Walking Around Rome, Tivoli, and Gypsy Camps (July 24th-July 29th)

This was my second to last week here in Rome, Italy. Our UF final exams are July 31st and August 3rd. After those, I will take one final excursion to Venice before returning home to the States. This week was occupied with my Survey of Art and Architecture Class, and I can actually say that it was a pretty interesting week. I will apologize in advance for the lengthiness of this post.

Gianicolo Hill 

On Wednesday, we walked around the neighborhood of Trastevere in Rome. Our first stop was Villa Farnese, a beautiful villa that was home to Cardinal Farnese, who later became Pope Paul III. The villa was extravagantly decorated, maybe a little too much for my taste. Still, it was beautiful nonetheless. We then made our way up to Gianicolo Hill. On our way up, we stopped at the place where St. Peter was actually crucified, although his body lies in St. Peter's Basilica. This basilica was very small and our professor said, "It's similar to Honey I Shrunk the Kids, but it's Honey I Shrunk the Temple." That definitely gave us all quite the laugh. We sat around the temple for a few minutes, eating peaches that he had brought for us. These peaches were flat and incredibly sweet. If I remember correctly they are called white peaches. After our refreshing snack we continued our trek up the hill. As noon approached, our professor hurried us along to the site where the cannon blows every day at noon. We made it just in time. Literally as we stopped in front of the canon, it went off. It was a pretty awesome experience; one more thing to check off of my To-Do list. We began to make our way back down the hill and our professor stopped us at the edge of the mountain. He pointed out the jail and explained how communication back in the day was done through shouting names. Even if your loved one didn't hear you, word would travel through the jail that someone stopped by to say hello. I suppose. Well, our professor had us scream "Bruno!", apparently one of his friends. Unfortunately, and rather anti-climatically, there was no response from Bruno. "No matter.", said our professor. "We will be seeing his family on Friday when we travel to the gypsy camp." We all exchanged looks of terror and confusion, but also laughed. More adventures with Professor Ferro.

The Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and Capuchin Crypt 

After class, Kaleb and I caught a bus towards the Pantheon. We had a few things left to accomplish here in Rome, and time was running out. The Pantheon is probably the second or third biggest tourist attraction in Rome, and for good reason. It is truly a remarkable building and is my second favorite place in Rome after the Colosseum. The architecture was mind blowing as well as the sheer size of the building. The Trevi Fountain ranks pretty high on the tourist attraction list as well, and it was conveniently just ten minutes away from the Pantheon. Unfortunately the left side of the Trevi was under construction (typical), but it was still beautiful. And packed with people. Kaleb and I squeezed through the crowds and finally put our 1 euro cent coins to good use. Make a wish and make it count! It was impossible to find a place to just sit and relax for a while, so we decided that we would have to come back at night with the rest of the group. After another ten minute walk, we arrived at the Capuchin crypt. This crypt is "home" to hundreds and hundreds of Capuchin monks. Boy was it creepy. The crypt walls are "decorated" with thousands of bones. Some monks were still in their robes, propped up, appearing to be looking at us. The "Crypt of Skulls", "Crypt of Pelvises", and "Crypt of Femurs" were exactly as they sound. Rooms just filled of bones. Although it was a very cool experience, it was nice to be outside and back in the fresh air when we were finished. There is something a tad weird about being in a room with a few hundred dead people and being able to see their bones.

Tivoli 

Thursday, Domenico accompanied us to the town of Tivoli. Just over an hour outside of Rome, Tivoli is another ancient town. The layout reminded me very much of Sorrento, but without the coast nearby. Our main attraction was the Villa d' Este. Now, this was my kind of villa. The inside of the villa was...well, exactly like every other villa that we have seen. But the outside; it was beautiful. The "backyard" of this Villa was overrun with magnifient fountains (including the 100 fountains featured in the Lizzie McGuire movie), pools, and just gorgeous trees. I was in heaven. We found tons of little baby frogs and I picked them up, of course. I did have a small mishap with one as I tried to place it on my nose and it fell off. I thought I had killed it, but it survived, thank goodness. We spent a couple of hours just frolicking in the garden and taking pictures. Domenico suggested a sandwich shop for lunch and Shelley, Kaleb, Jennifer, and me took him up on his suggestion. Tivoli is famous for its pork, so that's the kind of sandwiches that we got. Oh my gosh. Fresh sliced pork and fresh sliced peppercorn cheese. It was probably the best sandwich I have ever eaten in my entire life. No joke. Finish the meal off with a lemon slushie and I was in heaven. At 3 o'clock we made our way out of the town and back to the train station to catch the train home.

Now, this is where things got interesting. God bless Domenico, for without him, we would have had no idea what was going on. Apparently there was a fire somewhere between Tivoli and Rome and all trains were temporarily suspended. We were told to wait on the train in the AC until it was cleared for departure. Well, two hours later we were still waiting. Everyone was sleeping except for Shelley and me. We don't have the gift of being able to sleep anywhere and at any time. So, we just sat and talked about our future school and career plans. As 5:45 rolled around, I was beginning to accept that I would have to move to Tivoli and never return to America. Thank goodness that was not the case. At 6:00 p.m. a bus came to pick us (and 50 other people) up and take us back to Rome. We boarded the bus for an hour and a half ride home on velvet seats with no air conditioning and static playing over the radio. Shelley, Jennifer, and me attempted to stay positive and played the "Share your dream life with me" game, but after thirty minutes or so we were all clearly ready to be back in Rome. When the bus finally arrived in Rome, we boarded the metro and arrived back to St. John's 30 minutes later. Turns out that we didn't make it back to Rome until 8:00 p.m, 4 hours later than originally planned. That made for a 11 hour day of class, yuck. If not for this transportation issue coming home, the day would have been perfect. Villa d' Este was truly magnificent.

Gypsy Camp

Today was the day that we would brave a gypsy camp with our professor. Going into this visit, we were all quite skeptical, and for good reason I believe. It's not everyday that you go and visit gypsies in their homes. I stored my money in my bra and was ready to go. Turns out, that was an unnecessary precaution. The family that we met was extremely nice and welcoming, despite the humongous language barrier. I could tell how much they appreciated our professor and the food he brings for their family. Contrary to the stereotypical images of gypsies, they were not dressed provocatively and in colorful garments. They were dressed rather normally, I thought. After formal introductions, Professor Ferro suggested that we went inside and drew with all of the children. Even though we couldn't communicate through talking, drawing is universal. I was pleasantly surprised and had a wonderful time with the children. We stayed for an hour or so and then headed back to Rome before we overstayed our welcome.

Olympic Opening Ceremony

On Friday, as you know, the Olympics began. USA! USA! Lucky us, we had the opportunity to watch the ceremony live. Study abroad advantages. So, at 10 p.m we watched the Queen, David Beckham, Mr. Bean, and JK Rowling in what was a fantastic opening ceremony...in my opinion. The whole pub at Scholar's was watching and cheering as their favorite people came on TV. It took a little persuasion for the bar to put the sound on. Apparently Italy doesn't really care about the Olympics, just soccer. Lame. After chanting "Sound! Sound!" for a few minutes, the manager obliged and we all watched the ceremony as happy campers. Jennifer, Shelley, and me left before the US walked out (it was 12 am), but as we arrived as St. John's we saw the ceremony playing in the common room and the United States walked out within 5 minutes of us sitting down. Talk about perfect timing! Let the Olympic games begin and may the odds be ever in your favor.

