Seriously the whole "study" part of study abroad is really tough right now. Especially after my huge end of the semester trip!! I got back yesterday and it was the perfect way to end the greatest semester.

Paris, Venice, Florence and Rome were all such amazing cities, I can't even pick a favorite! First we went to Paris and stayed in an apartment, which was really nice. We were in Paris for 3 days of crepes, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and plenty of wine and cheese. We saw the Mona Lisa (disappointing), Champs Elysee, and the Arc dde Triompe. The best thing about Paris was just riding on the tour bus on the open-air upper deck, where we could see all of the major monuments, stores, and plenty of Christmas lights!

Venice was next and was so relaxing compared to everything we had done in Paris. We traveled to Murano and bought its world famous glass, got lost in Venice's maze of streets, and ate dinner by the Gran Canal. Plus, our hotel was under construction so we got upgraded to a better hotel!!

We had friends staying in Florence who took us around the city for the next two days. The world's first domed building, The Duomo, is a huge cathedral in Florence and we climbed to the top. We ate pizza and pasta....and then gelado, and then more pizza and pasta everyday and went out at night. One of the really interesting things about Florence is that there are 8000 students studying there right now - which is so many for such a small city. I saw American students my age on every street and everyone spoke English!

Last, we went to Rome. Our apartment was huge and only a 2 minute walk from the Vatican. We went to the Sistine Chapel, St Peter's Basilica, the Coloseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Panteon, the Spanish Steps and all of the other main attractions in Rome. It was amazing to finally see all of the buildings I had learned so much about in Latin class, and everything was so much bigger than I expected it to be! We also went to mass at the Vatican and saw the tomb of Pope John Paul II. And of course we continued the trend of pizza, pasta, gelado, cheese and wine.

Overall, the trip was sooo amazing and I couldn't have asked for a better experience!

Finally, I am back in Madrid with only 8 days left!!!! Unfortunatley I have 5 finals between now and then. This weekend will be our last time going out in Madrid, and although I am going to be super sad to leave all of my friends and favorite new places in the city, I can't wait for Christmas and to see everyone again!!!