Amsterdam and the Final Days

After Italy we only had a 24 hour layover to repack a bag and get ready for Amsterdam the next day. This time I was lucky enough to have some girl company thanks to the lovely Olivia. I also have her to thank for planning the trip (transportation, directions, activities, etc.) since I knew almost nothing about Amsterdam before going.

Embarrassing story: Our first day of getting to Amsterdam was mostly focused around flying there and then getting to our hostel. When we got to the hostel I made a very American mistake when we were greeted by a young Italian guy. He saw my last name on the reservation and asked if I was Italian. I've always been very proud of being Italian so I answered, yes of course! To which he started asking me if I spoke Italian and where I was from in Italy. After explaining that I didn't speak Italian, only knew the general region where my family was from, and that I studied in America he started to realize that I was not from Italy. It was about this point that I also realized he did not consider me to be Italian and that to him I was American (duh). So, I meekly told him that my great-grandparents had lived in Italy and I was from America as I tried to finish the paperwork as fast as possible. Luckily I didn't see him the rest of our stay.

Our trip wasn't very long but we got to see the famous Red Light District (of course) and learned the difference between a cafe and a coffee shop. We also went to see Anne Frank's house where her and her family hid from the Nazis during World War II. Unfortunately, the palace and churches were closed to prepare for the coronation of the new king which was happening later that week but we still got to explore the city and Olivia and I went to the Rijksmuseum while the boys did the Heineken experience. Overall, I found Amsterdam to be a beautiful city and it definitely exceeded my expectations so I was happy we went.

Derek and CJ in front of one of the many canals

Olivia and I in front of the Rijksmuseum 

One of my favorite things: Whipped cream with a bit of waffle

After Amsterdam we headed back to England for the start of finals. Just by luck, I didn't have any actual exams and only had to do final papers. Unfortunately, this also meant that I had weeks of nothing to do while everyone else was busy studying and taking tests. So, I decided that I wanted to surprise everyone (especially my mom) and come back early.

My last days in England were spent seeing London a few last times and soaking in my whole experience. And, of course, for my last meal I had to go to a pub and have the best steak and ale pie I'll probably ever have. Then the day arrived for me to say goodbye to the place I had called home for 4 months and return to the U.S.

I planned it with my dad that he would tell my mom he was working late and come get me from the airport then I would sneak into the house and surprise her. When we got home, she was upstairs on the phone and when my dad told her he needed her downstairs she told him to wait. I hid for about 10 minutes until she finally came down. Here's the soon to be infamous reaction- fair warning, it will be loud: 

  

The time I spent in England was an experience I will never forget and I am so grateful for every second. I got to spend 4 months abroad, visit 3 other countries, and make countless memories. Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to go and supported me through the ups and downs, because there are downs even if you don't expect there to be. I still plan to write at least one or two more posts about what I learned and some advice for anyone going in the future but for now I am home and happily reminiscing about my fabulous time abroad. All I have to say is I will definitely be going back one day. Until then, cheers London! I'll miss you!

Stephanie's Euro Trip, Part Two

Well, I'm back after a very long hiatus. Unfortunately, or fortunately in my case, it's been a very busy few weeks with plenty of travel and adventure. However, I am now done with my eurotrip and can post all about it. Here it goes!

The next day in Paris was also our final full day so we woke up early and headed into main Paris to see the sights. First up was the Louvre which we explored for a little bit before heading over to see one of their most famous pieces, The Mona Lisa. We had to fight our way through the huge crowd but eventually we made it to the front and got to take a good look and some pictures.

After the Louvre we made our way to Notre Dame which was maginficent. Unfortunately, the line was too long and we had a lot more to see that day so we decided to only admire it from the outside. After a quick and yummy lunch of french onion soup and pate we headed to the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triumphe where we took tons of photos. On a side note, Steph got a cotton candy half her size and here's a funny picture of her eating it (that she'll probably kill me for later).

The next morning we had just enough time for a breakfast of tons of pastries, my favorite being Pan au chocolat, and some time to buy souvenirs that I hope my family is enjoying back home. Then we boarded a train and headed back to England. Piece of advice for anyone who may be going to Paris, take the train! I know it's more money but I guarantee it's worth it! Especially when you compare it to the bus.

After a few more days of shenanigans with Stephanie she unfortuantely had to return to the US and leave me. However, I was so happy that she came and we had a great time! Jacovinos take Europe was a success!

We had a relatively low-key Easter here and a few days later CJ's parents arrived for their visit. They stayed two whole weeks and I don't think there was a minute that we weren't busy doing something. We went on two bus tours that hit 3 cities each in the UK. That's a total of 6 cities!

The first tour took us to Bath, Salisbury Cathedral, and Stonehenge. Bath was absolutely beautiful and I could have spent an entire day there exploring the Roman baths and the city. We also had a great time at Salisbury Cathedral and Stonehenge though by the time we got to Stonehenge it was snowing and the wind was howling so we didn't want to spend too long outside but it was still amazing to see!

We also did another bus tour which took us to Warwick Castle, Stratford-Upon-Avon, and Oxford. Even though I had already seen Stratford I enjoyed seeing it again and I got to go into Shakespeare's birthplace which I didn't do the first time. Luckily it was a nicer day than the first one so we didn't mind walking around outside as much. We had a great time and I was so happy to get to see so much more of England besides London.

Derek, CJ and his Dad

 CJ and his mom at Oxford

While they were here we also went to see The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie which is the longest running play in history. It's a murder mystery and I loved it though I've been sworn to secrecy so if you want to know who did it you'll have to go see for yourself. Trust me, it's worth it!

