Paris Pictures

 A great view of the city of Paris.

 Some street performer near the Arc de Triomphe.

 At night the Eiffel Tower sparkles!

 Do you see the Statue of Liberty...

 Notre Dame Cathedral. I found Quasimodo inside, but he is rather camera-shy.

 "He met Marmalarde down in old Moulin Rouge
Struttin’ her stuff on the street.."

I found Space Invader's street art... I was pretty proud of myself, thank you very much.

Versailles pictures

 The Chateau of Versailles was built by Louis XIV when he moved the Kingdom's capital away from Paris. It was a huge Palace. Almost as big as Napoleon's Louvre Palace.

 Just look at this GOLD gate. Ridiculous. Gold was everywhere. On the roof, all over the inside... EVERYWHERE.

 This tomb made me laugh. It you can see at the Queen's feet there is a weiner dog. She really loved her dog!

 The chandeliers were a site themselves! The paintings on the ceilings were pretty neat too. I feel bad for the artists that had to paint upside down.

 A lot of the paintings, if not all, had Louis XIV in them. Many had him pictured with different Gods. Here he is with many of the Greek Gods. The figure in the middle, in the bright red robe is Hermes, Zeus' messenger.

The gardens of Versailles were in full bloom! Very Queen of Hearts.

Rome

 Our first hotel in Rome. We were so excited that we each had our own bed! I told Emily to do a model pose to show off the room. Ha ha.

 In the Piazza Novana. This fountain is in a few movies. Our fun night out started here.

 Yeah, we weren't drunk... just delirious.

Me and Danilo in front of the first house in Rome.. Really really old building.

 In front of the Colosseum. I love that the city lights all the Roman ruins up at night.

 Spanish Steps. Dani actually filmed us running up and back down all those steps. It's hard to do in heels.

 In front of the Pantheon, aka really cool ancient building.

 I have a secret passion for street art. I don't know tons of the artists but I know this is a Space Invader. I actually found his work in Florence and Paris. Kinda neat. He really likes Pac Man.

 Fontana di Trevi. We are holding up the coins we tossed in and wished for love.. of course.

 In Vatican City with St. Peter's Basilica behind us.

 We couldn't get enough of this street water in Rome, It tasted so good! so yeah, I got my picture taken drinking from one.

 Ok, this picture cracked me up. This is an entry to the Vatican. Notice you have Italian Police on the Rome side and then Vatican Police on the other side of the wall. Hilarious to me.

 Sheryl and I got a private tour at the Colosseum. We went underneath were no one can really go except for these tours. Really learned a lot and appreciated our tour guide!

 Just taking in the view.

 The Colosseum is HUGE, and could fit a lot of people.

 Outside of the Colosseum

In St. Peter's Basillica. Emily took a lot of pictures so I'll steal hers when she gives them to me. It was breath taking.

Rome was my favorite city. I could definitely go back to Rome. I feel like you can learn so much in that city.

Florence Pictures

 This was the third David of Florence. This is the bronze replica. Sadly I couldn't get a picture of the real one as cameras are forbidden.. I did think about sneaking one tho.

 We went on a walk along the Arno river around sunset one night and I took this gem.

 While we were up on the hill where the bronze David was we sat and waited for our bus to take us back to town Em was just sitting there, so I took a picture of her. Loves!

When we were at the market shopping away all our money we kept finding these chalk artists that recreate masterpieces. It was pretty neat to watch. They sure used a lot of chalk!

I'm home! Time for some pictures!

I'm home! I am so sad/happy. I really enjoyed my time in Europe but I really missed my bed! I'm totally dying from jet-lag right now... I have a headache that won't budge but life goes on!
My last stop was Venice. Venice is a site to behold because of the engineering of the city. It is entirely a city on water... held up by wooden (mostly) posts.

 Beautiful shot of one of my favorite buildings in Venice. "Santa Maria della Salute"

 We went on a gondola ride... some of the canals were a tight squeeze!

 Our Gondoliere.

 From our Hotel on our little island Lido, just of of Venice.

 The buildings and bridges were beautiful in Venice... I couldn't get enough of them.

We LOVED our gelato. I ate it at least 2xday once we got to Italy. The blue amazing flavor: vanilla icing.

