a lot like love

Watched this last night. How have I never heard of it before?! Couldn't even leave the room to use the facility... that's how good it was. I'm still laughing about the glass door incident..

Final Sketches

Colosseum

fountain outside St. Peter's

Column detail inside Pantheon

Dome in Venice outside train station

Eiffel Tower

Notre Dame

Winged Victory (Louvre)

Villa Savoy in Paris

Country Overview

Italy

I've always had this love affair with Italy, Rome in particular. It's really silly. It's not like I had ever been there before but for some reason it was the place I always wanted to go. So I was happy to start my trip abroad in Rome! Rome is old and new all at the same time. Perfect combination! There is so much to see... the Colosseum blew me away! Trevi fountain and St. Peters were also favorites! Florence was quite different from Rome. Lots of shopping, pizza, and gelato. The David was incredible. I didn't realize how detailed it was and how big it would be! Venice is charming. More touristy than the other cities. Our hotel was pretty and the grand canal at night is something to see. Rubelli's and Fortuny gave us a nice break from looking at ancient ruins and old churches. Each city we visited was so different from the other! Italy has it all! Big city, beautiful countryside, and everything in between! Italy has great style! Ciao Bella!

Paris

There is so much to see in Paris! We stayed right in the heart of the city just a few blocks away from the Eiffel Tower! For me, two of my favorite things centered around the eiffel tower. Fireworks on Bastille day and going up the Eiffel Tower at night. The architecture and style of Paris is different than what we had seen in Italy. I felt like we are cruising along the design timeline each day of the trip and with each country change I can see new ideas and perspectives popping up. Paris seems more industrial, less traditional, more modern and less ornate. Men and Women's fashion were also different and the general personality of Paris was much louder than Italy. Versailles and Vaux are magical and by far two of my favorite places we visited while in Paris.

England

The rain seemed to follow us all the way here! England has more familiar surroundings. It was refreshing to understand what people were saying whether they were talking to me or not. London introduced clotted cream and scones. We also became quite familiar with the tube and train station. Beautiful gardens and well kept estates kept us busy in the day and Broadways kept us entertained by night. Flashy cars everywhere and an accent that I butchered every time I attempted to speak "British". Big Ben, the London Eye, St. Paul's, Westminster Abby were just a few of the sights to see in this city and I would say that we covered most of the surrounding area. wink wink!

August 4

(flag's up)

Last Day! If you’d asked me whether I was sad to leave or not, I would have told you that I couldn’t be more excited to be heading back to the states, but at the same time I felt a tinge of sadness. This was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity. To leave for FIVE whole weeks and visit places that I didn’t even know existed! My eyes have beheld incredibleness! What a wonderful experience! What a wonderful opportunity! I feel incredibly grateful! Thank you to those who planned and put this trip together and thank you to those who helped make it possible for me to have such an adventure!

Buckingham Palace was the perfect last stop of our European tour! Apparently the Palace is sparsely opened throughout the year and we just happened to be in London at the right time!

For the last time as a group we walked through Buckingham Palace with an audio guide to educate us on the workings and history of this royal estate! Apparently the queen was home since the flag was raised out front!

There were no pictures allowed inside and I wish I were able to convey in words the beauty of this place! I guess you’ll have to find a coffee table book on the palace! I still remember how nice the carpet felt underneath my feet. The colors were bold, vivid and alive. The window treatments were to die for and I couldn’t help but think this would be a great place to celebrate something! They do use the palace for lots of functions and banquets so my idea isn’t too original! The interior of this Palace tops them all.

(Josie and I just outside the palace after our tour)

Allie Bytheway took this picture of Ericka and I had to show it to you all. I LOVE it! I guess Ericka was trying to make it look as if she was kissing one of the guards. She positioned herself in front of the guard and posed. After several attempts and no luck, the guard whispers, "you know it might be easier if you just kissed me"! So miss Ericka did what she had to do! And what's so great about this is that the guard is not supposed to talk, the guard is not supposed to be touched and the guard is definitely not supposed to smile! :) Their facial expressions are priceless! He's enjoying this and Ericka is probably thinking, "what will Chandler (her fiance) think" or "what have I gotten myself into, hurry take the picture". haha! Love, love, love this picture! Allie, you should really enter this into a photo contest!

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After our tour a few of us went to the famous Abbey Road! Terri brought her “professional” camera and we walked along the very crosswalk that the Beatles walked for one of their album covers. It took us a few times but I think we got it!

You can probably guess that we had some packing to do! Back to the flat and time to get ready to see the states!

August 3

Oh Ireland, how I love you!

Today we are on our way to Dingle. A little town nestled along a beautiful bay in Ireland! Dingle is where they filmed P.s. I love You. Rick Steves informed us of the right way to get to Dingle from Tralee. Not necessarily the shortest way but the most scenic way. The drive was incredible. This was what I had always pictured Ireland being like. We hit the road early so we could make it to dingle, sight see, and then make it back on time to catch our flight back to London.

