Senior Year

It is hard to believe that Senior year is already upon me. I'm settled in to my on campus apartemnt, and I have two great roommates. As far as classes go, I have 17 credits. I'm taking Tyranny to Democracy in the 21st Century, Biology of Disease, Politics in Western Europe, Survey of French Literature, Philosophy of C.S. Lewis, and Yoga. I am also working one day a week for Gonzaga Law School's Telfund. For the most part my summer was good, it was way too short though. I volunteered at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, as well as cashiered at Staples. That's all for now.

8 days

I can't believe that I am down to my final 8 days in paris. I have been here for 281 days (40 weeks and 1 day), and now I am down to 8. How time flies. These past couple of weeks have been busy, with finals. I also got to spend last weekend in Corisca with my friend Clare. Despite the fact that my luggage didn't get to me until the very last day, it was a great and relaxing weekend. We spent the first night in Bastia, the next 2 days in Corte, and our last day in Bastia. We got to see some museums, eat good food, and just relax. I have so much to do in my 8 remaining days in Paris, souvenir shopping, eating pasteries, doing some shopping, going to stores I have always wanted to go to, and last but not least, enjoying Paris. I have to enjoy my last few days of freedom, before I go home and start my boring job as a cashier at Staples. Well that is all for now. I'll post when I get back to the good old USA, as well as put up some pictures from Corsica.

Spring Break in Italy and Spain!!!

Wow!!! It has been ages since I updated. I had a two week long Spring Break which I spent in Florence and Rome, Italy, and Madrid and Granada, Spain. My break started out with an overnight train to Florence, arriving there on Easter Sunday. I spent Easter Sunday with some of my Gonzaga In Florence friends. Easter celebrations included an exploding cart, complete with fireworks, in front of the Duomo, much cooler than the Easter bunny. After that, I just hung out with friends. In my four days in Florence, I did a lot. I went to the Accedemia and saw Michaelangelo's David, the Uffizi and saw Bottecelli's Birth of Venus, the Duomo, and much more. I also got to see tons of my friends. I even ran into one of my friends from high school, Stacy Jordan. It was great to see her and catch up after 3 1/2 years. After my wonderful time in Florence I took the train to Rome, another historical city. In Rome I saw the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, the St. Ignatius of Loyola Church (founder of the Jesuits), the Colloseum, the Roman Forum, Palatine, and last but certainly not least, the Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and the POPE!!!! I was very fortunate to see the Pope celebrate mass in honor of his 80th birthday. At the end, I was about 10 feet away from him when he drove by in his Pope-mobile. It was so AWESOME!!!! After Rome, I took a plane to Madrid, where I spent a day and a half. I saw the Prado Museum and the Reigna Sophia, home to Picasso's Guernica. I also saw the Cathedral and the Royal Palace (I didn't go in). After Madrid I took a 5 hour bus ride to Granada to visit my friend Tierney. We went and saw the Alhambra, an old Moorish fortress/palace that was built in the 13th-15th Centuries. If you want to know more click on the link. http://www.alhambra.org/eng/index.asp?secc=/inicio. I also went to the Cathedral, and the Royal Chapel where I saw Ferdinand and Isabella (same ones that Christopher Columbus asked permission from to go to the New World). We also had the opportunity to see a flamenco show. While it wasn't a traditional one, it was still cool. I then took the same bus back to Madrid, and then an overnight train back to Paris. Now I'm back in school, and enjoying Paris in the Springtime.


The Colloseum in Rome



The Pope!!!



Me in front of the Alhambra!!!

Mary and Meghan conquer Germany and Belguim

On Tuesday, Mom and I took the 8:55 train from Gare to Nord to Cologne, Germany to visit our friend Ursula and her husband Hans in Rheinbach. It was so awesome. We got the opportunity to see the Cologne Cathedral. It's one of the largest, if not the largest Cathedral's in the world. After that we spent the next two days (Wednesday and Thursday) exploring the area around Rheinback. We saw lots of castles, did lots of walking, and saw lots of cute little fairy tale towns, not to mention tons of half-timbered houses. After Germany we went to Belgium and the little town of Brugge. We spent Friday afternoon, all of Saturday, and part of Sunday there. It was really cute. We went to the Chocolate Museum, the Diamond Museum, and even a Brewery tour. It was really fun getting a chance to play tourist, and just spend some good quality mommy and daughter time.

The Cathedral in Cologne

Cool Castle in Cochem Germany

Diamonds at the Diamond Museum in Brugge

Mom and Dad come to visit...

