July 11 - July 14. Croatia

I'm sitting in Dubrovnik at an internet cafe before we leave here tonight to head to Greece. I wish I could spend just a couple more days here... I feel like I didn't get to see and do everything that I wanted to while I was here, but I guess that means I'll just have to come back some day. But neithertheless, my days have been jam packed with activity since I've been here. On Monday once we got here, I went on a Semester at Sea trip to this little village and a folk show. The folk show was about two minutes long, and since I am extremely short and was standing in the back, I couldn't see anything! But besides that we had a really great dinner that consisted of some sort of meat and potatoes and salad and lots of wine. On Tuesday, I went to Montenegro for the day, which was beautiful. However, we were in a bus for six hours of it and only got to explore for a couple of hours. I almost preferred the nice air conditioned bus compared to the 115 degree hott weather outside in Montenegro. On Wednesday I felt like I wasted most of my day... I woke up with a migraine and spent a good part of the morning in a lot of pain and throwing up. I hate the migraines that I get, but considering I have only gotten two really bad ones since I've left I guess they are improving. Still, it was a bummer to be inside in my room for half a day yesterday when I should have been out and enjoying Croatia. I finally felt well enough to get up around two and by four I felt well enough to head into town. We grabbed a bite to eat at this wonderful Mediterranean restauraunt called Nishta and I ordered a huge plate of falafal. Yumm. It was my first meal of the day, and I ate the entire thing. We then went sunset kayaking and snorkeling. It was awesome. It felt so good to be out of my bed and in the water! I love the ocean so much... I don't know what I'm going to do when I get back to Colorado and there isn't any water to be found. We kayaked around a small island off the coast Dubrvonik, stopped to snorkel in a cave, and then kayaked back right as the sun was setting. It was so beautiful... I wish I could have taken pictures of it, but I wasn't able to have my camera with me! Today my friend Jenny and I got up early to walk around the city... I felt like I hadn't seen much of the city so it was nice to get to do this this morning. By nine o clock it was already well over a hundred degrees here so we were anxious to jump in the ocean, which we did for the rest of the day. I love swimming, especially in the ocean. I think I would live in the ocean if I could. Now I'm here, using the internet while it's available. We are trying to plan our Greece adventure and I can't wait. I wish I had some pictures to post of Croatia right now, but I haven't had time to upload them all yet so I'll post them while I'm in Greece.

We leave tonight and will be in Greece on Sunday! Athens and Santorini here I come!

July 4 & 5. Cinque Terre, Italy

I am currently in Venice, but spent the last two days in Cinque Terre, Italy. It was probably the most beautiful place I have ever been in my entire life. It's this amazing place made up of five cities (cinque means five and terre means city in Italian) that are all connected by hiking trails and a small railroad. We spent the two days there hiking around from city to city, swimming in the ocean, and relaxing. I could have spent my entire summer there... I almost just told the ship to go on without me. We got to Cinque Terre around 4 in the morning on July 4th. We had taken the over night train from Naples to there, and needless to say when we finally got there after our 8 hour train ride, we were exhausted! We weren't able to check into our hostel until 10:30 in the morning, and nothing opened in this little town until at least 8 so we had some time to kill. We spent the early morning watching the sun rise sitting on a rock on the shore of the ocean. We then were so tired that we all fell asleep. Some of us fell asleep on benches, some of us on rocks, and Jenny was brave enough to sleep on the street. We may have looked like we were homeless if it wasn't for Liz's leopard print bag. At 8 we enjoyed a delicious breakfast, and then walked around the city until we were able to check into our hostel. At 10:30 after checking into the hostel the man said, "Follow these stairs up until you can't go any higher. Go slow and take lots of breaks." Now let me tell you that Cinque Terre is a city built on the side of the cliff. They get everywhere by stairs. We had figured this out early in the morning, but when we had to walk up 350 very steep stairs (I'm not joking... Juli actually counted), we were not prepared. The stairs seemed to never end, especially since we all had to hike this with all of our luggage. After finally making it to our hostel, we dropped our bags and immediately went down the 350 very steep stairs, and didn't go back up until we absolutely had to go to sleep. We spent the day hiking from the city we were staying in to the one next to ours, and it was SO beautiful. Yesterday we spent the day hiking to all the other cities, and swimming in the ocean! Isn't it crazy that I've been on a ship for three weeks, have crossed the Atlantic Ocean, have been to Barcelona, Naples and Capri and had never actually touched the ocean? I was so glad to get to finally jump in to the ocean. Did I mention that I loved Cinque Terre?

