Hello!!!!
I know I said my last blogpost would be the last but as I sit here on my last full day in TLV I thought I should recap my adventures over the past month since my program ended.
On August 14 my program ended. It was so surreal those last bunch of nights in our apartments....all our rooms packed up...we were cleaning like crazy to pass inspection and just hanging out with eachother before everyone went their separate ways.
So the morning of the 14th I got up super early said goodbye to my bestie and got in a cab to Ben Gurion Airport to start my European adventure. I had so many emotions going through me but mostly I couldnt believe that this part of my life was over.
I flew from TLV to Milan. I took the train to the city stored my bags...hopped on the subway and headed to the Duomo and to see The Last Supper. It was amazing! I couldn't believe I was looking at one of Leonardo da Vinci's famous paintings in person...with my own two eyes! After spending a few hours in Milan I headed back to the train station grabbed my bags and took the train to Venice.
I arrived in Venice in the early evening. I took the Vaporetti (or taxi boat) to my hotel and settled in for the night. I was stayed right by Piazza San Marco...it was a great location! While I was in Venice I literally saw everything there was to see in my guidebook. It was also really easy to navigate because they always had directional signs on the streets so you knew which way to Piazza San Marco or the Rialto Bridge...etc. On my last day in Venice I took an afternoon trip to Murano...very cool! I really loved Venice...it was def my favorite city in Italy.
The next morning I woke up and took the vaporetti back to the train station to take my train to Florence. Of course as i was wheeling my suitcase one of the wheel broke and I was left with one wheel and a pretty heavy piece of luggage...lol! So once I got into Florence I took a taxi to my youth hostel and found out where the nearest luggage store was located. When I arrived in Florence and went on the computer to finally check my email (I hadn't had computer access since the Saturday before I left TLV) thats when everything hit me! I saw some of my friends were home some were still in Israel and most of all I wasnt going to be returning to my program when I got back to TLV. I was really sad and really homesick for TLV and WUJS! I missed it soo much...that feeling of comfort that was my home for the past 5 months.
But then I met a girl who was also staying at my youth hostel and we went out all day sightseeing together...thank goodness because I dont think I could have spent the day alone. Then that night when we arrrived back to our hostel..we checked in and I met some other girls who were also staying there. The next couple days consisted of sightseeing...I saw some of the most famous paintings and sculptures...The David...The Birth of Venus...etc. It was unbelievable to see these works of art that I learned about in the past in school actually with my own two eyes in person...its very different than seeing it on a projection screen in a college classroom...lol! The last two evenings in Florence consisted of dinner and hanging out with my new friends at the hostel.
After Florence I took a train to Rome. Of course luggage and I were not friends during my travel days. I found a luggage store and bought a wheely suitcase that was cheap but that was all i could find so sure enough as I was wheeling my suitcase to the train station the whole wheel mechanism broke. I was not happy! But i made my way onto the train and once I got to Rome I took a cab to my hotel and tried to settle in. However it all came to a head and I just broke down. I spoke with my parents and just started to cry...I really missed everyone...from home...from TLV and I just wanted to be traveling with someone and not on my own. So I calmed down and wound up meeting two other girls staying in my hotel and we went out for the rest of the day together. We saw the Trevi Fountain...I was sure to throw a coin in the fountain so I knew I would eventually make my way back to Rome :) Then we walked by the Spanish Steps...had amaazing gelato (which I proceeded to have everyday when I was in Italy...lol!)
The rest of my days in Rome consisted of waking up early...sightseeing...going back to my hotel for a rest in the AC and dinner at night. Again in Rome it was soo amazing to see...the Pantheon...The Collosseum...The Roman Forum...all these amazing sites that are soo old and soo timeless and I got to see them in person!! I was inspired beyond belief!