Holy Cow!!! It has been ages since I've posted anything on here. The rest of my January was filled with school and final exams. I ended up getting all A's, so I'm pretty happy about that. February was a month full of travel. Before I left France for England, we found a place to watch the Super Bowl, it started at Midnight, but it was still a ton of fun. I left for London on Feb. 5th, and stayed until the 9th. I had so much fun. I did the bus tour, saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, saw lots of museums, saw the musical Wicked, saw Shakespeare's Globe Theater, the Tower of London, and a lot more. I even got a chance to see one of my good friends from high school Marina, who is studying there. After that, I headed out to Oxford University for the weekend to see my friend Nana from Camp Kennolyn. We hadn't seen eachother in like 10 years so it was really good to catch up. We did all of the touristy stuff, walked around, had tea, and just hung out. I even got to see where part of the Harry Potter films are filmed. Remeber the dining hall at Hogwarts? Well, that is at Oxford in Christ Church College. After that, I headed back to London to collect my mom and dad. We had lots of fun. We went to Westminster Abbey, the National Gallery, and just had a fun time walking around. We got really good seats (4th row) for the Queen musical We Will Rock You for Valentine's Day. It was so much fun. My mom and I also went on the London Eye, which was really cool. After London, we headed over to France. We stayed at a really cute little hotel over by the Opera building. The first night we went to my favorite bar The Moose (it's Canadian, and they speak English). We got to hang out, watch some sports, and drink beer. The next day, Friday, we did laundry at my place, then walked Rue de Rivoli, had hot chocolate at Angelina's (it's literally melted chocolate), went to the Louvre, and then ate dinner at a nearby cafe. Saturday, Mom headed off to the Rodin Museum, and Dad and I went to the Musee d'Invalides and the Musee d'Armee. Then we went up to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur, and we also saw the Moulin Rouge. We had a really good Italian style dinner. Sunday we got up early and climbed up the bell towers of Notre Dame before Mass. We went to mass at 11:30, and it was awesome. After that, we had lunch at a little Fondue place in the Latin quarter, and then went souvenir shopping. Then we went on a boat cruise down the Seine and attempted to go up the Eiffel Tower, but the lines were just way to long. For dinner we found this American type restaurant, it was pretty good. Monday we had brunch at the Breakfast in America diner out by the Sorbonne. Then we went to the Pantheon where we saw Pierre and Marie Curie, Louis Braille, Voltaire, Victor Hugo, and lots of other famous people (all dead of course). Then we went and walked by the Sorbonne, and then down past the Luxembourg Gardens to my school, the Instituit Catholique. After that we went and saw the Church of St. Sulpice. Then we went back to my place and did laundry. After that, we went out to dinner and my friend Sarah came with us, it was tons of fun. Then we went back to the hotel, and put Dad into a cab for the aiport hotel.

Happy 2007

Holy Cow!!! It has been forever since I have updated. I have been just a tad busy. Christmas here in Paris was absolutely amazing. There were lots of lights and decorations everywhere. I went to Christmas Eve Mass at Notre Dame and it was amazing. There were somewhere between 3,000-4,000 people, and this was for the family mass at 6 pm. The priest even invited all of the kids up to the altar for the Our Father. It was really cool. On Christmas Day, I had a 5 course dinner that lasted over 6 hours with my friend Tim and his family. His family was visiting from San Francisco, and they had rented an apartment. It was really cool and fun. We had cocktails, then gnocchi, then duck a l'orange, then salad, then a cheese plate, and finally a chocolate yule log cake for dessert. Each course was paired with a different wine. It was absolutely amazing. Then, I just enjoyed the holiday season by reading my new books and watching DVD's until Thursday when my friend Sarah and her friend Mary came back from Rome. On friday, two of Mary and Sarah's friends came in from the states. I hung out with them, we did lots of fun sightseeing and touristy stuff. We even celebrated New Year's at the Eiffel Tower. It was a once in a lifetime experience and so much fun. There were tons of people despite the possible forcast of rain. Sarah's friends were here for the rest of the week so I helped Sarah be the tour guide and we saw the essential things one must see in Paris. I am already into my second week back at school, but the semester is nearly over. I have the whole month of February off (the 1-25th). I will be in England the 5-15th, meeting my parent's on the 13th. We will then go to Paris until the 2oth, when Dad will leave for home, and Mom and I will continue on to visit friends in Germany, and then to Brussells and Bruges. I will update more later.

The Christmas Tree in Galleries Lafayette


Me and Sarah on New Years in front of the Eiffel Tower