LONDON day three&four&five
Day 3 - March 31st
Oxford and Stratford-upon-avon
Saturday morning we all woke up knowing it was going to be a long...but enjoyable day. Looking at the calendar we left at 8 and wouldn't get back to the hotel until around midnight...good thing i wore my walking shoes!
We loaded onto a personal bus and took off towards Oxford! Now the only things i know about Oxford is that there is a University there and a lot of Harry Potter scenes were shot there...and Emma Watson lives there, And I came away knowing a little bit more about the school...which is an impressive institute, and a little bit more about the town itself!
Oxford University!
Oxford and Stratford-upon-avon
Saturday morning we all woke up knowing it was going to be a long...but enjoyable day. Looking at the calendar we left at 8 and wouldn't get back to the hotel until around midnight...good thing i wore my walking shoes!
We loaded onto a personal bus and took off towards Oxford! Now the only things i know about Oxford is that there is a University there and a lot of Harry Potter scenes were shot there...and Emma Watson lives there, And I came away knowing a little bit more about the school...which is an impressive institute, and a little bit more about the town itself!
Oxford University!
After our City tour we had about an hour to wonder around...and of course us girls did some shopping, we all bought Oxford sweatshirts that had the Crew emblem on it, so we can show off back in the states.....yea...After that we headed over to a little place called The Eagle and Child which some of you might know and some of you might not know...Well the Eagle and Child is a pub that had been part of an endowment belonging to University College since the 17th century. It has associations with the Inklings writers' group which included J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Yea so C.S. Lewis ate here....maybe wrote here....talked to other famous people here....kind of crazy!
After Lunch we hopped on the bus and headed towards the hometown of Shakespeare!!
YES, mid afternoon snack...milkshakes from Moo Moo's which has THE BEST milkshake i think iv'e ever had....it was delish!
after milkshakes we headed here....the picture above is shakespeare's house where he was born and lived as a child...it was pretty neat to walk through and they had actors throughout the property making things.....interesting haha!!
Later after the house tour we went to dinner and THEN....we went to see the tempest aka a shakespeare play...it was pretty good i mean seeing a shakespeare play in his hometown by the royal shakespeare company.....i mean that's incredible!! Super fun day :)
Day four
Later after the house tour we went to dinner and THEN....we went to see the tempest aka a shakespeare play...it was pretty good i mean seeing a shakespeare play in his hometown by the royal shakespeare company.....i mean that's incredible!! Super fun day :)
Day four
Westminster abbey for church, yes where will and kate were married...sigh..had wedding flashbacks the whole time :)
we then went to lunch at a little pub...little did we know they were filming the new james bond movie right behind it....like james bond....judy dench was apparently in the car shooting a scene...kind of amazing!!!
we then went to lunch at a little pub...little did we know they were filming the new james bond movie right behind it....like james bond....judy dench was apparently in the car shooting a scene...kind of amazing!!!
After lunch we went to kensington Palace and walked around :) and later in the day we just kind of got to hang out and rest!
Day 5
Day 5
So this was our last day and we wanted to see the changing of the guards so....we did haha we went over to Buckingham Palace and stood for about an hour till it started....and you know it's not that interesting but its something you have to do :) i enjoyed the music especially the lional ritchie throwback they played haha!! :)
the rest of the day was spent shopping and getting ready to leave :)
thanks for reading.
-Emily
VIDEO :)
the rest of the day was spent shopping and getting ready to leave :)
thanks for reading.
-Emily
VIDEO :)
LONDON day one&two
Ah London, the city of.....of....well a lot of things! we arrived in London via the Chunnel from Paris yesterday around ten in the morning. We dropped our bags off and began a tour of the city with our tour guides Lauren and Tyler...yes our directors/generals/leaders were our tour guides which is appropriate since they live here when there not with a school group! Now we walk to the british museum, we find an outdoor market we just kind of beebop all over town until it's time to check into our hotel. After checking in we get dressed for the night and then head out for dinner at Pizza Express which ended up being delicious :)
After dinner we headed to the West end to see the Musical production of Billy Elliot which was fantastic...I mean it's kind of sad to watch a kid who's like 12 dance so much better than you could ever dream for yourself...he was fantastic...as was the whole show. Simply Amazing!!
We headed back to the hotel and all crashed for the night.
Day2
Wake up and head to St. Paul's Cathedral...you know the one where Princess Diana and Charles were married at....
We headed back to the hotel and all crashed for the night.
Day2
Wake up and head to St. Paul's Cathedral...you know the one where Princess Diana and Charles were married at....
Yea, kind of exciting and by kind of i mean i was kind of geeking out the whole time....This cathedral didn't allow pictures inside but i can tell you it's gorgeous, if you ever ever get a chance to go then do it!!!
After St. Pauls we headed over to..........Shakespeare's Globe theater which is pretty neat!
After St. Pauls we headed over to..........Shakespeare's Globe theater which is pretty neat!
We had a tour around the Theater and learned lots about it like for instance that it was erected in 1997...i came in thinking it was older than that but it's supposed to look exactly like the old one so it was indeed really neat!
After the Globe we headed to an outdoor market for lunch, i got a meat pie, chicken and peppers and stuff it was pretty good, for a drink we all got this...
After the Globe we headed to an outdoor market for lunch, i got a meat pie, chicken and peppers and stuff it was pretty good, for a drink we all got this...
Most of us got an apple cranberry drink which was..so delicious!
Then Finally we headed over to Primark which is a shopping store...Lauren told us before we went that it was cheap chic clothes and that we would probably pee our pants when shopping inside because they have so much cute stuff...and she was right....
Then Finally we headed over to Primark which is a shopping store...Lauren told us before we went that it was cheap chic clothes and that we would probably pee our pants when shopping inside because they have so much cute stuff...and she was right....
i was incredibly overwhelmed because there was SO MUCH! i ended up getting 2 pairs of shoes, some skinny jeans, a pretty salmon colored floor length skirt, a cream blouse, a ring and a hair accessory all for 48 pounds..which is pretty impressive...now please don't convert that into dollars or i won't feel as good about it! ;)
Anyways that's been London so far, were here till monday so keep a look out for more Blogs to come!
-Emily
Anyways that's been London so far, were here till monday so keep a look out for more Blogs to come!
-Emily
Vivaldi's Four Seasons at St. Chapelle
Ah Vivaldi....what a genius he is! So last night basically our whole group went to St. Chapelle which is a Church in Paris where all of the walls are covered with stain glass windows...as you can see below.
We paid 16 euro for one of the best concerts i have ever seen...no really it was amazing..you can listen to some of it in the Youtube clip below. It was so magical to hear that gorgeous music and then to look around at the beautiful stained glass windows and i can only describe it as simply fantastic....see for yourself!!!
We paid 16 euro for one of the best concerts i have ever seen...no really it was amazing..you can listen to some of it in the Youtube clip below. It was so magical to hear that gorgeous music and then to look around at the beautiful stained glass windows and i can only describe it as simply fantastic....see for yourself!!!
The whole group all dressed up...such a fun evening!!!
Thanks for visiting..
-Emily
Thanks for visiting..
-Emily
Shopping in Paris
After a day of shopping, all from H&M..
Blazer - 19.95
dress - 19.95
coral rings - 4.95
black stone ring - 4.95
Brown wedges - 35.95
Blazer - 19.95
dress - 19.95
coral rings - 4.95
black stone ring - 4.95
Brown wedges - 35.95
Sweet Sweet Fashion! Coral, Stripes and Blazers
So, here i am sick in bed so rather than be productive and do homework i have been having fun with these pretty pictures. I'd honestly like to own every outfit...that's kind of my goal here.
