HOME!

So I did return home a way long time ago but I wanted to check in and tell you all that its OVER! Stop looking at this site! I am writing on facebook now and that is where most of my pictures are so add me as a friend and I will tell you all about it.
Seriously though it was one of the most fun experiances of my whole lifetime and I will never ever forget it.

The Changing of the Guards

WOW! What a show we saw today. It was really cool because the guards came and marched around and then the bands started to play. It was really cool, it there were two different bands playing and it was like they were dueling. It was really fun, and we were able to walk around after. I got my picture taken with a different kind of guard one that was walking around letting people take pictures and stuff, and giving information about the guard. It was really fun. The dueling bands played two well known songs, but those will remain a secret for now, I did get most of it on video. The quality of the video may not be good but it was fun to record anyways. After that we got our tickets for the London eye and Madam tousauds, the wax museum, and in it I met many of the famous people of the world, including some serial killers, and I was almost beheaded by a guillotine. It was really cool. After that we freshened up some, and went to the London Eye, and then had some sushi for dinner, so good by the way, and then we rode around on a double decker bus for a bit, til we got to an underground "tube" system. It was a really good day today.
Drop me a line if you can, to whoever reads this, and let me know how things are going in your life. Miss everyone!
Love,
the World Travellers
AKA Megan and Mom

The Mother Land

Here we are in great britain! It has been so much fun these last few days. We got to see versailles and the louvre, and the champs de elysee and the arc de triumphe and we went up 284 steps, be pround of us, (Where I sang a french song I learned in high school). It was really fun, the mona lisa is really cool but a little over rated. It was worth it though. Versailles is amazing! I Loved it all! After that we took a plane to get to great britain because it was actually cheaper than the train, and after an hour plane ride and over 3 hours standing in line, collectively in france and then the UK we finally made it to our hotel. We took a little nap and we are off again to places unknown. Well actually we know where we are going but it sounds better that way. I love this place! I love the accents and the fact that I can read all the signs and that it is So cool. I have been pronouncing things in the mainland european way for so long its weird to pronounce them in an english manner now, which is very different. Well, off again.
Love you all,
the world travellers
AKA Megan and Mom

Its a small world after all

So,
did anyone else realize there is a Disneyland Paris? Mom remindedd me of this and we went yesterday to go and make sure the rumors were true, after waiting in line and seeing all the beloved characters we know and love, we walked through the gates, and found ourselves on MAINSTREET USA!!!!! How cool right, We looked at each other and mom exclaimed, `we`re home!' It was so much fun to walk around and go on all of the rides including, space misson 2, indiana jones and the temple of peril, big thunder mountain, tower of terror twice, and pirates of the carribean! We got home at midnight thouroughly exhausted but happy, everyone should be really proud of mom because she went on all the rides, even the really scary ones! I think she was braver than me, though we should have gotten the picture from the tower of terror ride, its a pretty good one. Mom has her eyes closed. Anyways just a short note today, I think we are getting some food and then going shopping for a little while.
Love you all,
the World Travellers
AKA Megan and Mom

Paris, the night train

Mom and I were so blessed to have caught that night train! We were so excited about it. We get onto the train and find we have a cabinmate already. He was about 25 6 foot 5 and his name was charles. He was really nice and we chated for awhile, honestly it was really nice to have him be on the train with us already because just as we were all dozing off to sleep the train stopped to let on other passengers and two men made thier way into our cabin, they were rather loud. I agree with mom when she said that it was a good thing charles was there because we talked to him already and his presence was comforting with these two strangers. Anyways our trip was smooth after that. Mom slept well she woke up only once to my 5 or 6 times. I dont know why, but I was a little restless. I guess I was nervous about our safety still. We woke up coming into paris, said good-bye to charles, and wished him well with his ex-girlfriend adventures and things, and walked off the train all in all, it was a really good experiance. Very educational, and I guess it was pretty fun. Well thats all for now, I will write again soon!
Love,
The World Travellers
AKA Mom and Megan

Greetings from Paris

So we had such and adventure getting here! We left Venice which was sad but nessecary in order to continue our travels. We got to Milan and really enjoyed the Train station! We didn't have time to see anything though sadly enough. Next was the leg from Milan to Nice. This one was really long and we were excited about it but not excited for the length. We got to genova to find that our train was 40 minutes late. Now normally this wouldn't be a big deal except our connecting train was scheduled to leave from Nice 50 min after the first entered. We were sweating bullets but prayed that it would all work out ok. We got to the stop right before Nice, monte carlo for any of those interested is a very pretty place, on the sea shore and we saw many different beautiful resorts all along the travel from Genova, the French Riviera is the right name for that stretch of land. We stood up and got ready to run because we literally had 2 min until the next train to paris would leave. We got off the train and saw everything in french, but I found the number of the platform we were to be on, and headed the wrong way, mom stopped me though...and we ran down the stairs to the other side, with all of our luggage, bruises 11-20 for megan, and came up on the other side to find... oh the suspense, that the connecting train had not even gotten there yet! oh man it was great, we got to relax for at least ten minutes and we didn't even care. Well time up, I will tell you about that train later!
Love,
World Travellers,
AKA Megan and Mom

