A Summer of Amazing: Eurotrip

I don't know how I can possibly blog about 7 weeks of traveling and adventures around Europe. Maybe if I blogged along the way, it would have been easier, but I kept a journal instead. So, I'm just going to list the cities and sites that I saw & things I did in the order I saw/did them. If you'd like details or my thoughts on a certain place, just let me know. There will be a link to the pictures soon.

Italy #1: Rome & Pisa with Annie & Monica
day 1- Repubbilica Fountain, Via Natzionale, Foro Traiano, ate Italian cannoli (yum!) from a nearby bakery
day 2- Vatican= Sistine Chapel & ceiling, St. Mark's Square, Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, Palentin Hill, Foro Romano (Whew!)
day 3- Pisa= Leaning Tower of said city, Piazza Duomo (cathedral), back to Rome for pub crawl
day 4- lunch at Trevi fountain, Tempio Adriano, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, souvenir shopping, dinner in Trastevere
day 5- super early morning flight to Madrid, with a stop at our bakery on the way

Fun Annie quotes: "Dude, mopeds here are like Harleys in America." "Nathaniel Bonaparte- oh yeah, his brother...Napoleon. Most people don't know his last name. I don't know his first." "Holy Ramoly!"

Spain: Madrid & Barcelona with Annie & Monica
day 5- Plaza Mayor, Palacio Real, Cathedral next to the palace, Matisse exhibit at Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Plaza & fuente de Cibeles, tapas & sangria for dinner, partied at a "backpackers" bar & met lots of other travelers from around the world,
day 6- train to Barcelona, tapas dinner
day 7- Boqueria Market, Gothic Quarter & cathedral, Cathedral Santa Maria del Mar, Picasso museum, Barceloneta beach (!!!), pub crawl
day 8- Park Guell, Sagrada Familia, Montjuic Park/Castle, Magic Fountain show at Plaza Espanya, bar with new Italian friends we met at the beach (Davide and John)
day 9- Annie & Monica left :( (Final Nun Count: 49!), Casa Batilló, La Pedrera
day 10- Barceloneta beach for 6 hours! Davide met me there after work.
day 11- Park Guell with Davide, bus to Girona airport for flight to Dublin

Ireland: Dublin, Cork/Blarney, Killarney, Galway/Cliffs of Moher with Stephanie
day 12- St. Patrick's Cathedral, Trinity College, UK Trivial Pursuit at the hostel with our new friends Kayla & Ben
day 13- Guinness Storehouse, laundry, movie night at the hostel ("The International")
day 14- 3 hour free walking tour all around Dublin, pub crawl
day 15- bus to Cork, Blarney Castle & grounds, kissed the Blarney stone (I now have the gift of gab!)
day 16- bus to Killarney, lunch at Irish sports bar, learned a bit about Gaelic football, walked around town
day 17- day trip to Galway, bus tour of Cliffs of Moher and the Burren
day 18- horseback ride through Killarney National Park (My first time on an English saddle!), bus back to Dublin
day 19- souvenir shopping, Steph left :(, movie night at the hostel ("The Reader")
day 20- ferry to Liverpool (7 hours!), met another solo backpacker- Matt

England: Liverpool & London
day 20- met Matt & some guys from his hostel for dinner, saw Beatles cover band, The Cavedwellers, at The Cavern Club (!!!)
day 21- Beatles Story Museum, Magical Mystery Tour
day 22- train to London, Hyde Park, Texas Embassy Cantina (yum! Tex-Mex!)
day 23- day trip to Stonehenge, Thames River walk/self guided bridge tour
day 24- free London walking tour, London Eye ride
day 25- British Museum with camp friend, Josh, Abbey Road, Picadilly Circus, pub crawl, bus to airport

Italy #2: Venice with Sean
day 26- flight to Venice, meet Sean, dinner & walk around island
day 27- self-guided Venice tour with roommate, Shibly- Ponte Rialto, Piazza San Marco, Lido island/beach, water bus ride
day 28- San Marco Basilica, got lost in Venice streets, San Giuliano park in Mestre
day 29- flight to Frankfurt

Germany #1: Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Munich, Garmisch-Partenkirchen with Sean
day 29- walk along River Main, ate Frankfurters, free pasta dinner at hostel, live music on street
day 30- train to Stuttgart, met mom's friend Sara, chilled at their house, authentic biergarten for dinner
day 31- relaxation day- laundry, playing with a 2 1/2 yr old, mini-skate park for Sean, home cooked meal
day 32- train to Munich, walked around town- Marienplatz, Virtualienmarkt, Hoffbrauhaus
day 33- free Munich walking tour, Dachau Concentration Camp & Memorial
day 34- train to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, hiked an Alp for an hour, lunch on the mountain, train to Munich, train to Prague