I am going shopping saturday so if i find anything that closely resembles these i will put them up.
First of all we have Coral...which is probably my favorite color ever. It goes well with anything and everything!
I am going shopping saturday so if i find anything that closely resembles these i will put them up.
First of all we have Coral...which is probably my favorite color ever. It goes well with anything and everything!
Secondly we have Stripes...now stripes are so in right now, and remember when everyone used to be afraid of horizontal stripes?? well they have made a huge comeback and are everywhere you look...which is lucky for me because i happen to love anything with stripes!!!!
Lastly, we have the blazer...which has become so popular, I don't actually own one yet but by the end of this trip i hope to own 1...2 maybe 10 of them...in all types of colors...they are just so cute and go with any outfit....i think it's soon to replace the cardigan if it hasn't already.
Well thats all from me for today! hope i can inspire you with some of my fashion inspirations!!!
Until next time
-Emily
Until next time
-Emily
From Breckenridge Colorado to the Swiss Alps...
Alright...those of you who know me really well know about my ski "incident" in Breckenridge....sophomore ski trip.....super embarrassing.....ski rack.....crashing into a ski rack and having 100's of people run to my aid.....anyways...so that was my first ski experience and after it i swore off skiing all together....never again....OH hey were going skiing in the swiss alps....Surely i will be better in the swiss alps......the swiss alps....the mountains of switzerland.....i mean in my head i was thinking to myself that today was going to be a disaster....maybe a few run's down the bunny hill then off to find somewhere to sit for the afternoon.....but that was not the case....no no it was NOT....i was actually pretty good at it.....once i learned how to fall and get back up i started going down the bunny hill without falling or anything...it was easy!! so naturally i'm a competitive person...even with myself and i thought...you know what, why not try the next one...the next hill..WHY NOT....so i did!!! I went down the blue hill which is the easiest level but still...i made it past ski school...i was so proud...ALSO blue and easy don't really mean anything when your skiing in the swiss alps..we decided that the "blue" level in the alps was equal to the semi experienced level in colorado....this was not a baby hill it was a mountain and i was skiing down it...I WAS SKIING DOWN A MOUNTAIN......haha you have no idea how proud i was of myself!! I went with Ali and Dillon, who were both first time skiers and they did really well....we all wiped out quite a few times but honestly is was so fun, i was slightly addicted to it for a while....then i slammed into a snow bank and thought i broke my knee and i was over it...i was done...finished....took my ski's off and walked down to the ski lift which was only a few feet off because i slammed into the snow bank at the bottom of the hill so i did indeed make it down part of the mountain. so now my knee is super sore but other than that i am so good!!! It was a great day...those mountains are breathtaking...It's one of those moment's when your standing on top of the HUGE beautiful mountain that you see God, and you feel close to him...i mean We have a great God if he can make something that spectacular...also we were out tonight buying food for dinner and the stars were out...we stopped to look up at them and realized that they were the same stars we see over our houses in Texas.....it was one of those moments.....i also saw Neverland.....2nd star to the right,,,,yea it's totally up there ;)
Well it's been a great day...time to head off to sleep land....watch the video below for fun moments from our day!
Well it's been a great day...time to head off to sleep land....watch the video below for fun moments from our day!
Palais Garnier tour..
March 14th 2012 (AKA pie day.....3.14)
So yesterday we went to the Palais Garnier...which is the image below....gorgeous right?? i'm slightly in love with the place, we are already making plans to go see a ballet here. So this palais was created during napoleon the 3rd's lifetime. It is also the birthplace for the story the Phanton of the Opera, Pretty neat!! It's also absolutely breathtaking on the inside....one part of the tour stuck out to me....when you first enter the building it's kind of regular looking....nothing to detailed or colorful..the guide said that the foyer or entrance is like a mediator from the real world into an enchanting theater full of light!
So picture a regular hallway.....leading into this..
So yesterday we went to the Palais Garnier...which is the image below....gorgeous right?? i'm slightly in love with the place, we are already making plans to go see a ballet here. So this palais was created during napoleon the 3rd's lifetime. It is also the birthplace for the story the Phanton of the Opera, Pretty neat!! It's also absolutely breathtaking on the inside....one part of the tour stuck out to me....when you first enter the building it's kind of regular looking....nothing to detailed or colorful..the guide said that the foyer or entrance is like a mediator from the real world into an enchanting theater full of light!
So picture a regular hallway.....leading into this..
And then another regular hall that leads into THIS......
I really can't handle it.....it's all so gorgeous!
Video below show's a shaky portrayal of our day...so fun!!!
Video below show's a shaky portrayal of our day...so fun!!!
I'm not quite sure about what i'm trying to say here....
March 13th 2012
So here we have a blog that is personal..not about travel or Paris but about life in general...
Now honestly this blog is being written with no purpose intended...just kind of rambling along....so let's start....i am into politics and am a firm supporter of Ron Paul...i mean feel free to have your own opinion on the guy but i happen to completely back him! I was reading a story on him earlier and in the comments i read mostly comments from older individuals stating that these young people following Ron Paul are just as crazy and don't know what they are doing and are just jumping on the political bandwagon....they make fun of our ideas, hopes and dreams.....and to that i say.....
So here we have a blog that is personal..not about travel or Paris but about life in general...
Now honestly this blog is being written with no purpose intended...just kind of rambling along....so let's start....i am into politics and am a firm supporter of Ron Paul...i mean feel free to have your own opinion on the guy but i happen to completely back him! I was reading a story on him earlier and in the comments i read mostly comments from older individuals stating that these young people following Ron Paul are just as crazy and don't know what they are doing and are just jumping on the political bandwagon....they make fun of our ideas, hopes and dreams.....and to that i say.....
Here's the thing...i personally was raised by wonderful parents and i have a great family life....so this is not personal but more universal....The young people of my generation seem to want peace not war...they want freedom not slavery....in my opinion freedom and peace don't sound too bad....It's the generations ahead of us that are still stuck on the idea that having power and being above others is the only way to gain respect or to have people listen to you...i know that there is evil in this world and men and women who thrive on power so getting away from it will probably never happen....but what if....what if we took into account love. You turn the news on in the evening and all you hear is bad news....it's all about violence and hatred.....why not love? where is the love? sounds cliche but really....if the greatest commandment in the Bible is to love....well where is it here on earth??? I really truly believe that if the political leaders all around the world decided to put aside power struggles and come together with love then the "world would be a better place" this is obviously a dream but i think we all know that sadly it won't ever happen....but it's where my generation comes in.....were almost the hippiesX2 just without bellbottoms and afros....the adult community...the ones over the age of 45 need to show a little more respect to the younger generation...I am so uplifted by the kids my age because i have seen so much love shown through them...i don't hear snarky comments about how the world is a terrible place to be but i hear chants of hope that maybe through our efforts we can begin to change things in the right direction. There will come a time when were going to have to put aside our petty power struggles and come together to help all of humanity, which is a bandwagon i will gladly jump on! Luckily i have faith that God will see us through, and no matter how crazy things become i know that with God on my side i can tackle anything, because he has me under his wing and that gives me so much comfort when dwelling on the things of this world...i am at peace even when the rest of the world is not.
Thank you for enduring my random ranting...travel blog soon!!!
-Emily
Thank you for enduring my random ranting...travel blog soon!!!
-Emily
It's About The Heart...
Hi People :) It's March 11th in Paris!
So i've changed a few things because the paris theme was becoming super blasé ;) i'm also thinking about continuing this blog even after Paris! This blog is going to be called emily's random randomness.....because it's slightly all over the place but honestly i kind of like the format....pictures with a little blip above it....i'm really getting into this blogging thing :)
I am completely 100% addicted to europe and traveling and spending my money on cultural experiences....it's the best thing i have ever done in my entire life........i'm soaking it all in for the last few weeks that we are here...then i'll go home finish school and find a way to come back....even for just a little while.....but this can has been opened and i don't see it being shut anytime soon :) no worries family....i'll bring you with me.....you've got to see this place!!
this is a picture....and i like what it's saying
that's all....see super random ;)
So i've changed a few things because the paris theme was becoming super blasé ;) i'm also thinking about continuing this blog even after Paris! This blog is going to be called emily's random randomness.....because it's slightly all over the place but honestly i kind of like the format....pictures with a little blip above it....i'm really getting into this blogging thing :)
I am completely 100% addicted to europe and traveling and spending my money on cultural experiences....it's the best thing i have ever done in my entire life........i'm soaking it all in for the last few weeks that we are here...then i'll go home finish school and find a way to come back....even for just a little while.....but this can has been opened and i don't see it being shut anytime soon :) no worries family....i'll bring you with me.....you've got to see this place!!
this is a picture....and i like what it's saying
that's all....see super random ;)
Ok, I want you to meet some of my new friends, Markus, Ben, Country and Ted :)
Mumford and sons is a band and they have made me a happy lady
They are SO fantastic!! play the song while scrolling through my blog....give you some background music!!
Mumford and sons is a band and they have made me a happy lady
They are SO fantastic!! play the song while scrolling through my blog....give you some background music!!
Ah Paris fashion....it is a tricky thing, but honestly i love it so much more than the fashion in the states...it's so chic and trendy!! So mom, i'll be donating most of my old clothes and coming home with a new wardrobe :) goodbye t-shirts!!!!
FOOD :) ok so i'm literally a different person here...well....i still like my burger and cheese pizza but i am branching out and trying new things. Like the other day i had goat cheese on a little pastry...it was slightly delicious :) still completely in love with bread...i'm going to have to seriously learn how to make some of this when i get back, because i don't think i will be able to make it without my bread.....just thinking about going without it is making me all kinds of nervous......
America needs to get on the ball....these european towns are TOTALLY showing us up....i mean are you not drooling right now??? i know i am and i ate some of this...were going back to switzerland friday....you know where i'll be ;)
2 words....DOWNTON ABBEY......you have not truly lived until you have watched this show!!! It has Maggie Smith in it....you know Professor Mcgonagall from Harry Potter....except this time she's not a witch...she's the Dowager Countess and she is brilliant!!! Watch one episode and you will be hooked.....season 1 is on netflix...season 2 i purchased via iTunes CHEAP....and season 3 is filming now...won't air till next year so once you get hooked you can wait in limbo with the rest of us till season 3 comes!!!! :)
This is a video of our Castle adventure....when i think of castles i think of ireland and not france....but the Loire Valley proved me wrong....very wrong :) we saw some beautiful castles and at the second one which is Amboise Castle is where Leonardo Da Vinci is buried....awesome right??? yea totally awesome :) also the music in this is from Downton Abbey....and it's beautiful....yet another reason to go watch it!!!!!
more free travel talk :)
March 11th 2012
Yea....well we've been back from free travel for about a week now and i'm just now getting to blogging about it....i'm a busy lady...i live in Paris after all...things to do and people to see in an understatement....it's quite crazy here!!! Ok so i'll just share a little bit of free travel with you....the blog below already talks about italy...well milan that is....milan was awesome but i'll take venice any day of the week....one of my favorite moments in venice was when we were just walking through the town all eating gelato hearing a street performer play his violin and it was just one of those moments....pretty awesome....In venice we met another american..his name was will and he taught us how to distinguish good gelato from the bad.....i owe him everything haha :)
We left venice and went on to switzerland which let me tell you....it is the most expensive and beautiful place on the planet!!!!! you can't eat a meal for under 20 franks....which is crazy but the view makes up for it.....we spent a full day in bern where we saw the bear pit....pit with bears....the prostitution tower....tower of prostitutes and we ate roclette which has so far been one of my favorite meals!!!! Got back to Paris late tuesday night and here we are....back in paris.....actually headed back to switzerland friday with the group for skiing :) wish me luck!!!
-Emily :)
Yea....well we've been back from free travel for about a week now and i'm just now getting to blogging about it....i'm a busy lady...i live in Paris after all...things to do and people to see in an understatement....it's quite crazy here!!! Ok so i'll just share a little bit of free travel with you....the blog below already talks about italy...well milan that is....milan was awesome but i'll take venice any day of the week....one of my favorite moments in venice was when we were just walking through the town all eating gelato hearing a street performer play his violin and it was just one of those moments....pretty awesome....In venice we met another american..his name was will and he taught us how to distinguish good gelato from the bad.....i owe him everything haha :)
We left venice and went on to switzerland which let me tell you....it is the most expensive and beautiful place on the planet!!!!! you can't eat a meal for under 20 franks....which is crazy but the view makes up for it.....we spent a full day in bern where we saw the bear pit....pit with bears....the prostitution tower....tower of prostitutes and we ate roclette which has so far been one of my favorite meals!!!! Got back to Paris late tuesday night and here we are....back in paris.....actually headed back to switzerland friday with the group for skiing :) wish me luck!!!
-Emily :)
took a taxi witnessed a strike ate gelato....Oh Italia :)
March 1 2012 (wait.....its already march????)
