its basically over

While I never got around to writing about the rest of our time in Europe, I can assure you, it was amazing. Corey and I had a wonderful time and I'll be home soon enough to share all the stories and pictures. 


My time in Israel is ending. On June 16th I will board a flight and head back to America after being here since October. I've had an amazing time and am very lucky to be given this great chance.


I'l be starting grad school in the fall and packing up and moving to New York. 


Till next time...

a little break

I know. I'm not anywhere near done rambling about our amazing Europe trip, but more than a month has gone by since I returned and so much has happened just here in Israel!

At first when we got back it was different. My group of 10 that I have been with since October was now back in the States and my house was a little more empty. But luckily the emptiness didn't last long. A participant from a program back in August, the first group we met, was back in Israel getting ready to join the IDF. He stayed with us while preparing, so that was a treat!

I even started going to the beach more. I figure if I'll be moving to New York, which I'm guessing is more like Indiana than Miami, and there will go my "I'm going to the beach whenever I feel like it," I need to start working on a tan (and take advantage of the sunny hot weather). 

During my first week back I was at the beach with a couple of friends and it was extremely crowded for a Wednesday (or was it a Tuesday?) Regardless, it was Israeli Memorial Day, and we were treated to an amazing air show as we played in the sand! Every so often different planes, all sorts of sizes, flew by! I tried taking pictures, but my camera was all worn out from snapping away in Europe. 

Over the next week we had Memorial days, Independence days, all sort of days. Our first Sunday back we got in busses and headed up North to celebrate one of those days! We went on a tour of (insert name here), an old camp where the Jews were placed (think concentration camp) after they were caught by the British coming over after the Holocaust. Then we saw a ceremony at a Navy base. All the soldiers were dressed so clean in white! What happens if they get dirty?! When they went to sit down, I'd watch as they cleaned the bench before sitting.

Volunteering has become less and less as my time here is ending. I'm trying to make the most of my time in Israel, making sure I don't miss anything. Though sadly, as of now, all I've seen is the beach. Over the next month I'm planning a trip to a safari, water park, the Dead Sea, and hopefully up north!

Remember back when I was rambling about the museums? Well, I was lucky enough to join the new group to their choice: the Weitzman Museum, which was cool!

I had been trying to gather a group of people to go there myself, so I'm glad I was allowed to go.

First we sat and watched a video of the science they work on and then walked (a lot!) to a tour of his house. Then we walked back to where we started (not sure what point the order was here...) and went to the outside science field! It was all these interactive "games," trying to show that science is fun. I wish we had more time there! We split into two groups and a tour guide explained some of the gadgets.  But by this point everyone was so tired and hungry no-one cared. I'm going to try to go back there!

Have I mentioned that my glasses broke? Yes, I snapped them and instead of buying new ones I attempted to superglue them back together. It worked for a while, but every time they broke, I'd have to shave away the glue and start over. During the museum visit, they broke again. 

We also went back down to Eilat for the weekend, like we did in November, where I finally broke my glasses without repair, and spent the entire weekend barely being able to see. 

It was such a hot weekend, most days breaking 105*. The first day we had to be up by 6 and expected to hike. But since I had already done them, I was the first to suggest to stay on the bus. So that is what we did, and it was worth it. 

Saturday we spent the day in 117* weather, ugh. We first wanted to swim with the dolphins, so some of us took a taxi to the south beach and hated life once we figured how expensive that was. So we got back in a cab and headed to the regular beach. 

Then we saw a great sign and decided on a group plan of banana boat, tubbing, and paddling.  So much fun, my body ached for at least 2 days, and I couldn't stop laughing. One of the kids with us must have fallen off 4 times from the tubbing part. We almost decided to go again, but ended up grabbing lunch and swimming in the sea. 

Still without glasses it was a little annoying not being able to see, but it was a really fun weekend. Sunday was so hot the hike was cancelled and instead there was a quick 30 minute stroll. Then we ventured to Ben Gurion’s grave, where I basically hid in the bathroom throwing cold water at my face.

