life as a sadie: #europerry2013

how we did europe

and how you can too!

#europerry

Paris: Le Montclair Montmatre & Hotel Commerce

-Versailles: walking around where marie antoinette did, pretending to be french. the best.

-Eiffel Tower: okay, i cried when i saw it. granted i had been awake for 24 hours and was severely jet-lagged, but it was just so beautiful. going up inside gave the best views and was a little like a roller coaster. and when it sparkled again at night...i may have cried again.

-**Louvre: we got to the louvre early and were first in line, which meant we had that lovely lady mona lisa all to our selves. i cannot tell you how fun that was, to be the first in the louvre and here your footsteps echoing off the marble as you approach "winged victory". it was unbelievable. you should go do it.

-Notre Dame: a church! we saw a lot of these, and this one was also very beautiful and a great place to eat lunch in the gardens!

-Shakespeare & Co: supes fun and the latin quarter surrounding it is lovely.

-Sainte-Chapelle: so. beautiful. all stained-glass and hidden behind more modern buildings. we just loved it.

food: crepes (we found the best ones by notre dame), meringues, baguettes, brie, but most importantly PASTRIES. chocolate croissants.

Notes: before we left for our trip we were warned about france, "ooh, they won't be very nice to you there" etc. we even put a canada sticker on our backpack pack just in case. but the sticker fell off pretty quickly and we found we really didn't need it. we did our best to always be polite and the key was; use as much french as you can. they will appreciate it. having james around was handy for this since he speaks it a little, but all i really needed to know was "pardon" and "merci" and other than that i smiled and nodded and people were helpful and kind. BUT we almost got pick-pocketed in front of Notre Dame, so it wasn't all rainbows and butterflies--but for the most part the french were lovely. in fact at one point we were a little lost in the latin quarter and looking at a map when a young french woman stopped to help us without us even asking. pretty legit. way to go french.

Rome: Coliseum Rooms

-Colosseum: awe-some. in that it is huge. and awesome.

-**Roman Forum/lots and lots of Roman Ruins: dr. pollard's roman history classes really came in handy here. and it was AWESOME. cause, ya know, YOU ARE STANDING WHERE CEASAR STOOD.

-Trevi Fountain: romantic. oh so romantic.

-The Spanish Steps

-Vatican City: papa francesco was there and he waved to me! sistine chapel=worth it.

-Piazza Navona: oh piazza's i will miss. why don't we have piazza's? they're the best.

-Palantine Hill

-Pantheon

-Bocca di Veritas (or as we call it; the roman holiday tour): when we went to the bocca it was pouring rain and no one was in line which made the whole experience that much better. also the area it is in is away from touristy places, so you get to see a lot more of roma.

food: GELATO. EVERY DAY FOR EVERY MEAL. GELATO. hazelnut is called nocciola and is is the best flavor on the planet. and foccacia rosemary and potato foccacia.

Notes: anywhere in italy i felt great language-wise since james speaks italian, but even if he hadn't i think we would have been okay. everyone in the tourist areas speaks enough english to help you with whatever you need and for the most part are very willing to help. if i were to recommend anything to do in rome is would be to get out of the main tourist area and explore (after you see all of the big sites of course). also, ALL the food is delicious in rome.

Cinque Terre: Locanda Dalla Compagnia

-Visit the 5 villages via train

-**La via del amore: a pathway along the coast with unbelievable views and a great place to make-out with your husband.

-Just sit on the beach and eat gelato and look at the italian riviera.

food: GELATO. EVERY DAY FOR EVERY MEAL. GELATO. plus the seafood cones they serve all over the villages, a paper cone full of fried fresh sea creatures. AND pesto. eat any pesto you can get your hands on--this is what this part of italy is known for.

Notes: you will have killer calf muscles after you visit cinque terre. they are villages built onto the rocky coast, so to say "there are a lot of steps" would be the understatement of the decade. but the higher you climb--the better the view.

my point exactly:
i apologize for the blair witch style camera work

Venice: Hotel Giovannina & Hotel Cenrale

-Grand canal: oh boy, venice feels like stepping back in time. and riding a water bus or water taxi down the grad canal is breath taking.

-St. Mark's Square & the Basilica San Marco: feed the birds! they will crawl all over you!

-Bridge of Sighs: cause it's just so romantic.

-Gondola ride: again, cause it's just so romantic. i mean we saw casanova's house, you can't get mush more romantic than that.

-Lido, Murano, Burano (the little islands): go to lido for the beach and atmosphere, murano for the lace, and burano for the glass. plus it was fun to so other island besides venice.

-Just walk around and get lost. seriously. walking through the narrow streets (more like paths) was my favorite part of venice. it's beautiful in way that no i can't describe.

food: GELATO. EVERY DAY FOR EVERY MEAL. GELATO. and eat tomatoes off of a floating market (a market on a boat). i ate a lot of tomatoes. a lot.