July 2. Naples, Italy

Today we got to Naples, Italy! Naples is our first stop in Italy, and is where the ship is docked for the next couple of days until it moves to Civitivecchia. I have some big Italy plans and am looking forward to every moment of it. Today I spent the day Naples, tomorrow I am spending the day on the Island of Capri and Anacapri, then I'm going to Cique Terre, then to Venice, and then am meeting the ship in Civitivecchia. Naples is a cute little city filled with a lot of people, a lot of vespas, and a lot of laundry hanging outside of windows. Although I'm glad that I am not spending my whole time in Italy in Naples (it is kind of really dirty, there is a lot of theft here, and there isn't much to do) I'm glad that I got to enjoy Naples for one day, especially because the pizza is beyond delicious here. Naples, as you may know, is known for its' pizza so for dinner of course we went searching for a yummy pizza place, and boy did we find one! We went to Sofi's.. a cute little restaruant with AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS pizza. I'm not kidding when I tell you that I ate an entire whole giant pizza all to myself. Let's just say that if I lived here I would be a LOT bigger than I actually am.

July 3. Capri and Anacapri, Italy

Today I spent the day on the Island of Capri and Anacapri. It's a small island right off the coast of Naples, and it was BEAUTIFUL. Even though the Semester at Sea trip was kind of lame (so far the two SAS trips that I've been on have not been worth the money I spent on them, but oh well) I'm glad I spent the day there instead of in Naples again. The people were so friendly and the view was amazing. I am currently sitting on an overnight train to Cinque Terre where I will spend two days before going to Venice. I've heard that both of these places are absolutely amazing, and I can't wait for either of them!

Still no photos...

As I was writing that last post and this one, I am sitting in a Starbucks in Barcelona so that I can use their free internet. Even though it is better than the ship's internet, it is still awfully slow... I was going to upload pictures, but my computer is almost dead, I can't find an outlet, and it is taking way too long. I'm sorry to make you wait even longer for some pictures, but I promise that when I'm in Italy I'll post some! I'm staying at a hostel in Venice with free wi-fi so I'll catch you up on everything when I'm there!

Barcelona

Barcelona June 27- June 30 Today's my last day in Barcelona, and I'm sad to be leaving, but am SO excited to get to Italy on Saturday. Barcelona has been amazing. It's an amazing city filled with tons of people, amazing architecture, and chocolate churos. It was fun to be back in Espana and to see a new city that I have never seen before. (You would love it here Kayla... I bought you a little something in El Parque Guel that I think you will like a lot). On Monday I went to Montserrat, a monastery in the mountains of Barcelona. Although the church was jam packed with tourists (not what I as hoping for), the view from the top was beautiful, and made it worth the trip up there. That evening I enjoyed a delicious dinner of Paella and Sangria. On Tuesday I went to El Parque Guel with all of my amazing, wonderful new friends. We shared some jamon y queso sandwiches, multiple bottles of vino and had a wonderful time walking around and enjoying all of Gaudi's funky architecture. After that I indulged in a wonderful siesta followed by a night out at the Dow Jones bar where we celebrated my friend Jenny's birthday. Yesterday I walked around the city of Barcelona... I had chocolate con churos and a wonderful cup of coffee for breakfast, then went to the market and let me tell you how awesome the market was. I walked around it for a good two hours just taking everything in... I wish we had markets like that in the U.S. I was in awe of all the fresh fruit, vegetables, fish and meat that surrounded me. I could of stayed there all day. After that we went to La Sagrada Familia... the church that has been under construction since around the 1920s and isn't going to be finished until 2025. It is the church that Gaudi started building and lived in until he died. It is now getting finished, and let me tell you... it is HUGE. I have never seen such a big church in my entire life, and it is not even finished yet. It is so beautiful and incredibly detailed. After that we walked around and visited the protest that is going on right now. People are protesting the government because of the economic recession. People have vandalized Barcelona's statues, monuments, and walls. They have built tree houses and are camping out in the center of Las Ramblas. It was an amazing thing to see... I still can not believe that the government would let these historic monuments be ruined like this. (I am going to post pictures of this after this post). And today I've been taking in all that I can on my last day here. I went to the market again, walked the main streets, and went shopping. It has been an amazing week.

