A Semester Abroad

A Semester Abroad - Page Text Content

BC: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” - Mark Twain

FC: A Semester in Florence | Ashton Perry

1: January 26, 2009- May 16, 2009 When I started this adventure in January I really had no idea how much it would have changed my life. My goals and ideas of what it would be like were simple. A friend gave me some great advice, he said to me before I left to try to accomplish six things--Laugh your ass off, live everyday, enjoy the little things, love, be safe, and talk to strangers. All of these things I took to heart and my trip would not have been the same without them. I made lifelong friends, saw amazing places, and most importantly learned a lot about myself. I feel so grateful to have had this incredible experience. | Florence Train Station | Winery on my 21st Birthday

2: Via San Egidio 10 The Florence Apartment | Lived in an apartment with 1o girls for four months. | Our Dave

3: Firenze | Cooking class with the roomies | Ponte Vecchio | These are a few of my favorite things... -Running by the Arno -Snakebites at JJs -Guitar street performers -The Boboli Gardens -Cappuccino -Freshman Year Friday -Peroni and Vanilla Wafers -Wednesday Night Dinners -Michael Collins karaoke -Walking by the Duomo everyday -Nutella Waffles -WINE!! | Me and Nicole at the welcome aperitivo

4: Palazzo Pitti | Signoria | On top of the Duomo

5: JJs | Lion's Fountain | Santa Croce | Piazza Republica | On top of the DUomo

6: Rome February 6 - 9 | Recap: Tour with Paula in the Rain: Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, Saint Peters, Catacombs of Saint Sebastian, Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, Picasso Exhibit | Fontana della Barcaccia | Colosseum | Pantheon | Swiss Guard at Vatican City | Making a Wish at Trevi Fountain

7: Inside the Pantheon | St Angelo's Castle, Vatican, Rome | Vatican City | Holy Water Basin | Tiber River

8: Spanish Steps | The School of Athens | Trevi Fountain | Pyramid of Caius Cestius | Victor Emmanuel II | Tomb of the Unknown Soldier | Ruins | Outside Rome | Globe at Vatican Museum | Young Joc | Gladiator pose

9: Ruins | Vatican Museum | Colosseum

10: Interlaken February 13-16 | Recap: Rugen Brau, Snowball fights with Hunter, Almost dying when skiing, Great Thai food, The Saint Bernard at Funny Farm, Night Sledding, Bread and jam breakfasts | Alicia Hoffart-Grindenwald, CH | Hunter Carmichael, Hunter Ulzac, Patrick Sutherland, Alica Hoffart, Alicia Brinkman | Map of the mountain I skied | Night Sledding

11: Rugen Brau | Swiss Money | Saint Bernard at Funny Farm | View from the hostel | Waiting for the train | Balmer's Youth Hostel | Patrick and Alicia on the playground

12: Eating Thai Food

13: Fondue at Funny Farm | Chocolate cake at Schuh | Skiing during the white out | Night Sledding: Me, Alicia B., Alicia H., Patrick

16: Milan February 20-21 | Recap: -Man on the train with the purple ipod shuffle -Pizza and peroni at 2 -Really cool columns -Mario and Luigi (aka Rodolfo) at Stazione Bar -Parmesan -Flowers from the bartender -Kids in costumes -Nutella creps -Plaid sunglasses | Castello Sforzesco | Mario. He loved us. | Duomo

17: Canals | Stained glass windows in the duomo | Castello Sforzesco | Torino's Bull at the Gallery | Kids dressed up and throwing confetti for Carnevale

18: The Gallery | mmmmm Cappucino

19: "Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen." -Benjamin Disraeli

20: Venice February 22 | Piazza San Marco

21: Carnevale

22: Jordan Delaney, Nicole Me, Becky Karlin, Kristyne Kounas, Mariel | St Mark's Basilica | We bought Masks!! | St. Peter's Basilica

23: "Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living." - Miriam Beard | Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo | Rialto Bridge

24: Venice at night | Jordan Delaney, Me, Nicole, Melissa Kirchoff, Mariel, Aidan Boiling

25: Vienna February 27- February 28 | Nicole and Me in the gardens at Schonbrunn | St. Stephen's Cathedral | Recap: -Catacombs at St. Stephens -3 feet beers at Papa Joes -Met Nicky and Emily -Schonbrunn Palace -Outdoor flea market

26: Nicole Bisenius, Me, Nicky Hallissey, Emily Girad on top of St. Stephen's Cathedral | View of Vienna

28: Nicky and Emily | Cute Ice Skaters | Beers at the hostel (Wombats Youth Hostel)

29: Simon, our guide | Cara Blumenthal

30: Great in every size | The Yard Beer | Nicky and Emily with the foot beer | Pondering Life | Beer is Better When It's 3 Feet Tall

31: The Yard Beer | Great Decision

32: Schonbrunn Palace

33: Salzburg | Sacher Tart | Augustiner Monk | Salzach River | Recap: -Yoho Hostel -Stag Party -The Fortress -The Sound of Music | February 29 - March 1

34: Pretzels Me, Nicky, Nicole, & Emily | Steins at Augustiners | Beers at Yoho | "The world is a book and those who do not

35: travel read only one page." -- St. Augustine

36: It's more of a game than a toast | Traditional Food | mmmmmm

37: Knights at the Fortress | Little bed | PROST!

38: Stag Party | The Groom | Where's Nicole....

