Europe and beyond

I can now claim Switzerland, France, and Italy as three of the countries I've visited in my lifetime.

It feels very surreal, almost as if I didn't even go. I have photos to prove that I did; I have memories to remind myself of all the fun we had.

The rail system in Europe is beyond amazing. I found myself wishing that the U.S. could boast such a superb system of transportation. But, I suppose our country is far too expansive for something like that to work well.

Speaking French to native French speakers is thrilling! If I ever live abroad for a while, I've resolved that I will live in France, preferably somewhere in the Loire Valley.

The women confidently wear high heels and short skirts while riding their bicycles. The men dress so sharply it makes American men look pretty ridiculous.

When we arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport, Karen and I ran into my grandpa and his wife. Huh??? What are the chances? Seriously now.

Europe's over now, and here's my current state of affairs:

I miss the French countryside.
I have over $800 on my credit card. Pay it off, pay it off!!
I'm living in Ballard, with six amazing girls.
I'm waiting to hear from the UW: have I been accepted to their MIT program or not?
I'm still working the monotonous 8-1 job at World Vision.
I feel more content and peaceful than I have in a long time, and yet there's still a certain restlessness.

Me. In Seattle. And loving every second of it!!!

Finally. I feel confident, independent, comfortable in my own skin. I feel like a "grown up," that elusive point in life all 20-somethings hope to reach sooner rather than later.

This could be due to several things. For one, I live in a house in Ballard and pay rent each month. Two, I recently started attending Bethany Community, both on Sunday evenings for a service and on Thursday evenings for a women's Bible study. Both things are just what I've been needing the past few years, but never found until now. I'm getting "plugged in," if you will, and it's helping me feel at home.

Three: my three-week trip to Europe this fall proved to me that I'm capable of being halfway across the world and taking care of myself. I had expected this to be the case, but it's nice to know for sure. :)

Four: I don't have a boyfriend, and I'm okay with that. As much as I dearly hope to be married someday, I've been realizing more and more what a blessing it is to be single. At times, it's difficult to overcome the yearning to love and be loved in return. But, I think that's only natural, and I try not to let that desire possess and control me.

Oh yay. I love the delicious newness and amazingness of everything right now!

More to come, perhaps, when I'm less tired...

The Swiss Alps

Karen and I are spending the next three or four days in the Swiss Alps. This morning, we woke up to a snowstorm. Our hostel has a hot tub, and there is an indoor swimming pool in the neighboring town, so thankfully there are things to do on days like this one. :) Eventually, we want to go to the top of Jungfrau, which is the highest spot in the area (I believe). The only downside is that it costs like 120 dollars. Oh, and get this: I did not bring a coat, gloves, or a hat, so at some point I will have to trek down to Lauterbrunnen to buy some stuff to the tune of a few hundred dollars. Jeez.

Our hostel is great. There are a lot of people our age here, chilling, reading books, playing the guitar, and exchanging travel tips/stories. The view from our bedroom is like something from a fairytale. We are surrounded by HUGE, snow-covered peaks, and we are pretty much situated on one ourselves.

More later, after we go on some hikes and see the area.

Firenze

Surrounding the Leaning Tower of Pisa, one will find hundreds of tourists posing for pictures. Some pretend to push on it, some "hug" it, some kickbox it, and some "climb" it. There is never a lull in this activity. There is always someone taking a picture of that sort.

Of course, Karen and I joined in on the fun the second we got there and took a bazillion pictures like that. I just found it very hilarious that literally everyone who comes to see the Tower feels the need, the pressure, whatever, to do so. It's also funny to me that the Tower is honestly the only attraction in the town of Pisa. At least, the only attraction tourists want to see.

But, pictures and tourist insanity aside, the Tower really is amazing. It just looks like it's going to topple over at any minute. I love the architecture of it too. It's really beautiful.

Back in Florence, we went on a free guided tour of the town, which we escaped from after about two hours because the guide was taking SO long on each building/sight. We had only covered four of the 20 or so sights by the time two hours had passed. We have things to do, places to see, thank you very much. :)

We met a girl from the U.K. who had lunch with us. We exchanged stories about creepy Italian men over pizza. Honestly, though, nowhere in Europe have I felt truly threatened. Seattle, on the other hand, gives me the creeps at night, and even in the daytime sometimes. I already know the secret to avoiding creepsters, and that is to look straight ahead, look confident, and not give them the time of day.

