Munich

Why did I wake up at 2 am to catch a bus to the airport for the second week in a row?? Because this time I am going to Munich! The land of beer and pretzels bigger than your face. My weekend in Deutschland made it clear that I will most definitely be making a trip back in the near future.

One of the reasons why Melissa and me decided to visit Munich was for the location. We had so much to do each day! During the two full days we were there, we made day trips to The Dachau Concentration Camp and Neuschwanstein’s Castle. Both sites I have wanted to visit for the longest time and I am so happy we had time to do both! After our day trips we would spend our evenings walking around Munich’s city center Marienplatz, and would find ourselves ending our nights at Hofbräuhaus (one of Munich’s largest beer gardens) drinking massive beers and eating an obscene amounts of pretzels. (Literally obscene, I was in food heaven.)

One of the things that made our trip so memorable was the people we met! On our second evening in Munich, Me and Melissa were having an enjoyable evening of bratwurst and beers at one of Munich’s beer halls when a group of lederhosen dressed men asked if they could join our table. They turned out to a group of locals from Cologne and we ended up having the best time with them! They taught us German drinking songs, German words, and traditional German dances. We called it a night of American- German friendship! It was a trip for the books! I can’t wait to come back and visit Germany again. Maybe next time for Oktoberfest?? Who knows! Prost! (Translation: Cheers!)

{Hofbräuhaus}{The lovely Hofgarten tempel}
{Dachau Concentration Camp}{Visiting Dachau was a truly humbling experience, impossible to put into words}{Grave of many thousands unknown}{Dachau Concentration Camp}{A memorial statue}{Dachau Concentration Camp}
{Munich’s city center Marienplatz}{Pretty homes in Munich}{Englischer Garten}{The ducks posed for me!}{Random surfing on the river in Englischers Garten}{Hiking our way up to Neuschwanstein!}{The town of Hohenschwangau}{Neuschwanstein’s Castle}{Neuschwanstein’s Castle}{The view below us.. Yikes!}{Neuschwanstein’s Castle}

Budapest

If you would have asked me at the beginning of the summer what cities I wanted to visit when I studied abroad, Budapest probably wouldn’t have been first on my list. But after three full days exploring the city I quickly discovered how beautiful, friendly, cultured, and not to mention inexpensive Budapest was! How did we decide to go to Budapest? Truthfully, it was the cheapest flight we could get at the last minute. We flew out Thursday morning and about an hour later we were in Hungary!

Me, my roommate Taylor and our friend Becky spent our first two days in Budapest walking miles around the city, checking out the famous sites and learning all about Budapest’s rich history. We joined a free walking tour where we were taken to sites around the city like the Chain Bridge, Castle Hill, and St. Stephen’s Basilica. After our tour we were given us a whole list of sites to see on our own, bars to go out to and restaurants to eat at in Budapest. I loved having the local suggestions! We took our guide up on one of her suggestions, and went out with a big group of people from our hostel to the 3^rd best bar in the world, Szimpla Kert! According to which list I am not sure, but I believe them. The bar was huge and kind of reminded me of Madison Bear Garden in Chico, California because of all the random objects hanging from the ceilings and walls.

Our last and final day in Budapest was my favorite. We spent all day lounging around the Széchenyi Thermal Baths. It felt like a luxury resort! A day full of rest and relaxation was the perfect way to end an action packed weekend.

Until next time Budapest!

{Climbing up Gellert Hill}
{View of Castle Hill}{Lions guarding the Chain Bridge}{A traditional Hungarian dish: Goulash}{Our hostel- which I would recommend to anyone traveling to Budapest!}{Suite Hostel}{Buda Castle}{A random Ferris Wheel}{St. Stephen’s Basilica from a distance} {The Chain Bridge}{Overlooking the Pest side of the city}{Castle Hill}{Armed guards guarding the President’s office}{Matthias Church}{Yet another picture of the Chain Bridge, I couldn’t just pick one! 🙂 }{Budapest sunset}{Hungarian Parliament Building} {BUDAPEST}{Inside Szimpla Kert..”3rd best bar in the world!”}{We leave Italy and we still get croissants and cappuccinos for breakfast 😉 }{Heroe’s Square}{The Széchenyi Thermal Baths!}{Embracing my inner mermaid!}{The Széchenyi Thermal Baths}

Layover In Paris, Part Deux.

