Honeymoon 2012

As the month seems to get colder and colder, all I can dream about is a warm sandy beach and a cold rum-y drink in hand! We decided to do a more budget friendly vacation instead of one like we just took. As amazing as Europe was, I'm so glad we did it before having to plan and pay for a wedding. Because we are looking at discount websites for our cruise, an 8 day stay with food included will be less than we even hoped for! Whenever Ryan and I go on vacation, we like to squeeze in a little entra in the beginning or end. Since our cruise starts in Miami, we are taking a few days before to see Orlando for Disneyworld and Harry Potter. The whole trip will be about 12 days and will be just what we needed after all this planning.

We had our last horrah two weekends ago to see Disneyland at Christmas. We both made the promise that until then, it's matinees and cooking at home! It shouldn't be must different than what we already do but saying it out loud somehow makes it more encouraging. I'm glad we chose the more wallet friendly route for a honeymoon, less stress. Some of the islands I'm looking forward to are: Aruba, Barbados, and Turks and Cacos. More to come!

A vacation... From blogging

Hi readers (all 4 of you)! I'm sure you have noticed I haven't been able to write lately about what far off places I hope and dream for but I have been oh so busy with the oh so boring day to day life. I'm currently planning my wedding. The only thing set for sure is the date, October 19th, 2012 and the dress, of course!

Now, you must be wondering where my next trip shall be so I will leave you with a few previews for some very soon places:

December 2011 - Disneyland with my maid of honor, future husband, and bridesmaid/cousin.

July 2012 - Costa Rica with Lauren! Our last fling together before I tie the knot ( also she is the maid of honor mentioned above).

September 2012 - bachelorette party in Vegas!

October 2012 - wedding and honeymoon: destination to be named soon!

Our last day in foggy London town

Our last day of vacation!

The last day has come. It feels like we havebeen gone for months! This trip has brought us closer than ever and I'm so happy I got to take this trip with my best friend and now fiancé. Ryan is very excited to go home to start planning this wedding and so am I.

Around 11 am we had our East London private walking tour which took us to many places around London with hidden history and stories. We got to see the place where Lady Jane Grey was tried before taken to London Tower. we saw the church where "Amazing Grace" was written and first performed. The pastor wrote it after his separation from the slave trade and how he saw the error of is ways. The London fire of 1666 was so fascinating, we were told all about it while standing by the Monument and looking over Pudding Lane. The coolest thing was learning about the Blitz and seeing this shell of a church that survived. The walls are still standing and where the inside would be is this beautiful garden with a small fountain and gold colored ivy climbing the walls. With all of the stories we heard about London, they all had one thing in common: London keeps going. "keep calm and carry on" was actually true. Even during the daily bombing from Germany, people kept going to work and school. In fact, there was a huge baby boom in that time. It goes to show the human spirit will rise to the occasion.

Now, what better way to end our time in London other than seeing a show? We saw the Lion King which was incredible! Ryan and I were sitting on the edge of our seats the entire time. The singing was dead on, the sets were enchanting and the best part, the British accents! Haha. This trip was so amazing. I am so happy to have a story I can tell my grandkids about the time we got engaged and got to travel around Europe. I feel like we have gotten even closer, if that's possible!

Dublin day

Dublin day

At 4am my alarm starts blaring, we get ready and head to the tube by 5am. We sit at the tube until 6 am. Our flight is at 6:50. You do the math. So, we ended up on the flight an hour after and arrived in Ireland around 9am. The flight was short which was nice and we were half awake the whole time so it seemed to fly by. Pardon the pun. Dublin was super gloomy, just as we thought it might be but we were very excited for two reasons: Guinness and the prison.

The Guinness factory has been something that Ryan had been talking about for months. It is about 7 stories high and each floor shows you a different part of the brewing process. Ryan was happy because he got two free pints out of it! At the top of the whole factory is the gravity bar with a 360 degree view of the top of the city and the most beautiful part is the view of the Wicklow mountains peaking in between the fog and clear sky. We (he) finished the pints and made our way to the famous prison in Dublin. This prison is tied to so many different eras of Irish history, stuff I never knew I a thing about. The tour guide is very prideful of his country's past so his stories were very heartfelt.

The day was long and cold, but fun at the same time. We made it back to our hotel in London around midnight, and after a late dinner fell right to sleep.