My last day in Rome I walked around the city sat at a winebar and read a book and couldn't wait to get to the airport for my flight to Barcelona where I was meeting Sam (my older sister) for the start of our trip together. I hadnt seen her in 5.5 months (basically since I left NYC in March) I couldn't wait! The flight went off without a hitch...yay ryanair...oh and I got myself a good piece of luggage...a samsonite...so I didnt have any more problems...except that it was overweight twice...lol! I took a cab to the hotel in Barcelona and finally had my reunion with my sister! It was soo great to see her! One side not though about Barcelona...no one speaks English...so not cool!!!! The cab driver was talking to me in Spanish and I kept on saying...I dont understand you!!! My only complaint about Spain!
Barcelona was great! We spent the next two days sightseeing...we saw all of Gaudi's buildings...the Picasso Museum...the Joan Miro Museum and a bunch of other famous sites. The first night we met up with one of my friends from WUJS for dinner. It was soo great seeing her...it was such a sense of comfort seeing someone who had been my family for the past 5 months!
After Barcelona we went to Stockholm, Sweden! One of my all time favorite cities! It is soo quaint and everyone is so nice and speaks English...lol! We arrived to the airport...took a bus to the city and a cab to the hotel. We stayed in a beautiful boutique hotel in the middle of Gamla Stan (or Old Town). One of my good friends was also in Stockholm so we met up with her and her husband and her son...who got soo big!!!! It was great to catch up with her again hadnt seen her since I left NYC in March. The rest of our time in Stockholm was spent sightseeing...we went on a tour of the archipelago one day...went to Skansen...the open air museum another day...Art Museums and just walked around this beautiful city. We also went to the Ice Bar one night which was amazing...but very cold...I def didnt dress appropriately...lol!
After Stockholm Sam went back to NYC and I traveled to London for the last part of my european adventure. The minute I got into the airport I called one of my best friends from WUJS (who was also there visiting) and we set up a place to meet. I went through passport control got on the Gatwick Express...then the tube and then made it to my youth hostel in Soho near Oxford Circus. After I checked in I ran to meet up with my friend. It was sooo good to see her! It had been soo long since we spoke! Plus I didnt have any internet access on my phone so no Whatsapp for 3.5 weeks...very difficult...lol! We spent the rest of the day catching up...grabbing dinner and hanging out at her friends apt in notting hill gate where she was staying. She was there til Saturday (I got in on Wednesday)...so the rest of the days that we had together we went out sightseeing...she went on the London Eye with me...showed me Buckingham Palace...Big Ben...Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey (I saw all of them when I was in London 10 yrs ago with my fam)....had dinner with her friends...who are awesome and just spent our down time together like old times back in TLV! It was soo nice!
Then she left on Saturday and I def felt things coming to and end. On Sunday I did some more sightseeing on my own...of course that is the day it decided to rain...I had amazing weather the entire time I was there except for Sunday and Tuesday when I left. Sunday night I met up with an old friend from NYC and we went for drinks and dinner at a pub. Monday I went to the last of my museums and sights etc and then got myself ready and packed up for my journey back to TLV. Monday night is when it hit me....this is over...this amazing adventure I had been planning for soo long is over...now back to TLV but a different TLV than I am used to.
Tuesday morning...of course it was raining...my luck...so I got in a cab and went to the bus stop where I was taking a bus to Luton airport. Well guess what the bus decided not to stop for me so I wound up taking a cab all the way to airport. I had the nicest cab driver...he even got me water from the gas station :)
So a little more about London...I really fell in love with this city. It reminded me alot of NYC but was soo European and that was what I had been surrounded by for the past 6 months...I could def see myself living here at some point. Everyone is also sooo polite...especially the cab drivers! Plus boys with English accents nevery hurt lol ;)
I finally got the airport and waited for my flight...this time easyjet...great airline! I got into Ben Gurion Airport and my cousin picked me up and brought me back to their house in North TLV. It was soo great to see my cousins...I missed them alot!
However the next couple days I was kind of depressed. I wasnt in my old apartment with all my friends around and it was weird...everyone was working the streets were much more quiet than I remembered and it was just really starting to kick in that my program was over and now im here on vacation visiting...im not living here anymore...which was an upsetting realization. I started to take the bus into dizengoff area and started to feel more like myself again by the time the week ended. I also had to start saying my goodbyes as I didnt have that much more time left here. I went to another cousin for Shabbat on Friday and stayed until Saturday night.