At our hostel, we're in a room with seven other girls, which makes for rather loud, sleepless nights. Snoring, opening of suitcases, shuffling around, reading until early morning: yeah, not so fun. Thankfully, my earplugs stayed in for most of the night last night (they usually fall out after about an hour), so I slept better than I've slept in a while.

Today, on to the David! And something called Casa Buonarroti, which, as far as I understand, is a house Michelangelo bought and is now a museum for some of his pieces. I believe it's free as well, which is always a bonus.

Michelangelo

We spent the afternoon in Vatican City today. The Sistine Chapel was the single most amazing thing I've seen thus far. Karen and I craned our necks for about a half-hour, studying the beautiful frescoes. My neck is sore from that, and then I think of how Michelangelo must have felt, standing with his head inches from the ceiling, painting minute details on a massive scale. We were told that the amount of painting he did equaled the area of a football field. And he said he was a sculptor not a painter... whatever. I have never been more impressed by artwork than I was by the Sistine Chapel.

St. Peter's Basilica was beautiful as well. Michelangelo's "Pieta" was there, albeit behind bulletproof glass. Someone tried to destroy it about 30 years ago, so ever since then it has been protected by a glass wall. We decided we wanted to climb up the dome of the church. Seven euros and 343 steps later we were at the top and could see an expansive view of Rome. Sadly, we couldn't find the Colosseum or the Roman Forum from that viewpoint, but it was still awesome.

Everyone--and I do mean everyone--stares at us. Openly. Without breaking eye contact. It's rather strange. We've noticed this everywhere we've gone. We just scream "American Tourist" pretty much. Maybe that's it.

We're leaving Rome tomorrow and going to "Firenze," otherwise known as Florence. We're also planning a day trip to Pisa. After that, it's Switzerland and then home! I can't wait to see you all again.

I wish I could bring each of you a cone filled with gelato, but since I can't, you'll just have to come over here and try it for yourself one day!

This feels like Seattle... except there's gelato here. :)

Me again. I love writing these notes. It helps me remember everything I've seen each day and everything I want to recall after I leave here.

Gelato is the world's best dessert. Everyone who comes to Italy tries it (usually) and most leave Italy in love with it. I'm one of those people. It's absolutely AMAZING.

We spent all day yesterday walking around the center of Rome. All the main sights are within walking distance of each other: the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, etc. My favorite of all was the Pantheon, which we saw for only about fifteen minutes before hopping on the bus to go back to Azusa's house. It just blows my mind that the interior of the Pantheon dates from A.D. 120. It's in absolutely pristine condition. The intricacy of the walls and floors and the dome above was fascinating. The artist Raphael and two Italian kings are buried inside the Pantheon.

Somehow, we got into the Colosseum and the Roman Forum for free. We're not sure exactly how that happened. They were handing out free tickets to everyone, so we took one. We saved about $16 that way, which was exciting, considering that we had spent loads of money in Venice the day before. The Roman Forum sprawls out for quite some time. All that's left of it is foundations, crumbling walls, and, occasionally, great big pillars that are miraculously still standing. It was still breathtaking, and I wanted to just sit there and pretend I was back in the 1st or 2nd century.

The Colosseum was just awesome. I've seen so many pictures of it, but to stand right in front of it and go inside it was amazing. There were signs inside explaining where the gladiators would emerge. Apparently, the gladiators never knew what animal they would be fighting or what part of the stadium it would be coming from. Goodness.

The Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain weren't all that great. In fact, they weren't really worth it, but that's okay. On our way there, we walked down the strip of designer stores: Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Jimmy Choo were some of them.

By the way, Karen and I feel like we're in just another big city, in some ways. Same busy streets, same harried people, same noise. And yet, we can see the Colosseum.

Today, Azusa is taking us shopping. We're going to escape the tourism for a while and be locals. Yes!