Day 3 in London

Day 3 in London

Today was a completely free day, the only thing on the schedule was our high tea at 1pm so we basically had our pick of what to do. Around 8 am we watched the sun come up over Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, the orange and yellow trees where so beautiful I feel like I was in a romantic comedy! Kensington palace in undergoing huge renovations right now but we could still see the beautiful gate and part of the back where there is a maze and some cool gardens. Since we were so close, we went to the Natural History Museum (best part is, it's free!). This was Ryan's favorite thing. He was like a little boy, it was so adorable. We saw huge dinosaurs, ancient fossils, whales, wooly mammoths and much more. I felt so awful telling him it was time to leave "the best museum ever" but we had to. I recommend this place because it has so much to see it is totally worth it and the building is so spectacular!

High tea was at Fortnum and Mason in Picadilly Circus. They pretty much needed to roll us out of there! We started with eggs benedict over smoked salmon for me, and a cheese soufflé for Ryan followed by a fantasia like flow of scones, madalines, cakes, and cookies. The plain scones are so good, nothing like I have ever tried. You can eat as much as you want so Ryan and I would take a bite, sit for a few minutes, take a bite, etc. We didn't want to get full too soon! A small part of us liked to pretend we were on "Top Chef: Just Desserts" with the tiny little cakes. When the disgusting display of gluttony was over, we waddled I mean walked to St. James Park to see Buckingham Palace during the day.

The parks are everywhere it feels like New York, just less crowded. Maybe that is why I love London so much. Another great free museum is the National Gallery in Trafalgar square which we saw after the tea. Renoir, Van Gogh, and Monet galore! It was really cool to see so many amazing paintings in one room. I'm glad we took the time to go see it. It was such a long day that we ended with a walk down Embankment pier with a cool view of the London eye and Big Ben, then a quick trip to see the London Bridge and Tower Bridge. Now we are back getting everything ready for our day trip to Dublin tomorrow. We have to be up at 4am, ugh!

Castles, Shakespeare, and Harry Potter!

Our second day in England: castles, Shakespeare, and Harry potter!

We woke up very very early and headed to the coach station for our day trip to Warwick castle, Shakespeare's birthplace, and Oxford. The bus ride was awesome because we pretty much had it to ourselves. We got to Warwick just as the sky had cleared and got a great view with all of the beautiful fall colored trees. The first place we looked at were all of the state apartments which were unreal. So beautiful and frozen in time that I felt like it was the actual 1500's. My favorite room was called the Blue Room and almost looked like something Marie Antoinette would have died over! I can't wait to post those pictures. Another cool room was one dedicated to Henry the 8th, and if you know my obsession...I was a little more than excited to see it. They had wax figures of him and all 6 wives: divorced, beheaded, died, divided, beheaded, survived.

The gardens at Warwick are so different than anything we have seen before. Understated but gorgeous nonetheless. The whole castle has peacocks running around and an exhibit with many different owls, a bald eagle, and a hawk. Very cool! It was so cute because a school trip was there and all of the little girls were dressed like princesses! It got us talking a lot about kids.

The next stop was a tourist trap uh I mean, Shakespeare's birth place. Don't get me wrong, the town was charming and the sandwiches were super good and cheap but basically we went all the way out there to see some room he was born in. Eh.

We drove for another hour through the Cotswolds which are a type of house in the small mountain range in England. The name refers to the roof that they all have and by law, they have to keep them a certain way. To repair your roof on one of those houses cost 60,000 pounds! Ouch! When we arrived to Oxford, we went straight to the College of Christ Church which was home to the man who wrote Alice in Wonderland. In fact, all over the college they have small references to it and how he came up with the characters. The white rabbit was based on the dean who would sneak out a secret passage from the dining hall. Alice was his daughter, and the cat was hers who liked to sun bathe by the library. We got to see the stairs they used for filming in Harry Potter along with the great dining hall. It is so small in person! I guess to film there they would have had to remove the roof, so they made a replica with a little change...four tables instead of three.

It was such an exhausting day but so fun and such a great way to see more than must London! Ryan loved the castle and I of course loved Oxford. Especially after I got to see the brick where J.K. Rowling got the inspiration for the lighting bolt scar!

