Euro Trip (Day 6-9)- Italy

We had traveled from Paris to Nice in the traditional way of most European students (by train). But from Nice to Rome we traveled by bus which allowed us to see a lot more and stop at a few more places. We passed castles, vineyards, farms and gorgeous southern french countryside. There wasn't much in terms of anything wild in the areas of France and Italy I saw though. I can't recall ever seeing a forest the entire trip actually.

Staircase in the small town on a hill

We stopped in a small town on a hill with a castle of sorts at the top of it. A friend and I got lost for a few hours...People got pretty mad at us for that but what were we supposed to do... The signs were in French and there were to many parking lots that all looked the same.

We stopped in  Pisa to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Here are the Bell tower, Baptistry and Tower

Leaning tower of Pisa

After our brief (few hour long) stay in Pisa we headed to Florence before our final stop in Rome.

 Florence is probably most famous for it's statues. Michalangelo's statue of David sits in a square outside Palazzo della Signoria. These statues are well worth the fame. I could not imagine someone in the present day with the skill and patience to carve something like these by hand.

Statues were found all over Florence but many famous ones are concentrated in this one square

David

 Florence is also a common place to buy expensive Italian silver and other jewelry.

This bridge was full of jewelry shops.. very expensive ones

 Arriving in Rome was probably the most thrilling part of the trip for me. I used to be a bit of a phene for mythology and I have always wanted to visit this city to experience some of the history. That is exactly wat we did. We went on a tour of the Vatican (apparently it's own city-state with unique currency).  There is a lot of history in this small area. I couldn't take my eyes off of the art. Everywhere you looked something was ART! The ceilings, the walls, statues, gardens... A gorgeous place for sure.

Michelangelo's painting of the Sistine Chapel

 

  There are dead popes down there underground.

 The Vatican is quite large and I didn't get to see all of it before we needed to move on. I wish we had time to see the gardens before leaving.

Part of the Vatican

 In Rome there was a lot of art and less fancy architecture. There were more statues, paintings and fountains.In about every third alleyway no matter where it was going or how dirty it looked was either a fountain or a gelato shop. Both are masterpieces of taste.

Trevi Fountain

 The Colosseum was obviously the must see of Rome. It's hard to imagine what this looked like when it was brand new. When the first games were held here. Blood spilled over the sand as slaves are kept in the tunnels underneath. Many thoughts were going through my head as I was exploring these walls and trying to imagine 'back then'.

Group of us

Tunnels underneath the sands of the Colosseum

 I can't imagine how much work and how long this took to build.

Colosseum

 There are many old ruins buried under the city of Rome which is pretty much built on top of ruins of the cities that were here in the past. There are a few sites that have been preserved and you can walk among the ruins of old buildings.

Standing above some ruins

Walking through the ruins

More of the ruins

and then the fancy new architecture

 To leave Europe so soon felt terrible. There was so much more for me to see on this side of the world. Even the cities I visited were barely touched in terms of exploring and discovering. Although Paris wasn't quite my style Southern France and Italy were much more to my taste.

Sampling the wine and beer before returning to Canada

Less people spoke English well in Italy, however everyone was very friendly and sometimes overly so.  I would go back to visit Italy again for sure.

Scaling the balcony of our hotel room

Euro Trip (Day 4-5)- Nice, France

We abandoned cold weather for the coasts of southern France. A train ride through the countryside got us to Nice quickly and allowed us a great view. This area stood the absolute contrast of Paris. The colours of the buildings were light and there was crisp aqua blue water greeting a sandy beach.

Shoreline of Nice, France

They have very small cars there or drive motorcycles

We explored a lot of the city. People were friendly, many spoke English, they all seamed to love Canadians. 

The group of us

 I enjoyed the drive along the coast a lot. It was a great way to see the sights and many of the winding roads had places where you could pull off and take pictures.

Landscape of southern coastal France from a hill

 Some places were more built up than others but it was never as developed and busy as Paris. This was a much more relaxed area to be in.

 Also... I never thought of seeing palm trees in France myself so I was definitely surprised by seeing these decorate the city. The warm climate must allow them to plant a lot of things (including wine grapes) successfully.

 Hotel Canada! A little piece of home we found when traveling. This was right across from a shop that sold very nice (and affordable) perfumes.  Things in Nice weren't as overly priced as they were in Paris.

Euro Trip (Days 1-3)- Paris, France

As you might be able to notice the posts from this trip have a lot less detail than some others. Well this is likely because I was not a miracle child that thought to start blogging about my life when I was 16. This is all from memory and photos.

In high school I went to Europe for the first time in my life with people from school.  We landed in Paris, France and went down to Rome, Italy stopping over in a few places along the way.

Some of the gals

We spent a few days in Paris. We saw all of the very touristy sites, went shopping and treated ourselves to french cuisine. The food was delicious. There are so many small bakeries and they are all to die for by my standards. 

That fancy famous arch

Arc de Triomphe

 Obviously a must see was the Eiffel Tower. I got many pictures of us as we drove by it but we didn't walk around it at all. Walking through Paris I noticed a very large number of carousels. It seams like a very common theme and it would be nice to see it in the summer when some of these were running and didn't look so lonely.

....and another must see (Notre Dame Cathedral). I had never seen such a big and impressive church. The architecture in Paris was all spectacular but this was one of the highlights.

Notre Dame Cathedral

 There was beautiful stained glass and art in the churches. The amount of money and time that goes into these buildings... I can't begin to describe it. Every little detail is just right. Wood is carved, stone is chiseled, glass is stained with beautiful images.

Stained glass window in Notre Dame

 Even more so in the Louvre. I ran around this museum for a few hours and it was not nearly enough. I would recommend at least a FULL day to see this one thing if not a weekend to fully experience it. 

Pyramids outside the Louvre Museum

Unfortunately as a whole I would say my experience to Paris was not as pleasant as I would have hoped.  The weather was very wet and cold for the few days we were there. Many people were rude to my friends and I (obviously children with no money or style who they didn't think understood french). In one shop people actually told me that I couldn't afford it when I asked how much it was. In another a few of the girls in the shop started talking about us in french. We naturally started talking to them in french and were amused by their reactions. I guess it's not well known that Canada is bilingual?

Although I was not very impressed with the people or the weather in Paris, the art and the culture did amaze me. I love the big churches, elaborate buildings, paintings, food.... I would go back to visit on these things alone and absolutely not enter a single shop.