back with pictures!

Okay, these are the pictures I have uploaded so far.. no descriptions, and it is only London and Paris. Florence and Rome to come!
Europe!

almost over!

so i have mixed emotions right now.. on the one hand i am so sad to leave this place. i do not have a care in the world but searching for historic sites and finding cheap but tasty gelato. i cannot even imagine what my life is like back home! i do not remember my routine or anything.. i havent seen TV for weeks and the coffee ive had here either really sucks or is delicious, but never the same (size, taste, amount of whipped cream, if any). i am sad to go, but would only stay if i had another city in mind to visit. i think we have done the best cities in the amount of time we have had. i am so satisfied! my soul is full. but i am ready to come home and hear familiar languages and eat some steamed vegetables . i could also use a decent shower and a fragrance free lifestyle.
thanks for reading the blog.. it has been so fun! i cant wait to see you and tell you all about my trip in person, along with pictures and funny faces!!!
xoxoxo
colleen

Just tried to buy nighttime

Just tried to buy nighttime sleep aid for plane ride home and terrible cough... They told me i am a drug addict and refused!

time for a list

Feeling listy, so I thought I would share how things have been so far:

Best Of Eurotrip:
- seeing the Eiffel tower for the first time
-Row boat in the canal at Versailles
-Night cruise on the Seine
-Climbing the Duomo
-seeing ancient Egyptian tchotchkes at the Louvre
-Ufitzi Gallery in Florence
-Roman Forum
-Gelato cone with four flavors topped with whipped cream
-speaking Spanish in France and French in Italy
- Thunder storm in Rome at the Coloseum and Trevi Fountain

Worst of Eurotrip:
- not being able to get on the Paris metro
- having bacon spaghetti for dinner the first night at Paris hostel
- £7 ($10) gelato in Florence
- getting thoroughly soaked at the Coloseum
- midnight mosquito bites
- being stalked by youth hostel reps asking if we need accommodations
- spending £9 (about $15) doing one small load of laundry

On the fence:

- Creepy night train from Paris to Florence

This has been the most intersting experience of my life... I canàt believe it is almost over!!! Tomorrow we visit Pope land and then fart around until Thursday morning when we need to figure out how to get to the airport...

Ciao!

night trains and leg pains

lauryn and i took the night train from paris to florence last night.. what an experience. i have never been so weirded out in my life! the compartment was like a stackable jail cell. the lighting was sickly and after about two hours, we were joined by a very interesting french lady from dijon or something. she slept below us like a baby!!! meanwhile lauryn and i were half cracking up and half freaking out about being in a moving jail cell. the conductor took our passports and held them hostage until the very last moment when we were basically kicked off the train because we didn't know we had to get off at that stop- our train ticket had only half our stop printed!
arriving in florence was very different from anything we have done. the train station was very small but still managed to be confusing. we found our train to get us to our hotel after going up and down platforms for 20 minutes. then we landed at our stop and found our bed and breakfast- the one we got moved to after our original cancelled and transferred us. the man at the desk speaks no english!! it is great.
first order of business was to complete my dream- see and climb brunneleschi's dome (spelling, i know). it was so amazing! i have legs of steal now. lauryn almost fell off the top of the dome after slipping on the slick marble and i reached out, caught her and saved her life, risking my own without thinking! then we went to the accademia to see David. you think his front is hot? check out the back! it was lady's day- all admission for women to most sites in florence were free- so imagine the scene around David.. they actually have chairs for people to sit in and admire the art...
we had a great italian dinner at a little place near the duomo and drank some italian wine. so good! i had the fillet and lauryn the chicken cacciatore.
next we're off for some gelato. yummers!
we're headed to Rome tomorrow evening and will be there for the remainder of our trip. i will miss florence. the shopping here is irresistable! i can't get enough and spend the euros like monopoly money.
thanks for reading and have a great day!!!!!!!!!

Kiss me, Im French!!

Today I decided that I love Paris. To be honest, I wasn't so sure about it at first. I think not being able to get through the metro turn-gate thing started me off on the wrong foot. Then I got frostbite all over town and spent five dollars on tea... The people at tourist attractions give attitude to English speakers, like they didn't expect to have to deal with us when they signed up for their jobs... But I am converted and happy to report that I LOVE IT HERE!!!!! Everything drips with beauty and celebration. I realized that Paris is composed of all things that celebrate France. What a positive place to be!!!
I have some great pictures to share but nowhere to upload them, so we'll have to wait. Tomorrow we go to Chopin's grave and to the catacombs. Then its a night train to Florence.
Please excuse all the misspelled words.. I have no spell check and I'm either on a whacked out keyboard or my iPod touch. And if I listed all of you that I miss, it would take longer than it did to write this blog. So I'll just say that I miss you all, most of all chicken noodle soup that I so desperately need to get over this cold and the overly rich cheese and mushroom crepe I ate for lunch.
See you in Florence!!!!

