Blogs - Ann Halpin's Blog

Postings from resident directors and students currently abroad, important announcements and useful infomation for planning your study abroad experience.

Cortny and Brandon - Rome - Spring 2007

On Sunday the first of April we set off for Venice and Munich, Germany. With the exception of a few minor things we loved this trip!

 

So for a number of reasons, we had to go to the airport on Saturday night and campout in the airport. It was pretty cool though because there was a lot of other backpackers and students doing the same thing we were doing. We got to the airport at about 11:30 at night and spent the evening in the arrivals hall, I slept pretty well for the most part, Cortny however did not. It was extremely cold, due to the tile floor and the automatic doors which kept opening all night. At about 4:15 Cortny and I headed to the departures hall which was right around the corner, and then waited for the bar to open, for a much needed cup of coffee (more like a shot). Anyway, we endured the night, to get a one hour, cheap flight from Rome to Venice. Yah!

 

We got to our hotel really early and they didn't have our room quite ready so we left our stuff and headed into town. We walked to Piazza San Marco (Famous for Pigeons), and it was raining. We spent the afternoon just walking around and grabbed some food. Then late in the afternoon, headed back to the Hotel where we wound up falling asleep until about 7:00. So we headed back into Venice to get dinner (We stayed on the mainland, a 5 minute bus ride form the islands).

 

On Monday we did more exploring of the Island, in and around the Rialto Bridge, and also took a water taxi as a sightseeing tour. It was neat, it took us around the main islands and up and down the Grand Canal which dissects Venice into two. All of you will probably think we are crazy for saying this, but we will anyway. Venice is beautiful, don't get us wrong, but overall we didn't like it. There were more tourists than we had ever seen in our lives, and it is so expensive! These things just took away from the whole feel of the place. We both agreed we would have been good with one day in Venice and more days somewhere else. Anyway, on Tuesday our flight to Munich, didn't leave until 7:00 pm so we took a train to Verona, the setting for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Verona is what we call stereotypical Italy, rolling hills and a serene setting, it was beautiful!

 

So, later on Tuesday evening we took our long 1 1/2 hour flight to Munich at sunset, over the Alps, which was amazing in itself! We got to our hostel at about 9:00, 9:30 and then went to get the, oh so famous Bratwurst, Pretzel, and a Beer! I had one of these for all meals except one, while we were here (Instead I had half of a chicken and French Fries). We finished up the night with a few drinks at the Hostel Bar! Cortny and I absolutely loved it in Munich, it was so clean and everything was in its place! Unlike other parts of the world, that I will leave out! lol!

 

Continuing on, Wednesday our hostel provided us with a free tour of Munich that was pretty cool and entertaining. It took us around to all of the main sights and took us to a BEER GARDEN for lunch! More Bratwurst and Beer! YaY! After the tour we went to another beer garden, the location of Oktoberfest, the English Gardens and the location of the 1979 Summer Olympic Games in Munich. It was a very tiring day so went back to our hostel and crashed. On Thursday we went to the small town of Fussen to see Neuschwanstein Castle. This is the castle that the Disneyland castle is modeled after! It was breathtaking, and since it is nestled in the Alps, it adds to the spectacle (I could describe the castle, but it would take a long time to give this place justice, make sure to look at the pictures)! It took all day to get to Fussen and back so when we got into Munich we ate, and then ended up at the Brewery across the street from our hostel, for our last official beer in Munich (for this trip, hahaha).

 

On Friday we had to get up and be at the airport at 9 for our 11 o'clock flight into Naples. When we got to Naples, we were supposed to take a 2:30 train to Rome...but because there was a strike, we ended up waiting until 4:30 to get on a train. All I have to say about Naples is, even the air makes you feel dirty and Cortny had a hard time rolling her suitcase on the sidewalk because there was so much trash. In my opinion, Naples wasn't a fun place to be stranded, because it is extremely filthy and just didn't give us a good vibe!

 

So, we got back into Rome about 7:30 and that concluded our trip. Overall, it was wonderful, and full of beautiful places, with the exception of the trash infested Naples (We later came to find out, the garbage company was also on strike, that is why there was so much trash, and we only got to see the bad part of Naples...go figure). Well, we still had a good time! We aren't doing much this weekend just going to the beach, because it is over 70 degrees here, but our next destination is Geneva, Switzerland...country of bank accounts, the UN, and fondue!

posted on Monday, April 23, 2007 9:09 AM