Lost in London

Lost in London

Ryan and I have lost each other. Not kidding. I got in one tube, and he got stuck on the platform. I rode up and back searching, paging at every stop, crying, more crying, until the security man suggests I call the hotel. But let me make this clear, I have everything. The passports, the wallets, the phone, the METRO cards. Ryan doesn't have anything on him but a suitcase. I even have the tube directions to the hotel in my pocket. So when he suggests this, I'm thinking that is a very far fetched idea that he would have a clue where to go. So I call.

"I *sob* lost my fiancé. *sob* my name is Kristin and we have a reservation for tonight"

"yes Kristin, he called just a little it ago and told me to tell you to meet him here"

"he what?! Really? he is so smart! *soft cry*"

So here I am, sitting. Wishin and hopin. Sitting with my bags and a glass of red wine and desperately searching out of the lobby window for my lost Ryan. Here he is! Finally! Apparently I had written the name of the hotel on a paper that was in his backpack. Just the name. He had to ask someone to use a phone a d found his way here. After a while of catching up and telling each other how much we loved each other, it was time to go to Sherlock Holmes pub where Ryan got his real yorkshire puddings and we shared a vegetable Wellington.

We wandered around to see Big Ben, Westminster abbey, parliament, the London eye, and Buckingham palace. Tomorrow we leave for warwick castle, Oxford, and to tour where Shakespeare lived. After today we are so drained!

Barcelona, day 3

Barcelona, day 3

Well, no one told us that this morning was the time to set the clocks back so we got a very early start! Breakfast and went right to see the Cathedral from the inside. The claustre was breathtaking! In the middle of the square there are palm trees, fountains, swans, and ivy. The center is completely open to the sky so today being such a beautiful day gave an amazing blue background to it all. Inside the square, by the walls to the church were little areas dedicated to different saints, I got some great pictures that I can't wait to post.

At ten, we had our walking tour of the gothic area and the tour guide was so knowledgeable and you can tell he truly loved the history of his city. We started again in the plaza de Sant Jaume but went to some different places that we never even knew about. He pointed out little things like carvings on walls to show how we know what time they are from, even some being bomb marks from the civil war. From Sant Juame, we went all through the old Jewish quarters, the Temple d'August, Sant Sever, Placa de Sant Felip Neri (one of my favorites), Palau Episcopal, the Roman walls, Placa del Rei, and other really cool squares in the city.

We are back now at the hostel making lunch before we head out to the Gaudi's parks. We just booked our tickets for Lion King in London which Ryan is so excited about! Tonight we are going to get some falafel from this place across the street and take it to the fountains of Montjuic. Every night from 8:30 -11:30 they have a water show with classical music, should be romantic! Tomorrow we head off to London!

Our first night and first whole day in Barcelona

Venice, the city on water

We got into Venice are eleven to a beautiful sunny morning and our first view of this unusual place was breathtaking. A blue sky set behind water taxis, bridges, and small restaurants on the water. We took a cab to our hotel which is just right outside the island. Now, to get back the hotel guy simply said to take the 4 or 19 bus, would have been helpful if he showed us which stop was correct. Instead we sat for 45 minutes thinking, these buses are slow! Tis little old lady who only spoke Italian shows us where to go, long story short we get derailed off of our journey but finally make it to the island with an hour to spare before our tour.

The tour was cool, she really could have spoken up though, I looked like a weirdo trying to have my ear close to her mouth. At the end of the tour we get to have our gondola ride which to our luck, was only shared with one other couple. It was so relaxing and beautiful! We went right as the sun was about to set and as we would turn into the small canals we could see the architecture close up. Most of it is either inspired by the renaissance or a style that was taken from the middle east. The window frames alone are pieces of art! After the gondola, we stilled the different squares and bridges, looked at the Rialto and had dinner. Tomorrow is the first day in a few we can sleep in, our flight to Barcelona is at 2pm. Venice is by far Ryan's favorite so far, he is convinced we need to come back someday to rent a place for a few weeks. The maze of the streets is enough to explore for a while!

Venice, the city on water

Venice, the city on water

We got into Venice are eleven to a beautiful sunny morning and our first view of this unusual place was breathtaking. A blue sky set behind water taxis, bridges, and small restaurants on the water. We took a cab to our hotel which is just right outside the island. Now, to get back the hotel guy simply said to take the 4 or 19 bus, would have been helpful if he showed us which stop was correct. Instead we sat for 45 minutes thinking, these buses are slow! Tis little old lady who only spoke Italian shows us where to go, long story short we get derailed off of our journey but finally make it to the island with an hour to spare before our tour.

