As you can see by all of the pictures below it has been a busy couple of weeks. It all began a couple weeks ago when my family came to visit. Mom, Teresa, Emily and Amanda flew the 9 hours across the "pond" just to see me -who can blame them ;). I arrived at the airport a cool 50 minutes early just so I'd be read for their arrival. However, after one cup of coffee, a sandwich and diet coke, about 120 pages in my book, a nice conversation with a Scottish man resulting in a 3 hour wait they were finally out of customs! We took the tube with all of their luggage and got to the hotel. Minor scrapes and bumps along the way but everyone was here and ready to have a great time.
We began their whirlwind London tour the next day by hitting up the famous Portabella road. I'm not sure if Portabella road is still selling scarves though because Mom and Teresa just about bought them out... :) We spend most of the morning and afternoon here stopping for a snack and the famous Hummingbird cupcake bakery. Nothing like a red velvet cupcake in the middle of your day. After this we headed back to the hotel and grabbed some excellent dinner at a pizza place where Princess Diana used to bring the boys for Pizza.
On Saturday we took an all day bus tour to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath. Having already been to Windsor it was great fun for me to get to see how amazing everyone else thought it was. We were even lucky enough this time to have the Queen be in residence while we were there! We didn't get to see her, although we were within about half a football field to where she was. Stonehenge was impressive. It was odd to see the rocks piled the way they were and it really made you think about what it was used for. It was also really hilarious to see all of the sightseers (us included) taking pictures of all the sheep surrounding it. Bath left a little something to be desired even thought it was interesting. It is the site of old Roman Baths. We got to go on a small tour and then see the actual Baths that are now preserved and not in use. The tour was fun but incredibly exhausting. I also learned something new about myself... motion sickness can strike in hilly English countryside.
The next day we went to my favorite market, Camden. Here there were more scarves to be purchased. After another long day of shopping with heavy bags full we made our way to the food side of Camden Market. They have the best Chinese food I have found yet! We made a ton of purchases including art, jewelry and even a couple surprises for loved ones back home :)
The next big tour day was Tuesday where I have to say I had my guests running (and making good time too) all over London. We first went to the Tower of London to see the Crown Jewels. Then continued to the London Eye. This was one of the cooler things I've done since I've been in London. The London Eye is the largest observation Ferris Wheel in the world. It takes about a half an our to make the full trip around. From here we could look down on the Thames, Parliament, Big Ben and countless other landmarks. When we were finished here we made our way to Westminster Abbey and finally ending the tour at Buckingham Palace. Interestingly enough this time the Queen was in residence here! If you ask me she was following us. I don't know why she just doesn't request a meeting with me when I know she really wants too... ;)
From this point in the trip we had to say some more goodbyes just in time for Vince and I to "chunnel" off to Paris. This is the underwater tunnel from London to Paris. It only takes about 2 and a half hours and if you don't focus on the fact you are underwater its actually kind of nice. Here we spent 3 days living the Parisian life. I will say both of us were incredibly intimidated of the French language but got along just fine. We saw a lot in those three days!
Overall having visitors was amazing. It made me miss home a bit more but I know that I'll be home again soon with even more stories and pictures to share. Because folks, we've still got Barcelona to look forward to! I'll keep you posted
Love
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Paris
Notre Dame
Vince and I at the Louvre
Jim Morrison's Grave
Eiffel Tower
View of the Lawns from the top of the Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower Again... really can you have enough pictures of it?
Are de Triomphe
The Moulin Rouge
Stonehenge, Abbey Road
The Road
Right outside the Studio
Me signing Abbey Road
Andrea getting bucked off a sheep at Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Emily and Amanda at Stonehenge
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Pictures, blog below!
Colosseum
The Pantheon
We're nerds in Vatican City
The group in front of the biggest monument ever!
Trevi
My Wish :)
Trevi Fountain
Roma, Otherwise Known as my Future Home
Ciao,
The last stop on our journey was to Rome, Italy. At this point we were all dragging our feet and almost hoping that British Airways was going to follow through on a threatened strike so we could go home...boy am I glad this did not happen. I was exhausted from being in 3 different time zones in 6 days. But Rome was coming faster than any of us were ready for. Upon arriving in Rome I was instantly invigorated. This city has everything anyone could ever want in a city.
