Florence, Italy
Determined to pack light and not incur the HEAFTY checked-bag fees, I packed all my stuff for two weeks into my north face backpack, and nothing else (not even a second carry-on!) If you don't believe me see below picture...
After lugging this monster to the airport, we hopped on our first plane to Pisa, Italy, where we would then take an hour long train ride to Florence. After a couple of hours we arrived in ITALY. We stepped on the train, and as I watched the Tuscan scenery go by, I I took a deep breath, enjoying the feeling that I was finally in Italy- the land of love, pizza, history, and gelato. After a quick hour, we stepped off the train and headed for the nearest ATM. I opened up my purse and...NOOOO! OH MY GOD I REALLY AM IN ITALY!! Did I also mention the land of pickpockets? Oh brother. Anyways, I'll spare you the boring details, but my wonderful parents were able to wire me enough money so that I made it through the trip with no problems, and I didn't lose my passport (also good!). But with a slow start to our first day in Florence, we were unable to do much real sightseeing, so instead we got a delicious pizza and a mountain of gelato and wandered around the streets of Florence, seeing sights like the Duomo and Ponte Vecchio and others.
The next day, we started off bright and early by heading to the Accademia Gallery, where we saw the amazing sculpture of David. I don't know why, but I did not expect it to be so big! The sculpture was truly magnificent, and I spent most of my time in the gallery looking at it. After this, we wandered around a little bit more and walked over the Ponte Vecchio and went in some of the stores that surrounded this street. After heading back to our hostel for a bit to relax, we went to dinner to sample some of the delicious pasta di' bolognese. We then decided to wander around a side of the city we hadn't been to yet. As we walked around the winding streets of Florence, I heard someone yell, "Mandy?!?" Confused, the three of us turned around and saw KELSEY POTDEVIN! How bizarre is that?!? Of all places, in a dark street in Florence?!? After sufficiently FREAKING OUT for at least 30 minutes we got a little bit more gelato and caught up with her and walked around the streets of Florence. She agreed to meet us the next day to tour the Duomo, before she headed back to her teaching position in Corsica.
We woke up on our last day in Florence excited to meet Kpot for a tour of the Duomo. We met her at the train station and walked over to the Duomo, only to learn that it was closed for All Saints Day. Bummer. Luckily, we still got to play with Kelsey, and strolled down the walking streets of Florence until she had to leave us. After she left, the three of us continued our tourism kick by wandering around the San Lorenzo market. We looked at beautiful purses, scarves, wallets, and more. Jenny ended up buying a super-trendy cross body bag for her birthday! After this, we went back to the Duomo to see if there was any chance that we could at least look inside. Luckily, there was a mass going on, so they let us in to sneak a peek! It was so so so ornate and detailed inside. Satisfied with our time in Florence, we took a train to Rome.
Rome, Italy
Our first day in Rome was beyond busy. We woke up incredibly early and headed to the Colosseum to see the ancient building and the sights around that area. Now, I've seen picture of the Colosseum but I was not prepared for how COLOSSAL (haha) it actually was. It was immense. And really really cool! Just the fact that the building was sooooo old (built in 80 AD!) gave me the chills. After pairing the Colosseum with the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, we decided it was time to refuel with some Italian food. We searched and searched but nothing was really tickling our fancy. After about 1/2 an hour, we stumbled on this small little restaurant that had just about everything. I decided on a piece of sausage pizza. Best decision of my life. I have never eaten something so amazing in my lifetime. Seriously, it gives me shakes just thinking about it. In addition to this God's gift to earth in the form of pizza, the wait staff there LOVED us. They brought us roast pork and bread for no reason. After eating 10000 lbs of food, we reluctantly left our new favorite spot and headed to check out the Pantheon. We quickly toured this and then headed back to our hostel and passed out from a wonderful combination of exhaustion and food coma. When we were finally revived back to life, we still weren't all that hungry, so we decided to go on a little night walk to the Spanish steps and Trevi Fountain. Both of these sights were especially pretty at night, and it was so fun to see them in real life. After this longish walk, we decided that we had worked up an appetite- for gelato. So we replaced dinner with a heaping scoop of chocolate and hazelnut gelato and called it a night.
Our next day in Rome was very similar to our first. Eat, tour, eat. First, we headed to see the Vatican where we started off by touring St. Peter's Basilica. Scared by threats of long lines and horrible waits, we arrived there pretty early. Luckily, the line was only about 10 minutes long so we hopped right in it and headed into the church. Now, trying to describe the inside of this building to you wont do it any justice, and neither will any of my pictures so just believe me when I say it is incredible. Besides the fact that it is huge, every inch of it is covered in beautiful detail- gold, silver, magnificent works of art, and stained glass. It is truly something everyone should experience in their lifetime. After our mesmerizing trip to the basilica, we headed to the Vatican museum to see more art and the Sistine Chapel. We browsed through all of the art in the museum- seeing beautiful works by titans such as Michelangelo and Raphael. Finally, we entered the great Sistine Chapel, which was so overwhelming. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but I was sneaky and was able to snag a couple. After this wonderful morning in the Vatican, we headed back into central Rome to get some lunch and look at Trevi Fountain and the Spanish steps in the daylight. After marveling at these two sights some more, we decided to grab some lunch at our favorite spot. The guys working there recognized us immediately and served us up some of our favorite pizza and some spaghetti on the house. We made the right choice. Afterwards, we headed back to our hostel for some relaxation (and digestion!) time. Once rejuvenated, we headed looked for a dinner spot near the Pantheon. We found a great one next to a gelato place that (get this!) had 100 flavors (I think I might have tried 75 of them)! Needless to say, I was in sweet tooth heaven. What a perfect way to wrap up our time in Italy.
