A Terrifying Bus Ride – A 7 Mile Walk – Machu Picchu

 

Machu Picchu being a high tourist area, one would think it is fairly easy to get to. That is in fact, wrong. It took about 10 hours just to get Aguas Calientes, the town just below the ancient city in the Andes. After getting out of the hospital, Ben and I booked our two-day trip to Machu Picchu with one of the many touring agencies found in Cusco. I wasn’t going to let some little parasite hold me back from seeing one of the most beautiful attractions in Peru.

At 7:30 in the morning, we waited for our tour bus. I had seen these large vans carrying tourists drive through the narrow cobblestone streets of Cusco and was excited to sit in one. They looked so luxurious, spacious, and comfortable that I didn’t think twice about the promised five and a half hour ride to Hydroelectrica. Looks can be deceiving, though. We stepped onto the bus and as I sat down, I knew this bus ride was going to an adventure in itself. Now, remember how I said that the driving in Peru is nothing like America? Imagine taking a large 15-person van through narrow streets and up and down mountains with a horn honking every so often.

The first couple of hours we made it out of the city of Cusco and into the countryside of Peru and through the mountains. Passing by run down homes and small shacks with tin roofs, I felt like I got to see the true side of how people live in the Andes. It was sad to see hard working people with little to show for it. We made a stop at a touristy rest stop specifically for people journeying to Machu Picchu. It was absolutely beautiful with mountains on either side of it and vibrant flowers. Ben and I also met an adorable puppy we dubbed Señior Puppers, who hung out with us most of the time there.

Up until this point, the bus ride was relaxing and mesmerizing as we passed by neighborhoods and snow-capped mountains. The rest of the trip, which ended up being seven hours long, was not so smooth. We had to drive up one mountain, making it into the clouds. The roads going up these mountains are winding and narrow. Our driver was extremely aggressive, passing by every car in front of us. Sitting by the window was absolutely terrifying as I looked down to see how high up we were. If you are prone to car sickness, I advise against taking a bus to Machu Picchu. After about two hours of this, we made it into a small town situated in the mountains, I thought it would be smooth riding from there, maybe on a highway. I was wrong.

I established an even greater fear of heights during this bus ride. By the second half of our trip, I genuinely thought I was going to have a panic attack. Going up yet another mountain, we drove along an unpaved road that only had enough room for one car, but still acted as a two-way street. With no guard rails and the van shaking with every rock it hit, I kept picturing all of us rolling down the mountain into the river below. If you ask Ben how I was acting, he may describe me as a lunatic. “I can’t do this,” was the only phrase coming out of my mouth for the last hour.

Finally making it to our destination, we grabbed some lunch and chatted with two Germans and some guys from California and bonded over the crazy bus ride. After that, it was time for our seven-mile trek along the train tracks to Aguas Calientes. We later found out that there are no roads that lead into Aguas Calientes, only train tracks. It was refreshing to walk instead of sitting on a bus. We were able to really experience the rain forest and check out the plants and admire the mountains surrounding us. It was also some great quality time together.

It was relaxing and exciting until the sun started to set and we had no idea how much longer we had until we arrived. With no street lights to guide our way, we ended up pulling out our phones and luckily Ben brought his flashlight (which, for the record I thought was silly until that moment) and walked through tunnels and along the tracks until finally, we heard the sound of buses and saw the lights of the town. It was one of the best feelings, like the light at the end of a tunnel.

Aguas Calientes seemed to be strictly for tourists. Hostels, hotels, and restaurants congested the small town. Prices were much more expensive than in Cusco and Lima too. There were no cars in the town, the only way to get somewhere was to walk. It was cute and bustling with tourists excited to get to Machu Picchu. We ended up turning in early after hearing that we had to be at the bus stop by 4:30 AM to get to Machu Picchu.

So, we got to the bus and waited in line for an hour before boarding. We had the option to hike up the mountain, but after the trek the day before, my feet were begging me not to. This ride up the mountain was much less scary than the ride to Hydroelectrica. There were hundreds of people waiting to enter the stone ruins of a city, some coming from the bus, others dripping in sweat from hiking.

As I passed through ticketing and caught a glimpse, I couldn’t believe we had finally made it. In that moment, all of the fear and pain was worth the sight before me. The sun was just starting to rise and the clouds were just starting to lift from the ground. We waited for our tour group to form and made our way through the ruins, learning about the uses of the city, the discovery, and what each ruin was used for.

For those of you who do not know, Machu Picchu was not discovered until 1911 when an American professor Hiram Bingham asked some locals in a nearby town about Incan ruins and an eleven-year-old boy brought him to the abandoned city. It is believed that the city was built in the 1400’s and abandoned it during the Spanish Conquest. Archeologists believe that the city was used as a secret university to teach future kings and leaders of the Incan empire.

As we walked through the ruins, our guide pointed out what would have been the classrooms, the dormitories, farming plots, the Sun Temple, and bathrooms. I couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to have lived in this city and climb up the steps every day to get to class and learn about astrology, leadership, geometry, and more. If you ever have the chance to go to Machu Picchu, please do. It’s breathtaking.

