Vespas through Tuscany

Before I even begin, I’d like to say this entry describes my favorite day thus far in Europe and one of my most favorite/ BEST days of my entire life. No exaggeration.

Florence is really Americanized as a lot of people study abroad there and is very touristy. As a result, there are tons of English speaking people and not as much Italian culture. We decided to escape a bit. We considered doing some wine tasting for some delicious Chianti wine. The best decision ended up to rent Vespas for the day!

As we left our hostel, we invited some of our Cinque Terre friends to join us. Some decided to head to other parts of Italy, but a whole bunch of us still went to rent the Vespas. We also met up with a girl named Rachell and her roommate, both from Cal Poly and studying in Florence. We all headed over to the scooter rental, had a few challenges finding the random warehouse, and walked a lot. In Italy, red numbers mean that a location is a business. Black numbers mean that the location is a residence. So the numbers aren’t chronological, so obviously 33 would be next to 70.

The scooter gentleman was a bit grumpy because some American boys had crashed his vespa the day before. He charged them about 1500 euros (2,200 some bucks… about the price to buy a cheap or used vespa I believe). So he had enough vespas for 3 of us and a 6000cc motorcycle for Jason to ride. Jason, one of our friends from Australia, actually had the same model motorcycle back home, otherwise there is no way he could have learned to drive and control it that day.

When we finally rented the scooters, we all had to promise we had driven a vespa before. Which was true for some, except for in my case when I learned how to drive it through the city of Florence. Which is, by the way, one of the busiest, most chaotic driving cities that I’ve ever experienced. And Italians, like all European drivers, are terrible! So I was scared out of my mind, but once I got the hang of it, it was AMAZING!! I was also really stoked about my protective gear… AKA my POWERPUFF GIRLS helmet!!

When we first got out of the city, we hit a series of really windy, twisty, and narrow country roads. It was a little nerve-wracking at first, but once we got the jist of it, it was really great!! Then all of a sudden, after our scooters climbed a few great hills, we looked over and had an entire panoramic view of the city of Florence tucked into wine country and beautiful rolling hills.

All of us were awestruck at once and let out hollers and hoots of excitement. The 4 of us were like a little pack of Harley motorcycle men rolling through the countryside having a blast. Eventually I handed over the driving privileges to Rachell and tagged onto Nick’s vespa. I actually liked this a lot because I could enjoy the countryside scenery to the fullest. We had a blast on the trip, singing songs at the top of our lungs over the sound of the wind and into the countryside. I’ve never felt so free with the wind blowing against us and the countryside disappearing beside us.

We stopped in a vineyard to take a few photos until an Italian lady yelled at us in Italian to leave her land. It was there in this vineyard that the concept of city life and the hustle and bustle of reality melted away. The vast countryside encompassed the entire expanse of my vision. For miles and miles around was just the beauty of Tuscany. A better treat was that November was about to hit (it was Halloween, October 31^st) and the leaves had just begun to change. Reds, yellows, and baby hits of green leaves were on the horizon softly touching the baby blue skies and big fluffy clouds. The scenery was unbelievable and something that I will never. Ever. Ever. Forget.

After our first stop, we headed off to San Gimignano, a medieval fortress town in the middle of Tuscany. I got to ride with Jason on his motorcycle. It was such a thrill!! It went SO much faster than a vespa and was so agile. We would lean and move with the bike, feeling completely free. I was a bit scared because the bike would accelerate so quickly, but it was still a blast. We passed a whole bunch of really small trucks chugging along with giant milk jugs in the back of their wagons. It really was the countryside, that’s for sure.

On the way, we passed tons of signs saying EMPOLI this way. I really wanted to go there, but who knows what was there, except for my people of course. But we didn’t go there. We finally got to San Gimignano, and we were all actually really cold because of the wind chill and the sun beginning to disappear. It was about 3 o’clock. Once in the town, I found a bakery that made 5 different kinds of marzipan cookies and 3 types of marzipan cakes. It was a really hard decision picking which ones to get, so I got wayyy more than one kind. J I loved the town because it literally felt like we went back a few hundred years and were hanging out in the Renaissance era. We saw a couple finishing their wedding at the church, which was really beautiful. Then we all went to this giant well ( I would have liked to get water out personally), but instead opted for a photo session to remember the medieval town.