Climbing St. Peter's 

Saturday morning Shelley, Jennifer, and me climbed St. Peter's Basilica. Talk about an early morning workout. We made it to the Vatican shortly after 9:00 a.m and began our climb up the dome. 551 steps up, 551 steps down. 90% of these steps are spiral staircases. The first 200 steps or so weren't really steps...more of like a spiral ramp with small steps every feet or so. We didn't feel anything until about 300-400 steps in. The spirals began to get narrower and steeper. We never really knew how close we were to the top of the dome, but somewhere along the line we all got disoriented and had to take a couple minute break. Good thing none of us are claustrophobic...or at least not really. We knew that we were nearing the top of the top when the walls began to slant inward. We had to lean to the right in order to climb the steps. The final fifteen steps were the worst of all. Steep spiral staircase that was just narrow enough for one person to fit in, at an angle.


After we made it to the top, we were all sweaty, exhausted, and rather confused. That was probably the weirdest experience I have ever had climbing to the top of a building. I can say that I am glad that I did it though, the view from the top of the basilica was breathtaking. It was a long way down, but that meant that we could see for miles and miles. The dome allowed us to get a full 360 degree view of Rome and we all pointed out the famous landmarks that we have been too many a times. After a solid twenty minute rest at the top of the dome, we made our descent back down the dome. It was much easier going down, but it still felt never-ending. 1102 steps later, we had climbed St. Peter's Basilica, and in just over an hour. Power climbers!

Palace of the Medici and Returning to Rome (July 23rd)

For our final day in Florence, we would visit the Palace of the Medici and Santa Croce Cathedral. Kaleb opted out of these activities and waited in the train station; it was just us four. We got a rather late start to the day, checking out of the hostel around 11:30 a.m. It was our final bus ride down the mountain and back to "home base", the train station bus stop. From here, everything in Florence was no more than a 15 minutes walk. We headed off towards the Palace of the Medici and waited in a short line before purchasing tickets. The Medici was the richest family in Italy, and rather ostentatious if I do say so myself. The palace was beautiful, but Versailles is still my favorite palace that we have visited to date. We toured the palace for an hour or so before making our way out into the dreary skies; rain was coming.

The final church that we would be visiting is called Santa Croce. This is the cathedral in which Michelangelo, Galileo, and Donatello are buried. Unfortunately, and not to our surprise, the cathedral was under construction. The altar was covered in scaffolding which was disappointing; however, the graves were fully visible. The church connects to a secret leather market where we got to see the work stations of leather makers and more high quality leather. No more prizes, though.

For a rather late lunch, we had pasta in a small restaurant. I had the pasta carbonara and it was delicious, and for a rather good price. For dessert, on our way to the train station, I stopped and splurged on a Nutella covered waffle. Good decision. My goodness that was good. Around 4:00 p.m we met Kaleb in the train station and waited patiently for our train to come. Just eight minutes before departure, we saw the "bin" number flash on the board and made our way to our high speed train home.

More Markets and Florentine Steak (July 22nd)

We spent most of today walking around the city of Florence. We started under the arch where the original Roman forum in Florence was. It was in the center of one of the many piazzas. As we walked under the arch and down the road, we spotted another leather market and decided to peruse. Many of the purses were the same as we had seen on Friday, but it was still fun looking. We managed to come across a statue of a boar that had a golden snout to rub for good luck. So we did so, obviously...who doesn't want good luck? As we were walking up a shopping street we were given a flyer for a pizza place. I quickly dismissed it, but Jennifer noticed the words "Jersey Shore" on it. Could it be? Was this really the place that Jersey Shore worked while in Florence? For those of you that have absolutely no idea what Jersey Shore is, let me fill you in. It's an extremely dumb reality show about kids who like to party and do stupid things; however, it's addicting. Kaleb is obsessed with Jersey Shore, so that was all we needed to convince ourselves it was okay to eat there. It was still rather early for lunch, so it was just us in the restaurant. I'll admit, it was pretty cool. I am not obsessed with Jersey Shore, but I do watch it on a regular basis; it's always very cool sitting where celebrities sat and pretending that you're famous. The pizza was actually amazing! It was rolled, tossed, and prepared right in front of us. I ordered some spicy salami and mozzarella pizza and I was impressed. It was way too big for me to finish it, though. Before leaving the restaurant, we managed to sneak some pictures, as always.

As we continued our walk through the town, we made our way to the bridges. The first bridge we stopped on overlooked the river (obviously), and we stayed for a while. I kicked my shoes off and laid down on the bridge, relaxing and soaking up the sun. Shelley had booked another reservation for he Ufizi museum, but the other three of us had not. So, while Shelley went off and toured the museum, we sat in a piazza and watched a miming performance. It was perfect timing really. It's hard to really describe what he did...considering he's a mime. Nonetheless, it was very entertaining and kept Kaleb, Jennifer, and me occupied until Shelley returned from the Ufizi gallery. When Shelley rejoined us, we walked over to another bridge that had markets all along and inside the bridge. It was packed with tourists and the shops were way out of our college budgets, but it's always fun walking around. Intro to Walking Around... A+.

For dinner, we headed back to the Duomo to a restaurant that we had spotted on Friday. It had a great deal for a Florentine steak and fries. I was beyond excited. I love me some steak. Although I tend to prefer filet, any cut of beef would satisfy me tonight. The steak was a gigantic T-bone and accompanied with a good amount of fries. I ate quickly, and then slowly, trying my best to savor this meal. I knew that the next time I would have steak would be in America. While eating, something happened. As always. I'm sitting there, just minding my own business, and I feel something on my foot. I look down and a pigeon is crawling on my foot! After saying some mean words to the pigeon, it walked off my foot and continued meandering along and finally out of the restaurant. Not a dull moment when traveling in Europe...I love it.

The Academia (July 21st)

Despite the blaring of music until four in the morning, I got a pretty decent sleep. Around 8:15 or so, I trekked across the campgrounds in my PJs to take a shower. The bathroom was filled with girls showering and attempting to primp in front of sinks and tiny mirrors. The showers were interesting to say the least. There was a wall of six or seven showers, with short doors. When you closed the three foot door, your head and shoulders peered over the top and your knees and legs below. I threw my towel over top of the door to shield everyone from me awkwardly staring at them while I showered. Showered and ready, we left the campgrounds on Bus 13 down the mountain. Our first stop this morning was the Leonardo da Vinci interactive museum. Apparently there are two, so we just picked one. This museum was filled with replicas of Leonardo da Vinci's early work that pioneered the way for future automobiles and weapons. As we walked through the museum, we were invited to turn knobs, wheels, and all sorts of things that made the pieces of art move. You're never too old for interactive museums. Never. Unfortunately, the museum was smaller than we had anticipated and when we were finished we still had over two hours to kill before our 1:30 p.m. appointment at the Academia. After grabbing a bite to eat we strolled the streets, poking our heads in souvenir shops along the way.

1:15 p.m. We made our way to the entrance of the Academia museum. With our reservations, we avoided the line and were let in right at our appointment time. The Academia houses Michelangelo's famous David. We started out in another room looking at oil on canvas paintings and other sculptures, but the anticipation was killing us. We walked into the next room and as we turned the corner, we saw it. At the end of the hallway stood David. It was by far the most magnificent sculpture I have ever seen in my life. He was huge in person. I've always heard how large the statue is, but seeing it in person was nothing like I had expected. We spent a solid twenty minutes around the David, just marveling at him. Although pictures were strictly forbidden, I managed to sneak in a few...after being scolded by the security lady. Oh well. We strolled around the museum and while it was all very impressive, nothing compared to the statue of David. One room had a floor covered in shards of mirrors which was fun to play around in, but even then I found myself wandering back to the room with David. We eventually said our goodbyes and made our way out of the museum and back onto the streets of Florence.