The first day we spent in Rome we decided to go on a 3 and a half our walking tour to most of the great sights. This is when the first unreal experience happened. While we were waiting for our guide to meet us we noticed that it looked like it was just going to be the 6 of us with our own personal tour guide. Little did I know that the guide that was approaching us hailed from our very own Midwest! Upon introductions he told us he came from Decorah Iowa. I instantly responded with the fact that I was from La Crosse! He laughed and we found out that we both frequent Dales downtown as well as Buzzard Billy's and the Starlight lounge. I quickly convinced him that he needed to see Oktoberfest sometime soon in the future. It was so incredibly nice to meet some one that knew things about where I was coming from. It instantly made me feel right at home. As he took us around to the sights we got to learn about all of the intense history on a level that was very entertaining to us. He was very talented not to mention is basically living the life in Italy.
Walking around the city of Rome was so comfortable. I never was nervous for my things or our well being. All the little alley ways were so charming and had little restaurants, cafes and most importantly gelato places. The people were also incredibly charming and polite. Our guide told us that in general Italians are very pro-American because there are so many Italian Americans that for the most part a lot of them know someone who lives in the States. I loved the area and the people so much that I am even considering taking Italian next year in hopes to be able to return and speak the language!
The next day was the first day we had a struggle with Ms. Mother Nature. It rained. This was especially unfortunate because this was our time to see the Trevi Fountain. Lucky for us there could basically be every obstacle in the world trying to kill some of the beauty of the fountain but it would never work. This fountain is the most breathtaking sight I have ever seen. When we turned the corner to see it overtaking its tiny little plaza my mouth dropped open. It is huge inside of a square that can barely have three lines of people in front of the fountain before the buildings close in on it. The water is the brightest turquoise and the marble statues seem larger than life. I think I took about 50 pictures of all of this. We each took our turn going down and throwing our coin in. I chose to through in a 50 cent Euro piece hoping that gives me extra assurance my wish will come true :)
This same day we also visited Vatican city. Here I climbed to the top of St. Peter's Basilica. This was probably the most terrifying thing I have ever down. As a person with mild claustrophobia I think they should have signs warning that at times you will be walking through hallways less than 2 feet wide haha. Also we had to climb these spiral staircases that were so steep we had to hold on to a rope... The sights from the top were amazing so it made it all worth it. After this we went to see the Sistine Chapel. It looks like something that belongs in a movie rather than something that was actually created such a long time ago. It felt surreal actually standing in almost silence underneath this piece of art.
Our last day in Rome we only had the morning to spend so we made sure we got the necessities over with. 1. more gelato, 2. buy stuff. We traveled to a very touristy area where they sold paintings and other things as souvenirs. And lucky for us there were about 50 gelato places in sight. I of course needed to get a painting of the Trevi but ended up getting talked into 3, one of the Colosseum, one of the Trevi and one of the plaza we were standing in buying our paintings. After making our purchases we entered a gelato shop where the owner told us he had nephews who would love to see America on the hands of such beauties... I tell you, you can really get a big head over here :) But after the impossible decision of what kinds to get we just sat on the curb and tried to take in all the rest of Rome we possibly could.
Rome is a place I know I have to go back to again. I don't know if I've ever experienced the feeling I had in Rome. It was like finding some place so far from home that just felt so natural. Needless to say a piece of me fell in love with Rome and I'm sure it'll stay there waiting for me to return so we can continue our little Love Affair :)
Enjoy the pictures :)
The last stop on our journey was to Rome, Italy. At this point we were all dragging our feet and almost hoping that British Airways was going to follow through on a threatened strike so we could go home...boy am I glad this did not happen. I was exhausted from being in 3 different time zones in 6 days. But Rome was coming faster than any of us were ready for. Upon arriving in Rome I was instantly invigorated. This city has everything anyone could ever want in a city.
The first day we spent in Rome we decided to go on a 3 and a half our walking tour to most of the great sights. This is when the first unreal experience happened. While we were waiting for our guide to meet us we noticed that it looked like it was just going to be the 6 of us with our own personal tour guide. Little did I know that the guide that was approaching us hailed from our very own Midwest! Upon introductions he told us he came from Decorah Iowa. I instantly responded with the fact that I was from La Crosse! He laughed and we found out that we both frequent Dales downtown as well as Buzzard Billy's and the Starlight lounge. I quickly convinced him that he needed to see Oktoberfest sometime soon in the future. It was so incredibly nice to meet some one that knew things about where I was coming from. It instantly made me feel right at home. As he took us around to the sights we got to learn about all of the intense history on a level that was very entertaining to us. He was very talented not to mention is basically living the life in Italy.
Walking around the city of Rome was so comfortable. I never was nervous for my things or our well being. All the little alley ways were so charming and had little restaurants, cafes and most importantly gelato places. The people were also incredibly charming and polite. Our guide told us that in general Italians are very pro-American because there are so many Italian Americans that for the most part a lot of them know someone who lives in the States. I loved the area and the people so much that I am even considering taking Italian next year in hopes to be able to return and speak the language!
