Hello everyone, I am back in Canada! Hurrah! Kind of...I am glad to be home, glad to be in the comforts of Toronto and thankful that my trip went so smoothly, that I was able to do so much and that I am safe and sound. But of course, I wish I was still there! Especially after seeing all the bills waiting for me (rent, tuition, dental, etc etc...). Paris was amazing, Ray and I had a great time there. We did a picnic under the Eiffel tower, a bike tour and boat ride of the city at night, climbed Notre Dame and Arc de Triomphe, ate lots of delicious pastries, croissants, cheese, baguettes and other yummy things, went to the Louvre and did all things Paris for 4 days! It was amazing...it really is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been to and suprisingly, the people weren't as mean as everyone had warned me about. I got to use my OAC french skills a few times, although I must admit it was pretty lame. "Je veux un fromage qui est doux, pas forte". Why, oh why...

There really is no place like home and this trip has really prepared me for the year ahead in that I can see the bigger picture. I also met a lot of teachers and felt encouraged the whole way through that I am making the right choice by doing this. I got a lot of advice and tips from young teachers and also some email addresses of people I can contact if I ever decide to move to London or New York and need a job teaching. Life is good. It was really amazing to see my mom and dad too. My mom was her usual cute self, dishing out advice left right and centre...we went out for lunch today and I told them all about my trip, sans photos, which Alfred will hopefully help me with (thanks in advance Alfred!!!)

I will probably keep up the blog while I'm in school and beginning my wedding planning!

Please give me a call and we'll get together soon!

Anne

Bonjour! In Paris with Ray now and boy, was he a sight for sore eyes when he arrived at the airport. It is so amazing to see him and to spend this time together. Today we did most of the big things like the Eiffel tower, Notre Dame and the Hotel des Invalides. We will hit up the Louvre and hopefully get in a bike tour to the Palace of Versailles before the week is over. Oh man, how did I get so lucky!!! San Sebastian was amazing, the weather did get better and we got in some good beach days as well as renting some bikes to ride around the city. The seafood was really yummy and the fireworks got crazier and crazier as the nights went on. They had all these games for everyone because it was festival week including these crazy people dressed up that run around hitting people with paper maché balls and plastic bulls shooting out fireworks chasing people down the street. This stuff would not fly in Canada...but it was so fun! I'm also trying not to freak out but I might have deleted all my pictures...which would really suck. I was making space on my memory card when I accidentally formatted it. Dave, the computer expert said that I would 99.9% be able to get them back by doing some computer stuff which I will spare you the details of but cross your fingers, otherwise I will have nothing to show everyone, expect myself of course ;)

Anyway, this trip is drawing to a close, as I prepare to say good bye to Europe and start my next adventure of becoming a teacher...all part of the Anne Plan :) I might not get to post anymore before heading back to Canada so hopefully I will see you all soon, WITH PICTURES...otherwise lots of stories to tell and postcards.

Love you and miss you all!!

Anne

Buenos! Dave, Sarah and I are now in San Sebastian, praying for better weather. Barcelona was really fun, we went out that night and had a great time, dancing it up ´til pretty early in the morning. We wondered why it was so busy on a Monday night, but the next day we found out it was Spain´s national independence day when we tried to go to some stores and they were all closed....we ended up having a pretty low key day in Barcelona, walking around the waterfront. We caught (after some minor setbacks) our overnight train to San Sebastian. Finally did the sleeper train, wasn´t very fun and I´m not looking forward to it again on Saturday night but it´s part of the experience, right? The weather has been overcast, raining periodically and not at all beachy, but we´ve managed. On a brighter note, it is festival week here (we didn´t know that when we booked) and there are really crazy fireworks here every night. I mean, the craziest I have ever seen in my life! We got really lucky! There is also an aquarium that I am going to try to check out today and hopefully we´ll get some nice sun going on in the next day or two before we leave. In the meantime, the food is awesome here. The seafood is great, and I am looking forward to some seafood paella. Lily, you wouldn´t be disappointed...I think we should come here for our next family vacation. They also have a lot of these prosuito and bread sandwiches which don´t sound like much but they are really yummy.

Okay, short post but guess what??? Ray is meeting me in Paris!!!! I´m so excited. It will be the last city of my trip and the most romantic, so I can´t wait.

´Til next time...

Anne

Hola! After a few whirlwind days in Rome, I am now in Barcelona in the present company of Dave and Sarah, both from Brampton (what what to my Brampton peeps!). Very excited to see them and be here. Rome was beautiful. Thanks for all the comments, I love feeling the love. Unfortunately, they won´t let you take pictures of the Sistine Chapel but it was incredible....so intricate and so beautiful. It´s hard to image that a person painted that in his lifetime. St. Peter´s Basilica was also amazing to see. They did not have papal mass because the pope was away on vacation. I got to spend some quality time with Georgia, which was also amazing and I hope that she´s having fun in Greece! Today, Sarah, Dave and I saw some cool architecture by Gaudi, who has created this amazing church that is 100 years in the working, still under construction today. Dave took some very nice artistic shots, which I will share with everyone when I get home! We are leaving on a night train to San Sebastian tomorrow night, I think we might try to catch a bike tour in the afternoon. I am ready to lie on the beach for a while and take a vacation from vacationing (Woe is me, eh??). Sarah also brought me a card from Ray and a letter from my parents, which was amazing...I am starting to really miss home...

Sometimes I am walking down the street and then I think to myself ¨Wow, I am in Italy¨ or ¨Wow, I am in Spain¨, I can´t believe how incredible it´s been, this whole experience and seeing so much of the world. I will share more insights at a later date.

Cathy, I didn´t get to meet up with Lindsay. I´ll tell you more about it later.
Matt, thanks for the songs, they really made me laugh...can´t wait to share my pics with you and Candy!

