rome 2014.

Jamie and I finally arrived at our last stop - Rome! We were both really excited about this one, believing that we'd saved the best for last.

We started our first full day in Rome with a Colosseum + Roman Forum tour. On the way to our meeting spot, I was so focused on the Roman Forum ruins that I didn't notice the Colosseum looming ahead of me. It was quite the reveal when I finally looked up and saw it. Roman architecture is absolutely incredible, y'all. I was blown away this entire day, only stopping to pick up my jaw when it was time to eat. We toured the Colosseum, then made our way to the ruins of the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill with our guide. I don't have enough words to describe how amazing it was to be standing on marbled floors dating back almost 3000 (!!!) years. From here, we marveled at the Arch of Titus, Capitoline Hill, Circus Maximus, and the Arch of Constantine. We had a lunch of lasagne and panna cotta with a view of the Colosseum while we ate, then wandered over to Campidoglio Square. This square was largely designed by Michelangelo and hosts a statue of Marcus Aurelius riding his horse in the center. There is nothing in Rome that didn't impress.

The next day, we started with another tour -- this time of Vatican City, the Sistine Chapel, and St Peter's Basilica. We learned all about good popes and bad popes, the Borgias, saw 15th century tapestries, wandered through rooms covered with wall-to-wall Rafael masterpieces, and finally stood face to face with Adam's famous finger stretching to reach God's. It was breathtaking. And we weren't allowed to take photos, haha. The entire chapel is overwhelming so I just sat down and stared upward, taking it all in. We then made our way to St Peter's Basilica which remains the largest church in the world to this day. The baroque-style of carvings and intricacies inside was awe-inspiring. I've been in many, many churches on this trip, but this one was by far the most detailed. Absolutely incredible. After our tour and a lunch of pesto fettuccine, we headed to a famous gelateria that is known for having 150 flavors. It was quite the walk, but we were rewarded nicely! The gelato is out-of-this-world delicious. On our way there, we passed through the Navona Square and got a few photos, but we were on a mission! Finally, we rounded out the day with a dinner including a charcuterie plate, gnocchi, and tiramisu at a restaurant in Trastavere.

For our last full day in Rome (and last full day of travel! Wahhhh.) I began the day alone with a quick walk to the nearest bakery that inspired this post. Then Jamie and I headed out together to get coffee from Sant'Eustachio Il Caffe, famous for it's many espresso drinks. We took our frappes and wandered over to the Pantheon, which was closed for morning mass. We sat in the shade, sipping our drinks, and listening to the hymns. Once we got going again, we headed to the Capuchin Crypt where the bones of thousands of Capuchin monks have been artistically arranged to decorate several small chapels. It was both interesting and creepy -- and again we weren't allowed to take photos. From here, we walked to the Spanish steps and the Spanish square. Sooo many people here! The fountain here was closed and under construction which was even more of a bummer than usual because we avoided the Trevi Fountain completely for that same reason. Apparently it's been under construction for about 6 months without water flow so we figured it wouldn't really be worth our time. Guess we'll just have to see it on our next trip to Italy! We spent more time in Navona Square after this, grabbing a quick lunch before heading back to the Pantheon to actually catch a glimpse of the inside. I was so glad we doubled back to do this because it was absolutely incredible. The Romans were amazing architects, y'all. It's so hard to even explain or fathom. Finally, we finished our trip with a peek inside a Prada store (!!) and some more tiramisu after dinner.

Ultimately, Rome was both of our favorites and Jamie and I were both happy to have ended the trip on such a high note. The whirlwind of 20 days was sad to say goodbye to, but I learned so much about myself and about different cultures. I would 100% do another trip like this. Any takers for my next adventure?
-e.

barcelona 2014.

We got into Barcelona around 4:30 pm and began our introduction to the city with a driving tour. We saw many of Gaudi's amazing architectural works as well as the 1992 Olympic stadium, the cathedral of Santa Eulalia, the triumphal arch, the Colombus Monument, the national art museum whose building was originally built to host the World Exhibition in 1929 and a few bullfighting rings that have been turned into shopping and event centers since bullfighting was banned. The incredible artistry and architecture of these rings begged for them to be used for something else rather than be torn down. We then headed to a dinner of tapas and sangria, enjoyed a flamenco show, and ended the late night by experiencing some of Barcelona's famous nightlife.

The next morning, our crew was pretty exhausted, so we had a slow start to the day. We made it over to La Sagrada Familia - another of Gaudi's famous structures - only to find the line wrapped around the block. We changed course and headed to La Rambla, the main tourist street in Barca. From here we wandered into the gothic quarter and went to the Cathedral of Santa Eulalia, or Barcelona Cathedral. It was absolutely incredible inside and we even got to go to the roof to check out the city from an amazing viewpoint. This cathedral was one of the highlights of my trip! For dinner, we ended up at a tapas bar I found through Yelp! Hah. Waiters came around to each table carrying plates of tapas with toothpicks in them and you'd take whichever looked interesting to you. Each toothpick was €1,65 and they were tallied together at the end of the meal.

