Travel Tips From Me To You: Packing

As many of my friends and peers approach graduation or take that leap of faith to study abroad, I’m often faced with a myriad of messages asking for advice. How did you get around Europe? What countries suggest for a ten-day trip? What weather should I prepare myself for? Don’t get the wrong impression—I love talking to my friends about the adventures they are about to embark on. That is why I’m embarking on my own adventure (a blogging adventure that is), and releasing a series of posts about the nitty gritty details that all of you future travelers seem eager to hear. There’s no time like the present, so let's get started.

Packing 

Assuming you know your destination and have your transportation booked (two topics that you can expect blogs about in the future), the next task is packing. Packing can be both exciting and a chore. Your suitcase is iconic. It says—hey I’m actually doing this! This is the exciting part. The chore is deciding what to pack and what is excess. Here’s a list of a few steps to take.

1. Identify your mode of travel and destination(s).

            - One destination: If you are traveling to one destination and staying put, you have it made. Simply check your baggage restrictions if you are flying (weight, dimensions, number of bags, etc) and you are set. If you’re traveling by car, bus, or train, just make sure there is enough room and that’s that!

-Multiple destinations: This option gets a bit trickier, but is often more rewarding. In this case, you need to know all of your modes of transportation. For instance, say you are flying to Europe and then country hopping. Even though American Airlines allows you a massive suitcase, how do you plan on getting around after that? If you plan on using one of the cheap European airlines such as Ryan Air, they have extremely tight weight and dimension restrictions you must abide by unless you plan on paying hundreds of dollars in fees on a $70 flight—research them. Multiple destinations also implies carrying your bag(s) a lot, so don’t pack more than you can carry for an extended period of time.

2. Check the weather.

            -For shorter trips this is usually pretty simple, but for longer trips be aware that the weather can quickly change. For example, over the course of two months I went from a 90-degree weather in Rome to wind and rain in Dublin. Do your homework and be prepared.

3. Buy a good bag.

            This mainly applies to backpacking, but you really want a bag with support. For our two-year anniversary, Danny and I both coincidentally bought each other backpacks for our big Europe trip. I bought him an oh-so-stylish Hershel duffel that he wanted and he bought me a tan and orange, heavy-duty REI bag. At the time, I was happy, but thought I was going to look like an total dork. However, during our trip my bag with the waistband and back support was much easier to transport. Functionality is key.

4. Neutrals and layers are your best friends.

            - I know we think that traveling is a fashion show (think of the Instagrams!), but I cannot stress enough only packing what you need. You’re going to need room for souvenirs, so pack light. The key to this is packing things that can be worn with many outfits. Jeans, black cardigan, tan sweater… Bring a few fun necklaces and one or two fun tops as accent pieces, but don’t go overboard. Trust me. It will take up space and you won’t use it. If you haven’t worn it in the last two weeks—don’t bother.

5. Toiletries and extra tips…

            - Always pack one travel sized set of toiletries in case when you arrive at your destination the stores are closed, etc. Once you are settled, buy cheap shampoo there because then you don’t have to deal with the many hassles of traveling with liquids.

-Hair care: Ladies, if you can deal, don’t bring hair your curling iron. First of all, if you’re in a foreign country there is a high chance that your outlet converter won’t be able to handle the voltage and you will ruin your precious straightener. Secondly, your hair probably needs a break as it. Opt for a side braid, natural hair, a pony, or a bun.

-Bags: Pack extra Ziploc bags. These will come in handy for separating dirty clothes and storing souvenirs. Pack a day bag. This is a small backpack you can take out for the day for your maps, snacks, camera, etc. Collapsible ones are available for easy storage!

6. Your carry-on bag can be a lifesaver.

- I speak from experience when I say that luggage gets lost. Trade all of those magazines out for the real essentials. Think of it as an overnight bag: a full change of clothes, charger, important documents, and cash. Shove the snacks and magazines in after if space allows.