Notes: get lost. get away from the crowd and just walk around the city as the sun sets. the light is incredible.

Bergamo: Liberty B&B (this was the best hostel we booked, wish we could have stayed longer)

-Visit the high city: this city was just the coolest. it's not a tourist trap but it has so much history and culture--in fact Bergamo is in the running to become italy's cultural capital.

-**Roman Castle Ruins: so cool, so old, so adventurous.

food: GELATO. EVERY DAY FOR EVERY MEAL. GELATO. and pasties and foccacia.

Notes: a note about italy in general--taking trains was perfect. we did all our travel via trains in italy and is supes easy with lots of benefits. we saw florence and verona and pisa and tons of small cities along the way. highly recommend the trains.

Milan: day trip, no hostel needed

-**Duomo: another church that is breathtakingly beautiful. really interesting architecture and history--plus several tombs.

-Shopping: because hellllooooo it's milan. duh.

-Model watching: do it.

food: GELATO. EVERY DAY FOR EVERY MEAL. GELATO. plus panezzotti, so delicious. i had dark chocolate gelato while running through the streets to catch our train. one of my favorite memories of the trip :)

Notes: we stopped here only for the day but it was worth it. milan feels like a vibrant thriving metropolis and reminded me a little of new york. dress real good while you are there :) unless of course you are me and are backpacking with only 3 outfits, then just put on some red lipstick. that did the trick for me.

Savona: Hotel San Marco

-Lay on the beach, skip rocks on the water, make-out under a beach umbrella

-Portofino: go hang out with the richie riches.

-Hike: so many good hikes in and around, or just walk on the beach.

**food: GELATO. EVERY DAY FOR EVERY MEAL. GELATO. also best pizza i have ever eated and ever expect to eat was here and Cora Gelato is the best.

London: Enrico Hotel

-London Eye: it's big! we didn't go in but we heard it's supes fun.

-**The Tower of London: okay, so i'm biased because i lurrrrve medieval and tudor history. so i was freaking out. the yeoman tour was by far my favorite tour of the trip. there's just so much history contained in this one place. just awesome.

-Changing of the Guard: great for pomp and circumstance, but pretty long. just so british.

-Kensington Palace: looked at it, dreamt of being kate middleton, drank hot chocolate at midnight in front of it with the love of my life.

-Westminster Abbey: anther church, just big and beautiful and lovely. plus LOTS of history here too.

-Big Ben/Houses of Parliament

-Spamalot in the West End: LOVED. i wish we could have seen 5 more shows in the west end.

food: fish & chips, full english breakfast, but most importantly... chocolate. specifically cadbury caramel. this was my replacement for gelato and i ate it for every meal and i am not ashamed.

Notes: it was the best feeling in the world to get to london. it's much more familiar to home, the food is not as good but more what we eat in the states, and i found the british have the best sense of humor. loved it. we also saw a little of whales when we travelled to dublin--which had the best fish and chips i've ever eaten and huge castles in the rolling countryside. so lovely.

Dublin: Marilyn Mansion &Abbey Court

-Trinity College: just lovely.

-Book of Kells: cool because it's just so old, worth it to see the old library.

-St. Stephen's Green: so green you will die PLUS live theatre in the park :)

-**Temple Bar: oh this was so fun. just a street lined with lights and pubs and restaurants. with live music in almost every place every night. the. best.

-St. Patrick's Cathedral

-Christ's Church

food: temple bar has lots of restaurants and pubs. BOXTY House had great oysters and corned beef and cabbage. i also had Guinness beef stew and it was so delicious i couldn't speak.

Notes: if asked to make a decision i would have to say ireland was my favorite country of the trip. it is lovely and romantic and i couldn't get enough. also, everyone in ireland is very, very nice.

Cork: Kinlay House

-the English Market: good food in a covered market setting.

-Shopping District: i got a cute little dress, it was lovely.

-Shandon Bells: worth it for the views of the city!

-Cobh: one word...titanic. this was the last port titanic visited before embarking across the atlantic. there's a cool little museum and an even cooler little port town. interesting fact: Cobh is pronounced cove in irish.

-Surrounding countryside: so green you will die.

-**Blarney Castle/Castle Grounds, loved this. so much. i wish i could have spent the whole day instead of half a day--exploring the surround grounds of the castle. kissing the Blarney Stone was fun and you've go to do it. there's a great view from the top and on the way there you see most of the castle. the medieval nerd in me was in heaven. but really--the castle grounds will make you believe in fairies. interesting fact: historians believe the "witches' cave" housed the earliest inhabitants of ireland. SO. COOL.

food: go to the English Market, there so much selection and our hostel had a kitchen so we cooked some great meals. also any meat or cheese or dairy in ireland is very very good. just fyi.

**my favorite activity

and now...more pictures then you ever cared to see of our trip to europe: