London to Home - Day 24

We traveled back to London for one last night before returning home.   We stayed in the area around the Tower of London and kept the itinerary pretty simple for our last night in Europe, just a nice dinner to sit and reminisce about our trip.  We enjoyed sharing stories and memories of our "favorite" moments that we've had along with way.  Following dinner we were treated to one last amazing sight before going back to our hotel - the Tower Bridge lit up under a beautiful night sky.   We stopped to take some pictures and to our surprise we got to see the gates lift for a nearby boat.  It was a great end to such an amazing trip.

Now we are on our way home and overwhelmed with how grateful we are to have had such a memorable adventure in Europe.  So many people helped us to be able to go on this trip and we would like to take a moment to thank all of them.  First off, a huge thank you to Alazda's grandparents and Travis' mom for watching over our cat and dog for the whole trip!   Thanks to all who shared stories and recommendations about where to go in Europe (especially Brooke)!  To Rick Steves for showing us that Europe can be done without a tour group.  Thanks to our parents, siblings, friends, and co-workers who have listened to us stress and get excited for such a huge trip - we appreciate your support more than you know. And finally, thanks to anyone looking at this blog, we have enjoyed being able to share some of our memories and experiences with you along the way.

Ciao, Au Revoir, Arrivederci, Auf Wiederstien, See you later!

- Alazda and Travis

A knights welcome back to London

One last drink to end the trip

 Tower Bridge at night

They even raised it!

Heading home, thanks for sharing our adventure with us!

Paris - Day 23

Our last day in Paris was spent exploring the streets and seeing two large churches.   We first went into Saint Chapelle, a large chapel surrounded by stained glass windows.   The interior was stunningly beautiful.  The walls were literally made completely of stained glass, filling the room with vivid colors.

We then went across the street to the famous Notre Dame Cathedral to explore.  Built 850 years ago it is well known for its gargoyles and bell towers.   We were able to walk through the inside, but didn't have enough time to climb to the top.     

We then enjoyed some time shopping at a local outdoor market before having lunch at a cafe.  Paris is famous for its numerous cafes and open air restaurants so we decided to spend our last hours in Paris in a cafe just sitting and people watching.  

Finally we boarded the chunnel back to London, our last stop before coming home.

-Alazda and Travis 

Stunning stained glass at the Saint Chapelle Chapel

Enjoying a break with the Seine River and Notre Dame in the background

The inside of Notre Dame Cathedral

Us in front of Notre Dame

Last train ride of the trip

Paris - Day 21/22

We woke up early on day 21 and headed towards Paris, our last new city of our trip.  We arrived in the afternoon and set off to figure out the Metro system and grab a snack before checking into our hotel.  Our first stop was to visit a staple of Paris, the Eiffel Tower.  We were able to get some great views in between rain showers and enjoyed dinner nearby as night fell.  Even with a cloudy night we were able to watch the Eiffel Tower "sparkling" light show that happens every hour after dark.

The next morning, we visited a nearby Pastisserie (Pastry/Bakery) to buy fresh crossants and pain du chocolats for breakfast.  With coffees and pastries in hand, we boarded a train headed towards the Palace of Versailles.  Versailles was home to French Royality until the time of the French Revolution when they were beheaded ending the monarchy, it is now is open for the public to explore. 

The queue line for the palace was quite long when we arrived so we started with a tour of the gardens.  The impressive gardens form a labyrinth of well groomed passageways and fountains.  Following our map we snaked around the property and were able to discover two smaller palaces as well as a small town called "the hamlet" built for Marie Antoinette to use when she wanted to pretend she was a peasant. 

We explored the gardens and other buildings for hours before venturing back to the palace.  Once back at the palace we were able to explore many of the rooms including the famous Hall of Mirrors where the Treaty of Versailles was signed ending World War I.  After a long day of exploring, we got back on the train towards Paris in order to see the Louvre.

The Louvre is the world's largest museum containing some of the most famous works of all time.  We toured the Denon wing which housed famous collections from Greek, Roman, Italian and French artists.  There were many sculptures, statues and paintings to take in, but a few highlights included the Madonna of the Rocks, Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, and of course, the Mona Lisa.  The Louvre is huge and one could spend a few days appreciating the 30,000+ works of art, however, we felt as though we got a good appreciation as our audio guide Rick Steves helped us tour the most well known pieces and highlights.