7. Oh, and all that technical stuff.

            -Bank: Notify your bank so your account doesn’t freeze, and order currency from that country in case the ATM doesn’t work when you arrive (it happens pretty often).

            -Electronics: You may need an outlet converter. Do your research before you go!

“Anyone who needs more than one suitcase is a tourist, not a traveler” 

― Ira Levin, Rosemary's Baby

Dublin, Ireland

MacCoole Farm

Jameson Factory

Cliffs of Moher

I don't know how many of you have heard of or flown Ryan Air, but it is essentially a massive bus in the sky that calls itself an airline and offers extremely inexpensive tickets. The way Ryan Air makes its money is if you do not strictly follow their regulations. If you don't book to check your luggage in advanced- 100 euros. If you don't print out your boarding pass prior- 70 euros. If you don't arrive an hour in advance- tough luck. So naturally I was a bit stressed that everything would go smoothly... It did not go smoothly.

Upon arriving at the train station in Paris that we thought was connected to the airport, we discovered the airport was about a 45 minute walk, and the bus wasn't due to arrive for another hour. There were two Brazilian backpackers also trying to get to the airport so when they snagged a taxi and asked if we wanted to join them, we couldn't resist. As Danny loaded our bags into the trunk and I was one leg in the taxi one leg out, the taxi jolted forward in an attempt to speed away. Four men jumped in front of the car and proceeded to flash their guns.

At this point I think we are getting robbed. The taxi driver and the men are yelling in French, which neither us nor the Brazilians understand. Eventually the men with guns pull out their badges and identify themselves as cops. Apparently our taxi driver was illegal. The cops had to report the incident and took our passports and told us we would have to go with them to the station to make a report. At this point in time, all I'm thinking about is my precious passport because when you're traveling it is your everything.

 In the end, the taxi driver admitted to whatever crime he had committed and we didn't have to go to the station. The cops actually took us to the airport so that we would make our flight on time and everything worked out fine. Needless to say, it was a huge relief to arrive in Dublin safe and sound.

We were in Dublin for four nights. We wanted to book an extra night, but due to a huge football (soccer) game that was taking place, everything was completely booked. I loved Dublin. The first night we went out in Temple Bar (the bar area) with some of our roommates. We went to a couple places and they were all everything I imagined an Irish pub to be like. There was live music, both modern and traditional Irish, pints of Guinness, people chanting drinking songs- it was a blast. At home I hate Guinness, but it was so much better out of a tap in Ireland!

Our first full day was spent doing another free walking tour, checking out Trinity College, Dublin Castle, and just exploring the city. We also went to the old Jameson factory where we had a tour about how the whiskey is made and then had a tasting at the end. Dublin is an amazing city, but the following day was by far my favorite day.

We booked a tour that went to the Cliffs of Moher and to Galway. The tour was coordinated by the MacCoole family, so the first stop was to their family farm in the Burren. There we got to see all of their animals, went on a hike through their property and learned some Irish history. After the tour we went into their grandmother's old home and enjoyed homemade pastries and tea. It was so picturesque and adorable.

The next stop was the Cliffs of Moher which was my favorite part of Ireland and maybe even the entire trip. The cliffs are over 200 meters high and were created 320 million years ago. There is a wall you can walk behind, but we chose to walk on the small path closer to the edge. We had to be very careful to not get to close to the edge because the winds there are insane and there are on average 12 accidental deaths there every year due to people getting tripped up by the wind and falling. Just looking over the edge gave me goosebumps. Even though they were a little nerve racking, they were so gorgeous it was impossible not to enjoy them. We walked along the path for almost two hours before continuing on with the tour. The tour took us to a few more viewpoints and small towns, ending in Galway.

