I went to Spain on a school trip during the Summer of 2006 after I graduated from Buchholz High School. I went with Spanish students not only from my high school but also from Eastside High School and Gainesville High School. There was a group of about twenty of us, including chaperones. We visited Madrid, Segovia, Salamanca, Merida, and a few other places. You can see my "Tips for International Traveling" page by clicking the link:
Tips for International Traveling
I went to Boston the summer of 2006 as well. You're probably wondering how did you do both in one summer? All I can say is fabulous planning and tons of money. THANKS MOM AND DAD!
I went with my mom, dad, and brother. We mainly did the Freedom Trail which led us to see: State House, Ben Franklin Statue, Boston Massacre, Old South Meeting House, Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere House, Old North Church, the Bunker Hill monument, and the USS Constitution.
The Freedom Trail took us two days to complete and we still didn't get through quite everything. It had started to rain on us while crossing the bridge over to the USS Constitution, so we decided to cut it short. I would invite any visitors, especially first time visitors, to try the Freedom Trail. It is free (generally, unless you want to see the exhibits in the museums) and tons of fun.
Here are some links to things to do in Boston
Out of all the places I have visited I found NYC to be one of my favorites (except next to Spain, because any international travel is just exceptional and far exceeds any other experiance you could ever have). I have visited NYC twice, once during Spring Break of 2006 and just recently in August 2009. The city is easily to navigate because it works like a grid PLUS there are millions-no-billions of things you can do.
If you go there, Central Park is a must-see because it literally is in the center of NYC life. If you pay attention, you could even be lucky enough to see celebrities walking their dogs, pushing a stroller, or just going for a morning run. Even if you don't see a celebrity there's also the wonderful landscaping that seems like it was ripped out of a movie and plastered right in the middle of Manhattan.
Recently there has been talk about putting an airport right where Central Park is located right now. However, I highly doubt any of the citizens of NYC would go for it. It's the one part of NYC that hasn't been tarnished by the millions may be billions of people who walk the dirty streets of Times Square.
While we were there we visited St. Patricks Cathedral, The Trump Tower, NBC, Columbia University, Central Park, Ground Zero, and a few other places.
I have provided a few links to look up more information on things you can do in NYC
Official New York City Tourism Page
I went to Dallas Spring of 2006 or a DECA Nationals Competition. It was rather dissapointing and I really wouldn't recommend going to Dallas for another reason outside of necessity. The city seemed deserted and walking on the streets was like walking through the deserts of Africa: dry and hopeless. It felt like you were walking forever. When we went, girls lost so many valuable while riding the trains back and forth from the hotel to the DECa competition.
The only fun part about going to Dallas was this restaurant we went to that had a mechanical bull. A lot of the girls tried to get one it, but hardly sat for a minute before being thrown off.
Dallas City Website
I went to both the Eastern and Western Carribean through cruises. I took a Carnival cruise back iin 2005 when I visited the Eastern Caribbean and I took a Royal Caribbean cruise in 2008 when I went to the Western Caribbean. My favorite one was the Royal Caribbean cruise because of the fabulous spa packeges they had and because of the solarium. The Carnival cruise lacked a solarium, making it harder to go swimming on cloudy days at sea, plus the solarium is for adults only, so it provides for a better atmosphere. The only disadvantage of the Royal Caribbean cruise was that the food wasn't as good as the Carnival cruise and there was a serious lack in the number of clubs and nightlife you could go to.
The Western Carribean is much more beautiful and more worth your money if you have to choose between the Eastern and Western Caribbean. You are probably wondering what places I went to in the Western Caribbean, well they were: Key west, Cozumel, The Grand Cayman, and jamaica. All of them are worth seeing. My favorite place was Cozumel, and I highly recommend buying any jewelry here. They are very willing to lower prices and their jewelry is beautiful. If you take a cruise, usually there will be a shopping specialist that can guide you as to which places to go to, and she will even offer a package that you can bring with you with something like a members card that you can show to the jewelers and they will give you an automatic discount.
Below are some links to the cruise lines I went to:
Royal Caribbean
Carnival Cruise Line
The Freedom Trail
Things to Do in Boston