Ciao, meaning hello in Italian haha Ok, so i'll start at the beginning, this morning we all woke up and went out into europe as children...well we are now adults and let me tell you why.....FIRST of all our train this morning was leaving at 6:15...so we made plans to be ready to be on a metro by 5...well much to our surprise the metro doesn't even open till 5:30 and thats at the first stop....glaciere (which is our stop) is in the middle of the line....so were standing there out on the street at 5 in the morning in Paris.....trying to hail a taxi......we soon learned that waving your hand half heeartedly at the taxi would not make it stop for you....thankfully clay stepped up and got us one.....he was a real nice man and his car was super clean.....these are not typical yellow cabs but like......bmw taxis......so it was nice....we made it to the train station on time thank goodness...got on our train and headed towards zurich switzerland which was our stop where we had to switch trains....we get to zurich and panic sets in again as we did not validate our ticket from zurich to milan....only our tickets from paris to zurich....so we started looking for a validation stand and there was none to be found.....long story short if you get on a train without your ticket being validated then you are looking at a fine....and that was not what we wanted....luckily we had our eurorail passes and that with the ticket was enough...so off to milan right??? wrong....we were supposed to make it all the way to milan on this one train...there were no more scheduled stops....so imagine our confusion as the train stops at a station and they tell everyone to get off and get on another line....this was not the plan so we had to make sure that the other train was headed in the right direction.....we get on it and in fact it was right....we were finally headed to milan....once in milan we find out that the reason our train stopped was because the railway went on STRIKE haha which caused all of the trains to stop and all of the people needing trains to get in a really really long line so that they could get tickets for another time...we needed tickets to get to venice soooo we stood in the line but i had noticed that there were machines that would print your tickets so we went over to one....found out it would do english and ended up purchasing 4 tickets to venice for tomorrow, for only 17 euro each....we were very proud of ourselves....disaster avoided!!! now off to milan....finally..haha we got on the metro which is a lot shakier than the one in paris and found ourselves feeling a little paris homesick haha but we made it to the duomo which was our stop to find the hostel.....we walk around find the hostel (great great hostel) the staff are so kind and its just a really fun place!!! It's called ostello bello :) anyways we get settled and then head out....we go to the duomo and my goodness this is the most spectacular thing....if you think its big on the outside you will flip on the inside......its absolutely amazing!!!! after the duomo we get our first italian gelato....which if i must say is MUY BUENO :) sooooooo good....we got fragola i think which is strawberry and it was.....just sooo good :) after gelato we needed real food...we found a swanky italian restaurant and ate there...i had pasta with meat sauce and it was literally the best thing i have put in my mouth in a few weeks!!!! :) We ended the night watching downton abbey on the terrace of our hostel :) if you haven't watched that show watch it....its so good and were all addicted!!!! :)
SO....it's been crazy...we've had ups and downs but we made the best out of all of it and really ended up enjoying a wonderful day in italia :) Headed to venice tomorrow....will blog soon :)
arrivederci ;)
Emily
Ciao, meaning hello in Italian haha Ok, so i'll start at the beginning, this morning we all woke up and went out into europe as children...well we are now adults and let me tell you why.....FIRST of all our train this morning was leaving at 6:15...so we made plans to be ready to be on a metro by 5...well much to our surprise the metro doesn't even open till 5:30 and thats at the first stop....glaciere (which is our stop) is in the middle of the line....so were standing there out on the street at 5 in the morning in Paris.....trying to hail a taxi......we soon learned that waving your hand half heeartedly at the taxi would not make it stop for you....thankfully clay stepped up and got us one.....he was a real nice man and his car was super clean.....these are not typical yellow cabs but like......bmw taxis......so it was nice....we made it to the train station on time thank goodness...got on our train and headed towards zurich switzerland which was our stop where we had to switch trains....we get to zurich and panic sets in again as we did not validate our ticket from zurich to milan....only our tickets from paris to zurich....so we started looking for a validation stand and there was none to be found.....long story short if you get on a train without your ticket being validated then you are looking at a fine....and that was not what we wanted....luckily we had our eurorail passes and that with the ticket was enough...so off to milan right??? wrong....we were supposed to make it all the way to milan on this one train...there were no more scheduled stops....so imagine our confusion as the train stops at a station and they tell everyone to get off and get on another line....this was not the plan so we had to make sure that the other train was headed in the right direction.....we get on it and in fact it was right....we were finally headed to milan....once in milan we find out that the reason our train stopped was because the railway went on STRIKE haha which caused all of the trains to stop and all of the people needing trains to get in a really really long line so that they could get tickets for another time...we needed tickets to get to venice soooo we stood in the line but i had noticed that there were machines that would print your tickets so we went over to one....found out it would do english and ended up purchasing 4 tickets to venice for tomorrow, for only 17 euro each....we were very proud of ourselves....disaster avoided!!! now off to milan....finally..haha we got on the metro which is a lot shakier than the one in paris and found ourselves feeling a little paris homesick haha but we made it to the duomo which was our stop to find the hostel.....we walk around find the hostel (great great hostel) the staff are so kind and its just a really fun place!!! It's called ostello bello :) anyways we get settled and then head out....we go to the duomo and my goodness this is the most spectacular thing....if you think its big on the outside you will flip on the inside......its absolutely amazing!!!! after the duomo we get our first italian gelato....which if i must say is MUY BUENO :) sooooooo good....we got fragola i think which is strawberry and it was.....just sooo good :) after gelato we needed real food...we found a swanky italian restaurant and ate there...i had pasta with meat sauce and it was literally the best thing i have put in my mouth in a few weeks!!!! :) We ended the night watching downton abbey on the terrace of our hostel :) if you haven't watched that show watch it....its so good and were all addicted!!!! :)
SO....it's been crazy...we've had ups and downs but we made the best out of all of it and really ended up enjoying a wonderful day in italia :) Headed to venice tomorrow....will blog soon :)
arrivederci ;)
Emily
Mass at Notre Dame.....yea....that's right!!!
Feb 26th 2012
Alrighty...so as you can see in the picture to the left...church this morning was a little bit different than i'm accustomed to. We went to Mass at Notre Dame...which is unbelievably amazing as a cultural experience...i mean this is a cathedral that dates back to the 13th century....that's incredible. So what did i get from this experience?? well...I enjoyed it but i was also a little uncomfortable, but Tyler said something that stuck with me through the whole service...he said instead of picking out all of the differences try to pick out the similarities that the catholic church shares with christians. SO that's what i did....all in all we are all people who try to live for God....and so on....i did notice some things that i wish we had more of in the church of christ...like reverence. Now the catholic church because of their traditions is EXTREMELY reverent when it come's to God and the Bible and the whole thing...i mean it's amazing really...it's beautiful....i feel like they take God very seriously and sometimes i'm not so sure we do that as much as we should. Anyways back to the worship.....they have some serious incense....LIKE SERIOUS i mean i could smell it from a mile away....the singing with the organ music was beautiful...not that i agree with it but for cultural purposes it was lovely...i found myself getting distracted by the cathedral itself....i mean it is SO GLAMOUROUS like it's completely stunning inside and it didn't help that most of the service was in a different language...so it's easy to be distracted...i found myself thinking about the cathedral itself and realizing that we were in the midst of so many people....like SO MANY PEOPLE over the span of almost 800 years have been in and around this cathedral....i found a quote that really summed it up for me...
"We must remind ourselves that these monumental structures, although they remain intensely alive, are merely the skeletons of the cathedrals of medieval times. Compared with what it was when first created, the cathedral, as we see it now, is like a venerable old lady whose noble carriage barely suggests the striking belle she must have been in her youth. We should not only recall the past splendor of the cathedral, most of whose external adornment is now lost, but also attempt to understand what the cathedral was during the progress of its own creation; the role it played at the heart of the city that saw its birth among the people whose stubborn or enthusiastic will alone caused its skyward thrust." —Zoe Oldenbourg
This cathedral has had so many purposes from a place to worship to a place of sanctuary...I kept thinking about all the people who had been apart of its construction and of the people who had been apart of destroying some of it.....i thought about the people who have prayed here over the past 800 years to the same God we pray to today....It's really magnificent!!
All in all i really enjoyed it as a learning experience....i did not take communion as i just wasn't sure about it and i know i could have but i was nervous and just felt that i should wait until i understand it a bit more...Note: i don't plan on making a habit of going to catholic mass but in the event that it happens again i want to be more prepared!! :)
while in the church i felt a strange peace....i felt close to God...maybe it was the singing or the building but there is something about being in a place like that that makes you start thinking about your life.....how your living your life and your closeness to God :)
i was a bit homesick today after church....i think people noticed haha i got all quiet, i miss my family so much but i am still having a blast here and just because i miss y'all doesn't mean i'm ready to be back yet...there is still so much to see and learn :) i appreciate everyone who reads this....i hope you take something away from it :)
A bientôt
- Emily :)
Alrighty...so as you can see in the picture to the left...church this morning was a little bit different than i'm accustomed to. We went to Mass at Notre Dame...which is unbelievably amazing as a cultural experience...i mean this is a cathedral that dates back to the 13th century....that's incredible. So what did i get from this experience?? well...I enjoyed it but i was also a little uncomfortable, but Tyler said something that stuck with me through the whole service...he said instead of picking out all of the differences try to pick out the similarities that the catholic church shares with christians. SO that's what i did....all in all we are all people who try to live for God....and so on....i did notice some things that i wish we had more of in the church of christ...like reverence. Now the catholic church because of their traditions is EXTREMELY reverent when it come's to God and the Bible and the whole thing...i mean it's amazing really...it's beautiful....i feel like they take God very seriously and sometimes i'm not so sure we do that as much as we should. Anyways back to the worship.....they have some serious incense....LIKE SERIOUS i mean i could smell it from a mile away....the singing with the organ music was beautiful...not that i agree with it but for cultural purposes it was lovely...i found myself getting distracted by the cathedral itself....i mean it is SO GLAMOUROUS like it's completely stunning inside and it didn't help that most of the service was in a different language...so it's easy to be distracted...i found myself thinking about the cathedral itself and realizing that we were in the midst of so many people....like SO MANY PEOPLE over the span of almost 800 years have been in and around this cathedral....i found a quote that really summed it up for me...