We leave Barcelona tonight and get to Naples on Saturday... I am so excited.

June 26. Barcelona en la manana.

I will be in Barcelona in the morning!! I am SO incredibly excited. I can't believe we are finally here, can't believe my adventure is finally actually starting! Today is my last day of classes until after Italy... isn't that crazy? And even then we only have one or two classes in a row until we are on our way home. Once tomorrow comes, everything is going to go by so fast because we only have one or two days on the ship between every port. This is seriously insane. I just can not believe that we are actually here! I have some other good news. Today was taco day at lunch. I was so excited. I have been so sick of eating the same food everyday for every meal so getting to have tacos was awesome. And not only that, but come tomorrow I will be eating every meal in Barcelona and after that in Italy, and after that in Croatia, and after that in Greece, and after that in Bulgaria, and after that in Turkey, and after that in Morocco. No more ship food for a while (besides the one or two days between every port)!

I have decided that while I am in every country I am going to completely indulge in the culture of where I am. So tomorrow I am going to Montserrat during the day and then after that I am going to take a siesta, and rest up for a very late dinner and a fun night. That is the way of the Spanish, you know. I am very excited.

Annnndddd... We just booked our train reservations for our Incredible Italy Adventure. My new friends (Jenny, Andrea, Liz, Juli, and Jenny's brother and cousin who live in Italy) and I are going from Naples to Cinque Terre, to Venice, and then to Civitavecchia. I can not even begin to tell you how excited I am for this!! I will be spending the next four days in Barcelona and will be in Naples on Saturday!!

Well I'm off to bed so I can get up early and enjoy the beautiful Barcelona sunshine. I will hopefully be able to blog tomorrow and tell you all about my first day in Barcelona and Montserrat, but I also may be up quite late so I am not going to make any promises.

Did I mention I am EXCITED?! Muy muy emocionada! (Is this right, Kayla? I have been trying to practice my espanol)

June 25.

Land! There is land outside. We are in the Straight of Gibraltar and are currently stopped to refuel for a couple of hours. Across the way to the South is Morocco and to the North is the beautiful Espana. We are so close to the land that I think if I jump off the deck I might make it to Morocco. However, we can't get off the ship and it is killing me! I just want to be in Barcelona already! I'm already sick of my classes. Not because I don't enjoy them, but because I'm not used to having class every single day, and I'm just way to excited about all my adventures that lie ahead that I can't even think about school right now. Tonight we will continue East, through the Straight of Gibraltar and will be in Barcelona on Monday morning! I can not even contain myself. I don't have any definite plans for Barcelona, but am excited nonetheless. I know that on Monday I am going to go to Montserrat and then the rest of the week I am going to go to the Chocolate Museum, the Pablo Picasso Museum, the Parque Guell, and the beach. I also want to see the Sagrada Familia and all the other wonderful places and things Barcelona offers. We will be in Barcelona from Monday to Thursday and then are off to Italy, in which I have big plans. I am spending the first two days in Italy in Naples going to Capri and Anacapri and I also want to try to go to Pompeii. Then will be off to Cinque Terre for a couple of days (look up pictures of Cinque Terre... it is absolutely stunning), and then will be going to Venice, and then will be returning back to the ship in Civitavecchia. So incredibly excited. But, because the internet on here is SO awful and SO expensive we are having trouble booking our train tickets and hostel reservations. I wasted forty minutes of my really super expensive precious internet minutes trying to book our train tickets only for it to not work. Oh well, we will just have to try again tomorrow or while in Barcelona. What else has been happening? Well, yesterday I saw a pack of dolphins (I don't know if "pack" is the right word, but a bunch of dolphins) right by the ship. So wonderfully amazing. Also, I am pretty sure I failed my Global Studies test today. I guess that's what I get for not studying at all. I know I at least got 4 points, but I guessed on almost every question besides that one. (Tom if you are reading this, just remember that I ALWAYS study for your tests).

