"I see my path, but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it. "-Rosalina Castro

Our 10 day trip around Europe-

We started our trip around Europe in Paris. The city of lovers, which we found to be around every corner. Romance and beauty filled the streets, and at times I had to pinch myself just to remind me that I was really in Paris. Fortunately we got to stay in Lauren's dorm for the two nights we were there, which helped out immensely with our budget.

We made sure to squeeze in as much as possible: the Louvre, the Orsay Museum, Jim Morrison's Grave, Notre Dame, a picnic at the Eiffel Tower and as much cheese and wine as humanly possible.

Our next stop was Amsterdam. Which to my surprise was one of the cleanest and prettiest places we had been. The dutch are some of the most attractive and friendly people I have met. We stayed at the StayOkay hostel, which I highly recommend if your ever in Amsterdam. Great service and amazing breakfast buffet in the morning. To sum things up, at one point we got stuck in the middle of a gay pride parade, visited a "magical world", ate some crazy fish sandwich, and saw RadioHead live in concert. We also made sure to see the Van Gogh museum as well as Ann Frank's house.

Next stop was Brugge, Belgium. Quaint little town known for it's chocolate, fries and lace...which makes for very happy girls. The town center has a huge bell tower and a few old churches, as well as two competing fry stands side by side..I know strange. However, we made sure to pick up some fries and help fuel the fire between the rival fry stands. If you want the best chocolate in all of Belgium you have to stop by The Chocolate Line, over 70 different types of chocolate...some bizarre and some just down right amazing. Some of our favorties being:lavender, wasabi, Cuban Cigar, and anything with marzapan in it. I picked up a little bag of hot chocolate mix, for the winter.

We stayed at Charlie Rocket's hostel (which I DON'T recommend) right above their huge bar, and I swear they didn't change the sheets...so I slept on my towel, which makes for a funny story and an uncomfortable sleep.

We made sure to see their Groeninge Museum (works by the early Dutch Masters), and on the forth of July we had a picnic on the outskirts of town under two huge windmills. Ironically the windmills were red, white and blue.

Finally, we made our way to Munich Germany. Where the beer consumption severely outweighs anything else. We treated ourself and stayed at the Hotel Royal (anything was better than Charlie Rockets) and this hotel was centrally located and very comfortable, also free internet. We were honestly so excited about not sharing a bathroom with 10 other people, yes it's the little things in life that really matter sometimes.

We put down our stuff in the hotel, and went directly to the famous Hofbrauhaus (where Hitler gave one of his first speeches) and ordered our first round of cold cold german beer. MMMMmmmm mothers milk. The food in Germany was amazing: huge pretzels, sausages, dumplings, veal, and fish on a stick. We unfortunately only had one whole day in Munich, so much of it was spent traveling from one bier garden to the next, hey we have our priorities! Some of the bier gardens were deep in outdoor parks, where locals sunbathed aside surfers in a rushing river. Couples walked hand in hand and bikers rode down the many different paths. The parks were overwhelmingly beautiful, very large but also very inviting.

I hope to be able to return to any one of these places in the future, the Europeans truly know how to live.....slowly, lovingly, and full of understanding, something we should all consider in our daily lives.