Then we realized that we needed to hustle back into the city to return our bikes before close. We had gotten a special deal if we came back early, so off we went. I’m not sure why we decided to head back a different route, but we did. And we got really really lost. There are dozens of traffic circles in all the little Italian towns with arrows pointing to different towns. So we followed lots of arrows, turned around a bunch, and watched the sunset go down. Once we almost got on the “motorway” AKA the highway- as in vespas on a highway. Dangerous. Don’t worry, this never happened!! We encountered a spectacular sunset which is pretty much only in our memories as none of us could take photos. But it was unbelievable and almost too beautiful for words. But as the sun disappeared, so did our warmth, and we were all freezing and shaking cold. The Aussi boys were only wearing shorts so that was insane. We passed by real Harley biker men who were wearing full leather suits for warmth and protection and asked us (through hand motion since we don’t speak Italian) if we were freezing. Yes. We were freezing and all huddled against our Vespa buddies for any source of warmth! Me and Nick were chattering and Julie couldn’t feel her hands—but it was still a great drive back… until we got into the city. It was traffic hour and we were pretty lost. We spent so much time learning how to get out of the city that we didn’t really ask how to get back in. We had a few maneuverability issues, one way street issues, and driving on sidewalk scenarios, but don’t fear- we made it back in 1 piece. We even figured out how to fill up gas in Italy (a tricky scenario). Once back, the man who owned the shop was so happy! And Rachell said she’d recommend it to all her friends in Florence, so we was even more happy.

Then we had the most delicious hot chocolate of all time. The hot choco in Italy (and Prague too as we’d find out soon) is more like a bar of Hershey’s chocolate melted with a bit of milk. Pure Chocolate deliciousness and warmth.

Then we headed to Rachell’s apartment for some homemade gnocchi pesto and other pastas, bruchetta, salads, and that delicious Chianti wine. Our aussi friend made tiramisu from scratch. I watched him do it… it was yummy! We topped off the evening with the world’s greatest gelato, walked around the city, and officially declared it one of the greatest days of all time. Unanimous vote. Loved it so much that I’m actually smiling from ear to ear right now!

Pisa & Firenze, Italia

On our way to Florence (Firenze) from Cinque Terre, we stopped at the Leaning Tower of Pisa. (I like the name Firenze a lot by the way. wouldn't it be cool to name a child Firenze... they'd be a sweet person) We didn’t do much but look at it and its sideways nature. Pretty much The Leaning Tower is the only thing in Pisa. Except for a huge McDonalds in the train station with Pizza on the menu and a bar that serves alcohol and espresso.

Don’t worry, I didn’t eat at Mc Donalds while I was in Italy. .. So the Leaning Tower first tilted because the soil under its foundation abruptly shifted.

Also, it tilts even more (about 1-2 m per year) due to the number of tourists who head up its steps to the top. Currently, it is considered a stable building however, but to me, tilting/slanting/leaning while in a building is always a bit sketchy. Okay, so for your enjoyment, I held up the Leaning Tower (the 1^st tourist of ALL time to take a photo like this!! It was my idea! Just kidding, everyone was doing it) and then I kicked it over. The photo of the 3 of us I swear the guy overcompensated and made the tower straighter then it is.

We hopped on the train for the rest of the way to Florence. I was personally STOKED as we stopped through a town called EMPOli.

So cool. Took a photo. We got to our hostel, and it was a treat! It was cheap, like 20 euro a night, and it was incredible. Like a hotel for students only. It had a bar, restaurant, swimming pool, gym, sauna, and was SO clean! We were really stoked about it. We were in an 8 person dorm so we got to meet a bunch of people including meeting up with the friends we made in Cinque Terre. We went to this buffet which is really typical style in Italy where you buy 1 drink and get an all you can eat buffet dinner with it. The dinner was delicious because it was all typical Italian dishes, but not pasta or pizza- so it was like beans, veggies, salads, etc Italian Style. We ate. So. Much. Thank goodness for the hostel’s gym!

