Princess Cruises: Norway

I've always been a big fan of cruises. It's a fabulous way to see a bunch of different places all at once, with very little planning required. Therefore, I figured what better way to celebrate the fiancé's birthday as well as completing final exams than to get back on the boat. I can't even begin to explain how much I miss colder temperatures, especially since I'm totally not a hot weather girl, and I go to school in the tropics. After browsing a couple of options, we booked the trip to Norway, and it was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.

Olden

Our itinerary began in Southampton, England, and included 4 Norwegian ports:

• Stavanger
• Skjolden
• Olden
• Bergen

Old Stavanger

Olden

Olden, Picture taken from the bus!

At one of our hikes

A selfie, of course

Glacier hike

Stave Church

Bergen

Unfortunately we didn't get to visit Oslo and the other side of the country, but that just makes for a great excuse to go back. Where are you all up to this summer?

Travel | Savannah & Charleston

Happy Weekend! I can hardly believe it's more than half way through January. The last couple of weeks have been so much fun, and a much-needed break from medical school.

My favorite part of the holidays was probably my visit to Savannah, GA (with a little day trip to Charleston!). I had never been to the south (well, aside from Florida), and figured it was time. And oh my goodness it was BEAUTIFUL. I felt like I stepped into a Nicholas Sparks movie! The only thing was that stores tended to close early. I'm not sure if that's just the New Yorker in me though haha.

How cute are these bikes in the hotel lobby?!

We stayed at The Brice Hotel; couldn't beat the location! At the corner of Bay and Houston St, its within walking distance to nearly everything.

The Collins Quarter was definitely one of my top picks for food. It's not the traditional southern meal, but everything was delicious nonetheless. I'd never had a coffee flight before!

Wormsloe Plantation

Angel Oak, Charleston

Charleston

LOST: Arriving in Grenada

Alright, so it's my first day on the island. I packed up the last bit and headed to JFK last night for a 12:25am direct flight to Grenada. JFK was a complete zoo. Everyone seemed to have flights on Saturday night/early Sunday morning. When I arrived at the gate, it was pretty obvious that pretty much everyone is a student, or accompanying a student. I met a couple of people, and also met my roommate and her family, which was nice. Our flight got delayed until about 1:30am- something about being unable to find the passenger who owned a particular bag that was already loaded so they had to unload everything and find said bag. Womp.

ANYWAY, the temperature on the plane was SUPER high for whatever the reason, and so I barely got any sleep. Customs took about an hour and a half, starting with an unorganized baggage situation. The airport is quite small, so you walk off the plane, then into the airport. Bags are strewn everywhere in the baggage claim area, and everyone is left to fend for themselves. A couple of people were unlucky and couldn't find their bags. I personally didn't have an issue getting through customs. Everyone had their electronic customs form, regular customs form, school letter, acceptance letter, and passport. I didn't have my electronic customs form and it was fine anyway, but I heard some people having a difficult time with that. I was told not to claim anything, so I guess it worked. There were people from St. George's that met us on the other end of customs who were organizing taxis to take us to our respective dormitories.

I tried to take a couple of pictures while in the taxi to the Grand Anse campus- the driver was really nice. I did notice that the driving isn't nearly as regulated as it is in the US, but somehow it works.
We got to our dormitories, and retrieved the key from the RA. Opened the door, and was less than pleased. I mean, the photos make the place look much nicer than it is. There's a moldy and damp smell, super rusty bathrooms, a dingy cheap-motel style carpet and twin beds. The only upside is the size. It is quite large for a dorm, but I'd rather a smaller and more reasonable place to reside.

There are also these creepy stains on the side of the bookshelf. They kind of look like little heads with hair and no faces. Right??

Cruising to the Eastern Caribbean

I wanted to share a couple of pictures from our cruise over my birthday this past October. We went on a Carnival Cruise starting in NYC to Puerto Rico, stopping at US Virgin Islands (St. Thomas), Antigua, St. Kitts, and St. Maarten. It was such a relaxing vacation after months and months of MCAT studying, medical school applications, essays, and interviews. Click here for more information of the cruise option that we chose.

The 3 days of "Fun Day At Sea" got a bit old after a while though. It was nice to just disconnect for a couple of days. I never noticed how much time I spent on social media and browsing the web until I stopped!

Pittsburgh Pictures

I can't believe April is over and tomorrow marks the beginning of May. I was in Pittsburgh last week visiting colleges with my brother, who's a high school senior. I arrived a day early in order to spend some time catching up with one of my best friends who lives in the area.

