Italy Report

I'm starting to wonder if I have some Italian in my blood. I got along quite well with Italy. Delicious food, amazing views, beautiful music, and adorable buildings everywhere. It was truly an amazing trip. I was privileged to spend it with BOTH Lauren C Davis and the one and only Claire Aufhammer. Claire is such a gem. I've never had another friend like her. She was inquisitive, comforting, hilarious, and relaxed the entire trip. A perfect combination. What a blessing!

After spending six days in Italy I am now somewhat (but obviously not really) "well versed" on Italy. Therefore, I will share some likes and dislikes.

Likes:

Gelato EVERYWHERE (one time, I ate it twice in one day...woah)

Late sunsets (9:30ish) and early sunrise

This picture was taken from the train on our overnight ride back

Great shopping 

Narrow brick streets with multicolored buildings

 Manarola, Italy (Cinque Terre)

 Venice

Venice

Good food, great restaurants, and gluten free menus (!!!!!!!!!!) no words to describe my joy. 

Check out this pizza.

Wonderful friends

 Fresh caught Seabass

 Overall, Italy was aesthetically pleasing everywhere we went. 

Dislikes:

Tourism aka people everywhere

PEOPLE PEOPLE PEOPLE

Sketchy neighborhoods in Rome that look like Gotham City

Expensive meals

Pigeons that are way too comfortable with humans and try to fly in your face. I did soften my heart a little bit towards the pigeons once I accidentally witness one get run over by a train about 10 feet in front of my face. Ouch.

As you can see, there were significantly more positives than negatives. Plus, lets be honest, it was ITALY. There is a reason people flock there like the pigeons flock around my food. It's fantastic.

Here are a few pictures of the many places we went!!

ROMA

 Colesseum

 Pantheon

 Trevi Fountain

 The Vatican

FIRENZE

 Piazza del Michaelangelo

 

At the Ponte Vecchio

MANAROLA (Cinque Terre)

VENICE

 

Believe it or not, after running around for 6 days, the Netherlands felt like home and I was ready to get back. Although I had to start class today and almost fell asleep due to exhaustion, my life is so grand. Europe is full of new experiences and new lessons. I love everything that God is teaching me, the little things and the big things. 

It's a Privilege to Pee

Did you know that in Europe you have to pay to pee at most public places? If you know me at all, then you can understand how poor I will be by the end of this trip. I quite possibly have the smallest bladder known to mankind. 

Nevertheless, it is obviously still 100% WORTH IT to be here. Come on people lets be real. All the money in the world couldn't buy these views. Only a Holy God could create such beauty. 

WOAH. Hang on, I'm going to go worship for... the rest of my life. And that will not be enough. Thank you Jesus. Unimaginable wonders.

Our group trip has just ended, which means I no longer feel like a 14 year old high schooler being herded around Europe. 

At least we're a pretty good looking herd...

One of my favorite parts of our group travel was the tour of Chateau de Chillon--a CASTLE in Switzerland. It is exactly the type of castle I envision myself living in once I become a princess. Maybe it's for sale? I will now bombard you will pictures from the castle.

Sitting outside waiting for our tour

View from the street 

View from the very top tower

Banquet hall

Window in one of the banquet halls

view from the back (MOUNTAINS)

Cool mustard yellow sign that I wanted to take with me.

Open up the HEAVENS!

Reflections

This is Lord Byron's signature. He visited the prison and wrote a poem about it called "Prisoner of Chillon". 

Here are a couple pictures of Lauren C Davis and I outside the castle.

Here comes our BOAT to take us to the Rhine Falls!

The Rhine Falls were pretty CRAZY. People everywhere. Everyone speaking a different language. Major tourism going down. However, I managed to video the falls and take a couple pictures. Then I scurried away from the masses.

WATER WATER EVERYWHERE

Our second to last stop on the trip was in Verdun, France. None of WWI was fought on American soil, but for Verdun, WWII is still very present. There are trenches, bullets, shards, and holes in the ground everywhere. 

 Trenches

This was a bullet that our tour guide found in the ground. 

Speaking of our tour guide... Isn't she cute? Sweetest french woman I've ever met! (Also one of the only french woman I've ever met) I planned to take her home with me. And steal her red hat. Fret not, neither of those plans came to fruition.

Overall, we traveled 2,700 kilometers and went to 7 countries in 5 days! What does this mean? Lots of time on the bus. Lots of sleeping. Lauren and I were convinced that there were sedatives seeping out of the vents because we had an extremely difficult time staying awake on the bus. Proof:

Only Lauren C Davis would be able to comfortably sleep in this position. Impressive. 

The last stop on the trip was at the memorial for Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne, Belgium

You can catch a glimpse of our herd there on the right side.

Here we are on top of the tank. 

And now we will FLY to Italy! More to come! Thanks for joining the ride.