In the morning, we went straight to see the David at the Accademia Gallery. We saw a whole bunch of really interesting photography that is supposed to mimic the style of the David in modern day. Then all of a sudden we stepped out into a corridor and there he was, The David himself. Wow.

What an incredible statue; like I said before, Michelangelo was so remarkably artistic and talented. He looks like a real person in full stance. It is believed that it is the moment right before he sends his slingshot to hit Goliath, and he is deep in thought about this moment. His right hand is extremely out of proportion,

allegedly intentional. His private areas are much too small/ out of proportion for his body size, again because it represents that he was a true thinker and not motivated by sex like most men of the time (or really of all time ha). His forehead is scrunched like his thoughts are completely immersed in the moment. I personally like his hair and his torso the best because if you closed your eyes and opened them slowly, it looked like a real person. I snuck 2 pictures of the real thing, again not allowed. There are 3 David statues in Florence, 1 is real seen here, 1 is fake, and the other is also fake and made of bronze. Nick, Julie, and I took a photo with the fake one shown here.

We enjoyed wandering around Florence afterwards, stopping at the Duomo, Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore. Again another magnificent Dome, but the exterior is coolest- it looks like a giant shell made out of marble.

Next door are the “Gates of Paradise,” named by Michelangelo,-- spectacular gold doors with ornate scenes from the Old Testament etched into the doors. I loooved these doors and could have stared at the artwork for hours!

We walked across the giant bridge called The Ponte Vecchio, one of the 3 oldest bridges in the world!! It wasn’t destroyed in WWII and is flooded with tourists who look at the jewelry shops lining the entire bridge. I loved its view at night as well.

Today is the day we discovered the best, yes, the BEST gelato in all of Italy. It is just 2 bridges over from Pont Vecchio, called La Carraia. It was so smooth and creamy. I personally loved dark chocolate (obviously), Chocolate orange (reminded me of those orange chocolate sticks you get me from Trader Joes, Yee Ma), Cookies, and Black Cherry.

MMM. So we were in heaven with the gelato. I tell you, we went to soo many places and this really just was the best! Later that night in Florence we met up with the guys from Cinque Terre and met some of the Aussis and guys studying abroad in London in our room. It was really fun in Florence, but the next blog to come is the best part of Florence/ Tuscany. You’ll see!!

Cinque Terre, Italia!! (aka paradise)

Cinque Terre is quite possibly the most beautiful place in the world that I have yet visited. It is a series of 5 towns in the Italian Riveria that overlook the Mediterranean Sea. The towns are connected by a train and by small hiking paths alongside the edge of the cliffs that look out onto the water. The 5 towns are built into the mountainside, each building painted a bold and fun color like pink, red, yellow, or green. It is exactly how I’d imagine a little Italian village to be! As you can imagine, it is swarming with tourists in the summertime, but for the last week of October, it was not too busy.

Our hostel was interesting, since it wasn’t a hostel. It was basically an apartment with a kitchen, a bathroom downstairs and outside, and as many bunk beds as was possible to fit in that space without it being extremely awkward. We made some good friends there from Australia and also from the states, all of which we met in Florence later on either by accident or by planning to meet. Still, we had a blast making pasta with fresh sauce and ingredients in the apartment, sharing wine, and talking about our

experiences traveling through Europe. That night, we saw the world's most breathtaking sunset. In the picture to the left you can see the magnificent colors, but I personally was a huge fan of the swirling purple and red that hit the blue softly before blending into the ocean. This picture doesn't really show the purple, but you can see how I was lost for words at the beauty of the sunset.