Thankfully I have all this to occupy me as I sit anxiously waiting to hear back from grad schools and see what I'll be doing next.  I still have a month left here and tons of activities planned, including a wedding of a good friend of mine! Until then, I'll just have to sit and watch as 8-year-old Israelis play the claw machine, where toys aren't the regular soft dolls. No, here in Israel, you win boxes of cigarettes wrapped in money. And yes, I see 8-year-olds trying to win daily. 

I'll try my best to continue my Rome, Barcelona and Paris trips soon.

Dear Miriam, P1

Miriam,


Thanks to you, and your numerous amount of hours, our trip to Rome was wonderful. Luckily, because without you, our time in Rome would have been as horrible as our first 24 hours.


Our last seconds in Venice were pretty interesting. Since we had been flying Easy Jet’s cheap flights, no-one has a seat assigned. People really just get to the plane and run! So Corey and I were lucky to make it to the 2nd row of the flight! But right before we left we overheard the flight attendant telling the family in the first row that their kid was too young to sit in an emergency exit. They were a little scared they wouldn't find seats together, so Corey and I offered to switch.


The flight from Venice to Rome was a quick one, but since I'm petrified of flying, the front row made it feel like forever. We got to be the first off the plane, which meant first on the shuttle to the terminal, but last off the shuttle! I'm glad we decided on taking a flight instead of the train, because the train was much more expensive. But if I ever make it back to Italy, which I really hope I do, I'm using a train all around! The country was just beautiful.


We got to the airport a little late, but your directions were easy to follow! We made it on the train, and after we got off at the stop, we realized that once again, nobody had checked our ticket. Another place we could have not paid! We spent 2 Euros on a bus ticket once in Rome, and again, no-one checked it! Thankfully, because at first we got on going the wrong direction!


We over heard some Americans so we stopped to ask which way to go, and got off and turned around. We made it to our first place and this is where it became annoying.


We were supposed to meet the guy who we were staying with at 11:30, it was midnight now, and we could not find him. Corey and I were screaming his name, I'm sitting in the corner crying, and we even wasted way too much money trying to call him. The first number was wrong, and the 2nd didn't work.


We were miserable and now it is 2 a.m. We realize we'll have to find a hotel for the night and figure things out in the morning. My ankle is still killing me, and our backs are in serious pain over the bags we have been carrying all over the city. At this point my sandals break and I'm barefoot.


We must have walked into three hotels before we finally found one around 4 in the morning (though because day-light savings, it’s technically 3). I find some Internet, and e-mail the guy asking where he was!


We couldn't believe the amount of money and time we had spent, especially because our original plan was to wake up early on Sunday and stay in line for free Vatican day. But that didn't happen.


So after we check into an over-expensive hotel, that we're only planning to stay in till morning, I grab my ipod and run to find wireless. I'm searching every street for some slight way to e-mail this guy. Finally, at the corner of some building, I reached a signal. I was able to e-mail you in panic, and e-mail the man we were supposed to meet.


Sunday morning, instead of waking up at 6 to get in line for the Vatican, we woke at 9 (an hour before we had to check out), and I paid way too much money to use the hotel's Internet. But still no e-mail.


Finally, not knowing what to do, we booked a hostel. Annoyed.


Of course, with five minutes left of our Internet time, we receive that e-mail.


Long story short, and after getting lost trying to find our new hostel, we gave in and called our guy. Annoyed that he didn't make more of an effort finding us, we needed a place to stay. And you had already mapped out such a great plan for us, so we went and finally found him.


I can't believe it, but he acted like it was our fault!! I wish I could have recorded the situation, it was RIDICULOUS!


But regardless, we were determined to make our time in Rome great! You had spent so much time planning these days for us, that we had to figure out how to save them!


So it is now 4 pm on Sunday, and our day felt completely ruined. We knew at this point we couldn't get our entire Sunday itinerary in, so we did some switches.


