Day 15:I left my heart in Paris

Our time in Paris was running out. 

We still needed to go to the Love Lock Bridge. 

The amount of locks was truly incredible. 

Apparently, they are getting so heavy that part of the rails are falling down. 

They are removing all the locks when that happens and boarding up the rails. 

We were told that they are trying to find a way to display these locks in some "artsy" way. 

It has really exploded in Paris. 

It's been in the last 5 years and there is 2 full bridges. 

We barely found a spot for our locks.

We headed to Verialles for the day. 

It is a massive palace and garden. 

Infact, the grounds are so big, we biked for over an hour and only saw a portion of it. 

After Versialles, we wandered towards Sacre Coeur. 

We wanted to spend the evening there and watch the sunset. 

A sudden rain storm ruined that plan. 

We were soaked. 

and the clouds completely shut the sun out. 

But we went, we saw and then we ate. 

We went back to our apartment around 10:00pm because we all had to pack .

I was the first one leaving first thing in the morning. 

My taxi picked me up at 7:30am.

My taxi driver was a complete angel. 

I was unsure of my terminal.

He made a phone call and wasn't able to get the information so he took me to the terminal he thought it was and then walked me in to make sure. 

Truly so kind. 

We encountered nothing but kind people during our trip. 

For this I am grateful for. 

Not sure if it is because we looked like clueless girls all the time or what?

The people we met across the way made the trip. 

They were kind.

Shared the culture, their food and the favorite parts of their city with us. 

Once I had checked in the airport (side note: never been so grateful to be flying Delta.  There was a pilot strike with all the other airlines.  The airport was a nightmare.  But thankfully I was able to fly out as planned.)

I was walking up the stairs and tears just started streaming down my face.

I was excited to be home and see my family. 

But I was so sad that this experience was over. 

I felt beyond blessed to have been able to make this happen. 

Keri and Tera were great traveling partners. 

The places we saw were unforgettable.

There are so many times in life you are always wishing to be in a different phase of life. 

To be married. 

To have kids. 

To have a different job. 

To buy a house. 

This was a trip of a lifetime. 

I know that my flexibility in life will not last forever. 

I truly am so thankful for these 15 days.

I will treasure them forever.

Europe, until next time.

Day 13: Paris

From Prague we flew to our last city

PARIS

Our flight was delayed from Prague several times.  

Normally, that is slightly annoying, but when you are on a 9:30pm flight it is REALLY exhausting. 

We finally arrived in Paris just a little before midnight. 

We took a taxi to our flat and settle in and went to bed.

 One of the greatest things was the advice and recommendations people gave us. 

We were told by several people not to miss seeing Paris by bike. 

Our first morning we booked a tour and headed out to see the city. 

It was such a fun tour. 

We were able to see the back side of Paris.

Our tour guide was a history geek and made it fun to hear all of the different facts of the city. 

We were able to see the Alexander III Bridge, Louvre Museum, Tuileries Gardens, Les Invalides, the Love Lock Bridge, where King Louis IV was killed, where Victor Hugo lived and so many other neat things.

We really had a great time biking through Paris.  

After we finished our tour, we started seeing all the "must sees" in Paris. 

We started with the Arc de Triomphe.

It is sad the Napoleon never was able to march his army's through that arch.

The detail was incredible. 

Knowing us, we climbed to the top to get a look at the city. 

Where we were able to get our first look at the Eiffel Tower. 

After we finished at the Arc de Triomphe we started making our way to the Eiffel Tower. 

We walked our way through the city. 

So beautiful, but was more crowded than we were use to in Italy. 

We made it to the Eiffel Tower and we started climbing. 

We climbed. 

and climbed

and climbed.

But the view was spectacular. 

We had a dinner reservation at 10:30pm 

so we decided that we would hang out at the Eiffel Tower for a while. 

Best. Decision. Ever. 

In fact, we went and grabbed crepes and sat on the lawn and watched this view. 

It was when we sat down that I had another "travel moment"

The one where you are realizing you are sitting on the ground, eating a delicious french crepe staring at the Eiffel Tower. 

My heart was full at the moment. 

Full of gratitude for the opportunity to seeing the world. 

Full of love for the two girls I was traveling with. 

Full of awe that I was able to experience this. 

Sometimes you have Parisians come up to you at the Eiffel Tower and start singing to you. 

Meet Prince.  

He wants me to move to Paris.

I'm not joking. 

Paris you did a great job winning my heart the very first day. 

Day 12: Prague to Paris

Prague was truly breathtaking.
We roamed the city.
We took weird pictures.
We stumbled across vistors that

We took weird pictures. 

(Seriously, we still have no idea what these big freaky babies were about.

I just googled and it is an artist by the name of David Cerny who has many pieces of art in the country. He is known for his strange work and many times controversial.)

We stumbled across vistors that told us about this awesome John Lennon wall that is based around peace. 

We loved seeing this wall. 

There was so much to look at. 

There was a guitarist playing and singing Beatle song's. 

It set the mood. 

Our time in Prague was short, but well spent. 

It was a great time exploring another country and culture. 

We left for Paris late early evening.

Little did we know that our plane would be delayed several times. 

We finally arrived in Paris around 11:30pm.