The next morning, Nick, Julie and I got up for the 12k hike (about 8 miles) through all 5 towns. It was SO worth the hike, which was strenuous only at parts, but mostly breathtakingly beautiful as we followed the waterline and looked on into the villages built into the hills. We stayed in the first town, Riomaggiore, and hiked from there to Manarola. This first path is called Via dell’ Amore, which is basically the most romantic part of the villages hike. It is the street of love and features what’s called a lock love tree. Every couple that comes writes their names or initials on a pad lock, kiss and make a wish before throwing the key out into the ocean to symbolize their eternal love. It sounds really romantic. There were SO many locks because it is probably the most romantic place in Europe and because it is a huge place for honeymooners.

Then we got to Manarola. This was a smaller town, so we hiked to the top of the village and looked down from the church onto the ocean. This village is famous for this light nativity scene built into the winery (vineyards along the hills in the coastline) every Christmas.

There were hundreds of cats throughout the villages, and I was able to get some really cool shots of the cats in cute places. I even stumbled across one grey and one black cat, the only ones like that that I saw in the entire area, and they were together. Cute, huh? Reminded me of my Bubba Sable and Thelmy.

So the 3^rd town, Corniglia, you had to hike up a windy staircase really far to get to the top. Once at the top, the town was really small but had tons of tiny alleyways that we explored. We found a hike town to the water and the rocks where we enjoyed a bit of Nutella with cookies and watched a cute couple slicing mussels from the rocks for a tasty dinner. The hike back up wasn’t as fun as it was down, but we had the prospect of a late lunch for the next city and set off at full speed.

This next hike to the 4^th town was long, yet beautiful. Once we got to the 4^th town, Vernazza, I quickly decided it was my all time favorite town. I think some of you will be getting postcards from here, actually just you Mom I think. It had a little marina for small boats docked around it. We had ammmmazing pizza at the top of the town before heading down for what is supposed to be the creamiest and tastiest gelato in Cinque Terre. It was yummy, though the best would be yet to come. We wandered onto the rocks and just watched as dusk began to hit the spot where the sky and the ocean blend into one. We hurried to catch the last of daylight so we could see most of the sunset in the final town of Monterosso al Mare.

The last hike was the longest, just shy of 2 hours or so. A funny British family was reading about the hike at the entrance and a boy turned to his dad and said, “2 hours, do I get a metal at the end if I finish it?!” We hurried along and the path got much more narrow as this was wine country as well as olive country. We were surrounded by lush trees and plants as well as a few streams and waterfalls. It was so beautiful, I felt like we were in a forest in the Amazon or something. Nick tried an olive off of the tree, which was apparently, really really gross. It was bitter and disgusting, he said. So we have no idea what exactly people do to make real olives delicious, but I’m glad they did make them delicious. We actually got a bit lost on this trail as there was a fork in the road and ended up in a vineyard but our 3 heads put together figured out the right way. We passed this seriously intense Bear Grylls status Italian guy who was hiking the trail with a giant stick and no shoes. I thought of taking off my shoes too. Just kidding.

We finally saw the sunset right before we hit Monterosso. The views onto the water were like reflective mirrors with sun just barely peaking around the last of the mountains. Beautiful. We hit town just as it got dark and had fun wandering around the city.

It was light up with huge lanterns, which remind me of Venice looking back on both. We hit up this delicious dark chocolate gelato place, and none of us really wanted gelato, but then we tried it and couldn’t resist. It was the perfect end to a long hike!

Then we took the train back, relaxed with the guys in our hostel (who took a midnight swim in the Mediterranean… pretty chilly I think.), and made some dinner. Riomaggiore at night is a spectacular sight as well. The beach we went to was really cool, made out of huge perfectly round stones. The moon had an ominous reflection onto the ocean too since it was almost a full moon. It reminded me of all the times I used to find the moon when I was little with you Dad.

It was an incredible day, one that I’ll probably never forget for the rest of my life. I feel so lucky to have been able to visit this picturesque village and hope to go back one day!

Vatican City, Italia

The next morning we woke up really early, around 6am to head off to the Vatican City. We were the first in line, but had to wait around an hour for the gates to open. Once inside, we all shared an audio guide (something we actually did for almost all of the museums and such) to hear about the exhibits.

