Sunday, June 15, 2008

My European Adventure

I finally uploaded some pictures from my holiday in Europe. I don't take very good pictures, so they really aren't terribly exciting. It was such a full on month that it is hard to even talk about it. There were moments where I was overwhelmed by the beauty and history of Europe, moments were I overwhelmed by the crowds of tourists and moments where I just wanted to go home.

Highlights...

- When I ran into the Pope and Patrick Dempsey within half an hour of each other in Rome
- Drinking champagne in Champagne
- Meeting new people
- Learning about the history of England, Italy and France
- Walking in the rain and not caring how wet I got because I was on holidays
- Having fun trying to speak another language and understand different cultures and customs
- The food!

Lowlights...

- Not being able to wash my clothes
- The 30 hour delay coming home
- Not having my friends and family with me to share these great experiences
- The prices- whoa!
- My terrible sense of direction and where it led me
- Crowds, queues and tourists
- The weight gain...


LONDON




Trafalgar Square




Chicago at the West End




The changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace




The lovely and green St James Park




The beautiful landscape of London




Hot and sweaty on the London Eye- it was like an oven in there!


ROME




The Pantheon




The Trevi fountain




Pompei




The weather for most of my stay in Rome




Just one of the many pizzas I ate in Rome




The Roman Forum




St Peter's Square in the Vatican City




The Swiss guard at the Sistine Chapel




Me in front of the Colosseum




Me overlooking Florence


PARIS




Chocolate crepes in France... soooo good!




The vineyards of Champagne




The cellars of Moet & Chandon




Drinking Moet & Chandon champagne at the Moet & Chandon winery in Champagne!




The Pere Lachaise cemetery




I could live on cheese and the French don't do a bad cheese plate!




The Arc de Triomphe




The view from the top of the Arc de Triomphe




The Louvre




The famous Mona Lisa (and crowds of people)




The view from below the Eiffel Tower




The view from the top of the Eiffel Tower

17 comments:

  1. My goodness you were busy! looks like you saw some amazing places though, even if you did the speed tour!

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  2. My god your legs are fantastic!

    Thanks for sharing these pictures. My favourites were the Moet and Mona Lisa ones.

    Now, you 'ran' into the Pope and Patrick Dempsey? annnnndddd?

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  3. Wowsers... sounds like you had a fantastic time. Patrick Dempsey and champagne esp!

    I'm with you on the not being able to wash clothes thing. People always say to pack light but who wants to waste holiday time doing laundry!

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  4. Who says you don't take a good picture? These are awesome!

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  5. The Pope and Patrick Dempsey in one day -- surely you can't top that, really? !!!

    Yes, the London Eye is ridiculously hot but I guess they can't put air vents in -- if the thing ever has to be lowered into the water the pods need to be air tight and able to float -- air vents would lead it to sink !!!

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  6. Awesome photos, almost makes me want to go there... well almost!

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  7. I think we need to hear the story about the Pope and Dr. McDreamy...

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  8. What a great time had, those photos are fabulous! I'm with the others, I want to hear about the Pope and Patrick Dempsey and your 'run in' :-D

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  9. wow, that looks like such an amazing trip! i'm so jealous!

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  10. The pictures are great. I am very jealous. Unfortunately I can't afford to go back at the moment so I am sneakily making everyone feel guilty about not coming to see us here.

    So far I think I have 3 lots of visitors for next year.

    Am I evil?

    Claire

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  11. Patrick Dempsey? You can't just leave us hanging like that!

    You saw so much in such a short time. I had no idea that the Arc de Triomphe was something you could actually go up... silly Amanda.

    Still sad we couldn't be here at the same time, you seem so good at fitting a lot of things into a short space of time!

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  12. Those photos are awesome! To see all of those things in real life... very cool.

    And being a guy, pfft to the Patrick Dempsey story, I want to hear about the pizza! :D

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  13. Seriously girl, dont be down! You look amazing in your pictures, and the photos of the scenery are amazing. You must have been totally overwhelmed, I would love love love to do Europe but finding the time and money at the moment is impossible. Hope you are settlig back in ok xx

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  14. You have no idea how envious I am! Of your trip ... of your clothes ... of your legs ... of the food you got to eat ... of your cute smile. Thank you for sharing.

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  15. What lovely photos and what a wonderful trip you had!!! I know what a massive undertaking it is to sort and blog photos so kudos to you for giving us such a terrific overview of your experience.

    I can never be persuaded to be photographed and looking at you in all your photos, I've made a mental note to myself to work on my hatred of being photographed so that all my travel photos aren't just James alone or a scene with neither of us in it.

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  16. This is my first visit to your blog and I'm loving it. You seem like such a wonderful person. Your friends must be ever thankful to have someone like you.

    I don't think I could take a trip alone. I'm in awe of you. I know it would probably help me be more independent and teach me a lot about myself. I can barely go to dinner by myself (I actually had to work on that years ago). Your pictures are amazing and I wish I could travel to those same places. Maybe when my kids are older.

    Love your blog!

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Awww thanks so much for the comment!