"We must remind ourselves that these monumental structures, although they remain intensely alive, are merely the skeletons of the cathedrals of medieval times. Compared with what it was when first created, the cathedral, as we see it now, is like a venerable old lady whose noble carriage barely suggests the striking belle she must have been in her youth. We should not only recall the past splendor of the cathedral, most of whose external adornment is now lost, but also attempt to understand what the cathedral was during the progress of its own creation; the role it played at the heart of the city that saw its birth among the people whose stubborn or enthusiastic will alone caused its skyward thrust." —Zoe Oldenbourg
This cathedral has had so many purposes from a place to worship to a place of sanctuary...I kept thinking about all the people who had been apart of its construction and of the people who had been apart of destroying some of it.....i thought about the people who have prayed here over the past 800 years to the same God we pray to today....It's really magnificent!!
All in all i really enjoyed it as a learning experience....i did not take communion as i just wasn't sure about it and i know i could have but i was nervous and just felt that i should wait until i understand it a bit more...Note: i don't plan on making a habit of going to catholic mass but in the event that it happens again i want to be more prepared!! :)
while in the church i felt a strange peace....i felt close to God...maybe it was the singing or the building but there is something about being in a place like that that makes you start thinking about your life.....how your living your life and your closeness to God :)
i was a bit homesick today after church....i think people noticed haha i got all quiet, i miss my family so much but i am still having a blast here and just because i miss y'all doesn't mean i'm ready to be back yet...there is still so much to see and learn :) i appreciate everyone who reads this....i hope you take something away from it :)
A bientôt
- Emily :)
Well hello Ms. Mona (louvre), Notre Dame, Versailles
Feb, 23 2012
Bonsoir Americans ;) haha
bonsoir is what you say when it's the evening...bonjour is morning and day time....i'm learning so much ;)
Well It's been a crazy crazy week here in Paris...we have seen more in a week than some people have seen in their lifetime. Monday we woke up early and headed towards the louvre. I was super excited about the louvre for one reason....Ms. Mona (as i call her) iv'e seen her in history books my whole life and have wanted to see her in person and finally it happened. Now most people say she is a bit underwhelming due to her size (smaller than you think) and it's just not the prettiest piece in the room....BUT IT'S FAMOUS and Leonardo de Vinci painted her....hello that's magnificent any way you look at it...I personally loved it, the rest of the louvre was awesome, it's HUGE and that's not a joke....there is so much to see it is nearly impossible to see it all....tuesday was Notre Dame...Now we have seen this cathedral multiple times already from the outside so by the time we get there were like...."oh it's just notre dame" haha were spoiled over here ;) anyways so we finally go in and well...it's a cathedral...now it's gorgeous and amazing and all that jazz but after seeing reims cathedral it fell a little short for me, but it was gorgeous in it's own right and it's super old and famous so of course i enjoyed it...The stained glass windows are definitely my favorite thing next to the architecture of course...we stayed at the cathedral for a bit then we went wondering around....we got some ice cream from the famous Berthillion ice cream shop and it was so good...then we walked all over the place and ended up getting on the metro and going for a stroll under the eiffel tower :) while strolling the grounds of the tower we saw an unpleasant sight....a woman holding her child in a terrible position so that he could use the restroom out in complete public sight of everyone......luckily it was numero uno only but still....i could have gone my whole life without seeing that....It was a good day nonetheless :) Yesterday...wednesday we went to Versailles...i was super excited about this because 1. This is where Marie Antoinette lived and 2. the hall of mirrors. We get to Versailles and see the golden gates that keep the peasants out...haha kidding but they were golden...like real gold...it was gorgeous, then we go inside and see some of the most beautiful rooms in the world....i got some serious decoration idea's from versailles :) Our tour guide was amazing....he is my favorite so far...his name is will but we called him wilson...wilhelm....bill....and on and on....he was so fun and had such a passion for versailles you could just see the excitement in his eyes that he was getting to share this wonderful place with us...Marie Antoinette's room was amazing....it was so cute and knowing that that is where she gave birth to her kids was really neat....she had to give birth in her bedroom in front of a crowd of people....she hated it so much that she would wait minutes before she had to push to go into the room to make it as short as possible in front of the crowd...very interesting lady...then there is the hall of mirrors.....which is positively the most gorgeous room i have ever seen....im already a sucker for chandeliers but this room just sent me over the edge....it was so glamorous, it was used as a corridor between the kings room and the queens room. After we excited the palace we began a stroll through the gardens....the gardens are extremely large and go on forever and ever...we walked the ground for a couple of hours and never saw the same thing twice...We found marie's house she stayed at when she wasn't in the palace and it was pink and precious and then we ran into the Lynn's and followed them into the peasant village....this is a village marie had created so that she could go and pretend to be a peasant and she would like collect eggs and see to the animals...like she made a town for herself she even had peasant garments made so she could play the part....it was pretty amazing...Easy to say we had a good couple of days this week :) Now that blogging is over i have made a video below of all three places....if your not tired of reading about the fun were having now you can watch it too ;) haha so cruel i know....Well thanks for keeping up with me and i hope you enjoy the video... :)
p.s. Free travel is a week from today.....this time next week we will be in Italy :) Getting excited and a little nervous...keep us in your prayers please :)
A bientôt
- Emily :)
Long time no blog...
