Highlights from Europe

Scott and I were fortunate enough to take one last trip together before we enter into parenthood. We spent the beginning of November traveling through the mountain valleys of Switzerland, tasting the delicious cuisine of Italy, and touring the famous monuments of Paris.

We flew into Paris and were able to sight see a little after a much needed nap!  A twenty minute walk from our hotel was the Basilica de Sacre Coeur, which is perched up on a hill, allowing for some great views looking over Paris.  I also got a French specialty: a crepe! Yumm! And since Scott doesn't have a sweet tooth, we found him a big mug!

Our first stop was Interlaken, Switzerland, a quaint mountain town settled in the Swiss Alps mountain valley.   

We stayed at a nice hostel called Balmers, where Scott bunked last time he was in Europe.  One of our main highlights here was renting scooters and taking a self-guided tour on the little winding roads connecting the small mountain towns that surround Interlaken. 

The Swiss countryside is breathtaking, scattered with little wooden cottages, cows and goats.  The air there was so crisp and the landscape was so rich and green. The fall colors were still in season which made it even more picturesque. Here are some highlights:

Two days later we took the train around the Alps, through northern Italy to the island city of Venice! 

Venice is a place like we have never seen before, instead of roads, there were canals.  There were no cars, only boats.  When people talked of catching the bus, they were referring to a large carrier boat that ran through the grand canal.  Our hostel was right near all the action, a few blocks from St. Marks Basilica and Plaza. 

 

The first night Scott and I just walked around and got very lost, which ended up being a great way of seeing the city. We ate dinner at a restaurant overlooking a canal and Scotty got his authentic Italian carbonara!

 The next day we covered a lot of ground by spending the whole day walking through Venice, seeing the old cathedrals, museums, and buildings.

Masks are seen everywhere around town.  These masks are very ornate and detailed and are used in traditional Venetian celebrations.

Our next destination was Florence, Italy. We lucked out on perfect, sunny days while during our stay!  The first day we toured the historic cathedrals that seem to be around every corner.  The architecture is very colorful and detailed.

Our favorite was the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, the cathedral church (Duomo) of Florence.  We climbed all the way up to the top...which was quite a feat for preggers and gimpy to conquer 463 narrow, spiraling steps up AND down! But the vista view was absolutely worth it!

The next day we walked across the Arno River to tour around the enormous Pitti Palace in the morning.  It took us an hour just to walk through the gardens!  

In the afternoon we took a bus tour an hour west to Pisa to see the famous leaning tower.  This was a pleasant surprise to be able to see Pisa. There were actually four monuments within Pisa's gates:  the Baptistery, Cemetery, Cathedral, and Leaning Tower (campanile).  The cathedral is also leaning a little!

 

 

That night we took a night train back to Paris to wrap up our European adventures. We found Paris in true form: rainy.  It rained most of our last two days, but that didn't stop us.  With our raincoats, hats, and umbrella we embraced what we could.  We walked through the Pompidou museum and saw the Notre Dame Cathedral, and the Louvre. 

 Our last day we spent at the Eiffel Tower.  Luckily, there was a break in the rain so we were able to take the lift up to the top to enjoy the bird's eye view of Paris.  We really liked walking down by the Seine River.  This area was open, spacious and not so crowded.  For our last dinner in Europe we went to the 2nd district for dinner, which is like the Rodeo Drive of Paris.

One of my dreams in life was to see Europe and my loving husband made it a reality. 

Thanks Scotty! It was a trip of a lifetime!!!