As we made our way back up the mountain, we ended up riding the wrong bus up and down the mountain twice. We were on the bus for 94 minutes before we finally got off at our stop. By this point, we were all rather frustrated and decided to postpone the Cathedral we had planned for today to another day. We had dinner at a food truck on the top of the mountain by Piazzale Michelangelo. I ordered a Motard sandwich which probably sounds unappetizing, but it was amazing. A toasted panini was layered with fresh beef, sausage, pork, bacon, and this secret sauce concoction. I couldn't finish the whole sandwich, unfortunately. For 4 euros, that was definitely in my top five meals of this entire trip. As the sun set, we crossed the street to Piazzale Michelangelo where a copper replica of David stood. The Piazza overlooked the entire city of Florence, quite the sight to see at night. Shelley took some great pictures of the city with heat lightening lighting up the night sky. We once again had the privilege of falling asleep to club music. I guess this counts as the substitute for my sleep machine?

Florence Leather Markets, Duomo, and Camping (July 20th)

Today, Jennifer, Shelley, Kaleb, and me were embarking our our second to last excursion this summer: Florence, Italy. The trip began with a routine train ride...nothing exciting enough worth documenting. We arrived in Florence around 9:00 a.m. Apparently, shops were still not open. We may have been a little over ambitious by leaving at 6:45 in the morning. After getting off the train we found a bench and went over our plans for the day. They were as follows: perfume shop, leather markets, the Duomo, and checking in at our hostel. Since we were sans Jenn this trip, Shelley was our planner! She started us off at this super fancy perfume shop behind the Santa Maria Novella Cathedral. I sneezed more times than I count while inside, but it was definitely worth going. Talk about a high class place. Kaleb bought some lotion for his momma, but I left empty handed. I was afraid of being allergic to these foreign scents so steered clear. After the perfumery, we headed to the local markets. Florence is famous for their leather, and the streets don't lie.

The leather market was huge. Absolutely gigantic. Hundreds and hundreds of vendors spread across dozens of little side streets. We took a deep breath and began walking. Within two tents, Kaleb had bought silk ties and Jennifer and I were on the verge of buying a leather purse. However, because we were only two tents in...I decided to keep looking before making my decision. Despite his fantastic "1st customer of the day" offer, I figured I could find great deals elsewhere. And I was correct. While Florence is famous for its leather, I would not venture to say that it is famous for its diverse selection of leather. After two or three streets, we started noticing that many of the vendors sell the same products and seem to be working together. So, halfway through, I found another vendor with the same purse I had been admiring earlier. Jennifer and I set up a bargin with this young man and managed to walk away with two purses for 50 euro. Not a bad deal. The four of us stopped in a local food market where we were showered with samples of cheese, balsamic oil, and olive oil. We were rather enjoying ourselves until we came across the meat/seafood section. I still have yet to get used to the European concept of eating the weird parts of animals...like hearts and intestines. Yuck. On our way out of the leather market Shelley found herself a beautiful leather purse; we had all successfully bought prizes for ourselves.

As we checked the map and began to head towards the Duomo we realized just how small Florence was. What looked like a solid twenty five minutes walk on the map turned out to be just over ten. The "actual city" of Florence is much smaller than Rome which came as a surprise to all of us. Can't complain though; it makes being a tourist rather easy. The Duomo is perhaps the most famous building in Florence. Constructed by Brunelleschi, the Duomo exhibits very intrinsic and detailed Gothic architecture. Because it is a cathedral, modest dress is required. We were well prepared, but many tourists were not and had to purchase blue hospital looking gowns to wear while inside the cathedral. I found it rather amusing...and had to take a picture.

Our accommodations for this trip shouldn't surprise you; we were camping. This go round we were not in cabins, but in permanent tents. Our campsite was home to mostly students traveling abroad which was a nice surprise. The campsite offered a common area with a small restaurant where we congregated and people watched. Many of the students were Australian, which I loved. And best of all, they all spoke English. We didn't really socialize too much, but we did get to hear all sorts of great stories being exchanged. For dinner we just decided to order pizza from the restaurant. The staff was less than enthusiastic, but the pizza was delicious...once we got it. There seemed to be some confusion on our names so Shelley ended up taking a random "John"s pizza and Kaleb took Shelley's pizza later on. Despite the confusion, we all got our dinner and it was great. Sleeping in the tents was expected to be an entire other adventure. And it was. The tent had no AC, obviously. It also had no electrical outlets. The beige tent had one mesh window which remained open due to the extreme heat in Florence. As Jennifer and I laid down to go to sleep that night in our tent, we were "serenaded" by a club not 500 meters away. Unitl 4 a.m. Nothing quite like falling asleep to Adam Lavine's "Payphone" and Flo-Rida's "Whistle" blaring in the near distance.

Ostia Antica and Orvieto (July 11th- July 19th)

Ostia Antica

 As a part of my Survey of Art and Architecture class, we go on day trips in and around Rome. Ostia Antica is about 45 minutes outside of Rome by metro. On an early Thursday morning, the eight of us made our way to Termini metro station where we met Dominico. Dominico is one of the staff here at St. John's and he would be accompanying us to Ostia Antica. We met up with our Professor at the site and began our day of touring. 

Ostia Antica is an ancient city of Rome, set up like a military camp. What remains of it are merely ruins, but with the help of our professor, we learned and attempted to envision what it would have looked like in its prime. Ostia Antica is laid out on a grid-like system, with two major roads intersecting in a main square. Though it used to be covered in marble, the only structures still standing are brick. While walking along the road, our professor offered us native plants and berries to try. Jennifer and I eagerly tried blackberries, fennel, and pine nuts. We didn't get sick, thank goodness. We did come across the plant used to brew hemlock. (We refrained from trying that one). Our professor also warned us to be on the lookout for lizards and...vipers. Well thank you for that warning, sir. Keeping my eyes open. We walked around this old town for about three hours or so, coming across old mosaics, public restrooms, public baths, and basilicas. It began to rain around 1 o'clock or so for about twenty minutes which cooled things off, temporarily. After lunch/snacks at a cafe on site, around three o'clock, we hopped back on the train and headed back to Rome, hot and exhausted.

Marketing and Management Exams

This week I had my second exams in both my Marketing and Management exams. The summer semester was officially two-thirds over, which put things into perspective. Only 3 weeks or so left in Italy before I head back to America. Not very exciting stories, but worth mentioning, as I spent many hours studying for these two exams rather than blogging. Both went well.

Orvieto 

Orvieto is an old hilltop medieval town about an hour and a half outside of Rome. Our teacher paid for our train tickets and we headed to Orvieto on another early morning excursion. By early morning, I mean around 9:00 a.m. Just for reference. When we arrived in Orvieto we took a people mover up the side of the mountain. Not quite a roller-coaster ride, but exciting nonetheless. The view from the top of Orvieto was gorgeous. Contrary to Rome, Orvieto overlooks miles and miles of orchards, groves, and open fields. My kind of place. Our day in Orvieto began at the Duomo (cathedral). Most of the cathedrals in Rome look almost identical inside and outside, so it was nice to see a different style of architecture. The Duomo is a Gothic building, standing tall and complete with gargoyles. The outside is painted in black and white stripes, giving it a very distinct appearance. The inside was a large open space with beautiful columns and murals.