The rest of the trip was spent sight seeing and enjoying the crowds. There was a really big qualifying football game (Dublin v Sweden), so on Friday there were Swedish people everywhere getting drunk and partying in Temple Bar from noon until the game started (which I think wasn't until 7). We also went to the archeology museum which has these mummified bodies that were found in the bogs. The cool thing is that the bodies weren't preserved on purpose. Something about the minerals in the bog preserves the body and these mummies still had hair, leathered skin, and perfectly defined fingers and toes. It was creepy but very interesting.

Our final night we met up with our travel buddy, Natalie, that we met in Florence and also met up with in Paris. We went out for dinner and drinks with her and her friends and it was a great last night. It was hard to say goodbye, but hopefully we can meet up again soon! Now I am on my way to Edinburgh, my favorite place I visited when I studied abroad. Kristen also arrives in two days so I have a lot to look forward to!

Amsterdam and Paris... Again!

The Heineken Experience, Amsterdam 

Canals, Amsterdam

Arc de Triumph, Paris

Eiffel Tower, Paris

Two years ago today, I left for my semester abroad in England. On that trip I went to Amsterdam and Paris (among other places) and loved them both. Danny on the other hand had never been, so of course we had to make stops in both cities. First stop- Amsterdam.

Last time I went to Amsterdam, one of my favorite places was Vondel Park, so we booked a hostel right by the park. We spent our first evening there, relaxing out by the pond and enjoying some entertaining people watching. The first full day we packed with sight seeing. We started the day off with one of the "free" walking tours, which was very informational. For someone who thinks that all there is in Amsterdam is weed, here are some facts I picked up on the tour. Marijuana is not 100% legal in Amsterdam. However, individuals can have up to 5 grams on them. Also, the percentage of locals that smoke weed regularly is one of the lowest in the entire world (with New Zeland as the highest). The tour took us all through Dam Square, down the river Amstel, through what used to be the Jewish Ghetto, part of the Red Light District, and much more. It was one of the best tours I've been on.

After the tour, Danny and I had lunch at a Dutch restaurant and had split pea soup and La Chouffe beer, a traditional dish. The rest of the day was spent wandering the city and relaxing in the park. That night we met up with our friend who I stayed with last time, Harold. He lives right off of Dam Square (the city center), so we hung out with him in his awesome apartment and swapped travel stories. Danny and I ended the night sitting off of one of Amesterdam's 1,200 canals.

Since we stayed in Amsterdam for five days, I'll cut the rest down to highlights. We did a tour of the original Heineken factory, which was a ton of fun. We learned a lot and got to enjoy two beers at the end. The Heineken was way better than the Heineken at home, but it still wasn't as good as a lot of the other Dutch and Belgium beers. Another major highlight was riding bikes with Harold, his friend Sarah from Columbia, and Danny all over the city. We rode to the iconic I AMsterdam sign and back to Vondel park for a picnic. We ended the night with a typical touristy pub crawl, which was a wild night out as usual. We spent an amazing five days in Amsterdam, but Paris was waiting!

We arrived in Paris at night time, and the first thing we had to do was go to the Eiffel Tower. It is amazing during the day time, but turning a dark corner and seeing the Eiffel Tower glowing over the city can literally take your breath away. We sat under it and waited for it to sparkle, which happens every hour. It was a perfect way to start our time there.

Our first full day was the 1st, which was also the first Sunday of the month, AKA- free Louvre day! We spent about three hours in there, hitting all of the highlights such as the Mona Lisa, Napoleon's Apartment (which was more like a mansion), and so so so much more. We wandered all the way down Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe and had some delicious crepes. That night our hostel had an open mic night where we enjoyed some good music and got to know some of our fellow backpackers.