The next morning, our part of the tour ended while the rest of the crew went on to the French Riviera. It was incredible how close we all got in such a short period of time! I was sad to see them go, but excited to spend more time in Barcelona exploring. Once we got to our Airbnb in Barcelona, however, we were totally exhausted! We ended up going to Playa de Barceloneta for the rest of the afternoon to read while lounging in the sun. We also may have split a pitcher of sangria between the two of us. Uh, hello?! Vacay! We got tapas for lunch and dinner because of course we did and ended the night early. Sometimes on trips like these you just need to take a slow day to regroup...

...And sometimes on trips like these, you need multiple slow days to regroup. Jamie and I had been entirely on the same page for this trip, so when we got up the next day and decided shopping and more beach time was the only thing on the agenda, we were both happy. We met up with Dan, a guy we met from our tour who also stayed a few days extra in Barcelona, and headed to Arenas de Barcelona. This shopping center used to be one of the main bullfighting rings in the city, but once the sport was banned, they turned into into a functional mall instead of tearing down the beautiful structure. While there, we finally had some excellent seafood paella and then headed to the beach once more!

Finally, the next day, we headed to our final destination: Rome!

france 2014.

This day we had a verrrry early start by catching the first tube out of Shoreditch and meeting our TopDeck tour group at 6:30 am at a hotel in London. We drove as a group down to Dover to see the white cliffs and hop on the ferry to Calais, France. From there we drove about 4 hours to Paris! After dropping our stuff at the hotel, we ate at Pari's Cafe where I had my first glass of champagne in France (!!!), onion soup, escargot (!!!), and duck confit. It was all delicious. We ended the night with an amazing driving tour of the city that really hit all of the highlights, including but not limited to: the Louvre, Champs Elysées, Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, the Luxor Obelisk, Ecole Militaire, Notre Dame, Sacre-Cœur Basilica, Place de la Bastille, the Grand and Petit Palais, and Academie Nationale de Musique. It was absolutely incredible and a great way to see a large portion of the city, especially since we'd only be there for another 24 hours.

For our free day, Jamie and I started at the Louvre, but chose not to go inside because we knew there was no way we'd see even a small percentage of it. We both decided that would have to wait for our next trip to Paris. ;) After taking some pictures of the amazing architecture, we walked to the Norte Dame and ventured inside to ogle the stained glass windows and gothic-domed ceilings. Amazing. I also fell in love with the gargoyles up top! As we were leaving, we saw what I jokingly refer to as my favorite thing about Paris: a man was standing with bread in his hand, feeding the birds. We both nudged each other, like "aw, how cute" and then he shook the birds off and TOOK A BITE of the same bread the birds had been eating off of! We both audibly gasped and died laughing.

We stopped at a cafe near the love lock bridge to have a café au lait and people watch, then headed to Musee d'Orsay, a museum known for it's large impressionist collection. Afterwards, we meandered along the Seine River and had lunch, then enjoyed some gelato at Jardin Des Tuileries. We simply knew we'd be miserable if we tried to shove as much as we could into this one day in Paris, so we really just took it in and enjoyed ourselves.

After finishing our gelato, we walked the entire length of Champs Elysées to end up at the Arc de Triomphe, then took the 287 steps up to the top to see the entire city from up high! It was incredible. Finally, we ended the evening with a picnic at the base of the Eiffel Tower with our tour group. Macarons abound! I had 5, I think? WHEN IN PARIS, y'all. To round the whole night off, we went to an 11:30 show at the Moulin Rouge. This cost some serious cash, but it was SO worth it! Boobs and booze and some seriously impressive acts. It was sometimes campy, but never lost my attention. This was my favorite part of the day!

Another early start for this day. We left our Parisian hotel for Bordeaux, which is a solid 7 hour drive. Luckily, we stopped about 1/3 of the way through for Chateau de Chambord, a structure built in 1519 by King Francis I and made famous for it's liqueur. This was a really incredible thing to get to experience. Many of the rooms and staircases are open to walk through and it really just drives home the point of the opulence that 16th, 17th, and 18th century French royalty enjoyed. This building was used almost solely for a hunting lodge. That's it! But look at it! So cool. Also, rumor has it that Leonardo di Vinci designed the main staircase in this chateau.

We continued our journey towards Bordeaux after grabbing lunch at the chateau. It was an additional 5 hours, so much of this day was spent traveling. Once we arrived at the hotel, we quickly got ready for an excellent French dinner and headed out to explore the city a bit before the sun went down.

To continue our tour through France, we stopped at a winery just outside of Bordeaux. We got a tour of the cellars and our guide explained the process of wine-making. It was really interesting! After the tour was over, we got to taste a Sauvignon blanc and a blended red that the winery is famous for. It was an excellent way to start the day - drinking wine at 10 am! Haha. After a bit more driving, we ended our day with a few hours wandering the fortified city of Carcassonne and then the best French meal I've had so far of cassoulet with duck confit.

Another early morning to start our travels through the Pyrenees. We stopped in Andorra for a bit of duty-free shopping and continued on to Barcelona!