Venezia and Roma

Karen and I just had the most invigorating conversation with three Italian guys. We were on the train from Venezia to Roma (5 hours) and spent the entire time conversing with them in our extremely limited Italian (basically, we used our phrase books and the help of the younger guy who spoke some English). It was hilarious and very lively and the time sped past, needless to say. Matteo, the younger one, did the Italian "kiss-on-both-cheeks" thing to Karen and me when our train arrived in Rome and we said goodbye. *Sigh* :P

We spent today in Venezia (Venice), exploring the various canals and crossing a bazillion bridges. I had my first real Italian dinner, and it was divine. As we walked around, we kept marveling at the sheer craziness of the tourism there. Every single inch of the roads was covered in souvenir vendor stands. Yuck. It sort of kept me from enjoying Venice as much as I would have liked to.

But now... Roma!!! Oh yeah. We're excited. I'll update later on when we've actually seen some sights here. Oh, the Colosseum... :)

The French Riviera and that long-dreamed-about Mediterranean Sea

Karen and I are still alive! Internet cafes have been few and far between until now. Either that, or they were extremely expensive (6-9 euros per hour, which is about 10-15 dollars an hour). This one is only 2 euros per hour. Score!!! Tonight, we're staying at a hostel here in Nice, and there's a man in our room who's from Sydney, Australia! How awesome is that? He asked me how the election in the U.S. is going, and I didn't have much to tell him, aside from all the hype about Sarah Palin. :P

(Oh, random side note. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm sick and tired of eating bread!!! We've been buying bread and fruit for lunch and breakfast to save money. Now every time Karen and I see bread, we feel like puking. Haha.)

We've been traveling by train for the past few days now, speeding down to Marseilles, Nice, and the French Riviera. Needless to say, we're sick of traveling by train, although it has been nice to see the French countryside. Last night, we stayed in Marseilles, but were kind of creeped out by the hostel. We felt like we were in a mental asylum or something. Not fun. And then, we walked block after block in search of food and finally found a tiny pizzeria. The man cooked the pizzas right in front of us, after we deliberated for about twenty minutes over what kind of pizza we wanted. It didn't help that he spoke zero English. Well, he spoke SOME English. He was telling us that he knows "I love you, baby," "fish," and "one two three...". We were cracking up as he said these words with his heavy French accent. It was awesome. Oh, and the pizza was divine. Not much on it, but probably one of the best pizzas I've ever tasted. Mmmm mmmm.

We got up this morning and decided to take a train to Nice, which took us 2 1/2 hours. Now we're in Nice, and it's beautiful and sunny and everything we expected it to be. In a few minutes, we're going to walk to Vieux Nice (Old Town Nice) and explore the boutiques and eat some amazing food (it's supposed to be phenomenal here). From Vieux Nice, we're going to hike up the nearby mountain thingamajigger to see views of the Mediterranean. I have wanted to see the Mediterranean for years, and now I'm finally here!!!

Why am I sitting at a computer?

Bye for now,

Monica

Paris II

So much for not writing again anytime soon! I decided I want to document the highlights of as many days as I can, so I won't forget things.

So, get this. At Charles de Gaulle, just after Karen and I got off the plane, we saw my GRANDPA and his wife, Luisita, of all people! What the heck? I vaguely remembered having heard that they would be in Paris sometime in the fall, but still... what are the chances of our flights arriving on the same day, at the same time? Crazy.

French women ride bikes wearing high heels and mini skirts. Seriously, how do they do it? And guys: they're so well-dressed, it's not even funny. It's like everyone is made of money here, and maybe it's true, who knows? Lee, Karen, and I walked into a Louis Vuitton store on the Champs Elysees, and a lot of people were buying bags/totes that were priced at well over $500. That much for a purse? Yikes yikes. Anyway, I'm sure this isn't much different than a lot of big European cities, but it still blows me away.

We went to Versailles today. It was beautiful, but honestly not as amazing as I had expected. For one thing, the fountains were on in the gardens today, which meant that people had to pay an extra $9 just to walk in the gardens. Needless to say, we chose not to do that. The palace itself was beautiful, of course, but so crowded that it was hardly enjoyable. And, don't kill me for saying this, those of you who like it, but I wasn't very impressed by the Hall of Mirrors. :( Thankfully, we moseyed our way down to Marie Antoinette's "quarters," which were much less crowded and much more quaint. They were also free of charge, which was huge because we have been spending money right and left. (I've spent about $200 in the past three days, which is nothing I hadn't expected, but it's still a rude awakening).