We were supposed to visit the Palace of Versailles, but it was closed! I was so disappointed. We ended up still having a great day exploring the Latin Quarter, the Notre Dame Cathedral, the "lovers" or "love lock" bridge, and Luxembourg garden with some of the people we met at the hostel. We ended the night going to the top of the Eiffel Tower with our friend Natalie we met in Florence. It was an amazing view of the city and a great way to end our time in Paris! Now I am back in the UK and loving it. I will try to blog again soon, but it is going to be hard considering my BFFFFF Kri$ten is going to be here in a few days! Signing off for now :)

Berlin-poor is sexy

Holocaust Memorial

East Side Gallery-Berlin Wall

Parliment

Here's the sitch- I'm currently in Paris trying to figure out how on earth to get to Dublin, and I haven't even blogged about Berlin or Amsterdam...eek! Basically, I'm going to make this one short and sweet.

When I picture Germany images of beer gardens and bratwurst come to mind. Due to my own lack of research, I was extremely caught of guard when I got to Berlin. In my opinion, Berlin is the hipster capital. It's like if San Fran and Brooklyn had a baby. If you are dressed nice you will NOT get in a club- the grungier the better. Their motto is "poor is sexy." Graffiti is not looked down on- it's practically encouraged. The food to try isn't a bratwusrt- it's curry (however they do serve it over bratwurst too). It was nothing like I expected, but that doesn't mean I didn't manage to have an awesome time.

We stayed at the Wombats hostel, which was awesome (rooftop bar, laundry services, etc.). The first night we started to prepare to go out around 10/11 until we looked up some of the popular places online and the EARLIEST they recommend getting to a club is around 2 or 3! My friend from high school, Christine, was also in town, so we made plans to meet up. Christine was staying with some locals, so we went to about four different lounges that we never would have found (or gotten into for that matter) if we hadn't been with Christine's friends. I won't get into detail about the night, but I will say that we finally collapsed into our hostel bed at 7:30AM. The rest of the nights in Berlin were much more mellow so that we could get some full days of sight seeing in.

The first sight we saw was (big shocker) the Berlin Wall. There is part of the wall that they left standing called the East Side Gallery. The whole stretch of the wall here is painted with various works, many involving themes of freedom, peace, etc. It was really cool how something so oppressive was turned into a way to express creativity. The other side of the East Side Gallery is covered in graffiti, which was also fun to check out.

Our entire second day was spent on bikes. Biking is definitely the best way to get around Berlin because it is so big! We biked down to the WWII holocaust memorial, which is all of these big granite blocks of various heights. It created a really unique look. We biked all around the parliment buildings, which according to our front desk guy is "the place that is pretty much running Europe" right now. We also biked for a good portion of the day through Tiergarten, their version of Central Park. It was nice to get away from the big buildings for a bit and just journal in the park. Side note: Berlin does not look like the rest of Europe (at least to me). The buildings are all very modern, and I'm assuming that because of damage from wars.

I could definitely go on about Berlin and I'm leaving out a lot, but I need to figure out how to get to Dublin in a few days! Blog on Amsterdam is coming soon- stay tuned!

The Center of Europe: Praha

David Cerny Statue

Cathedral near our hostel

Old Town Market 

I am officially half way done with my trip! Right now I am on a train to Amsterdam, so I'm a bit behind on my blog. I just left Berlin, but let's take a quick trip down memory lane and do a recap of Prague.

After taking an overnight train from Switzerland, Danny and I arrived in Prague at 10AM. We stayed at the Czech Inn, a very nice hostel that is about a 10 minute metro trip out of the city center. Since we planned on doing a walking tour of old town the following day, we decided to explore the other end of Prague, home of the Prague Castle, St. Nicholas Cathedral, and much more.

The first thing we did when we got into town was climb up to the Garden of Paradise, a nice garden/ park type place that has a great view of Prague. We followed the path down through Prague's oldest vineyard that has been around for centuries. After strolling through the vineyard, it eventually dropped us out in the city center. Even though the view from the garden was very nice (and free), we decided to pay the extra money to go to the top of the castle's bell tower to get the best view of Prague, the center of Europe. Legend has it that Prague's bell tower can predict bad luck. In 2002 the bell cracked (which forewarns the bad luck) and months later the entire city experienced a terrible flood. To get to the top of this tower, I kid you not, we climbed up the narrowest spiral staircase I've ever seen for at least 5 minutes- I timed it on the way down. Even though I felt extremely claustrophobic, the view from the top was well worth it. We could see all corners of Prague, which in my opinion, is one of the prettiest European capitals.