Derek, CJ, his mom and me in front of the Mousetrap

We had a great time with his parents and we were sad to see them go but they had to go back to work and we had to get ready for our traveling extravaganza which I'll write all about in my next post! Cheers!

Stephanie's Euro Trip, Part One

As I mentioned two weeks ago, my sister, Stephanie, came to visit for a week during her spring break last week. We had such a great time and did so much! Because it was such a big trip I had to split it into two parts so without further adieu here is part 1.

The first day Steph got here, Friday, I went to meet her at the airport nice and early (hello 6 a.m., haven't seen you in a while). We came back to Royal Holloway and relaxed for a little bit and then got ready to head out to the Warner Bros. Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour.

In case the name doesn't give it away, it's a 3-hour tour of the studio where they filmed many of the Harry Potter movies which has now been turned into an exhibition of the props, sets, costumes, etc. I've been dying to go since the second I got here but knew that I would appreciate it a thousand times more with my die-hard Potterhead sister by my side. Unfortunately getting there wasn't very easy either. All in all, I probably spent over 6 hours traveling that day but it was definitely worth it.

The tour was amazing and I easily could have spent way more than 3 hours there. There was so much to see and do. Steph got to try Butterbeer for the first time, which she loved. It's only sold in two places in the world (the studio tour and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando) and I've tried both which is pretty cool! However, my favorite part of the tour, hands down, was at the end where you turn this corner and are greeted by an exact replica of Hogwarts. It was a dream come true for any Potter fan.

The next day we went into London in the afternoon and showed Steph some of the major tourist sites like Big Ben, House of Parliament, the London Eye and Westminster Abbey and took pictures in front of each of them. Then we killed time until 9:30pm when we boarded a bus to Paris!

While the bus was extremely cheap, I can definitely see that it wasn't the most comfortable way to travel. It would have been fine if we were just driving straight all night but unfortunately we had to keep stopping and even had to get off for an hour and a half to take a ferry across the English Channel (which they definitely did not mention beforehand). Regardless, we got a little sleep and arrived in Paris at 7:30am. 

Obviously I haven't experienced this as much since I've been studying in an English speaking country but the language barrier hits you like a ton of bricks. The two years of French I took in middle school didn't come back to me as easily as I expect. However, after wandering around for well over an hour we found our hostel. 

As far as hostels go, the one we stayed at was very nice. They were so helpful and kept giving us maps and marking how to get where in the city. We had a private room for 4 with two bunk beds and a private bathroom so it was much nicer than sharing a dorm with other strangers. We couldn't check in until 3pm though so we dropped off our bags and hit the city. 

We decided to spend the day at the Palace of Versailles because, for some reason, it and a lot of other attractions were closed on Monday. Even though the wait was horrible the palace itself was incredible. After seeing how big the palaces in England are you think you'll never see anything as extravagant but this beat all the other ones by miles. We spent a few hours exploring there and only left out of sheer exhaustion. 

That night we had our first proper French dinner which was out of this world! I tried steak tartar, which as you can see in picture below, is literally raw meat. The only difficult part was trying to understand the menus and ordering the food but luckily our waiter was helpful and together we bridged the language barrier to have a very good first dinner. 

Well, that's it for this post! Don't worry, there will be more pictures of delicious food to come. Until then, au revoir!

Life of the Royals

As promised, here's my report on my trip to one of my most anticipated tourist attractions: Hampton Court. For those of you who don't know, the reason I wanted to see Hampton Court so bad is I love the Tudor history, and not just because of the Showtime show The Tudors (though that may have helped a little). I've loved reading books about Henry VIII and his many wives, as well as his daughters Mary and Elizabeth. Hampton Court is one of the main palaces where the Tudors spent most of their time so I was really excited to see it.

Thankfully I don't have class on Tuesday (to be honest I don't have class ever) so CJ and I decided to spend the day at Hampton. We got really lucky and it was easily the nicest day we've had in England since I've been here. I had almost forgotten what the sun was like.

*Side note for anyone thinking about coming here: Get a rail card!!! I know it may seem like a lot of money to spend in the beginning but I promise you that you will make your money back and more! It saves college students 1/3 of the price on any rail ticket every time. So buy it!

Anyways, back to Hampton. It was so much fun. One part of the castle takes you through the early life of Henry VIII and as you go through the rooms you see how his first wife, Queen Katherine of Aragon fell out of favor and how he chose to marry Anne Boleyn (my favorite of his queens) instead. There was also a huge banquet hall with thrones at the main table. Fun fact: the red chair is actually for the king while the blue is for the queen.

Because of the beautiful day we also spent a lot of time out in the gardens which were green and flowering. It felt like a perfect spring day. Hampton Court also has one of the most famous mazes in all the world and we made it to the center! Actually, I beat CJ to the center but he'll probably deny it.

After we had our fun at the palace we went into the town to have a late lunch. Because we were sick of sandwiches (we always seem to go to cafes) we went to a little Italian place. It was authentic Italian and the food was amazing! It was easily the best pizza I've had since I've been in England. Then again, that's not really saying much.

Other than the trip it was a pretty slow week and this week will probably be similar. It's our last week of classes so I have a lot of papers and projects to finish but then we're done with classes and we get to go on break for a month so it's definitely worth it! Also, next week my sister Stephanie comes to visit so expect that to spice things up. Until then, cheers!