Brussels and Beyond

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Italy

My roommate Emily and I went to Italy the day after we got back from Paris. We flew to Rome first and arrived late on Wednesday night. The bus from the airport took us past beautiful landmarks, and we could not wait to see the city. When we stepped out of the airport, we were thrilled to find 70 degree weather a city covered in palm trees and other tropical plants. We dropped our bags off and took a tip from other girls staying in our hostel room about where to go to get a late dinner. We went to a cozy Italian restaurant and had an incredible three-course meal. The first course was homemade pasta with a creamy sauce and green peas. Then came roasted chicken and salad and finally a custard for dessert. What a perfect first Italian meal!

The next day we saw all of the sights in Rome. We bought a bus pass that allowed us to hop-on and hop-off a tour bus that makes a big loop around the city. We saw the Vatican, the Collosseum, and the Forum. My favorite part was the Trevi fountain, which was absolutely beautiful. I even threw a coin in and made a wish. We took the 6pm train to Florence, which took about 2 hours.

Florence was the most beautiful city I have ever seen. We climbed to the top of the Cathedral tower and were blown away by the sights. The gorgeous architecture and green mountains surrounding the city were breathtaking. We also saw the Statue of David and had incredible pizza. It was a warm and bright day, and the people were unbelieveably friendly.

We took another train to Venice that evening. The weather was not quite as wonderful there, but it did not take away from the beauty of the city. We walked along the beautiful canals to St. Marco’s square, where much to the disgust of my roommate, I fed the pigeons. They were so used to humans that they sit on your wrist and eat bread right out of your hands. After washing my hands for 2 hours, we walked along the coast of the ocean and took a gondola ride! It was very touristy of us to do so, but we had a great time and broke out singing “That’s Amore” a few times.

When it was finally time for us to head back to Brussels, I was terribly sad to leave. The pasta, pizza, gelato were amazingly delicious, and the sights were even more beautiful than I thought they would be.

Venice

Walking through Venice

Venice

Rome

The view from the Basilica di Santa Maria Del Fiore

The Forum in Rome

Crazy trees in Rome

At the top of the Basilica di Santa Maria Del Fiore

The Vatican

The Basilica di Santa Maria Del Fiore, the most beautiful church I have ever seen

Making a wish at the Trevi Fountain

The Vatican

Gondola Ride!

Venice Canals

Yet another view from the Basilica di Santa Maria Del Fiore

Rome

The Collosseum

St Marcos Square

Feeding the Pigeons

Venice

Gondolas

When the moon hits your eye...

Florence

Rome

The Trevi Fountain

Sarah Drake would have a heart attack

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Paris

Our art class took the Thalys train to Paris at 8:30am on Saturday morning. Although we were tired, we were thrilled when we arrived in sunny and warm weather. We dropped our bags off at the hostel before first going to Musee D’Orsay. It was a beautiful museum, not only because of the artwork, but because of the gorgeous architecture as well. After the museum, we went to the gorgeous Luxembourg Park where we had a picnic lunch that Madame Martine had prepared. We then walked down a series of famous streets and stopped at every statue for a very thorough explanation from Madame. By the time it was dinner, we were all tired and very hungry, and we did not know what to expect when Madame told us that we were going to a Tunisian restaurant. We sat down at the table and the servers brought out huge platters of cous-cous, roasted chicken, and vegetable stew. It was absolutely perfect after the long day we had.

On Sunday, we went to Versailles. The palace was beautiful, and we took the tour through the famous hall of mirrors before going out to the garden. The garden was incredible. There was classical music playing from speakers all around the gigantic park, and the weather was perfect. Kevin and I rented a rowboat for the big lake in the middle of the park before we all rented bikes to ride to Marie Antoinette’s property. We all had a good laugh while watching Madame ride the bike at breakneck speed while still managing to lecture us relentlessly. We saw a bunch of strange animals in Marie Antoinette’s garden, and got to see the inside of her palace. When we got back to Paris, David, Kevin, and I walked down the Seine to the Eiffel tower. We sat on the lawn in front of it and watched the light show that happens every hour. It was a beautiful night, and because it was the off-season for tourists, it wasn’t terribly crowded.

On Monday, we went to the Louvre. It was so cool! We got to see the Mona Lisa and many other famous pieces. We were grateful once again that we were there in November, because the huge lines and crowds I had always heard about were virtually non-existent. When we had finished touring for the day, a group of us got crepes for dinner and then went to the Arc De Triomph. We climbed the stairs to the top and had the most beautiful view of the entire city. We then went to the Champs De L’Elysee, and window-shopped before heading back to the hostel.

Paris was an absolutely incredible city and the weather made everything even more enjoyable. I will definitely be returning as soon as I can.