mhopkinss Blog on RealTravel

London journal: Cheerio from London!

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:37:49 GMT

So I’m writing this a really long time after I actually went but now that mid terms are over I have time to be a human again! Sorry if these journals get long! I just have so much to tell you guys about!!! So I went to London with my friend Ashley who is actually studying through a different program here in Florence but I knew her from Colorado before we came. She was room mates last semester with my really good friend Caitlyn who I met on Semester at Sea! Hope that wasn’t too complicated! We also went with Ashley’s room mate here (in Florence), Maddie who studies back home at Colgate.

W ...

Prague journal: Eastern Europe Here I Come!

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 07:20:21 GMT

Oh Prague! So originally this weekend I was planning on going to Spain to meet up with other friends studying there because Tanna and Laura were supposed to go on a mandatory weekend trip for class. Thanks to demonstrators in that area against Americans and the war they ended up not having to go! Haha! So they both decided to book the weekend to go to Prague. Thankfully it worked out that I hadn’t bought a ticket for Spain yet and I could still go with them to Prague! So at the last minute (literally a couple days before) I bought a ticket to Prague to meet them! It all worked out in the end ...

Florence journal: Tanna's 21st!

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 08:03:25 GMT

So Tanna's actualy brithday was on the 13th which was a Tuesday but of course we wen out on Monday night so that at midnight she was 21! We tried to make it really special because obviously it's just not the same here!

We started out at one of our favorite little bars by the Duomo called Astor. As soon as it turned midnight I was the first to buy Tanna a drink and a shot! We met up with a couple other girls and these two dudes and headed over across the piazza to another little bar called JJ's Cathedral. When I say small I mean small! Everyone just kept buying Tanna shots!

When we ...

Interlaken journal: Skiing in the Alps!

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 07:50:38 GMT

The weekend after London I was headed to the Swiss Alps! This time I went with Ashley and Maddie (the same girls as London) plus one of their room mates and 4 other girls from their program so there were 8 girls total. We booked our trip through EuroAdventures which is a company that plans trips and provides all your hostel accommodations and transportation.

We left on Thursday around 7 pm. Interlaken (the town in Switzerland) was about 7 or 8 hours on a bus from Florence so we had to prepare for a long night! We brought snacks and some boxed wine, (they literally have juice boxes of ...

Florence journal: Forza Viola!

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 10:14:42 GMT

So today we went to our first Florence soccer game! It ended up being a beautiful pretty sunny day!

Pierra and her friend Nello took me to buy the tickets! Thank goodness they did because they knew exactly where to go, what to say, and where we should sit. Pierra told me it was better the higher we sat because you could see more of the field!

The soccer team here is named Fiorentina and their main color is purple so the name of my journal means purple force! Me, Tanna, and Laura all bought Luca Toni jerseys because he's the stud of the team apparently! The hot one of course!

Milan journal: Mamma Mia Milano!

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 09:50:20 GMT

So I'm writing this a really long time after I acutally went so it's not going to be as detailed but still interesting!

The second weekend I was here me and my two friends I came with, Tanna and Laura, decided to go to Milan for a day to check out what all the hype was about. It was our first time travelling anywhere since we first got here and it was interesting!

We headed to the train station not really knowing what to expect but to get on a train and head for Milan. When we arrived we found the ticket machines and thank goodness they were in English because there are a lot of ...

Florence journal: My First Days in Florence

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 09:27:25 GMT

OK so I know you have all missed me! Sorry this took me so long to get going but I'm a busy girl with lots of things to do and see! I'll catch up everyone on everything I've done so far!

When I arrived at the airport around noon and Tanna and her Dad were there to pick me up! Thank goodness because I was one tired little girl! They took me to our hotel where we had to stay for orientation and I changed and got ready to check out the sights! Since Tanna's Dad does business all over the world he has multiple connections and found us an amazing tour guide that showed us around and refreshed ...

Italy journal: My Adventures All Over!!!

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 13:27:45 GMT

Here is a brief (actually probably pretty long) description of everywhere I travelled and everything I did! Yay!