Oh The Places You Will Go!

I'm going to start a running list of countries and major cities I've visited:

Visited:
Mexico - Rosarito, Punta Mita
St. Lucia, West Indies
Antigua, West Indies
Germany - Berlin, Bad Kohlgrub, Nuremberg, & Dresden
Czech Republic - Prague
Austria - Salzburg
France - Paris
Egypt - Sharm El Sheikh and Cairo
Scotland - Edinburgh
Spain - Marbella
China - Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou
Switzerland - Geneva
Hungary - Budapest
Ireland & Northern Ireland
Slovenia - Ljubljana & Bled

Lived:
England - born there, been back lots, going back soon!
Canada - lived in Toronto for six years
San Francisco - lived in the city for some months, then in Walnut Creek for a year and a half
Nevis, Caribbean - lived there for three years
Santa Barbara, CA - lived there for 10 years (including 4 years at UCLA)
Boca Raton, FL - lived there for 4 years
Florence, Italy - moved here in August 2011

Planned Trips:
Budapest - February 2013
Paris - February 2013
Ireland and Northern Ireland - March 2013
Southern France - April 2013

Places I would like to go:
Antartica!
all over Asia
Sweden
Denmark
Barcelona
Brussels
Somewhere in South America
Alaska

Gallivanting Across Europe!

In the past month I have been to Switzerland and to Hungary and absolutely loved both trips!

The tiny plane that took me to Geneva. There were only 17 of us on it!

 I flew out to Geneva on January 20th to meet my parents there for the weekend. It was such an incredible weekend - we had a really lovely time exploring the city, walking around, and eating great food. The airline I was traveling with actually canceled my return flight, so I ended up not flying back until Wednesday instead of Monday morning. Which made it really nice and relaxing for me. I had only had one weekend off in the eight weeks before going to Geneva, with work, China, and the Spring Opening Tour (not that China was terribly hard, but it was structured and still technically work).

Geneva with the lake and the fountain in the background - gorgeous!

We stayed at the Four Seasons, which was so luxurious. It is a really beautiful hotel with terrific service, right on the lake. I really liked Geneva, especially the old town area - but, it was SUPER expensive. Oh wow, I was not prepared for that (Thanks Mum and Dad for being there!!!) 

In front of a massive fireplace at the castle.

We did a couple of walking tours on our own around Geneva, and on Monday we went to Chateau Chillon and toured around there. That was really fun. It's a much bigger castle than it looks like from the outside, and it has had multiple uses and histories, which made it quite the intriguing tour (it was a fortress, house, jail, and place for witch trials).

In old town!

Sunday night was my birthday and we went to a really fancy restaurant for dinner, which was so delicious! We ate really well all weekend, which does seem to be a running theme for this blog - I do love some good food!! 

My birthday dessert!

On our last night we went for fondue in Geneva, to this tiny place on a pier that was absolutely packed. It was really, really low-key - you order your food at a window and they bring it to you - the only thing on the menu is fondue and you have limited choices of things to dip into it. Before eating none of us were that excited about a whole meal of cheese fondue, and actually before the food arrived, we wished that we'd ordered two portions instead of three - were we wrong! It was really delicious and we were practically scraping the bottom of the fondue pot by the end. Great recommendation from the hotel concierge. 

Saying goodbye to Mum and Dad as we got onto different trains

It was really nice spending the time with my mum and dad - it's been three years since I've actually been with them on my birthday, and it had been just over six months since I had last seen them. It's such a cool thing to be able to meet up with someone for the weekend in a new country - love that about living here :)


After Geneva I had two weekends in Florence before jetting off to Budapest with the school for the weekend (I lead a glamourous life!) It was nice to relax around Florence - although, it is COLD here right now. It actually snowed (not so that it stuck to the ground, but still, I am very used to Florida weather). I did though get insanely giddy the first time it snowed and it when it snowed while walking to school it made the cold not so bad - I am of the opinion that if it's going to be super cold, it should snow to make it worth it. Students were hoping for a snow day - but no such luck. 

Snow falling outside my window :)

So, onto Budapest. Wow - it was so incredibly beautiful - I was not prepared for how awesome it is, I loved, loved the city. We arrived on Thursday and were there until this past Sunday. Budapest was even colder than Florence, but I knew that in advance and brought every warm piece of clothing I owned (thanks Annie for the socks, Claire for the scarf, Mum for the other scarf, and Sarah for the Uggs!!) The ground was covered with snow, but it didn't snow while we were there. I think it really added to the beauty of the place seeing all of the snow on the ground. It helped that the sidewalks and streets were cleared, I'm sure. 

20,000 Forint bill - I felt rich!!

We stayed at the Hotel Corinthia, which was super fancy and lovely. They had an amazing breakfast buffet that was included with our trip and made it so that nobody really needed lunch! 

One of the statues in Heroes' Square

Thursday night Shelley, Linda and I had dinner in a Thai restaurant and it was great (don't worry - we also ate Hungarian food over the weekend!!) Friday morning we did a driving/walking tour of the city - stopping at Heroes' Square, St. Stephen's Church and Fisherman's Bastion for incredible views of the city. 

View from Fisherman's Bastion!

That afternoon we did a tour of the House of Terror that afternoon. This is a museum about the terrors perpetrated during the Nazi rule and the Communism rule - in the building that was the headquarters for the secret police of the Communists. It was really very terrible and awful to walk through - especially the basement where the cells from when people were held and tortured were still there. It is crazy for me to think that this all happened within the last one hundred years. 

Soviet Soldier extending a hand to a Hungarian farmer in Momento Park

Saturday morning we did "The Hammer and Sickle" tour and learned even more about Hungary under communism, including a stop at Momento Park where the city collected all of the communist statues erected over the years and moved them to one spot. After the tour we went to the central market for Lángos, which is a fried dough Hungarian speciality that I had with sour cream, cheese, salami, onions and green peppers - yum!  We walked around the downtown area of Pest and then that night we did a cooking class with all of the students. It was fantastic - they were split into teams and each prepared a different item. They had a lot of fun, and Shelley, Linda and I had a lot of fun watching and documenting them!  A great night. 

The world's biggest wine barrel that is still in use - in an underground cellar. 

I did get a pretty bad cold last weekend, but I'm pretty much over it right now. I just got my Uffizi pass (which lets me into many Florentine museums for free) so my plan for this weekend is to sleep in and pop into a museum! I'm trying to up my culture while I'm here and have the opportunity. 

Things I like about living in Italy:

I've been having mixed feelings recently about Italy, and to combat that, I thought I'd make a post about things I enjoy about this place :)

The food!

Being able to walk everywhere

The markets

Being in Europe and having easy access to awesome places

Learning a new language and being able to use it

The italian way of enjoying meals and making them last a long time

No chain restaurants

Not paying for insulin (saves $90 copay per month!!)

Feeling like I'm part of a neighborhood

Buildings that are from 1905 are considered new!