We are going to get gelato now and enjoy some of the Barcelona nightlife! Ole!!

See you all soon....

Anne

Ciao! After a quiet evening in Venice, I made my way into Rome and met up with Georgia. We have been running around, seeing all the major sights of the city but also catching up a lot, which has been really nice. The hostel is cool although last night, a girl brought a guy home (not good in a room of 8 people) so I got so frustrated that I said "Hey, maybe you guys should try finding a private room". I know it was kind of embarassing but other people also agreed so I knew I wasn't the only one lying awake. Needless to say that I am exhausted today but the Vatican City Museum and the Sistine Chapel aren't open tomorrow so I have to go today, which I am about to go do. Venice was pretty although too many pigeons and tourists. Other than that, Sarah, Dave and I are finalizing our bookings for Barcelon and tomorrow night we will be on our way. I am thinking of heading to the Vatican tomorrow for papal mass, just to see what it's like. But I'll have to see how my sleep goes tonight because I don't want to have another bad night's rest....

Anyway, the rash is slowly getting better, and I mean SLOWLY. But improvements are being seen (I think...). Thanks so much for the well wishes.

Hope everyone had a great long weekend and a good weekend coming up!

See you soon, I can't believe two more week 'til my trip is done!

Anne

The hills are alive....with the sound of music! I am in Salzburg at the moment, hanging out with two new Aussie friends (they seem to be the only kind of friends I make!) at an internet cafe. Vienna was beautiful, although the weather hasn´t been amazing, we did rent bikes and rode out the the cemetaries and the fair where we jumped on trampolines and went through some crazy dinosaur house. We then watched an Opera at the Rathouse and talked politics to the point where the American girl from our room started crying...we quickly dropped the subject. Last night, I watched the Sound of Music which is screened regularly at the hostel I am staying at and then went on the Sound of Music tour this morning. It is so beautiful in this city, I can understand why Julie Andrews just breaks into song everytime she´s out and about. I would love to stay longer but am heading to Venice tomorrow where the weather will hopefully be a bit warmer.

On another note, I ended up going to see the doctor (at the hospital) here in Salzburg about my rash, which seems to be getting worse. It looks horrible although I guess it could be worse and on my whole body instead of just my arms. Radomly walked into some room with doctors, and they saw me without filling out any forms, sent me to the dermatologist who said it is probably bug bites and gave me some cream to take. It is all a bit nerve wrecking so I am asking for your prayers and well wishes sent my way that this will go away soon and I can finish off my vacation in style...

Until next time, love to all!

Anne

It's been a bit since I last updated. Okay, not that long but it feels like a while. My last night in Prague was beautiful, the group I was hanging out with (4 Australians, one American and myself) went to this crazy TV tower that has these giant babies crawling on it....it was really cool but you'll have to see pictures to know what I mean. We then met up with these Sweedish boys and we headed up to this really cool beer garden at the top of the city where we had dinner, hung around on the lawn and played Bacci Ball, it all felt very bohemian. The next day, myself and two other travellers departed for Cesky Krumlov, this medivial down about 3 hours outside of Prague. It was a dreary, wet and rainy day but it really gave the little town the atmosphere of being right out of a fairy tale. They have a castle there with a moat and two bears but they were hiding when we went by. We arrived to our hostel late so they had given our room away, so instead we stayed in this really obsure tower room, further creating the Cesky Krumlov experience. It was pretty low key because of the weather, they have rafting there, which I would've liked to do but it is cold and wet therefore not my idea of a good time.

Yesterday, one of the guys and myself headed into Vienna which is where I am now. The weather held up today and we went to Nastrmarket, kind of like St. Lawrence Market but on a larger scale, really yummy food. We then just walked around, sightseeing and did a garden maze at the royal palace. I think we are going to try to do a bike tour of some sort tomorrow as well as catch a film in front of the Rathouse (Town hall) as they are screening operas by Mozart and the like all summer long. I will also try to check out the cemetary where Beethoven is buried.

Anyway, things are going pretty well. I leave for Salzburg on Monday by myself and I am sooo excited to do the Sound of Music tour! My rash is still there, went to see a pharmacist who gave me some antihistamines so hopefully it will get better.

I hope everyone is doing well in the heat...Miss you guys lots but hey, I'm already halfway done my trip! (You were right Joanna, I don't want it to end yet...)

Love you!

Hello, still "czeching" out Prague! Hahaha, I know I'm a nerd. I decided to stay an extra day, I have met some really cool people to hang out with. Four of them are from Australia and there is one American, who seems to be quite ashamed he is American, it's pretty funny. I did another bike tour which I really recommend to everyone when they get into a city, it's a great way to know the place and to get further than you would on foot. The tour guide gave us some really good suggestions for cheap places to eat and things to see. So yesterday, we went into Kunta Hora, which is this small town nearby, about an hour away. The highlight of the town is their church which is decorated in....human bones! The story goes that a lot of people wanted to be buried there because it was seen as a sacred land but they ran out of space so the priest at the time (maybe 1800's sometime) commissioned a carpenter to do something with the bones, so he decided to decorate the church crypt with them. Included are a chandelier, 4 pyramid type structures, a coat of arms of the wealthiest family in the city and the artists signature all made out of bones. Very weird and creepy.

Today we are just going to walk around the city somewhere, see where we end up and maybe catch the sunset from a beer garden we have been suggested to see. Tomorrow I leave for Cesky Kremlov which is about 3 hours away and then to Vienna and Salzburg. Good times good tiems!

Hope everyone is doing well, I can't believe 2 weeks have flown by already. Oh, and I have another mysterious rash, this time on my arms....woe is me :)

Anne

PS (I email you Cathy, if you could pass me on Lindsay's email, that would be super!)