It has been too long since I wrote a post… so much has happened!
Puerto Rico and my Caribbean Cruise were fantastic (highlight has to be the bioluminescent bay in PR!) I came back to Chicago for one day to pack, then flew off with Eileen to London to kick off a 3-week european tour…
Loving our luggage In London we stayed with some friends of mine, Ryan and Dan, and had a blast riding the metro, pub-hopping while sightseeing, and finally took part in British culture watching the Wombles and Chealsea vs. Man U…
(Tower of London, guillotine site, Covent Garden, watching football!)
From there we went to Amsterdam and were blown away with how beautiful it was! In my opinion one of the most beautiful cities in the world- but also a sad history as you can feel while walking through the Anne Frank House.
Train station, Anne Frank Huis, shots of Absinthe
After a chilled out bike ride in Stockholm, we toured Berlin on bikes (the New Europe Tours are fantastic! If going to europe, take advantage of these, you won’t regret it!) We toured the Sachsenhausen concentration camp… it is still unfathomable to me how this happened. Even while touring the empty camp, death surrounds you. You can’t get away from it… everywhere you turn is a scar representing the suffering and pain.
Stockholm, cafe in Soldermalm area of stockholm, Sachsenhausen gates, Holocaust memorial Berlin
Berlin was a fun city though, and after an all-night bar crawl and a few funny -in retrospect- experiences, we left for Dublin. I Love Dublin! The city has a beauty of its own and was a good place to relax. The Guinness Brewery truly does have the best Guinness is the world, and we volunteered to be whiskey tasters at the Jameson Distillery! But we also hung out with my friend Eleanor and saw some good bands in the local pub. I was pretty sad to leave, but from there we hopped another Ryan Air flight to Prague.
Prague was fun and we met some cool people there. Though we did a walking tour of the city, saw the Mucha Museum and the Old Town Square, it would have been nice to spend an extra day. However, we had our flights already booked and left for Paris.
clock in Prague’s Old Town Square, playing Pictionary at Sir Toby’s Hostel!
The last time I was in Paris, I didn’t like it. Now I Love it!!! The catacombs and the Musee Rodin at night were absolutely incredible! Plus taking obligatory “this is me and the Eiffel tower” photos were fun to do in the rain, and later rainbows appeared all over the city. Here again we did a free New Europe tour, along with a San Diego native named Sean who we dragged to Versailles and who made us laugh all day long 
(catacombs, rodin’s The Age of Bronze (MY FAVORITE SCULPTURE!) rainbows on eiffel tower, versailles, Jim Morrison’s grave)From Paris we traveled to Venice which left a lot to be desired. The highlight for me was jogging around town before all the tourists clogged up the bridges. Other than that, shopping for glass Murano jewelery (probably fake) and eating so-so gelato were fun. The dampness and the overpriced food and the mosquitos ensured I probably won’t return…
(post-run overlooking tiny streets and green-gray canal, plaza san marco)
All in all, europe was AMAZING. Pricey, but worth it!!! I am typing this from my apartment-hunting trip to San Diego as my belonging back in Chicago sit in moving boxes. So, even after all my travels I can’t quite yet say I’m home (though I’ll probably sign a lease in Mission Bay/Pacific Beach on Tuesday!) It’s all good though, I’m still having fun and living it up while I can, before I graduate and have to answer to being “Dr. Crawford!”
