The French Riviera!

Hello all! Here are some photos from my trip to Nice in the French Riviera. It was amazing! As you can see the water was gorgeous and warm! I hope you enjoy these:)

These two photos are from the front of the casino Monte Carlo in Monaco. A few of us actually went in and tried our luck and I actually doubled my euros..it was great!

The view down the beach...so great!

The girls are excited to be in Nice?! Hells yeah! :)

The boardwalk at sunset our first night, right outside where we found a bomb Thai restaurant!

This church is right in the heart of Nice and also where our hotel was. We could walk anywhere we needed! It was so nice to be in the city center for once!

This is the plazza on the way to the beach. Those statues change color all night...

This is one of my best friends, Jake and I out at the group seafood dinner night, and yes the seafood was very very good!

This is my roomie Toni and I...she is one of my new greatest friend...I will miss sharing a room with her!

These are our friends from the hostel..JR and Timo..one is swedish and one goes to UGA...can you guess which one;)

Group photo!!! With matt from UGA in the background!

It was such a fun trip! I loved france and the beach, the people were great, and I made some new friends along the way...what could be better??

Zurich, Switzerland

The last weekend I was able to have my mom and and my aunt with me, we made a trek to Zurich Switzerland! It was absolutely amazing! I loved all of Switzerland for the people, the area, and the food. I can't wait to go back and take Michael with us!! Above you can see we found a Starbucks...yes Italian coffee is good but sometimes you want a venti carmel macchiato:) (I also got a real muffin..it was amazing after three months without)

This is the beautiful street scene of Zurich. All along the streets we saw the Swiss flag and the blue Zurich flag. The buildings were beautiful but the pride was evident as well!

Of course we had to get some chocolate! We sampled chocolates from the traditional stores of Switzerland, Lindt is cheap and not so good here....

Here are the girls; mom, Toni, and auntie heading into a Swiss tavern for our first meal! We had amazing fish and potato salad....so good!!

On the second day we decided to visit the zoo! It was so different and interesting! The animals were so close it was unbelievable!

Here was one of our favorite monkeys..so cute!

Hello penguins....

We saw simba, nala, and mufasa! :)

Every time I have tried to find my toucan he has disappeared, but not this time! I finally got to see one up close!!

After the zoo we went to the art museum, and yes that is a Monet...they were gorgeous!

Just one of the beautiful fountains around Zurich.

Lake Zurich gives a great place for water sports, relaxing, fishing, and a view of the alps in the distance! The alps cover about 70% of Switzerland, so it was no surprise to see them everywhere!

While enjoying lunch we got to see the Grossmunster church and the lake. The Grossmunster means large church...

Mama and me at lunch! Hooray for having mama share this with me!

Another fountain from around town..this one is actually a part of the outdoor restaurant.

Finally, I must include the Starbucks outing...it was my favorite trip yet!!

Pisa with Mama, Auntie, and Toni!

Yes we did make it to the leaning tower in Pisa...it was a fun night! Toni and I decided we should go, so after class we hoped on a train and made it happen! Even though it was in the evening, we all thought it was just as amazing and maybe even a little bit more so because of it. These were my favorites from our little adventure!

This is the church and battistero. Both of these were of gothic origins, so they were very detaied and contained a lot of dark marble. Both of these were done by a Pisano, two very famous architects known through tuscany.

Yes that is me..yes I am holding up the tower..hehe!

The tower was said to be an experiment on the nature of gravity by Galileo..could be true or could be legand. However, facts that are known are that the tower was supposed to be a bell tower for the church, construction started in 1173, and once they reached the third story the leaning began. They architects attempted to correct this by various methods, but ended up making things worse. Since then people have tried to anchor it firmly to the ground, but who knows how long it can stand....

Although a little blurry you know it is us! Mama, me, and Auntie Joanie:)

Next up..Zurich!

Brolio Castle..better late than never!:)

So sorry it has been so long, but you can all blame my mom and aunt for coming into town:) This is the beautiful Brolio Castle! We went as a group to go wine tasting and see the whole process! This is the view as you walk onto the walls of the castle.

The different views from the top of the castle..I wish I had a panoramic to show the full view because this just doesn't look right...

This is me..lol! With the fantastic scenary!

This is Brolio Castle..yes it is a castle...

These are the barrels that the wines sit in to age..

The wine was so good! We got to sample two differnt types of the chianti wines.

This was a cool view I snaped while walking around Siena, of the duomo in the distance.

...and the sun setting on another lovely day in Siena:)

Can't wait to see you all, and I hope you are enjoying the updates!

Ciao!

A Spring Day in Siena

Today I took a little walk around town and took some picture of our surrounding area! The rolling hills of Tuscany are certainly nothing to be taken lightly. The view is constantly surprising me!

These I believe is Italy's version of cherry blossoms. They are everywhere here!

I love this picture because this is our main road just down from my apartment and right behind is the universita di Siena where we go to study the language.

The gorgeous red poppy is everywhere right now. On sunday they all decided to bloom throughout the country side, so now anywhere you look you will find them. I take comfort in these because they remind me of my grandma, and although she isn't with us anymore, I feel ike I have a piece of her with me in Italy. Sounds odd I am sure, but if any of you have lost someone you find joy in the the smallest things. A book I am currently read states "the true Italy is found by patient observation." I can believe this and relate it in so many ways.

To me Italy is quite the country, and not simply for the monuments but because of so much more. I love the Tuscan country side, the flowers, the smell of the lemon blossoms in Sorrento, the color of the sea at Capri (a deep and light blue, that reminds me of twilight) and of Elba(a deep turquise green), and the fact that on any given day the Sienese can be celebrating their medieval heritage. I hope I can experience more of the little things around Italy. I am a country girl and would love to see this country! :)

Ciao!

Sailing Elba Island

This past weekend I had the pleasure of sailing for two days around the island of Elba! It was amazing (at least the part that I did not get sea-sick during...), there were great views, fun people, and just plain good times.

We began our trip on Friday evening just as the sun was setting...

It was soooo beutiful to be out on the water. It felt as if we could actually see the sun going under the sea itself, with all the color it cast as it set.

We of course had to open a bottle of wine to kick off the trip, that we deamed appropriate to call the Shasta/Elba trip...5 out of 8 are in a sorority or a fraternity:) Holla!

We woke up to the site of the bay of Elba. This is all of the island we really got to see..the other side of the island is actually a large protected animal refuge.

Gotta love it when the captians are sitting on the very tip of the boat....:)

This was our fearless leader Tony! He was an awesome captain! He made all our meals, took us to the beaches, and drove us back and forth from Siena! Overall it was an amazing journey and experience to have!