We ate lunch (apples and kiwi bread stuff) at the edge of the Grand Canal. People were canoeing and eating picnic lunches, and we found that doing things the cheap and local way is often a lot more fun. I'd been told that before, so that wasn't a big surprise.

Oh, so we've been taking the Metro (subway) a lot of places. It's very similar to London's "tube." Very convenient way to get around the city, especially when you've been walking all day and need a break. Today, we were gone from our hostel for 12 hours and most of that time was spent walking or standing.

Karen and I have been SO grateful to Lee in the past few days. He has been absolutely indispensable with his knowledge about European transportation, customs, etc., not to mention a blast to hang out with! Tomorrow, as I mentioned yesterday, we're splitting up, and Karen and I will be on our own! It'll work out, but it's going to take a lot of work to figure out train and hostel details. Actually, I'm kind of excited to try figuring things out on my own. Sounds challenging, but fun.

Oh yes, and we went to the Musee Rodin this afternoon, which features The Kiss, The Thinker, and The Gates of Hell, among other very famous sculptures. I can't believe I'm actually seeing things in person that I've only ever heard of or seen in movies or books.

All right, I'm running out of time on the internet, and I'll have to pay big bucks to continue using it, so ta-ta for now!

Paris I

Karen and I are in Paris! We are still overcoming the jet lag, which basically kept us from doing anything fun yesterday (Thursday) because we were so dead tired. I'm also sick (just now getting over it), so that didn't help things. Last night, I slept fifteen hours straight!

Today, Lee, Karen, and I spent the entire day walking around the city. We figured out that we walked a total of about nine hours, from our hostel in the 11th arrondissement to the Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe to the Eiffel Tower... and then we took the metro (subway) back because our feet weren't too happy with us. :(

I had heard plenty of times that the Louvre is unbelievably enormous, but it's hard to comprehend until you actually see it. We saw the Mona Lisa (not all that amazing) and the Venus de Milo, as well as Napoleon III's apartments, which, of course, were opulent beyond belief and made me wonder--as I did in the U.K. a few years ago--how people like Napoleon could justify living that way.

Then, we walked to the Arc de Triomphe, which was astoundingly huge as well, but we didn't spend much time looking at it. Then, to the Eiffel Tower, which totally lives up to all the hype. We're going to go back tomorrow to climb the stairs to the 2nd story, so we can see the view of the city from there.

I had so many opportunities to speak French today! It was awesome. Although, two French guys walked by us and asked us for the time, but I just sputtered and said "uh, uh." Then they figured out that we're not fluent French speakers and walked on. I felt so stupid, because all I should have said was a simple "Je ne parle pas francais, desole." Ugh. BUT... I've ordered food in French a few times and asked where the bathrooms were--"Ou sont les toilettes"--so I guess that counts for something. I feel so dumb whipping out my handy dandy Rick Steves phrase book every time I need to ask someone something. It positively screams "tourist." But, I am a tourist, so I guess I should be fine with it. :)

Tomorrow, we head to Versailles for the day. It's about a half-hour outside the city of Paris. I've looked forward to this particular sight for a long time. More about that after we've seen it.

Oh, the food. Let me just say that it's divine. Karen, Lee, and I just had crepes from a roadside stand... mouthwatering and surprisingly filling. I had a banana and nutella crepe as well as a chicken, tomato, and egg crepe. Mmm mmm good! But, we're realizing that we can't eat out for every meal if we want to have money for the latter half of the trip, so we stopped by a market to buy fresh fruit and other stuff.

In two days, Karen and I will say goodbye to Lee and embark on the rest of the journey all by our wittle selves. :) We have a lot of train schedules to coordinate, but I think we'll be okay if we stay on top of it.

It costs a lot of money for internet time, so I can't promise another update very soon, especially since we'll no longer be in a big city in a few days.

Au revoir for now!