Where I've Been

Rather than pick up random nicknacks everywhere, I collected magnets from each place I went. Here is a picture of the collection from my trip.

Paris - Final Days

After Belgium I had 3 more days in Paris. 

I have always loved Paris.  When I was a teenager, I remember the France pavilion at Epcot Center being my favorite country.  I went to Paris when I was 17 and I thought the city was magical.  I spent most of time walking around drinking Orangina and a Nutella crepe.  This trip was no different.

I spent my days wondering the city.  I walked the left bank, wandered from the Arc de Triumph to Concorde.  And of course I went to the top of the Eiffel Tower.  The city was just as I remembered it, magical, enchanting.  The energy of the city is consuming. 

I met someone in Paris, gaining myself my own Midnight in Paris tour guide, Tan.  The midnight part coming from the fact that he works at a restaurant and was only available at night to hang out or in the morning.  We wondered the city in the middle of the night, went to night clubs in the city.  It was fun to see the city through the eyes of someone who lived there, but loved it as much as I do. 

My last night I went out with Tan's friend, Badrovich and got to see Montmartre at night.  We went to a Hookah bar and to a dance club.  I don't remember the last time I had so much fun.

And so my trip ended.  I flew to Zurich on Sunday and then flew home on Sunday.  The trip was amazing.  I'm so glad I took the opportunity to go.

Belgium

I took a day trip to Bruges, Belgium from Paris. I can't say it was worth the trip, 4 hours each way, but I did enjoy Belgium.

Bruges is a small town in northern Belgium. It was a beautiful town with canals running through it. It use to play a major part in wool imports to Belgium.

As part of the day tour, I went on a canal boat trip. It is a really cool way to see the city. It was interesting how different the buildings were compared to other parts of Europe.

Despite the bus trip being very long, it was a good day.

Paris - Monmartre

I spent a couple of days in Milan between La Spezia and Paris, but I mostly slept, so there isn't much to share.  It was hot there, over 90, with high humidity, so even the shopping wasn't much fun with that weather.  It was nice to get to Paris, where it was a bit cooler.

My first day in Paris I wandered the area I was staying in, Montmartre.  I rented an apartment through airbnb.com.  It was a great location.  It was close to things, but still on a very quiet street.  I was a little worried about the area being safe, but it was fine. 

I loved the village of Montmarte.  It's known for the Moulin Rouge and being the bohemian district and I felt right at home there.  There were great artists and shops everywhere.  I went to a museum that is in the house a lot of the bohemian artists from the 1920s lived in, which was cool. 

I think I could stay in Montmartre forever. :)

La Spezia

Ok, I am home now, so I realize I am horrible at blogging, but I'll catch people up on my trip and show some more pictures.

In La Spezia (which is a coastal town in Italy), I decided to stay with a family using airbnb.com.  The host was a singer/song writer from Ireland and his wife, a pottery store owner (and artist) from Spain.  They also have an adorable 2 year old, Sophia. 

La Spezia wasn't quite what I expected.  It was a fairly large town that used the coast for primarily commercial use.  But the water was beautiful and there were some cool buildings.

My second day there I went to the Cinque Terre national park, which is really the appeal of La Spezia.  There are five cities along the coast, built into the rocky shore line.  I went by train and rode with Eva, the wife.  It was fun to be able to chat with her on the way and hear about her life. 

The cities of Cinque Terre are beautiful.  They are small and touristy, but it was fun to see them.  Most people travel to Cinque Terre to hike between the towns, but it was incredibly hot, so I opted for the ferry.

My last night in La Spezia, Andrew and Eva invited me to have dinner with them.  It was fun to sit down with them and talk about their travels.  Andrew has spent a lot of time in San Francisco playing music and Eva has traveled all over Asia.  They were such an interesting couple.  It was very cool to meet them.

Florence

Ahhhh, Florence.

Sorry for the lack of posting.  My mom and I arrived in Florence on Saturday morning after a less than pleasant 11 hour train ride from Vienna.  Once we arrived though, things were good.

