Europe

At last, we've made it to Roma! After a stop at the Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi, Italy we've come to the last city of our trip, Rome. The Trevi Fountain is our first sight and it does not disappoint! Plus, I got the perfect Lizzie McGuire coin toss photo. Definitely my favorite sight in Rome, no doubt. While everyone else made their wishes and left for gelato, I took my time to walk all angles of the fountain, simply standing, gazing and listening to the water run. I didn't want to leave but Rome called for another jam-packed day of sightseeing. I am far from complaining though, so much more art to be seen! I got to visit the illusionistic ceilings of churches, the Pantheon, and more Caravaggio! One can never see enough Caravaggio. Day 2 in Rome was also our last, but our day was not any less exciting. Our day started a visit to the Vatican City where we toured St. Peter's Basilica and made our way inside the Sistine Chapel where I may or may not have...

Benvenuti a Italia! It's been a long train ride and I missed the snow-filled Switzerland stop, but we've arrived in Florence and like always, there's no time to waste and immediately start roaming the cobblestone roads. There's beautiful statues on every road, amazing architecture, and I can actually see and feel the sun! We start our walk towards the Palazzo Vecchio and soon find ourselves amidst a replica of the statue of David as well as the gallery of statues. Having saved the best foods for last, we took a lunch break at a restaurant in the plaza where our party of 10 quickly learned that Italians do not make separate checks. Anyway, we enjoyed our free time walking the crowded shopping strips and eating some savory gelato! It was not long until we realized that Florence isn't so big and there wasn't much to do outside of the museums, so we did just that, we went to museums. There was no way we could leave Florence without seeing Botticelli's T...

It's now day 3 in Paris and it feels like we've seen it all! I am now an engaged woman as of the night before when my now fiancé surprised me in front of the Eiffel Tower and proposed. What else could possibly amaze me? The Louvre of course! Musée du Louvre is filled with so much art that it would take two months to see everything for two minutes each! My fiancé, travel partner, and I jetted straight for the Mona Lisa fighting the urge to look at anything on the way because we knew how crowded it would get later on. Sure enough there was already a crowd, but small enough to where we managed to get a photo with the famous lady as close as literally possible. The distance was not close enough, which was very disappointing. I knew the painting was small but I thought I'd get to get up close to see Da Vinci's brushstrokes, the colors, maybe get to walk around the painting to see her eyes follow, but I got to see the Mona Lisa! We spent the next hour trying to see as m...

Paris, j'arrive! London was a great welcoming especially since English was still the language of the people, but I was so ready for the city of love! As soon as we landed we had a quick lunch break, ate some delicious baguette sandwiches, and walked towards the BEAUTIFUL Notre Dame. Notre Dame was an amazing representation of the architecture in France. Incredibly high ceilings, life-like statues, and exquisite stained glass windows! I took about 30 videos of Notre Dame because I didn't feel as if pictures would do it any justice. Determined to get the perfect travel photos, my travel partner and I thought it'd be a great idea to photograph with pigeons, it was terrifying! But it did make for some awesome photos.. We then walked down the Square Jean XXIII, admired the landscaping down the Seine river, and met up with our group for a lovely dinner in an underground cave. It's been a lovely night but a group of us just couldn't wait another night to see the Eif...

We've roamed around Soho and have had the famous fish and chips. It is now day 2 in London and some crazy early time in the morning. Headed straight for the Wembley station next door to our hotel where we are introduced to the tube for the first time, London's underground transportation system. A few stops later and we've arrived in the London Borough of Southwark, on the south bank of the River Thames. We experience European rain for the first time, toured Shakespeare's Globe, and even fed some reindeer on our lunch break. We've done everything the itinerary has called for and the night is ours. My travel partner and I have set off on a mission to find the Harley Davidson store. We hop back on the tube and make our way down some long, dark neighborhood streets and voalá! We find the large Warr's Harley Davidson doors and buy some shirts for our men back home. It was one heck of a journey, but we definitely became experts navigating the tube and even got to ...

London, we've arrived! It's been a long 11 hour plane ride with a 3 hour layover in Atlanta in between. It's my first time overseas and I could not be more excited as I roll my giant baggage through the Heathrow airport. My roommates and I freshen up in the airport bathroom, or as the British say, toilettes. We load the tour bus and go straight into the city, hello Trafalgar Square! Immediately the square is filled with the breathtaking sound of a violinist, chalk artists covering the grounds, levitating street performers on every corner! Right behind me, the National Gallery! Free time is announced and right away my travel partner and I take the opportunity to go inside, not knowing we'd be going as a group afterwards. No regrets were had as the art majors inside us were walking with our jaws dragging. Every wall was filled with the most amazing paintings as seen in our textbooks including, Van Gogh, Cézanne, Degas, Monet, Rembrandt, Caravaggio! I could not believe m...