I just returned from my whirlwind 2-week vacation throughout Europe. After taking my Danish oral midterm on Friday afternoon I hopped on a plane with Jennifer and Kelsie to Paris. We arrived in the evening and made our way into the city to stay at my friend Evan’s apartment for the night. The next day I met up with my parents and brother! We spent a few more days in Paris and then ventured to Venice, Cinque Terre, and Rome for the rest of the week. Post-eurotripping with the family, I met up with Kelsie and two of my friends from Bowdoin and we explored Prague and Amsterdam for the second week. There a lot of pictures so if you make it to the end of this...props. It was a fantastic (and totally exhausting) two weeks – so great to see my parents, to explore so many amazing places, and to travel with my friends.
My parents arrived on Saturday morning and before I met up with them (and before Matt arrived) they wandered around the Luxembourg Gardens by our hotel.
Meet Skype, the adorable and playful cat who lives at Hotel St. Paul. He became our new best friend for 3 days. He loved coming into the room and hiding in the desk or just sitting in the shower. One night he even played with my dirty tissue...I’ve been animal deprived for the past 3 months so it was great to have Skype around.
We tried to visit the Catacombs, but the line was infinitely long so we instead we went to Cimitière de Montparnasse.
The graves were beautiful, especially with all the trees around it – the most notable was probably Jean Paul Sartre. People left all kinds of things on the graves – letters, pictures, and Metro tickets.
My friend Eliza (from Bowdoin) is studying abroad in Toulouse, France and happened to be traveling to Paris with her program so we were able to meet up. It was so great to see her!
Our next stop was the Champs-Elysées and L’Arc de Triomphe.
This is the view from the top of the Arc de Triomphe. Also, funny story...I was under the distinct impression that the only way to cross the roundabout to get to the Arc was to cross the road and pray cars didn’t hit you. I found out soon after risking my life and crossing that there is an underpass. Oops. At least it was an adrenaline rush!
This was a cute little French restaurant we my parents and I went to with Eliza (Matt was too sick with the flu for the few days to join in the fun...so unfortunate). The waiter at this place was so classically rude. But the food was good!
The Eiffel Tower by day...
The Eiffel Tower by night...We made sure to time it right so we could see it light up – it does so on the hour every hour for about 5 minutes. It was so much more beautiful at night.
As we walked to the Louvre for our tour, we crossed this bridge and it was so pretty so I made us stop so I could snap a picture.
The Mona Lisa. (In all honesty...slightly underwhelming. But cool to say I’ve seen it!)
My dad and I outside the Louvre after our tour. We were a bit tired after walking for 3 hours and hearing all the stories about each piece of artwork, but ready to see Notre Dame.
And voila! Notre Dame. After the Louvre my parents went back to retrieve Matt from the hotel and bring him back to tour the inside of Notre Dame. Meanwhile I wandered around the streets of Paris and explored.
I’ve never been a big fan of macaroons, but I tried one in Paris and it was delicious. I had to keep going back to a store by our hotel to get coconut macaroons...I just couldn’t resist.
The day my parents and Matt arrived in Paris, my friends and I abandoned them after dinner to go to the Pitchfork Music Festival where Bon Iver was headlining. He was AMAZING. Legitimately.
On every bridge that we crossed there were always locks hanging from the railings. They’re supposed to signify everlasting love and they always looked so pretty glistening in the sun.
Apple Store in the Louvre. That’s normal.
Just a pretty fountain outside of the Paris City Hall that I stumbled upon while wandering and waiting for my parents and Matt to return.
Our last night in Paris we took a boat tour on the Seine. Seeing everything at night was gorgeous (though most of the pictures were blurry), but my fingers were frozen from the cold by the end. Luckily we got a classic French meal afterwards in a hole in the wall restaurant that Eliza found.
One of my first glimpses of Venice as we sat on the water boat on the way to our hotel.
Our hotel was so nice - each room got a complimentary champagne bottle which we proceeded to take with us on the train the next day. A nice little treat.
