Doin' great.

Vatican city was AMAZING, especially St. Peter's basilica. It was extremely touristy, but enjoyable nonetheless. This history there is unreal and you can feel the power as soon as you enter the city. Ev downloaded all of the Rick Steve's audio tours and we learned alot about the meaning behind the Sistine chapel as well as the basilica. I feel very blessed to have been able to pray here.  Rome in general is an amazing place, so much to see, so much to do and definitely so much to eat! The cafe over here is addicting along with the gelati and the pizza. My favorite so far is pizza with artichokes, prosciutto, mushrooms, mozzarella and a fried egg. We have tried the traditional and most famous dishes according to our guide books and visited the best gelati places in Italy. Everyone told us to try lemoncello, but we weren't the biggest fans, we are going to give it one more chance before we leave Italia.
We are currently on a vineyard in Naples, staying at Ev's friend Jack's amazing apartment. He is stationed here for the Navy. Naples or Napoli as the Italians call it is not what I had imagined, it is a city and it is VERY dirty and unsafe. It is mainly controlled by the mafia, and as we drove to Jack's place we saw hookers on the highway along with mounds of garbage. This is our down time before we head to Berlin, Brussels and Amsterdam. Yesterday we went to Pompei and got to see the ruins from when Mount Vesuvius erupted 2000 years ago, there were still bodies that had been encased in ash that you can see. We learned that they had an equivalent to fast food shops there where you could still see the granite counter tops and the wholes in them where they kept the food. It was unreal to think that people inhabited this village 2000 years ago and had a similar but more simple way of life than we do today.
It was so awesome to skype with my cousins and my family yesterday. I still can't believe how fast time is flying by. Everywhere has been beautiful in it's own way. I have been thinking of extending my time here so that I can visit Sweden, I figure that changing my flight is easy enough and I feel my trip wouldn't be complete without visiting where my ancestors are from.
Tonight we catch an overnight train to Venice, where we switch trains and head to Berlin on an 8 hour one. I am tired just thinking about it! But very excited to move onto a new place. Thank god for skype, I got to catch up with my parents, Kev and D yesterday and Erin and Rory :) so glad that everyone is happy and doing well. I am not sure when I can update again, but I will do the best I can. I am even two weeks behind on my journal!! lol xoxo

just keep swimming...

sorry I haven't been keeping up with this, it is so hard to find the time. but since my last update I have been to Nice, Marsielle, Monaco in Southern France, Interlaken Switzerland where I went canyoning and hiking in the Alps oh and got to celebrate Swiss day!! we visited my friend Eddy from nj there, insane party town. right before Swiss we were at the Aviano airbase visiting another friend of mine from home. He was sooo accomidating and took such good care of us, it was refreshing to not have to worry about locking up our valuables or wearing flip flops in the shower. thanks Makis! right now I am in Rome, we have been to Venice, Florence and are seeing Vatican City today. i have been praying alot over here :). In Barcelona a few weeks ago I had a breakdown and wanted to go home, its not easily to live like this but i am fine now, actually looking into working for a hostel in Spain for a month or 2. we have met sooo many people who came here and started working and never went home. Don't worry Ill come back eventually ;) there are soooo many Aussies over here that backpack 3 to 6 months at a time. idk how they do it. the title of this post has helped me and Ev when times have gotten hard. love n miss you all xoxo

España tiene mi corazon...

All I can say is WOW. This is the best country in the world. There is a little bit of everything for everyone and it is so clean. In Madrid we stayed at Las Musas about 5 minute walk from the Plaza Mayor. The first night we went on a pub crawl with our hostel. The night started out with 20 of us playing Kings cup aka ring of fire aka circle of death, with sangria, needless to say this was the best game of kings ever. The pub crawl was 3 bars and one club that is open until 6 am. As you can imagine this whole night was a blur, but we met the coolest people two girls from England who ended up being our roommates and have since met up with us in Granda. Madrid had an amazing open food market and the churros were to die for. Sevilla was absolutely beautiful a quaint little town with an amazing cathedral where Christopher Columbus´ body is. Our friend John from Madrid happened to be our roommate at the Garden bakcpacker in Sevilla. Every hostel provides a free walkling tour at 11am which has been awesome to learn all about the history of each place. Sevilla ia famopus for Flamenco and we saw a show our last night there. It was beautiful. There was a pub crawl where we learned salsa moves and then went to an indoor outdoor club on the river. The cathedral in Sevilla is amazing and the view from the tour was insane. We are currently in Granada. Last night we met up with our friends from England and two other teachers from Germany. We had beer and tapas. Here whenever you order a drink you get food for free. It consists of papa fritas, ham sandwiches, fish, cold salads, croquettes and pork. There are many different varieties. After we went to a club on the mountain called el Camborioit overlooked the palace. Most unreal view. I feel so blessed. Granada is a city at the foot of a mountain and the views are unreal. There is a palace here called Alhambra, we are going tonight to watch the sunset there and tomorrow we are taking a tour. Tomorrow onto Valencia for paella.... adios xo

but mom, I dont want to leave yet!

