Santorini, Greece

Santorini, Greece was the last stop on my 4 city spring break.  I spent three nights here, so I was really able to experience a lot of what the island has to offer.  Santorini is a Greek island to the southeast of mainland Greece, so I had to take a propeller plane to the island from Athens.  Satorini was the most beautiful place I have ever seen!  The weather was really nice, however the wind made it a little chilly at times, as it was the beginning of March.  I would really like to visit again someday, in the summer during peak season, when more places will be open.  In addition, we rented a car and I drove all around the small island, allowing us to explore it all.  It was really cool, but difficult to drive on the winding roads of a foreign country.  At least they drove on the same side of the road as us, unlike in the UK!

 

This is the place I stayed.  It was a cave house built into the side of the cliff.  We rented it out and had access to the entire home.  Cave houses are the typical style of home on the island because they stay cool and can take advantage of the views.

 

This was the view from my patio!  The island of Santorini was actually a volcano.  The currently active volcano is the visible island in the middle of this picture.  The Santorini volcano is a caldera (meaning cauldron-like volcano) that has been filled with water.  This can be seen with the water separating the volcano from the rest of the island.  As a result there are hot springs out at the volcano, which unfortunately were not open yet during my visit.

 

This was my delicious meal of chicken souvlaki.  It is a very common Greek dish, served with fresh vegetables, pita, and tzatziki (yogurt dip made with cucumber, garlic, and dill).  These are also the common ingredients in a Greek gyro, which I also tried.

This is an amazing view of the famous blue, dome-roofed churches of Santorini.  These churches are all over the island and are so cool to look at!  The pink structure next to it is the church bells.

This is the stunning view of the most picturesque and charming town of Santorini, Oia.  We drove out to this end of the island one day and walked around the cliff neighborhood, taking in the views.

Myself in front of Amoudi Bay, on one end of the island.

This is the ancient city of Akrotiri.  It was a major trading area on the island, but was buried and preserved during a volcanic eruption around 1500 BC.  It has been suggested that this site is the inspiration for Plato's story of Atlantis.

Red Beach

This is the lighthouse at the tip of the island, near Akrotiri.  I climbed out on the rocks in front of it, which offered amazing cliff views of the island.

This is one of those cliff views

This is the delicious and traditional dessert of Greece, baklava.  It is made of filo dough, chopped nuts, and a honey syrup.

 

View from my patio in the morning

View from my patio at sunset

 

Myself standing on the roof of our property

This is a view from a different villiage of the town where I stayed, Imerovigli, pictured on the cliff to the left.

Rome, Italy

Destination number three of my spring break was Rome, Italy.  I was only in Rome for less than 24 hours and it rained for that entire time.  Despite the bad weather and lack of time, I was still able to see three of the major sites in Rome.  It's a good thing I am able to go back in about a month with Dianna, Joe, and Lauren to see more!

 

The Spanish Steps

Myself in front of the Trevi Fountain

The Pantheon

Delicious bruschetta, the first course in my four course italian meal.  It would be followed by creamy pasta, roasted chicken and creme caramel.

Florence, Italy

My next stop on my spring break was Florence, Italy.  I stayed here for three nights, so I really got to experience a lot of the city.  I also have a friend studying in Florence, so I got to see her everyday I was there and she was able to show me around a little.

 

This is the view from my room.  The streets are very narrow in Florence, with tall buildings on each side of the street.  It is really cool to walk around on the streets there.

This is the famous bridge in Florence, called the Pente Vecchio.  It is the oldest bridge in the area and it is known for its jewelry stores which line both sides of the bridge.

This is the Santa Croce Basilica.  Its outside is white with green and pink accent.  I found it very interesting that every church in Florence had this same color scheme.

This is an example of the many delicious Italian baked goods I consumed while in Florence.  On the left is a chocolate filled croissant and on the right it a vanilla pudding filled pastry.  I also had tons of gelato while I was there!

This is a picture of the most famous building in Florence, the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, otherwise known as the Duomo.  This is a view of the building as I was climbing up over four hundred steps to the top of the tower.

This is the view from the top of the tower, which had a great view of the Duomo.  I could really take in the whole city, as it has one of the best views of Florence.

This is Michelangelo's statue the David.  It's one of the most famous pieces of sculpture in the world and its scale is massive.  It it located in the Accademia Gallery.

This was my delicious Italian wood-fire-cooked pizza.

