My Way Through France!!

The first place we went to in France was Avignon, where we only spent about 2 hours but believe me, me and Trella made the best of the little time we had!. we walked along and looked into some of the stores when we found a grocery store and bought a couple of bottled coca-colas for the night because we were going to be at a hotel that wasn't around anything. we then picked up a baguette of bread and some cheese, we sat down on some old steps and enjoyed our french style snack! as we were then walking back to our meeting spot lucky me dropped a glass bottle of soda right in the middle of the square with plenty of people I knew around, can you say embarrassing? We then went on to Nice in the French Riviera!! It was beautiful!! we spent the entire day lounging at the beach which was not sand by the way by "peables". one of the nights we went with the group to Monte Carlo, Monaco and got to, for the price of 10€ of course, see the Grand Casino. we also went to this place called Wayne's Bar which was fun, but felt a little bit like a high school prom. Today we left France and are now in Italy, we stopped for a few hours in the Italian Riviera and then moved on to Pisa where we swam and had dinner by the pool. we then went up stairs and decided to have a pillow fight in the hallway, but forgot to take our key with us and got locked out!!!! Aren't we smart!!!! We are having a lot of fun though...although there is this crazy guy on the tour whom we have dubbed "jeepers creepers" he is actually from San Fran so... stay away from safeways in the city. he has this way of talking at you rather than to you and thinks he is brilliant even though he didn't realize when he started at an SF JC that before you can transfer you have to take your GE classes and dropped out, Truly inspirational isn't he????

Barcelona!!!

Yup so we are in Barcelona, which happens to have the second highest petty crime rate in the world!!!! Yes! No really this is the only city where I have been truly worried. But I am having so much fun! To fill you in Madrid turned into a really fun place to go out and dance at night!! I love Disco Techs they are so much fun! ...So...heres a funny story Trella and I go back to the hotel in Madrid and were going up to our room to get ready for dinner, there were 4 different elevators and one had been having problems that morning...but apperently it was working...NOT! we got stuck in the elevator!!! oh my gosh it was hilarious we were only in there for 10 or 12 minutes but it was scary and funny all at once!! Today has been really fun though! We didn´t have group plans today so Trella and I got up at about 9:20am and breakfast was supposed to be upstairs, well we went up and there wasn´t anybody or any food except about 2 trays with cressants (I know that is spelled wrong but I hope that you get it!) anyway we stole a few because we weren´t going to go without breakfast, and then it turns out that breakfast was downstairs!!! but we went off and spent most of the day at the beach and the water was So clear...but then we went for fish and chips for lunch and we didn´t see it on the menu, so the waiter ¨explained¨that it was either sardines or small fish, we chose small fish thinking that it would be some sort of trout or something like that just not a big hugh fish, but no when they say small fish they mean little inch long skinny fish and there was a whole pile of fish on the plate! AHHHHH!!! wow it has been eventful, but tonight should be exciting too we are going to flamanco dancing and then out on the town!!

But I really do miss my other tour girls!!!! I love you all...oh and Sara I came really close to buying some ray bans, but then talked myself out of it. Miss You All

On to Tour #2

So it is now Saturday Aug. 2nd and Trella and I are about to head off to check in at the first of many hotels to come in the next 2 weeks on our Mediterranean Highlights Tour!!! We are so excited to meet everyone and to get started on our new adventure!!!

First Full Day in Madrid

Well Madrid has been a good place for me so far, manly because I have had a lot more time for sleep! Trella and I woke up at about 10 am and took showers which feels great after all the traveling. we had breakfast and then hit the road! we took the subway, or metro, to a big park where we rented a row boat for 45 minutes! we then walked around the park and surrounding area for a while before getting back on the metro to go home for lunch. we stopped at the post office on our way home so that we could get a box to send home filled with stuff that we don´t really need for the weather and for our trip! we then had lunch and took a siesta!!!!!!!!!!!!!! amazing country!! any place with a siesta in the middle of the day is my kind of place! we then went out with a couple of Trella´s relatives to run errands and I am now getting ready to watch Trella Rock Out on Sing Star!!! WooHoo!!!

Made it to Madrid AND TRELLA!!!!!

