^ Front of the Guinness Factory! Dublin, Ireland.
^7th floor of Guinness Factory. Gravity Bar. Dublin, Ireland.
^ Taste test of Guinness Beer. Dublin, Ireland.
^ Floor map of the Guinness Factory. Dublin, Ireland.
^ Tea in Dublin, Ireland.
^ Pouring my own pint! Dublin, Ireland.
^ On the Double-decker bus tour. Dublin, Ireland.
^ Dublin, Ireland.
^ Me in Notting Hill, wearing my scarf I just crocheted on the plane! London, England.
^ Hugh Grant's signature in an old, quaint bookstore. Notting Hill, London, England.
^ My first real burrito in 6 months! Chipolte! London, England.
^ Real tea in Notting Hill, London, England.
^ High Tea in London, England.
^ Live performance in London, England. Katie, Me, and Michelle.
^ The old bookstore in Notting Hill, London, England. I loved it!!!
^ Notting Hill sign.
Over my semester break, I went to London and Dublin!!! This break was absolutely amazing!
London:
I was in London for 5 days. I went with Michelle, Katie, and Travis. Our hotel room was tiny, but we barely spent any time there. On the first day, we got there around 8pm so we just went to a bar for a drink and then went to our hotel to sleep. On the second day, we explored all around Buckingham Palace area. I saw all this last time I was there, but it was good to see it again. We walked all around and then for dinner I ate Cottage Pie. To me, it tasted exactly like Shepards Pie- yum! Then on Valentines day, we went to Notting Hill. Notting Hill was SO cute! It looks just like it does in the movie. We even went to a cool old bookstore where Hugh Grant wrote his autograph in the window. The tea I drank here was delicious and it was served to me with actual tea leaves! It was definitely authentic. Then for lunch we went to the Soho area and ate Chinese food. We ate at a place called Wok to Walk. It was reaaaalllllyyy goood! Then at night we went to a live performance of Chicago. It was excellent and just the perfect way to end the night. The next day, we shopped around a lot and I bought a pair of Oxford shoes on Oxford Street. We went to High Tea at 5 and it was a great experience. We had Earl Gray tea, 4 little finger sandwiches (egg, ham & mustard, salmon, and cucumber), scones with clotted cream & jam, and TWO desserts! Yes two. A slice of cake, and a cupcake. All this food was so overwhelming, but so delicious. I don't understand how those people have High Tea, and then dinner. I was stuffed!!! On our last day, we slept in and then left to catch our flight to Dublin.
Dublin:
I finally made it to Ireland! I honestly didn't think it was in the cards during my year here, but I made it happen! Well, we arrived in Dublin and got a taxi to our hotel. Our taxi driver was the cutest old man. When we told him we were from California, he started singing California Girls by the Beach Boys. It was so funny. It was a 20min ride and he talked the entire time. For some reason he thought it was so funny that Americans say "gasoline" haha. We got to our hotel, and it was honestly the best hotel I have stayed at so far in my year abroad! It was HUGE! It had a really nice lobby, a restaurant, and a club with 3 bars! Our room was amazing and the beds were so soft and cozy. I instantly jumped in my bed and took a nap. After I woke up, we went to dinner at a pub. We ordered a beer from Galway called the Galway Hooker. It was delicious. It tasted really buttery. I ordered beef stew and it reminded me of Nanny's stew back home. Yuuuum! The next day, we signed up for a double-decker bus tour. This tour took us all around Dublin. One of the stops was the Guinness Factory. We went inside and I was amazed. It was seven floors high and it was so interesting to find out how the beer is made. At the 6th floor, there was a lesson on how to pour the perfect pint. After that, we all got to pour our own glass. This was my first Guinness ever and I actually really enjoyed it. Everyone told me I wouldn't like it because it is so heavy, but I liked it! We brought them up with us to the 7th floor called the Gravity Bar. This bar gave us a 360degree view of dublin! It was soooo cool !! After, we went to dinner at another pub called O'neills. Here I ordered Traditional Irish stew. This had lamb in it! I was so excited because I haven't had lamb in forever. It definitely is now one of my favorite meals! It was soooo good. The next day I bought a Claddagh ring! I bought it from a man who had a cart full of jewelry. The man was so nice and talked to us forever. I found a really cute, small, dainty ring. It was exactly what I was looking for. As we were walking away from him, he called out to us, "Girls, I hope the rings bring you luck". It was so cute. But then, we unfortunately had to leave. I REALLY did not want to leave Dublin. I wish I could have gotten a few more days there. But I am so glad I got to go visit Dublin!!!
