The Quick and Dirty on SPRING BREAK!

So as you could all tell by my last post, the beginning of spring break was rather depressing. However, in the end, I had a great time, thank goodness for my friends here who were able to pull me out of my depression!

On the first Monday of vacation- I stumbled into the API office to see my friends Mary and Christine (whose plans were also screwed up) and we ran into the API Director Anne Marie who -like the rest of us- had a strong hatred for volcanoes. One look at all of our sad faces and she exclaimed "You need chocolate!" and she proceeded to feed us all candy. After, she decided to make us lunch! We had a smoked salmon pasta, plenty of bread, and for dessert she gave us 60 euros and told us to have fun at the pastry shop next door! We ended up having a great lunch together - drowning your sorrows in food is always a good time - especially when you have a great cook like Anne Marie!

In lieu of going to Prague with Auntie Kate (damn volcano) I went to Bretagne on Saturday (a region of France) with my two friends Annie and Aaron (whose trip to Italy was permanently grounded). We stayed in Rennes (the capitol) which is in reality a pretty small, but beautiful town. We went to a park (which is actually the number one tourist destination of Rennes) and it was absolutely beautiful. The park becomes a botanical garden at the end and - after discovering the macro feature on my camera- I proceeded to take a million photos of all the pretty flowers and plants. Dad would have really loved this park - I think I took so many photos so I could show them all to him. Later, the three of us grabbed dinner at a crepe place and ate savory and sweet crepes along with a bottle of cider (one of the region's specialties). We procedeed to grab drinks on the Rue de la Soif (literally translates as the "Street of the thirsty") which is known as the student area with many cheap bars. On Sunday, we took a day trip to Mont Saint Michel - which is an incredible place. Words can not describe the beauty here. In essence, Mont Saint Michel is a small island that depending on the tide is either completely surrounded by water or has a walk way with plenty of dunes and beaches. When we went the tide was out, but still incredibly beautiful. Everything here is extremely old and as you are walking through the narrow streets you feel as though you have been transported back in time to the middle ages. We checked out the abbey (the islands big draw) which was incredible. Fun fact: in order to get into the abbey for free I convinced the man at the ticket booth that I was a french citizen. After the abbey we wandered around the town more, took lots of pictures, and ended up buying a pass to see the museums there. The museums were really cheesy but we had a good time and definatly got a few good laughs. When we got back to Rennes we had dinner, grabbed a quick drink (I drank my first ever glass of beer - it was a struggle (as I hate beer) but I did it!), and went back to the hotel. However, on our way back we saw an ambulance but a man into a body bag and take him away - it was really freaky and needless to say we basically ran back to the hotel. The next morning we got up early, checked out of the hotel, had lunch (we had the regional specialty- a sausage wrapped up in a savory crepe- which I liked at the time but now thinking about it makes me nauseous- weird I know) and explored the city more. It was a holiday so a lot was closed, but just walking around and souvenir shopping was a lot of fun. Afterward I needed to head back to Paris in order to catch my plane to Rome the next morning and my friends continued onwards to Saint Malo. On my way back, I was almost kicked off the train (literally - they will stop the train and kick you off- no lie) for not being on the correct train. It took a lot of explaining to prove that I was in reality supposed to be on the train but that there was a mistake at the ticket booth (as I switched my ticket for an earlier train but it was not noted on my new ticket) but luckily I was able to continue onto Paris. Talk about getting nervous!