so...firstly to fill you all in on what has happened since Switz. Jilli wrote me a comment and I broke to pieces, but then I had to get up and move onto Italy!! Our first destination was a little town in tuscany where we stoped at a winery and did some wine tasting!! some were really good and others I would rather not have put in my mouth. We were only given one white wine, which fell into my top 3, and most everything else was red. My favorites out of the red was the Chianti and the Chianti speciale (I think!), we were also served this amazing lasagna that was drizzled with a white truffle olive oil! YUM, After the tasting we wandered around this beautiful little town--probably the most beautiful in the whole of Tuscany, which was good because we then left for our hotel in I think it was called Caiore. This place was by the beach!!!, but looked a lot like it was in central california rather than beautiful Italy!! we took a boat the following day to Venice and it was absolutely gorgeous, we took a tour of Saint Marks, watched a glass blowing demonstration, and were then given free time to go have lunch and if time permitted a little bit of shopping. I ran off with Jocelyn, Staci, Susan, and one I don´t think I´ve mentioned yet fashion savvy Sara. we had the best lunch I think I´ve had the entire trip so far, it was honestly extraordinary!
That was our only day in Venice the next was Florence, which was also really pretty. The first night we were there most the entire group decided to go to the Disco Tech ¨Space¨!! the next day we had a tour that non of us were enthused for and a group of us went to the ¨ufitzi¨and the ¨academia¨where we saw michael angelo´s David!!!! coolest statue ever!!
Rome was next and we packed a lot in on our last day together!! we began with a tour of the collisium which was the number 1 thing I wanted to see on this tour I think. It is amazing to think of all the people through the years that have walked throught the same places that I have now walked and to walk throught the entrance to the collisium all I could think is ¨how many people walked in here expecting to die and most likely did!???!!!¨we then walked through the Valley of the Forum and then it was off to the Vatican City. In the Vatican City we took a lunch break and then walked the span of the entire country! Isn´t that amazing in only 2 hours we crossed a whole country! Inside the Vatican we went to the Sistine Chapel where we saw many unspeakable beautiful masterpieces by michael angelo, but non more well know than that of God giving life to Adam!!! It was amazing, Susan and I then got lost but only to find that we were the only one to get a close look at the alleged burial site of Apostle Peter, which meant a lot to me!!!
And finally this morning I woke up at 4:45am (which is about 7:45pm in cali the day before) to go to the airport to fly to Madrid and meet up with my friend TRELLA!!! yay I made it and I now look forward to 3 days of much needed rest whilst we stay with some of Trella´s relatives, i can´t explain how good it feels to be in such a homey place after these hotels!! and not to mention we get siestas!!!!

Days gone by...

This is my last night in switz. but todaz was one of the most amazing days on my life. we went into Luzern and walked around but then a few of us went on a trip to the top of Mt. Pilatus! we went 7000 ft up and it was terrifying. I love it here everything is really green and healthy. but to recap on a little of paris...I had stayed up pretty late already but then when i went to go to bed my roomate did not feel well so i stayed up until about 4, however, with free time the next day another girl, Jena, and myself stayed at the hotel to rest for a couple more hours. We then met the group at the Louve, where we saw the Mona Lisa!! it was amazing to even be in the same room as such an amazing painting and that was not even a portion of how large the Louve is. right now I am again in a room with the two girls that i mentioned before, but the period of homesickness has seemed to pass, except it has really hit me that when i come home by bestest friend--Jillian Emery--will not be there which is had to grasp since I have seen her almost every day for the last 2 years!!! I MISS YOU BUDDY!!!
OH! tomorrow we are taking an 8 hour bus ride to Italy so hopefully I will find an easier computer to use!!!!

Days in Paris

WOW! Paris is one of the most amazing cities that I have ever been to. On the First day we went on a long walk around the city and visited Notre Dame, we then went on a boat cruise which would have been really boring if I had not sat next to Susan, my teacher. we laughed A LOT! that night we went up the Eiffle Tour which is just as amaying as it is thought to be!!! The following day we went on a bus tour of the city and saw so much, we had amazing food through out the city. I wish I could write more but I'm running out of time, right now i'm in Switz. and it is crazy beautiful

Day 1...and Day 2

So yesterday (July 16th) we spent A LOT of time traveling. we left from evans at 12pm and spent about 3 and 1/2 hours at the airport waiting for our flight. We sat at the back of the plane which was good and bad, bad because we were next to the bathroom and good because we were next to the bathroom!!!
Now it is July 17th we arrived at the London airport at about 10:40am London time, so that is 2:40am Napa time--and "yes" I called my mom to tell her we got here safely! (Love you Family) So...we got to our hotel at about 12:30ish and were all starving, but then our tour director showed up and we got into our rooms, thank heavens! we then took a walk around part of downtown London, where our group got a quick snack! We then walked to dinner where we had fish and chips, greasy food is not exactly the kind of food you want after traveling for over 24 hours so we didn't eat very much. we are know back at the hotel and getting ready to crash after possible the longest day in the history of the world. I am rooming with two other girls at this hotel, Jocelyn and Staci!
Love you all,
Amy James
P.S. The exchange rate from dollars($) to pounds(€) is aweful, it is almost 2 to 1! so when you pay 5€ for a sandwich your actually paying 10$!!!!!

Post Trip Jitters

I leave tomorrow!! I will be flying into London first and cannot wait to see EVERYTHING I can within the small amount of time that I'm there. The flight is about 14 hours long, which does not excite me, but it is worth it. I just wanted to say that I am going to miss all of you tremendously, so please take care of yourselves. I will take all the precautions that I can to stay safe, so please do the same yourself, bad things can happen all over the world!
Bye!
Amy Christine James :)

Counting Down the Days (3 to go)

I leave in 3 days and am bubbling with excitement!! Today I (re)packed and have "down-sized" I think? Even though I am so close to leaving I still feel like I have months to go, because I have been waiting almost all year. I cannot even imagine the beautiful and magnificent things that I will see, but I hope to do my best in completely describing each and everyone!! I also hope that I will be able to take, sketch, and download for you as many pictures as I possible can!
I will miss you all,
AmyJames

Pre-Trip Post

Hey Y'all:
Well I've set up this blog so that you can all hear about the different fun and exciting events going on in Europe!! I hope to keep this updated as much as I can!
Love,
Amy James!