^ Michelle and I in Cinque Terre. A cave where you can go swimming (too bad it was raining!)
^ After climbing over 300 steps in Cinque Terre.
^ Cinque Terre with Nan under a sign that says "Gianni" !!!!!
^ My room at the house in Lucca! (sorry its sideways)
^ On the train, on the way to wine tasting in Chianti. (Auntie Loretta did my hair!)
^ Auntie Sharon and Auntie Loretta on the gondola in Venice.
^ Nan, Me, and Auntie Loretta making dinner in the kitchen at the house in Lucca.
^ Me at the Rialto Bridge in Venice.
^ Me in Gello, the small hilltown where my ancestors are from.
^ Lasagna party at my apartment with my friends and family.
^ Making lasagna noodles!!!
^ Wine bottle rolling pins! Nan, Me, and Auntie Sharon.
^ Nan and I outside the house in Lucca!!!!
^ Me in Munich, Germany. Hiking up to the Cinderella inspired Castle! Neuschwanstein Castle. It was beautiful.
^ Sam, Liz, Devon, and I on a bike tour all throughout Munich, Germany. It was so much fun to back on a bike again. I miss my pink bike!
^ Me, Liz, Sam, and Devon in Munich, Germany. Mountains behind us.
^ Front of the Guinness Factory! Dublin, Ireland.
^7th floor of Guinness Factory. Gravity Bar. Dublin, Ireland.
^ Taste test of Guinness Beer. Dublin, Ireland.
^ Floor map of the Guinness Factory. Dublin, Ireland.
^ Tea in Dublin, Ireland.
^ Pouring my own pint! Dublin, Ireland.
^ On the Double-decker bus tour. Dublin, Ireland.
^ Dublin, Ireland.
^ Me in Notting Hill, wearing my scarf I just crocheted on the plane! London, England.
^ Hugh Grant's signature in an old, quaint bookstore. Notting Hill, London, England.
^ My first real burrito in 6 months! Chipolte! London, England.
^ Real tea in Notting Hill, London, England.
^ High Tea in London, England.
^ Live performance in London, England. Katie, Me, and Michelle.
^ The old bookstore in Notting Hill, London, England. I loved it!!!
^ Notting Hill sign.
^ Outside the Colosseum in Rome, Italy
^ Crepe and beer in Nice, France
^ 669 steps to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France
^ Poles that say peace in different languages in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.
^ Haha :) Paris, France.
^ Me walking up the Eiffel Tower. Paris, France.
^ Eiffel Tower glimmering at night. Paris, France.
^ Me in front of the Louvre in Paris, France.
^ Starbucks!!!!! in Paris, France. (and my new hat) 
^ telephone booth in London, England.
^ Shepherd's pie in London, England.
^ Dirty Dancing in London, England (!!!!!!!!!!!)
^ Harry Potter's platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross station in London, England.
^ Ali looking silly in her new coat and hat.
^ I taught Justin the wonders of red wine :)
^ San Lorenzo market in Florence, Italy. (souvenir shopping, leather goods)
^ Locks by the Ponte Vecchio. (Couples put a lock on to symbolize their love for each other. There are locks everywhere!) Florence, Italy.
^ Piazzale Michelangelo in winter. Florence, Italy
^ Pocket Coffee!!! chocolate coating with real coffee inside! Delicious!