Katie's first post

Wazzzzzuppp! I mean...bonjour! We are currently in the train station, Gare du Lyon in Paris. Paris deinetly beat out Prague as my favorite city so far. This trip has gone so unbelievably fast. I can't believe we only have five days left. I feel like we just started yesterday but also I feel like we have been traveling forever. Next is nice, France and then finally Spain. I am so beyond excited for Barcelona. I feel like I really need to study abroad here in France. It has been three days and I feel that my French has improved immensely. I have met some amazing people and definitely have some crazy memories. I'm excited for nice because I can just relax. Because we did The optional versatile trip we had much less time in Paris. We went to the moulin rouge last nit and I was blown away. It was quite possibly one of the best shows I have seen in my entire life. I am on my friend carolyn's iPad right now in the train station, she is an awesome girl :) Def. Must see for those out there who have not visited Europe...go to see the gothic churhches in Prague, after Paris, they were my favorite thing. And oh my...the beach off of Corfu,Greece is absolutely amazing. God really has blessed Jenna and I and we are so thankful. I think I am going to come home with big hulking shoulder muscles and huge callouses on my feet. Some people say that Paris is dirty but I think it is beautiful, so beautiful. Currently I am sitting here remembering drinking wine in Toscana and haggling for leather in florence. My leg is falling asleep and I am tired. Au devoir mes amies. A bientot!

P.s. Notre dame is breathtaking, Jesus is truly alive!

Bonjour!

We are currently sitting in a train station in Paris! We are about to catch a train to Nice, which is about six hours... we will stay for two days, after Nice we have an eight hour bus ride to Barcelona where we stay for two days and then depart for home.

Sorry my posts are so short, I still haven't found a computer!

Oh! Last night we saw a show at the real moulin rouge, it was spectacular! Seriously, the best show ever!

Au Revior!

Paariis!

I have been terrible at posting. Totally missed Amsterdam, wasn't a huge fan but I'll post more when I have a computer because right now i just have my itouch.

I love Paris. It my favorite city I think. It's gorgeous, went to the top of the Eiffel tower last night, stayed three hours until it was all lit up..... Incredible!

Miss you guys. Can't wait to see you, one week left!

Amsterdam!

Well hey there,

We safely arrived in Amsterdam yesterday evening. We got all checked in and then headed into town, our hotel is on the outskirts of town so it was about a ten minute walk to the tram station and a thrity minute ride into town. Once in town, we visited the Anne Frank museum which was really cool to see but at the same time really, really, really, sad. I can't imagine hiding there with no sunlight and no fresh air for two years! It blows my mind. Amsterdam is more of a city and lots of less to look at. Its so wierd that weed is legal here, its everywhere! Today, we are going to visit the red light district - I've heard its pretty interesting to see. I'm not really sure I'd say interesting, probably more like SAD but we will see.

Um, we are also visiting the Van Gogh museum today which should be fun and also the I am Amsterdam sign. I wish I could upload pictures to show you guys but I cannot! There is also a huge flee market here that we are going to check out. We have two whole free days here with absolutely nothing scheduled so we should have some down time which will be good because we are both exhausted. Twenty five days of traveling will do that to ya - man on man, ten more days. As amazing this is, I think I need one day of just sleep. I swear the long bus rides just drain the life out of me. Not complaining though, its VERY worth it.

Thats all for now. We get wifi here and will be here a few days so I will keep ya posted (hahaha no pun intended)!

P to the rague.

Well hey there, let me update you on our trip.

We safely made it to Prague yesterday evening after a five hour drive and a few hour stop in Regensburg, Germany. Regensburg was a very cute little town and also Germanys Bavarian captial! 

Since arrival we have gotten some really good Czech food, which I think is a mix of Italian and German food. We have also seen some of the most beautiful architecture I have ever seen! Everything is Gothic looking and so beautiful, it possibly my favorite place so far! The Prague Castle is GORGEOUS, we also saw St. Vitus Cathedral with beautiful stained glass windows. Charles Bridge is spectacular and I wanna see it at night sometime, we have all day tomorrow free so probably then. We also get to SLEEP IN - which seriously is the most amazing news I might have ever heard. 

We were signed up to do a jazz river cruise tomorrow night in Prague but it ended up getting canceled because not enough people wanted to do it but thats okay, we actually went on an hour long boat trip today which was great. Also, we had to switch currencies over to the czech krown which is just so weird, for every American dollar its 17 krowns so its just weird and everything looks really expensive, however, things are much cheaper here. 