 

{Bonjour Paris}

I know I say this about every city I visit but I’m serious this time, Paris is my new favorite city! These long layovers really don’t do the city justice. We arrived in Paris around 9:30am and had about six hours to spare before we needed to be back at the airport for our flight to Torino. Nicole and I, being pros at Paris’ public transportation by now, hopped on the metro  and began exploring at the Notre Dame de Pairs metro stop. Lucky for us, that stop had a lot of sights that were located very close in vicinity to one another. We visited the Notre Dane Catherderal, the love lock bridge also known as Pont de l’Archeveche, and the outside area of the Louvre Museum. From our layover in Paris I have definitely decided that I want to come back within the next couple weeks to truly experience the city. Until next time Paris, for now I am going home to my cot and tiny apartment in Torino. Ciao xx.

{Notre Dame de Pairs} {I spy the Eiffel Tower!}{Paris Graffiti}{Pont de l’Archeveche}{I spy the Eiffel Tower!}{Gorgeous apartments along the river}{I have a thing for colored doors in foreign countries}{The Louvre Museum}

Weekly Highlights

{Discovering new places to explore around the city}

June went by in a blur! I cannot believe I have already been living in Torino for seven weeks! It has been so fun for me to document my travel experiences here on my blog. It really puts the big and little moments into perspective for me. I have decided to start a weekly highlights section here to show more of the day to day things I do here in Torino (which will most likely be a lot of pictures of pasta and gelato). Here are some highlights from the first week of July:

{Matching my wines to my accessories 😉 }{The closest thing to the fourth of July I will have here! Fireworks to celebrate the Patron Saint of Torino, San Giovani}{Getting cappuccinos at my favorite cafe downtown}{Getting Aperitivo in Piazza Victorio}

*Apertivo: all you can eat appetizers, all for the price of one alcoholic drink. This is a concept that america needs to get ASAP.{Wandering the streets of Giorgio Bidone}

{A gelato a day 🙂 }{Our favorite restaurant in Torino: Pasta E Basta}{A night out with my new roommates for session two: Taylor, Rachel, and Billie!}

Layover In Paris, Part 1.

Having a layover in Paris is always a good idea 🙂

Wednesday morning, Nicole and I embarked on our weeklong Ireland adventure! We flew with Air France, which conveniently enough had a 7 over layover in Paris before our connecting flight to Dublin. So we decided to take advantage of this amazing opportunity and see some of the main sights in the beautiful city of Paris!

Navigating ourselves around the airport and figuring out Paris’ public transportation was a lot trickier than we had anticipated. After getting kicked off the metro, getting on the wrong bus, then getting on the right bus, then having some girl faint on the bus, took a lot more time than we had predicted! We finally reached our first and only destination of the day: The Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower is even more fantastic in person. I hope sometime during my next 6 weeks in Europe I will be able to travel back to Paris and spend an entire weekend exploring the city.

After a 7 long hours of stressing over time and public transportation, we finally made our way back to the airport where our next adventure was about to start! Next stop: Dublin, Ireland. I am so excited to share my escapades around Ireland with you over the next couple days. 🙂 Thanks for reading! xx Riley

{Relaxing in the park}{The Eiffel Tower!}{Next Stop: Dublin, Ireland!!}

Walk Like An Egyptian

{Visiting the Egyptian Museum Torino }

This past weekend weekend, a group of us decided to stay in Torino since our next 4 weekends here are booked solid with trips! We decided to spend our day visiting a couple of museums. Our first stop was the Museo Egizio Di Torino (The Egyptian Museum of Torino). It is the second largest Egyptian museum in the world! It had three different exhibits we could explore. The three exhibits consisted of a large collection of artifacts founded by the Museums’ excavators in the early 1900’s. The first exhibit we toured was “The Arts and Knowledge of the Ancients Egyptians.” We walked through the assorted displays where they showcased various Egyptian sculptures, tablets, artwork, and daily-life items like bowls and sandals. There was even a pair of kneecaps on display (EW).