From the Louvre, we found a terrific Paris restaurant to enjoy a nice dinner.  We had some wine, french cuisine as well as an evening coffee and desert.   We were most impressed with our friendly french waiter who helped us make some delicious selections.  It was a long day and getting pretty late, but we were close and thought we should visit the Eiffel Tower one more time.  We were thankful to again enjoy some stunning views of this famous tower as the weather was much clearer capping off a remarkable day in the city.

- Travis and Alazda

Our first stop to the Eiffel Tower

Travis with his pain du chocolat

Walking the huge gardens of Versailles

Hanging out in the gardens with the Palace in the background

Les Escargots, anyone? - we found this little guy when we were in the gardens

Visiting the Hamlet in Versailles

Arriving at the Louvre Museum

Alazda and the Venus de Milo

Up and close with DaVinci's Mona Lisa

Sought out this photo for any DaVinci Code fans!

Paris at midnight

Eiffel Tower at night

Nice - Day 20

From Naples we boarded our first and only night train of the trip towards Nice, France.  Overall the ride wasn't bad, but we both had fairly restless nights spent waking up to any sound we heard.  After 12 long hours of travel we arrived and immediately set out for our hotel for a nap and shower.

By lunchtime we were ready to get out and enjoy this wonderful seaside city.   First thing on our list was definitely food as we were both starving from lack of food on the train.  Lucky for us we found a nice area of town to eat that was lined with French cafes, all with outdoor seating to allow for people watching.  Alazda was able to enjoy her first bit of French cuisine for the trip with a croque monsieur (basically a fancy grilled ham and cheese sandwich), whereas Travis stuck with his favorite, pizza.  

After eating, we headed towards the beach passing lots of shopping areas along the way.  We found the coastline breathtaking, however, the weather was quite a bit windy making it too chilly to sunbathe.  Instead we found a nice spot to sit down and watch the waves roll in while reminiscing on such a wonderful trip.  We continued our tour of Nice by walking down the main shopping street to do a bit of shopping.

In the evening, the streets came alive with artists and musicians showing off their craft.   We strolled from one to the other just taking in the atmosphere.  Before the night was over we were able to enjoy another great French original in leu of a birthday cake for Alazda - the Chocolat Crepe.  

- Alazda and Travis

Heineken in the vending machine, perfect after 12 hours on a train (only 2 euros)! 

May 29th, Alazda's birthday!

Nice coastline

The wind was making some large waves!

Us in Nice

Birthday crepe and coffee

Yum! :-)

Sorrento - Day 18/19

Our final stop in Italy was the small city of Sorrento.   We boarded the train to Naples where we switched to a local train to get to Sorrento.   Lets just say the local train we boarded was one of those clutch everything valuable that you have and pray for the best type of trip.  Luckily, the hour long trip from Naples to Sorrento was well worth it.   We were in awe of this small resort community on the coast line of the Mediterranean.

After checking in to our hotel, we walked down the street to watch the sunset.   We ended up finding a nice terrace with tables and a bar to enjoy some local wine while we took in the beautiful views.  We were able to see nearby towns and Mount Vesuvius in the horizon.  Once the sun set, we grabbed a bite to eat at a downtown restaurant.   We ended the meal with a customary after dinner drink of Lemoncello, a speciality drink created with the locally grown lemons.  

The next morning we slept in (finally, some relaxation)!  The hotel served breakfast on the roof complete with amazing coastal views while we sipped our coffee.  After breakfast we went shopping and explored this delightful town on foot.  Sorrento is well known for its lemon gardens which we were able to explore and buy some Lemoncello to bring back home with us.  After a bit more souviner shopping, we boarded our train to take us back to Naples.

Along the way, we planned a few hours in the nearby archeological site of Pompei.  Pompei is the ancient city which was devastated by a volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the year 79 AD.  The city was covered by volcanic ash locking the city and it's citizens in a time capsule to this day.  We were able to use our trusty audio guide, Rick Steves, to discover this historic city and gain an understanding of how advanced this ancient culture was.  Some of the sights included bath houses, a town forum, ancient fast food style resturants as well as plaster molds of Pompeians that were entombed under volcanic debris.  Pompei also is home to some stray dogs, we happened to have a nice four legged friend follow us for nearly half of our time touring this ancient city. 

We were a bit shocked to hear Mount Vesuvius is still an active volcano to this day, with the last activity occuring in 1944.  No worries though, we made it out ok!

Around dusk we arrived at the train station in Naples to board our first night train of the trip as we head  north towards Nice, France.