One thing I have realized I for sure take for granted in the U.S. is WATER. Im seriously always dehydrated here because one lil bottle of water is like 2 euros which is like 3 American dollars - robbery I tell you! Everything is seriously so expensive, stupid exchange rate! How I long to be back in America and drink free water at a restaurant with ICE and LEMON. But, that was just me being dramatic - everything else is really really wonderful and I cant complain about anything. 

On a positive note... Can I tell you guys something just really, really cool? Well, here goes. Jesus is everywhere here and it makes me happy. So happy as a matter of fact. We probably few on average a Cathedral a day, sometimes more, sometimes none but it makes me so happy that He is known and He is everywhere! Like today on the Charles Bridge - there was a billion sculptures and crosses and saints lining the whole bridge and most people admire these statues but it makes me feel at home. It makes me feel happy to see that others love him or have written on the walls JESUS LOVES YOU. It probably sounds lame but it is truthfully so exciting and has made my trip so enjoyable and peaceful.

I cant think of much else right now, Ill let you know what our free day holds when I do. After Prague, we are heading back to Germany to Heidelberg then to Amsterdam! Cant wait!

Good Day

Our last day in Munich was wonderful. The breakfast at this hotel is sooo much better compared to what we have been eating. Typically in Europe they serve coffee, juice, rolls, cheese, and meats. Yum? But where we are now they have eggs and bacon which everyone is loving but the thing Im most excited about is the fruit salad. Fruitttttt, you just cant get enough of it here.

Katie has been eating a lot of sausages and seems to be liking em. The pretzels are good and we also tried spätzle , oh my goodness it was amazing. Katie and I are also loving nutella, we take it on all the bus trips that are like 4 - 7 hours long and snack on it with apples or bananas. Okay, well now that half of this post has been about food, Ill move on.

We had a pretty early morning because we drove 1.5 hours to the Neuschwanstein Castle, which is where the sleeping beauty castle is based off of. It seriously looked fake, in a good way. Pretty cool, we couldnt take pictures inside the castle though so we dont have any but the view from outside was spectacular. Everyone was saying how it looked exactly like the view from a castle should.

Everywhere we go and everything we see just seriously makes me feel blessed. Blessed to be here, traveling Europe, blessed to be experiencing it with Katie and some really wonderful people on our trip and blessed knowing  I have family and friends back home supporting me :) awwww.

Tomorrow will be a travel day for us, we are making our way over to Prague. YAY. 

Im never sure what places we will have wifi at so I never know if I will be able to post or check email and facebook - so keep that in mind.

BLESSINGS 

MUNICH

We have just arrived in Munich, Germany earlier today and our hotel here is extremely nice and we get free internet. Yes!

After Florence we traveled about four hours to Venice, we stayed in a little town right outside and we had a beach which was really nice after our travels we just went and layed out and got some sun! Venice was wonderful, we had a few free nights and where we stayed was pretty touristy so I didnt love it. We did take a ferry into Venice one full day though and it was greattttt! We took another ferry over to the little island of Murano to see a glass blowing demonstration, which was the sweetest thing ever - this guy made a horse from glass in seriously two minutes. We saw St. Marks Basilica and Square and it was great. Im so bummed I didnt bring my computer so I could upload pictures to show you guys but in due time.

We spent about eight hours on the bus today driving to Munich and we had a few stops. We drove through Austria as well! Today was a pretty rainy daz so it was nice that we were traveling. The weather in Italy was sooooo hot and we got here and we are all wearing jackets and jeans and are still cold. We went to the Hofbrauhaus House tonight we dinner, pretzels and beer. It was really yummy. Since I dont eat sausage Im guessing that I will be eating a lot of pretzels! I cant think of much else, since we have free internet I will update tomorrow of our other adventures, we are touring the sleeping beauty castle! :) Miss you guys.

Updates on Rome and Florence!

Okay, Its terrible but I cant remember back far enough to give good updates on Rome right now, my brain is mush. It was wonderful we visited the Colleseum, the Vatican, St. Peters Basillica, and the Sistine Chapel. They were seriously all amazingly beautiful but so busy, it was like body to body through all of them and its 80 degrees here so its just so hot! EF sets things up so well, all of our tour guides have been GREAT and we are using whispers (where the guide talks into a microphone and you have an earpierce to hear) they are great when its really busy.