Tuesday originally was our day of water, but we figured we could fix it up and that fountains would look nice in the day or night. So we followed your left and rights, and had the most wonderful afternoon.


Seriously, if anyone is ever looking for trip ideas for Rome, you must help them! Save those e-mails, even better, send them to a travel guide publisher. Done.


Our first stop was Piazza Novana. But before we even made it there, I stopped to take some pictures of that sculpture with the flyers on it, and lucky for me, my camera filter broke. (Hence the e-mail you got asking where I could find a camera store and a sandal shop - from the previous night. )


But seriously, Piazza Novana! Amazing. I loved how there were so many people there! It was the most crowded area we saw. I loved how the artists were everywhere, and almost didn't mind the annoying men selling crap.


The fountain in the middle, which you seemed the most excited about, was unfortunately getting work done. It was completely covered up, thankfully they must know people come to see it and had a couple of transparent holes for us to peak through.


I wish I could have seen it in all of its glory, but the other two were great! I knew the rest of the fountains were going to be wonderful. At first I don't think Corey and I realized how the fountain theme would work, but it only got better.


We decided to sit and enjoy this area, and that is when we saw that church in the center. Wow, I see why it wasn't on the list, because we didn't say we wanted anything specific, but that was the most beautiful place I have ever seen.


Corey and I sat in their for a good hour. We later decided it was better than the Sistine Chapel. It was actually a little sad, as we were walking in, an old lady slipped and fell. I think I saw her praying in the corner after she made it in.


We knew it was getting dark so we wanted to finish the rest of the fountains. We tried following the steps you gave us, but we got a little lost. I hate to say it but we never saw any of those tiny drinking fountains. (Actually, we saw the one of the wine barrel).


We made it to the Pantheon and I can't tell if I liked or hated the men wearing swords standing in front for photo opps. But inside it was awesome. I got yelled at for sitting on the floor taking pictures, but oh well.




I loved the area around the Pantheon, I sat on the edge for a while, but Corey was sure I was going to fall, so I left.




We found the elephant, but that was about it. We gave up around the Fountain of Treve, it was just too crowded. Now the men who were selling random toys, were with Polaroid cameras. It was such a scene. We even thought we made it to the Spanish Steps, but were told later on that we didn't. We eventually settled on a grocery story, cheap pasta, and heading home for the night.


We stuck with Monday's places of interest since we figured we hadn't screwed up that day. We woke up early, excited to get breakfast at that great market you were talking about. I really wanted to get some fruit and stuff for a lunch later. But of course, we couldn't find it. We also spent way too much time walking up and down the street waiting for a store to open to buy new sandals.


Why do stores not open till 10? It makes no sense.. Really? What is their reasoning on that?


We decided to give up on finding Campo de'Fiori and ventured to the Ghetto. We thought it'd be hard to find and assumed we'd get lost. But we shockingly made it! The Synagogue and the area were beautiful, but because it was the first day of Passover, the entrance was closed.


We thought about asking to go in anyway, because we did see people entering, but decided not to push our luck. 


Then we walked over to Capitol Hill. But that wasn't before seeing the amazing ruins of the Theater of Marcellus, which was amazing, especially knowing there were apartments on top! I can't believe you used to know people who lived there... AMAZING. 


At this point we stopped and grabbed a bag of chips and continued to the Capitoline. The piazza on top was amazing, we saw the most amazing Asian tourists doing a photo-op, and even saw a Save Gilad poster. I found it really interesting how all the statues you talked about were actually copies, with the original inside. And the wolf with the two babies? I thought that it would be much bigger, since it is supposed to be the basics of Rome all together. But there were still tons of tourists snapping photographs.

Then we saw the Forums. And they looked awesome. But we couldn't figure out how to get inside. We took a break and just watched down below as the flocks of people looked like dolls in this miniature land. 


Around an hour later, now a little after noon, we walked over to the Colosseum. Again, thousands of people, all being distracted by men trying to sell things. Scarfs, miniature monuments, glasses, everything. 


