Paris and Rome

It has been three weeks since I last posted on here. That is too insanely long, so to make up for it this is my first of two posts for tonight.

Spring break in Paris and Rome. I can’t believe a week has already gone by since I got back from break! Time in London is going by way to fast!! Laurel and I left for Paris the first Saturday of our spring break. We arrived and made our way to the first hostel. Although we had a map, and directions, we got lost trying to find it. We actually walked by the street twice before realizing where it actually was! The map that we had was not very helpful. We ended up picking up three different maps and had to use these to get anywhere. When we needed to look at a map for directions we would stand on a corner and pull out three different maps to compare and try to find the little side streets and crossroads, it was quite amusing!! After dropping stuff off in our first hostel we decided to explore the area. The sun was shining and we were hungry so we set off on a mission for lunch. Lunch in Paris can be an adventure, one that we had to overcome for 4 days! English is not common in France (it was more common in Rome) and we had to point to an item on a menu and hope that it was good. Lunch was a sandwich, drink and a pastry for 4 euros. It wasn’t a bad deal, but it wasn’t my favorite, especially since I am a picky eater. After lunch we decided to wander the streets of the area we were in. We made it a pretty good distance before it started pouring. The sun had disappeared and it was replaced by lots of water falling from the sky. We knew that the weather had predicted rain for our spring break, but we were hopeful when we saw the sun. In London we learn that we have to have an umbrella with us at all times because you never know when it will start raining (and it rains all the time). We neglected to follow this advice when we went to Paris. We had umbrellas, but there were in our bags at the hostel. We made our way back to the hostel and settled down for the night after getting soaked!

That night I decided to go back to the streets to find a bottle of water since I didn’t have anything with me. I found a cute little corner store that had a couple of items. I wandered in and picked up a bottle of water. While I was in the store the manager started handing out wine. They gave me a glass with a little bit of wine and as I paid for my water they refilled it so it was overflowing. Only in Paris do you get free wine with a bottle of water!

Sunday began the adventure of seeing everything. We woke up to sunny weather, which is always a great change from London! We saw many of the tourist sights. We started the day heading to the Sacré Cœur  a beautiful white building at the top of Paris. Standing at the base of the building we were able to look over the entire city of Paris. It was a beautiful sight, especially on a sunny day! 

After that we raveled to the Arc de Triomphe and made our way down the Champs Elysees. It was incredible to see the Arc de Triomphe and the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 

The Champs Elysees was also very beautiful. The trees and the flowers that were blooming were absolutely gorgeous! 

We walked all the way to the louve where we saw the glass pyramids! We also decided to walk to Notre Dame. 

Along one of the walks on the river we saw the Eiffel Tower in the distance. It was really cool to see because it made being in Paris so real! Notre Dame was a spectacular cathedral. It was stunning and the stained glass windows were so beautiful. 

We walked upon an ice skating rink in the middle of Paris, i was really really bad at it. ON my defense, the ice was melting and the blades were not sharp, so i wasn't really comfortable on the ice.

 It was a really fun day just wandering around the city and seeing everything.

Monday was the day we decided to head to the Eiffel Tower. We had to move hostels so we walked from one to another. As we were walking we stopped to get money at an ATM and I almost go robbed. It was an eventful part of the trip.

I was at the ATM when these two guys came up and surrounded me. One of them put a piece of paper in front of everything and they kept talking. I didn't want to look away from the screen because I knew they would steal my card and money. Laurel realized what was happening and pushed one out of the way, which gave me time to push the other one. I just couldn’t push both guys at once. But they didn't even care about Laurel taking money out, only me because I'm blonde. But an older lady was also near us and started yelling at them in french about getting the police and things, which made me feel better. She also talked to us, but I have no clue what she said. I think she told me to report it to the bank, I'm not sure. She also told anyone who came by about the incident. She stayed by in the distance until were done and then said goodbye, she wanted to make sure the guys didn't come back. It left me shaken. Even though they were not very old, I was not comfortable with the situation.

We decided to spend a little bit of Monday and go to the very top. 

The lines weren’t that long, and we figured it would be an amazing experience. We took photos from the first level

And then we took photos from the very top. Trust me when I say that we were high up. It was a cloudy and very very cold day, but it was really beautiful to see the entire city. I did not want to look straight down because it was just very high. I am not a person to be scared of heights, but I did not like those elevators, so I didn’t really like the height.

