Man... we had a great week the girls throughout London and Dublin, we knew it was going to be hard to live up to that first week while we were all together. But, the 2 of us still had the best second week possible! Once we left Amsterdam, we flew to Madrid then trained it from there to Barcelona. After Barcelona we flew to Rome and the took a train from there to Pisa, to Florence and then we ended our great 18 day excursion in Venice. Here is a recap of our times in each city :) ENJOY...!
Madrid: We were fortunate enough to meet up with a family Anna had contact with over the summer. She met a kid who played baseball in Springfield, IL this summer, Vicente, who had 2 sisters and a mom that lived in Getafe, Spain- only 10 minutes outside of Madrid! Through many emails the 2 of them got our sleeping arrangements in tact. When we arrived in the airport, Vicente's sister, her 2 kids and Vicente's mom greeted us with open arms and kisses. The family spoke very little english so we had to break out our high school spanish... but it ended up working out great! We were fixed traditional Spanish food, Paella that night for dinner and then were shown around the city at night- even though we were exhausted. That next morning, Gabriel (one of the kids), 4 years- old, was in our room banging pots and pans yelling at us in Spanish to come eat and play. HA- we were not used to this lifestyle... but we loved every minute of it. While in Madrid, this family toured the city with us, treated us to everything, cooked us every meal with a special touch and even took us to Toledo, Spain for a day. They went way out of their way to make us feel welcome and the language barrier ended up not being bad at all! The 2 kids (4 and 5 years old) were soooo much fun and kept us going throughout the day. We could not have asked for a better experience. It ranks up there with one of our best times yet! We were so sad to say goodbye to them- but it was time to move along...
Barcelona: We took a train ride that went from Madrid to Barcelona. It was known as a "hotel train"- the nicest train we've been on so far! It had showers, restaurants, movies and HUGE chairs... life was good :) In Barcelona, we shared a room with 2 Italian boys who we ended up touring with and got to know pretty well. They were so much fun and although they didn't speak great english either, we are learning to communicate with all different people from all over the world... cool, huh?! While in Barcelona, we got to sit on the beach and enjoy the sun! It was something else... Also, the streets in Barcelona were lined with fresh fruit, flowers and "actors." There was never a dull moment... Our last night in Barcelona we got to meet up with some other members of the RT- 83 group- Brock, Abby, Krista and Sam had all just arrived and along with them was Brock's dad. He treated us all to a great dinner- it was so awesome to be reunited before shipping off again!
Rome: What is there NOT to love about this city? We arrived from a 4.30 am flight (blahhhh) into Rome around 11am and instead of being tired- we kicked it into gear and decided to get the majority of the city done before meeting with LO and Gavin that night. We got to see so much that day and the best part was that it was BRIGHT and SUNNY! We could not have asked for better weather to finish our Spring Break trip. The old ruins, the Colosseum and every building in Rome has something to offer. We've never seen such an incredible city before! The next day it was a little rainy in the morning- but you have to learn to dance in the rain... so we headed to St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican :) Not many people were out so the lines were short and we saw everything from the Sistine Chapel to Pope John Paul II's tomb. It was another successful day in Rome. Moving on to Pisa/ Florence...
Pisa/ Florence: It was pouringggg in Pisa- but we managed to get some cute pictures even though the weather wasn't perfect. Pisa is a cute town but other than the leaning tower- there's not much else to do there. We only spent a few hours there before taking another train to Florence. WE LOVED FLORENCE! The city is sooo cute and laid back. There was a HUGE leather market where we did some bargaining :) and in the mornings we ran and got to the top of a huge hill that overlooked the entire city... it was breathtaking! The famous statue of "The David" was also located in this city so we performed some living art, as well! This city was something we are so glad we got to see!
Venice: This city is something else! There are no such things as cars here, only boats- ambulance boats, police boats, fire(truck) boats... it was crazy! We walked around the streets for a little bit and then we took a boat ride out to Murano Island where glass blowing is the thing to do. We've never seen so many stores of the same things... but it was a really neat experience. Venice was such a cool/ different city- it was a great/ relaxing way to end our trip.
We trained it back for 7 hours back to the RT and reflected on all of our awesome experiences. We had a great time together and are so glad we made memories that will last a lifetime! Life just can't get much better :)
Suz's updates should be coming soon- keep looking for them! We hear the weather back home is warm... we're jealous- still in the 40's here! Enjoy it and know that we miss you all <3
Tschus,
Andrea & Anna
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