We are now in Florence and its beautiful, its smaller than Rome but still has the city feel. The wine tasting was so great, yummy yummy wine, we got to try like three whites and four reds I think.

Today after our tour we just explòred the city and the pizza place we happened to eat at was where the Jersey Shore cast was working, Sammy Sweethart, Vinny, and the situation and dont be fooled. I dont watch it but my freinds updated me. We had to sign a billion pages saying we wouldnt take pictures and would act normal and wouldnt tell the media anything. It was so funny, the pizza was great, it was recommended by our tour guide so we had to try it and they just happened to be there! It was fun. For the rest of the day we have it free and we will be exploring and doing laundry, its our first chance to do laundry and we are all so excited.

Tomorrow, we will be visiting Pisa! YAY! We leave Florence Wednesday morning and travel to Venice where we get to ride a Gondala. Hip Hip... Hooray!

Miss you guys :) Thanks for your prayers, love and support, it means the world to me and it is coming back your way!

FLORENCE!

Just arrived in Florance and we are safe! It is very hot and we are going wine tasting this evening :)

I will update you on Rome as soon as I can. I only have five minutes left on my internet cafe time. Peace out home dawgs.

Headed to Italy!

Hi :) 

We spent the day at the beach! It was amazing, we took two boats and explored some caves - they were GORGEOUS. The water was the bluest I have ever seen and it was so worth seven euros. Once again, Katie and I both got BURNT. Apparently, I need to wear SPF 100 or something. But thats okay, I'll come home tan! We also saw the Monastry, which was gorgeous. Mom you would have loved it! There is a picture of the beach as my profile picture, if you haven't seen it take a look and tell me its not the clearest most beautiful water you have ever seen.

I've had a bit of bad luck, looks like someone tried to pick pocket me. We went to a few bars a few nights ago and I was super careful with my bags and have no idea how or when it happened but it did. Luckily, there is two liners in my purse so whoever only slashed the outside one and didn't make it into the inner one. Sarah, that means there is a few razor slashes in your bag and I owe you a new one! But, praise the Lord everything is still there! Our tour director took a picture of my bag as a "what could happen photo." It would be me! 

So, we just left Corfu and are now headed to Italy. We spent our last day in Corfu town exploring. It is seriously gorgeous, there was plenty to see and lots of shops to see. We also had the best Baklava you will ever taste in your entire life, we went back... twice. Also, I was laughing so hard I totally fell, right in the streets of Greece and everyone with me was literally on the ground laughing while I was laying there. It was funny and someone caught it all on camera. The cobblestone streets are not really even and I'm pretty clumsy so its just what happens I guess but it's all good, it was hilarious. 

Right now, I am at an internet cafe somewhere in Greece. We took a ferry back to the mainland where we will catch another ferry (a night one) that will take us to Rome! I can't wait! We spend ten days in Italy so its going to be excellent and quite a bit of time. We are all afraid that we are going to end up speaking Greek there! We learned how are you and okay, its all been added to the list :)  We are signed up to do a cooking class in Rome, a Gondala ride in Venice as well as a wine tasting in Tuscany! YAY! 

So far everyone is our group has been amazing, there is 36 of us total and not a dull moment. Also, the tour has been great - everything is ready and pretty much been perfect. All our buses, guides, tours, and everything we have done has been on time and super cheap! I'm liking EF better than ISV! 

I can't think of any more updates, I'm always racking my brain to remember everything so I don't leave anything out but man oh man, there is just so much to remember! OH, for those of you who care - I took my pysch makeup exam and got a 92% on it which left me with an 83% in the class which is certainly a B- so I won't have to retake pysch 360 and that was all Jesus there because I was not that prepared and did really well! 

Next time I post it will be in Italy :) Bye for now! Or should I say ciao and brush up on my Italian! 

Headed to Corfu!

Hi Friends!

We have had a great few first days, Athens was a blast and we are really liking our groups. Yesterday we toured Athens pretty much all day which was awesome! We went and say the Acropolis, Parthenon, Sanctuary of the Olympian Zeus, and so much more. It was really cool to see, we learned a lot about Greek history. We went to flee markets as well, just streets and streets lined with little shops that are cheaps!

Food wise we have been eating really well, I'm really happy I went vegetarian or I probably wouldn't have been eating! We have had some really good Greek salads and spinach pies and Katie has eating some good chicken. We have also had true Grecian "Gyro's" (mine with no meat) and they are pretty good, we have just eaten a few too many. Also, they have really good Greek yogurt here, which we have too but they eat theirs with honey and that sounds nasty but it is seriously so good - try it!