Then Sunday I started my crazy week which consisted of getting back to the gym...a necessity...lol...seeing friends and family to say my goodbyes. Yesterday I visited my internship in Herzliya Pituach. I went out for lunch with my old coworkers. Then I saw my boss and caught up with him about the past month. When I said goodbye to them yesterday it really started to kick in and I was really sad as I stood at the elevator outside the office. These women and men were my family for the past 5 months and now I just said goodbye...
Today I went to Jerusalem for the last time til I come back...i went to the new Israel Museum...it was amazing! The design is beautiful! Then tonight and tomorrow again consists of saying more goodbyes.
I thought I was really ready to come home...to NYC...when I first got back to TLV...but the more I started traveling back into South TLV and seeing my friends I realized that yes this was a good transition after Europe and after my program but no I am not ready to come home. I dont think I will ever be ready to come home because TLV has become my home too and will always remain my home!
This program and Israel changed my life and I def will not be the same now that I have gone through all these amazing experiences over the past 6 months....I've grown up...my coworkers even said you came here a child and are leaving an adult (literally translated from hebrew...lol)....ive come into my own...im a much more confident and stronger person than I was 6 months ago!
I know it will not be an easy transition coming back to NYC but I am really excited to see all my friends and family who have been there for me throughout my journey! I also look forward to returning to my city...NYC...I missed it soo much!!!! I have come to love NYC over the past 5-6 years...there is nothing like it...the energy and architecture and just over all everything that is NYC...which is me!
I love u all very much and I look forward to catching up with each and everyone of you when I get back home on Friday!
thanks for following me through this amazing journey of my life...I was soo happy to share it with all of you!
<3 D
I know I said my last blogpost would be the last but as I sit here on my last full day in TLV I thought I should recap my adventures over the past month since my program ended.
On August 14 my program ended. It was so surreal those last bunch of nights in our apartments....all our rooms packed up...we were cleaning like crazy to pass inspection and just hanging out with eachother before everyone went their separate ways.
So the morning of the 14th I got up super early said goodbye to my bestie and got in a cab to Ben Gurion Airport to start my European adventure. I had so many emotions going through me but mostly I couldnt believe that this part of my life was over.
I flew from TLV to Milan. I took the train to the city stored my bags...hopped on the subway and headed to the Duomo and to see The Last Supper. It was amazing! I couldn't believe I was looking at one of Leonardo da Vinci's famous paintings in person...with my own two eyes! After spending a few hours in Milan I headed back to the train station grabbed my bags and took the train to Venice.
I arrived in Venice in the early evening. I took the Vaporetti (or taxi boat) to my hotel and settled in for the night. I was stayed right by Piazza San Marco...it was a great location! While I was in Venice I literally saw everything there was to see in my guidebook. It was also really easy to navigate because they always had directional signs on the streets so you knew which way to Piazza San Marco or the Rialto Bridge...etc. On my last day in Venice I took an afternoon trip to Murano...very cool! I really loved Venice...it was def my favorite city in Italy.
The next morning I woke up and took the vaporetti back to the train station to take my train to Florence. Of course as i was wheeling my suitcase one of the wheel broke and I was left with one wheel and a pretty heavy piece of luggage...lol! So once I got into Florence I took a taxi to my youth hostel and found out where the nearest luggage store was located. When I arrived in Florence and went on the computer to finally check my email (I hadn't had computer access since the Saturday before I left TLV) thats when everything hit me! I saw some of my friends were home some were still in Israel and most of all I wasnt going to be returning to my program when I got back to TLV. I was really sad and really homesick for TLV and WUJS! I missed it soo much...that feeling of comfort that was my home for the past 5 months.