We wandered the Prague cathedral and castle a bit more, relaxed in a beer garden for about an hour, and then set off to find one of David Cerny's famous public statues. There is a giant radio tower in Prague, and Cerny built these gigantic bronze, naked babies that look like the are climbing up and down the tower. As if that wasn't strange enough, their faces look like they've had a giant square stamped in the center of them...creepy. The following day we found another one of Cerny's quirky pieces, a statue/fountain of two copper men that rotate, peeing into a pool in the shape of Prague... definitely not your average classic statue you find in most city centers.

That night, Danny and I decided to take advantage of the happy hour at our hostel's bar, which cost the American equivalent of $1.25 for a pint of beer! I'm not exaggerating when I say that beer in Prague is literally cheaper than water. We then headed into old town and went to a popular local bar. The bar had live music and cheap drinks, but I was overwhelmed by the fact that probably 3/4th of the patrons were chain smoking indoors with no doors or windows open. It was disgusting. A pub crawl was going on downstairs, so we headed down there and even managed to sneak a free beer by blending in with the pub crawlers. After that we headed to a jazz bar. The atmosphere was much more relaxed and the air was breathable. We enjoyed a few drinks there and called it a night.

The next day we really got to see Prague on the walking tour. It picked up at our hostel and took us all through old town and the Jewish quarter. Old town is so cute. It has tons of markets with vendors selling traditional dishes, fresh pastries, and lots of little trinkets. We learned a lot about the history of Prague, which was largely based on the Catholic v. Protestant feud that lasted a brutal, bloody number of centuries. Needless to say, the majority of Prague is Atheist now. One of the Catholic cathedrals still has a mummified forearm and hand of a Protestant hanging in the back of the church as a symbol of who has the power. We saw it on our tour... talk about creepy.

The tour was extremely informational and interesting, but I won't bore you with more facts. Let's move on to the fun stuff- the pub crawl we did that night. We got two new roommates from Belgium, Dries and Mathijs, who were really cool and we did the pub crawl with. Side note- if you go to Prague you MUST get a train ticket and VALIDATE it. We used the metro for a full 24 hours and no one checked our tickets (which we luckily had). Our roommates bought tickets but didn't validate them in the machines (confusing) and two security guards bee-lined for us on the train and asked for our tickets. Danny and I were OK, but our roommates got what would be about a $50 fine because their tickets weren't validated... stupid... but back to the pub crawl.

Even though the night didn't start off well, the pub crawl was a blast. At the first bar we had unlimited beer and shots for an hour (don't worry Mom, we paced ourselves). The second and third bars were also a lot of fun with a lively crowd, good music, and dancing. The pub crawl finally ended up at Karlovy Lazne, Prague's biggest and most popular club. It is five stories tall with a top 40 floor, a 60s floor, a chill out floor, a hip hop floor, and an ice bar. If you know Danny, I bet you guessed we spent most of our night on the 60s floor. We also explored the ice bar with Dries and Mathijs and it was so cool! (Pun intended). The night flew by and we ended up leaving around 4:30!

Our last day was spent exploring more of old town. What I loved about Prague was that it had the romantic feel of an old European city, but it wasn't quite as crowded as a city like Paris. I loved exploring the markets and enjoying the sights without getting pushed around by some fat tourist trying to get the perfect picture he will never look at again. That evening we had a wonderful dinner at a local hangout just up the street from our hostel. It was very hispter-esque with a lot of gluten-free options and quirky decor and servers. It was a nice change of pace from tourist places.

