So, my first trip over sees was when I was a junior in high school. We went to England over Christmas break. My first memory that comes to mind about this trip is the flight overseas. I knew this was going to be a long trip, but I did not quite understand how long this trip would be. The flight over to London was about eight hours.
Once we got to London, I was so pumped. It was the first time overseas, and we were going to get to spend Christmas in London! Our first few days in England we got to go site seeing. We were able to visit Buckingham Palace. It was a lot of fun trying to distract the royal guards. Those guys do not budge! I was hoping we would get to see the Queen, but it didn't happen. After visiting the Palace, we visited Westminster Abby. This is a really neat church to visit. All of the royals get married here. I was really cool getting to walk down the center aisle and think about about how many famous people and walked the same walk. Once we were finished at Westminster Abby we stopped by Parliament and took pictures with Big Ben! This was a sight to see. My dad had to lay down on the street to be able get my sister and I in the same picture with Big Ben. The last place we were able to visit was St.Paul's Cathedral. This is probably prettiest church I have ever seen in my entire life!
After seeing all the famous sites, it was time to prepare for our Christmas celebration in London!!! Since the trip was our main "gift", we decided to split into two groups and buy each other small little gifts. So, we split up the girls and the guys and decided those would be the teams. My step-mom, sister and I decided to get dad and my step-brother some nice clothes from the local stores. It turned out to be a little more expensive that we were planning, but we were excited. Christmas Day came, and we had our gift exchange. We laughed so hard because my dad and step-brother went shopping at a drug store and purchase chap stick, hand warmers, and socks for each of us. Needless to say, we were a little jealous of the gifts we were about to give them!
All in all, it is a vacation I will never forget! There were a lot of first during this trip! These are memories I will have forever!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Ya Mon!
After my high school graduation, my parents decided to treat my family to a trip to Jamaica! This was exciting because it was somewhat like a graduation gift. It was a great way to kick off the summer after high school and a new beginning in college. It was my last chance to hang out with my family, or at least that's what I thought. I soon realized things weren't going to change all that much.
I always knew Jamaica was a pretty small country, but I didn't understand how small it was until we landed at the airport. It was pretty cool landing, as we landed right next to the beach. There were only a few terminals, which was the first indication of a small country. We got to our hotel, which was basically all inclusive. It was nice because our family had our own little cottage bungalow type of room. We had our own private pool and everything sat only a few yards from the beach. This was so nice having the Caribbean waters right outside our door. I loved being in Jamaica because everything was so relaxed. The locals would say "Why where a watch? You're on Jamaica time!". No one was every worried about the time or reservations. That was nice.
While we were visiting, we mainly stayed near the beach. I was able to read a few book and just relax. My step-brother and I both tried wind surfing, but we were having a difficult time considering there was not much wind. I am excited to say I tried wind surfing, even if it was a total failure. We also got to swim with the dolphins!!! This was one of my favorite memories ever! My sister, step-brother, and I all went swimming with them. I think the coolest part of it was when the instructor put my hand on the dolphin's rib cage and I was able to feel her heart beat. I thought it was so cool! The instructor taught us how to dance and sing with the dolphins, and then we were able to actually ride the dolphins! This was so exciting. After the dolphin adventure, we went to visit the famous Margaritaville! This was neat to say we visited. There was a restaurant, gift shop, and a mini water park that fed into the bay.
Along with all the exciting activities, I was able to enjoy the food! There was always a new fish served at dinner. That was pretty neat getting to expand my fish eating experiences. I grew to like fish after this vacation. I want to say of all the food we had, my favorite has to be the fruit! It is amazing how fresh the fruits were. The watermelon and pineapples were to die for! I think I could live off the fruits alone.
This was a pretty exciting trip. There were a lot of new things that came from this trip and just set me up for a new beginning after high school. It was a great way to kick off the start to a new chapter in my life!
I always knew Jamaica was a pretty small country, but I didn't understand how small it was until we landed at the airport. It was pretty cool landing, as we landed right next to the beach. There were only a few terminals, which was the first indication of a small country. We got to our hotel, which was basically all inclusive. It was nice because our family had our own little cottage bungalow type of room. We had our own private pool and everything sat only a few yards from the beach. This was so nice having the Caribbean waters right outside our door. I loved being in Jamaica because everything was so relaxed. The locals would say "Why where a watch? You're on Jamaica time!". No one was every worried about the time or reservations. That was nice.