Gran Canaria, Spain
Im definitely not going to split up this trip into different days because then you would get really bored. Basically, the Canary Islands are the funniest place on Earth. We met our friend Mason down there and decided to stay at a dirt cheap, all-inclusive, family resort...with a waterpark. Our whole weekend was filled withe buffet breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, waterslides, and of course- a great deal of tanning. The entire place was filled with families that had naked kids running around with topless moms and dads in speedos chasing after them. Epic. Although we had an amazing time here, we were excited to head to our next destination- Barcelona.
Barcelona, Spain
Our first day in Barcelona was wonderful. We slept in a little bit, then took a free walking tour after breakfast. The walking tour took us to see all of the great Gaudi sights, ending with La Sagrada Familia. This church was incredible. We went inside to tour the interior, which is some of the coolest (and weirdest!) architecture I've ever seen. The walls were covered in stained glass which really lit up the entire church. Once we left La Sagrada Familia, we headed to Las Ramblas (a shopping street), where we stopped for a much needed Starbucks chai-tea. After sipping on that heavenly goodness, we walked through an adorable market that sold fruits, vegetables, smoothies, meat, candy- everything! After this, we took a little breather in the hostel and then met up with our Colby buddy Laura for a delicious Mexican dinner (while in Spain, I know).
The next day, we headed to the Picasso museum to see the progression of his art throughout his lifetime. All though I'm not really a big Picasso lover, I really really enjoyed looking at this evolution of his art. After spending the morning here, we weren't exactly sure what to do next, so we headed back to Las Ramblas to stroll the street and do a little window shopping. After this, we had worked up a little bit of an appetite, so we headed to the adorable market where we each bought delicious fruit smoothies. After this, we went back to our hotel and relaxed before eating a quick dinner and then meeting up with our friends Laura and Scott and my friend Ryan to sample the Spanish nightlife.
This final day in Barcelona was mostly spent relaxing by the water and enjoying the scenery until our flight to PARIS!
Paris, France
Our first day in Paris was...interesting. To my horror, I woke up on our first morning in Paris to a horrible rainstorm. Jenny and I decided to trek outside anyways to see the Eiffel Tower. Although I knew it was raining, I made some poor clothing choices (ballet flats), which I soon suffered the consequences for. By the time we arrived at the Eiffel Tower, Jenny and I were completely soaked and the rain was coming down horizontally. Even still, we went up the Eiffel Tower to see the view. Unfortunately, I was blinded by the rain beating against my face so I couldn't really see anything at all. So, after a disappointing visit to the Eiffel Tower, Jenny and I decided to head back to our hotel to to a clothes-switch. Now keep in mind that I'm only traveling with my backpack, so I don't have many options for warm, waterproof clothes. Here was the solution I came up with...
1 pair of tights underneath 1 pair of leggings, underneath one pair of jeans. 1 sweater, underneath another sweater. 1 scarf. 1 pair of socks. 1 heinous pair of gym shoes (with my skinny jeans...). Needless to say, I looked good. Jenny put on a similar outfit, and we headed to the Louvre which was SO cool. It was also VERY big. After spending a few hours in there hitting all of the major sights (Mona Lisa and others), we headed home for a quick tourist break before dinner with our friend Soph! For dinner we stuck around our hotel and went to this adorable place with a set menu dinner for only 10 euros! We started with delicious French onion soup, then got steak in pepper sauce, and finished with an apple tart. YUM. After this delicious meal, we walked around a bit before stopping for a crepe with nutella and almonds which was MAGICAL. They literally melt in your mouth. (typing this blog post has made me realize that I should probably go on a diet for a while...)
The last day of our trip. So sad. I woke up praying for good weather, and we got it! Although it was a bit dreary, it wasn't raining at all. So Jenny and I headed for the Arc de Triumph, where we climbed to the top and got a beautiful 360 degree view of the city, Eiffel Tower included. After this, we headed to the Eiffel Tower to snap some photos when we weren't in a torrential downpour. Then we moved on to find some more of that DELICIOUS french onion soup. Once we accomplished this mission, we took the Metro to the Claude Monet museum, which I loved! The museum was in a house with a garden and captured all of his greatest works. Sadly, once we left this museum it was time for us to head home. While Jenny and I were walking over the bridge towards the Metro, we stopped to get one last look up Eiffel Tower at sunset. At that very instant, the entire tower lit up! It was beyond magical, and was legitimately the best moment of my life. I want to go back to Paris this instant! We reluctantly headed back to the hotel to grab our belongings and one last magical crepe before heading back to Copenhagen with Jess, Jenny and our friend Soph for Sensation White!
Sensation White
This was hands down the best night I've had in Copenhagen. SO many people from Colby were able to make it to Copenhagen for this event, and it was amazing to see them all and show them around the city. Sensation White is a gigantic rave inside the Copenhagen soccer stadium with tons of DJs and everyone has to wear white. So clearly, all of us crazy Colby kids did some damage on Copenhagen and had the time of our lives. Done and done.
Oh man, long post! (as usual) Enjoy :)
Much love,
Mandy
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