 We met back up with our roommates and ended up hanging out with them the rest of the night, drinking Belgium beers and playing guitar (Danny was in heaven). Our roommates were also going to Berlin in the morning, so we decided to ditch the train and road trip with them! It was a beautiful drive and nice to be in a car again! We arrived in Berlin that afternoon, but that is a story for another blog! Ahoj!

Interlaken, Switzerland

I am writing to you from an overnight train from Switzerland to Prague. It is about 9:30PM right now, and we aren't expected to arrive until 10...AM. Talk about a long train ride! Danny and I are in a six bunk cabin with little dorm-style beds. It isn't too bad. The only problem is I can't sit up straight which makes typing rather difficult, but let's not get off topic. Let's talk about Switzerland.

When I started thinking about taking the kindle out to write a blog about Switzerland, I got pretty overwhelmed. I already wrote 16 pages in my journal, trying to capture the breathtaking scenery and moments that made Switzerland my favorite stop so far. But don't worry, I won't put you through 16 pages. I'll just put the disclaimer out right now that Switzerland is a place that no combination of words or photos can do justice. I know I've mentioned awesome views in other blogs, but believe me when I say that nothing compares.

We arrived in Switzerland five days ago on the most beautiful train ride of my life. Coming in we saw so many rivers, lakes, and towering mountains that it was impossible to take pictures of them all. We arrived in Interlaken around sunset, and took it easy at our hostel, Balmer's, for the night.

The next day we packed in a full day as usual. We enjoyed our free hostel breakfast with the best Swiss mountain cheese, and headed off to Lauterbrunnen, a small town just out of Interlaken. From there we hiked for about 40 minutes up to Trummelbach falle, a mountain that you can hike up and into to see the waterfall that runs through it. The waterfall comes from melted glacier water, so when we finally hiked up inside the mountain, it dropped about 10 degrees. The sound of the rushing water echoing through the caves and seeing the water twist and turn down the grooves was well worth the hike. Not that the hike wasn't well worth it on it's own.

At almost all times throughout our stay, we could look up and see the Swiss Alps covered in snow with lush green hills in front of them. Everything around us was green. There were expansive grassy fields everywhere, colorful gardens, icy blue lakes and rivers... I could go on forever (but don't worry, I won't). When we were hiking, I felt like I just left the Shire and now I was exploring all that Middle Earth had to offer. It was awesome.

Over the course of our hikes, we found plenty of picture perfect scenes, but a few stood out more than others. One was when we were trying to get to the lake and we stumbled upon ruins of a castle from the 13th century. We ended up having lunch at the top of its lookout tower, and the entire time we weren't bothered by lines of tourists or anyone for that matter. After we found those ruins, we set out to find more and found another castle, more well preserved, and explored the stoney walls- all the while not seeing any other tourists. Being constantly surrounded by natures made for a very peaceful trip.

Another highlight of the trip was when we decided to splurge and do one of the excursions. Switzerland is all about extreme sports. You can do basically anything there: paragliding, skydiving, canyoning, bungee jumping... you name it, they have it. We opted to go white water rafting. I had never gone before, and the rivers were so gorgeous that we just had to. The other options all sounded awesome, but this was a 6 hour experience, so we chose to fill the day with it.

I will admit, that in the beginning I was a little apprehensive. White water rafting through melted glacier water? The hour tutorial about how what to do if you fall in didn't help much either. The rapids ranged from classes III to IV. Even though I was a little worried about how it would go, once we got the raft in the water I had such a fun time. After I got past the fact that I couldn't feel my hands, I had a great time paddling the team as we manuvered the raft around massive boulders and tricky currents. Luckily, no one fell in; however, we did all have to jump in to do a rescue test. After experiencing both peaceful floating where we could enjoy the beauty around us an adrenaline pumping rafting, we ended in a lake. I am definitely glad I took the plunge (pun intended), and went on the excursion.

Overall, I don't have any complaints about Switzerland. The scenery was more than I ever imagined. The hostel had an awesome bar, reading room, kitchen, etc... Everything about it was picturesque. I hope that one day I will be back to explore more of Europe, but I know Switzerland is somewhere I will visit again.