Today, we went to the city of Delphi and viewed a really amazing museum and also some ruins, pictures to come later! We are now waiting for our ferry which will take us to the Greek Island of Corfu, AH! It is supposed to have really great beaches which we will be checking out tomorrow and maybe snorkeling! Katie and I both didn't wear sunscreen our first day in Athens, BAD IDEA. We are both lil burnt tomatoes and it hurts especially when we are carrying our packs, but good news is it will turn into tan in no time :)

Thats really all I can think of, our group is great, we are still getting to know them but so far so good. Our tour guide Apostolos is GREAT, he says Katie and I both have really good Greek accents! We're trying to learn as much of the language as possible, so far we have thank you, your welcome, good morning and thank you for the meal.

It's kinda random when we get internet so I will try to keep you guys posted as much as possible so if some posts are short its probably because they are coming from my iTouch. Also, I think I'm caught up sleep wise, took a few melatonin and went to bed early last night and I have felt much better today!

Seeing God's creation is AMAZING. How does He do it? I'm seriously blown away.

Blessings,
Jenna & Katie

Dear Jet Lag,

We could have done without you.

Sincerly,
Two extremely tired girls who cannot sleep.

We Have Arrived!

WE ARE IN GREECE! We landed in Athens at 10:20 but we are 7 hours ahead here. We met up with our group and checked into our hotel. It's really funny, Katie and I are staying with two other girls and it is the smallest room you can imagine, all of our beds are right next to each other so its like a king bed and half! We just had a little tutorial and now we are about to go out and get some greek food and then we will probably hit the hay fairly early because we didn't sleep much on the plane and wanna be fresh for tomorrow!

Thats all for now. Blessings,
Jenna & Katie

TODAY IS THE DAY!

So, today is the day and we are about to be on our way!

We have a four hour lay over but we will be meeting about 10 people on our trip and then flying all together. AH! I'll update you more when we arrive in Athens :)

ONE WEEK!

I can't believe we leave in a week. I know this is how I always start my posts, but for real. One week - thats insane. Today, I got a little photo lesson from the wonderful Jen on the basics of photography. I thought it might be good to know considering Katie and I will probably go wild with pictures. I'm thinking two 8 gig memory cards might not be enough for five weeks?

Katie still hasn't gotten her passport although it should be in the mail. I know it will come because I can't even comprehend what would happen if it didn't. We also found out that about five others from our trip will be on our flight to Athens, which is great!

I have started packing and I know Katie hasn't, she still has finals so its understandable but I am just hoping we don't forget anything big. There isn't a ton of news except lately I have been kinda sick, I went to the doctor today though and got a zpack, better safe than sorry. It better be gone by the time we leave!

Oh, we got to hear a little bit about our tour director. His name is Apostolos and he is from Greece but he has been to all eight countries and cities we will be traveling to. I decided I want his job because it would be amazing. He also told us we will have some extra free time in Tuscany so we will get to explore a Tuscan Villa, visit a vineyard and explore the countryside. Mmm, can't wait! He seems like he knows a lot, which is a plus.

I think that is all the updates I have for you now but we will keep you updated lots when we get there and are traveling! Also, I don't proofread my posts because it just takes time that I don't really have so feel free to laugh at my errors :)

Seventeen days to go!

Each day Katie and I count the days down, it so close yet, it's still in the back of our mind because we just gotta get our finals over with. Only two exams and one paper stand in between me and this summer, oh happy day! Katie still has another week unfortunately.

We still have lots of stuff to do to prepare for our trip. We need the typical stuff like calling cards, adapters, converters, and getting a few Euro's before we head over. Katie has had some problems renewing her passport and currently still doesn't have one, which could be a huge problem but we will have to see and trust that God will take care of it.

As for me, I have made the decision to go just vegetarian for the trip. I'm really not all that pumped about it but I think its just something I need to do, for my health and for convenience. Right when I get back I will switch back but for the next few weeks as I start putting dairy in eggs back into my diet, I think my body will truly hate me. I'll keep you guys updated with how I'm doing with that.

I can't really think of much else, we haven't made many more trip preparations because we just wanna get done with finals and then we can think about our glorious trip. We have signed up for four optional excursions, Pisa, Versailles, Jazz river cruise in Prague and the Rome cooking class. YAY!

