Home again, home again

I’m baaack!!!! It was a great trip, and we got to see so many places. There was lots of sun, but everywhere we went was so HOT!!! I hate to think what Rome must be like in July!!!

My favorite place I visited was definitely Venice. We had so much fun just getting lost in the streets because you will just be walking and you cross about 8 bridges along the way and then the street just ends. The colors and buildings were also so unique. The only bad things were some of the smells and the prices. We had fees for everything. In restaurants they even charged a table fee. I was wondering if you decided to stand and eat if they would still charge you that fee.

Rome was also a lot fun. There was just so much to see there. We saw the Coliseum, Forum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Spanish Steps and the Vatican (including St. Peter’s Basilica, museums and Sistine Chapel). By the end of those three days we were completely exhausted, but very content with all the gelato we ate!!!

Barcelona was also gorgeous. It is mostly just sites where the artist Gaudi built a something, but everything he made was so bright and colorful so the entire city has the same feel. We also went to the beach and up to where they had the stadium for the 1992 Olympics.

Most of the hostels were all right. In Paris there wasn’t any hot water, so we had to take extremely quick showers. None of them were as bad that the Aloha hostel where we stayed in Paris in February, so that was good.

Overall, it was an amazing time, and I didn’t come back completely broke which is always good.

I met up with my grandparents yesterday in Paris. They will be staying in Belfort until Sunday. Today I took them on a tour of Belfort, and tomorrow we will be going to Colmar. Then we have a couple more day trips. I think it will be nice to be out of the tourist areas for a while, so I have some room to breathe again.

Here are a few pictures I took on my adventures. There will be more to some soon!!!!!



Waiting in line for the Eiffel Tower




Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona




The Coliseum




The Forum (old Rome)




St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican




Swiss Guards who protect the Vatican. (I think they are only there so tourists can make fun of their outfits!)



Sarah and Vicky at the Spanish Steps




Trevi Fountain



A canal in Venice



Another stunning scene from Venice




St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice




The Grand Canal at dusk

Off We Go...

I have spent the entire day doing laundry, packing and cleaning, and I think I am finally finished and ready to go on my next big trip.

Sarah and I are leaving for Paris tomorrow at 5:39 am. (Mandy is not coming with us because she only had a 7-month contract, so she is finished and going home. I can’t believe it has been seven months already!) Then we are going to the airport to meet my friend Vicky who is flying in from Denver for the trip. They were expecting a ton of snow in Denver, but the storm stayed south, so she left all right. We have two days and one night in Paris then we leave Sunday night for Barcelona, and we get there at about 8:30 am. I am sure we will be very tired, but we will have to fight through it and take in all the sites.

Then we head to Rome and on to Venice then back to Paris by April 24. Then I meet up with my Grandparents in Paris. They are coming back to Belfort to visit for 5 days, and I am going to show them the sights.

It will be a couple of busy but really fun weeks. I can’t wait until I leave at 5:30 am tomorrow!

Bern

Happy Easter or rather Joyeuses Pâques!

Yesterday Sarah and I went over to Bern, Switzerland, and we had a great time. Every time I go to Switzerland I like it more and more. The scenery is gorgeous, the people are friendly and it is amazingly clean.

It is hard to believe that Bern is the capital of Switzerland because it is quite small. I think only about 120,000 people live there. The town is located in the bend in the Aare River. The architecture is interesting too because all the building match, which makes all the streets so pretty.

We first went to the Munter Cathedral and climbed up to the top. The views were amazing even though it was a little hazy. The climb up wasn’t too bad although it was almost 400 steps. Coming down was probably worse because the staircase was so narrow and steep.

After we had lunch we went to the bear pits. Bern is named after the German word for bear. Apparently they named it that because when the area used to be hunting ground the first animal killed there was a bear. They have had bears in Bern for hundreds of years. I guess they are kind of like city mascots.

We also went into some shops in the afternoon, and I bought some good Swiss chocolate for Easter. I don’t think there is anything better.

This week I only have two days of work because tomorrow is Easter Monday. In France it is a holiday, and people don’t work or go to school. Then I don’t have to go to my two classes on Friday because they are going somewhere. That means I have lots of time to do laundry and pack my stuff for my trip. I only have 5 days until I leave. I am really excited. I think I have everything finished, so now all I have to do is actually go!!

I will leave you with some pictures from Bern that Sarah took. She likes there to be people in her pictures, so she usually just has me stand in the street and smile, although I also had her take some with the two of us.


I didn’t know what else to do…



On the bridge to the bear pits



Bern makes a great backdrop


I have updated my Web site if you want to check out more pictures of Bern.

Sunday Stroll

I went for a very nice stroll today. The weather was gorgeous, nothing but blue skies. I went with Sarah and her parents, who are visiting from England until Thursday. We walked along the path that goes along the Savoureuse River in town. It went all the way up to a lake, which is about 5 miles outside of Belfort.

There were so many people all over, and some people were out sailing their boats on the water. I guess I have finally found out what people do on Sundays in Belfort!

In the end we walked about 6 and a half or 7 miles (we caught the bus halfway back), but it didn’t seem that long to me. I guess I have gotten used to walking more since I have been here.

Here are some of the pictures I took of the river and the lake.