One more update

OK, Mom reminded me that none of you know where we are now, we are in VENICE!!!!! How cool right!? We went all through rome and saw the collesium and a few churches and everything, then we went to the vatican city, which is NOT Roma, to anyone who is curious. and saw the sistine chapel twice. Then florence which is beauitful and hot, now we are in venice! It is so cool and the Island of murano is fun. We were in a venitian thunderstorm, sweet, it was fun to see the pigeons scatter.
Love to all!
World travellers
aka mom and megan

Rome addendum

So I just want to say that the bruise on my leg is huge, really, I should take a picture of this thing. I wouldn't be surprised if it has gotten bigger while I am sitting here writing this, and I forgot my farewell.
Love,
World Travellers
AKA Megan and Mom

Rome the adventure

Ok, We had just gotten to Rome and boy was that a frustrating day. We got in at about 9 or so, mom says 9 30 I say 9. We went to a taxi post to try and get to our hotel because it was so late and we didn't know how the metro or buses worked. The taxi cost 30-40 euros, so we went back into the train station because that was not going to fly. I was really mad and tired and sore, I have the bruises to prove my mood, literally...anyways I went to find a bus route or something so we could get down to our hotel, which we knew was on via christophoro columbo, but we weren't sure how far. I found a bus that took us down that road and we proceded to try and find that. On our way out to the bus stop is where my first bruise happened. We got outside and saw the bus pull up so we ran towards it to try and get on. In the process of doing so, my suitcase handle fell off, no I would actually describe it as bursting out of my suitcase with such force that the handle flew towards my body and my right leg, bruise #1 I wrestled with the suitcase for a second, #2; we kept on walking to get to the bus, which had promptly changed into another route #. We got on the bus, #3; a lady there told us that there were two via christoporo columbus but after we described where we were going she assured us we were on the right one. We rode the bus for a while feeling pretty good about it until the lady told us where our stop was. She was really nice and tried to get us off right in front of the hotel but the bus driver wouldn't stop so she showed us when to get off. Hopping off the bus #4, we found we were in the middle of nowhere, we passed a couple of stops and found no hotel called columbo. We got back onto another bus #'s 5 6 7 8, which all turned into one large bruise, were caused at that point. Anyways, so we rode this bus with three drag queens, who seemed very nice but I was not in the mood to speak to them, and I think mom might have had a coranary. We rode to a sub station stop where the bus driver told us to wait because the hotel was back the other way, and then promptly kicked off the man who had been sleeping and was, we found out after he woke up, drunk...fun. He yelled at the bus driver but got off, we think yelling explicatives, and told the bus to go. The bus driver stopped at what he thought was our hotel but was in fact the other one that the first girl told us to get off at. We assured him it was not our hotel and stayed on the bus. I was near to tears by this point but mom tried to reassure me, and when we got back to the train station we found the first bus driver and mom got him to take us to our hotel for less then he wanted to. We rode back along the same route as the bus, past the churches, past the first hotel we saw, past the sub station and another half a mile until we pulled up in front of our hotel.
So by now it was midnight, I was exhausted and so was mom, but we got there safe and sound.

ROME!!! (part 2)

So mom got here ok about three days ago, sorry about the delay but it has been an adventure, and we went to this lovely little hotel in sorrento. It is essentially right on the beach and we had our own private access, by elevator. It was so much fun, we swam for a little bit and then walked through sorrento to find dinner. Mom was such a trooper! Talk about being steadfast. I was so proud of her she went straight for at least 20 hours. Now dont anyone get mad at me, I tried to get her to slow down but she was determined to say the least.
Anyways so we saw pompeii and then began our arduous journey back to naples and onto rome. This part was tricky, we got to rome eventually but lets just put it this way. We were in the naples train station at 4 and we got reservations for a train leaving at 4:30, 2 hours later our train still hadn't come into the station. So as I began to freak out, mom level headed as ever got us onto the next train leaving the station. I was fully expecting to be thrown off, because I thought it was a train you needed reservations for (some dont require you to make one), but it turned out that we were on the slowest train to get to naples for which no reservation, and apparently no ticket because no one checked, was required. All of this was still ok except that my fortitude was shot, and I was so tired. Ok I need to eat breakfast and we need to get the vatican, hopefully get in, So I will finish later, stay close to your moniters folks its going to get way exciting! MOM says hi to everyone she knows and loves...and you can include me in that too. CIAO!
Love,
World travelers,
AKA Mom and Megan

