EUROPE 2015

EUROPE.

I went to Europe.
Well, actually, dad took Austin and I to Europe. And it was awesome.


You see, it all started when I was in the fourth grade. Dad made me a deal that if I made good grades through high school and got a scholarship to put me through college that he would take us on a big trip.


Well, I suppose my grades were sufficient and my scholarship was rather nice.

Fast forward to Christmas 2014. Austin and I are given matching presents on Christmas morning. We open up the wrapping to find a small folded up paper.

Then we open the paper. And we found this.

Obviously we were super excited. I mean how could we not be? 

We were told we were going in June, three days after I graduated. 

(Hello busy month.) And we were also informed that we would start in Italy, go up into Switzerland, over to France, and end up in England. 

And then lots and lots and lots and lots of life happened. Before we knew it, we were packing for our trip.

And then early one morning, three days after I graduated high school, we hopped on a plane, which took us to Atlanta, where we hopped on another plane and took a red eye flight to ROME.

Which, by the way, I love flying. Always have. But between crying babies, awful turbulence at 2 AM, and some awful food, that 10 hour flight was not my favorite. 

But anyways, here's a snap chat selfie I took of me and Aus when we were departing Atlanta…

And then before we knew it, we were in Rome! We made it to our hotel, which I loved, rested and hung out by the pool. 

Our trip was with a tour group, Trafalgar Tours, and honestly it was wonderful. I was super concerned it would be a bunch of older people and then the three of us, but that wasn't it at all. Our group was full of families, and the company handled everything, from most meals to hotel check ins to buying tickets and arranging tour guides. So I'm giving them a shout out on my (in my opinion) very famous blog. 

But anyways, we met with our group that night, ate a wonderful dinner and FELL ASLEEP REALLY FAST.

The next day was full of Roman adventures. I mean, when in Rome, right?

We started at the Vatican, toured St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel (stunning). Then we saw the Colosseum. Later that day, we walked through the Pantheon and past the Trevi Fountain and through some really pretty squares. That night we went with our group and made our own pizzas in this restaurant which was really neat. 

Here is the three of us in front of the Colosseum. 

And then just me in front of the Trevi Fountain. The fountain is currently under restoration. But it was still very cool!

Also, see that gelato in my hand? 

Gelato is the equivalent of American ice-cream…. but oh my gosh it is soooo good. 

I had a gelato everyday we were in Italy. No regrets about it at all. I tried to get a different flavor every time. They were soooo good.

Okay moving on. So the next morning, we woke up, boarded our coach with the tour group, and headed off to.. Florence! Italy that is. We made a quick stop in Sienna for lunch, and that was a fun place to see. 

So we made it to Florence, and took some awesome pictures on the Piazza del Michelangelo.

(please note that Austin had on a West Florence special olympics shirt.

Everyone kept asking where in the world he bought it… until we explained 

our hometown is Florence in America.)

So then we made it into the heart of Florence. We laugh about it now, but our hotel had like two wings. And the Tyler family's hotel room was IN THE VERY BACK OF THE EXTRA WING. It was a ten minute walk from the lobby, up two different flights of stairs, down three long hallways, with about nine turns. 

What was cool though, is that we happened to be in Florence during the Florentine football tournament. Florentine football goes back hundreds of years, and is a combination of soccer, rugby, and wrestling. It's a huge event in Florence that happens once a year, where four teams (one from each district) battle for victory. We couldn't watch it because we didn't have tickets but we saw a parade for it and it was crazy. I love those little things that aren't expected.

And also while in Florence  (the next day) we visited the Accademia where the famous statue of David is. And all the other things in the Accademia. And then we saw lots of beautiful things in Florence. 

Including the biggest library I have ever seen in my entire life. 

So naturally, I had to take a picture. 

And then later that day in Florence, we went to PISA which is like an hour away. Aka the Leaning Tower! It was crazy touristy, but still one of those things you wanna do in your lifetime. 

(also I was feeling kinda european with my outfit choice)

So another thing worth mentioning, one of my favorite parts, was that we went to this working farm. Florence is in the Tuscany region, and so this working farm is like hello Tuscany. So we got there, walked through their wine vineyards, their olive tree vineyards, and then ate a meal they prepared with all of the ingredients they grow. It was soo cool. And one of the best meals I've ever eaten in my life.

Then the next morning we packed up and headed off to Venice! 