39: Played Free Fallin'. | Nicky and Emily

40: Green Beer Day | A great way to start our trip to Prague | Lion's Fountain and JJs

41: Prague March 5 - 8 | Recap: The 12 hour bus ride, the walking tour, PlusPrague Hostel, the pub crawl, the beer factory

43: These statues were created by famous Czech artist and sculptor David Cerny. Statues represent two bronze sculptures (clearly both male) peeing into their oddly-shaped enclosure. However they are not just peeing, with the stream of water they write quotes from famous Prague residents. | Jan Hus | Jan. 16, 1969 - Jan Palach, a student at Charles University in Prague, protesting the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact forces as well as the abandonment of democracy by Czechoslovak politicians, doused himself with flammable liquid, set a match to his clothes and set himself aflame | Changing of the guard

45: Nicole, Mike Bergmann, Me | Prague Astronomical Clock Astronomy | Church of Our Lady Before Tyn

47: The Beer Factory | Tiernan Christensen, Me, KK Hanna, Nicole Bisenius, Mike Bergmann

48: “A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” - Tim Cahill | Mike Bergmann, KK Hanna, Me, Kyle Schmitz | Nicole Bisenius, Old Lady | KK Hanna, Kristen Erhler

49: Paris March 12-14 | Th Eiffel Tower

51: Where Carrie kisses Mr. Big in the Sex and the City Finale | Me, Nicole Bisenius, and Catie McDavid; the Louvre | $3,000 Chocolate

52: Recap: New Europe Tour, Chez Papa, Kamikaze Pub Crawl, The Catacombs, Moulin Rouge, The Erotic Museum, and The 3 Ducks Hostel (GROSS) | Notre Dame | Nicole Bisenius, Me, Catie McDavid

53: Moulin Rouge

54: Catacombs

55: Spring Break 2009 London, Edinburgh, and Dublin March 20-29, 2009 | Live, Laugh, Love | Big Ben, London | Edinburgh | Dublin

56: London March 20-24 Recap: New Europe Walking Tour, Union Jack Stunna Shades, Great Shopping, Hyde Park , The British Museum, Tower of London, Ghost Tour, and Palmer's Lodge Hostel | Big Ben | Florence Nightingale Memorial | Hyde Park

57: The London Nose

58: Westminster Abbey | Houses of Parliment

59: The weather was beautiful

61: Tower of London

62: London Bridge | Tower Bridge

65: Rosetta Stone

66: Edinburgh March 24-26 | Recap: New Europe Walking Tour, Mary King's Close &Paul, New Europe Ghost Tour, Calton Hill, The Castle, The Irishmen, Mildred, and the cold weather | The Castle

67: SO COLD | One of my Favorite Cities

70: Witch, Witch, Witch | Calton Hill | The Irishmen

71: The Hill... a lot steeper than we thought

72: Dublin March 26 - 29 | Recap: Surviving couch surfing, Temple Bar, Hike in Bray, and of course Guinness. | Christ Church | Oscar Wilde Memorial | Couch Surfers Vinny and Brian | Beach in Bray

73: Bray

74: Maggie Malone

75: Biking in Lucca April 3 | Lucca is an hour train ride from Florence and a fun, small city to explore | Memories: Renting bikes, Aaron singing Lil Wayne, the cool trees, spilling red wine on the train, and of course great gelato | Me, KK Hanna, Nicole Bisneius, Aaron Emrad | KK Hanna, Me | Me, KK Hanna, Nicole Bisenius

76: Nicole, Me KK

77: Trip to Tuscany | April 4-5, 2009 | Secrets in Siena & Perugia | The Day Spa | Siena | Shewolf

78: What happens in Tuscany, stays in Tuscany. | I wish the world was flat like the old days and we could travel just by folding a map.

79: Melissa Kirchoff, Nicole, Kristyne Kounas, Me, Mariel | The Spa | Meredith Lucas, Me, Renee Lesnett, Lindsay Wagner

80: Perugia

81: Anna Guardia, Nicole Bisenius, Me

82: VINO!

83: Split, Croatia April 9 - 12

84: River Rafting | Our Guide Tony

85: Jeans at the beach... | On the Ferry | Katiy Dalie, Nicole Bisenius, Andrew Martinez, Porter Fraser | They're in Love

87: Andrew Martinez, Mike Bergmann, Me, Kristen Nemeroff, Porter Fraser | Kristen Nemeroff, Porter Fraser

88: Me, Mike Bergmann | Kristen Nemeroff, and Me | Me, Mike Bergmann, Porter Fraser, Andrew Martinez, Kristen Nemeroff | Kristen Nemeroff

89: Day Trip to Pisa | April 21

90: MUNICH April 23-26 | Katy Dalie, Nicole Bisenius | Me, KK Hanna, Hampton, Katy Dalie, Nicole Bisenius | Me, Kristen Nemeroff, Nicole Bisenius, Katy Dalie, KK Hanna | Beer Tents | Kristen Nemeroff, Nicole Bisenius, Me, Katy Dalie

92: Neuschwanstein Castle

94: VENTUNO

95: My 21st Birthday: Horse Back Riding in Tuscany, Dinner at Dante's, and Drinks at JJs and Twenty-One | Our Guide Sam

96: Cinque Terre aka The Amazing Race

97: Are We on LOST? | Katy you're the doctor, everyone has a nickname--it's part of the rules

98: Tribute to "Freshman" Year | Lesson Learned, We're Juniors.

99: When Bergmann came to Florence | Kristen's 21st | Piazza Michelangelo | Michael Collins | Hey Hot Stuff | "Nelly I love you..." | Kristen's Freshmen Year Boys.... | Central Park