After touring the Duomo, our professor let us have the rest of the day in Orvieto to explore and wander around. Kaleb, Jennifer, Shelley, and me grabbed lunch at a small cafe. Melissa, Joanna, Jenn, and Katie went to lunch elsewhere. Jennifer, Kaleb, and me had this very strange gnocchi. It was bright green and we couldn't find the source of the green color. Despite its odd appearance, it tasted like pasta and Parmesan cheese, so we were happy campers. We spent the rest of our time in Orvieto walking along the old medieval streets, trying to peer over walls to catch glimpses of the view, and shopping. Orvieto is famous for its ceramics...and boy were they everywhere. Every store was filled with colorful ceramic pots, plates, mugs, and more. I'm not particularly a fan of ceramic, but it was very cool to see the trademark of Orvieto. (Similar to Sorrento and lemons). On the way out of town, we picked up some delicious gelato  and headed back down the mountain on the fun people mover. Kaleb, Jennifer, Shelley, and me headed home earlier than the other girls because we had an early morning train the following day to Florence, Italy! 5:00 a.m. always comes faster than you think.

Take Me Home Tonight (July 1st- July 10th)

"Take Me Home Tonight" would be our theme song for the next 12 hours of traveling. At random times during the day, one of us would start with "Take me home tonight..." and the other two would fill in accordingly. We were ready to be back in Rome. Now don't get me wrong, traveling Europe is fantastic. But, being a tourist is hard work. Walking, sight seeing, and no sleeping. Our travels went as smoothly as they could have gone. No frisking, no wounds, all of our bags fit. It was like Rome wanted us to come back too. Our flight touched down around 5:15 and we made it back to St. John's University an hour and a half later. We were "home".

Exciting things since I've been back in Rome 

Now that I'm back in Rome, I have gotten back in to the normal routine of things. Or as normal as being in Rome can get. I've picked back up the schoolwork, caught up on sleep, and caught up with friends and family. Here are some of the highlights of this past week:

1. Family dinner with the UF group. The night after we all made our way back to Rome, the eight of us went out to a nice dinner to share all of our stories from the past week of crazy adventures in Europe. It was nice to have the group back together again. And even though it was lonely without the St. John's kids, the eight of us are a good group and get along just fine. 
2. Starting "Survey of Art and Architecture". This week, I started my art class. Or as many prefer to call it, "Intro to Walking Around". We basically tour all of the famous sights in Rome, and get a grade for doing so. I can't say that it's my favorite part of the day, but it's nice to get out and about every day and see the sights. It's definitely hot, though, which makes walking around for 3 hours in the sun less than awesome. But. My flip flop tan lines are pretty awesome. 
3. Vatican Museum. Kaleb and I went to go see the Vatican on Monday. Jennifer and Shelley had already been, and the other girls took a trip to Florence for the weekend, so it was just us. (We are going to Florence a different weekend, by the way. I'm still going) The Vatican Museum houses the Sistene Chapel, home of Michelangelo's famous frescoes. It was truly a sight to see, and incredible to think about someone actually painting this ceiling. My neck would have been killing me. 
4. Castel Sant'Angelo. Earlier this morning, Shelley, Jennifer, and me went to tour Castel Sant'Angelo. Although the layout of this gargantuan building was rather confusing, we somehow made it through. Originally constructed as the Mausoleum of Hadrian, this building has also served as a castle and fortress for the popes, and now is used as a museum.
5. New sunglasses. A rather dull highlight of my week, I know. But, after losing my sunglasses somewhere in London, I couldn't see very well in the sunlight. At all. Today, that problem was fixed and now I don't have to squint like Popeye in all of the pictures. (Although, that is my signature look)

Hope you all are having a fantastic week! I'm finally caught up on days which is nice. Thank you for your patience with that and I hope you all enjoyed "coming" on my European escapade with me! Have a great Tuesday :)

Touring London and London Eye (June 30th)

After my morning dose of peanut butter, we set out to tour the city. Today we would be participating in a free walking tour of London. At 11:00 a.m., we met up with our tour guide and about ten other people. The first stop on the tour was Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guards. Apparently, the changing of the guards is a big deal. Everyone in the city of London was there, so the view wasn't fantastic. We could see the band and guards marching up to the gates, but once they went through the gates, our view disappeared. Despite the less than ideal view of this show, I can still say that I've been to London and seen the changing of the guards. Checking that off the list. The rest of our tour included stops at famous landmarks such as Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, and the Horse Guards Parade. It was another beautiful day in London; we had truly lucked out with the weather. Our tour ended around 1:30, and by that time we were starving. Our tour guide, sweet girl, walked us to a local pub called Fuller's for lunch. The service was awful and slow, but the food was great. This is where I had the sausage apple onion pie that you may have seen pictures of on Facebook. With fresh veggies and fries, I was a happy camper.

The other main thing on today's agenda was the London Eye. The London Eye is like a giant Ferris wheel that takes 30 minutes to revolve. Those inside of the glass "eyes" get to see one of the best views of the city of London. The line was very long, winding around blocks and little shops, but it moved at a consistent pace which made it seem like it was moving fast. I think we waited in line for about an hour before boarding. It was hard to tell that the London Eye was actually moving until you saw the change in views. From the top of the London Eye, you could see for miles and miles. On a rare clear day like this in London, the view was amazing. We spotted all the landmarks that we had walked by earlier in the day. London was definitely my favorite city that I've been to.

After the London Eye, we were exhausted. It was day 9 of traveling, which means that we had been walking and not sleeping for 9 days straight. Our bodies and minds were ready to be back in Rome. It wasn't so much about the city of Rome, it was more about the ceasing of traveling and being able to shave our legs and sleep for more than 5 or 6 hours. We headed back to the hostel early. Dylan, one of the St. John's kids, was actually in London with his family and he offered to come meet us at our hostel to have a little reunion. We gave him the name of the hostel and after setting our stuff down in the room, chilled downstairs in the pub for a half an hour or so. We ordered a pizza from the pub and kept an eye out for Dylan. We were particularly looking for Burberry fedora that he would be wearing, his signature look. To our amazement, he made it! We hung out downstairs for a couple hours, catching up on our adventures since the goodbye two weeks ago in Rome. It was so nice to see a familiar face! Around 11 o'clock or so, Dylan headed back to his hotel and we headed to bed. We had to pack efficiently once more for the final plane ride back to Rome in the morning.


P.S. Happy 22nd anniversary to my wonderful parents!!

Kings Cross and Abbey Road (June 29th)

This morning we walked downstairs to find a small breakfast buffet for us, free of charge! My eyes lit up as soon as I saw one thing: peanut butter. In Europe, peanut butter is nearly impossible to find; they substitute it with Nutella. But in the UK, (another reason why I like them) peanut butter is abundant. I merrily made myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on toast. Well, I actually made two.