But then I met a girl who was also staying at my youth hostel and we went out all day sightseeing together...thank goodness because I dont think I could have spent the day alone. Then that night when we arrrived back to our hostel..we checked in and I met some other girls who were also staying there. The next couple days consisted of sightseeing...I saw some of the most famous paintings and sculptures...The David...The Birth of Venus...etc. It was unbelievable to see these works of art that I learned about in the past in school actually with my own two eyes in person...its very different than seeing it on a projection screen in a college classroom...lol! The last two evenings in Florence consisted of dinner and hanging out with my new friends at the hostel.
After Florence I took a train to Rome. Of course luggage and I were not friends during my travel days. I found a luggage store and bought a wheely suitcase that was cheap but that was all i could find so sure enough as I was wheeling my suitcase to the train station the whole wheel mechanism broke. I was not happy! But i made my way onto the train and once I got to Rome I took a cab to my hotel and tried to settle in. However it all came to a head and I just broke down. I spoke with my parents and just started to cry...I really missed everyone...from home...from TLV and I just wanted to be traveling with someone and not on my own. So I calmed down and wound up meeting two other girls staying in my hotel and we went out for the rest of the day together. We saw the Trevi Fountain...I was sure to throw a coin in the fountain so I knew I would eventually make my way back to Rome :) Then we walked by the Spanish Steps...had amaazing gelato (which I proceeded to have everyday when I was in Italy...lol!)
The rest of my days in Rome consisted of waking up early...sightseeing...going back to my hotel for a rest in the AC and dinner at night. Again in Rome it was soo amazing to see...the Pantheon...The Collosseum...The Roman Forum...all these amazing sites that are soo old and soo timeless and I got to see them in person!! I was inspired beyond belief!
My last day in Rome I walked around the city sat at a winebar and read a book and couldn't wait to get to the airport for my flight to Barcelona where I was meeting Sam (my older sister) for the start of our trip together. I hadnt seen her in 5.5 months (basically since I left NYC in March) I couldn't wait! The flight went off without a hitch...yay ryanair...oh and I got myself a good piece of luggage...a samsonite...so I didnt have any more problems...except that it was overweight twice...lol! I took a cab to the hotel in Barcelona and finally had my reunion with my sister! It was soo great to see her! One side not though about Barcelona...no one speaks English...so not cool!!!! The cab driver was talking to me in Spanish and I kept on saying...I dont understand you!!! My only complaint about Spain!
Barcelona was great! We spent the next two days sightseeing...we saw all of Gaudi's buildings...the Picasso Museum...the Joan Miro Museum and a bunch of other famous sites. The first night we met up with one of my friends from WUJS for dinner. It was soo great seeing her...it was such a sense of comfort seeing someone who had been my family for the past 5 months!
After Barcelona we went to Stockholm, Sweden! One of my all time favorite cities! It is soo quaint and everyone is so nice and speaks English...lol! We arrived to the airport...took a bus to the city and a cab to the hotel. We stayed in a beautiful boutique hotel in the middle of Gamla Stan (or Old Town). One of my good friends was also in Stockholm so we met up with her and her husband and her son...who got soo big!!!! It was great to catch up with her again hadnt seen her since I left NYC in March. The rest of our time in Stockholm was spent sightseeing...we went on a tour of the archipelago one day...went to Skansen...the open air museum another day...Art Museums and just walked around this beautiful city. We also went to the Ice Bar one night which was amazing...but very cold...I def didnt dress appropriately...lol!
After Stockholm Sam went back to NYC and I traveled to London for the last part of my european adventure. The minute I got into the airport I called one of my best friends from WUJS (who was also there visiting) and we set up a place to meet. I went through passport control got on the Gatwick Express...then the tube and then made it to my youth hostel in Soho near Oxford Circus. After I checked in I ran to meet up with my friend. It was sooo good to see her! It had been soo long since we spoke! Plus I didnt have any internet access on my phone so no Whatsapp for 3.5 weeks...very difficult...lol! We spent the rest of the day catching up...grabbing dinner and hanging out at her friends apt in notting hill gate where she was staying. She was there til Saturday (I got in on Wednesday)...so the rest of the days that we had together we went out sightseeing...she went on the London Eye with me...showed me Buckingham Palace...Big Ben...Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey (I saw all of them when I was in London 10 yrs ago with my fam)....had dinner with her friends...who are awesome and just spent our down time together like old times back in TLV! It was soo nice!