The next day was the first day we had a struggle with Ms. Mother Nature. It rained. This was especially unfortunate because this was our time to see the Trevi Fountain. Lucky for us there could basically be every obstacle in the world trying to kill some of the beauty of the fountain but it would never work. This fountain is the most breathtaking sight I have ever seen. When we turned the corner to see it overtaking its tiny little plaza my mouth dropped open. It is huge inside of a square that can barely have three lines of people in front of the fountain before the buildings close in on it. The water is the brightest turquoise and the marble statues seem larger than life. I think I took about 50 pictures of all of this. We each took our turn going down and throwing our coin in. I chose to through in a 50 cent Euro piece hoping that gives me extra assurance my wish will come true :)
This same day we also visited Vatican city. Here I climbed to the top of St. Peter's Basilica. This was probably the most terrifying thing I have ever down. As a person with mild claustrophobia I think they should have signs warning that at times you will be walking through hallways less than 2 feet wide haha. Also we had to climb these spiral staircases that were so steep we had to hold on to a rope... The sights from the top were amazing so it made it all worth it. After this we went to see the Sistine Chapel. It looks like something that belongs in a movie rather than something that was actually created such a long time ago. It felt surreal actually standing in almost silence underneath this piece of art.
Our last day in Rome we only had the morning to spend so we made sure we got the necessities over with. 1. more gelato, 2. buy stuff. We traveled to a very touristy area where they sold paintings and other things as souvenirs. And lucky for us there were about 50 gelato places in sight. I of course needed to get a painting of the Trevi but ended up getting talked into 3, one of the Colosseum, one of the Trevi and one of the plaza we were standing in buying our paintings. After making our purchases we entered a gelato shop where the owner told us he had nephews who would love to see America on the hands of such beauties... I tell you, you can really get a big head over here :) But after the impossible decision of what kinds to get we just sat on the curb and tried to take in all the rest of Rome we possibly could.
Rome is a place I know I have to go back to again. I don't know if I've ever experienced the feeling I had in Rome. It was like finding some place so far from home that just felt so natural. Needless to say a piece of me fell in love with Rome and I'm sure it'll stay there waiting for me to return so we can continue our little Love Affair :)
Enjoy the pictures :)
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Look down for the blog below!
The Parthenon
Greece's Flag
Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens
Too gorgeous for words
A church in Santorini
On the rooftop in Santorini
Greece, Athens and Santorini
We began our little European trek about 10 days ago now. We chose to fly from London to Athens, take a ferry from Athens to Santorini, take a ferry from Santorini back to Athens, fly from Athens to Rome and then fly from Rome back home to London.... needless to say we have been busy :)
To begin, our trip to Greece was blessed with good weather and incredibly friendly people. The flight to Athens took a little under 5 hours with some time differences. Arriving in Athens was a bit overwhelming at first because it was night time. We had to split into groups of 3 and hail cabs to take us to our hostels. Both cabs ended up getting us where we needed to be however, ours decided to take the "scenic route" and give himself a bit of a tip. The first full day started off with a hike up to the Acropolis. This was one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. Little did most of us know that the Acropolis is the site of many different monuments including the Parthenon. The short hike up there allowed us to see what seemed like a never ending city of Athens below and the only border was the ocean. We spent a lot of time just sitting and looking over and taking it all in. Later that day we decided to sample the Greek cuisine. Oh. My. Gosh... I have found my favorite food! Traveling with 6 other girls has its ups and downs but when it comes to dinning in restaurants that the people love blonde hair and big smiles, it is definitely a perk. We were given appetizers and then after finishing our fantastic meal of Chicken Souvlaki we were given Ouzo on the house. Ouzo is the Greek liquor. It is not something I would ever order because of its black licorice taste but it was cool to try.
The next day we decided to do what comes naturally...shop. We made our way to Plaka which is where all the shops line up leading down to a market. Here we found everything from paintings to magnets, to postcards to crosses. I spent way too much money buying such beautiful handcrafted things. I came away with a bracelet with a special bead that is described as Zeus's worry eye. This is supposed to bring protection to whoever wears it because Zeus is watching. I also bought a ring that has the imprint of the first Greek Calendar on it. We spent the entire day going into many different shops and picking out things we thought people would live. We stayed pretty low key and ate a charming dinner with live music at an authentic Greek restaurant.
The following day brought us to our time to leave Athens and head to Santorini. We were so excited to get to spend 7 full hours on a ferry traveling all the way to Santorini. Well...the fun and excitement quickly tapered off as we were basically stalked by 14 year old Greek boys who wanted to come up with any English word they could to get to talk to us. Long story short, I got frappe (Coffee) spilled on me and they had to go and ask someone how to say sorry in English... it was quite a time. :) But after the many hours we arrived at Paradise.