Our first stop this morning was Trafalgar Square, one of the biggest and most noted squares in London. Our goal was to find tickets to one of the dozens of Broadway shows playing, preferably Wicked. However, after looking around at the countless little ticket booths and asking for prices, we determined that not only were the tickets scarce, they were way out of our price range. Oh well. It was still kinda fun to pretend. As we left Trafalgar Square and started making our way to London Bridge, it began to pour. The rain was coming down hard, but the winds were blowing even harder. My small umbrella didn't do much of anything to keep me dry; it probably proved to be more hazardous than helpful. But within, 20 minutes the rain stopped and the sun came out from behind the clouds. Just like that. Now that's more like the London weather I've heard of. As we walked across London Bridge, Jennifer and I were unsure as to why London Bridge was so famous. It was quite possibly the ugliest and least impressive bridge I've ever seen. Shelley kindly reminded us of the tragic fire that destroyed most of London many decades ago which helped piece together the story. Still, the Tower Bridge looked much more impressive from across the river. After passing the Tower of London and walking over Tower Bridge, we stopped in a local restaurant for some authentic fish n chips. From lunch, we hopped on the tube (aka metro) and headed to our two most touristy destinations of the day: Platform 9 3/4 and Abbey Road.

I have been dreaming of visiting Kings Cross Station since the very first Harry Potter book. Anyone that knows me well knows that I not so secretly wish that I was a witch in the Harry Potter series. Today was my chance to pretend. Kings Cross Station was huge, and with every escalator that we took, my heart rate began to race. When we arrived at Platform 9 and Platform 10, I was confused. There was a ticket machine to get in. Would I have to pay to see Platform 9 3/4? I went up to one of the gentlemen that worked there to ask, but before I could say anything, he just pointed. And there it was. Platform 9 3/4. Jennifer and I teared up. We were really here. Sort of. Even though it was fake, I pretended that it was real and dreamed of going through the wall and boarding the Hogwarts Express. Definitely one the highlights of this trip. That was as close as I was ever getting to the wizarding world, and I was content.

Our next stop was Abbey Road. Now this one probably appeals to way more of you than Platform 9 3/4. The Beatles Crossing was just a few metro stops down. This "attraction" was actually more touristy than Platform 9 3/4. Abbey Road is still an operating road...so that means that cars still drive on it. Everyone, including us, wants to get that perfect picture of them crossing the road like the Beatles. This requires creativity and perfect timing. Cars aren't afraid to honk at you while you cross the road swinging your arms and walking in slow motion. They are no longer amused. Too bad for them. Shelley, Jennifer, and I made our way to the crosswalk after asking a nice young man to take our picture crossing the road. With no clearings of traffic in sight, we eventually just walked out in the middle of the road. There were cars, Double Decker buses, and tons of other people in our picture. Oh well, we still crossed Abbey Road. Jennifer's video on my wall shows our crossing of Abbey Road. It's called "Mont St. Michel and London".

For dinner, we headed into China town. When in London...We ate at this Chinese buffet called "Little Wu". (It was cheaper than "Mr. Wu") For 6 euro, it wasn't bad. They didn't have Chinese donuts which made me sad, but the food was good. And it was a buffet, which is always dangerous. We spent the rest of the evening back at the hostel, socializing with the other people in our room. Many of them were from Australia and a few from the UK, so we all shared stories and fun things about our home countries. We also practiced each others accents for a while, which was very entertaining. Each night, the whole "sleeping with 12 other people" concept was becoming less and less awkward. We all said goodnight around 1 o'clock or so, just like the Brady Bunch. (Plus 7)

Journey to London (June 28th)

Today was another day full of travel. After just under 6 hours of sleep, my alarm went off at 5:20 a.m. I hopped off the top bunk (in the dark) and took a quick shower to wake me up. Paul had asked us to be ready by 6:15 a.m, so it was going to be a quick getting ready. I packed my hiker's backpack as efficiently as possible (using my dad's packing skills) and headed downstairs. For the journey to the small train station in Pontorson, I rode shot gun. Riding shot gun in an UK car was one of the weirdest experiences so far in my trip. Although it was weird, I can't say that I hated it. I could get used to being British, which is why we were heading to London today.

Our train from Pontorson would take us back to Paris, where we would spend a couple of hours messing around before boarding the plane to London. The train ride to Paris was rather uneventful, but the train was absolutely freezing. Even with my fleece jacket zipped up, I was shivering. Once in Paris, Jenn left the group to meet up with Melissa, Joanna, and Katie in Berlin later that day. Jennifer, Shelley, and me tooled around at the Eiffel Tower for a couple of hours taking pictures, making videos, and using their conveniently located WiFi network. While taking pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower, I was approached by an Asian couple holding a camera. Assuming that they did not speak English and wanted a picture of them together, I reached for the camera. However, it turns out that the wife wanted a picture with me...so I gladly obliged and smiled for the camera. As always. I'm still unsure as to why she wanted a picture with me; I don't think I particularly resemble any celebrities. Whatever the case, it made my day and provided a laugh for the group.

Around 2 o'clock or so, we started making our way to the airport Charles de Gaule. Between metros and the hottest train I've ever been on, it was about an hour and a half journey. The walk to our terminal was abnormally long, taking us a solid 25 minutes. Once at the terminal, we double checked our carry on bag sizes and proceeded through security. For whatever reason, I was stopped and pulled aside to be frisked. Now I've never been frisked before, but I'm almost positive I got an over-enthusiastic woman. After a much too thorough job, she determined I wasn't a terrorist and let me proceed. With just over an hour before our flight, the three of us set up camp and spread out amongst many many chairs. While relaxing and eating a Snickers bar, I reached in my backpack. Now I can't fully explain what happened next. Somehow I sliced my finger open on my razor blade, because not even two seconds after reaching in my backpack, I jerked it out and it was gushing blood. Literally, within 30 seconds blood had almost reached my elbow. For whatever reason, none of us had a single Band-Aid. Sorry, Mom. So I walked around aimlessly around for a minute or two before finding the security officer that had so deligently frisked me. She gladly gave me a small tissue and sent me on my way. No Band-Aids to be found. It took a lot of asking around, (trying to find other passengers that spoke English) before I was given a Band-Aid by a very nice man. Major crisis averted.

Only a few minutes after the scheduled boarding time, we boarded the plane. Or "embarked" as it read on the board. The plane ride was only 45 minutes, so we were in London in no time. Upon arriving in London, we gained an hour. It's only 5 hours ahead of Florida time. For the first time during our European escapade, we had to go through customs. I knew I liked the UK. Even though filling out forms and waiting in long lines are boring, it makes me feel safer and more organized. When we approached the customs desk, we were greeted by a friendly gent. My British accent automatically kicked in, for which I was quickly made fun of. He asked me to repeat "Clapham Junction" because I apparently "said it funny". AKA wrong. Welcome to study abroad, where correctly pronouncing foreign words is a lost cause. He also gave me a tip not to mention that I only had 1 pound and 10 pence on me. Oops. He said, "Normally that information would send off all sorts of alarms, but you seem like a nice girl." Whew. Getting arrested first thing in London was not on my To-Do list.

The train ride into London and to our hostel was a solid hour. Typical. Once we arrived at Clapham Junction, the walk to the hostel was about 15 minutes. Seeing cars  and red double decker buses driving on the left side of the road made me do a double-take a few times. The city was quaint, and the weather was unusually lovely. We stopped at a Wal-Mart partner supermarket and picked up some muffins for breakfast. KFC was for dinner. It was going on 10 p.m. and we were starving. After a short walk further, we arrived at our hostel, the Crown London. It was slightly confusing at first because the bottom floor of the hostel is a local pub, but with the help from some locals we made it to the check-in desk. The room we would be staying in "bunked" 15 poeple. Time for an adventure. We set our things down on our numbered bunks and placed our valuables in a locker. Downstairs, music was playing and we decided to plan our day in the pub. Shelley also realized that she had left our muffins and padlock on the counter. Upon asking if they had our muffins the bar tender responded, "The blueberry and chocolate ones?...Nope". You sit on a throne of lies. The staff had definitely already eaten them. In 10 minutes! We were slightly mad for a second, but had to laugh. Although we were extremely tired, we researched and planned our day tomorrow until 1:00 a.m., when we headed upstairs to our room. With 12 other people. Goodnight.