Well that's about it. I'm exhausted still, but got to take a thirty minute nap today and we don't have to change our clocks again until after Croatia! Wooooohoooooo... I can't wait to get adjusted to this extreme time change. It is currently almost 10 p.m. here, and is just about 2 p.m. in Colorado. So with that, I will say good night or should I say good afternoon to all of you back home?

June 23

This morning we passed over the Atlantic Ridge, which means we are no longer on the American plate, but are now on the European plate! What does that mean? To be honest, I have no idea. All I know is that this morning as we crossed the Atlantic Ridge, the ship had to slow down, and the entire ship vibrated...Everything fell off our shelves, and the entire ship shook for a good couple of minutes. Not only was it loud, but it was scary! I was almost about to put my life jacket on and go to my life boat station... Haha, just kidding. However, after a few minutes the shaking stopped, and the ship returned to its' normal rocking motion. It was after this, in my Global Studies class, that I found out all the commotion this morning was because we crossed the Atlantic Ridge, which means we will be in Barcelona in four days! I can not wait!While eating breakfast this morning on the deck of the ship, I saw land! I was so excited, because one, I haven't seen land in a week, and two, I thought that we might have arrived in Spain earlier than expected, but found out that it was just an island off the coast of Portugal. Even though my excitement of thinking we were close to Spain quickly went away, it was still reassuring to see land. I woke up today SO sunburned. I sat on the deck of the ship yesterday for a little while, and even though I was slathered in sunscreen and reapplied quite often, I am fried. I have a horrible sunglasses burn and it looks so funny. I guess the sun here in the middle of the Atlantic ocean is stronger than I thought it was. Anyways, I miss everyone at home and I miss my Mama's cooking and Dad's grilling (I'm so sick of eating the same exact thing for every meal), and I miss hanging out with all the people that I love and doing gymnastics in the yard, but I think I'm just ready to get to Barcelona.I've met some really great people and am planning some really exciting trips with them. I can't wait!! I can't believe that I'm already in my second class of the day, and it is hardly four a.m. in Colorado. To all of you back home, I hope you are sleeping well!

Water Sanitation

I'm obsessed with my water sanitation class, which I'm in right now. I just learned that 50,000 children die every day from dysentery because of unclean water. That is one child every 17 second. Isn't that horrible?

June 21.

Well the Captain just told us that we are smack dap in the mididle of the Atlantic Ocean right now, which means that the swells (not sure if this is how you spell that, and I guess they are like waves but bigger) are really high right now, which means that the ship is going to be extra rocky for a couple of days. I guess that explains why everyone is stumbling around the ship and falling over more than normal. They don't serve alcohol on here until the evenings, but otherwise I would think that everyone had way too much to drink.... I have seen more than a handful of people fall completely over just walking down the halls today, and so many people are so sea sick right now. I on the other hand, am just extra tired today. Maybe it's because the boat is more rocky, or maybe its because staying up till two every night and waking up at seven in the morning everyday on top of losing a hour of sleep every night (we are traveling east bound, which means we advance our clocks forward an hour every night) is getting to me. But the good news is that I have two morning classes that end at 1035and then don't have another class till 4:15 (or as it is on the boat 1615... I still am not used to military time) so I have all day long to rest and relax. I'm currently sitting on the top deck of the ship enjoying the sun in my bikini. Ahhh it's so nice.. summer finally feels like it is actually here... I could get used to doing this everyday.

June 19. First day of class

Today was my first day of classes on the ship, and overall it went really well. I seriously have a falling asleep problem though. I made it through my first two classes wide awake and then during my third class the boat just rocked me to sleep... I couldn't help it. My Spanish teacher is from Spain, and is so interesting! He only speaks in Spanish though, so I need my sister here to help me!! My Global Studies class had 700 people in it, and I couldn't believe it. I have never taken a class with so many people in it. My biggest class I think I've ever had was 40 people. So needless to say, it was quite the experience... The teacher had to speak with a microphone, and it was just the craziest thing ever. And then my Water Sanitation class was so interesting until I fell asleep that is. We have class everyday that we are on the ship from now until August 18th, but I'm definitely looking forward to them!