Roma

We had a half day to spend exploring Florence before our train ride back to Rome. Here is a picture of their main bridge, The Ponte Vecchio. I think Florence and Tuscany would be wonderful to spend more time in, we just had the crash course.  

We made it to Rome (on the correct train) and so far it's been wonderful. We spent our first day in ancient Rome seeing the Roman Forum, Colosseum, and Palatine Hill. The Colosseum was no let down, it is amazing that they were able to build such a large and well preserved building in 72 AD.

There was a great view of the city from the top of Palatine Hill.

We did the ipod video/audio tour inside the Colosseum, it was so informative. What an amazing and gruesome history there is here.

Cinque Terre

Yesterday we went on a day tour to Cinque Terre. It was probably our single favorite thing we have done so far on this trip, a truly stunning place. Cinque Terra in means "Five Lands" in Italian. The "lands" or villages are all along the Italian Riviera and connected by train or hiking trails. Our pictures (especially with no editing) can not do this place justice. I like the Lonely Planet page describing this place, if you're interested.  

We visited all five villages, some by train and others by trail and boat.

Manarola

Corniglia

Lunch overlooking the Mediterranean and the quaint village...

Vernazza

On the hike to Monterrosso

The hiking trail...

Corniglia again from the boat, clouds had rolled in by this time but it was later in the day...

and Riomaggiore

We would have loved to spend more time there and would definitely go back if we ever had the chance. It was straight out of a postcard. You can see in some of the pictures that they have made terraces all up the mountains for farming and gardening grapes, olives, lemons, and much more. The climate was amazing and the air was fresh and smelled like flowers and sea breeze. Thank you Heather and Adrienne for the raving reviews, it did not disappoint!

Firenze, We Made It!...Barely

Our flight from Paris to Rome went pretty well. We made it through the subway and trains to the airport, found our terminal (a more amazing feat than it should be because of the craziness of the Charles de Gaulle airport), and got to our gate in time. The train station in Rome was a different story. We barely made it on a train bound for Florence and realized it wasn't our train. Our train was supposed to be pretty nice and make no stops and get us to Florence in about two hours. The train we got on wasn't too bad but didn't have much space, stopped at least 15 times, and got us to Florence in over three and a half hours. At least we made it!

We didn't to too much the night we got here, just ate some great Italian food and walked around. We found the main Duomo...

Last Days in France

We had a fun end to our time in Paris. We visited the Orsay museum where there are a lot of paintings that are recognizable even to the art history challenged, like Stephen and I. There were dozens of paintings by Monet, those were my favorites. The museum is in an old train station and it makes a nice effect. 

We took a tour of the Paris Opera House that was great. It was a little disappointing to learn that the Phantom of the Opera is mostly just a story that Americans have embellished and run with but it was a beautiful building. 

We spent the evening in the Latin Quarter where we found an adorable restaurant. Stephen ordered escargot and had to figure out the tools to eat them with.

After dinner we were just strolling along and ran into the Pantheon. We didn't have time to visit it so it was fun to at least happen upon the outside and get a picture.

When we were crossing the Champs Elysses to get back to our hotel we got stuck in the middle of the street  (the pedestrian lights will sometimes just let you walk half way at a time) with a great view of the Arc de Triomphe.

The next morning we did a little high end shopping at the Louie Vuitton where I got a great gift for Lyndsay ;) and we got some macaroons at Laduree. They were delicious!

Then we headed to the Louvre for hours of art education, thanks to their Nintendo DS interactive audio guides.

It was a mad house but we managed to see the Mona Lisa along with other favorites.

Stephen took this beautiful picture later while we walked back to the Eiffel Tower for the night time lights.

We got a few good pictures in front of the tower at night but they mostly need editing and since I don't have the capacity here, this is the best one for now.

We laid on the grass for a long time waiting for the sparkling lights. It was great weather and so pretty when the lights went off, it was definitely worth the wait.

Happy Anniversary to Us

Yesterday was our anniversary and here is how we spent it:

We went to Versailles. It was amazing! Stephen snapped a good shot showing the brightness of the gold entryway gates next to the rest of the building. Golden gates were the least of the extravagance in this castle. 

Here we are in the hall of mirrors, a good example of the gaudiness in the rest of the palace.
 After a lot of walking and line standing we took a minute to relax when we got back to Paris. It was finally warm for about 10 minutes so we sat on the banks of the Seine.

This is the Sainte-Chapell cathedral where we were awestruck by this stained glass. They're doing a four year restoration project on it right now and it's just stunning all cleaned up.

Our hotel left us a treat for our anniversary along with some champagne, which we switched out for a deliciously cold bottle of water.

In the evening we went to my favorite area of Paris, Montmartre. It's outside of the city a bit and it's on a hill. At the top of the hill is this beautiful white church, the Sacre Coeur. There are great views, charming streets, artists selling paintings, and cute little restaurants in this area.

We ate at an adorable and historic restaurant called the Moulin de la Galette. It's the site of one of the very famous paintings that we saw today at the Musee d'Orsay. The food was great.

This is the outside of the restaurant with the giant moulin. It was very charming and a wonderful end to our anniversary day.

Paris is Dreamy...Day One

Stephen and I are in Paris right now! We are celebrating mostly that I made it through another year of Stephen traveling for work, since this whole trip was paid for with Marriott points and Delta frequent flier miles, but we are also celebrating that I finished another school year and that we've been married for three years! We are spoiled indeed. I  am going to try and blog as we go to keep a trip diary for myself.

We landed yesterday mid-morning, very tired from so much traveling and jet lag. We saw the Eiffel Tower first thing and then forced ourselves to sightsee until around 7:00 pm when we crashed at the hotel.

Today we were up and going with plenty of energy. We started the day with a Seine River cruise to get a lay of the land.

We ate delicious crepes. It's been pretty cold and rainy and windy since we've been here, hence the jackets and hood.

We toured and climbed the towers of Notre Dame, SO amazing, if you haven't read The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo I highly recommend it, especially before visiting Paris, it made this site especially great for me.

This was one of Stephen's favorite gargoyles and a great view of the Eiffel Tower, which we climbed the stairs of yesterday.

Here is a view of the back of Notre Dame on a "lovers bridge" with marked/engraved locks all along it.

Stephen bought a lock for us to put on the bridge.

We ate dinner at a cute restaurant that had no dinner menu, they only serve steak and frites. It was delicious. Our last site of the day was back near our hotel, the Arc de Triomphe. We climbed to the top and had a great view of the sunset over La Defence. It was a fun and exhausting day. I'm hoping that tomorrow we will save some energy and be able to enjoy the night life.

Newborn Pictures

My sweetest angel of a niece had newborn pictures taken this week by my all too artistic and talented cousin. Here are my favorites:

We love you Lyla! Can't wait to see you again.