As I mentioned in my
previous post, I spent this past week gallivanting around Europe with two
wonderful DIS friends! We explored Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Florence, and Milan.
To say that this trip exceeded my expectations would be an understatement. God truly
does provide and minus a few inevitable snafus, our travel break went
swimmingly well!
I
could write a novel about my experiences in each city alone, but I will try to
be concise. We started our expedition in
Paris and were immediately greeted with a warm welcome from the Eiffel Tower
shining like a beacon in the night. With the picturesque light show and a view
from the top of the Tower, the first night in Paris was practically out of a
dream. The next day in Paris was
dedicated to sight-seeing. We visited
the Pantheon, Notre Dame, the famous
lock bridge, popped in Ladurée for a sweet pick-me-up, got dolled up and had
dinner at Alcazar, and ended the night with the Eiffel Tower light show. On our
last day in the City of Lights, we toured Versailles (breathtakingly ornate),
stopped by the plaza that houses the Louvre, and finished the evening with a
walk down the Champs-Elysées. Paris was the perfect start to the trip and
remains one of my favorite European cities. Punctuated with beautiful sights
and delicious delicacies, you can never go wrong visiting Paris.
Our
next stop was Barcelona, a city that I had never seen before! With the help of
Theresa, our amazing tour guide, Barcelona proved to be the most educational
portion of the trip. We swung by the
Sagrada Familia, paused to gaze at Gaudì architecture, ate yummy (though
small-sized) tapas, meandered through a gorgeous market that held any food you
could ever want (from blocks of congealed blood to fresh olives to fruit to pig
heads), and escaped the rainy day by ending the tour in a café specializing in
churros that you dip in liquid chocolate! The next day, the weather more than
made up for the rain-there was not one cloud in the sky and the sun shone
steadily throughout the day. We took
advantage of the Mediterranean-like weather by spending the morning at the Parc
Güell and the afternoon wandering the narrow streets of Barcelona and stopping
in various boutiques. To celebrate our last night in Barcelona, we ate paella on
the coast-a night to remember!
Our
time in Italy was divided between Rome, Florence, and Milan (although we only
spent time in the Milan train station and airport). Rome was the most charming
and captivating city I've ever visited. I was blown away by the history and
almost mystical presence of the Roman ruins that dot the cityscape. And with
pizza in our bellies and gelatos in our hands, romping around Rome at night was
truly a highlight of the trip. Although
some tourist destinations were under construction (Trevi Fountain…cough…cough),
I thoroughly enjoyed every moment I spent in Rome (and Vatican City). With the stress of Italian train strikes in
the forefront of our minds, we traveled to Florence after our limited 24 hours
in Rome (luckily, with no issues). Florence was gorgeous and the landscape
surrounding the city is absolutely stunning. We filled our time in Florence
with sightseeing, eating, and shopping (a new purse for me)…it doesn't get much
better than that! After a day in Florence, we took a train to our final
destination of the trip-Milan! The train to Milan proceeded without
difficulties, however, getting from the train station to the airport in Milan
proved to be a bit of a challenge. Due to the train strikes, the normal train
that runs directly to the airport kept getting cancelled. Eventually, we
accepted our fate of paying for an expensive taxi ride to the airport, but as
it turns out, we discovered a bus that took us right to the airport for a
fraction of the cost. With exhaustion
creeping up on us and looking into pulling an all-nighter at the airport, it
was such a blessing to find the bus instead of having to take a taxi. The final
leg of our journey was to spend the night at the Milan airport before catching
our flight back to Copenhagen Sunday morning. We all picked up books to read in
Florence to help pass the time and after what felt like an eternity at the less
than luxurious airport, we finally landed on Danish soil!
I am so
thankful to Jacqueline and Madison for welcoming me to travel with them. This trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience
and one of the best weeks of my life! Reunion in Rome in five (or maybe seven)
years :)