I will backtrack and put some pictures up from the trip. Just know I'm home and now have to get back to life. Up next: my birthday is Sunday! I'm turning 25 and loving it. Em and I are already trying to decide on our next big trip... maybe India? New Zealand/Australia? Japan? I'm excited to plan it... now I need some money.. hmmm

Florence Day 2 and 3

Yesterday was my best friend's birthday so first off I want to say happy birthday Lee! Ok Florence. I woke up yesterday in the weirdest funk. I couldn't shake it all day. I felt as if I was drugged on NyQuil. It freaked me out all day but I refused to let it ruin our second day in Florence. We stared the day going to the museum where the original David is. We keep getting lucky because we didn't pay since it was cultural week? I dunno but I felt cultured. We also didn't pay for the Louvre because it was Sunday and it's free that day. We didn't pay to see Norte Dame wither because we went during mass... Someone upstairs knows how much this vacation is already draining my funds :) Back to David; he is an amazing site to behold! First, he is gigantic! Second, I had no idea that was David as in David and Goliath! He even has a sling draped across his back. All I know is Michelangelo did a magnificent job with the fluidity of his body and the stance he has David in really shows the humility and innocence I picture David had when he was given the task to kill the giant. After the museum, we spent the day going to the big market area about a 10 minute walk from the hotel. There we saw a marble replica of the David. Then we ate lunch at the same restaurant Emily visited last time. They have the most amazing tomato soup. I can't wait to go home and try to recreate it, it was THAT good. We shopped a lot yesterday and I found the one thing I wanted in Florence: a leather jacket! It is amazing. I'm sure I paid way too much but I don't want to think about that.

Today was a pretty leisurely day. We went up to one of the David replicas at the Piazzale Michelangelo. It is a bronze replica but still pretty cool and there is a great view of the city! Florence isn't that big I found out.
Scary moment of the day: I was out buying some scarves and I was bartering with the guy. He got really mad because I wS asking for such a low price and he wouldn't even budge so I said, "ok I'll go somewhere else then" he got soooo angry at me, he grabbed my wrist and shook me saying I have to buy for his price. I ended up breaking his grip and walked away to where Em was and bought scarves at the cart right next to his. Haha. I was shaking and sweating after that fun incident. I wish I could put pictures on here but I can't via iPhone. Tomorrow our last stop: Venice!

Florence Day 1

Our last night in Rome was spent again with our Roman friend Dani till the wee hours of the night... or early early morning... you choose, I'm too tired still to decide. It was not so much sight seeing as the previous night but just as fun. We saw some more areas of Rome most tourists do not ever see. Our favorite was a bar/restaurante that was tucked away between the walls of an ancient Roman aquaduct. You literally have no idea it is there unless you were let into the "secret club" of all knowing like our friend, Dani... or if you are a DJ there like he is. Either way it was adorable, romantic, and everything I feel Rome had to offer... rolled into one little spot.
We got up at 6 today to get ready, pack, and go to St Peter's Basillica in Vatican City. It opens at 7 and it's mostly for morning mass but it is honestly the best time to go if you want to really take in this monumentous beauty of a cathedral. Minus the priests and guards there werew about 40 people in there with us. Compared to the crazy crowds of people all jammed in scooting around to get pictures that you would normally find during the day. I'm amazed at the beauty of that building and thankfully it is free to see or else we may not have gone. It is a must for anyone that goes to Rome. Like a lady we met from Alabama told us while we were eating at a nearby pizzeria "you must go see this building. Drop your religion at the door and embrace the beauty".
After the Vatican we got on our really really fast train to Florence, checked into our hotel and of course... a fiasco occurred. Originally Em and Sheryl were only going and I jumped on last minute so some of the hotels Emily couldn't change to 3 people (it's a HUGE ordeal when you don't tell them the correct number here), so I had to get my own room at another hotel a few blocks away for tomorrow night and the next. Oh well.
Today was a lazy day after that. We all crashed for 2-3 hours, took much needed showers and then got early dinner... shopped because Florence is the BEST area to shop for "good quality, special price for nice people", and now I am in an internet cafe about to call it an early night. I am starting to miss California but thankfully the weather has been tremendously perfect our whole trip. Belissima!