Wow! I am almost finished with my journey through Europe! I am sad to say that but I am absolutely excited to be in Italy. I have always wanted to travel here and can't wait to explore more. I want to explore their ancient remains and beautiful landscape. I am in the capital city, Rome, and am astonished by the Colosseum, the Vatican and many other ancient buildings. Italy borders France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia. While here, I saw remains of ancient Romans who were covered in lava and hot ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted. Italy is almost completely surrounded by water. Some of these pieces of water include the Adriatic Sea, the Tyrrhenian Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. They have a democracy here in Italy and their president is Silvio Berlosconi. i met my friend Gabby a couple of days ago and she told me that the population here is 
58,126,212. That is a lot for a pretty small country. I learned how to say "Hi my name is Mary. I am from the United States." in Italian. It is "Ciao il mio nome è Maria. Io sono dagli Stati Uniti." The primary religion here is catholic and I am catholic myself, so it is interesting to see Catholicism from the point of view of an Italian. Some of the activities that a done are swimming and soccer. Italy is one of the main producers of olive oil in the world. Along with producing olives and olive oil, Italy produces grapes, potatoes, and wine. In Italy, many of the people are very in to fashion. They love high heels and shiny clothes. They must be up to date in the fashion world. An interesting fact is that Italy produces more grapes than any other country at 8,519,418 tons. 

My time in Norway was short lived, but now I am in Moscow, Russia. This country is huge and has a very large population as well; about 11,503,501. It is also oddly shaped like a wheel. this country borders numerous small countries such as Finland, Norway, Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine, etc. it is massive in comparison to some of these countries. I am going to make my way to the Ural mountains and go for a hike. I hear there are some absolutely beautiful hikes up there. I will then see the Ugla Rivers. Some man made landmarks that are very important in Russia include Red Square and St. Basil's Cathedral. Here in Russia they have a semi presidential government and their president is Vladmir Putin. The currency here is a Russian Ruble. Today I learned how to say please, thank you, and your welcome. In order: пожалуйста, благодарю вас, ваше добро пожаловать. In Russia they use different characters than we do. The Russian alphabet contains 33 letters and goes like this, А, Б, В, Г, Д, Е, Ё, Ж, З, И, Й, К, Л, М, Н, О, П, Р, С, Т, У, Ф, Х, Ц, Ч, Ш, Щ, Ъ, Ы, Ь, Э, Ю, Я.  The main religion in Russia is the Russian Orthodox Church. Some of the recreation and activities done in Russia include soccer track and swimming. Some of the food I have eaten and will be eating include meat, fish and veggies. I am just astounded by the population of Russia, and hope I can make many new friends.       

Below is a picture of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. St. Basil's Cathedral was built in 1555 and was finished in 1561. This is a very famous Russian Orthodox church in the red square. This has eight side churches that surround the ninth. Later a tenth was built over the grave of saint Vasily (Basil).   

Below is a picture of the Russian flag. 

A picture of Red Square in Moscow. 

Although I had much fun in Paris, my journey continues to Norway. I am very exited to travel here, as I am part Norwegian. My great grandma was born in Stavanger. I am excited to see the greatly known wildlife, mountains and possibly the northern lights. I will first fly into Oslo, then make my way to Stavanger  One of my great friends is actually half Swedish and I wish I could travel to that neighboring country, but like I said, I am very tight on time. After my visit to Stavanger.  I will make my way to the lofoten islands and the skagerrat strait. I also want to attempt to travel to the Nidaros Cathedral. I want to learn about their parliament and how it works. I want to study their prime minister, Jans Stalkenberg. The population here is about 4,619,849. I also want to learn more about the Norwegian krone. I, again, learned some Norwegian, such as "Takk" which means thank you, and "Vennligst" which means please. Some of the activities i will indulge in include ice skating, fishing, soccer, and skiing. I assume i will intake many carbohydrates, as i will be eating a lot of potato and wheat. I am very greatful to be on this journey, and am happy to be here in Norway. :)

Below is a picture of Stavanger during the day.

Below is another picture of Stavanger at night.

Picture of the Norwegian Krone. 

Norwegian Flag

The beautiful Northern Lights in Norway. Although the northern lights are in many other places, they are absolutely magnificent in Norway. The Northern lights occur when highly charged electrons from the solar wind interact with elements in the earth's atmosphere. This is what makes the beautiful light patterns in the sky. 

This morning I arrived in Paris. I got to my hotel and was
just too exited to sleep. Many people would just crash after a red-eye flight
like mine, but not me! When you are traveling to such a place as
Paris, you just can’t wait to see all the wonders. Europe is known for its art and
learning, and I sure am set out to learn as much as I can! The art is just
wonderful here, and I cannot get over the beauty and precision of it all! I am
so happy to be is the capital city of France, living the life of luxury! l wish i could to travel southwest to Spain or east to Germany! I can only do so much in my limited time though! I only have three months to travel to the north, east, south, and west of Europe. That means three weeks per country. I at least want to travel to the Alps and go for a hike and have a picnic with some of my friends, visit the Fifth Republic, and of course see the Eiffel Tower and climb up the 1665 steps to see the wonderful views! I probably won’t see Jean Marc Ayrault, the prime minister. This semi-presidential Government is very interesting and I hope to learn more about it. There are many friendly people here; I have met many new friends. I am destined to meet new friends though, as the population is 2,234,105 people! I have learned a little bit of frech since being here, like "Où se trouve le restaurant le plus proche?" which means, "Where is the nearest restaurant?" and "Merci" which is, "Thank You". I had some trouble with the european euro when i first got here. I traded about twenty dollars and got fifteen dollars ans thiry nine cents in euros. I thought that the money here was weaker and had some trouble realizing it is stronger. Silly me. I hope to learn about the diversity of religion and freedom of beleifs. I want to go boating, golfing, and biking here and attemp to try some of their other activities as well. I want to eat crepes all day, they are so good! France has crepes, which are really thin pancakes, and can be filled wth pretty much anything you want. i am so happy to be here in France and cant wait for more to come! I also found this and felt that i must share it. Did you know that it is illegal to name a pig nepolean in France? I am not certain that this is true, but it was very interesting!

Below is a picture of the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc de Triomphe honors all the soldiers who fought and died in the French Revolutionary war and Napolenic Wars. The tomb of the unknown solider from World War One is also buried underneath it's vault. The construction started in 1806 and it was inaugurated in 1836.