2 weeks, 6 countries

June 24th

After exploring Italy for four weeks during study abroad, I traveled 13 days. I did not have any plans when I came to Italy, I only knew that I had to make it to London by June 23rd for my flight home. In my two weeks, I went to 6 different countries (Italy, Germany, Czech, France, England, and USA)!!!

A VERY brief overview of my trip:

Venice
We made the most of a rough hostel (actually a campground), and enjoyed the beautiful weather, shopping, and crazy world cup environment for the USA vs. England game. The canal streets and gondola drivers are straight out of a romantic movie.

Munich
After arriving at 6am after a sleepless ride on the night train, we went to a concentration camp (Dachau), saw the soccer stadium (ring of fire), the BMW building, and Olympic park. We also went on a day trip to Fussen to see the castle that Disney is based on (Neuschwanstein) and took a self guided bike tour of Munich. Every night we relaxed at a German beer garden (our favorite was the Hofbrahaus) to enjoy brats and apple strudle.

Prague
I met my friend from University of Iowa who lives in Prague. She showed me the beautiful old town (one of the few not destroyed in WWII bombing), a nearby castle, and the wonderful night life. Although the Czech team did not make the World Cup, there was still a soccer frenzy in every bar and plaza. I enjoyed taking the metro around town and everything was so cheap! Also, the dumplings and Czech meat were delicious!

Paris
I took an overnight train from Prague and woke up in Paris at 6am. I tried to use the metro to get to our hotel but Paris is a HUGE city. There are three lines in Prague and about 60 lines in Paris! In Paris I walked alot and saw so many wonderful sights! Les champs Elysées, La place Saint Michel, Montmartre, Les invalides, Le Grand Palais, Le Louvre, Le Musée D’orsay, L’arc de Triomphe, and my two favorites: Notre dame and La Tour Eiffel! We also went to the Palace of Versailles one morning and I spent an afternoon at the modern art musem, the Pompidou. The best part was seeing my French foriegn exchange student who stayed with my family two summers when I was in high school. Philippe (we gave him the American name Phil), showed me the wonderful museums in Paris and told me about the history behind the beautiful monuments. Each night his wonderful family took me out for wonderful French food!

London
In London I stayed with my roomate from Iowa who is in the Iowa business internship summer program for 8 weeks in London. We spent time in the wonderful London pubs and I saw where she works. In London I saw Big Ben, Hyde Park, the Buckinham Palace, the London Eye, and the Kensington Palace. I went up into the London Bridge Tower and spent time in mutliple museums. The museums in London were all very interesting and usually free! I must admit, it was nice to be in an English speaking country. It made getting around easier (but I did miss the thrill I got from correctly asking the waiter for a napkin in Italian, or asking a person on a the street how to get to the bathroom in French). London is much more like America than any other place I have traveled. I guess it was a good transition back to America!