The tour was cool, she really could have spoken up though, I looked like a weirdo trying to have my ear close to her mouth. At the end of the tour we get to have our gondola ride which to our luck, was only shared with one other couple. It was so relaxing and beautiful! We went right as the sun was about to set and as we would turn into the small canals we could see the architecture close up. Most of it is either inspired by the renaissance or a style that was taken from the middle east. The window frames alone are pieces of art! After the gondola, we stilled the different squares and bridges, looked at the Rialto and had dinner. Tomorrow is the first day in a few we can sleep in, our flight to Barcelona is at 2pm. Venice is by far Ryan's favorite so far, he is convinced we need to come back someday to rent a place for a few weeks. The maze of the streets is enough to explore for a while!

Our day in Florence

Our day in Florence

We left a rainy Rome to a rainy Florence. It is still so beautiful though! Our hotel won't let us check in for another two hours so we are still in a cafe sipping cappuccino and eating croissants! And! Ryan is actually sipping the cappuccino haha! Normally he hates coffee! I swear I refuse to spend money on anything besides plain coffee unless I'm here, it is out of this world!

When we can finally go to our hotel, we can get all cute and explore...

After we checked in to this super cute B&B - Locanda die Ciompi (very nice, helpful, and so close to the main attractions) we set out and went right to the Piazzale Michaelangeo which is up on a hill and over looks the entire city! We were so lucky because as we left the hotel, the rain stopped so we got some amazing sunny pictures! A short walk to the ponte vecchio we got to see all of the jewelry shops and the gold! So much gold! Next was a stop at my favorite place, the plazzo vecchio where there are about 15 marble statues that are so massive they make people look about two feet tall. My favorite is one of the only bronze statues and shows Percious beheading Medusa. Most of the statues in this square have been there since the 1700's dating back to the 1500's. The last before our lunch break was the famous "Duomo" or Cantedral di Santa Maria die Fiore which is a huge white, pink, and green set of a bell tower, chapel, and Basilica.

Ryan needed a small nap due to head ache, so I watched real housewives. Gotta love my iPad! Ryan was good to go in about an hour so we got to see more sites like San Marco's square, Basilica di San Lorenzo, and the Palazzo Pitti. Dinner was so good, it was gone in 5 minutes, there is no picture evidence but let me tell you, to die for. We ate at Il Vegetariano, a small but intimate vegetarian/Italian place. We shared things like Brie and Spinach lasagna, rice and ricotta casserole, and some kind of fritata with broccoli and grains. It was gone before it even hit the plate! Now back in the hotel, we are relaxing and have barely unpacked because we leave again tomorrow morning for Venice!

Day 3 in Rome

Day 3 in Rome

Waking up earlier than we would care to, we met our tour group for our shuttle to Pompeii. We got to pass through Naples which was cool to see as well. After about a three hour bus ride, we were in the ancient city. Ryan was hungry so we stopped off first for lunch in this tiny little place behind a vineyard- pizza for Ryan and linguini with shrimp for me. It was really good but very interesting to see the differences in service from here to America. Our witness brought our bread with a baby on her hip!

Pompeii was very different than I had imagined, bigger in fact. The guide talked about the earthquake then the eventual erupt from Mount Vesuvius that we could see when staring directly south of the forum. After a while, al, of these broken brick walls started to look similar until we got to see the bodies covered in ash. Their expressions, which are still in tact, were haunting! On the bus back we mostly slept due to the fact that we've probably only been getting six or seven hours a night. We are defiantly going to need a few days when we get back to catch up, but it's totally worth it!

For our last night, we had dinner in our favorite place: Campo di Fiori which basically means flower market, and to our amazement they still had flowers for sale even at 8pm! Ryan had this incredible veggie lasagna and I had a salad with seafood, after we shared a panna cotta for dessert of course. Tomorrow we're off to Florence, what I consider the most romantic place in Italy. I'm excited to show Ryan all of the art and gelato!