Mont St. Michel (June 27th)

This morning we woke up to the smell of breakfast downstairs. Paul and Jane had prepared fresh croissants, french bread, and an assortment of fruit. Jane greeted me with a cup of hot chocolate. I could get used to this. Paul would be driving us to Mont St. Michel today at 9:30 a.m. It was currently 8 o'clock, which gave us plenty of time to get ready and hang out in the corner of the kitchen with our phones. When 9:30 rolled around, we all hopped into Paul's car and headed to Mont St. Michel. The car ride was close to 25 minutes or so, and it was an amazing view the entire way. We were arriving just as the fog was clearing and the sun was breaking through the clouds. As we neared Mont St. Michel, we passed a horse drawn carriage training to eventually pull people across the bridge to the island rather than the shuttles that are in operation now. Paul dropped us off and told us to meet back at 4 p.m. That gave us almost 6 hours, which turned out to be plenty of time.

It was going to be a hot day, about 30 degrees. (As they say in Europe). I have no idea what 30 degrees translates into in Fahrenheit, but I've learned that anything above 25 degrees is pretty warm. As we walked up to the island of Mont St. Michel, we couldn't help but notice the construction going on and the scaffolding on the Abbey. Jennifer cleverly renamed the European Union to Eternally Under-Construction. Literally everywhere we go, we encounter buildings under construction. They would be especially gorgeous without the workers and scaffolding covering them. Oh well. Mont St. Michel was very hilly. I tried imagine being a monk walking up and down the side of this mountain like island every day, and I decided that I would have had to quit. As we made our way up the Abbey, (the main attraction) we poked in and out of little shops. After many many steps and hilly side roads, we made it to the Abbey. After purchasing tickets and audio guides, we began our tour through this magnificent cathedral and commune. The architecture very much resembled the other cathedrals we had seen in France. It was dark and rather cool in many of the rooms which proved a relief from the sweltering heat outside. From the terrace of Mont St. Michel, we could see for miles and miles. Normandy was covered with sheep, cows, and green pastures. Jennifer and I really wanted to go frolic with the sheep, but that idea was vetoed by the other members of our group. We grabbed lunch at one of the many restaurants along the streets of Mont St. Michel. We also grabbed a Nutella crepe, as per usual. The walk back to the meeting point was long, but relaxing. We stopped in the local supermarket and grabbed breakfast food for the morning. Our train to London would depart before breakfast was served at the hostel. Sad.

As we climbed into the car with Paul, he commented on the heat and humidity. We acknowledged the heat, but the humidity had gone completely unnoticed to us Floridians. For dinner tonight, we would try out the other restaurant near the hostel. There were two restaurants in the small town of Pontorson. For tonight's dinner, it was crepes. Crepes, crepes, and more crepes. We were becoming addicted. The set menu had an entree crepe along with a dessert crepe. I branched out from the Nutella crepe and tried some sort of fruit filling and it was delicious. I felt a tad healthier, but not much. We called it a rather early night; tomorrow we had to catch a jet plane to London and we needed to pack extra efficiently tonight to ensure all of our bags fit as a carry on. After a short WiFi session in the kitchen, we headed up to our penthouse suite and tucked ourselves in bed for another amazing night of sleep.

Journey to Normandy and Omaha Beach (June 26th)

Today, the four of us were heading to Omaha Beach. We would be taking two trains today: one to Caen to visit the American Cemetery and Omaha Beach, and then one to Pontorson, where we would be staying for the next two nights. Two hour train rides were becoming a breeze, like they're nothing. I keep thinking to myself that when I return to the States, traveling home to Tallahassee is going to feel extremely short. Walking 15 minutes to class won't even compare to the three hours a day that I walk here. I may or may not be looking forward to being able to drive my car again...a lot. Hopefully I still remember how to drive.

Once in Caen, we hailed a taxi to take us to the American Cemetery. Our taxi cab driver was the best driver I've ever had. He spoke amazing English, (thank God) and gave us fun facts about the cemetery and Normandy all along the way. Apparently the French have declared the American Cemetery as part of the United States of America. Similar to an U.S. Embassy. The memorial and cemetery were free of charge. Now I can't possibly do the Memorial and Cemetery justice through describing it, but let's just say that it was humbling to say the very least. From the touching videos and artifacts to the roster of fallen soldiers being played over the intercom, it rendered each of us speechless. There was no moving fast through this memorial, not an option. We spent a solid hour and a half reading all of the boards throughout the building that told the story of D-Day, from years before to the few days after June 6th. I was amazed at how much strategic planning, training, and engineering went into the victory at Normandy. It wasn't like any other war the U.S had fought before, and not just because it wasn't on our turf. There was an extensive amount of careful planning and selection that allowed the U.S to be victorious on that day in June and it was downright amazing.

As we made our way outside and to the cemetery, it was silent sans the birds chirping and the distant sound of the ocean. The skies were dreary, but not dreadful. Somehow, the weather felt exactly appropriate for the site that we were visiting. At the first glimpse of the cemetery, I was brought to tears. We walked around and through the cemetery for a while, taking long pauses every now and then to let it all sink in. For every cross or Jewish star in the cemetery, there was a family that was devastated. Wives, brothers, fathers, and friends were left alone while their loved ones gave the ultimate sacrifice. It was impossible to fully grasp the magnitude of this cemetery and battle, but I tried my best. We climbed down the side of the mountain to Omaha beach. Omaha beach was a bare beach, with no visible traces of what happened there. But, something about it just felt different. Looking out into the ocean, we tried to imagine the boats, planes, and thousands of men wading through the water to the shore. As we climbed back up the side of the hillside, we were struggling making our way up the perfectly cut path and stairs with our 25 pound backpacks on our shoulders. Imagine carrying a backpack and gear weighing over 50 pounds (or a fallen comrade) up the side of this hillside while being shot at, with no sidewalks, just the terrain. My experience at the American Cemetery and Omaha Beach has been my favorite experience thus far. It will forever leave a lasting impression.



Our train to Pontorson (right outside of Mont. St. Michel) was scheduled to leave at 5:10, so we hailed another taxi and made our way back to the train station around 3. We stopped for lunch at a local cafe nearby and relaxed. The food wasn't fantastic, but we were starving, so it was just fine. When we arrived in Pontorson, we were greeted at the train station by Paul, the husband of our host couple. Our hostel this go round was actually a bed and breakfast. Score. Paul and Jane are from the UK, so naturally I was thrilled. He drove us back to the hostel, Au Bon Accueil in his UK car. What an interesting feeling that was. The journey to the house was beautiful. The countryside of Normandy was gorgeous, with fields, trees, and cows everywhere. Cow. Another cow. I could see myself living in a place like Normandy. Our bed and breakfast was unbelievably cute and quaint. The hospitality of this couple was unmatched. Paul had made reservations for us at a "local" British pub because he figured that we would be hungry and all of the kitchens in Normandy close at 8. (It was 8:30). How sweet. He drove us to the restaurant where we proceeded to have a fantastic American meal, burgers and fries. We met some of the other people staying at our hostel, there were only a few of us. When we made it back to our hostel, we tried to hook all of our phones up to WiFi network. Funny thing. It only works in one corner of the dining room. So, for an hour or so, all of us were standing together in the corner holding our phones up to the ceiling, trying to get Internet connection to let our families know that we were safe and sound.