After the Eiffel Tower we decided to head on over to the Louve to go inside and explore, and to see the Mona Lisa. We realized that Paris is a great place to go if you are studying in Europe. With a visa for the UK we were allowed to enter the museum for free! It is great being able to get into places for free, especially when you are a poor college student!!! We choose the perfect time to go to the Louve because, although it was crowded in the actual museum, the Mona Lisa didn’t have that many people. It was cool to see it in person because it is such a famous piece of artwork. We spent a couple of hours in the museum and that wasn’t enough. I got lost walking around the place because it is so massive! It is so overwhelming!

Going to Versailles was our adventure for Tuesday. Like the Louve, we were able to get in for free! It is such a beautiful palace and was really enjoyable to walk around and see everything. The palace grounds were also exceptional. It would be an amazing place to live because there was so much to see and so much to explore. Everything was so detailed and there was so much gold everywhere!

 On our way to the palace we stopped in the best bakery for bread. Paris has the most amazing bread and crossiants, and they are cheap!! If you like carbs, then go to paris, you will not be disappointed! That evening we went on a snaking cruise and got to see the city at night. The Eiffel Tower is so pretty when it is lit up and sparkling. The louve is also just a really pretty sight. Seeing the city by night, it makes sense why the nickname is ‘the city of lights’!

Wednesday was half a day before we headed off to paris. I headed to the Orally and it was a lot of fun. I wandered around the area and then got to go inside. It is more of a contemporary museum and it was fun seeing all the paintings that I have ssen in textbooks and in art classes though my life! I kinda wish I could have a longer time in Paris. There is so much to do and so many places to wander, it is a place I could explore for a while!

Rome, on the other hand is much smaller. Instead of having to take a tube places, we could easily walk everywhere. We arrived and it was pouring outside. We made it to our hostel where we got free pasta dinner. The people at the hostel were really nice and it was a fun environment! We went out for a little bit and got soaked because it was raining so hard! We decided we were staying in until the next day when we would go out exploring!

Our first stop on Thursday was the Coliseum. It was a lot of fun to see it and wander around. We also got into the fort and other ancient grounds. Italy isn’t nice with student discounts, our visas would not get us the cheaper tickets. It was really fun seeing everything and thinking about how old it all was. We also passed a church that we later found out was having a state funeral, which was quite sad.

After the Coliseum we just kept walking. We went to the Trevi fountain where we both made wishes and threw coins into the fountain.

 We kept wandering and found the Pantheon, since it had started raining again it was really cool. It has a hole in the top and so we could see the rain falling inside of the building. We found the Church of Loyola Ignatius, which was awesome because it reminded us of LMU!!

As we kept wandering around we happened to walk into a church that was amazing! Laurel overhead one of the Priests talking about Ignatius and how is body was buried there. We went up to him afterwards and explained that we were from LMU and how we were fascinated by it because our school is everything with Ignatius! He then told us that Ignatius actually lived in the building connected to the church and we could go see where he lived. Since we didn’t know what building he was talking about he gave us a private tour and led us through the back doors and through the Jesuit living area. Getting to the rooms he explained everything about them and the significance of everything. It was just amazing to hear about it all. It made both of us really proud to be Lions and it made us miss our school!

Friday was our day to visit the Vatican! We went in and it was again stunning. It was amazing to see everything and visit the tombs of the entire Pope’s. It is a massive Cathedral! We also went to the Vatican Museum to see the Sistine Chapel. It was amazing. It was kinda annoying that we had to walk though the ENTIRE museum just to get to it! It took me 40 minutes walking fast not looking at anything else just to see it! It was amazing to see everything on the ceiling. There is so much history in Rome and everything with it!

Saturday was a lazy wander day and going to the Spanish steps. We didn’t have any major plan so we just walked about a bit and tried to find other things on the map. It was cool seeing the Spanish steps and just exploring the city. It was another rainy day (we didn’t get much sun!)

Sunday we came back to London. It was a really great Spring Break trip!! The food in both places was amazing! We got the best gelato at one of the places, it was SOOOO good! I think I gained 5 pounds just from spring break. Luckily, Im back in London where I can run it off!

The break was filled with some great memories and amazing experiences! It was so much fun going to the different countries and enjoying ourselves!