I never really thought about traveling to FLorence. I mean, when people usually talk about visiting Europe, you hear of Paris, London, Rome, ect. When our tour guide took us to Florence, I had no idea what to expect. Let me tell you, it is quite a lovely city. There are so many statues, museums, and things to see! I couldn’t just do it all in one day, it is impossible! Maybe someday I will go back.
My favorite part of visiting Florence was an opera dinner my friends and I attended. It was so much fun and it was elegant as well. We ate dinner and were served the finest wine in Italy while listening to a man play piano and a woman singing her heart out. It was beautiful. I think it is amazing when people have such great talents and use them to make other people happy.

I would describle Florence as…lovely

 Ohhhh Munich.   What a strange and vey fun city. 

This is how I might describe Munich.  Old arcitecture, but new stores.  Old traditions, but young people.  Old businesses, but new cars.  It is really strange to be in a place with so much history and yet so many new things going on to see and do.

The most memorable time in Munich for me was going to the Haufbran House.  It was all decorated old Germany and there were men and women singing and dancing in their tradtional German outfits.  At this bar, they sold beer ONLY in liters.  I was like, uh I ordered one beer, I didn’t know that whole thing was mine!? The waitor brought our drinks over and was carrying five liters at a time.  Must have some big German guns on him!

It was a really great time!  I would reccomend going there for sure. : )

Here’s a little Video for ya!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9UPJo87jtI

 

Scenic picture in Austria

One word.   Austria.  

When first planning our trip to Europe, I  did not have it in my head that I really wanted to go to Austria.  When I ended up going there, I was so glad I decided to go! 

Driving through Austria was really quite amazing with all the mountains and valleys.  When I first got there, my group decided to go white water rafting.  We got all suited up in the rafting gear, and we set out on the Rhine Valley. It was the most beautiful and exciting experience of my life.  The scenery was so beautiful and the rapids were really fun to paddle through.  We got a chance to jump off the raft and swim in the water.  My boot was leaking and it was SO COLD! Hahaha but it was really fun!  After we were done, our raft leader gave us a “refreshing” shot of wiskey.  We were all so thrown off cause we thought we were getting water.  

White Water Rafting, Austria

 

After we went rafting, we were taken to a different part of town and got the chance to go fishing!!! I was so pumped about going fishing.  We all caught some fish and then we had to take it over to be cleaned.  It was a really unique experience because we got to watch him gut the fish and when he took out the heart it would continue to beat….so creepy.  (I took a video)  Then the people at the farm cooked the fish for us and it tasted so fresh and delicious.  

After the fish farm, we went to the Swarovski meseum in Austria and it was a waste of time, I wouldn’t reccomend going there haha. They had some big creepy waterfall that looked like someone was barfing out water.  I just made fun of it and played on the swingset the whole time like a little kid. : )  Here’s a video just so you can get an idea of whaty I am talking about lol.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un3ZlBNSuzo

All and all I would give Austria a two big thumbs up! ! !

You are standing before a beautiful architectural structure.  Looking up to the sky there is 1,063 feet of iron and about 120 years of history.  It is 9:59 p.m. and all of the sudden…sparkles.  Hundreds of little flashing lights look like a big sparkling diamond.  There is only one place in the world you can be…the Eiffel Tower.  http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk/

Eiffel Tower

This is something anyone can experience upon traveling to Paris, France to see the beautiful Eiffel Tower.   When it is dark out, every hour on the hour, the tower is lit up with hundreds of lights.  Not only is it breath taking, but it stops you right in your tracks.  While experiencing this, I could not even manage to move.  My friends and I didn’t know it did this and when we saw it, the corney tourists that we are all held hands and made a wish!  Hahaha…silly tourists.

But seriously,  I really think the Eiffel Tower should be on everyones list of things to see before they die.  It is really an amazing experience to see and go up into the tower.  For only 12 euro, we were able to go up into the tower and stay as long as we wanted on the observation deks (there are two of them) and the gift shop.

 

If you have the money and the time, please go to Paris.

Another intriguing place in Europe is Venice, Italy.  How can you not be intrigued by Venice?  I mean c’mon, the city is built on water people!

Venice is a funny place as well.  When traveling there the best advice I got from guides and other people who have been there was to actually GET LOST.  Doesn’t that seem a bit absurd?  Well after experiencing it, I really don’t think it was the worst thing that ever happened, and I will tell you why.  Since Venice is a city on water,  there was no room to build big streets and passageways. So in turn there are only little alleyways and very small roads to walk on. Once you are there, you are required to walk or bike everywhere.  Because of the way it is built, Venice’s character enlies in places you would never find unless you were…”lost.”  Venice is a maze with beautiful flowers and great architecture to be found.  Getting lost usually isn’t my first thing on my list to do when traveling, but in Venice it was the best thing I could have done.  Oh, and don’t worry, you can always have a friendly Italian help you if you REALLY have to get going.

I suppose if you have the money you could also take a gondola everywhere.  Riding on a gondola as a tourist is fairly expensive (about 60 Euro) and very worth it.  While touring Venice on the gondola, I felt like I was on the scene of a movie.  Beautiful is an understatement.  I even was able to see Casa Nova’s original home!  Riding on a gondola doesn’t necessarily have to be a romantic experience because I went with a  bunch of friends, but if you did have your significant other with you it would be very romantic indeed.

St Goar, Germany

I think Germany is one of the most under-rated places in Europe.  It is very diverse in things to do and things to see.  The wine is magnificent and the beer is even better.  Add some friends to a visit to Germany and bang….instant fun.

This is my attempt an an artistic picture I took in St. Goar Germany.  My friends and I were on our way through St. Goar after we had traveled to Amster, Amster, DAM DAM DAM!  I would classify this town as a very quaint and humble town.  There are opportunities to taste wine throughout the town, which we naturally took advantage of.  For only 12 Euro, we were able to taste about six different wines of every kind including some ice wine…ooolala!

The town was filled with awesome architecture with castles off in the distance, beautiful gardens and very welcoming Germans.  The town has two very special qualities about it.  One: It has the largest free hanging Coo-Coo Clock in the world.  Two: It has a store which makes beer stines of every shape size and color.  It has the most beer stines in one store in the whole…guess?  The whole world! I was astonished how much the town was able to hold that much character in one place.  You just don’t see that in America THAT often.  Just a little breath of fresh air…literally.

I would have never traveled there unless we were passing through.  Looking back, I am really glad we went.  Who knew I would have so much fun in such a small, unknown place?!

Ever wondered what it would be like to travel the world and experience amazing and inspiring new things?  Want to travel and see the sights you’ve always learned about in school?  Want to see the most beautiful places on earth? Well there is ONE place where all these dreams can come true.  Europe.

The summer going into my junior year of college I traveled through Europe and it was the best experience of my life thus far.  This blog will give tips about traveling, tell bits and pieces of my adventures, show pictures of the sights, and most of all, sing Europe’s praises!

Stay tuned for the first of many posts about traveling through Europe!