Back from Europe!

Hello to all! I made it back Friday night from Europe. Steven and I had a wonderful time. It was filled with ups and downs but overall we really enjoyed our time together. Steven said a few times on the trip that it wasn't really a vacation, it was an experience. I'll agree with him completely. I don't want to make this post too long so I'm just going to give you a few highlights from each place we visited.

GREECE

We met in Athens. Luckily Steven arrived from Iraq just a few hours after I got there. I was hoping I wouldn't have to wait long and God certainly answered that prayer. In Athens we visited the Parthenon, went to a Greek beach, and just enjoyed the sights of the city. It's amazing to be in a city that is thousands of years old! We have nothing in America like you will find in Greece. The statues and buildings are just unbelievable. Unfortunately we did have a mishap. Steven got pick pocketed on the metro on our way out of the city. We lost some money, our military id cards, and two credit cards. Luckily he didn't have everything in his wallet. We were left with some cash and an American Express card. So we had to make some calls to credit card companies and get some cash wired to us through American Express but it all worked out. We don't think anyone has used our identity but I guess we might have to wait and see.

Outside a church door in Athens.
At the Parthenon
An authentic Greek salad. Yum!
Parthenon at night.

We left Greece on a ferry/cruise liner. It was a 21 hour trip from Patras, Greece to Ancona, Italy. It was a nice restful time and we got to see some beautiful sights!





ROME

Rome is a very fast paced but architecturally beautiful city. We did a lot of sightseeing. We saw the Coliseum, Trevi fountain, and the Pantheon. We were also able to visit the Vatican City. No, we didn't see the Pope but we did get to visit Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. Those Catholics really know how to decorate.;) They were both beautiful buildings. The ceiling on the Sistine Chapel is so high. It's amazing to imagine Michelangelo spending years and years painting it. Needless to say, Rome wasn't our favorite city but it had some of the most beautiful buildings.

Steven and I outside the Coliseum

Posing for a picture.
Caught! Eating McDonald's in Rome.:) In the courtyard in the Vatican.
The ceiling in the Vatican.

One of the many, many statues




St. Peter's Basilica

Outside the Vatican
Trevi Fountain
The Pantheon


Steven waiting to head north!

SAN VINCENZO/PISA

After Rome we decided we needed some rest so we hopped on the train and got off when we saw the ocean. Literally. We got off in San Vincenzo. It was a cute little city with hotels on the ocean. They weren't cheap but it was nice to be able to rest in someplace nice. We were there for about 2 days to enjoy the sun and sand and then hopped back on the train. We were headed north and going through Pisa so we decided to hop off the train, get a few pictures of the leaning tower, and hope right back on. It was a pretty cool looking building so I'm glad we got to see it!

The view from our hotel room.


Beautiful sunset

Yeah, we're dorks.:)

CINQUE TERRE- VERNAZZA

This by far was our favorite place. The Cinque Terre is 5 small towns located on the Italian Riviera. There are no hotels and just 600-1000 people that live in each town. It's easiest to get there by train, not many cars go into the towns. Once we hopped off the train we found a lady and asked if she had a room for us. She told us she only had two single beds for the first night but could get us into a queen bed the next few nights. We jumped at the chance and once we got to our room saw we had bunk beds.:) I called top! Even though the sleeping arrangements weren't the best the first night it was all worth it. The city was beautiful, the water was crystal clear, the people there were amazing and so was the food. We were able to hike to the different towns by day, swim in the clear water, and at night we enjoyed eating at the great restaurants and talking to whomever was dining next to us. We would've liked to stay longer in Vernazza but only had a few days before we had to fly out of Paris.

The view from a train.

Our city, Vernazza, seen from our hike.

Steven cliff diving.
Um, I'm not going to say anything on this one.

PARIS

We arrived in Paris 11:00 on Wednesday night, found a hotel and slept. We were leaving on Friday morning so basically had to do all our sightseeing in one day.:) On Thursday we visited the Louvre (sooooooooo much artwork, very overwhelming), Notre Dame (very pretty, no hunchback though), Arc De Triomphe (impressive), and the Eiffel Tower (looooooong wait). We enjoyed what little time we had in Paris. Again, very beautiful architecture but very busy with a lot of traffic. We spent about 4 hours at the Eiffel tower just waiting to go up, go down, etc. There was a huge rainstorm that got most people soaked, not Steven and I though, we were under the middle. It was neat to see the city of Paris from so high up. Friday morning we jetted out and now will wait for 4 more months to see each other again.

Me and the Mona Lisa
Notre Dame, looks different from the one in South Bend.;)
Yay all you Hoosiers! This restaurant was in the middle of Bastille Center.
The Eiffel Tower sparkles at 10:00, 11:00, and 12:00 pm every night. I set my camera on fireworks setting and this is what turned out.

I know I will remember this trip for a long time and I certainly enjoyed my reunion with my husband. It's always nice to be reunited and reminded of how much fun you have together. Thanks for a great time and I love you Steven!