Europe 2009

I feel like I’ve failed at my travel blog partly due to technical difficulties, lack of free wifi, and time constraints. I had written one blog which is somewhere out in the Internet space and that really discouraged me as well. Here I am at the new airport in Toronto waiting for my connecting flight to SFO. I paid for wifi and am writing this blog to sum up the entire trip. As mentioned previously, Italy was quick. Aside from Rome, I spent a day on the island of Capri which was absolutely beautiful and a day in Florence. The views of Capri just got better as we first taxied higher to anacapri and then rode on a sky lift to the highest point. Amazing views. My time in Florence was very short. The roman city has such great detailed architecture. We walked up over 300 steps in the structure next to the duomo and the city was stunning.
My big complaint happened on my overnight train ride to France. But I will save you from the details. But starting my tour in Provence made me forget all about it. I appreciated an 8 day tour where I was in a beautiful place, had nothing to plan, ate phenomenal classic dishes from the region, and was relaxed. I would awake with my cafe americano and my freshly made chocolate croissants (and other items but those two items were guaranteed each day). We would learn about the region by going to different villages. We toured wineries (for those who know wine, we went to the famous chateauneuf du pape), a chocolate factory, lavender museum (unfortunately not in season), olive farm, buffalo farm, and saw other scenic parts of the country. The other special part of the tour was our lovely accomodations. We stayed in an old 19th century farmhouse that was renovated into a beautiful chateau. I could pick grapes out my window.
It was really sad to leave provence.
I had so many things on my list to do in Paris, and after the first night decided that list would be thrown out the window (including restaurants to try). 2.5 days was not enough. I was so tired of walking through the city, there was no way I was going to climb all the steps in these unique structures or walk around museums. It was a great experience. I felt like an expert on the metro and also covered a lot of territory getting on and off the metro. I also did the boat hopping which was a cool way to see things and get around. I spent a lot of time outside cafes so I could rest my feet. I even went to a spa which was great. My best moment was having breakfast at angelinas across from the louve while it was raining. That l’african hot chocolate was amazing and the best I have ever had. I can’t not mention the eiffle tower. It was so cool. The best views of it really are from a distance. I waited for the lights to turn on and then I kept walking further away from it and it was just amazing. So my first trip to europe was overall awesome! And I hope I don’t have to wait this long to do it again!

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