We stopped in Bologna for lunch, and I really liked Bologna. 

And then we made it to Venice. That night when we got there we were supposed to take a gondola ride but it was postponed due to this terrible thunderstorm. So instead we walked through St. Mark's square (in the rain) and ate gelato (I was not complaining about that). 

Then the next morning we packed up and headed for a gondola ride. But first, we had to take a water taxi into the city.

And dad took this picture and I love it.

So we did our gondola ride through the Venetian canals. And that was so neat. It's crazy to me that people used to live on the water in those huge houses and travel by boat. Crazy. 

Here's a nice pic of the three of us on the gondola…

I will say that I was extremely surprised at how extremely touristy Venice is. Our guide told us there were around 80,000 tourists into the city everyday. He also said that there are less than 1,000 people who actually live on the island of Venice. So while I loved the beauty of Venice, I did not enjoy the crowds. We also visited the island of Murano where all the hand blown glass is made, and I loved watching that. It was really interesting to watch how it is made. And how to hear about how to tell the fake stuff from the real stuff.

BUT anyways, later that afternoon, we got on another water taxi and it took our tour group to the island of Burano. 

Burano might've been one of my favorite places we visited. I absolutely adored Burano.

It used to be a fishing village, but now it is more catered to tourists and it also has one of two lace making schools in Italy. So it's this tiny village full of lace shops and wonderful seafood restaurants. We had dinner in one of these family run restaurants (super yummy). And then we wandered. What I loved so much, was that all of the houses were painted bright colors. Bright bright colors. And it wasn't crowded at all. There were hardly any tourists at that time of the day, and it was right after a thunderstorm so the temperature had cooled down. 

Aus and I on a bridge in Burano… 

And then I discovered this GORGEOUS bright purple house. Purple is my fav color. So naturally..

Oh, and one more thing about Venice.  I FOUND A CANNOLI. We hunted and hunted around Italy. I wanted a cannoli sooo bad. Austin finally found one in a restaurant in Venice….

And it was wonderful. Best one I have ever had.

So that was pretty much it for our Venetian adventures. The next morning we hopped onto our bus again and, after a stop in Verona (Juliet's balcony), made it into Switzerland! 

In Switzerland, we stayed in this tiny ski village called Engleberg. It's on the base of Mount Titlis. And it's super cute. Obviously, it's the off season in Engleberg, but the town was still pretty neat. When we finally arrived (there was an accident on the road to Engleberg, so we had to take a train! Spontaneous but really fun), we went on a horse ride through the village and then visited Uli, who runs a dairy farm. She let us try lots of traditional Swiss food (including Swiss cheese!). 

And then that night we were on our own for dinner. 

And we struggled finding a restaurant. 

And in the end, we ate at a Mexican restaurant in the heart of Switzerland.

I had chicken fajitas in a Swiss ski village and I just find that hilarious.

So the next morning we woke up, and headed up to the top of the mountain. We had to take several gondola rides up, but it was so awesome. The views were absolutely incredible. We passed lots of cows grazing on the way up, and their bells were really neat too.

But here's me at the top! 

Oh yes. that is snow. It was 23 degrees at the top. And windy.

So after taking lots of pics, we headed back down. We stopped at one of the gondola stations on the way, and found this lake. It was so so pretty. 

And then later, after we went down the mountain, we made our way into Lucerne! I loved Lucerne. It was busy, but really cool. Also full of watch shops. After wandering around (and buying Swiss chocolate!!), we went on this cruise around Lake Lucerne. 

And dad tried to take cute pictures of us…

And then this happened…

True love, ladies and gents. True love.

So that was pretty much our adventures in Switzerland. I loved the fact I went up to the top of a Swiss Alp. That to me is really really cool.

And then the next morning, we got back onto our bus and headed to France!! 

Okay before I say anything else, you should know that Paris was my favorite place out of all the places we visited. I love big cities. And Paris was just lovely, and I already want to go back.

Continuing on… 

So we had a very long drive from Switzerland to Paris, France. We finally arrived in Paris, checked in to our hotel (our room was on the 25th floor--gorgeous view), and then headed to a Cabaret show. 

And yes, that was quite interesting within itself.

But what came after the show was my favorite. We made our way back to the hotel. When we arrived, our guide mentioned that the Eiffel Tower was only a few blocks from our hotel, and we really should try to go from 11:00 to 11:05 to see it twinkle. 