This is a picture of one of Florence's secret bakeries.  Florence is known for having a few secret bakeries, which people visit late at night.  A secret bakery is a bakery that makes baked goods at night for the shops to sell to customers the next day.  They are not supposed to sell directly to consumers.  I went to two secret bakeries one night, in which I knocked on the door and they carefully snuck me a pastry in exchange for one euro.  At the first bakery I got a donut with chocolate on top and at the second one I got a warm, freshly baked croissant, filled with chocolate!

Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona, Spain was the first stop on my spring break!  I really loved it there.  The climate was very tropical and there were palm trees everywhere. Barcelona is on the East coast of Spain.  My 5 years of taking Spanish in high school paid off.  I was able to speak with the locals and could understand what they were saying to me.  This was challenging, but also really fun and rewarding!

 

Spain is well known for tapas, which are appetizers.  This shows the chorizo (sausage) tapas that I had.  They were delicious!

This is one of the food stands at La Boqueria Market.  Shown above is a selection of fresh fruit juices at one of the stands.  I tried the raspberry!

The first night we went to a lights show at a big fountain.  The lights changed to the music that was playing.  It is called the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc.

 

This building is Sagrada Familia, designed by Antoni Gaudí. It has been under construction since 1882 and is expected to be finally finished in the year 2041.  It is a Roman Catholic Basilica and I would say it is the most amazing building I have ever seen!

This is the inside of Sagrada Familia.  It had incredible ceilings and pillars, as well as stained glass windows.  It was such a nice day when I went, making the windows look really cool!

This is the famous dragon fountain of Park Güell, also by Gaudí.  (Ignore the woman, it was so busy there I couldn't get a picture without anyone in it.)  The park is known for its amazing stone structures and mosaic tiling.  I really enjoyed my time here and the view from the top was great.

Yet another building by Gaudí, Casa Batlló, was originally built as a home and now is used as an apartment complex.

Another of Gaudí's designs is La Pedrera, which is a residential building.  Gaudí is clearly responsible for the shaping of Barcelona.  He is known for his crazy, out of this world designs.

 

This was my view overlooking the city from the top of Montjuïc, which is a mountain in Barcelona.  I took a cable car to the top, where I also went to a castle at the very top.  The view was incredible and it even overlooked the ocean on to the right.

 

This is Torre Calatrava, a communications tower used for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.  I also got to see the Olympic Stadium, which is right next to this, both on Montjuïc.

Warwick and Stratford Upon Avon

I took a school trip to the cities of Warwick and Stratford Upon Avon.  During the trip I got to visit Warwick Castle, as well as stay in Stratford, the hometown of William Shakespeare.  I even got to see a play by Shakespeare called 

"A Winter's Tale."

The outside of Warwick Castle

Myself playing cards with the wax residents of the castle

A view from above

The tutor homes of Stratford

My delicious English dinner of chicken pot pie

Shakespeare's grave inside Holy Trinity Church in Stratford

My first English high tea at a forties themed restaurant called The FourTeas

 

London Sightseeing - Round Two

 

My friend from home, visited me in London for a weekend.  She is studying abroad in Florence, Italy for the semester.  I took this opportunity to see a few more of the London attractions.

 

This is the Tower of London, built as a Royal Castle, Fortress, and Prison in the late 11th Century.  It was previously home to several English Monarchs and exotic animals, such as lions, alligators, and even an elephant.  The animals were given as gifts from visiting world leaders. The castle is now home to the Crown Jewels of past Monarchs.

Myself in front of the tower

One of the old crowns, displayed in a different part of the tower than the really expensive jeweled crowns.  This section is much less secure than the Jewel House.

This is the Jewel House in the Tower.  It is home to the expensive Crown Jewels, which contain tons of gemstones of different sizes and colors.

The Tower Bridge, which was where the Olympic rings were on display during the Olympics.

This is the building where I take all my classes in London, The Ithaca College London Center.  It is a restored victorian mansion.

Kensington Palace, soon to be home of Will, Kate, and Baby.  I live just up the street from it!

Myself in front of the Palace

The swans of Hyde Park, which is where Kensington Palace is.

Horse Gaurds Parade, the location of the beach volleyball events during the Olympics.  It is difficult to see in this picture, but the London Eye can be seen above the buildings towards the right.

Trafalgar Square

Covent Garden.  A nice restaurant and shopping square, also location of the Annual Easter Egg Hunt during the first weekend of Lent.