FAITH

**Spain**
**May 18, 2012**  Dear Diary,

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You won't believe this. I just won an all-expense-paid trip to Europe. I get to choose 5 countries and the plane leaves in TWO DAYS!!! Two days to pack and what to go to. Oh! I know. I will go to France, Spain, Austria, Romania, and Poland. First I will have to research the countries in order to know where I will go. I have to drive up to Detroit on the 20th in the MORNING! You know I am not a person. Oh my, there is so much to do in a couple of days. Better get to work.

**May 19, 2012 **  Dear Diary,

 I have gotten some facts about Spain. Spain's official name is the Kingdom of Spain. The capital of Spain is Madrid (which is where I start my journey). Over 40,548,753 people live there. Government is a parliamentary monarchy. Jose Luis Rodriguez is the current leader in Spain. Their official language is Castilian Spanish. Roman Catholic is their main religion. Their main ethnicity is composite of Mediterranean.  The Iberian Peninsula covers 85% percent of Spain because it shares the peninsula with Portugal. Spain's major trading partners are France, Germany, Portugal, Italy, UK, Netherlands. Spain, originally inhabited by Celts, Iberians, and Basques, became a part of the Roman Empire in 206 B.C., when it was conquered by Scipio Africanus. In A.D. 412, the barbarian Visigothic leader Ataulf crossed the Pyrenees and ruled Spain, first in the name of the Roman emperor and then independently. This is basically what I have learned. ** May 20, 2012 ** =__**DAY 1**__ = Dear Diary,

I have arrived! I have also visited the Buen Retiro park in Madrid and boy, is it beautiful. The green grass, the blue skies, the bright flowers EVERYTHING We are staying at the beautiful Meninas hotel tonight.  = = =<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">May 21, 2012 = <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">__**DAY 2**__ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Dear Diary,

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: justify;">Welcome to Barcelona!!!!!!!!! Okay now we have to go check into the Continenetal hotel and after that we hit the streets. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: justify;">Later, now since we just checked in its time to go to Catalunya square. Man, who new how cool this is. It's like your are stranded on an island. Oh, look at the time it's time for lunch. We are going to the Navarre restaurant today. Yipee! The food here is the best I have ever eaten in my life. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: justify;">That concludes my trip to Spain

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: justify;">** France **** May 22, 2012 ** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">**__DAY 3__**

=
I have landed in France. Here are some facts about France. <span style="background-color: #ff7f33; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> France is about 80% the size of Texas. In the Alps near the Italian and Swiss borders is Western Europe's highest point—Mont Blanc (15,781 ft.; 4,810 m). After a series of costly foreign wars that weakened the government, the French Revolution plunged France into a bloodbath beginning in 1789.Germany, Spain, UK, Italy, Belgium, U.S., Netherlands are major trading partners. France's culture is Celtic and Latin. France percentage of religion is Roman Catholic 83%–88%. ======

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The capital of France is Paris. Nikolas Sarkozy is the president of France. There about 64,057,792 people in France. France was originally named the French Republic. The most spoken language in France today is French. France's government is a Fifth Republic. The main of France is Roman Catholic. Celtic and Latin are the main ethnicities. The literacy rate of France is 99%.

**May 24, 2012** __**DAY 4**__ Dear Diary,

Today I am in the Monte Carlo Beach. This place rocks. The sun is high in the air and sandy beaches and blue waves. This place is paradise. In the summer of course.

**May 25, 2****012** __**DAY 5**__ Dear Diary,

Did you know that the Louvre Museum in Paris has a giant pyramid in front of it? I just found out and it is kind of weird. Don't you think? Since I am here next I am going to observe this place. The famous picture in the world, the Mona Lisa, is held here. There are so many portraits and sculptures. Well, I'd better get going. One more stop in France. My last stop in this country is the one and only Eiffel Tower. Standing right next to it makes me feel short. Who knew this place is very grand in person. This is the best stop ever.

**Austria**
**May 26, 2012** **__DAY 7__** Dear Diary,

These are all the facts I dug up about Austria. Slightly smaller than Maine, Austria includes much of the mountainous territory of the eastern Alps. When Archduke Francis Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo in 1914, World War I, as well as the destruction of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, began. Major trading partners are Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands. Ethnicity is Austrians 91.1%. They are run by a Federal republic.

The official name of Austria is Republic of Austria. The capital of Austria is Vienna. The current leader of Austria is President Heinz Fischer. There are about 8,214,160 people in Austria. The main religion of Austria is Roman Catholic. The main language of Austria is German. 98% is the country's literacy rate.

OH MY GOODNESS!!!! I so want to go to Schloss Schonbrunn school. It's so beautiful and colorful.

**Romania**

__**DAY 8**__ Dear Diary,

Facts about Romania is that the capital is Bucharest. The current leader of Romania is Traian Basescu. There is about 22,181,287 people in Romania. Romanian is the most common language spoken in Romania. Romanian is the main ethnicity of Romania. The most common religion found is Eastern Orthodox. 98% is the literacy rate in Romania. Major trading partners of Romania is Italy, Germany, France, Turkey, UK, Russia. The government of Romania is a republic.

Romania is in southeast Europe and is slightly smaller than Oregon. On January 19, 2012, thousands of protestors gathered in Bucharest to demand new government. According to Romania's media, fifty-five people were arrested and five were injured in the January 19 demonstration.

Dear Diary,

There is a change in my plans and I am not going to Poland to anymore so I'm going to spend extra time in Romania. So I am going to the airport in Romania to meet up with Daisey, Morgan, Alexa, and Juana. We are going to an Adele concert and to the water park. The Adele concert rock. She sang my favorite song is Don't you remember. The water park we are going to is Aqua-Magic Mamaia. I decided to spend my last few days in the sun. I reserved the Remebrandt hotel.

media type="youtube" key="2yLc4wgduyg" width="310" height="259"

__**Bibliography**__ "BBC News - Home." BBC News - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2012. <http://www.bbcnews.com>. Remove-item-icon Edit-item-icon

"Fact Monster: Online Almanac, Dictionary, Encyclopedia, and Homework Help — FactMonster.com." Fact Monster: Online Almanac, Dictionary, Encyclopedia, and Homework Help — FactMonster.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2012. <http://www.factmonster.com>