Well, after much discussion, the three of us decided we would walk down. We left our hotel at half past ten, because surely that would be enough time.

Not. It's getting closer and closer to 11:00 and we're not there yet. Our goal was to be in the park area behind the tower so we could get a good view. 

10:52- we're finally at the front of the tower

10:56- we're running underneath the base of the tower

10:58- we're trying to find the gate into the park

11:00- we make it into the park area, turn around…. and it starts to twinkle.

What do I mean by twinkle? Well, it's to my understanding that in 2000 to celebrate the new Millennium, lights were strung all around the Eiffel Tower. They only go off from 11:00-11:05 and 12:00-12:05 at night. 

It was so unbelievably cool. 

And then this was the scene after it stopped twinkling.

This is what made me fall in love with Paris.

How can you not love this sight?

(note to any billionaires that read my blog, I'd love to go back if you wanna pay for it)

So anyways.. paris.

The next morning we did the official Eiffel Tower visit. And took this picture of us three.

And then we went to Versailles.

Versailles was just wow. Like really.

I'm a huge reader. I love love books. And so I've read lots of books that had people placed in Versailles. And still, it topped my imagination. It was way more than I could've ever thought of.

Here's a lovely picture of Austin and I in front of some gardens in Versailles. 

(Once again, if you're a billionaire and reading this I'd love to go back to tour the gardens) 

And then later we went to the Champs Elysee. 

What I think is really cool is the fact that both sets of my grandparents have walked down the sChamps Elysee, and stood in front of the Arc de Triomphe and that is just really neat to me.

So then that night we went first for a dinner at a lovely restaurant in the heart of Paris. 

AND I FINALLY GOT MACAROONS.

I searched and searched for some Macaroons the whole time we had been in Paris, and I had yet to find any. So that night when they brought dessert to our restaurant… low and behold there were two macaroons. I was very excited. And they were delicious if you were wondering.

And then the next morning we woke up and headed across the channel to England.

And we got to see the Cliffs of Dover!

And then we headed into… London! 

I really liked London. Paris is still my fav, but London is definitely a close second. 

We were technically "finished" with our tour group, and so we were pretty much on our own in London.

Which was quite the adventure.

The first night we walked down to King's Cross Station, which was very close to our hotel.

If you're familiar with Harry Potter at all, then you probably know that this train station is very famous for being the home of Platform 9 3/4, or the Hogwarts' School train platform.

Now, I love Harry Potter. So I, of course, wanted to walk down and take a picture. What I didn't realize is that King's Cross Station has taken total advantage of it being there.

There is like a 2 hour line to wait to take your picture in front of the sign. There's also a huge shop next door full of Harry Potter items. 

Austin and I were not in the mood to wait two hours… But there was a security guard patrolling the lines, who wouldn't let you just snap a picture beside it. 

So of course we snuck one anyways. And this is what we have. Quite possibly the most awkward picture of Austin and I ever. But I absolutely love it.

And that was that.

So the next morning, our last full day of our trip, we saw the major sights. Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace…

And then we walked across the river Thames to the London Eye! This was Austin's only real request on the whole trip. He really wanted to go on the Eye. And it was really cool.

I have lots of cool pictures from the Eye, but I love this selfie we took before we got on.

And then that afternoon we went to Harrods which was really really cool. I couldn't afford hardly anything in there, but it was really awesome. One day I will!

So that night we finished out our trip at a pub across the street. Which was a great end. 

And then we woke up the next morning and started out trip back across the pond! It was a very long day, and we were up for about 23 hour straight but after a long layover, two delays, and then our luggage being the very last on the carousel we finally made it back to Florence at like 1:30 AM. 

Aus crashed on my shoulder and slept like this for almost the whole flight from Atlanta to Myrtle Beach. 

I mean what are big sisters for, right?

Overall, this was an absolutely awesome trip. I am so fortunate to have been able to go experience all these amazing things. Especially since I got to go with two of my favorite people. We made sooo many wonderful memories. 

And we took a ton of selfies. 

I love them all.

I already can't wait to go back. Especially London and Paris. I loved Europe. 

And with that being said, I am glad that I live in America. I wouldn't trade my life to live anywhere else.

Thanks for reading. And if you wanna take me on your next trip to Europe… I'll be glad to tag along!!!