When in Rome...and Florence

 The Colosseum: Rome, Italy

The Spanish Steps: Rome, Italy

 Michaelangelo's David: Florence, Italy

Michaelangelo Plaza: Florence, Italy

After nine days in Italy, Danny and I are finally in Switzerland. For the sake of the reader, I'll try to keep my update on Rome and Florence to just the highlights. We arrived in Rome mid afternoon, and decided to start sight seeing right away with none other than the Colosseum. We bought the Roma Pass, which is 20 euros, and allows you to skip the line at the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. Considering it was about 90 degrees outside, it was worth the extra few euros.

Even though I have seen countless pictures of the Colosseum in textbooks, seeing it in person really puts how strong and massive the Roman empire was. It was the size of a football stadium with towering archways and a complex labyrinth of pathways below where they kept prisoners and animals before the "shows." It took us about an hour to walk around the entire thing and read the informational panels. Going to a location with such a rich history and architecture that has been around since 70 AD was an incredible experience.

After the Colosseum, we went to the Roman Forum, the Times Square of ancient Rome. There were a number of dig sites where they were still uncovering bits of what once was the most powerful empire in the world. Even throughout the city, we would be strolling down a busy shopping street and then stumble across a massive column, many dating back to BC. Not only was Rome gorgeous, but it put in perspective how young our own country is.

A few more of my favorite sights we saw over the course of the four days was the Trevi Fountain (the famous wish-making fountain), the Spanish Steps (a main hangout for tired tourists during the day and someone who just wants to enjoy a drink at night), the Vatican, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (the biggest building I saw in Rome). Rome had it all: modern shopping, ancient architecture, rich history, and delicious Italian food.

Part of what contributed to our great time in Rome was that our hostel had a pasta night where there was all you can eat pasta for five euros. We met a few people there, and ended up doing a pub crawl with a Canadian guy, Evan. I could go on forever about Rome, but for my own sanity and yours, let's move onto Florence.

I know Rome is ROME, but I think I liked Florence even more. Florence had the same romantic Italian feel, but wasn't as disgustingly hot and was less crowded. Another thing we learned from Florence is that having a good hostel can make all the difference. We stayed at Plus Florence, and I would 100% recommend it to anyone. The rooms had a dorm/ hostel feel, but it also had a full restaurant, a bar inside and outside and on the roof, a big computer room, a pool, and a laundry room. Because there was such a good community atmosphere, we made friends with a big group of backpackers the first night and hung out with them everyday. Getting to hang out with people past the, "So where are you from... Where did you just come from... Where are you heading to next..." was definitely nice.

As for my favorite sights, obviously Michelangelo's David. The David is located in the Academia and it kept under a giant skylight. It is 17 feet tall, and hold such a presence when you walk into the building. The David was built between 1502-1504... and he still looks great ;) Unlike some of the statues we saw where the heroes look like bulked up body builders, David was detailed perfection.

Another highlight was the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, the largest cathedral in Florence. The entire outside was made of colored marble, and it was beautiful. We walked across Ponte Vecchio, a bridge dating back to the 1300s and explored all corners of the city. Just like most European cities, there were tons of statues, but there was one, Piazza della Signoria that had a ton of original statues from the 1500s. This is where the replica of the David now stands, but many famous statues such as The Rape of the Sabine Women still stands there; however, it will soon be moved into the Academia as well.

The highlight of Florence was the last night when the majority of the little group of friends we made went up the Michelangelo Plaza, which was on top of a massive hill. We packed plenty of wine, grapes, pesto, fresh bread, olives, and sundried tomatoes, and had ourselves a nice little picnic as the sunset over Florence. From the top of the hill, we could see all of Florence. It was a fantastic way to end our time in Italy. Even though we said goodbye to Italy for now, I'm sure I will be back in the future! Ciao!