Day 2 in Rome

Day 2 in Rome

After such a great day in Rome before, we were so excited for day two! We woke up really early and met our tour group for the Vatican around 8 am. Now, I specifically packed two pairs of tights to wear with this skirt I had planned on wearing. In the Vatican, you need to have your knees and shoulders covered and since the day before was so warm, a skirt seemed perfect. Well, rushing out I completely forgot the most important part...the tights. We get alllll the way to the tour company, where the JERK (terrible shout out, "enjoy Rome") starts to say things to me like " you are going to the Vatican, not the beach!" super uncalled for and actually made me really upset. I wasn't trying to be disrespectful, I was just rushed and forgot. Well, a 4 hour tour later, I'm walking around with a jackets tied around my legs. I could only take steps a few inches long but I did it.

The Vatican was bigger and more gorgeous than I remembered. We saw all of the museums, galleries, and finished with the Sistine chapel. My favorite story was how the Vatican has only been closed one day since 1929, the day Hitler wanted to come visit, the pope locked him out. Awesome.

The tour was over around 12 and we had an hour or so to go home and change, eat, and then meet at the Excavations office for our tour of the Necropolis. Basically St. Peter's Basilica has three levels (one for a cemetery of pageons, one being the original St. Peter's built by Constantine, and the last being the one that is there today. In the second level, we saw St. peter's tomb and his remains. Completely weird and completely amazing at the me time. The things that are under the Basilica date back before Christ, Rome is full of history that just blew us away. After the Necropolis tour was over, we were left to explore the Basilica which had been closed that morning due to a private service for a cardinal. Ryan's face was priceless. It is so powerful and overwhelming I don't think we said two words to each other.

Well, to Ryan's great excitement we next went to see the inside of the Colosseum and getting there close to closing was probably the best idea we've had all trip. It was quiet and felt like we had the place all to ourselves. Tomorrow we take a bus to see Pompeii and have our last night in Rome before heading off to Florence!

Day 1 in Rome

Train to Rome/Rome day 1

After waiting in the train station for a few hours, we boarded our overnight train to Rome. I think Ryan was thinking we were going on some luxurious hotel/train so he was a little disappointed at the size but I was just happy not to deal with the snooty hotel clerk in Paris. She was just awful.

We are now here in Rome and our room is fantastic. It is a bed and breakfast with a balcony and a view of the Vatican. The owner gave us his cell number and a ton of maps to help us, he was so nice! Way different than Paris. Today we don't have anything planned until our ghost walk tour at 9pm so we will see some sights and have a nice hot lunch (finally).

12am: we're back from the most perfect day in Rome! We started our journey with gnocchi for Ryan and some fresh minestrone soup for me, so good! We had lunch right outside looking to the Vatican. We took the 64 bus straight to the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II which is this large, white building signifying the union of Italy, or at least from what I can remember. It is covered in statues and Italian flags. A short walk to the right and we found ourselves right outside the Foro Traiano and the Foro di Cesare. There must have been some kind of festival because the roads were clear and people were performing everywhere. We even got to sit and watch some tug of war. Once we made our way to the Colosseum, we noticed the line was pretty much wrapped around the entire thing. I guess on Thursday it rained so bad the whole Roman Forum was flooded and closed for three days which explains the line. So tomorrow it looks like we are going to pay for the tour which is three hours and takes us through the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palestine Hill. The Colosseum is to Ryan what the Eiffel Tower is to me.

About a twenty minute walk down the Via del Corso, you can find Trevi Fountain once you turn down Via Della Muratte. And those eggplant mozzarella paninis I once raved about? I sure did point out that cafe on the corner of villa c. Battisi and Via Della Corso. After making our wishes into the Trevi fountain, we walked to the Pantheon and making a pit stop at Tazza D'oro for a "cafe creme." A few blocks down we found the Piazza Navona which is so full of life and beautiful it's hard not to love it. The center has the beautiful and giant fountains of the four rivers which depicts the four large rivers of the world known at that time. Right behind it, tucked away is the best gelato ever. Coconut was the best but honorable mention was defiantly for the pistachio. So worth it. We kept walking down the Via di Ripetta to find the Piazza del Popolo and continued down to the Spanish steps and saw my favorite fountain which is said to have the sweetest water in Rome. It's a large boat with water overflowing, which of course I can't remember the name for at the moment.