When you first walk in is a giant courtyard featuring a large pinecone, designed (like almost everything famous in Italy) by Michelangelo.

We passed through years and years of Catholic history from Pope’s artistic collections to their actual apartments designed with beautiful artwork all around the walls. I really enjoyed the hallway of the Maps which featured tapestries and maps of ancient Italian territories from long ago.

At the end of the exhibit, which takes about 4 hours to walk through at a pretty brisk pace with enough time to see everything relatively thoroughly, we found ourselves in the magnificent Sistine Chapel. I was completely mesemerized by the beauty that Michelangelo created with this chapel. At the base layer surrounding the building is a giant painting that creates the illusion that you are standing next to a wall covered in drapery/curtains. The next layer depicts the major stories of Jesus’ life from the New Testament.

Then a series of 6 windows per side with portraits of the most famous Popes (up until around 1500) in between. On the ceiling is the greatest part of which I stared the longest… a series of Old Testament stories including God creating Man (Adam and Eve) and Moses. The back wall, okay I take it back, I stared at the back wall the longest, shows Michelangelo’s depiction of the Last Judgment. The detail is incredible. He painted the ceiling around age 35 and the wall around age 60, and you can see how his ideologies and religious view points morphed and matured through the years. There were angry Italian guards who ran around saying “SHHH, no talking. And NOOO PHOTO. NOO PHOTO!” So, no photos were allowed, but I sneaked one just of the ceiling. So enjoy that!

Afterwards, we went to Old Bridge for gelato. MM and met our friend Leslie to visit Saint Peter’s Basilica. This is the most magnificent church in the entire, no exaggeration, ENTIRE WORLD! I absolutely loved every moment of it, and why shouldn’t it be the best church in the world, it is the center of Catholicism in Vatican City, Rome! It is where the Pope himself gets to perform mass. I would have loved to see him perform mass, but sadly we weren’t able to. The lines are unreal when he does too. Anyways, we climbed the Dome up to the top. It was quite the trek but we had breathtaking, panoramic views of all of Rome.

We could see St. Peter’s Square, where the Pope makes weekly addresses, the Colosseum, Vatican City, and all the surrounding buildings. I loved the view, however the climb itself was interesting… It was very narrow and wind-ey, or as some would say, claustrophobic.

We spent hours in the actual Basilica, staring at the dome and the ornate carvings and paintings around the entire church.

There was a stream of light coming in over St. Peter’s tomb and hitting his Papal Throne (St. Peter is the first Pope of the Catholic Church, named by Jesus Himself), which felt unrealistically holy and beautiful. The only word to describe this church is utterly majestic. I was completely awestruck and taken aback by the beauty of this building and the holy sense that reverberated from every wall. We headed downstairs to the Papal Catacombs, which was weird.

They’re the tombs of the deceased popes, each of which above ground and greatly decorated out of huge marble slabs. Pope John Paul II’s tomb was the 2^nd largest to St. Peter’s, and had a huge surrounding of spectators, followers, people praying, and many crying. I really enjoyed St. Peter’s tomb as it looked up from the basement catacombs and into the above dome, altar, and throne.

Roma, Italia!

We embarked on our fall break adventure to Italia. All I have to say is I LOVE ITALY! This blog won’t do justice to the 800, yes… 800, pictures that I took while we were there for ten days.

Julie and I made the decision to get a Eurail pass and take a train to Italy. It seems hard to justify this 17 hour journey by train to Rome, but it actually worked out well. It was so much cheaper than flying, and after our 2 overnighters in Charles De Gaulle on those horrible seats, we decided we’d rather sleep on a bunker train. Now that was quite the experience!! It was about 1/3 the size of a Cal Poly dorm room and slept six adults. It was pretty insane, but I got 5 hours of sleep which is pretty decent for an overnight train! We spent 4 wonderful days in Rome and every minute was soaked in sightseeing and fun.

We arrived in Roma Termini really early Friday morning. We went straight to our hostel which was closeby. That’s where we reunited with the wonderful Nick Manuele! We hadn’t seen him since Oktoberfest in Munich, and he’s been backpacking all over Europe. His travels are really cool too and he’s got some great pictures of eastern Europe.