Then she left on Saturday and I def felt things coming to and end. On Sunday I did some more sightseeing on my own...of course that is the day it decided to rain...I had amazing weather the entire time I was there except for Sunday and Tuesday when I left. Sunday night I met up with an old friend from NYC and we went for drinks and dinner at a pub. Monday I went to the last of my museums and sights etc and then got myself ready and packed up for my journey back to TLV. Monday night is when it hit me....this is over...this amazing adventure I had been planning for soo long is over...now back to TLV but a different TLV than I am used to.
Tuesday morning...of course it was raining...my luck...so I got in a cab and went to the bus stop where I was taking a bus to Luton airport. Well guess what the bus decided not to stop for me so I wound up taking a cab all the way to airport. I had the nicest cab driver...he even got me water from the gas station :)
So a little more about London...I really fell in love with this city. It reminded me alot of NYC but was soo European and that was what I had been surrounded by for the past 6 months...I could def see myself living here at some point. Everyone is also sooo polite...especially the cab drivers! Plus boys with English accents nevery hurt lol ;)
I finally got the airport and waited for my flight...this time easyjet...great airline! I got into Ben Gurion Airport and my cousin picked me up and brought me back to their house in North TLV. It was soo great to see my cousins...I missed them alot!
However the next couple days I was kind of depressed. I wasnt in my old apartment with all my friends around and it was weird...everyone was working the streets were much more quiet than I remembered and it was just really starting to kick in that my program was over and now im here on vacation visiting...im not living here anymore...which was an upsetting realization. I started to take the bus into dizengoff area and started to feel more like myself again by the time the week ended. I also had to start saying my goodbyes as I didnt have that much more time left here. I went to another cousin for Shabbat on Friday and stayed until Saturday night.
Then Sunday I started my crazy week which consisted of getting back to the gym...a necessity...lol...seeing friends and family to say my goodbyes. Yesterday I visited my internship in Herzliya Pituach. I went out for lunch with my old coworkers. Then I saw my boss and caught up with him about the past month. When I said goodbye to them yesterday it really started to kick in and I was really sad as I stood at the elevator outside the office. These women and men were my family for the past 5 months and now I just said goodbye...
Today I went to Jerusalem for the last time til I come back...i went to the new Israel Museum...it was amazing! The design is beautiful! Then tonight and tomorrow again consists of saying more goodbyes.
I thought I was really ready to come home...to NYC...when I first got back to TLV...but the more I started traveling back into South TLV and seeing my friends I realized that yes this was a good transition after Europe and after my program but no I am not ready to come home. I dont think I will ever be ready to come home because TLV has become my home too and will always remain my home!
This program and Israel changed my life and I def will not be the same now that I have gone through all these amazing experiences over the past 6 months....I've grown up...my coworkers even said you came here a child and are leaving an adult (literally translated from hebrew...lol)....ive come into my own...im a much more confident and stronger person than I was 6 months ago!
I know it will not be an easy transition coming back to NYC but I am really excited to see all my friends and family who have been there for me throughout my journey! I also look forward to returning to my city...NYC...I missed it soo much!!!! I have come to love NYC over the past 5-6 years...there is nothing like it...the energy and architecture and just over all everything that is NYC...which is me!
I love u all very much and I look forward to catching up with each and everyone of you when I get back home on Friday!
thanks for following me through this amazing journey of my life...I was soo happy to share it with all of you!
<3 D
Wow Dina!!! What a fabulous journey! You are so lucky you had the opportunity to experience such wonderful travels. I think everyone your age should do the same thing! You get to see the world with such an open mind and obtain a deeper understanding of human kind while gaining maturity. The bonds you have made will last a lifetime! I'd love to catch up with you when you get a moment!! If you get a moment ... Lol!!! Much love, Sheila
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