Day Seven: The Royal Palace, the Prada Museum, and Chocolate Churros

We started off our day with a bus tour around parts of the city, which included both a short stop at the largest bull fighting ring in all of Spain, and Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, the home of the soccer team Real Madrid. At La Plaza España, a monument commemorating all Spanish speaking countries, the majority of the group proceeded to buy fans (in order to flirt with all of the gentlemen on the streets, of course). From there, we made our way to the Royal Palace, where we took a tour through the home of the Spanish royals. There we also found an extremely unique armory. At almuerzo, lunch, we ate pork tenderloin, potatoes, lentil soup, and a puff pastry filled with cream. Despues de almuerzo, nosotros vamos a museo de Prada y miramos los pinturas de los artistas famosas. Después de nosotros fuimos al museo de Prada, nosotros vamos a la plaza del Sol y tenemos tiempo libre. We then met back up and got churros at the Chocolateria (Sidenote, we met a model outside of the churro place). After that, we had free time again at La Plaza del Sol. For dinner, we were on our own to find something to eat, but most of us went to try a boca de calamari, a calamari sandwich, which is a signature dish in Madrid. Finally, we made our way back to the hotel only to find out that we walked about 12 miles.

Hasta Luego,

-Doug Mawrey, Maurice Krasner, Jared Intinarelli, and Liam Gallignah 

Day Six: Arrival in MADRID

Hola! Today was the day we arrived in our final city, Madrid. We woke up in Paris very early this morning, around 6 AM, and packed our bags to head to the airport. When we made it to the airport, we were unable to check in our bags, and therefore had plenty of time to spare; so, we bought multiple boxes of macaroons and several cups of Starbucks to keep us awake and ready to go. By the time we boarded the plane, it was around noon, and we slept our way through the two and a half hour direct flight to Madrid. Once we landed, we were refreshed and alive from our recent power naps, and hopped on a bus to the hotel. The scenery of Madrid as we drove to the hotel was beautiful; the pure and green trees were scattered across the countryside, and luscious flowers lined the highway.

Cuando nosotros salimos la hotel, fuimos a la Puerta del Sol. La Puerta era bonita y magnifico. Nosotros aprendemos que el símbolo del Madrid es un oso con un árbol. Entonces, nosotros vimos el punto exacto del medio de España. Después, nosotros fuimos a compras de H&M y Mango, los tiendas del ropa, y los tiendas del recurdos. Después de las tiendas, nosotros fuimos a la restaurante del comida España, se llama Museo del Vino. Comamos arroz con pollo, or chicken and spanish rice. Era delicioso. Para el postre, comamos bon bones con chocolate. Este día fue increíble, y somos emocionados para el futuro.

Adiós!

-Annie Spielberger, Marissa Rizzolo, Kaite Mahoney, And Spencer P-F

Day Five: The Palace of VERSAILLES

Today we went on another sight seeing tour of Paris with our local guide, Valerie.  From the bus we saw the Sorbonne, a prestigious French University.  We also saw the Pantheon and the Arc de Triomphe.  It was really cool to drive down the Champs Elysees and see all the different stores and restaurants that you can go to.  Once again, the weather was perfect today - sunny and warm.  After the tour we went to the Eiffel Tower and took a bunch of pictures. The bus drove out of Paris and shortly after, we arrived at Versailles.  Our tour guide told us that it costs about two to three million Euros to live in the houses outside of the palace.  We split into two groups and had time to walk through the gardens, Le Tuilleries before going on our tour inside.  Its crazy to believe that at one point in time hundreds of people lived in that extravagant palace.  Each room was fancier and more ornate than the next.  Then we stopped by a perfume museum called Fragonard.  They showed us the basic process of making perfume and let us test-smell some of their products.  On our way to dinner we went out on the rooftop of a beautiful department store and had a beautiful view of Paris.  For dinner we ate at a place called Flam's, where they specialized in flatbread pizza from Alsace.  Delicious!  Our last and final stop of the day was the hotel.

Aujourd'hui nous sommes allés sur un tour de Paris avec notre guide Valerie. Nous avons vu la Sorbonne, Pantheon, et Arc de Triomphe. Champs Elysées est très cool. Il fait beau aujourd'hui. Après le tour nous avons vu Le Tour Eiffel et pris beaucoup de photos. Valerie a nous dit qu'il coute 2-3 million Euros pour habiter dehors la palais de Versailles. Nous sommes allés au parfumerie qui s'appelle Fragonard. Pour diner nous avons mangé le pizza avec legumes. C'est très délicieux. Nous avons une bonne journée. Nous aimons Paris! Nous ne voulons pas partir.

Love,
Anna Schelong, Serena Raso, Inna Kagan, Melissa Mortarelli

Day Four: First Day In Paris!

Bonjour!