I took Ryan to this old crypt that I discovered on contiki, completely weirded him out and then had my first cappuccino for the trip while we rested our feet. I read once that Campo de Fioro comes alive at night and is a great place for dinner or drinks. We went and had the most romantic meal of the trip so far. This mixed with perfect sunny but not too hot weather made the perfect day. We ordered a smoked Gouda and honey bruschetta and a veggie pizza. Dinner was over with just enough time to meet our ghost walking tour group at the sant'Andrea Della Valle Church. The tour was put on by "the dark heart of Rome" and took us around all of these dark corners and random spots to tell stories of Rome that we have never heard before. Tales of popes, witches, and pointed out "little madonnas" all over. "Little Madonnas" are small paintings on certain corners which shows The Virgin Mary watching over the street. Legend says that because they are there, no one will try to harm you (back in the days before street lamps). The night ended with a super easy bus ride back and now we're back to relax and rest our feet! Tomorrow is the Vatican and our Gladiator tour. I just hope I can get Ryan not to yell "THIS IS SPARTA" every three seconds!

Day 4 in Paris

Day 4 in Paris

So our last day in the city of lights is upon us. We have a bus ride to Versailles from 8-12, then the Musee D'Orsay before we catch our train to Rome at 7 pm.

As we're caring our luggage on the subway, a man sticks his hand right in ryan's back pocket! As Ryan turns around, he simply says "pardon" and runs away. W must have had huge targets on our backs while lugging this stuff around but good thing Ryan noticed in time and his wallet is safely in my purse.

5pm from the Paris-Bercy train station:

We're waiting for our train to Rome so I thought I'd give an update on the day. Versailles was pretty cool. One of those things I am glad to say we did, but wouldn't do again. If I could, I would have spent more time at the Louvre. When we got back around 12:30, we went to the place that is known to have the best hot chocolate, Angelina. It defiantly measured up! Soooo good! We crossed through the Jardin des Tuileries and the Louvre to head off to the Musee D'Orsay so I could FINALLY see starry night. Turns out, the workers were on strike. Paris. So sad but I guess this gives us a reason to come back. Now were just playing suddoku and reading for the next few hours until our train is here. We didn't want to risk getting lost so we got here really early.

Day 3 in Paris

Day 3 in Paris

Ok so today, we got kind of a late start due to me taking Tylenol pm and not waking up til 11 am lol. After we got ready, we had almond croissants at our new favorite place and walked down to the Louvre. The Louvre. Is. Incredible. I saw everything I have ever read about and I have to say, it's just so much We saw things that took our breath away and a few things that almost brought me to tears, seriously.

From the Louvre, we walked over to the Hotel des Invalides to see the war museums and the Tomb of Napolean. Now that, was cool. So the way Napolean's tomb is placed, you are either looking from below so you look up to him, our you are above and with the way the railing is placed, you are bending over like you are bowing. Even in death this guy has respect. After that we shared a nutella crepe and walked to meet our night bike tour, which met at the Eiffel tower. We rode all try through the Latin quarter to Notre Dame, had ice cream with the group at this amazing little place, and had a Seine river cruise for an hour with...free wine. My face is still red. Also, it's freezing. It feel's like a Sacramento January here.

Tomorrow will be great, we are off to Versailles then seeing the Musee D'Orsay mostly because I'm dying to see Monet's water lillies and starry night. At 7pm we have our train to Rome where we have decided to buy some wine and watch a movie. It's an overnight train so we'll arrive in Rome around 10 am. So much has happened I can't believe it's still the beginning of our trip.

Ryan and I got to thinking about Honeymoons and I think we want to go on the cheaper route: a cruise to st Thomas/Lucia and two nights at disneyworld and two at Harry potter. What can I say, we're cheesy like that! Guess that's why I'm marrying him! What's so funny is that when I was little I always somehow worked Disneyland into my Honeymoon plans, guess it's really happening!

Day 2 in Paris

Day 2 in Paris

After eating a breakfast of the most amazing croissants we have ever had (super cheap too!) we took the metro to the Trocadero exit which has the most amazing view of the Eiffel tower. I made Ryan close his eyes til we saw it. We walked past our engagement spot and then made our way to the south end of the tower to find out bike tour group. The group was only about 25 people and we all had cruiser bikes. The tour guide was fantastic and told us all about King Louise the 14 th, Napoleon, and the French Revolution. It's so amazing that this city is built on so much history.