Unfortunately, this is the same day Ben informed me he wanted to go back to Cusco to see a doctor because he had not been feeling well the last couple of days. After the tour we made our way back to Aguas Calientes and booked a train ticket to Cusco. (We decided on the bus that we would not be taking the bus back based on the ride there.) Long story short, we made our way back to Cusco via train and went straight to the hospital I was in and stayed there for the next two nights.

Peru really kicked our butts. We spent a quarter of our trip in the hospital and decided that it was time to come home and cut our trip short. We changed our flight reservation and were discharged. With just enough time to grab one more Peruvian meal (I had an alpaca burger) and do some souvenir shopping, our trip ended. It was bittersweet, that’s for sure. We weren’t able to do half of the things we wanted to, but that’s okay because we will be back again some day. I promise.

Me Siento Enfermo

The first thing people told me before going to Peru is not to drink the water and be careful what you eat. Me, being the cautionary and worrisome person I am, have drank only bottled water and was careful with what I ate. However, even being careful, I still ended up getting sick and spent two nights in the hospital due to contracting a parasite.

It started two days ago, the official celebration of the Festival of the Sun here in Cusco. Ben and I checked out of our hostal and walked around to find breakfast. Even at 10 o’clock in the morning, there were hundreds of people filling the streets of Cusco, eating and drinking in celebration. I even got to hold an adorable baby alpaca!

It seemed like the start to a great day, until we sat down for breakfast and like an intense wave I felt fatigued and cold. The minute my breakfast came out, I had lost my appetite, only eating a piece of toast and some scrambled eggs. I had a chill inside me that not even my coca tea could warm. Thinking it was the effects of the high altitude hitting me extra hard after a night of drinking, I drank as much water as I could. Ben booked our next AirBnB and promised he wouldn’t be upset if I took an hour or two to lay down and feel better.

Once we got to the room (Ben would probably like me to mention that he carried both of our backpacks to our AirBnB because he’s just the sweetest) I climbed right into bed and covered myself with blankets. We were even lucky enough to have a space heater put in the room. I took a two-hour nap, hoping I would wake up refreshed and ready to get started with our day. Unfortunately, I woke up to feeling worse and colder than ever.

Now, it’s very rare for me to have a fever, so when I have one I know. Ben ran to the pharmacy and asked for Tylenol, or something similar, and brought it back for me. Hoping it was just a simple sickness that a pain reliever and fever reducer could heal, I popped the pills and went back to sleep. Not wanting to ruin Ben’s day, I told him to go to the festival and enjoy Cusco; I would call him if I needed anything.

Later that night I woke up and felt worse than ever. Still shivering with an intense chill, even though Ben claims our room was the hottest room he had ever been in, I knew something was wrong. After taking my temperature and finding out it was a whopping 102 degrees, Ben called a doctor for me.

In Peru, the doctor will come right to you. In just 40 minutes, a physician came up to our room and did a physical examination in which he then concluded that I should be taken to the hospital. They already had the ambulance outside and ready, I just had to pack a bag and come down. It was all very impressive the swiftness of events that took place that night. From climbing into the ambulance to being rolled through a hospital in a wheelchair to a room already prepared for me, to being hooked up to an IV and put on oxygen, to diagnosing me with a parasite and an ear infection just a few hours after I arrived, I was impressed. In just an hour of being in the hospital, Ben claims I looked 100% better.

A special thank you to Ben for discretely taking pictures

This was my first time ever being in a hospital, but to tell you the truth, I wasn’t scared at all. Having Ben by my side and such friendly nurses who spoke English very well, I was glad to be there. Throughout the night nurses came and went checking on me and replacing fluids and antibiotics. The room itself was amazing. It was private with a hospital bed for me and a queen sized bed for Ben. We had our own bathroom as well as a TV with access to Netflix. Something that could have been a very scary experience, turned out to be easy and comfortable.

After spending two nights in the hospital under watchful care I was ready to get out of there. Mostly, I was ready to get the IV out of my arm. Not being one for needles, knowing that one was inside my arm freaked me out. It will take a few days to finally feel completely normal. With a strict diet of which I can eat bread and pasta (yay!) for the next three days, hopefully we will be able to make our trek to Machu Picchu soon and head back to Lima where we can breathe again.

Acclimating – Cusco, Peru

It’s hard to breathe 11,000 ft above sea level. We had read about altitude sickness and the effects of being at such a high elevation, but never thought the effects would so strongly inhibit us from our everyday travels. Right as we stepped off the plane, we noticed we were having trouble getting lungfuls of air and it wasn’t because we were exposed to a breathtaking scenery of multiple vast mountains surrounding us. After walking up a simple ramp in the airport, we had to stop for breath. The first two days in Cusco, walking up a flight of steps or up a hill was demanding of us. It was alarming the first morning we woke up in Cusco to find that both of our lips had turned slightly blue.