Right away we headed to the Colosseum. We stopped along the way and ate our first slice of delicious pizza from a hole in the wall restaurant.

This man told us in English it was one of the best places to eat so we did well. It’s funny because most Italians speak with a lot of emotion, so it always seems like they’re yelling at you. It was especially good that the only words we knew were dirty words or “Scuuuzy” (excuse me) and Grazi (thank you)! Last month, when Julie and I saw Inglorious Bastards in Belgium, we loved the part where Brad Pitt and gang pretend to speak Italian and walk up through the aisles of Nazis saying “scuzy, scuzzy”, while bowing. And thus we said that while bowing all throughout Italy. And laughed the entire time…

Okay back to the Colosseum. We saw the outside but decided to take a tour of the Roman Forum first. I pretended to only speak French and try to get the EU student discount, but the ticket man saw right through it. Darn! The forum, Palatine Hill, and ancient city was incredible. I can’t even fathom how these ruins are still intact.

It was entertaining to see a flip book of what the city looked like 2000 plus years ago compared to now, but seriously, the ruins were an unbelievable sight. According to Roman legend, Palatine Hill was home to the she-wolf (like Shakira’s song) that was mother to Remus and Romulus, the “founders” of Rome.

I really liked the Arch of Titus because we had learned about all the war scenes etched into its inside arch in my art class. All around the forum and all of Rome were water taps that run constantly and boast some of the clearest, purest, coldest water in the world. Water taps were so refreshing and amazing- I wish they were everywhere!

We explored the outside of the Colosseum, but since Nick had already gone the day before, Julie and I decided to return the next day.

I loved the Colosseum. I was thinking about Marcus Aurelius and Gladiator the entire time. That was such a good movie, being there made me want to watch it again! My favorite aspect of the ruins itself were the underground corridors where they would house and then bring the lions and other exotic animals into the stadium. They would live the lions in the pitch black so that they were unable to adjust to the light immediately, giving the Gladiators the first advantage in a battle. Fights also sometimes included rhinoceros, which is like 300 status if you ask me. The underground labyrinth was so incredible. Honestly these ruins were the greatest in all of Rome. It was crazy to be standing in a stadium that once housed 50,000 spectators some 2000 years ago.

We headed off to explore.

First, we saw the Fontana di Trevi and threw in some euro-coins for wishes. That’s where we had our first (of many many many) delicious gelato. I LOVE GELATO… just thought I’d throw that out there! We met up with our friend Leslie who goes to school in Rouen and pretty much traveled around with her the next few days.

The Pantheon was afterwards, which is a temple made of a giant Dome. It is an architectural phenomenon since the roof is a myriad of perfect arches, ribbed vaulting, and is also a sun dial. We heard a choir performing and the reverberations were really cool to listen to.

On the last Sunday of every month, The Vatican Museum is free to the public. The clocks fell back this night, and we didn’t think our cell phones would automatically adjust, so we changed them. However they did adjust, and we were confused by the 24 hour clocks, etc, so long story short, by the time we actually arrived at Vatican City, we were looking at 4 hour lines.

So, we decided we’d pay the next day and arrive extremely early to avoid the lines. Instead, we wandered all of Rome.

We saw the Spanish Steps, tons of churches and museums, shopping areas, and The Medici Palace. We stopped at this exquisite Italian bakery with bread shaped like animals: turtles and alligators.

We each got some cookies and pastries for lunch! We went back to just outside Vatican City for extremely delicious pizza, and then met up with Lindsay Hooper, who I went to Mullen with. It was so fun to see another familiar face, especially since I hadn’t seen her in so long! She’s studying abroad in Rome and coincidentally, it was her birthday!!

So we went to this place called Old Bridge Gelateria, which is well known for its gigantic 2 euro scoops of Gelato. It was literally the biggest amount of gelato I’d ever seen… and eaten!! This was our first time here at Old Bridge, though most definitely not the last!