Pompeii

Pompeii was a city built on the south face of mt vesuvius, at the time right on the waters edge. It was buried in 79 AD, and destroyed so quickly that many of its in habitants were buried alive in ash and pyroclastic flow. It was really interesting to walk down the streets of this city and see the buildings and roadways. Much of it has been reconstructed to look similar to what it might have been before the destruction. One of the prettiest I think is the villa of octavius gauis. He was some sort of noble man who owned a vila in the south of the city of pompeii. The fountains and gardens, are beautiful and the frescos on the wall are stunning. I am really excited to share all I have learned about frescos and such with everyone. It is going to be boring for most of you but I find it facinating, not only how quickly the styles and times change, but the extent to which they are different. I am most interested it tell everyone about the villa of mysteries, There were many frescos from a couple of different time periods found on the walls of this villa and there were also a few skeletons found in the building. I cant wait to go back there with my mom and get a close look at the skeletons at this villa because I was not able to see them yesterday.
Anyways, hope everyone is doing well. I am so ready to move along and see something different. Honestly Naples and the surrounding area is getting a little boring. Next time I write I will probably be leaving Naples and begining the last two weeks leg of my journey around western Europe. Laters!
Love,
World Traveller
AKA, Megs

Sorrento

Sorrento is a beach on the south part of the bay of Naples. It is really beautiful and it is a tourist town for americans and british speakers so many people speak english there. If you can go and visit the beaches. It is so beautiful and warm, and just lovely. And then get some gelato after a day at the beach to cool yourself down. I really enjoyed it this past weekend... though I couldn't find the beach I was looking for until about 4 so that was a little bit of a downer but it was really fun. Ok, well, sorry this is short but I am really tired and I dont want to miss my train bye!

Water, sweet water...

I will never again take water for granted. Last year I had water but it was not cold. This year there is no more water! Ok...I exagurate just a little. There was a water main burst or problem in the town we are staying in so we have had no water for the past two days, and that means you guessed it, no toilets! Well to make a long story short, the water wont come back on for another day or so...so we are staying in this really nice hostel called, fabric. It is really comfortable, and convienient, and I do believe that it is pretty inexpensive. Its really nice to have real showers and running water. For anyone who is interested, it is in a little town called portichi near naples, and the barra stop on the circumvesuviana. I highly recomend it if you are traveling through naples any time soon. Anyways, I will hopefully be back in our original housing by friday but you might get another post from me talking about my adventures with no water, day three!
Love to all,
World Traveller,
AKA Megs

Ah ROMA!

Rome was amazing! I went on saturday with some of my group and it was so much fun!!!! I can believe I got to do that. I waited to go inside the colliseum with you mom, because I wanted to experiance it the first time together but I did take a bunch of pictures outside of it. It is so surreal to actually see it in real life! Anyways so we went onto the foro romano, or roman forum, and got to see the temple of saturn and jupiter and vespa as well as the various forum buildings. It was cool. The venders outside these two places are so funny, they will bargain with you on almost anything. I had a guy go down to one euro for a fan but, I didn't want to lug it around with me all day. I will wait to get that kind of stuff til my mom comes with me! I also got the most amazing Gelato! Well I actually got two amazing gelatos but the first was really spectacular to look at and then this old guy who works there wanted to be in the picture with me as I was holding it up. Afterward he called Bella Donna! and gave me a kiss on the cheek. It was so funny! and kind of weird because he did it again before we left the ice-cream shoppe and called me his love! Yeah really funny but kind of scary. I didn't get a picture of the kiss though. I should have, but I would have had to stand there for a long time with his lips on my cheek and I didn't really know where that would go afterward so I just left. We also got some more gelato at giolottis, the most famous gelateria in Rome. It was amazing! Well, at least I think it was. My sense of smell and taste is still off. Sorry Guys dont kill me for not getting it taken care of before hand. It helps out in keeping the stench of naples away from my senses.
We got to see the trevi fountain where I made a wish. Sorry cant tell you what it is, and then went to get a picture taken on the spanish steps which was kind of a let down... it really was interesting to look at all the people around them but I dont really know the significance. If anyone out there does please let me know!
AND I got to ride on my first train!!!!!!! I was so happy and excited. It was actually pretty funny because I got what I like to call and Italian experiance on the first leg of the ride. I got on the train with two other girls, and two of us had reserved seats and one of us had not reserved a seat. There were two nuns that got on the train at the same time, and we came to find out that they also did not have reservations. Next these three LOUD italian women got on the train and preceded to kick one of the nuns out of her chair! I was blown away. Well the other girl with no reservation that we were with gave up her seat for the nun, but at the next stop three more people got on and she was booted out of her seat, along with my friend who gave up her seat for the other nun. Well needless to say, I was not going to let a nun stand for a two hour train ride into Rome bumping all along the way. So I got up and gave her my seat. Thanks mom for teaching me right! Well I sat on the floor in the back of the train for the next hour or 45 min I am not really sure how long it was, and It was awesome! Really I know that sounds so unfair but I was just so happy to be on the train that in the end it didn't really matter!
I bought a really cute bag that I cant wait to show everyone! I am so glad I have it also because if I didn't I would have to carry around my backpack everywhere and that is annoying especially in crowded places because you have to hold your hand on the zippers so no one steals anything out of it.
Well that was my big adventure for the week
A settimana!
Love,
World Traveler