At the end of the first exhibit, we walked down a hallway and found mummy’s on display!! It was so cool! (If you are into mummified dead people I mean). One of the Mummy’s still had hair on his head! It was crazy to think that this little guy’s body has been perfectly preserved for century’s long. Next, we headed up a flight of stairs to the  “Development of Funerary Equipment’s” room. This area was filled with tombs and items that were found at the burial sights when they were excavated. I loved taking the time to read and learn about each piece. We finished up the second exhibit, and walked past another room which lead us to the ground floor and we ended our tour at the last exhibits: The “Statuario”. The Statuario was a giant room full with life sized statues.. Like the kind you would find in a royal palace! It was my favorite exhibit to explore of the day.

Next, we walked to the National Cinema Museum of Torino, which was amazing! The museum is located inside the Mole Antonelliana, which can be seen for miles and miles wherever you are in Torino. The Cinema Museum had a vast collection of old cameras, screenplays, pictures and movie props. The set up of the museum was amazing, just when we thought the tour was done and then we walked in a huge room three stories tall of more exhibits to look at. The museum was also hosting a “Best Actress” exhibition which was filled with  pictures and short bios of each academy award winning actress since 1929!  They even had Oscar dresses on display- like Julia Roberts black Valentino gown. AHH it so gorgeous!

Afterwards, we waited in line to take a ride on the panoramic lift, which gives you a bird’s eye view of Torino! The glass lift took us up 85 meters high to the top of the Mole. At the top you get to experience spectacular 360-degree views of the city. It was a clear day so we could even see the Swiss Alps in the distance! We could see the city go on for mile and miles, complete with red roofed buildings, piazzas and parks. This experience has made me fall in love with Torino even more. ❤

{Museo Egizio Di Torino}{Ancient Egyptian Sculpture Art}{This guy was my favorite!} {Gold burial tomb}
{The Statuario}{Me, Anna, Lauren, Amanda, & Aimee}{Julia Robert’s Valentino Gown!!}{Original sketch of Cate Blanchett’s Armani Prive Oscar gown}{Love this photograph of Audrey Hepurn} {Top of the Mole Antonelliana}{360 degree views of the city}

Cappuccinos & Open Markets

Buongiorno! My roommates and I didn’t have any classes today! Yippee! We decided to spend our day sleeping in (we are still fighting off the jet lag), getting cappuccinos and going to an open market Called Porta Pallaza. For breakfast, we went to this adorable little café right by our apartment called Il Cortile. We drank cappuccinos, ate pumpkin muffins and enjoyed the free wifi 😉 After our breakfast we hopped on the Metro and headed to downtown where the market is held. Porta Pallaza is the largest open market in Europe and it is just two train spots away from our apartment! We arrived (after getting a little lost) and were overwhelmed with the amount of stands selling everything from fruit, to stolen bicycles, to knockoff Prada bags. We decided to stock up on fruits and vegetables since they are a lot cheaper at the open markets than the grocery stores here. I bought avocados, tomatoes, oranges, and nectarines J all of that for only 3 Euro! It was a steal. After the market we lounged around at home for a while, drank wine, went a gelato shop and walked around a park close to our apartment called Valentino Park. The park is filled with beautiful trees, castles, and is located right on the Po River. {Cappuccinos are cheaper than water here!} {A colorful stand of fruit at Porta Pallazza}{Cookies and Cream and Dark Chocolate Gelato: HEAVEN} {The Po River}{Il Castello del Valentino}