Spring Break in Europe

We haven't updated this blog in months.  

Grandma on mom's side passed away suddenly of fatal stroke 3 days before we were due back home.  This was so sudden and unexpected.  Needless to say, everything else seemed not as important. 

Mom went to Korea to take care of some business which was not for pleasure so we opted to not document it on this blog.

I think I will update this blog with spring break which was over quite awhile ago. It's been a month, so a blog post is long overdue.

I went on a school trip to France and Italy while the rest of the family went up North.  I'll be writing about my trip today.

One of the many sights I saw

My parents drove me to the Miami Airport while the brothers were watched by grandma from my dad's side.  Since I've done international travel before, I wasn't too nervous, although this was my first time traveling out of the country without my family.  We got there, I met with the school group, said my farewells, and boarded the plane.

The flight was long, however, not the longest I've been on.  It was around seven hours.  We were supposed to land, meet up with another tour group, and start touring immediately. 

Unfortunately, the workers at the airport in Paris went on a strike, so we didn't get to start touring, but I wasn't gonna let that ruin my trip.  I was just thankful that I was in Paris.  

Wandering the city on the Grand Boulevard

We dropped our stuff off at the hotel before going to a restaurant for dinner with the other tour group, who were a group of high schoolers from Oregon.  They were pretty rude to us, but once again, I wasn't going to let anything ruin my trip.

After dinner, we returned to the hotel.  

The next day, we drove around the city to look at various sights.  We even got to take the buses and subway!  This was the second time I got to ride a subway, the first time being in Korea some time back.  We got to walk the grands boulevards, the Chatillon, and the Place Vendome.  After walking for most of the day, we returned to our hotel.

The next day was a big one because we got to see the Louvre!  But before that, we had to see a few more sights.

The Louvre, however, definitely was the main event of the day.  But I have to say, a downside to traveling with school is that we had to stick together at all times, and I say that's a downside because we were such a large group.  
We only really got to look at a handful of things, but it was definitely an experience just walking around in the Louvre.  Everywhere and anywhere you went, there was art just popping at you.

The Venus de Milo

The next thing on the roster was the Notre Dame.  It was so beautiful, but at around this time of the day it had gotten extremely windy, so I had to admire it with chattering teeth.

Me, trying not to look like I was freezing in front of the Notre Dame

My time with the Notre Dame was brief since we were supposed to look at it extensively the first day.  We had to quickly move onto the next thing: a boat ride around Paris.  From the dock, I got a good view of the Eiffel Tower, which compensated for not seeing it closer in daylight.  It was so beautiful and unreal seeing it twinkle in person.

On the boat, I sat on the second level.  It was so cold, four years of living in Florida hadn't prepared me for this.  Eventually, I found myself downstairs in the lower level where there was heat.

After the boat ride, we went to the Eiffel Tower, however, the elevator was closed, so we couldn't go all the way to the top.  It was still nice seeing Paris from the second floor of the tower, though.

Looking up from the bottom of the Eiffel Tower

The night ended quietly.   We went back to the hotel and retired for the night.  This trip had hardly begun and I was already exhausted from all the travel!  

The next day, we went shopping.  I suppose it's not a true trip to Paris until you've gone shopping, although not just for clothes but for food, too. I am proud to say that I have eaten macaroons in Paris.

Of course, we didn't just go shopping.  We got to see the Sacre-coeur Basilica and the Montmartre.  I could've sat at the top of the MontMartre admiring Paris for hours.  It was definitely a great way to end the day.

The view

That concludes the Paris portion of the trip, because that night we boarded an overnight train to Italy.  However, this was not the Hogwarts Express.  It was cramped since we had to keep out luggage with us and some of my friends/roommates had definitely over-packed.

But the important part isn't the train, it's where the train was going.  After about 10 hours, we were in Venice, Italy, a place I had been looking forward to seeing.  One of the first things we did when we got there was check out the Basilica Di San Marco.  The crowd didn't take away from the grandeur of the cathedral, but it did mean that we had to move, since we were a big group ourselves and the chaperons didn't want to lose track of us.

We also got to see a glass blowing demo.  This was my second time seeing one but it was still very impressive.

To end Venice with a bang, we grabbed some gelato before our gondola ride.  This was probably my favorite part of the trip.  Treading the Grand Canal was just so enchanting during the sunset.

Unfortunately, it had to come to and end like all good things do.  But, as one door closes, another opens.

Florence was our destination the next day.  It was another jam-packed day of sightseeing and stuffing our faces with gelato.

We also got to see the hill town Assisi.

Perhaps a bit more exciting, we got to Rome the next day.  I find it kind of amazing how all these beautiful places are so close to each other.

The Pantheon

We saw all the typical tourist things in Rome: Vatican City, St. Peter's Square, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Trevi Fountain, and the Pantheon.  This was definitely one of the most beautiful days of the trip.  

The sights were breathtaking and the weather pleasant.  I found that as the trip progressed, I was less cold!  I think it was a combination of my resistance building up along with the changes in location.

This was, sadly, the last day of my trip.  The next day was a dreary one as we loaded our things onto the bus and made our way to the airport.  There was something bittersweet about returning home.  I missed my family and was kind of tired of how rushed I felt during the trip, but a part of me still longed to stay.

The flight back felt strangely longer.  We returned late at night and my parents greeted me at the airport and drove me home.  I was so jet lagged that I stayed home from school the next day.  The day after that one, though, I was back.  Spring break was officially over, but that doesn't mean the end of my adventures in Europe.  I definitely have plans to go back!