Feb. 18th 2012
Bonsoir everyone :) Sorry for the huge gap between blogs...it has been pretty busy around here and i am learning that i have to make time to sit and do this so i am sitting.....and blogging now :)
Where to start...i guess i left off with our scavenger hunt which is the video below...that was our second day in Paris and now we are on i think our 12th day in Paris and so much has happened between then and now...For instance school has started...yea school it's a bummer but we have to do it....and honestly it's not even that bad...we have some wonderful teachers who also happen to be like our friends so it's really fun. I'm taking french and french culture plus bible, another french culture and geology...that last one is my least favorite....the most i'll ever need to know about a rock is how many times i can make it skip across the water in a lake....i have no interest in actually studying them but alas i must.....so we have school whenever it's on the schedule...sometimes its on sundays or tuesdays or fridays or saturdays....it can be any day of the week really :) other than school we haven't done too much....We have bee bopped around paris a lot...i have seen the eiffel tower so much that is has become blasé ;) or a normal occurrence :) we have seen lot's of sights like the louvre and notre dame but have not actually explored them thoroughly....we will do that as a group when the time comes...Paris has seriously become one of my favorite places...i think out of every place in the world this is the place to be, it's beautiful and there is so much culture here and history....every time i'm out i see something from the 16th 17th 18th century and it's completely mesmerizing!!! I have also grown to LOVE the food here...there are crepes and crepes and more crepes....all the little patisserie shops are just so fun with all there breads and pastries....actually i have finally decided something....most of you know i want a bakery...but i was always wondering what exactly i wanted to make...well i think i'm going to TRY to bring the french bakery to america in a way that hasn't really been seen before....i have lots of idea's and i'm making notes taking pictures and i am planning planning planning :) This past week we took a day trip to Riems France, We went mostly for the GORGEOUS cathedral....pictured above...It was cold in Riems but we enjoyed getting to hear about this fun town...we had the perfect tour guide...not sure what her name was but she was fantastic....we've learned that you remember a place to be good if you had a good tour guide and well this lady was the best....everything she told us about the cathedral was so magical and she told it as if it was this really cool story...she was awesome, so we went around riems and saw the cathedral and went to lunch at the brassiere...got a pretty delicious burger :) ALSO another thing about food...they don't use GMO's here at all and it's amazing that after eating a pretty large burger and fries and yes a piece of french bread that you don't feel gross at all....you feel satisfied and actually really good....America is missing out....we fill our food with a bunch of junk that makes us fat.....europeans are skinny for a reason...because they banned GMO's here.....so when i go back home i'm going to be eating differently because i feel better over here than i do in america food wise :) Sorry...went off a bit....so reims was fun :) Today we went to Les puces, which is an outdoor flea market....now while on our way to the metro Lauren tells us to keep our bags close...which automatically makes me nervous about where were going...then while on the metro this lady tries to pick pocket this large man and he catches her and yells at her....so i'm obviously getting less stressed.....and then we get to the place and all i see are men on the street trying to sell there fake possibly stolen merchandise.....so i was kind of over it before we got there.....THEN.....we walk under a bridge and get on the other side of the market away from the creepies and we find antiques....i'm a sucker for antiques...love them so i'm happy now :) We find a little shop with a ton of vintage clothes....this lady even had a vintage balenciaga coat...it was fantastic :) Sam bought a bag and clay bought a fun little alligator whistle thing but i just looked :) it was pretty neat after we found the better stuff :)
Now it's almost 11:00 and it's time for bed....i hope you enjoy reading this blog and i will try my absolute best to keep it updated more frequently...now that i'm getting into the hang of school and paris i should be more on top of it!! :)
A bientôt
-Emily :)
Bonsoir everyone :) Sorry for the huge gap between blogs...it has been pretty busy around here and i am learning that i have to make time to sit and do this so i am sitting.....and blogging now :)
Where to start...i guess i left off with our scavenger hunt which is the video below...that was our second day in Paris and now we are on i think our 12th day in Paris and so much has happened between then and now...For instance school has started...yea school it's a bummer but we have to do it....and honestly it's not even that bad...we have some wonderful teachers who also happen to be like our friends so it's really fun. I'm taking french and french culture plus bible, another french culture and geology...that last one is my least favorite....the most i'll ever need to know about a rock is how many times i can make it skip across the water in a lake....i have no interest in actually studying them but alas i must.....so we have school whenever it's on the schedule...sometimes its on sundays or tuesdays or fridays or saturdays....it can be any day of the week really :) other than school we haven't done too much....We have bee bopped around paris a lot...i have seen the eiffel tower so much that is has become blasé ;) or a normal occurrence :) we have seen lot's of sights like the louvre and notre dame but have not actually explored them thoroughly....we will do that as a group when the time comes...Paris has seriously become one of my favorite places...i think out of every place in the world this is the place to be, it's beautiful and there is so much culture here and history....every time i'm out i see something from the 16th 17th 18th century and it's completely mesmerizing!!! I have also grown to LOVE the food here...there are crepes and crepes and more crepes....all the little patisserie shops are just so fun with all there breads and pastries....actually i have finally decided something....most of you know i want a bakery...but i was always wondering what exactly i wanted to make...well i think i'm going to TRY to bring the french bakery to america in a way that hasn't really been seen before....i have lots of idea's and i'm making notes taking pictures and i am planning planning planning :) This past week we took a day trip to Riems France, We went mostly for the GORGEOUS cathedral....pictured above...It was cold in Riems but we enjoyed getting to hear about this fun town...we had the perfect tour guide...not sure what her name was but she was fantastic....we've learned that you remember a place to be good if you had a good tour guide and well this lady was the best....everything she told us about the cathedral was so magical and she told it as if it was this really cool story...she was awesome, so we went around riems and saw the cathedral and went to lunch at the brassiere...got a pretty delicious burger :) ALSO another thing about food...they don't use GMO's here at all and it's amazing that after eating a pretty large burger and fries and yes a piece of french bread that you don't feel gross at all....you feel satisfied and actually really good....America is missing out....we fill our food with a bunch of junk that makes us fat.....europeans are skinny for a reason...because they banned GMO's here.....so when i go back home i'm going to be eating differently because i feel better over here than i do in america food wise :) Sorry...went off a bit....so reims was fun :) Today we went to Les puces, which is an outdoor flea market....now while on our way to the metro Lauren tells us to keep our bags close...which automatically makes me nervous about where were going...then while on the metro this lady tries to pick pocket this large man and he catches her and yells at her....so i'm obviously getting less stressed.....and then we get to the place and all i see are men on the street trying to sell there fake possibly stolen merchandise.....so i was kind of over it before we got there.....THEN.....we walk under a bridge and get on the other side of the market away from the creepies and we find antiques....i'm a sucker for antiques...love them so i'm happy now :) We find a little shop with a ton of vintage clothes....this lady even had a vintage balenciaga coat...it was fantastic :) Sam bought a bag and clay bought a fun little alligator whistle thing but i just looked :) it was pretty neat after we found the better stuff :)
Now it's almost 11:00 and it's time for bed....i hope you enjoy reading this blog and i will try my absolute best to keep it updated more frequently...now that i'm getting into the hang of school and paris i should be more on top of it!! :)
A bientôt
-Emily :)
Blog #2
Bonjour everyone :) SO it's blog time....here we go.
