the hostel, stopping at our favorite pizza place where I ordered the most amazing pizza I've ever had (sundried tomatoes and rocket...yum!). We then went to an Irish bar to meet one of Quinn's friends who was studying in Rome. The Irish bar in Rome, Italy was full of Americans. It was kind of an unusual experience, but what can you do? It was then off to bed to get up in the morning for the train to Sienna.

Practically an Ancient Roman,
Jessica

Uh-Oh

So this will be short. And slightly sad. Blogger is silly and made me purchase more space so I can upload pictures from my adventures. So, I will hopefully be able to post new posts soon, but the transaction takes up to 24 hours to go through, and I am not sure when I will have internet or not. Future posts include the cities of Venice, Verona, and Athens! Today I fly to Rome to meet up with two friends to begin the rest of my trek across Europe!


Your Slightly Frustrated Blogger,
Jessica

EUROPA

I feel exactly how I did 2 months ago all over again. In 5 days and 12 hours I will be yet again boarding a plane off to another country all by myself. This time I'm headed off to meet my parents in Italy to begin my crazy month off. I land in Milan and have a few hours to kill by myself before my parents are done with a tour they are taking. My mom suggested looking at the Duomo there (which is a cathedral), so I'm going to explore a building (surprise, surprise). Once I meet up with them, we are off to take the train to Bologna, Italy, where we will be staying for a few days. I'm excited to get to know an Italian city. We're then off to Venice for a day, then back to Milan to catch a flight to Athens, Greece. I'm so excited to see Athens, even in spite of the current financial and political situation there. Its going to be amazing to visit the Acropolis, along with everything else Athens has to offer. We will then be flying back to Milan, where I leave my parents for them to return back to the states. I fly to Rome, then, to meet up with my friends Quinn and Santiago. From Rome, we will be taking a day trip to Siena on our way to Florence. We then travel to Nice, France, where I hope its nice enough to enjoy some quality beach time. From Nice we got to Barcelona, then Madrid, and finish Spain in Valencia. We take a bus back to Barcelona so we can travel to Munich, Germany. Because buying a bus pass called Europass was our cheapest option, we will be traveling by coach the entire month. This means I will be sitting on a bus for literally 24 hours from Barcelona to Munich. After Munich, its off to Prague in the Czech Republic. After Prague, we're off to our last stop in Berlin. We then take another fun twelve hour bus ride to London from Berlin, eventually catching a bus to Leeds from London. I'm pretty positive I'm not going to want to ride a bus for a VERY long time after April is over.
I've spent so long planning April with my friends, but it still doesn't seem like its real. It seems like a fairy tale that I will actually be backpacking across Europe for an entire month, really being able to explore so many different cultures and experience so many new things (especially food). I'm so excited, but so incredibly nervous for what is to come. I whipped the backpack out today to begin laying out what I need to bring, whether it be clothes to wear or swap with my parents, study materials (because I actually do have finals and tests when I get back), toiletries, or some entertainment. I think my mind is even more blown over this concept than it was when I first came over here. I will literally be living out of a single backpack for an entire month. Its going to be an adventure, and I am so excited to experience it.
Now, because I will be traveling so much (new place just about every 2 or 3 days), I have a nifty new element to my blog. On the right sidebar, you will notice a new addition. This beauty if Google Latitude, which, just be logging into the internet, will let you know what city I'm in. I will try and update my blog as much as I can while off on this epic adventure, but I'm not quite sure where and when I'll get internet. Hopefully it'll be more than less, but this way, even if I'm on a terrible connection or don't have too much time to update the good old blog, it possible to know where in the world I am. So get excited (and prepared to be extraordinarily jealous).

The Soon-to-be Backpacker Across Europe,
Jessica