Hugeness that is Paris

We went to Versailles today... Huge. I still cannot believe how big it is. Almost sickening!! The best part was the gardens... So many fountains and neat things to see. We rented a row boat and went through the grand canal on the estate. It was magical!! We only crashed into the wall once and the sun came out during our journey... Thank God!! I have never been so cold in my life. It snowed briefly and the French people made fun of our scarves hats and gloves. I guess we are whimps. Tonight we walked along the Seine and saw the Louvre all lit up. The Eiffel Tower beamed its light at us and we saw some pretty amazing couture gowns on display in shop windows. Everything is just so big here. Enormous. We have been here two days and haven't seen even half of this place. But- I went to a boulangerie for some sweets and had real quiche from and outdoor market... That must count for something!! Now I just have to stop saying "si" instead of "oui" and I should be good to go.
I miss Jeepers!!! There are so many cute small dogs here, but nine like him. And he has the courtesy to not poop on the sidewalk.... I've almost slipped a dozen times.
Okay its past midnight and this beast I'd tired. Niht!!!

this keyboard is weird

the keyboards in france be different. try to read this as i type normal:

todqy zqs greqt: ze zent to the Eiffel Tozer qnd sqa a beautiful pqrk;

Translation:

today was great. we went to the Eiffel Tower and saw a beautiful park.

The park was called something like Buttes Choumont... we stood on top of a replica of an ancient Roman ruin and froze our bums off. Then we saw a real life crazy French lady dancing to the beat of a waterfall inside the park...
Eiffel Tower was AWESOME but even colder. Much better to see it than climb it, I discovered. I like the way it looks when it peeks out from behind a building and yourenot expecting it. When you climb, you see Paris and then get frostbite.

5 mins left here at internet cafe.. so Ill tell you this one last thing: if you need a pharmacy on every corner, then ,ove to Paris. They are like Starbucks over here. Green, too.

Got to go!!!

In Paris with a bump

London was great.. So easy to get around on the tube and lots to see. We went to the Tower of London and then walked over to St. Paul's Cathedral. That place is just so wow.. I've always wanted to go to a real crypt and imagine body liquor forming in the tombs beneath the stones... You can thank my anthro years for that! Then Lauryn and I braved climbing to the dome... Let's just say by the time I got to the top with a fifty pound backpack, I was cooked... Overdone, charred, burnt, ashes. I almost didn't make it down.
After that we got on our Paris bound train and observed the French peeps... The women are simply gorgeous. No makeup, just pouty lips and great skin. Getting on the metro was a whole different pickle from London. We needed photos for our tickets and Lauryn somehow managed to print the worlds largest photo of herself. She is pure head on her Cart Orange metro card. It only took me 20 minutes and 20 bewildered French folk to figure out how to get me through the ticket passy thingy. When we finally got here after walking the worlds longest and most diverse in every way imaginage street, I somehow managed to drop a metal cage door on my head and immediately went to the nearest restaurant and put an ice cold bottle of coke on my new bump. Which meant I sat down to my first French meal with coke sitting on top of my dome.
Three advil later and I'm in my cubby hole hostel bed. Goodnight!! Never let me stay up for 29 hours straight again!!!

in London!!

lauryn and I are in London!! Sitting across from kings cross station in a cafe sipping coffee and enjoying the warm. It is 40f out here.. Not very easy to manage with a cold. The good news is that we've made it here from the the airport quite easily. Our first stop?? Platform 9 3/4!! Next we're off to the London bridge. Sleep tight!! Won't be doing that for at least 12 more hours. Cheers!!

Okay.. Really ready to go! This time with picture...

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Ready to go!!

Ready to go!!

Oh man

Finishing things up at work before a 2 week vacation and job change...

It's happening!

Friends! I started this blog so that you can follow me throughout my very short trip through London, France, and Italy.


Here are the FAQs:

When are you going?
March 2-13 (This Sunday!!)

Who are you going with?
Lauryn and Christina in France, then just Lauryn in Italy

Where in Europe are you going?
Flying into London, visiting the National Gallery and shooting over to Paris via Train
In Paris something like 4 days, with a day trip to Versailles
Night train to Florence, staying in a B&B next to the Duomo for a couple of days
Train to Rome, staying for a few days
Flying home March 13 :(

Will you send me a postcard?
HELL YES! Give me your address

Are you going to call me?
HELL NO! But I'll text if necessary... not like you want to talk to me anyway.
:D

Are you going to gift me?
Tell me what you want and if it is reasonable, I'll buy and fly.

Can I go with you?
I'm only taking a backpack, and you won't fit.

How often will you blog?
I'll try to blog every couple of days, but I'm more into seeing Europe, so who knows! We'll both benefit if I do, so I'm going to try.

Disclaimer:

If you're reading this, thank you. I do not do it thinking that everybody cares about my Eurotrip.. I do it because it is fun, and I know a few of you are interested. Hope you enjoy!

xoxo
Colleen