Czech Republic: Prague with Sean
day 35- souvenir shopping, free Prague walking tour, kielbasa sausage in the Old Town Square, pub crawl
day 36- Letna Park, streets of Prague Castle, changing of the guards, Charles Bridge, found kolaches (finally!)
day 37- museum & Holocaust memorial in Pinkas Synagogue, old Jewish Cemetery, train to Berlin

Germany #2: Berlin with Sean
day 38- free Berlin walking tour, Reichstag building, Potsdamer Platz
day 39- Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp & Memorial, East Side Gallery, Yaam Reggae Beach, long walk to hostel- through Alexander Platz & Bebelplatz
day 40- laundry, souvenir shopping, walk through Tiergarten, saw "Inglorious Basterds" at Sony Center, drank a boot of beer (2L!) at the Circus Hostel
day 41- train to Amsterdam

The Netherlands- Amsterdam, Edam, Volendam, Haarlem with Sean & Stephen
day 41- met Stephen, walk through Red Light District
day 42- free Amsterdam walking tour, met Canadians in our hostel room, Marijuana/Hash/Hemp Museum & Gallery
day 43- Anne Frankhaus, floating flower market, Rembrandtsplein, Belushi's bar w/ new Canadian friends
day 44- rented bikes, I AMsterdam sign & Van Gogh Museum in Museumplein, Vondelpark, souvenir shopping
day 45- Stephen left :(, biked around town, Vondelpark
day 46- returned bikes, day trip to Edam (cheese town), Volendam (fishing village), & Haarlem
day 47- decided against 15 euro Heineken Experience, picnic in Museumplein, ate small Holland pancakes
day 48- walked all over town taking pictures of Amsterdam's Elephant Parade statues, flight back to Tel Aviv!

It was such an amazing trip! This really doesn't do it justice, but the pictures will. They are coming soon, I promise!

A Summer of Amazing, pt 1

This summer has been incredible beyond words since I last blogged and even before that (w/ graduating & skydiving) it was pretty cool. The week before I embarked on my summer adventure in Europe was a semi-sleepless, fun whirlwind in itself. First, I finished my papers the same day as a friend from camp finished his exams, so I went to Herzliya to join him in celebration. The next day, I taught my last private lesson. As much as I enjoyed the money, this goodbye meant complete vacation! The next two days were spent with Meir, two of his friends and our friend, Alex, from camp on an adventure in the Golan Heights. The first day we drove up there from Tel Aviv and hiked down to the bottom of the Gilabon waterfall to swim and relax for a bit. Afterward, we did a little trespassing on a closed bridge over the Jordan River. Meir set up his ropes and we rappelled down into the river off of the bridge. Very Spiderman like! The first time Alex & I did it from a lower rung on the bridge and it was an awkward start. I accidently ended up upside-down at one point & had to start over! By the next time around, Meir had realized that starting higher would be easier...and it was!
That night we spent the night at Meir's friend's apartment & got up early to embark on a 6 hour land/water/rappelling hike along Zavitan Stream. Essentially, we hiked most of the way down to the stream on land, but then got to a point where we had to wade through a little pond, then swim to the other side. There were 3 waterfalls along the way that we had to rappel down. There was a line at the first one, and it wasn't so high, so we jumped into the pond below. The next two were too high and not a straight shot down. We stopped to eat lunch after the second waterfall. After all that, we had to hike back up a very tall, very steep cliff to our car. It was an exhausting two days and my shirt was filthy at the end, but it was SO much fun!
After a good night's sleep, I went back up north to Tzfat to see my friend Jess (from camp, of course!) who was in town chaperoning a group of high school kids. I hadn't seen her in about 2 years, since I moved to Israel, so it was great to see each other again & catch up. After sleeping on her hotel room floor, I made it back to Tel Aviv. I finally packed for my Europe Adventure, cleaned my room a bit and went to a "Goodbye Israel" party thrown by the 4 of us in our program who were not staying in Israel. This would be the last time we'd all be in the country together! Sad.
So many of my Israeli friends showed up, even Idan, who I hadn't seen all year! It was a great party and Meir & I were the last to leave at 3 am, when he took me to the airport to fly to Rome!

pictures: Golan Adventures