That One Time...

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 :)