The line was over 2 hours, and we were starving. There were a bunch of "promoters" out and about trying to sell you their tour. Basically, if we paid around 10 Euro more, we get to skip the line and get a tour. So we decided to go get lunch and then think about it. 


Luckily we didn't waste the money, because by 2 o'clock when we were done with lunch, the line was super short. Corey actually went to go buy a drink because we assumed the line would be long and easy to spot me. We were wrong, and I was almost at the ticket counter, at this point swarmed by chaos, when he finally got there. 


I loved inside. Who needed a tour when there were signs everywhere giving great information! My favorite was how the Colosseum was used for lots of things, including reenactments of ancient fables,where the actors were actually killed to show accuracy.  Could you picture Brad Pitt actually dying for his work these days? 


One thing I hated was the construction workers present.  Rome is supposed to be this great ancient city, filled with actual ruins from years ago. But from the look I had it seemed that most of it was being restored. I'm not saying I want it all to crumble, but how can it be ancient if it is being constantly worked on in 2010?  So I had a little issue with that.

We were now exhausted and as much as we wanted to enjoy it, we had to get out of the Colosseum. The good news is we finally found the entrance to the Forum. And our ticket from the Colosseum worked there!  This place was awesome, once you were inside it was literally just bits and pieces of the ancient city. If I lived in Rome, I'd visit it weekly. 


I hate to say it but my new sandals, which turned out to be a bust, were starting to make my feet bleed and we had been up since 9 roaming the streets. I'm sure we could have spent all day there, but we were grouchy, and starting to hate the fact we didn't have a book with us explaining everything. 


About an hour in, when everything started looking the same, and I found myself taking pictures of the grass just as an excuse to sit, we decided to call it a day. 


We walked to a super market behind the Colosseum, got a bag of fake-cheetos and two apples and sat down. That's when we saw heaven. Well, we assumed. It was a 3-D museum, bringing you the best of Rome! We were to tired then, but we figured we'd come back on Wednesday when we had more time. The best part about the 3-D is my over excited-ness actually convinced an American family to go in and see what it was about, I guess there kids worked off my energy?!
As we were walking away the mom came running up to us asking if it really was AMAZING before the spent the money going in.


But now, freaking out we wouldn't have enough time, and already being so close, we kept on trekking.   San Clemente has a group of kids outside, with of course, a man trying to sell them fake glasses. There was also homeless sitting on the steps begging as you walked inside 


This church was breathtaking. I would make sure anyone who goes to Rome sees it. I would need to see both this and the one in Piazza Novana to decide which is best, but WOW. And what a great place to take a break.  We never made it down to the Museum because one, we were broke, and two we wanted to see more. 


When we left San Clemente, we finally saw the old gladiator training area you were talking about. I loved how it was just placed next to a restaurant with outdoor seats. And even better how there were garbage cans inside! Must be still used? I read a little research on the description, and found it really cool how it used to connect to the Colosseum underground!


We got a little bit lost here, and ended up using our map to find the next place. We even stopped in a couple stores to figure it out. It's around 6PM now and we are literally dragging ourselves. But there was a lot to see!


I was determined to make it Michelangelo's Moses before the day ended. That was until I saw the steep steps needed to reach it. By the time I got to the top I felt dead (yes, over exaggerating, but still) We sat on the benches outside and watched a group of American tourists. They were clearly Jewish as they joked about seeing all these churches and taking pictures in front of every one like they do at their temples. 


San Pietro in Vincoli was awesome. I loved seeing the Moses statue, though I thought it was a little tucked away. The ceiling in this church was also really detailed. How did they paint like that? Long brushes or stools ? Either way, I'm amazed.


We would have taken a bus home, but we couldn't figure out where we were, or which to take, so we walked. We passed the forums again, and the Capitol Hill, and basically just walked back the way you took us.  Yes, we realize there were probably easier and quicker routes, but we were too tired to care. We had to wake up early on Tuesday to venture to that Vatican.... 

something strange happened here

As we got off the place we couldn't help but wonder, "why didn't our passports get stamped as we left the London airport?"

