France.

Liz and I had an opportunity to take a weekend trip to Paris through our school but we decided to pass that up and take on France on our own. The day after we got back from Italy we hopped on a plane and headed to Montpellier, France to stay with a relative of mine and her husband who are living there for a year. We stayed in Montepellier two full days and did a lot of walking around on our own and just exploring the city... we found some interesting things...

Like guys playing the didgeridoo...
... and people wearing colorful gear and playing music.
We climbed up some stairs to a looking point to watch the sunset - here is a pic of my cousin, Beth, and her husband, Scott.
View of Montpellier.

It was pretty drizzly when Liz and I went...


This is church is very well-known, although I don't really remember what it was called.
After our nice little visit to Montpellier, Liz and I boarded the train and took a 4 hour ride to Paris. Ahead of time we decided we only needed 12 hours to take on France, boy did we.

When we arrived it was snowing... didn't make for the best site-seeing day, but I mean we were in Paris, so the weather didn't really matter.
Our first stop was Notre Dame.



Next up, Eiffel Tower!


After that we hit up the Louvre. We didn't bother going inside because a) it takes days to conquer the Louvre and b) the only thing I really wanted to see was the Mona Lisa and after finding out it is a really small painting I lost my desire to see it for some reason. Maybe the next time I'm in Paris I'll hit up the Louvre (and definitely see it at night when the courtyard is lit up).


And of course, the Arc de Triomphe. We didn't climb the Eiffel Tower but we did climb the Arc, which had some good views.







We finished our early evening back off at the Eiffel Tower to get some nighttime shots.



We arrived in Paris at approximately 11am and were supposed to leave at 8pm. However, when we got to the Eurostar/train station, we found out the Eurostar was temporarily shut down due to all the heavy snow London/Western Europe had been receiving. Which you know, we didn't mind spending the night in Paris except for the fact that our flight back to the states left London the next day. So that was a little troublesome and frightening.

So Liz and I grabbed a room at a nearby hotel and could only laugh at the canundrum (spelling?) we were in. The train station was supposed to open back up at 6am but we wanted to make darn sure we were one of the first people in line so we got up at 3:30am to get in line. It was a good thing we got up so early - there were only about 20 people ahead of us and within an hour our arrival there hundreds upon hundreds of people in line. By 6am there were literally thousands of people waiting in line to get on the Eurostar back to London. Thankfully it was a first come first serve basis and we were on the first train back to London. What normally would only take 2.5 hours, our ride took 4 hours because of the lowered speed limits (because of all the snow).

Once we got back to London, Liz and I had barely just enough time to grab our other luggage stored across town and then take the hour cab ride out to Heathrow airport. And thankfully furthermore, our flight wasn't one of the 75% flights cancelled.

Needless to say, those last 1-2 days spent in Europe were spent in a slight travel stress mode so Liz and I were definitely glad to be back home in America!!

Italy Checklist.

Here is a summarized checklist of Italy:

-Tossed a coin over my shoulder in the Trevis Fountain.
-Got a neckache from staring up at the Sistine Chapel.
-Climbed to the top of the Spanish Steps.
-Visited St. Peter's Square.
-Saw where the Pope lives.
-Stared 350 feet up the dome of St. Peter's Basilica.
-Ate almost every kind of pasta there is: rigatoni, gnocchi, lasagna, tortellini, fettuccine, and ravioli.
-Toured Rome's most iconic landmark: The Colosseum.
-Spent my life's savings on leather goods at Florence's San Lorenzo Market.
-Saw Michelangelo's three greatest works: Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Dome, David.
-Consumed my body weight in gelato.

Italy - Day 7 (Venezia)

The trip to Venice was very short - we only arrived yesterday morning and left this afternoon already. Our last morning was spent with Tony showing us a few more churches and other sites. One of the islands we visited was called "The Ghetto" because that is where the ironworkers used to live (way back when).

Venice used to have a strong Jewish population because they served as the primary financial sector. In the Ghetto (pictured below) they have a memorial set up to commemorate all of the Jews that were sent to death camps from Venice (also way back when).

After that we took the boat back to Piazzo San Marco, this time actually going inside the Basilica. It was astonishing - the inside was covered in mosaics - two tiny bricks of glass put together with a layer of paint in the middle - can you imagine how long that would have taken to complete???(another picture stolen from the Internet... I wanted you to see the mosaics)

Next to the basilica is Doge's Palace (pictured above) which is connected to the prison next door via the Bridge of Sighs (picture below). The reason it is called the Bridge of Sighs is because that is the last view convicts would have of Venice before they were imprisoned.

Another view of the outside of the Basilica.

For our "last lunch" we went to another little family owned restaurant where we tried squid as an appetizer!

The walls of the restaurant were completely covered with pictures and drawings from guests so we decided to make our own drawing and hang it up on the wall :) We each signed our name from the state we came from and of course Tony being from England had to draw his own country.



After lunch we headed back to the hotel, packed up, and went to the airport to fly back to London. This weeklong adventure to Italy was definitely a highlight of my trip abroad - CAN'T WAIT to return.. someday!! :)

Italy - Day 6 (Venezia)

Goodbye Florence – Hello Venice!

Venice is unlike any city. No roads. No vehicles. No wheeled anything. Just beautiful canals that weave through the 95 islands that comprise Venice. The city has this bizarre quietness to it since there are no vehicles – which is awesome.

First things first, Tony started our endeavors in Venice with of course lunch and then a walking tour. Our first stop was Fran Church where at the high alter is placed the painting Assumption by Titian. The painting is really cool because of its different “levels” – heaven and earth.

Our walk didn’t really last too long because it was ridiculously freezing out (December isn’t thee best time to visit Italy… just a heads up) but we still got to see the famous Rialto Bridge, Rialto markets, Piazza San Marco, and outside the San Marco Basilica.

(Piazzo San Marco)(San Marco Basilica)

(Rialto Bridge, above, view from Rialto bridge, below)

Other miscellaneous Venice pictures:








Since there are no streets/vehicles Venice’s form of public transportation is obviously boats. So to get back to the hotel we took a 40 minute boat ride down the Grand Canal. Like I mentioned earlier, it was frigid outside and needless to say only three of us toughed it out and sat on the deck the entire ride (the North Dakotan and the two from Michigan…we know how to handle our weather!). Here is a pic of Noel and I bearing the cold:Since this was our final evening in Italy the group went out for “The Last Supper.” This time I had tortiglioni with duck (I really should have taken more pictures of what I ate… oops). The rest of the evening was spent with drinking wine at the hotel and reminiscing about the amazing semester all of us just experienced abroad.