What a whirlwind these past few weeks have been! I'm still in shock of the amazing experiences I have been able to have. I'm a lucky girl.
The last time you heard from me, I was riding on a bus through Italy's beautiful countryside. It was gorgeous and I couldn't bring my eyes to look away from my window.
Here's a little summary of the rest of my trip through Italy, Denmark and then a wonderful week with my family in London and Paris!
Venice - We were only here for an afternoon and I fell in love. I may have mentioned this stop in my last post but I don't remember. It's worth a second comment anyways. We spent our afternoon on a gondala ride, eating delicious pizza, sitting by the canal eating amazing gelato and drinking wine outside at a local cafe. Basically my heart belongs in this fantastic city. I can't wait to go back someday and spend some more time here. I loved it so much.
Florence - This was a crazy day and a half. Our bus dropped us off on the side of a highway about 30 minutes by bus outside of the main city area of Florence. AKA we were in the middle of nowhere and not quite sure where we were going. We found a bus and made our way to a train station where we would sprint like crazy to catch our train to our hostel. I may have had an asthma attack and Grace had a bum ankle. We were a sight, I'm sure. We treated ourselves to wine and pasta that evening and all was well. We spent the next day wandering all around the city. I had the best sandwich of my life, climbed up God knows how many steps to see a beautiful view of the city, went to a few markets, and other cool shenanigans like that.
Aarhus - I was lucky enough that the wonderful Emma hosted me for a few days at her apartment. For those of you who don't know Emma, she was a foreign exchange student who attended good ole' CHS where we became good friends. After 4 years we were finally reunited and it was a fabulous time! She showed me some wonderful sites in her college city including a super cool museum, Old Town, the beach, and a little forest where deer are kept safe...aka no hunting. And people feed the deer. They didn't like me. It was so great to catch up with Emma and her friends were so welcoming and cooked me a delicious Danish meal! I'm so thankful for friendship.
London - FINALLY met up with my family. Which was fantastic. When I got off the elevator at our hotel, mom was running down the hallway to meet me. No surprise there. It was so good to see everybody. We spent our few days here on a tour bus hopping on and off to see the sights. We also saw the changing of the guards which was cool but took a really long time. I took them to Camden Market, my favorite market, and they loved it! We had some good food and bought a few things. Everybody had some good fish and chips along with meat pie. Unfortunately, we couldn't find a One Direction store for Maya.
Paris - Paris was fantastic. Most of the people we met were friendly. Some were quite rude, but oh well. We saw all of the wonderful classic sites and took a boat cruise down the river at sunset. Saw the Eiffel Tower both during the day and at night. When it sparkles it is so cool. We ate some delicious pizza at an Italian restaurant....twice. So good. Attached a lock to a bridge. Saw Notre Dame. Went to the Louvre where it took us longer to find the Mona Lisa than it did for us to get to the very front of the line. We went at the absolute perfect time and I got in for free. Score. We also had this amazing pastry place right down the road from our hotel where we went each morning. It was delicious. Also I love crepes. No surprise there.
My favorite part was just being with my family. I've always known how important family was to me, but I never realized how important until I have been away from everybody for an extended period of time. When the opportunity to take a short drive to visit is taken away, it makes you much more thankful for the time you get with them.
All in all traveling has taught me a lot. Most importantly, it reminded me how terrible my immune system is because I have been sick for 4 days since I have been back in Manchester. So not fun. I have learned a lot about myself and just how tired I can get. I would say I am much more cultured and trying new things isn't hard for me anymore.
This trip has opened up a new longing to travel for me. I've been given a taste as to what this world has to offer and I don't want to stop experiencing it now. There is just so much to see and so many things to experience! I can't imagine going home in June and never traveling again. It just isn't an option for me. I need to see the rest of this crazy, beautiful world that God has given us.
No comments:
Post a Comment