Well, I must have been talking at my normal voice, which yes, is very loud, because a young girl next to us stopped to answer. Apparently once you arrive in Europe, most airports don't care to stamp your passport.

Dang, there goes my goal to fill up my passport pages! But luckily, it was stamped in Milan, though lightly.

It's now 11 AM and we are wandering around the Milan airport, we have to search for an ATM because of course we can't buy our shuttle tickets with a card.

After walking through another terminal, we find one. But of course, it's broken, and says something in Italian, which we later means "updating, wait 10 minutes."

Phew, we get our money, buy our tickets, and are on our way to the Milan train station.

Our time in Milan was short. After a 30 minute bus ride we had arrived at the station, and now faced our first challenge.

How the hell do we speak Italian?

We managed, with great difficulty, to purchase two train tickets to Venice. We're now exhausted from carrying our bags, and cannot find one bathroom.

We have literally no idea how this train stuff works, as I'm sitting waiting for Corey I see all these people placing their tickets in this little yellow box. So, when Corey gets back we figure why not?

It wasn't till later that we realized that by doing this, we were assigning ourselves seat numbers. But at first, we just entered the train (that is after we found which number it was).

Wow, we loved it! Why didn't we take trains more often? But after I walked around, I realized we were sitting in the first class section, and were going to have to move.

So we picked up our bags and headed back to where our real seats were, and quickly fell asleep. I woke up a few hours later as we were driving by Italy and fell in love. I love Italy!

We have no idea that the time zone has changed, so as we arrive in Venice we still think we have another hour to go. But luckily the train was stopped for a while, as there was nowhere else to go, and we ventured off into Venice.

We end up walking out of the station into the beautiful city of Venice. It's sunny out and crowded as can be. We realized we'll need to take a boat, so I get in line to purchase tickets while Corey sits with our stuff by the water.

I end up buying a 48 hour unlimited boat pass, because, of course we think we'll need it. That turns out to be the only time we ever got asked to show a ticket, and most stops didn't even have people there to check. (Yes, a waste of money).

We take the boat all the way to St. Marco Square, where we get off and follow our directions to the hostel. Pretty simple, and as exhausted as we are, we can't help but notice all the people.

We find our place, and remember, my knee is still killing me, we have to walk up way to many narrow steps to find the reception desk. Then we're told we aren't staying here, but in a tiny place a block or so down. So we walk down the steps, walk a block or two, and then walk up even more steps.

I think I counted over 90 as we walked up the narrow stair case that had walls reminding me of shower tile.

Our place was great, a little apartment with a kitchen, that we'd be sharing with 3 other people (using another room). I couldn't figure it out, but I assume the building itself used to be a dorm of some sort as there was a "biblio..somethig, library" downstairs.

It's now around 6 and we decide to venture for food. Suddenly, Venice is empty. Where did all those people go? We bought some ice cream, ordered a pizza and went back to our place. Apparently, Venice was dead on a Thursday night where we were.

7:30 the next morning and the bells are ringing. I figure this must be some sort of city alarm clock and by 8 AM we are up and exploring the great city of Venice.

The city is now filled with tourists, most in massive groups following a leader holding some sort of object. My favorite were the ones that carried these long fake flowers, but some went as far as to hold umbrellas ( I wonder if they shut them when walking inside?)

The weather had taken a complete turn from the previous, it was rainy and by far the coldest city yet. We walked through the main Square, took a boat to Lido (did anyone know there were actually cars? It looked so strange to see a gas station and cars driving on wide streets!), and then walked through Murano. We went to a glass museum, yet never managed to find some place to watch someone blow anything.

Our day was filled by rain and wind. Not the best way to explore Venice, but still, it was wonderful. My favorite was when we were on the boat going home from Murano and we noticed one of the stops at a huge letters that said "something strange happened here." Now, this wasn't graffiti or anything, this was legit words placed on a brick wall. I think we guessed it was where the University of Venice was, but still, it was hysterical.