In a nutshell I love it here and I dont want to leave. Everyone here is so friendly and helpful. In the past four days we have traveled to Belem, Sintra, and Cascais. Our hostel the Travelers House was awesome and we met so many people. The first night we went on a tour of Lisboa and experienced authentic street fado, which is singing. We ate chorizo and tapas and drank sangria. The nest day we headed to Belem it was beautiful we went here http://www.mosteirojeronimos.pt/pt/index.php . The tower of Belem had an amazing view of the view river where we saw a sail boat race.  After the tower we stopped along the river at a cafe where we had our first taste of Portuguese beer called Super Bock.  Belem is where the famous Portuguese pasteries originated and they are to die for. Served with expresso and topped with cinnamon and powered sugar. Sintra is by far my favorite place so far. We visited two palaces my favorite was the Pena palace the gardens were absolutely beautiful. We explored the grounds via underground passage ways that we complete with waterfalls and grottos. After exploring we headed to a local restaurant off the beaten path and had lunch. The food is delicious mainly based around fish.  Cascais was a beach town reminded me much of Miami. We didnt get a chance to swin but enjoyed our visit nonetheless. At night we headed out with friends from our hostel to have drinks outside. Here it is legal to drink in the streets at anytime anywhere. The bar district is insane at night. So many people and over 200 bars and clubs within 1 square mile. Needless to say  i am having a great time here. Overnight train to Madrid tonight.... until then adeus! btw my Spanish has gotten so much better and I can actually communicate with the Portuguese rather well!

Lisbon

Three flights and over 18 hours later we arrived in Portugal. FYI Heathrow airport is the WORST! We almost missed our connection to Portugal. But this city is absolutely beautiful. We are right on the coast and our hostel is in the center of the city. We explored today and saw the most beautiful cathedral I have ever seen thus far. For lunch we had bacalhau, a traditional cod dish. It is served with the skin as well as the bones. I have already taken 50 pictures and I will upload them soon. One of our roommates is from Rio de Janeiro and a photographer, she said that she wants to come to NYC next April, I told her that we could trade places for a week or two ;) The people here are so friendly and I can't wait to go on the tascas tour with the hostel guide Gee tonight, taste testing traditional Portuguese liquor as well as enjoying traditional music. Miss and love you all xo

Bittersweet

As a look back in the last month of my life, I cannot believe what I have accomplished and to think that this is only the beginning. My job, the GRE and my life in Jersey are now over. I have moved back to home sweet home and reconnected with my high school friends. Especially my best friend Kim, yesterday we found my diary from high school and about 400 notes that we had written each other over the years, along with letters from my cousins and old boyfriends. Movie stubs, prom tickets and pictures. It was nice to reminsce and think about how far I have come since the last time I lived in this house.

I have been experiencing anxiety, excitement as well as some sadness as I say my good byes to friends and family. The hardest part so far has been saying bye to my cousin who I consider more of a sister, who is starting a new adventure in Boulder, CO come August. Bittersweet. The final order has been paid for on Amazon.com, the backpack is getting more full as my departure date draws near. The official countdown begins, 8 days left and I still have a to do list longer than my life! Not to mention my quarter life birthday is in a week,unpacking from Jersey while packing for Jersey and packing Europe. I am already exhausted just writing that! haha ttys xo

Let me live...

Amsterdam hostels and the Eurail have just been booked, my excitement has heightened knowing that my biggest dream is steadily turning into a reality. The packing list has been initiated, the to do list is still untouched. My brain is about to explode thinking of what needs to be done in the next few weeks, but I need to solely focus on the hardest test of my life that I will battle with on Monday. It is currently 97 degrees in the dirty Jers, causing me to break a sweat on a brisk walk to the local deli and back. Forcing me to imagine gallivanting all over Europe with a 55 liter backpack that weighs approximately the same as a 5 year old toddler soaking wet. What am I thinking?!
Time to address several concerns and misconceptions about me and my adventure. NO, I have seen the movie Taken or Hostel,  I do not intend to. I am BACKPACKING as known as living out of backpack. Yes for two months, I will have to survive on what I can fit in a bag that I will carry on my back. I will post my packing list once it is finalized to give you all more of an idea of what this entails. Lastly, as much as my friends know me as Crazy Court, there is a time and a place to let this side of me shine. Unfortunately for Europe, but fortunately for my partner in crime, I intend to be on my best behavior.
Here is my home sweet home in Amsterdam....
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Durty-Nellys-Inn/Amsterdam/645

You say," why?".... I say, "why not?"

As I sit here amidst all my stress over the GRE, I can’t help but daydream about the biggest adventure of my life that is rapidly approaching. Last summer, as my new roommate and I sat on the balcony of our unfurnished apartment over a glass of sweet red wine, we discussed our passion for traveling and how amazing it would be to backpack Western Europe. You say why? I say Why not? 335 days later here we are anxiously awaiting our destiny. Thousands of things are going through my mind, am I doing the right thing? What is the right thing? Will I have the time of my life or will I be homesick? Can I survive two months with the comfort of my own bed, a pair of heels or a curling iron? Am I mentally and physically prepared for this journey? Is there a way to prepare for all of these unknowns? All of the questions will be answered in 30 days from now as I fly from the U.S. to Canada, to London and ultimately start my adventure in Lisbon, Portugal. According to the itinerary, I will end up in Spain, a place that I consider to have the most fascinating culture. I will finally be amongst the people that I for so long only dreamt about. As I stare at the maps and reread the folded over travel book pages I can’t contain my excitement. The hardest part is over. I am a free bird as of June 23^rd from the corporate world, which I plan to never return to. Fearing, but also embracing the fact that I am not tied down to anyone or anything; it is so liberating. Where will this journey take me? Follow me; the world is my playground…