From the airport we got a ride in a van and then a water taxi to our hotel. Just casually arrived by boat and climbed through the water gate. LOVE.
Venice! We were only there for less than 24 hours, but we had our first taste of delicious Italian pasta, took a Gondola ride on the canals at night, and took a walking tour of the city. It was quite the adventure.
After dinner at an amazing restaurant, my mom and I walked around the city before heading back to the hotel for bed. We wandered around San Marco Piazza, which was wicked pretty at night.
This is the clock tower in San Marco Piazza. It took us a little while to figure out how to read it, but we eventually got it.
Venetian canals...just as pretty as all the pictures I've seen depicted.
We never got a chance to go to the islands off Venice because we had so little time, but they looked beautiful and I will definitely be back for a second and longer adventure in Venice.
Cinque Terre, which consists of 5 small towns, was by far the most beautiful place we went to throughout the week. The week before we got there the last 2 towns were flooded, so we could only walk along the paths for the first 3 (Riomaggiore, Manarola, and Corniglia).
Along the path, there were hundreds and hundreds of locks on the railings as well as writing on all the rocks and walls (and plants actually). It was fun to stop and read what we could (most was in Italian). It was a lot “Hilary & Jack” forever with a heart around it, etc, etc.
Matt and I.
My dad, Matt, and my mom with Cinque Terre in the background. One of my favorite pictures of the trip!
Gorgeous walking path!
People write on the plants...intense.
Artsy!
These are the Spanish Steps in Rome. Our hotel (which was more of an apartment style room) was located right in this Piazza and my balcony actually looked out onto the top of the steps. Great location to say the least.
Throwing a U.S. penny into Trevi Fountain. Woohoo – it means I’ll be back to Rome at some point (I really do hope to return someday).
Our first day in Rome we hit most of the major sites, including Piazza Navona. The square was really pretty and the statues were so intricate.
On our last day in Rome we were walking along a street in the direction of the Colosseum and we stumbled upon this marching band in a nearby square. They were so good!
Mom and Dad right before we went to the Colosseum.
Beautiful Roma
My Danish roommate went on a similar Euro adventure and recommended this place to me before I left. It was absolutely delicious - 3 euro for a whole pizza?! Can't get better than that. Thanks Morten!
The Pantheon. It was honestly so cool to be standing in a place filled with so much history and the inside was beautiful.
This guy was just sitting in the square and I couldn’t resist taking a picture. So funny.
Greetings from St. Peter’s Basilica!
Also on our first day we took a tour of the Vatican. Our tour guide was definitely one of the best I’ve ever had – she engaged the group and clearly loved every bit of the history she was sharing. I thought I wasn’t really going to like the Vatican, but I ended up really enjoying it (though I was again exhausted by the end of the tour).
The Roman Forum with the ruins of various ancient buildings.
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| More pictures of the Roman Forum - what used to be the "heart" of Ancient Rome. |
Matt in front of some random arch that was on the map (I don't remember the name) that we happened to stumble upon on our self-guided walking tour.
One morning my parents and I went on an Angels & Demons tour, so Matt and I were left to fend for ourselves. We legitimately wandered from one end of Rome to the other and stumbled across so many different churches and cool streets, Basilica Di Santa Cecilia being one of them.
The Colosseum. The day we went started off with bright blue skies and streaming sunlight, but by the time we got in line to get tickets for this landmark the sky was getting really dark and it had started to rain. Oh well – at this point I’m used to the bipolar weather! Here again it was quite amazing to be standing in a place with so much history.
We took a stroll along the Ponte Sisto bridge. I just thought this was a cool picture J
I literally ate my weight in pasta in Italy. I don’t think I’ve ever had that much pasta in 5 days than I have before. Luckily we got some to bring back so we can continue eating it when I return. They had all kinds of fun shapes of homemade pasta, including bikes, airplanes, and more!
White chocolate Nutella?!? My friends and I were supposed to patent that...guess we were a bit too late.
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