After I returned to Paris from Bretagne (around 8 at night) I ran around and packed for my one week trip to Rome and Dublin. The next morning I woke up at 3am and met my friend Hillary in the lobby of our dorm to take a taxi to the airport. Our flight was delayed by over an hour but the flight itself was smooth. When we arrived in Rome we checked into our hostel, met our friend Christine for lunch (real Italian pizza - very different then American pizza but good none the less- and a regional specialty which had a mixture of rice, cheese and tomato sauce rolled into a ball and fried with breadcrumbs). After Hillary and I went to the Colosseum (as our friends already went). It was absolutely incredible! We decided to take a tour and so we learned a lot of interesting facts. At one point, our tour guide stopped to talk to some "gladiators" about their lives and I was picked to stand with the gladiator as the representative of their..."lady-friends" as they and the tour guide explained the history of the Colosseum and the role that the women played. It was rather mortifying and I am in about a million photos taken by the other tour group members but I got to take a picture posing with the gladiator after so I guess it was worth it. The inside of the Colosseum is incredible - it is hard to believe that people built such amazing things so long ago! Today the Colosseum is shorter than it used to be (which is pretty incredible considering how big it is) because an earthquake destroyed parts of it a long time ago. After the Colosseum we continued the tour and went to the ruins across the street which consist of the Palatine Hill - the hill where according to legend Romulus first established the city of Rome- and the Roman Forum. On the top of the hill is the ruins of the first palace of the Roman empires- which at one point stretched over the course of a mile with indoor plumbing and a gym that contained three indoor pools of different temperatures (one hot, one cold, and one at room temperature). These guys were SMART. Also on the grounds is a house that was built by Mussolini as he wanted a residence on the ancient grounds of the Roman empires' palace (it has now been converted into a museum). After our tour we headed back to the hostel and rested for a bit before meeting Jenna, Christine, and Courtney for dinner near the Trevi Fountain. This is a huge and very magestic fountain that if you throw a coin into (while turned around so that you are throwing the coin behind you) is supposed to make your wish come true. I probably threw in about 10 coins - hey I need all the help I can get! We found a cute Italian restaurant not far from the fountain and I had the most amazing ravioli's EVER. The next day we went to the Vatican which was absolutely incredible. Because we went on a Wednesday we even had an audience with the Pope! I'm not particularly religious but the whole thing was really moving. The Pope blessed us all (and our family and friends - so you're all blessed!) and spoke to everyone in the audience in their language (Spanish, French, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, English, and German) it was really incredible to see. After the ceremony we went to the Vatican museum. Words truly can not describe. There is more art and history here then can be found in a million Louvre museums. Part of the Museum also contains the Sistine Chapel which was not at all what I expected it to be but was really cool none the less. After the Vatican Museum we climbed Saint Peter's Basilica - a hard feat but completely worth it. There were over 550 steps to get to the top and half way through the walls slant horrifically so you feel as though you are on a carnival ride! At some points the stairs are so steep and narrow that you need to hold onto a rope to climb up them! However, the view from the top is incredible and I was able to take some great photos. After another wonderful pasta filled dinner and gelato desert we headed back to the hostel. The next morning we woke up early and decided to visit the oldest catacomb in Rome which lies on the outskirts of the city. We took a bus there but ended up getting off about 3 stops to early and so had to walk several miles to the catacombs along a busy road in the country that had no sidewalk. It was quite the adventure and despite many potentially bad situations we finally made it there in one piece! The catacombs were very cool and very different from those in Paris because they are so much older. There are no bones only the shallow cutouts of graves and occasional markers. There is also a part of the catacomb that was used as a crypt for three important Roman families. The catacombs lead into a chapel were the remains of Saint Sebastian are buried and where the footsteps of Christ can be found (which are pretty cool even if they may or may not be authentic). We were able to find a small restaurant near the catacombs which is at a flower garden (very beautiful) and there were many ruins around so we checked those out as well. We went back to the bus station and had to wait over an hour in the hot sun for the bus to come! It was quite the scene the four of us sitting on the ground on the relatively nonexistent sidewalk amusing ourselves in the extreme heat. At one point I made up a story about Captain Nemo Sparrow and his merry pirates which was quite amusing if I say so myself. The next day was our last day in Rome and so we visited an old castle and the Pantheon. Both were very cool. We caught a late flight to Dublin and finally arrived in our hostel in Dublin around 1AM.

The first day of our trip was probably my favorite. We got up early and took the train to a small Irish town named Howth. The town is exactly what you think of when you think of Ireland - a marina, small shops, and cliffs. We did a cliff walk and took some amazing pictures. Afterward we went to a pub and got sandwiches for lunch where they had actual diet coke! It was quite exciting. While in Howth we also went to an old castle which was gorgeous. I loved Ireland- it is so peaceful, while climbing the cliffs I kept thinking about how much Dad would have loved the view with the sailboats. I took lots of photos for him though! When we got back to Dublin we explored the city a bit and did some souvenir shopping before grabbing dinner and heading out to explore the nightlife. We ended up coming home pretty early but we had a good night out and I discovered a love for cider beer. On Sunday we got up and went to the Guinness Factory (nothing screams Ireland more than getting free pints at 9:30 in the morning). The factory itself is pretty cool- and the view from the top is awesome. After, we went to Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells and the Old Library (stunning) followed by the Dublin Castle. Feeling truley American we decided to go to TGI Fridays for dinner. For the first time I felt 21 as I ordered myself a few cocktails from a truly American establishment! The next morning we got up early and headed back to Paris - but before we left I bought some really great Celtic jewelry.

Spring Break defiantly had it's ups and downs but overall I had a really great vacation!!!!