YESTERDAY february 4th we were in the town of avignon France, now this is such a cute little town.....it's sunny and warm..........FALSE....IT IS NOT SUNNY OR WARM.....IT IS FREEZING....IT'S THE COLDEST PLACE I HAVE EVER BEEN........IN MY LIFE.......ok now it was a cute town that is true, but it was NOT WARM....it was frigid..end of story :)
so yesterday we started the day with a hardy breakfast for champions :) some croissants and french bread and fruit and yogurt :) ALSO mom i'm going to need you to perfect the baguette before i return home...i'm going to need some on a daily basis!! :) after breakfast we left our hotel and went for a freezing cold walk to Palais des Papes or the Pope's palace!!! This place is HUGE and gorgeous and so medieval, it's wonderful!!! in fact the picture for this blog is the group huddled in the fire place of the dining room!! :) after going to the palace we headed out to find lunch, this is where we decided to be cheap and bought a baguette and some fruit!! we headed back to meet the group, huddled onto a shuttle and headed to the train station...got on the train and came to marseille which is where we are tonight!! now today is sunday and so that means church time :) We woke up this morning ate another good breakfast then headed off to marseille church of christ. I didn't really know what to expect here since i have only been to 2 churches in my whole life and they are in Texas and arkansas haha....and honestly it was really neat, just seeing a different culture worshipping was so uplifting...we got to sing in french which was really fun, especially when we knew the song haha it was gorgeous singing...then we had the lesson which was all in french so we didn't understand it but if you listened close you could pick out when he mentioned scripture so you could follow him better...then came time for communion which was SUPER interesting....we got up and walked to the front stood in a line and got the bread and then the WINE.....yes wine real wine and do you know what that tasted like.....well it tasted like poo.....it was nasty....now of course i understand the holy aspect and went with it but it was not was i was expecting.....isn't wine from grapes....last time i checked grapes were sweet...that was not sweet...that was bitter and it made my throat burn....haha after church we went to a little sandwich place where i got a baguette filled with chicken ketchup and lettuce and it came with fries so it was pretty good...then we found out that the people that owned the place were Iraqis who were christians and still read the Bible in aramaic :) so that was pretty awesome!!! :) after lunch we got on the metro and went out to marseille harbor and got on the ferry boat to go to a little island for some hiking :) we went up a huge hill and there were some ruins up there it was neat :) now we are back at the hotel going to sleeeeeeeeep, we have an early day tomorrow....were going to Arles France tomorrow so i will let you know how that goes :) until then thanks for reading and enjoy the video below....this is marky mark....we love him haha :)
Au revoir
Emily :)
YESTERDAY february 4th we were in the town of avignon France, now this is such a cute little town.....it's sunny and warm..........FALSE....IT IS NOT SUNNY OR WARM.....IT IS FREEZING....IT'S THE COLDEST PLACE I HAVE EVER BEEN........IN MY LIFE.......ok now it was a cute town that is true, but it was NOT WARM....it was frigid..end of story :)
so yesterday we started the day with a hardy breakfast for champions :) some croissants and french bread and fruit and yogurt :) ALSO mom i'm going to need you to perfect the baguette before i return home...i'm going to need some on a daily basis!! :) after breakfast we left our hotel and went for a freezing cold walk to Palais des Papes or the Pope's palace!!! This place is HUGE and gorgeous and so medieval, it's wonderful!!! in fact the picture for this blog is the group huddled in the fire place of the dining room!! :) after going to the palace we headed out to find lunch, this is where we decided to be cheap and bought a baguette and some fruit!! we headed back to meet the group, huddled onto a shuttle and headed to the train station...got on the train and came to marseille which is where we are tonight!! now today is sunday and so that means church time :) We woke up this morning ate another good breakfast then headed off to marseille church of christ. I didn't really know what to expect here since i have only been to 2 churches in my whole life and they are in Texas and arkansas haha....and honestly it was really neat, just seeing a different culture worshipping was so uplifting...we got to sing in french which was really fun, especially when we knew the song haha it was gorgeous singing...then we had the lesson which was all in french so we didn't understand it but if you listened close you could pick out when he mentioned scripture so you could follow him better...then came time for communion which was SUPER interesting....we got up and walked to the front stood in a line and got the bread and then the WINE.....yes wine real wine and do you know what that tasted like.....well it tasted like poo.....it was nasty....now of course i understand the holy aspect and went with it but it was not was i was expecting.....isn't wine from grapes....last time i checked grapes were sweet...that was not sweet...that was bitter and it made my throat burn....haha after church we went to a little sandwich place where i got a baguette filled with chicken ketchup and lettuce and it came with fries so it was pretty good...then we found out that the people that owned the place were Iraqis who were christians and still read the Bible in aramaic :) so that was pretty awesome!!! :) after lunch we got on the metro and went out to marseille harbor and got on the ferry boat to go to a little island for some hiking :) we went up a huge hill and there were some ruins up there it was neat :) now we are back at the hotel going to sleeeeeeeeep, we have an early day tomorrow....were going to Arles France tomorrow so i will let you know how that goes :) until then thanks for reading and enjoy the video below....this is marky mark....we love him haha :)
Au revoir
Emily :)
VLOG TIME :) February 3rd 2012
http://www.youtube.com/user/alwayschooseparis13
blog #1
February 2nd 2012
We are here we are here :) It has been a crazy couple of days...First of all let me tell you about flying...now i am that person who has only flown to 2 places in my life, so flying across the world was a bit nerve-racking....but i survived and actually enjoyed most of it :) Our first flight was hard and easy, it was hard because we had to say our goodbyes and easy because well....a 2 hour flight to atlanta....not bad at all....now atlanta to Paris is a whole other story...we were on the place for close to 10 hours...i mean i'm used to lazing around the house for that long but it's different o a plane....but all in all not too bad :) and the food on the plane....the food was REALLY REALLY delicious haha yes plane food is sort of good, i was impressed :) we had chicken and sweet potatoes and green beans, a little roll with butter, some cheese and a salad....i did not however eat the salad :P yuck!!!! so FINALLY we land in Paris and we are all super exhausted...me and sam go exploring and find a place that sells snacks....that's where we find a nice man who thinks we are the MOST WONDERFUL HUMANS HE HAS EVER MET....he loved us!!! Asked us where we were from so we said texas and his response was "Oh i love texas i love texas women you beautiful women (insert awkward blushing here) oh you know bush?? george bush??? yea oh we love americans especially pretty ones" hahaha he was our favorite :) also it was FREEZING in Paris...i could see my nose breath.........yea...........so then get on the plane and head to Nice, get to Nice still super exhausted....we drop our stuff off at the hotel and go get dinner...i had pizza haha it was marguerite pizza and it was HUGE...we really need to learn how to ask portion sizes haha!!! so then head back to the hotel, me and sam are roomies as usual :) we have a cute little room with two beds a closet a bathroom a small kitchen (that doesn't work) and an awesome view from the balcony :) last night i slept alright...i woke up around 4 in the morning which is really 9 at night back home and my body was like why are you sleeping you crazy....get up....i did not however go anywhere...just layer in bed till i fell asleep again :) then this morning we had breakfast....i ate frosted flakes which are called frosties here....yea yea yea i ate cereal my first morning in france get overrr itttt :) haha after breakfast we met with our tour guide cecilia, she was fantastic...she showed us around the whole city...we went to the ocean and to the new area of town and the old area of town :) It's all soooo pretty!!! :) then we ate lunch....lunch was interesting...it was a plate with like 10 different Nice cuisines on it and i can't say it was wonderful it was interesting to say the least...after lunch they let us loose...YES they let us roam the city alone and we did a fantastic job of it...i mean clearly i'm back at the hotel so it all worked out well :) we went to the top of this hill...took like millions of stairs i almost died (asthma) poor lungs....but finally we made it to the top and had a breathtaking view of Nice which is what you see in the picture above. You could see EVERYTHING and it was just absolutely wonderful!! after than we found a small convenience store and bought some nesseities we left in our luggage....made my first purchase with euros....it went really well!! :) after that we headed to a museum and did the museum thing then we came back to the room to relax for a bit....i have never walked that much in my life and i'm sure of it....we walked for a good 10 hours today at least....anyways we chilled in the room for a while then headed out for dinner on our own, we found a little cuban restaurant and we ate that for dinner...some meat with veggies and banana's and cheese on top...it was strangely good :) also i had fruit and the fruit over here doesn't bother my allergies like the fruit in america....so that was nice :) SO anyways now we are back at the hotel ready to sleep....we have to wake up around 7:00 tomorrow to get ready to leave for cannes :) another walking tour tomorrow then were staying in avignon tomorrow night :) thanks for reading....more to come later!!! :) also mom and dad thanks for giving me the amazing opportunity, it's going to be the most amazing time of my life :) love y'all and i also love anyone else reading this......haha