While we were visiting, we mainly stayed near the beach. I was able to read a few book and just relax. My step-brother and I both tried wind surfing, but we were having a difficult time considering there was not much wind. I am excited to say I tried wind surfing, even if it was a total failure. We also got to swim with the dolphins!!! This was one of my favorite memories ever! My sister, step-brother, and I all went swimming with them. I think the coolest part of it was when the instructor put my hand on the dolphin's rib cage and I was able to feel her heart beat. I thought it was so cool! The instructor taught us how to dance and sing with the dolphins, and then we were able to actually ride the dolphins! This was so exciting. After the dolphin adventure, we went to visit the famous Margaritaville! This was neat to say we visited. There was a restaurant, gift shop, and a mini water park that fed into the bay.
Along with all the exciting activities, I was able to enjoy the food! There was always a new fish served at dinner. That was pretty neat getting to expand my fish eating experiences. I grew to like fish after this vacation. I want to say of all the food we had, my favorite has to be the fruit! It is amazing how fresh the fruits were. The watermelon and pineapples were to die for! I think I could live off the fruits alone.
This was a pretty exciting trip. There were a lot of new things that came from this trip and just set me up for a new beginning after high school. It was a great way to kick off the start to a new chapter in my life!
Friday, July 1, 2011
When In Rome
So, I think one of my absolute favorite cities in the world is Rome, Italy!!! I was able to go visit a few years ago and I absolutely LOVED it!!! I think it is so neat because there is so much history in the city, the food is to die for, and ambiance is just perfect!
I may have already mentioned this, but in my Western Civilization class that I took my sophomore year of college introduced me to all the history from 100,000 B.C. to the 1500's A.D. It was in this class I was able to learn about all the history that went on in the Roman Empire. My step-mom signed us up for a tour of Rome. Our first stop was the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica. This place was amazing. I have never seen anything like this before in my life. It was really exciting getting to see all the famous painting and artwork. The artwork on the ceiling blew my mind. I cannot imagine back in that day and age being able to create these wonderful paintings that would last for hundreds of years. It was also really neat getting to see the balcony that the Pope comes out and makes appearances on.
After visiting Vatican City, we went to see the Roman Colosseum. I thought this was pretty cool. We were able to go inside and stand were the so called "seats" use to be. There is part of the floor the had been destroyed and we were able to see were the lions and tigers were kept when they weren't fighting the gladiators. There was something about this place that was a little bit unreal. The structure was astonishing and I still have a hard time understanding how people built these type of structures.
After touring the city we always found the best places to eat! Basically everything we had while we were in Italy was amazing! We had several kinds of pizza, spaghetti, all kinds of deserts, and awesome espresso! When we weren't sight seeing or eating, we did manage to fit in a little bit of shopping time! I think I would love to live in Rome!
I may have already mentioned this, but in my Western Civilization class that I took my sophomore year of college introduced me to all the history from 100,000 B.C. to the 1500's A.D. It was in this class I was able to learn about all the history that went on in the Roman Empire. My step-mom signed us up for a tour of Rome. Our first stop was the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica. This place was amazing. I have never seen anything like this before in my life. It was really exciting getting to see all the famous painting and artwork. The artwork on the ceiling blew my mind. I cannot imagine back in that day and age being able to create these wonderful paintings that would last for hundreds of years. It was also really neat getting to see the balcony that the Pope comes out and makes appearances on.
After visiting Vatican City, we went to see the Roman Colosseum. I thought this was pretty cool. We were able to go inside and stand were the so called "seats" use to be. There is part of the floor the had been destroyed and we were able to see were the lions and tigers were kept when they weren't fighting the gladiators. There was something about this place that was a little bit unreal. The structure was astonishing and I still have a hard time understanding how people built these type of structures.
After touring the city we always found the best places to eat! Basically everything we had while we were in Italy was amazing! We had several kinds of pizza, spaghetti, all kinds of deserts, and awesome espresso! When we weren't sight seeing or eating, we did manage to fit in a little bit of shopping time! I think I would love to live in Rome!
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