We had the "penthouse suite" according to Jane, and I'll agree that it was pretty nice. I chose to sleep on one of the top bunks. All day. All night. Top bunk! That night, with the room pitch black and a portable fan circulating air, I got one of the bests nights of sleep I've had since I left America. Much needed.

The Louvre and Notre Dame (June 25th)

The Louvre is the most revered museum in Paris, and today we were going to tour it. Because of its popularity, we were determined to get there right as it opened. And we did so. We weren't the first in line, but we were close. Once inside, the Louvre was enormous. I was completely overwhelmed. Our audio guides were on Nintendo 3DS. Which I completely did not understand. We are in the museum. We can see everything in 3D. Oh well. Since we all move at different paces through the museum, (I fly through them apparently) we decided to just set a meeting time of 3 hours later in the main room. Jennifer and I stayed together for the most part, she moves at a quicker pace as well. On our map, that folded out into four floors, we made the goal of seeing all of the art pieces mentioned on the side. So that turned out to six per floor. Now that may sound easy, but the Louvre is absolutely huge. And very much resembles a maze. Some of the classics that we saw included: Venus de Milo, Nike, the Mona Lisa, the Seated Scribe, and the Colossal Statue of Ramesses II. (Which turned out to be not so colossal). For a more accurate description of our feelings towards the Louvre...please see Jennifer's video below. (it's a few minutes in)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yzrVnrrtac&feature=youtu.be

After our adventure at the Louvre, we visited the Eiffel Tower...for the third time. This time we didn't actually make our way to the base of the tower, but rather a few hundred feet away. The goal of this Eiffel Tower visit was to take cheesy touristy pictures of us poking the top of the Eiffel Tower, leaning up against it, and hugging it. It was quite the scene watching hundreds of tourists scattered about the square holding their arms up and moving according to their "photographers'" direction to get that special camera shot. (That everyone else has) However, it was still a pretty cool picture, so I didn't mind too much looking like a tourist. 

 After our quick picture stop, we started walking the Champs Elysee for the second time, but this time in the sun! (Much more pleasant). We stopped in the fanciest McDonald's in Paris for some McFlury's. Jennifer and I had a very difficult time trying to pronounce the French words for "strawberry" and "mango". The waitress just laughed and asked us to speak English. How insulting. Sort of, but not really. It was more of a confirmation that learning new languages is ridiculously challenging. When we reached the top of the Champs Elysee, we hopped on the metro and headed down to see Notre Dame. For me, this was probably my favorite cathedral that we would see during our entire European escapade. It was an absolutely breathtaking cathedral with amazing architecture. It was the most widely known cathedral in Paris. And. There was a fantastic Disney movie made about it. While walking through the Notre Dame, I was astonished at two things. 1) Even though there are dozens of signs that read "Silence, please", people still talk in their normal voices. 2) While looking at the altar, I was approached by an elderly French woman who proceeded to tell me the entire story of Notre Dame...in French. She didn't once pause to see if I was understanding her. So, trying to be as polite as possible, I just nodded my head and said "Oui" a few times before eventually slipping away. 

Dinner tonight was once again courtesy of Jenn's friend. Unfortunately I do not remember the name of this restaurant, but I do remember that it was delicious. This restaurant was another set menu with the three courses for 11 euro. With free water and free bread, I was in heaven before we even ordered. Tonight my meal was: A smoked salmon salad, chicken filet with green beans and fries, and the most delicious chocolate mousse I have ever eaten in my entire life. Somehow, I am going to have to learn to make chocolate mousse back in the States. It's a must. Although we were all completely stuffed, we had a second dessert. Crepes. I had a banana and Nutella crepe and I was in heaven. I may have been in a food coma, but I was in heaven. If I lived in Paris, crepes would be the death of me.

Tomorrow morning, we would leave for Caen to visit the American cemetery and D-Day memorial. From there, we would go to Normandy to spend the next day in Mont St. Michel. Yet another early morning awaited me, but by now I was used to it and eager to get on the train.

Orsay Museum, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysee (June 24th)

Good news: I managed to stay on the bed last night. This morning we were heading to a local market in Paris. After a quick shower, (in the smallest shower known to man) we headed downstairs and across the street to grab fresh pastries before boarding the metro. By the time we stepped off of the metro, it was raining. Welcome to Paris. Despite the rain, the market was in full swing, so we pressed onward, hoods up and umbrellas out. The streets were lined with dozens of tents, ranging in foods from fresh fruits to fresh seafood. And by fresh seafood, I mean a dead fish on ice. Head and all. I picked up some delicious blueberries, bananas (to help with the calf cramps), and some cheese and bread. With the weather quickly worsening, we decided to make our way to the Orsay museum earlier than planned. Get me out of the cold and rain.

The Orsay museum houses mostly oil on canvas paintings with a few sculptures scattered about. Some of the artists' work here include Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Degas, and Rousseau. I'm not a huge fan of paintings, I much prefer sculptures, but it was very cool to see some of these famous artists' paintings in person after studying them in my art history class. Apparently, I go through museums really fast because I finished an hour before the rest of my group. Oops. While killing time in the gift shop, I spotted a Rubix Cube with Claude Monet paintings on it and decided that that would be my "prize" from Paris. I know how to solve the regular Rubix Cube so I figured that this one would be just as easy to solve. False. Unbeknownst to me, the pictures actually change all of the patterns and techniques to solve the Rubix Cube, so instead of it making me feel smart I just got really frustrated for a couple of hours. I have still yet to solve it.

After the museum, although it was still raining, we headed towards the Champs Elysee. Our motto for the day became, "It's okay that it's raining, because it's Paris rain." The Champs Elysee is the most expensive road in Paris. It is lined with hundreds of designer stores and expensive restaurants. I didn't purchase anything, but we had fun playing around in the stores trying on hats and just being goofy. It was a nice break from the awful weather outside and provided some laughter. The Champs Elysee ends right in front of the Arc de Triomphe, or in English pronunciation "Arch de Triumph". Even in the rain, it was a sight to behold. It looks so much bigger in person. I feel like that's my reaction to everything I've seen in Europe so far, but to me it's just amazing how people could build such large structures so long ago that are still standing today. Crazy. While standing under the Arch de Triomphe, we witnessed some sort of military funeral or military service. Couldn't quite understand what was being said (at all), but from having family members in the military, I mostly knew what was going on. 

We had originally planned to go to Notre Dame today as well, but we were exhausted and decided just to head to dinner. Jenn's friend had given her the name of a restaurant in the Latin quarter, so we hopped on the dry metro and headed that way. We did have some difficulty finding the restaurant, but eventually found it. It was called La Citrouille, which means "The Pumpkin". It was a very quaint restaurant, which I loved. We each ordered a three course menu for 14 euro. My meal consisted of: an asparagus and mussel sandwich thing (there's some French term for it I can't remember), sirloin with fries, and a homemade apple tart with vanilla ice cream. It was DELICIOUS. Easily my favorite meal thus far. With the sun starting to go down (it was 10:30 at night), we made our way back to the hostel, all eager to take a warm shower and put on dry clothes. Hopefully tomorrow would be better weather, we still had a lot to get done on our last day in Paris.