We never managed to find any great food because every place seemed to have ridiculously expensive service charges, so we ate a lot of ice cream.

By Saturday morning the sun was out and we were able to enjoy our last day. We stopped at a shop to get some coffee and as I went to the bathroom noticed the back of the store was a casino?!? I was completely shocked, but apparently Corey had noticed it before and thought it was normal for Europe?!

But what was normal was seeing all the men selling fake bags and stuff outside. This is something we will become used to as we move from city to city. I still don't understand why someone would think it is a good idea to sell a fake Gucci bag in front of the Gucci store?

We spent Saturday walking around, opting to use our legs instead of taking one of the boats. We were shocked to find out where we went as we took turns and got lost! But we loved to! And being worried for time we packed our bags and headed to the airport...

We were off to Rome to do as the Romans do...

21 hours later

Rambling note: I know this is long overdue, but it has been a hassle to write.

I wrote down notes along our journey to make sure everything would be written about

and have over 4,000 photographs to edit. I have decided to write about our trip in segments,

talking about each location separately, so my hands don't fall off from typing,

and your eyes don't become blind.

I promise within the week I will have up all the wonderful stories from our trip!

Hopefully the pictures will soon follow, though I still have tons from Israel that are on my edit list.

Though I will spend more time thanking later,

I want to especially thank my parents, grandparents, and aunts for helping Corey and me!

Without them, these wonderful moments, and this amazing vacation,

would not happen.

Europe was simply wonderful and I cannot wait to share it with all of you!

Our flight isn't supposed to take off until 7, but we're bored, it's Saturday and nothing is open. So we head to the airport a little early. Its 2pm and we are starved, we're completely looking forward to getting to the airport, checking in and eating un-healthy airport food. But no, taking EasyJet, one of those cheap airlines, means we're in Terminal 3. So we wait for a shuttle and head on over!

Terminal 3 consists of EasyJet and one other airline company, a quick "sandwhich" bar, and a vending machine. Its now 4 pm and we can't even checked in yet. We have to spend way too much money and on food that tastes like dirt. Around 5pm people start getting in line, so we pick up our bags and even start to wait. At this point, we've made some friends and are in the middle of tiny conversations when we see on a tiny screen above us "Delayed, 12:00."

We have no idea what's going on. It can't mean midnight because they go by Army time here. So midnight = 2400. But, really? Delayed until tomorrow?

Still, no members of EasyJet around. WHAT IS GOING ON!?!

Finally, we get an answer. Yes, our flight is delayed. It hadn't even left London! We were told to get in line and wait some more, before they finally told us what was happening.

But this cuts our time in London. An entire day cut off! So, being annoyed as could be, try my best to call EasyJet and complain.

I talk to some lady for 20 minutes, but since our flight from London to Milan is under a different reference number, the lady says no.

I'm begging her to just ask her supervisor, explaining EVERYTHING. All we want is to extend our trip in London to the next morning, and we'll skip Milan in total. Taking a bus from Milan to Venice, instead of spending the night in Milan exploring.

After crying, crying and crying some more, she asks her supervisor, who within minutes, says Yes. Okay, so we're losing our time in Milan, but now we'll at least be able to see London.

So for some reason that I still have no idea about, our flight was not leaving on time. They were putting us in a bus and shipping us to a hotel, where we were to wait until further notice.

It was a nice hotel to be honest! They even offered us dinner and breakfast, and we were right by the beach in Tel Aviv. So it's 6 pm, an hour before our flight is supposed to leave and Corey and I are eating pizza off Alenby.

What could go worse?

Then Corey screams. His tooth, which he just had a root canal on the previous Tuesday, had fallen out. We think again, this trip can only get better.

We go to bed Saturday night after watching a horrible comedy still having no idea what time our flight is set to leave.

We find out Sunday that our flight isn't set to take off till 3pm. But that isn't before I have zero sleep over anxiety of missing a flight, which has not taken off time yet!