My flight got in early in the morning, leaving me with some time to drive around exploring the city for a bit. I also found myself at the mall and picked up quite a few things. The drive around Pittsburgh was beautiful. The hills, tunnels, and multiple bridges made it unique, and quite enjoyable. I did get lost a couple of times, but that's usually welcomed whilst aimlessly exploring a new city. I found myself at Grandview Avenue, which turns out to be the most amazing view of the city (pictured below). I found myself envying those living in the apartments that have this view.

Of course I had to go back at night:

Have you been to Pittsburgh?

End Of The Year Travels - Grand Canyon 2012

On the second day of our trip, we went to the Grand Canyon. Here are a few pictures I took, but they don't do the place any justice. It's truly a breathtaking view! A tour bus picked us up at about 630am for the ~5 hour drive to the canyon (from Las Vegas- read about that trip here!).

Unfortunately it was absolutely FREEZING, and started snowing quite heavily after a while. 

We didn't have enough time to do any of the activities, however if and when I return, the skydiving simulator and helicopter ride are on my list of to-do's.

Have you been to the Grand Canyon before?

End Of Year Travels - Las Vegas 2012

To celebrate the end of the year (and semester), a few girlfriends and I made our way to Las Vegas! It was an amazing trip, although exhausting. We stayed at the Mirage Hotel & Casino, which is on the strip, with all the attractions within walking distance.

On our second day, we visited the Grand Canyon- read about that here.

Highlights
Surrender - Saw Steve Aoki here! The club was a bit small on the inside. There is a super nice outdoor area, but considering it was about 40 degrees outside, we didn't really enjoy that part. The DJ was great though!

Tao - Probably one of my favorite clubs/lounges I've been to. With three floors, there are several bars, nice lounge areas, and a restaurant downstairs. We throughly enjoyed DJ Hardwell and the open bar! The decor was beautiful.

Wicked Spoon (@ The Cosmopolitan) - Suchhhh a delicious buffet. There were all types of foods you can think of, from shrimp & grits to chocolate covered strawberries. It was rather expensive for a buffet, but I'd say it was worth it.

Mon Ami Gabi - A french steakhouse located in the "Paris" section of the strip.

 Hash House - Located in one of the hotels, it was one of the Best of Las Vegas restaurants, and it was. The four of us ordered two of the the sage fried chicken (pictured below) and shared. It was the most delicious lunch (and probably one of the most unhealthy). The portions are absolutely enormous, and are super wallet friendly. It was only about 10/person, and considering the amount of food, it was great.

 Cesar's Palace - This place is huge! It's a hotel and casino, and has a ton of shopping and restaurants as well. There an indoor shopping strip where the ceiling is designed to look like a blue sky. Absolutely gorgeous.

 The Venetian - Another hotel and casino, and fabulously elaborate. There's even indoor gondola rides (where the tour guide sings!), as if you were in Italy.

 Hotel Bellagio - May look familiar if you've seen Oceans 11, which was filmed here. There were gorgeous indoor gardens and extensive holiday decorations.

Mid-Summer Travels & A Tropical Storm! - Dominican Republic

All this Hurricane Sandy business has taken quite the effect on the public. Subway and busses were shut down Saturday evening, as well as bridges, tunnels, schools, and universities (horay!). My boyfriend kindly invited me to his place to whether the storm, so I cleaned up my apartment, locked the windows, and packed a bag for the next day or two. I was surprised (though maybe I shouldn't be?) to see that the gas station was out of gas! It must be serious then.

Amidst all of the fuss, the panic reminded me of my trip to Dominican Republic last summer, while I was caught in a tropical storm by the beach...on a horse. I had gone down there with a friend on vacation and we thought it would be fun to go horseback riding by the beach.

And it was a ton of fun! Until the clouds started stirring, and the sky got darker and darker, and the wind picked up quite a bit.

We stopped for a little bit so the horses could take a rest and we took a few photos. The horses didn't seem to be phased by the quickly changing weather.

We really noticed the problem when we were a mile or so away from the stables, and the tide rose higher and higher. We hid in a little hut to get out of the rain for a while.

As the storm picked up, we decided that it was time to try to make it back to the stables and back to the resort. So we galloped through the rain on the beach, in the pouring rain and super strong winds. I lost a contact on the way back- absolutely terrifying. Thank goodness I know how to ride, or that would've been awful. There were a few people who have never ridden before- she had quite the first experience!

 Stay safe everybody! What are your storm stories?