Madrid: early 2008

Fiesta en Madrid with Amaia, and Nadia.


Feliz cumple Dani!


(Yet another ;) Erasmus night.


With friends Ruth, Saral, and Bertrand from class.


¡Guapetones!

Napoli: January 2008

Con Andrea e Andrea in Napoli


Naples with Andrea.


The streets of Naples.


On the sea with Andrea, Vincenzo, and Andrea.


Pizza in Naples.


Abuelo, Papá, Patrick!


Meet the candidates.


The Mediterranean.

Roma: January 2008

In front of the Trevi Fountain with Micol, Dani, and Valerio.


Il Coloseo


The Pantheon.


Noche vieja en Roma. Feliz año nuevo!


Street music in Trastevere.


Il Vaticano.


At the Vatican Museum.


In the Vatican Museum.


In the Vatican Museum.


The Sistine chapel. Only in Italy do you see a sea of flashes in the only part of a museum where photos are prhibited. Hah!


To do it justice...


Michelangelo's famous, The Creation of Adam.

Florence: December 2007

Hello Florence! (Y Dani, gracias por llamarle a Abdu tantas veces, jaja! Y aun no podía dormir! Ay, el día que te calles más que 5 minutos...)


Unbelievable.


With Abdu, Daniela, and Micol.


Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge). The only one left of its kind in Florence.


Wow.

Berlin & Potsdam: December 2007

Enjoying a good German beer with a good German friend. What a treat!


What's left of the Berlin Wall and what it represented.


Jewish Memorial sight. Truly provoking.


Only so much to do in Potsdam...


At the sight of the Potsdam Conference.

Amsterdam & Utrecht: December 2007

First snow of the year, and right in time for Christmas! Welcome to Amsterdam.


Might be a church, likely the only one.


With Dirk in Utrecht.


Utrecht.


Fairwell Holland.

Brussels & Leuven: December 2007

Manekin Pis (aka Pissing Pete ;).


Why not.


And just when you thought it couldn't get any better. Hah!


The Grand Place. I love it here.


And this is why! Merry Christmas, Pat.


Might also explain why Belgians never study.

Barcelona: December 2007

While ice rains down in St. Louis....


Stuck with 2 Americans ;) in Barcelona.


In Gaudi Park.

Travels, Travels, Travels.

The past couple months have been quite busy with travels. I would have liked to return to the States for a short stay over the winter holidays to see the family and catch up with friends (and sorry for those of you I had promised to see!), but flight prices were outrageous, so I set off around Europe instead. And while spending Christmas alone (or rather with another traveler) was a bit strange, I had a great go of it traveling and am glad I opted to stay in Europe for the break. That said, I can't wait to see you all this summer!

On the with the travels! I did a little warmup for the 3-week expedition mid-December, paying a visit to Barcelona with a couple friends, Anna and Cassidy, who have come to be quite the travel buddies! Then on the 19th I set off for the real adventure. I ended up seeing Brussels and Leuven, Amsterdam and Utrecht, Berlin and Potsdam, Florence, Rome, and Naples in just under 3 weeks. Luckily, I managed to see most cities with friends, save for Berlin over Christmas :(, and a couple of the days in Rome including New Years :(, although even then I met several nice travelers in hostels. I have to say I enjoyed every city, although some things stand about each of them. I loved Rome, Florence, and Berlin for their history. I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas gift than a week of Belgian and German beer. The feel of Holland, both its cities and people, was surprisingly my favorite of the 4 countries, although I didn't really go in with any expectations. And finally, Naples had the greatest views; and it was nice to finish out the trip with one of my good friends, Andrea, and his family who lives there.

I'll save the stories for another time; but here are a few pictures and there will be plenty more to follow!


Ah, Naples!


In Utrecht with Dirk.


The Reichstag.


In Florence with Abdu, Daniela, and Micol.


With Andrea in Naples: home of the world's first (and still greatest) pizza!