Santorini is like ever postcard you have ever seen and wished you could jump into. It is a gorgeous and friendly place with white buildings and blue accents. We stayed in a small Villa run by a family who welcomed us at the port. We didn't do much but eat dinner the first night because it was fairly late but the next day brought us to one of my favorite times I've had so far.
The second day in Santorini we decided to walk into the large town of Fira. This is where all the postcard pictures are taken and the sights are used in many movies. As we were walking someone in our group started to veer off the path and walked into a group of houses. As we followed we stumbled upon the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. This random little road took us to a roof that overlooked the ocean and the little houses that stand on the cliffs. We probably stayed there for about 2 hours taking pictures and just trying to take in all of the beauty. I honestly could probably never find my way back to this exact spot and that is what makes it so special. It was the perfect place for friends to sit on top of a roof and just look. Our eyes could never get tired of the sights we were looking at. I'm going to try and attach some pictures but they don't do it enough justice.
Athens and Santorini were two of my favorite places in the world. I know that I am going to go back there some day for the simple reason of how could I not. We continued on our trip coming a little bit closer to our London home by traveling to Rome... to be continued :)
love
To begin, our trip to Greece was blessed with good weather and incredibly friendly people. The flight to Athens took a little under 5 hours with some time differences. Arriving in Athens was a bit overwhelming at first because it was night time. We had to split into groups of 3 and hail cabs to take us to our hostels. Both cabs ended up getting us where we needed to be however, ours decided to take the "scenic route" and give himself a bit of a tip. The first full day started off with a hike up to the Acropolis. This was one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. Little did most of us know that the Acropolis is the site of many different monuments including the Parthenon. The short hike up there allowed us to see what seemed like a never ending city of Athens below and the only border was the ocean. We spent a lot of time just sitting and looking over and taking it all in. Later that day we decided to sample the Greek cuisine. Oh. My. Gosh... I have found my favorite food! Traveling with 6 other girls has its ups and downs but when it comes to dinning in restaurants that the people love blonde hair and big smiles, it is definitely a perk. We were given appetizers and then after finishing our fantastic meal of Chicken Souvlaki we were given Ouzo on the house. Ouzo is the Greek liquor. It is not something I would ever order because of its black licorice taste but it was cool to try.
The next day we decided to do what comes naturally...shop. We made our way to Plaka which is where all the shops line up leading down to a market. Here we found everything from paintings to magnets, to postcards to crosses. I spent way too much money buying such beautiful handcrafted things. I came away with a bracelet with a special bead that is described as Zeus's worry eye. This is supposed to bring protection to whoever wears it because Zeus is watching. I also bought a ring that has the imprint of the first Greek Calendar on it. We spent the entire day going into many different shops and picking out things we thought people would live. We stayed pretty low key and ate a charming dinner with live music at an authentic Greek restaurant.
The following day brought us to our time to leave Athens and head to Santorini. We were so excited to get to spend 7 full hours on a ferry traveling all the way to Santorini. Well...the fun and excitement quickly tapered off as we were basically stalked by 14 year old Greek boys who wanted to come up with any English word they could to get to talk to us. Long story short, I got frappe (Coffee) spilled on me and they had to go and ask someone how to say sorry in English... it was quite a time. :) But after the many hours we arrived at Paradise.
Santorini is like ever postcard you have ever seen and wished you could jump into. It is a gorgeous and friendly place with white buildings and blue accents. We stayed in a small Villa run by a family who welcomed us at the port. We didn't do much but eat dinner the first night because it was fairly late but the next day brought us to one of my favorite times I've had so far.
The second day in Santorini we decided to walk into the large town of Fira. This is where all the postcard pictures are taken and the sights are used in many movies. As we were walking someone in our group started to veer off the path and walked into a group of houses. As we followed we stumbled upon the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. This random little road took us to a roof that overlooked the ocean and the little houses that stand on the cliffs. We probably stayed there for about 2 hours taking pictures and just trying to take in all of the beauty. I honestly could probably never find my way back to this exact spot and that is what makes it so special. It was the perfect place for friends to sit on top of a roof and just look. Our eyes could never get tired of the sights we were looking at. I'm going to try and attach some pictures but they don't do it enough justice.
Athens and Santorini were two of my favorite places in the world. I know that I am going to go back there some day for the simple reason of how could I not. We continued on our trip coming a little bit closer to our London home by traveling to Rome... to be continued :)
love
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