my life in a nutshell: Finally, an update!

So umm, it's been what, 4 months since my last entry. I'm pretty bad at this. The sad part is that every time I promise myself I'll keep this blog updated, I fail. I guess I've just been so busy, and super lazy. That's the truth.

I guess I'll start from where I left off... which was around Oct/Nov of '09. I went home for a 2.5 week vacation, and boy was it great! I loved every minute of it, and I think my stay was way too short. Well, it was short, but super sweet! :) Had I stayed longer, it probably would have been even more difficult to come back to Japan... as much as I enjoy Japan, I really love Canada! And to be quite honest, who would want to go back to work, when they could be relaxing at home?!? Anyway, after not seeing anyone for over a year, it was pretty emotional. You realize how much you take your friends and family for granted. I definitely loved being pampered by my family and treated so well by friends. I'm missing everyone a lot right now!

Coming back to Japan at the end of November I had another trip planned for December. So I only worked for a short period of time before going on vacation again. What can I say, life is pretty good when you're always adventuring and roaming the world!

A friend and I planned a trip to Europe in Sep/Oct. for the Christmas/New Years break. We all had about 2.5 weeks of paid holidays, so most of us left the country. We ended up going to 5 countries in about 12 days. We started our trip in Prague, Czech Republic, then made our way via Eurail to Berlin, Germany. After spending two days there, we then flew from Berlin to Rome, Italy. We spent Christmas/Boxing Day there, as well as the 27th, before we made our way to Geneva, Switzerland. We only stayed in Geneva for 1 day, but it was a lovely city, with such pleasant people. We then took the TGV to Paris, France and spent about 3.5 days, including New Years Eve, there.

Out of all 5 countries, I would say that my favourite city was Prague. Geneva and Paris came in at a tie for second place. It really surprised me how much I enjoyed Paris this time around. I had been there back in high school, and my impressions were quite low. So I guess not having high expectations this time around, really made the experience a great one! I also enjoyed being in French-speaking countries because I was able to understand and read a lot more of the language. It was really refreshing hearing French, actually. I thought Prague and Geneva were great cities because they were very clean and well maintained, especially all the sights in Prague. There was a cathedral in Prague Castle that I really loved. And although it was super cold in Prague, the views of the city, with all its snow covered buildings, were beautiful! The grandness of Versailles just amazed me too. I love French history, so being in the palace was pretty damn exciting! It made me want to be a queen!! ;D

In terms of sights, Rome was by far the best! But the city itself was a letdown. The people that we came across were really rude and the city was just overall sketchy. There is a ton of graffiti everywhere in Rome, which is pretty sad to see because they have such a rich history. So the buildings/streets are not well maintained (very dirty). The sights are another story. I can't even put into words how amazing some of the sights were. To be standing in the Colosseum and St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City was breathtaking. The architecture and the amount of intricate detailing was impressive. We visited the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel, and you could literally walk around that place for a day. A couple hours just won't do. We also spent an afternoon in Milan, and it was awesome! We mostly shopped, and boy are there a lot of H&M's in Europe! I think I must've stepped into about 15 H&M stores throughout the entire trip. But anyway, Duomo square in Milan is gorgeous!

Berlin, Germany was a nice place, but didn't live up to my expectations. I was really excited to go to Germany, eat weiner schnitzel/sausages, and see all the historical sights, but I think we were a little too rushed. We saw all the sights we wanted to see, but we just didn't get a chance to go in and explore like I would have wanted too. We took a hop-on/hop-off bus tour just so that we could accomplish everything. The city is very large and the sights are all spread out, so the bus definitely helped us out a lot. I would go back to Berlin and spend more time there. I would like to visit some concentration camps and take a look inside some war museums.

I guess I could go on and on about Europe and all my impressions, but I won't bore you with my ramblings... go see Europe for yourself! It is so worth the money! I'll end it here with some photos:

St. Vittus Cathedral in Prague Castle