Versailles, Eiffel Tower, Euro Cup (June 23rd)

Technically, my second day in Paris began in the middle of the night...when I fell off my bed. I don't remember much other than having really painful calf cramps, turning over, and then ending up on the floor with the mattress on top of me. Jenn woke up at the sound of the crash and asked me what happened. Still unsure myself, I mumbled a response, climbed back in bed and fell back asleep for a few hours. When it was actually time to wake up at 8 a.m., I felt somewhat rested. This morning would begin at the Palace of Versailles. Versailles is extremely easy to find. It's a gigantic, ostentatious mansion. Although we had purchased our tickets online the day before, apparently so had everyone and their mother. We ended up having to wait in line for close to an hour before actually making it inside the building. However, it was worth it. Inside was absolutely gorgeous; French kings know what's up. The audio guide was very informational, interesting, and definitely made the trip worthwhile. I think we spent a solid two hours walking around this mansion, but I'm very glad I went. It's hard to imagine being that wealthy and having a mansion that spans hundreds of acres. I actually don't think I would like it much at all. Well, I might like the giant Hall of Mirrors, but that's it. ;)

After leaving Versailles, we hopped back on an above ground train back to the center of Paris. While on board, two ladies climbed aboard to check our tickets. However, before I was even asked for my ticket, I was reprimanded for having my foot up on the seat in front of me...in French. All I heard was 45 euro. However, to clarify, I left my foot up on the seat and pointed at it, asking in disbelief "45 euro? For my foot?". Yes, for whatever reason, my foot was worth 45 euro. I graciously took my foot off the seat and wiped it down with my jacket. Jenn misplaced her ticket, and was searching frantically for about five minutes before she found it. Turns out, she would have only had to pay 25 euro for not having her ticket. Word to the wise: Watch your feet in France; they aren't joking.

As if walking around a giant mansion all morning wasn't enough exercise, we decided to climb the Eiffel Tower that afternoon. For 9 euro, I bought a ticket to climb the first two floors of stairs and then take the elevator the rest of the way up. There was no "climb to the top" option or I would've done that. Maybe. The walk up to the 2nd floor wasn't that bad, but it wasn't easy either. When I made it to the "top", after catching my breath, I looked over the ledge to see a breathtaking view of the city of Paris. We spent about 30 minutes or so there before waiting in yet another line for the elevator to the summit. The ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower was rather quick and rather crowded. Once at the top, I connected to the convenient WiFi network and phoned my parents. Unfortunately, neither of them answered. SAD. We meandered around for a while before heading back down. The climb down was much easier, as expected.

From the top of the tower, we overlooked Trocadero Square, where we would be watching France play Spain in the Euro Cup later that night. Before the game, however, we needed to get some food in our stomachs. With time pressing, we settled for a semi-local place close to the square. Dinner was good, but nothing to rave about. I had a Frankfurt and fries. As you all know, soccer is THE SPORT of Europe. For tonight's game, a giant TV was set up in Trocadero Square. We didn't arrive in time to get a seat in the actual "square", so we ended up standing on a set of stairs...along with thousands of other people. It was absolute chaos, which made it the experience of a lifetime. With a Nutella crepe in my hand, I was ready for the game. The game itself wasn't particularly thrilling (France lost 0-2) but the atmosphere was wonderful. In a crazy way. I didn't understand anything people were saying, but from hand gestures and volume level of voices, I got the gist of what was going on.

After the game, we walked down to the Eiffel Tower. Just a 10 minute walk away, the Eiffel Tower was stunning at night. As we stood in the grass in front of it, it lit up. Hundreds of lights flickered on and off, lighting up the night sky like stars. As the night drew to a close, we climbed aboard the metro and headed back to the hostel. I hopped in bed and drifted off to sleep, hoping to stay on the bed tonight.

Journey to Paris (June 22nd)

Our first morning of this ten day adventure was going to be an early one. After a very sad goodbye to the St. John's crew, I made my way to my room around midnight. My alarm was set for 2:45 am. I laid in bed, but couldn't sleep. Maybe it was the excitement, or just knowing that I would have to wake up in two hours time, but sleeping was out of the question. After a refreshing early morning shower, I was ready to walk out the door ay 3:45 a.m. Jennifer, Shelley, Jenn, and I took a taxi to the Termini train station where we climbed aboard a 4:30 a.m. shuttle bus to the airport. Upon arriving at the airport, we checked our passports and boarding passes with a very grouchy young man. It's 5:00 a.m. We're all tired buddy. No need to be Mr. Grumpy Gills. Our seats for our flight with RyanAir weren't assigned, so first come first serve. We sat down in line and prepared to board...in an hour. While in line, we made friends. What's new? A young man behind me asked me about my Crossfit shoes which led into a pretty lengthy discussion about Crossfit. Turns out, this guy and his two friends are avid Crossfitters. Small world. Conversations about out favorite WODs (workout of the day) and complaining about how hard Crossfit is kept us busy until it was time to board the plane.

After a brief walk on the tarmac, we secured seats. I tried my best to catch some shut-eye, but was unsuccessful due to two small children in front of me playing the loudest game(s) of UNO in history. I could probably rant for a solid five paragraph essay on parenting in public and what makes me angry, but I'll spare you. Our plane touched town in Paris two hours later and as we walked outside, we were almost blown away. Surprise. Paris is extremely windy and cold during the summer months. We knew coming in that it would be chilly, but we did not expect the 25 mph winds.

Our first day in Paris began in a line. One of many. We waited in a long line outside the airport to board a bus that would take us to the actual city. For whatever reason, (it was cheaper) the airport we flew into was way out in the boondocks. For the next hour and a half, I dozed in and out of sleep. At this point, I had been awake for 26 hours. Someone neglected to tell me that I would have to forfeit sleep during my European escapade. Unfortunately, the bus to the city was only the first of many legs of our journey to the hostel.

Now, I'm only going to go into detail about the metro system once or else my blogs would be extremely long and boring. Paris has 10 metro lines with more stops than I care to count. To get to our hostel, we often changed lines. Our average metro journey to the hostel each night was about 30 minutes. I don't particularly like metros. And by "don't particularly like" I mean hate. Paris forcefully increased my tolerance for the metro system, and at times, my appreciation. We arrived at our hostel around noon or so. After checking in, we took the smallest elevator I've ever been in to the 6th floor. It took us three trips (with four people) to get everyone upstairs. Jenn and I were in one room and Jennifer and Shelley were in the adjacent room. We quickly set out things down and sprinted downstairs to the McDonald's directly below us. Literally. We were way too hungry to care that it was McDonald's; no need to judge.

Today would be one of the longest days of my life, but I was in Paris so it didn't matter. We started our hike at the Sacre Couer Basillica. A truly beautiful building, and gigantic. Walking up the hundred stairs or so to the Sacre Couer, we passed many persistent gypsies trying to sell us everything from hats to Eiffel Tower key chains. No gypsy. Inside the Sacre Couer is beautifully decorated. After a brief walk through, we continued our walk towards the Eiffel tower. We passed through the "Red light district" and saw the famous Moulin Rouge...from the outside of course. To be honest, walking through the condensed "city" part of Paris, I wasn't particularly impressed. From my brief time in Europe, I have confirmed that I would never want to live in a big city. No grazie. Our walk continued for four hours or so, and I was beginning to fade. When we finally made it to the Eiffel Tower (which was awesome) I was too tired to fully appreciate it. At this point, it was 7 o'clock and I had been up for 36  hours straight. We grabbed a "quick" bite to eat at a local creperie and hopped back on the metro to the hostel. I passed out still fully clothed at 10 p.m. 39 hours awake. New record.