Nic Trips

The summer of 2013 brought me on another amazing journey to Europe. This time I traveled with the Chamber Singers group from Alfred University to be performing in several cities across Italy! We started in Rome and had 3 small concerts in various places through out the city. One of which we did for mass at...the Vatican! We were in Italy for a total of 10 days, and we spent 4 of them in Rome. We had guided tours planned for us everyday to see the more famous parts of the city. But, since we had members of all ages in our singing group, the tour tended to move a little slow for my tastes. I would often split off from the group to  explore things on my own "to-see" list and meet up with them again at the next destination. It meant  lot of power walking to catch up, so I got lots of exercise in. After Rome we stopped at the beautiful city of Assisi for a day. We had no concert planned here, but after a fantastic guided tour, we stood together in the plaza and sang a song t...

As one of the excursions hosted by AIFS on my summer study abroad trip to Spain, we were taken on a weekend trip to the capital city of Portugal, Lisbon. After a long, 5 hour bus ride from Salamanca, we were rewarded with the first incredible sight of the city: the arches of the Aguas Livres Aqueduct. There are 35 arches that cover the valley across 941 meters, the tallest arch standing at 65 meters, and is considered a masterpiece in engineering for the Baroque period. Our first stop off the bus was the Jerónimos Monastery, a famous Gothic-style church with beautiful, integrate cravings on the outside. Nearby the church, we had our first look at the Atlantic Ocean from the nearby Belem Tower at the mouth of the Tajo River. Also a little ways from the tower was the Padrão dos Descobrimentos, or 'Monument to the Discoveries'. It's a monument to celebrate the Portuguese Age of Exploration. On another stop in the city, we were taken to the Museu Nacional d...

In 2012, after completing my sophomore year of college, I traveled to Spain to study abroad for a summer semester. My total stay in Spain lasted 7 weeks, and I took 3 classes at the University of Salamanca: Spanish Art, Contemporary Spanish History, and Advanced Spanish Language. All of the classes were taught completely in Spanish, as there were students from all over the world at this University and not everyone spoke English. (flying into Madrid) I booked the study abroad program through AIFS (American Institute for Foreign Study). They made the trip as easy as can be, arranging every little thing to make it as stress-less as possible. There were even several excursions included where they brought us on tours around Spain and some other countries on weekends. This began with a weekend in London on our way into Europe. From there, the group flew together to Madrid, where we got to spend a day and a night touring the capital city. (Playa Mayor, Madrid) Salamanca is one of ...

In the summer of 2012, I did a study abroad program in Spain through AIFS. The company offers many excursions throughout the trip to further explore Europe during our semester there, the first of which started before we even got to our destination in Spain....London! We got to spend a few days in London as part of an introduction to our study abroad semester in Europe. After a short nap at the hotel, everyone in the program was quickly making friends and setting out to explore the city. The first place we found in our adventures around the city was Kensington Palace. Behind me in the picture below is a statue of Queen Victoria located in the large expanse of gardens next to the palace. After a walk around the palace and its gardens, we looked for some lunch. On our way, we passed by an old building with this written on its side... For our first meal in London I had the signature meal of fish and chips! We asked a lady in a shop where the best restaurant to get them nearb...