Nous arrivons à Paris aujourd’hui! We woke up early in the morning 4AM London time. We had a few delays (cough cough…Liam, Aaron, and Jared..) but we managed to still make the Chunnel on time. The train was about 2 and 1/2 hours with most of the group falling asleep in London and waking up in Paris. We went straight to the Louvre and had a lovely lunch at the  Tuileries Gardens. Some had an adventure with a few gypsies and salesmen, but we all entered the museum with all of our belongings. The Louvre was beautiful and amazing even as we rushed to find the Mona Lisa and other specific pieces of art. Alex took us on a walk to see the famous bridge with the countless locks on it. Unfortunately it is starting to get boarded up, but we still managed to get pictures. After the bridge, we kept walking to the Notre Dame Cathedral and took a look around inside.  C’était très belle! Next was a trip to the Latin Quarter for some delicious crêpes, ice cream, and shopping. The weather was perfect for outdoor shopping and sitting outside to people watch. After a lovely dinner of beef, potatoes, beans, and crème brûlée (with some people trying escargots) we took the Metro to the Seine River where we took a boat tour for an hour. The sun was just setting so we got to see the Eiffel Tower before and after it lit up. The boat took us down the Seine to see many different sites from the water. Incroyable! The Eiffel Tower lit up all over the place and it was definitely a sight to see! We had an awesome first day in Paris and we can’t wait for tomorrow. 

Au revoir! 

Jim Parisi, Erica Doiron, Kelsey Collins, Aaron Horan, and Rebecca Hopmayer 

Day Three: Free Day in London!

Today was free day in London. Earlier in the day, we went on an adventure to the London Eye. It had an amazing view of a dirty river and many British boys (but Jessie missed it because she sat down). It  also had a great view of the city (with boys), the best looking man on our list was Big Benny. Then, we went to the National Gallery (where there was an even better view of British boys). Outside, there was a man who scammed half the trip (but not Allie, she wasn't having any of it). Then, we split up into groups to proceed with our free day. (btw Kate is in labour, just an fyi). One group went to Nando's, a famous chicken joint, (yes indeed there were boys, playing ping pong). Then we went to the record store (sadly, no cute boys). After that, we went to the British Museum, and saw the Rosetta Stone, (but we were too distracted by the boys). (P.s. Jessie loves Dad, sorry mom). The other group, far less interested in boy-watching, went to Camden, the sketchiest part of London (but don't worry, we went to the nice bridge with the safe people). The third group went to the Tower of London and took a tour (were there boys? we don't know...we suspect the old men there used to be young...we aren't sure...case is still open to inspection...to Jessie and Allie) . Inside the tower, there were jewels, old men, old men wearing jewels, and a punch bowl made of gold as big as a bath tub (but still no cute buys). (Thanks, to Jim, we are not sure if there were cute boys at the Imperial War Museum). Then, as a tour group, we went to a classic fish and chips dinner (but there was no wifi because they screwed it up...meal = ruined). Now we are back at the hotel, preparing for tomorrow's departure to Paris (getting ready for cute French boys).

- Jessie Connors, Allie O'Brien, Bradley Colarusso, Maddie O'Neil, and Jim Parisi


In the London Eye

Camden Towne

Parisi/Shuster/McGann London Eye Selfie

Future movie stars posing in front of the Twentieth Century Fox offices

At the British Museum

The Rosetta Stone

Day #2: Our Second Day in London

Today was our first full day in London. We woke up and had a British continental breakfast at the hotel and then met our tour guide for the day, Stewart. He told all the girls to marry the workmen from the streets (who did nothing) because they will always have a job, even if they don't do anything. Then we took a bus to Windsor Castle, where the Queen stays on the weekends. She was at the castle, but unfortunately we did not get the chance to meet her. We took a tour of the grounds and the State Rooms in the castle. Afterwards we had free time to walk around Windsor, have lunch, and shop. After lunch we took the bus back to Central London and saw sites such as: Big Ben, London Eye, the London Bridge, "the Shard", the Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, and Starbucks (finally!). We took the bus to Piccadilly Circus (which is not actually a circus, it's a British version of Times Square-ish). Then we walked around and had some free time to look in shops and walk around. Following free time we had dinner at Salt' n Pepper, an Indian restaurant. The food was good and a new experience for most of us. Then to end the night we walked down to Oxford Street and saw Hamleys, the oldest toy store in the world. Now we are back at the hotel for the night writing this blog. Hope you're enjoying your break!

- Becca Wiencek, Angie Veguilla, Valerie Souchuns, and Shannon McKelvey


Windsor Castle, where the Royal Family lives.  The Queen was HOME at the time we were visiting.

Here is a picture of us listening to Stewart, our guide for the day and an expert on the Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace, and all things Royal Family.

Group picture in front of Windsor Castle