Europe Trip Recap: Part Two (I'm a Jetsetter)!

Hello Readers! Since I finally figured out my Blogger difficulties, I am jumping right into part two!

 From Barcelona, it was time to go to Rome to meet Tim's siblings! On the day we left for Rome, I ended up catching a cold...I was upset I was sick, but I know my colds only last about 24 hours and since most of that day was spent traveling it was not too bad! After Tim's brother and sister flew in, we booked our next hotel...Village Camping Roma! The "campground" was really neat because not only did we have our own chalet (aka small house) complete with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, but the campground had their own grocery store, restaurant, two pools, two hot tubs, and a pub! We went to the grocery store a lot because we had our own kitchen in the chalet! We bought wine and pasta a lot as a treat when we stayed in!

The first night in Rome, we went to the Colosseum. The Colosseum was not as big as I had thought, but it was still worth our time to see! We ended up meeting some other Americans around our age and went to dinner with them at this little pizzeria. The pizza in Italy (and all of Europe) is soo good! The crust is really thin, so I was able to eat three times the amount of pizza I would normally eat! Some local men asked the boys to buy roses they were selling for Tim's sister and I...how sweet!

This little girl was petting a stray cat!

 

 The next morning we took a day trip to Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius! The trip was from 7 am to 8:30 pm so our day was packed! The trip was about $160 per person but it was worth it since lunch, travel fees, and the tour fees were included! We met up at Piazza de Popolo, which is a famous plaza that is beautiful! From there we had a three hour drive south to Pompeii! Our tour guide at the Pompeii ruins was not only a seasoned tour guide, but he was an archaeologist working on uncovered areas of Pompeii as well! A little history behind Pompeii: Mt. Vesuvius only erupted ash (not lava) so Pompeii was able to be preserved. 

Piazza de Popolo

You can see the chariot tire imprints on this road!

Our tour guide said this was the "McDonald's" of Pompeii

A body preserved with liquid plaster

 Before our climb on Mt. Vesuvius, we got a lunch break at this pizzeria. Again, the pizza there is to die for...I am craving it as we speak! We drove about 45 minutes to (and up) Mt. Vesuvius and once we got to the ticket office we were given our vouchers for the 25 minute climb up to the top! Thank goodness we were given walking sticks - it was steep! Tim's sister and I decided to wear sundresses and sandals, and although we looked cute it was no easy tasking climbing up and down that mountain! We had some great views of Naples, the Bay of Naples, and other mountains in the area. Fun fact I learned: during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius about half of the mountain was blown off so they refer to it as "Baby Vesuvius" now. I could not imagine that climb!

Such a pretty view, but SO foggy since we were nearly a mile in the sky!

Don't mind our green stickers...that's how our tour guide wanted to keep track of the group!

 

Sadly, the next day, I had to go to Dublin early for my flight back to the states...so sad! I was so sad to leave Italy and I REALLY hope I am able to go back some day! 

It's hard to imagine I wrote this post and the last one nearly a week ago...I could just not figure out some quirks about Blogger! (And don't get me wrong, I still have a lot to learn!) 

Where else do you all recommend visiting in Europe and/or other parts of the world?

Europe Trip Recap: Part One!

So in my last post, I mentioned that I would do a recap on my European Adventures...here it is! Let me just start off by saying I am not in any way bragging about this trip. This trip was the only graduation gift I received and I am VERY grateful to my parents who allowed me to go and explore the world!

Tim was in London finishing up his internship so London was my first stop! We stayed in a hotel within a five minute walk from King's Cross station (which is the one in the Harry Potter movies, ahh).

 

The first fun place we went to was Icebar London. It is a bar completely made out of ice (glasses included) and it was -5 degrees in there...sooo freezing! They gave us these coats/ponchos attached with gloves so that kept us warm for the 30 minutes we were allowed in there! We even got a complimentary drink :)

 

The next day we went to the Tower of London. Although it is a touristy place, I really enjoyed it! There is a lot of history there and the government of London keeps the Crown Jewels here! Sadly, no photography was allowed in that exhibit.

Real life "castle" iron gate!

 

Next we went to an art museum called the Tate Modern. They had some very interesting art pieces there and it was something fun (and free!) to do before our long bike tour! 

We also got to see St. Paul's Cathedral!

A piece of paper and a pen count as art?!

I found my name on this artist timeline! (I was excited because I never see my name anywhere)

 

Next, was our Fat Tire Bike Tour! Although it was cold and windy, I had a lot of fun! Since it was four hours, we were able to see a lot of London's famous landmarks. Every bike had a name of someone famous from London, and Tim and I picked the only two bikes with funny horns hah! We first rode to Hyde Park and got to see Kensingston Palace. A little bit later, we were able to see Buckingham Palace. However, we were not able to get that close and the city was preparing for the Queen's Jubilee (in celebration of her 60 years on the throne!). Because of the Jubilee, there were traffic cones and bleachers everywhere, and these do not equal great pictures. We were also able to see the Windsor Palaces, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, and Big Ben!

 

The London Eye was really cool! Sadly, my camera was taking blurry pictures at night, so Tim was able to get the good pictures from that. One of the oddest things I learned about London was that their Pizza Huts are so nice...they had wines and beers on their menu and their pizza was better than it is in the states because it wasn't as greasy! I also, LOVED, the underground system there. It was beyond easy to get around. I wish I had gotten a tube map shot glass I saw in a souvenir shop, hah!

Tim and I had a few days to do something before two of his siblings came to meet us in Rome, so we decided to go to Barcelona! I had no idea Barcelona was on the coast of Spain, until after we bought our flight tickets, so of course I was excited because that meant...beach time! The beach was beautiful and we were a 10 minute walk from our hotel. Our hotel room was nearly the size of a small dorm room...so tiny! Each floor in the hotel had a kitchen, so one night we stayed in and made pasta and drank lemon beers! Also, each building of the hotel has their own rooftop pool so we made sure to check that out one evening! We tried to go to a Fat Tire bike tour there just as we had done in London, but we could not find the meeting spot for the life of us! We were bummed out, but we decided to stay in that part of town and look around at all the cool shops. And I'm glad we did - it was so so fun! There was this little store a short walk away from our hotel and there I got a used Longchamp bag for only 8 Euros, which is the equivalent to about $11! I could not believe it and will definitely be putting it to use! I also got an adorable brown leather crossbody purse - it's one I can use everyday! The beach was really pretty in the evening and it reminded me a little bit of Navy Pier with all the shops and restaurants close to the water. 

We asked for ketchup here, and we were given curry sauce instead!

 Part 2 coming soon!