Rome is so rich in history and information. We spent a few days there, but I would return in a heartbeat to explore the ruins and museums in greater detail. It is truly one of the most historically phenomenal places in all the world (though I haven’t seen the whole world, I def. feel confident in this statement)… Though as I learned throughout Italy, it is great for history, but only good for food. The Good stuff comes later. J

Paris with Em J & Versailles with Julie

I went to Paris to spend the weekend with EmJ. It was one of the most wonderful weekends in the world, something we'd both imagined since we began French class together some 6 years ago (wow we're getting old!!).

So technically, this was 2 1/2 weeks ago, but I'm just a bit behind schedule since I’ve been away from computer and internet for just about that long. Sorry family! I took the quick one-hour train into Paris and met Em at her house. We were supposed to go to this Chocolate Festival, but I’d had a 2 week stomach flu and wasn’t really feeling ingesting so much chocolate. But writing this now, that sounds fabulous. Instead we headed to Champs Elysee, singing the song the entire time ( Aux Chaps Elysees, aux champs elysees, au soleil, sous la pluie… il y a tout ce que vous voulez aux champs elysees!!- this translates basically to On this Street, in the sun or the rain, there is everything you could want here!)

We stopped at La Duree, which is supposed to have the best Macaroons in all of Paris. Macaroons here aren’t like anything you’d have had in the states. Basically there is every flavor imaginable and they’re dyed to match these. The outside is hard when you tap it, but the second you bite into it is so creamy smooth, almost like jelly but not. Okay, so clearly, I really enjoyed these macaroons. We ate them under the Arc De Triomphe, which is pretty much just an arc but is epically famous.
We headed over to La Notre Dame Cathedral. I learned about it in art class and so I thought it was even more beautifully created when I saw it. Buttressing holds it up, which you can notice in the photo behind Em and I. They almost look like long ‘spider’ legs extending from the building, which actually support it. It’s funny, we wandered around “looking” for Quasimoto, the name of the Disney Character who plays the hunchback in the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

That night, we met up with our friend Stephen who we went to Mullen with. He is studying in the south of France and we all went to see the Eiffel Tower twinkle at nighttime. It’s one of the most fun things to do on an evening in Paris. . . though very touristy, its always a blast!!

The next day, I went to The Palais de Versailles. This is one of the most magnificent palaces in the world, built by Louis XIV. This extravagant palace is full of overly ornate apartments, gold embroidered buildings, great gardens, and blasting fountains. The entire palace grounds is hundreds of acres large and so much money was spent on the palace itself that afterwards, the King ordered that the books be burned with the amount of money used. The imbalance of money and extravagance actually sparked the French Revolution as the commoners were outraged. In the picture with Julie and me (spiral staircase in the background) is right outside Marie Antoinette’s Hamlet, where she would pretend to be a common milk maiden. This was by far my most favorite area as the cottages were so quaint. The gardens were magnificent too and they play orchestras of music at certain times when they put the fountains on. There is a time schedule when certain fountains turn on and display their glory… probably because they’re so expensive to run. At a time when Louis the 14^th was out of money, he would invite guests over and plan their route and turn on the fountains as they passed them to make it look like they were constantly running. The day was great, but definitely a major damper because of the huge downpour of rain that we were stuck in about 1 mile from the main building. So we were soaked running through the gardens in chilly Paris, but it was still a great day!

On my last day in Paris, we went to the Louvre.

We get in for free as students studying in France. Pretty nifty… I could spend hours and hours in the Louvre. I’m usually not the biggest museum fan, but there are periods and pieces from all over the world and time frames. Obviously, I saw good ole’ Mona Lisa. She’s actually very small, which I’d been told but not a giant piece by any means. We did a lot of the typical Venus de Milo, Oath of Horatii, Coronation of Napoleon, etc. but my most favorite wing was the Egyptian wing. We saw mummies from years ago, even animal mummies- which were so intriguing! Em and I spent hours in the Louvre and spent some time journaling and stuff. It was awesome to be able to spend so much quality time with her! I loved it!