Gelato

AHH, Gelato, It is AMAZING!!!! I have found my Italian Lover. Sorry to all my girls, I know I was told to find a man but Gelato is SOOO good. It makes me happy and it cools me down after a hard day of excavation. I am doing really good so far. I am really excited about the work we are doing. The site is really interesting but last week on wednesday I was sent into exile. Instead of working under the lovely cool awning I have been working in the hot sun for three whole days. I have only a little burn because I put on my sunscreen but it is still really hot. All in all I enjoy it thouroughly though. Its a little hot but for some reason it is really enjoyable to me. I must have become a sun person after last year in St. George, it is nice to be doing other aspects of excavation also. I was able to draw the new site and measure many of the features. Right now we are excavating a colapsed wall trying to find the floor. And as soon as I can get the blessed photographs online I will be sure to show them to everyone. I am really happy though, and a little bit dirty. Dont worry mom, when you see me, the excavation will be over and I will be showered and clean so you dont have to walk around naples with a dirty archaeologist in training.
Happy Birthday to Kaitlyn my sister and Jeffery my brother. I am sorry I missed both of yours. Let me know what you would like from Italy so I can make it up to you.
Well I have to figure some other stuff out about putting up pictures and such so I will write later.
Love you all,
World Traveller
AKA Megan

Ah ITALIA

Well here I am in Italy and all I can think about is root beer! They dont have anything like that here. Its kind of sad really. I knew they had none but it didn't hit til I sat down and had to get an ORANGE FANTA!!!! It was a little gross because it was warm too. Oh well. Anyways, I got here on tuesday morning, it was hot and sweaty in the naples airport but I was able to make it from the airport to the train station without any trouble. Then I got tired. To any of you thinking of making this trip um well bring less then I did. Trust me you will be ultimately happier.
After the train station in Naples I made it to the little train station in Pollena Trocchia, only to realize to my dismay that I still had to WALK for like another half mile to get to the little house we were staying in. I was so tired that the professor I was meeting finally made it down to meet me part way and help me get my stuff up all the way. I proceeded to unpack and recover. All in all it was actually really fun! I was really proud of myself that I made it as far as I had on my own. I really was pretty happy with it. So yeah! The rest of the week was filled with excavation of our site. I will describe that in more detail when I have pictures because I cant do it justice. Needless to say it is pretty amazing and it promises to get even better. Now if only I can learn more italian so I can actually speak with the other students instead of relying on grunts and hand motions it will be great.
There was a huge concert right outside of our apartment last night and this lady was so animated and funny in her dancing it was really cool.
Well I miss you all! I will write again soon. It is hard to get internet here so I will try to figure something out. Be sure to write to me!
Love you all
World Traveler,
AKA Megs

one week to go

So here I am one week left until I leave for Europe. I was sitting up talking to Kira about everything I have to do and I almost started to cry. I was so overwhelmed but I think it helped to talk it out and then sleep on it. I feel a lot better. It will be so much fun!!!!! I cant wait to leave. To all of my friends be sure to post things on my wall and let me know what is going on in all of you lives, and remember that I love you all!!!

Before I go

Hey all,

This is a test run to see how much I like this blog spot and to see how easy it is for everyone to use. So let me know what you think and if I need to go somewhere else. I am getting ready for my trip to Italy, only 42 days left! Its so cool! I cant wait. This will be the place where you will all go to find out the different activities I am up to. So let me know what you think when you get a minute! Thanks all.