They take us to the airport and we were lucky enough to be surrounded by tons of London locals who helped us plan things to do during our short stay . We're already annoyed by holding our huge backpacks and we begin to wait in the first of many long lines. Two airport security workers are searching the lines for people with Israeli passports to have them cut the line. After they realize there aren't any more Israelis, they come to Corey and me. I explain to them we are Americans, talk to them for a little about what we're doing in Israel, and they let us right through.

We get our tickets, don't even have our bags go through security. I mean, what if we had something? I've said it before, but they 100% need to stop stereotyping. They were way too nice to us!

We're excited! Things are looking up! We got out of that line, got our tickets, and managed to pass though passport control. Then we get on another shuttle and head to the main terminal.

HELLO DUTY FREE! Sadly, it was actually a little expensive, so I just bought something little for Maria, who we'd be staying with in Barcelona.

We don't end up boarding till 4pm. It's around 11pm when we get into London and we finally get "real" food. UnKosher Burker King. Hello!

In London we're planning on staying with a friend of mine. His name is Aron and he moved back to America 3 days earlier, but luckily still had his lease until the end of March. He had given us his roommate's number to reach and directions to his house.

I must have tried calling her 20 times, but we decided, well let's go. It was getting late and we took a train, then took a subway, and then walked.

Still, this girl wasn't answering. One o'clock in the morning and nothing.

Finally we were let in and kept thinking to ourselves, it can only get better! After all, it wasn't that she wasn't picking up her phone, Aron had simply given us the wrong number.

Monday morning we woke up early and ventured to see London! And, as excited as we are to have a fresh start to vacation, I find out my ATM isn't working.

But everything is okay, because I have spotted my first Starbucks since October.

We walk to Tower of London, one of the only attractions in London that we decided to pay to see, and spent all morning. It was wonderful! One of the most cool places we saw all vacation! Absolutely my favorite place!

We got to see old prison rooms, theatre reenactments and jewels, tons of them!

Then, we saw something even better than Starbucks (for Corey): Subway.

We ate a quick, cheap lunch, and walked towards St Pauls Cathedral. I'm more impressed with the flowers and monuments around the area than the building itself, but to be honest, we never actually made it inside!

We decided to save the 20 Euros and head to Leichester Square, something that reminds me a lot of Times Square.

That's where I spot a TGIFridays, (hello! why isn't Israel filled with crappy American food!) but it is under construction! So we wander into a mall where we find the most amazing fun zone ever! It's an Asian filled, four story building. People are just standing there, like robots, wasting money into these stupid games. This becomes our favorite place to people watch, and we visit it almost daily.

The escalators are the longest we've ever seen! They won't let Corey in wearing his hood on from his sweatshirt, they tried to be an intense casino. It was amazing. Everyone should go there.

This is when we decided London was filled with tourists, so we decided to be extremely tourist-y and see a play! We decided on 39 Steps, a British play, based off of Hitchcock's thriller, that we'd never be able to see in the States. A four-person play that was absolutely amazing. It mocked the fact there were only four actors, and made a joke every time they'd switch to a different character.

Being in London as our first stop was great because they all spoke English. So it was easy to figure out our way home. But once we got home we walked into a new room. All of our things were gone. It turns out the landlord had realized Aron left early, and rented his place.

We found all of our bags downstairs and lucky for us, one of the roommates was leaving the very next morning. We slept on her floor that night and had her room for the next two days. Since we had no idea this would happen, some of our things were randomly around the house. I had to search to find all of our things, and it wasn't until the last day that I found my skirt in a corner of one room rolled with dust.

We go to bed that night and we're so tired it doesn't matter that we're sleeping on the floor. The only thing that is of annoyance is my knee. I somehow had messed it up walking up and down all those winding, narrow steps in the Tower of London.

Tuesday was great! We walked towards Big Ben, Parliament, and all those amazing sights! Then ventured to Buckingham Palace for a "picnic." It's still pretty chilly, and lucky the sun was out, so we sat on a bench and ate bread.