One of the bridges we were standing on was made from the bricks from the Bastille prison that the revolutioners tore down. I just think it's so unreal that anywhere you walk in Paris contributed to history and the present. We got some great pictures, had crepes in the Jardin Des Tuileries which is the giant garden outside of the louvre. After the tour was over, we wandered into the Latin quarter by Notre Dame and even got to go inside while a service was going. That church is like Sacred Heart on steroids! It's actually having it's 850th birthday next year.

After we strolled past the Luxembourg gardens and bought some pastries at Dallyou which was on my list of places to try. And this point we're so tired we can not even figure out where our hotel is. Totally frustrating and after our outrageous cab ride, we were back and drugged ourselves with Tylenol pm haha. 12 hours later here we are about to go to the Louvre! More tomorrow!

Our first day in Paris

Our first day in Paris -
Well the trip from the airport didn't go as smoothly as planned. I had booked a shuttle to pick us up and they said right after we land, we're supposed to be able to find a free phone to call and tell them we're here. After three calls, this man in a yellow cab convinces us that we are the customers he's looking for and right as we're getting into Paris, his boss gets on the phone with us to inform us all that we are not his customers and must be taken back to the airport or forced to pay 60 Euro. We went back to the airport. An hour after that, our shuttle finds us and we get to our hotel. It's defiantly not the four seasons, but hey we're in Paris so I don't really care.

We checked in, changed, and got right to walking. I wore these new "comfortable shoes" which will come into the story later. Walking down the Rue de Rivoli, we find the Louvre and do the long walk down the Champs Élysées, stopping for macaroons at Laudree and make our way to the Arc de Triomphe which at this point, is completely glowing in lights. The walk from the Rue de Louvre to the Arc took us over an hour because we stopped for hot chocolate and took a billion pictures of things like "The palace de Concorde" (where people like Marie Antoinette were killed) which has beautiful fountains and a giant obelisk from Egypt. Since so many roads lead to the Arc, it's really easy to take a side street and find your way to the Eiffel Tower.

When I was here last, I only saw it from far away when it was nighttime so seeing it tonight was so amazing. The size of it alone is so unreal and I love how it's visible from so many places around the city. Every first 5 minutes of the hour, it sparkles and glitters in flickering lights. After walking underneath, there are basically two major ways to go. One leads you back where we came from to the Palais de Chaillot or you can go the way we started walking, toward the Parc du Champ de Mars. Now at this point my feet are so swollen and blister-y from walking Ryan had to give me his socks to wear with my flats. We get all the way down the Parc du Champ de Mars, about 20 min of a walk, and I'm planning on taking him past the Hotel des Invalides, the Musee D'Orsay, and Notre Dame at night. Thinking it'll be a short hour or so walk back I was excited to finally lose these awful shoes.

All of a sudden, Ryan tells me no and that we really need to go all the way back to see some fountains. He is so persistent that no matter what I say, he keeps insisting we go back. Let's just say I wasn't the most pleasant of people. We walk about 20 min back the way we came and find a place to sit and watch the lights. Once it was over, Ryan stood up right away like he wanted to go. Me dreading the walk back, I get off the ledge and start to follow him. Like a movie, he gets on one knee while I...trip over a bush. he's shaking and crying, says something super fast and shows me a ring. In nerves, I kneel down too not really knowing how to react. (but was happy, of course!) the whole day just seemed so unreal, probably from lack of sleep, that this too felt like a dream. After telling him 3 times to repeat it, I just wanted to hear him say it over and over, and me staring at the ring for a super long time, I realized I forgot to say yes! I guess I just thought he knew that it would of course be a yes.

After talking for a while, we started walking back down the way we were going before this happens and as we were walking down my favorite bridge, the Pont Alexandre III, the Eiffel tower was glittering again and I said "we've been engaged for a whole hour!" I think then it became real. For Ryan, it was when I told him which pocket his Chap stick was in. Boys. Pizza tonight was the only thing we had energy to find for dinner. Tomorrow night we plan on getting a bottle of wine to really celebrate when we don't look like zombies!