We got our flight and hotel information a few days ago which was exciting. The only link that works for the hotels is the one we will be staying in during our stay in Barcelona if you wanna take a little peek.

Thats all for now, we will keep you posted as we get closer!

52 days to go! It feels surreal, Katie and I are so excited for our 35 day trip where we get to tour eight countries and have a blast. 


Here is our itinerary just in case you are interested. You can also find more information at EF College Break's website!


SCHEDULE

DAY 1Overnight flight

DAY 2

Arrival in Athens
Welcome to Athens! After clearing customs, you’ll meet your full-time tour director and the rest of your group. Did you know that Athens was named after Athena, goddess of wisdom?

Walking tour of Athens

DAY 3Sightseeing tour of Athens (local guide)

Welcome dinner
Get to know the other travelers in your group over tonight's included dinner.

Free time in Athens (nighttime)

DAY 4Sightseeing tour of Delphi (local guide)

Night ferry from Patras

DAY 5

Arrival on Corfu
Welcome to one of the most picturesque of the Greek Islands. Corfu is the second-largest of Greece’s Ionian Islands, and is also its greenest.

DAY 6Free day on Corfu

DAY 7Night ferry to Italy

DAY 8

Arrival in Italy
Disembark this morning on the coast of Italy.

Sightseeing tour of Pompeii (local guide)

Arrival in Rome
Continue on to Italy’s capital. Did you know that Rome had barbers as far back as 300 B.C.?

DAY 9Sightseeing tour of Rome (local guide)

Roman Colosseum

Forum Romanum

Optional Italian Cooking Class (extra cost)

DAY 10Visit to Vatican City

Free time in Rome (afternoon)

DAY 11Transfer to Florence

Free time in Florence (nighttime)

DAY 12Sightseeing tour of Florence (local guide)

Florence Duomo

DAY 13Optional excursion to Pisa (extra cost)

DAY 14Transfer to Venice

DAY 15Sightseeing tour of Venice (local guide)

Doges’ Palace

Free time in Venice (afternoon)

DAY 16Transfer to Munich

Free time in Munich (nighttime)

DAY 17Excursion to Neuschwanstein Castle

Walking tour of Munich

DAY 18Sightseeing tour of Regensburg (EFCB Tour Director)

Arrival in Prague
Continue by bus on to Prague, the City of a Hundred Spires. Did you know that Christmas carol legend Good King Wenceslas is buried in Prague?

Walking tour of Prague

DAY 19Sightseeing tour of Prague (local guide)

Free time in Prague (nighttime)

DAY 20Free day in Prague

Optional Jazz River Cruise (extra cost)

DAY 21Sightseeing tour of Nuremberg (EFCB Tour Director)

Arrival in Heidelberg
Continue on to Heidelberg, Germany's oldest college town. Did you know that Karl Drais, inventor of the bicycle, was a student here?

DAY 22Sightseeing tour of Heidelberg (EFCB Tour Director)

Heidelberg Castle wine barrel

DAY 23Transfer to Amsterdam

Walking tour of Amsterdam

DAY 24Sightseeing tour of Amsterdam (EFCB Tour Director)

Anne Frank House

Free time in Amsterdam (nighttime)

DAY 25Optional Biking the Dutch Countryside (extra cost)

DAY 26Sightseeing tour of Bruges (EFCB Tour Director)

Arrival in Brussels
Continue to Brussels, capital of Belgium. Did you know that Jean-Claude Van Damme is known as The Muscles From Brussels?

Sightseeing tour of Brussels (EFCB Tour Director)

DAY 27Transfer to Paris

Free time in Paris (afternoon)

Evening Seine cruise and Eiffel Tower

DAY 28Sightseeing tour of Paris (local guide)

Eiffel Tower photostop

Optional trip to Versailles (extra cost)

DAY 29Walking tour of Paris

Louvre Museum

Notre Dame Cathedral

Free time in Paris (nighttime)

DAY 30TGV to the French Riviera

Walking tour of Nice

DAY 31Free time on the French Riviera (day)

Optional Monaco Casino Night (extra cost)

DAY 32Transfer to Barcelona

Free time in Barcelona (nighttime)

DAY 33Sightseeing tour of Barcelona (local guide)

Parque Guell

DAY 34Free day in Barcelona

Farewell dinner
Share some last laughs (and maybe shed a few tears) at an included farewell dinner with the group.

DAY 35Flight home