Buckingham Palace, like most tourist places, was overly crowded. By the time we got through the park to the actual Queen's house we coudn't see through the gate. Everyone was looking to see the changing of the guards, but we figured we'd look it up on YouTube at a later date.

It's around 1 and we're exhausted. It is only the beginning of these early morning, long days. We venture into National Portrait Museum as it begins to rain, but we can't even keep our eyes open. We end up going into a of couple rooms, using their couches for a rest, and staring at a few pictures.

Knowing we can't end our day we decide we need coffee and a new plan! So we decide on the nature and science museum. And stupidly, decide to walk there. What feels like 3 hours later, we make it! The museum had a cool exhibit on medicine, and a great interactive room! But after an hour or so of being a kid, we're back to exhaustion.

So we decide we'll grab some dinner and call it a day. We venture back to Leichester Square and I decide to ask some of the men in suits outside of the TGIF if there is another.

Yes, I take Corey to his first ever TGIFriday experience. And as our eyes can't stay open any longer, we take a bus home and fall deep into sleep.

We wake up Wednesday knowing it is our last day. I had been spending the last couple of days trying to get in touch with an old friend, Sam, that I know from vacationing with the family in Sanibel, but it hadn't been so easy without a phone. We decide to take a walk by the river towards the Tate Modern, one of the last things we had wanted to see.

We had a breakfast picnic by the London Eye and then found the most amazing graffiti park. A bunch of skateboarders were around, and I fell in love. I think we spent over an hour here as I took thousands of pictures. There were all these boys skating and biking and doing all these tricks, and then the most cutest thing happened. A two-year old Asian boy went right to the middle and screamed for his mom to bring down his scooter.

This kid was so cute, he slid down the ramps like they were slides and caused a couple of accidents on his scoot

er. But, it was the best sight ever. While we were there a graffiti removal truck drove by and stopped to look. As soon as they got out of their car every skater stared. It was a hysterical thing to witness.

I could tell Corey was bored so we walked by the Globe Theatre and into Tate Modern. Of course, with our luck, more than half the exhibits were closed due to some strike. We only got to go into one room, but it was still great to see such wonderful art. I tried to explain to Corey how most of the art here ( as we stood by Jackson Pollack's work) looked like the art we have in our living room as my uncle and grandfather love to paint.

We finally reach Sam and meet up with him at this lounge for some drinks. Knowing we'll be up all night for our flight the next morning, I order my 5th coffee of the day (seriously, I didn't realize how much I missed real coffee). We take some seats outside and just as I go to sit, my drink spills everywhere. All over my jeans, and yes, we tried to pack light and these were my only pair.

We stay for a while and it's great to catch up. Around dinner we head back to to the apartment and pack things up. We have no idea how long it will take to get to the airport, so I set the alarm for 2 am.

We take a bus, after walking to the subway and realizing they weren't open, to a station, and it looks closed as could be. We walk around and finally see the trains, and a lady with some luggage.

We sit down and figure this looks right, though we can't seem to find one person to buy a ticket from?! Around 20 minutes later we hear a loudspeaker informing us train 8 will leave in 10 minute to the airport. WHERE IS TRAIN 8?

I run around while Corey slowly walks with our luggage, and find it. Yet, can't find Corey. Finally I hear his voice and get him to where I am and we get on the train just before it leaves. But we still have no ticket? And as its 3 in the morning, it doesn't seem like anyone is there to check?

We end up making it to the airport and checking in without having to buy our pass. This is our one luck place, as the rest of the time we find ourselves buying tickets for things that were never even checked (ah the money that was wasted)

It's now 4 am and we are praying this flight isn't as delayed as the last. But we're so tired, who really cares at this point.

As blurry as things could be as Corey is basically dragging me around the airport, we find a quick store to buy some snacks (Hello 1 Pound Tuna Sandwhich!) and start thinking about our time in London.

They use pounds and not the euro.

Its rain everyday but you don't really get wet.

My knee has completely broke.

Double-decker buses are actually pretty scarey.

And it's a 2.5 hour flight to Milan....