Iceland airport

Iceland airport- we had about 40 min to get to the gate and get our passport stamps and find something to eat. Apparently Iceland air loves to charge for food, so we starved. I had a smoked salmon and egg sandwich that was amazing (who knew smoked salmon over hard boiled eggs was so good?) and Ryan had pringles and a protein shake, typical! I'm sad because we just had time to eat before leaving and i really wanted to get some gloves or even a sweater from the gift shop. I guess there is a traditional Icelandic pattern they use and i thought it would be a cool souvenir. Maybe on the way back. We haven't really slept but I think it's because we're so excited. I told Ryan there's no way we're going to want to nap after we check in so we'll probably just sleep tomorrow haha. The last flight is only 2.5 hours and as we're taking off it's sunrise in Iceland, they were saying that the sun isn't up until noon this time of year. As the plane took off I could see some gysters in the distance which was awesome. We are both disappointed we didn't think to spend a few days here but I guess that's another trip to look forward to! :) I'm even thinking it would be a great honeymoon spot with all of the things to do.

The plane is slowly descending now on Paris, after we check in I have a few markets I want to go to while we walk around. There's a place called Les Philosophies were I want to get creme brûlée tonight before we see the light show at the Eiffel Tower. I hope you're not worrying too much, mom! Remember that I am a very safe traveler and you've trained me to be the dorkiest one at that, no darken alleys for me! I think tomorrow we have our bike tour at 11 am and I want to try to squeeze in the Louvre before. They say the Louvre could take weeks to see everything, but being the control freak I am, I made a list. The area I want to see the most is the Egyptian art and some other cool stuff from the Middle East. If we have time, I want to go to the Musee D'Orsay which is known to be less touristy than the Louvre and has a lot of really amazing stuff. Ryan's starving, as usual so I better feed him soon. He said to tell you he's sleepy. I say to tell you, what a baby.

Ok now I'm getting excited

I have about two hours of work left - one boot camp class and one personal training client to do and then I can hopefully take my second NASM test to become a Corrective Exercise Specialist all while trying to pack and get organized for tomorrow. Here's hoping I can keep my sanity!

WE LEAVE TOMORROW

I don't think it's actually set in only because I'm so focused on work I haven't let myself get excited! Everything is packed and ready to go including "Horrible bosses" on my ipad. In just a short amount of time, Ryan will see the Eiffel Tower for the first time! I'm so excited for him, the first time in Paris is just magical!

The first night we plan on going to a cafe for creme brulee, stroll down the Champs Elysees, and set on our mission to find the best cheese in the world!

Well, until tomorrow when I post from the plane!

2 last minute purchases

So on our last Sunday before we leave, we were left with doing a lot of errands including buying new walking shoes and a new giant purse to use as a carry on with a zipper closure. I was so excited to get these errands over with that I completely forgot to write about the thing I'm excited for! Today is dedicated to the Vatican!

(Destination 360)

In a week from today, we will be in Rome and one thing I thought was so important was that we take enough time to actually see all there is to see. Since there is so much, we have a group tour of the Vatican for a couple of hours with a second tour of the Necropolis after. I can't wait to see all of the things I missed the first time!

3 days left and a lot of work to go!

This post will be short but sweet in order to give myself some time for my coffee day with myself and my real housewives. Nonstop work has left me a tired traveler and the trip hasn't even started!

Tomorrow we have to pack in some fall so Ryan will get his fix: corn mazes, building a haunted cookie house, and "It's the great pumpkin Charlie brown!" get ready for day 2 tomorrow when I give a break down of what Ryan can't wait to do!

4!!!

Since we're so excited to go on a trip where we can eat so many different things, today is dedicated to 4 things I'm dying to try:

Thanks to David Lebovitz, I can not wait to try real hot chocolate. Try Angelina on 226 rue de Rivoli.

Good Indian food in England, which I hear is amazing and inexpensive. Try Cinnamon club on 30-32 Great Smith Street in London.

(reviewmylife.com)

Crepes in France, preferably with a little Nutella! Try Le Creperie de Josselin in Paris on 67 rue du Montparnasse.

(http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/lBVFH1OHJYyjtrufC4OzZg?select=mLa_oovvr8njdNniGKGq0A)

And last but not least, pizza in Pompeii- Ristorante Pizzeria Carlo Alberto - 15 Via Carlo Alberto. While I'm looking at my salad, this is just unfair.

Well, now I have to go back to the real world, even if it's only for four days!