We stayed at an airbnb.com apartment just outside of Florence.  Mario was our host and was kind enough to meet us at the airport at 6:30 in the morning to take us back to the apartment.  The apartment is small, but nice and in a quiet area.

Our first day (after a nap), we went to the Galileo Museum and the the Duomo Museum.  The Galileo Museum was very interesting.  It had a lot of interesting information on the evolution of science during Galileo's time. That evening we went on a bike tour around Florence and saw all of the major sites.

On Sunday, Mario offered to take us to Siena, a town in Tuscany outside of Florence.  We also stopped at two other small towns in the Tuscan area.  It was great to see these small renaissance towns.  In the evening, Mario invited us to his home and he cooked a traditional Italian meal of pasta and meat.  It was a lot of food, but it was great.  It was also very interesting to see his home, which is located north of Florence in the hills.  

Today we went to a mosaic museum and saw the central market.  We then took a walk around old Florence.  

Its been a great visit to Florence.  Tomorrow my mom and I are taking a cooking class and then we part ways.  She is going to Rome before heading home and I will continue up the coast of Italy and then to the Swiss Alps.

Hope you liked the longer installment.  I actually have a computer to use here, so it is easier to type on. :) 

Schonbrunn Palace-Vienna

My mom and I had visited the palace on our tour, but we wanted to take my dad back to see the gardens. Below is a picture of a huge fountain in the gardens.

Tonight my mom and I are taking the train to Florence. My dad flies home tomorrow.

Vienna-Belvedere Palace

Today we went to the Belvedere Palace. The gardens were beautiful (see below). There are also a few museums there. One of them was having a Gustov Klumpt exhibit that was really good.

Coffee in Vienna

My view while having coffee in the courtyard of the Imperial Palace in Vienna.

Vienna

Took a train to Vienna last night. Today we went on a city tour. The history of Vienna and Austria is very interesting.

Salzburg

I can now say with complete conviction that the hills are indeed alive with the sound of music.

Salzburg was beautiful. Sad we (my mom joined me in Zurich yesterday) were only there for one day.

Zurich Day 2

Today I roamed Zurich. Not a whole lot to say. It's a beautiful, very old town. The people are all amazingly kind and the city is very clean.

I had dinner with my new bestie from Australia and a previous student of hers (she teaches English as a second language). It was interesting to hear what a Swiss 26 year old has to say about America. We are not loved here. They do, however, have a ton of pride regarding their own country.

Tour of Zurich

I made it to Zurich without any problems. The place I'm staying is like a b and b. the women owns a building with 3 apartments, 3 bedrooms each that she rents out through airbnb.com. She is very nice and the place is clean and super easy to get to by bus or even walking from downtown.

I went on a bus tour of Zurich, which I would give a C. The tour guide was pretty meh. But the city is beautiful. Much smaller than you would expect. We took a tram to the top of one of the mountains over looking the city, which was awesome. We also took a ferry ride across the lake. This city is quite breathtaking.

On the tour I met a women from Australia. Her and I spent most of the tour together and went for dinner after. I have lots of pictures of her because her camera's battery died and I volunteered to email her the ones I took. It was cool to meet someone new and have someone to go to dinner with.

Once

Once was AMAZING!!! I loved every minute of it. It's been a long time since I've seen the movie, though I did love it, so I can't compare the two. But everything about this play was great. It's a small intimate theatre, which was perfect for this show. The voices were lovely. I say that musicals are my opportunity to fall in love with the leading man for 2 hours and this was no different. In fact, the love is lingering a bit. I followed it up with a fantastic cupcake from a local bakery and roamed the streets of NYC for a bit. Perfect night.

Done packing. 20 lbs. not too bad. 

This blog is to provide a place for me to communicate with friends and family about my whereabouts in Europe.  I will try to check in daily during my trip, with at least one picture of my current location.

I leave next Wednesday, the 11th of July, and will return August 6th.