So, as previously mentioned we took the scenic drive and stopped a couple of times for pictures and had the windows down with 10 hands waiving cameras outside. There were five people so that includes drivers hands?!! On one side of the car there was jagged rocks and plant life shooting upwards and on the other was a steep drop with green landscape that extended as far as the eye could see. Rolling hills sprinkled with goats, sheep and cows. At one point, the car was surrounded by cows guided by a little Irishman on his bicycle, of course!

(paparazzi)

(Cows that were in serious need of milking!)

The bay is home to A dolphin. Just one. I wish I could remember his name. Supposedly he makes himself known if you’re looking for him!

We did some browsing and shopping in little street shops that lined the roads in Dingle. A shop owner recommended we have lunch at the garden café. Charming little place. I felt like a local eating my bowl of soup and scone. Simple but probably one of my favorite meals in weeks!

(or maybe not so simple!)

Time to hurry back to Shannon! This time we weren’t as concerned about the prettiest route as we were the fastest route. We sure do have the luck of the Irish! All of us Ireland girls made it back to our flat just before the stroke of midnight!

August 2

I slept so good at the Absolute Hotel. Maybe it was the bed but maybe it’s because I’m in Ireland!

Last night was a bit of a teaser. We drove for what felt like around the entire country and checked into the hotel. That was pretty much it besides walking a few blocks for dinner, but other than that I would have to say we are Ireland virgins (except for Susie)!

We stopped at Tesco (a grocery store frequented religiously by the students of USU in London) on our way out of town. Breakfast in the beamer! Now, we could focus on today’s trip to the cliffs of Moher. Didn’t realize how amazing cliffs could be. Today they are open to the public but because of death and injury that has occurred in the past, the cliffs of Moher are patrolled and watched over. I thought it was funny to see signs that said, WARNING… do NOT go beyond this point, very DANGEROUS and then there would be not a few but a ton of people far beyond the signs. Plug your ears mom, me being one of them!

(Susie the navigator!!!)

(notice the sign... EVERYONE is "beyond this point".)

It’s that Irish luck again, we were able to see the cliffs before It started to pour! Time for yet another adventure in the rental. We got ourselves lost a few times but I guess that’s the best way to explore. As we sat in the car on a ferry a girl approaches the car and tells Josie and I that she is fasting for a humanitarian cause and wanted to know if we’d like to contribute money. I start to say no tha and Josie pipes in and tells the girl to hold tight and she had some change to give her. The girl stands outside shivering as Josie digs and comes up with what I think may have been about ten cents. Josie you have a heart of gold but it was SO funny! I dyed laughing as the girl politely accepted the change and walked by! Oh, the good times!

(Irish golf course)

We did finally make it to Tralee and to our hotel. Terri and Susie picked out some funky hotels for us to stay! Megan, Josie and I walked around and found a traditional Irish pub to have dinner. We headed back to the hotel for a pajama party of five!

August 1

Let the Irish adventure begin. Woke up. Showered. Packed and headed out the door for the airport-a! Trains take you to planes here and that is exactly what we did! Once we got to the airport we stood in a long line to get our check-in print out stamped so that we could go through security. We had some problems with Megan’s boarding pass and she ended up forking over 40 pounds. Bummer. I’m just glad she made it! I’m pretty sure I let out a sigh of relief once we were all there on the plane!

(curler and conversation on train)

Today I was on one! Excited about anything and everything! So you can only imagine what happened when we picked up our rental car and I found out they upgraded us to a shiny black BMW! Holla! Yes, I did lye on the vehicle. I did wear a curler in my hair on the train. I did make the girls take pics of us boarding the plane. I did upset the stewardess when I told her that I had to use the restroom even though she already told me no! And when I asked her if it would be okay to go when she turned the other way.

(getting ready to board)

Two hours later we finally found the hotel! I’m just glad that Terri has been so good about driving us around on the left hand side of the road! Our Absolute hotel is absolutely sleek and modern. We took a short walk into town and ate at Eddie Rockets. I guess it’s the European version of Johnny Rockets. Megan, Terri, Susie and I stayed up talking and laughing. Mainly at my incomplete sentences! What a day!

July 31

Last early train ride! Today we visited Haddon Hall. A medieval castle that has been restored and used in films such as The Princess Bride and you'll never guess.... P&P. Haddon hall felt different than the other houses we've seen. It's rustic and primitive. A true medieval residence fully restored!

(the outside)

(not sure?)

The grounds are beautiful. As you looked into the distance you could see rolling hills cover in fields of green with unique trees and animals grazing in the fields. Around every corner you'd find archways and paths filled with flowers and foliage. Definitely a place you could get lost in the moment!

After Haddon Hall we took a short bus ride to Chatsworth. Chatsworth was the home to Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice and the Duke of Devinshires house in The Duchess. I love Chatsworth for a lot of reasons. A-look at it, it's beautiful! B- it's a kids dream; there are mazes, water falls, rock gardens (great for climbing and exploration), hedges, ponds, streams, water features, fields, flowers, and everything in between. And C- did I mention that it's home to Mr. Darcy?! :)

(speaking of..)

(one of my all-time favorites!)

(tallest gravity fed fountain in the world!)

(The library)

(I love how the natural light hit this)