- Travis and Alazda

Enjoying the views in Sorrento

Sorrento coast

Alazda with Mount Vesuvius in the background

Enjoying a few drinks during the sunset

Sorrento panoramic 

Sunset on the Mediteranian coast

Blogging in style

A post dinner Lemoncello drink

Touring the lemon gardens and picking up a few tasty souviners

Exploring the ancient city of Pompei in the shadows of Mount Vesuvius

An ancient fast food resturant

Our local tour guide (this dog followed us for over an hour)

Vatican City - Day 17

Our last day in Rome was spent at the Vatican City seeing St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel.   We had made advanced reservations to see the Vatican Museums based off of advice from our tour group.   We greatly appreciated the ability to skip the rather long line and head right in.   We were quite shocked to find that the Museums themselves were huge (over 4 miles of hallways).   After walking around for an hour through multiple areas in the museum, we skipped right to the main event - the Sistine Chapel.   

The Sistine Chapel was painted by Michelangelo in the 16th Century and the ceilings and the walls contain some of the most recognizable art in the world.   We were happy to see it and enjoy the talent of such a great artist.   We followed up with a walk to the Dome of St. Peter's Basilica (yep, more steps to help work off our Italian diet).   The views of Rome from the top were amazing!

We ended our time in Rome with a visit inside the Basilica and were shocked at the shear size of the church.   We were able to stroll around inside with our audio guide commentary and appreciate the work that went into this magnificent structure.  We ended with the statue of the Pieta before heading out into the square.   

We left Rome in a bit of a hurry, not realizing how long we would spend at the Vatican City to board a train to Sorrento.  

-Alazda and Travis

Travis enjoying the animal exhibit in the Vatican Museum

Alazda on top of St. Peter's Basilica

Us on top of St. Peter's Basilica overlooking Rome

Stunning views of St. Peter's Square

Inside St. Peter's Basilica

Us in front of St. Peter's

Alazda standing in St. Peter's Square

 

Rome - Day 15/16

From Florence we headed towards Rome.  We have found the high speed trains to be exceptional in getting from place to place in a hurry.   We arrived in Rome and were greeted with sunshine and the warm weather we had been dreaming of.   After getting checked in we headed out for dinner choosing the Trevi Fountain as our location for the night.  We found a nice, yet tiny restaurant for dinner.   The restaurant was packed with locals and tables were practically on top of each other, but the food was amazing!  Again we had pizza and pasta (can't mess with a good thing)!

After dinner, we headed to the Trevi Fountain to snap some pictures and throw some coins in the fountain.   Legend has it that if you toss a coin into the Trevi, you will visit Rome again.  While joining the hoards of visitors to the fountain we watched a couple get engaged and took in the atmosphere of this truly magical fountain.  Of course, we tossed our coins into the fountain as well.  

The next morning we enjoyed breakfast at our hotel.   Europe has an excellent specialty coffee selection and it seems every place has the biggest expresso machine it can find to work with.  After sipping our cappuccinos, we set off for the Colosseum.  

The Colosseum is truly a marvel at ancient architecture and history.  As we excited the Metro station, we caught our first glimpses of the impressive exterior.  Again guided by our trusty audio guide, Rick Steves, we were able to take in the immense history of this stadium.  From the Colosseum, we walked almost literally across the street to the Forum, an ancient city uncovered by archeologists.   The Forum is a grouping of buildings and historical sites dating from early BC (yep, thats over 2000 years old).  We were even able to see the site where Julius Cesar was killed.  

We ate lunch near the Spanish Steps (a gathering place in Rome).   We enjoyed sitting on the steps as a break from sightseeing and a chance to people watch.   We were also able to walk back to the Trevi Fountain which was much more crowded during the day, before heading to the Pantheon.   The Pantheon is the oldest Catholic Church in Rome, most notable for its hole in the ceiling. 

On our walk back towards our hotel, we decided to visit the Castle Saint Angelo, yet another site from the Dan Brown books.   We were able to tour the Castle, but found the view from the top to be the most impressive.   

We capped off the night with a trip to a local Piazza.   We were shocked and surprised to see the Piazza full of Italians celebrating an Italian Cup victory.   The square was packed full of supporters waving flags, honking horns, and singing the praises of their team.  We took in the sight before heading back to the hotel.

Alazda and Travis

Us at the Trevi Fountain

The Colosseum

Alazda at the Colosseum

Inside the Colosseum

The Colloseum panoramic

Travis stopping to fill up in a drinking fountain at the Forum

The Spanish Steps

Travis loves pizza :-)

Outside the Pantheon

Travis in front of Castle Saint Angelo