Day 11: Rome to Prague

We left Rome pretty early to get to the airport. 

Our host suggested to just get a car to take us. 

That was heaven. 

They picked us up at the curb and dropped us off at the airport. 

Let's be real. 

We didn't have to worry about navigating, getting lost or lugging our bags around. 

BLISS.

We flew into Prage, Czech Republic. 

We knew nothing about the city. 

Literally nothing. 

We didn't even know what language they spoke. 

It was a little more difficult than Italy. 

But we managed. 

We arrived, exchanged some dollars to crowns and we were off. 

Prague has a much different look than Italy. 

Germany never bombed or destroyed any of the buildings. 

The city had a very medieval feel.

Prague Astronomical Clock. 

This is right in the middle of the town square. 

The streets of Prague were so quaint.

The shops were local shops. 

I wish that I wasn't carrying everything on my back so I could have bought so much more.

We climbed the clock tower. 

Then naturally, we needed matching clock necklaces.

We wandered the city all evening. 

Watched the sunset over Charles Bridge. 

Gorgeous. 

I really appreciate stopping for a few minutes and enjoying the sun setting. 

It is Keri's thing, so we did it as much as we could. 

We found a local Prague restaurant. 

The food was incredibly heavy. 

A lot of meat and dublings with gravy. 

But they have these amazing sweet rolls. 

They are baking all the time. 

We may have had our fair share. 

They are called  dalamánek.

You could tell we were all a little tired. 

We kept seeing a Thai massage place. 

Let's just say we walked back to the apartment to change clothes to get a massage. 

45 minute foot massage. 

We all slept like babies that night. 

Day 10: Rome

Our last full day in Rome, we went to the Church of all churches. 

The Vatican. 

It was incredible. 

The size and the detail was truly breathtaking. 

We took a tour and it was AWESOME. 

The details we learned about the church, Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel. 

We found out while we were there that the Pope was making an appearance the next day. 

We were a little bummed because how cool would it have been to actually SEE the Pope

We took a tour around 11:00 and after we were finished at 4:00pm we were STARVING. 

We went to a restaurant and started eating and eating and eating....

Even after Keri's entire pizza she was still hungry. 

The family next to us over heard he talking about maybe ordering another pizza and they felt bad and gave us an extra plate of food they had at their table. 

EMBARRASSING and HYSTERICAL. 

We were laughing so hard. 

They sweet Mom was mothering us and we knew she felt better not letting a group of girls leave lunch still hungry. 

But seriously, who takes food from strangers?  Keri does!  

This young man apparently had fond feelings for me after being in his store for about 60 seconds to grab a drink. 

He kept referring to me as "My darling" and even gave me a discount for a hug. 

I'm not too proud to share the love and receive a discount on my sodie! 

Even if his hug lingered longer and tighter than it should have.  

We then walked the city a little and we just sat and rested and relaxed on the street. 

After about 30 minutes, we literally walked across the street and sat on this bridge waiting for sunset over the Vatican. 

It was a great decision and a gorgeous view. 

We ended the night walking through ancient Rome and making our way back to our apartment. 

We were leaving Italy in the morning and spending a short 27 hours in the Czech Republic. 

Italy was so beautiful. 

I loved my time here and will definetly want to see it again. 

The people were so kind to us.

The food was delicious and will be with me for a little while.  (Thank you gelato)

Until next time, Italy. 

Ciao.

Day 9: Rome

We hit ancient Rome hard. 

I traveled 5,749 miles to make a wish in the Trevi fountain and it was closed for restoration work. 

It will be closed until 2015.  

We were a little bummed. 

They had a small little tub that you could throw your coin in and make a wish.  

Just wasn't the same. 

Clearly we will need to go back to see this complete. 

We went to the Colesseum. 

I had imagined the Colesseum. 

But nothing could have prepared me. 

It was this moment that I had my "holy crap! I'm in Europe" moment. 

We were all waiting for it. 

It happened. 

It was such a cool piece of history to be right in the middle of. 

The size of the Colosseum itself was incredible. 

I wasn't prepared for it to be SO big. 

When it was built, it could hold 50,000-80,000 people.  

To put things in perspective, the Delta Center holds just under 20,000 people.

We decided to take a tour so we could learn about the history. 

Turned out to be a complete bust. 

The amount of buildings they have found in this city, is truly incredible.

One of my favorite things about this city is the fresh water. 

You could fill your water bottles with cold tasty water! 

This little Roman and his partner in crime forced us to take pictures and then wanted $5 per picture that he took. 

Needless to say, we didn't pay.  They were angry and we walked away with them yelling. 

But the pictures and story still makes us laugh.  

"Excusie, Excusie, $5 per picture!  Excusie!"

We headed down to the Pantheon.

It was so tall and gorgeous inside. 

If there was ever a photo that captured a moment it was this one. 

I was SO HOT.  It was 98% humidity this day and my feet were exhausted, retaining water and over walking.

But shortly after this, was a great moment in the trip. 

We picked up our clean laundry. 

Some sweet lady did our laundry for $7... and it was totally worth it. 

It smelled SO fresh. 

We had a bag full of clean clothes. 

It the small things that keep up happy.