à bientôt
Emily :)
We are here we are here :) It has been a crazy couple of days...First of all let me tell you about flying...now i am that person who has only flown to 2 places in my life, so flying across the world was a bit nerve-racking....but i survived and actually enjoyed most of it :) Our first flight was hard and easy, it was hard because we had to say our goodbyes and easy because well....a 2 hour flight to atlanta....not bad at all....now atlanta to Paris is a whole other story...we were on the place for close to 10 hours...i mean i'm used to lazing around the house for that long but it's different o a plane....but all in all not too bad :) and the food on the plane....the food was REALLY REALLY delicious haha yes plane food is sort of good, i was impressed :) we had chicken and sweet potatoes and green beans, a little roll with butter, some cheese and a salad....i did not however eat the salad :P yuck!!!! so FINALLY we land in Paris and we are all super exhausted...me and sam go exploring and find a place that sells snacks....that's where we find a nice man who thinks we are the MOST WONDERFUL HUMANS HE HAS EVER MET....he loved us!!! Asked us where we were from so we said texas and his response was "Oh i love texas i love texas women you beautiful women (insert awkward blushing here) oh you know bush?? george bush??? yea oh we love americans especially pretty ones" hahaha he was our favorite :) also it was FREEZING in Paris...i could see my nose breath.........yea...........so then get on the plane and head to Nice, get to Nice still super exhausted....we drop our stuff off at the hotel and go get dinner...i had pizza haha it was marguerite pizza and it was HUGE...we really need to learn how to ask portion sizes haha!!! so then head back to the hotel, me and sam are roomies as usual :) we have a cute little room with two beds a closet a bathroom a small kitchen (that doesn't work) and an awesome view from the balcony :) last night i slept alright...i woke up around 4 in the morning which is really 9 at night back home and my body was like why are you sleeping you crazy....get up....i did not however go anywhere...just layer in bed till i fell asleep again :) then this morning we had breakfast....i ate frosted flakes which are called frosties here....yea yea yea i ate cereal my first morning in france get overrr itttt :) haha after breakfast we met with our tour guide cecilia, she was fantastic...she showed us around the whole city...we went to the ocean and to the new area of town and the old area of town :) It's all soooo pretty!!! :) then we ate lunch....lunch was interesting...it was a plate with like 10 different Nice cuisines on it and i can't say it was wonderful it was interesting to say the least...after lunch they let us loose...YES they let us roam the city alone and we did a fantastic job of it...i mean clearly i'm back at the hotel so it all worked out well :) we went to the top of this hill...took like millions of stairs i almost died (asthma) poor lungs....but finally we made it to the top and had a breathtaking view of Nice which is what you see in the picture above. You could see EVERYTHING and it was just absolutely wonderful!! after than we found a small convenience store and bought some nesseities we left in our luggage....made my first purchase with euros....it went really well!! :) after that we headed to a museum and did the museum thing then we came back to the room to relax for a bit....i have never walked that much in my life and i'm sure of it....we walked for a good 10 hours today at least....anyways we chilled in the room for a while then headed out for dinner on our own, we found a little cuban restaurant and we ate that for dinner...some meat with veggies and banana's and cheese on top...it was strangely good :) also i had fruit and the fruit over here doesn't bother my allergies like the fruit in america....so that was nice :) SO anyways now we are back at the hotel ready to sleep....we have to wake up around 7:00 tomorrow to get ready to leave for cannes :) another walking tour tomorrow then were staying in avignon tomorrow night :) thanks for reading....more to come later!!! :) also mom and dad thanks for giving me the amazing opportunity, it's going to be the most amazing time of my life :) love y'all and i also love anyone else reading this......haha
à bientôt
Emily :)
February 2, 2012
We have arrived! These past few days have been some of the longest, but best days ever. The plane rides weren't terrible, but they got realllyyyy boring after a few hours. Also, airplane food turned out to be delicious. Like, seriously, where has this been all my life?! I tried sleeping on the flight from Atlanta to Paris, but I just couldn't get comfortable. And they had a lot of good movies to choose from (: The first time we stepped out of the Paris airport and went outside was a huge shock; when we left Texas that morning, it was 68 and sunny. When we arrived in Paris, it was 27 and FREEZING! It was a big shock. We had one more flight and the we arrive in Nice. We dropped our bags off and then headed to dinner, which was the first meal I had eaten all day because the food in the airport didn't sound so great. After we came back to the hotel, I went to sleep and passed out. I was exhausted. I'm pretty sure my alarm went off for a full 5 minutes before I heard it. But there's no rest for the weary. We did a walking tour of Nice today, and I'm pretty sure I haven't walked that much in my life ever. The streets here are so tiny! And the drivers are crazy. You have to be extra careful when crossing the street. Haha. Mostly, we looked at older buildings and churches. It's so weird to think that the majority of the buildings in the Old Town have been around for much longer than anything in the U.S. They let us out on our own this afternoon, so Jessica, Emily, and I headed to the top of the hill, which has an excellent view of the entire city and ocean. Next, we went to the contemporary art museum, and I'm pretty sure that if I painted a piece of paper blue and slapped my signature on there, I could call it contemporary art. I wasn't very impressed. Haha. Then, we went to an old aristocrat's house that has been turned into a museum ( the first floor was restored to what it was originally and the second was paintings of the family). By that time, we were so ready to go back to the warm hotel and sit down for a minute. After a while, were decided we were hungry, so we decided to set out on our own for dinner. After an hour of walking in the cold, we found a Cuban place (which made me laugh; Cuban food in Nice, why not?!). It was different, but very good. Afterwards, we were dead on our feet, so we came back to the hotel, and here we are (: Tomorrow, we're headed to Cannes and Marseilles. OH! ALSO, we saw the hospital where Angelina Jolie gave birth to her kids. That was exciting! Haha.
Bonsoir,
Samantha (:
We have arrived! These past few days have been some of the longest, but best days ever. The plane rides weren't terrible, but they got realllyyyy boring after a few hours. Also, airplane food turned out to be delicious. Like, seriously, where has this been all my life?! I tried sleeping on the flight from Atlanta to Paris, but I just couldn't get comfortable. And they had a lot of good movies to choose from (: The first time we stepped out of the Paris airport and went outside was a huge shock; when we left Texas that morning, it was 68 and sunny. When we arrived in Paris, it was 27 and FREEZING! It was a big shock. We had one more flight and the we arrive in Nice. We dropped our bags off and then headed to dinner, which was the first meal I had eaten all day because the food in the airport didn't sound so great. After we came back to the hotel, I went to sleep and passed out. I was exhausted. I'm pretty sure my alarm went off for a full 5 minutes before I heard it. But there's no rest for the weary. We did a walking tour of Nice today, and I'm pretty sure I haven't walked that much in my life ever. The streets here are so tiny! And the drivers are crazy. You have to be extra careful when crossing the street. Haha. Mostly, we looked at older buildings and churches. It's so weird to think that the majority of the buildings in the Old Town have been around for much longer than anything in the U.S. They let us out on our own this afternoon, so Jessica, Emily, and I headed to the top of the hill, which has an excellent view of the entire city and ocean. Next, we went to the contemporary art museum, and I'm pretty sure that if I painted a piece of paper blue and slapped my signature on there, I could call it contemporary art. I wasn't very impressed. Haha. Then, we went to an old aristocrat's house that has been turned into a museum ( the first floor was restored to what it was originally and the second was paintings of the family). By that time, we were so ready to go back to the warm hotel and sit down for a minute. After a while, were decided we were hungry, so we decided to set out on our own for dinner. After an hour of walking in the cold, we found a Cuban place (which made me laugh; Cuban food in Nice, why not?!). It was different, but very good. Afterwards, we were dead on our feet, so we came back to the hotel, and here we are (: Tomorrow, we're headed to Cannes and Marseilles. OH! ALSO, we saw the hospital where Angelina Jolie gave birth to her kids. That was exciting! Haha.
Bonsoir,
Samantha (:
PLANE TICKET HAS ARRIVED :)
Ok first Emily Blog, i figured why not start it before we leave. PLUS i can't contain my excitement...i am currently holding my paris plane ticket in my hands!!!!! My hands are slightly shaking and i think i might have a heart attack haha...but seriously...I'm beyond excited about this!!! Now we finally have some solid information about this trip like when were leaving and when were coming back :) January 31'st through April 23rd :) I can't wait for this journey to begin....actually i can as i haven't packed a single thing!!! Paris Paris Paris, This is going to be an amazing experience...
Au Revoir
Emily :)
Au Revoir
Emily :)