Mate de Coca

Thank God for the coca leaf. The coca leaf has been used for many centuries by Andean natives to cure altitude sickness symptoms. It can be chewed or brewed into a tea. Many drug stores, small grocery stores, and herbal medicine stores sell the leaves and tea for very cheap. At first, Ben and I tried chewing them. It’s not actual chewing, it’s more of rolling up some leaves and putting them in your cheek while your saliva moistens them. It’s incredible how helpful these leaves were. Most restaurants sell coca tea, which tastes very similar to green tea. Whenever we felt the side effects of altitude sickness, these leaves helped us tremendously.

Our first day in Cusco, we decided to take it easy and acclimate to the high altitude, until we stumbled upon some steps that didn’t stop until we reached the top of a mountain with a famous statue called Christo Blanco. You would think after reading about resting the first few days in Cusco, we would have listened. However, curiosity got the best of us. Don’t get me wrong, we had to stop many, many times before reaching the top. It was definitely worth the hike though. From the top, we were able to see the city center of Cusco along with more mountains in the distance. Not only was it beautiful, but I swear after that hike, the altitude rarely affected us.

Cusco is an absolutely beautiful city and it may just be one of my favorites. It is over 3,000 years old, making it the oldest city in the Americas. With old, narrow cobblestone streets and intricate stone churches, it feels like I have stepped into a history book. There are plenty of plazas where vendors sell goods and food and are surrounded by restaurants and stores. These seem to be the most popular places to go in the city. This is the kind of city you can walk around and be amazed at what you see when you turn a corner. That is my favorite kind of city. Lima, I felt, lacked the history and architecture I was used to in Europe and wasn’t surprised by walking around.

People look different in the mountains compared to on the coast. Their skin is darker and they look more indigenous, representative of the Incas. They are also much shorter than Americans. It’s also common to see older women and some children wearing traditional style clothing. There are so many colorful ponchos, hats, and sweaters, I may just come home with a rainbow in my backpack! It’s amazing to see how different the culture is in Cusco compared to Lima.

I thought the food in Lima was good, well the food in Cusco is even better. If we spoke before I left for my trip, I’m sure you learned that guinea pig is a delicacy in Peru. I’m here to tell you that it is DELICIOUS! Now, I couldn’t bring myself to order the roasted guinea pig, but I had it wrapped in bacon with some vegetables and it was fantastic. I also tried some alpaca steak, which was good, but not as good as the guinea pig. Yesterday, we walked through Plaza de San Francisco and found the square full of street vendors preparing and selling roasted cuy (guinea pig), which inspired me to try it at a restaurant.

This weekend is the Festival of Sun, the most important festival in Cusco. Today there were thousands of people visiting from all over Peru and the world to witness a parade and the carrying of statues of saints to the Cusco Cathedral. I’ll write more about it tomorrow!

Ariba Peru! – Lima, Peru

Peru is amazing and I’m never coming home. Just kidding, but it really is amazing here!

We arrived in Peru in the early hours of the morning after our flight was delayed thanks to a crying (screaming) baby. Exhausted, we ordered a cab from the airport and went through the most terrifying car ride of our lives. First off, Peruvians who live in Lima don’t know how to drive. Are there rules of the road? No. Their horns are extensions of their voices. Driving on a two-lane road? Wrong. You are now driving on a newly dubbed three-lane road by the taxi drivers. Walking around the city and crossing the street is another story I will save for another day. Just know that stop signs are more of a suggestion than a law.

Ben and I stayed in Mira Flores, an absolutely beautiful part of Lima. Our AirBnB was just two blocks away from Parque de Kennedy, which is a gorgeous park with blossoming flowers and tons of stray cats roaming around just waiting for Peruvians (or American tourists like me) to adopt them. If you know Ben, you know he hates cats. So, while sitting in the park enjoying the weather you can imagine his reaction when a stray cat climbed into his lap and prepared for an afternoon snooze.

I’m sure you’re all wondering how the food is here. There is no word to describe it except delicious and cheap. The Peruvian currency is definitely a friend to young Americans who want to travel. Ben and I have been eating at some great restaurants in the heart of Lima daily, usually totaling around $25 for both of us, including cocktails. Another thing, Pisco Sours are amazing and will definitely get you tipsy if that’s what you’re looking for. We tried some traditional Peruvian food, one of the dishes being ceviche. Ceviche is raw fish soaked in a citrus juice and served with onions. It’s absolutely delicious and I wish we had it in the States.

During out time in Lima we saw (and touched) the Pacific Ocean for the first time. Ben even took his first surfing lesson in it! We went on a night bus tour of Lima and took a tour of the San Franciscan Monastery and Catacombs, where we made two backpacking friends and grabbed drinks with them. We went to a chocolate museum where we learned about the process of how chocolate is made and ate an amazing chocolate lava cake. Lastly, we went to the zoo, which reminded me of how much I hate zoos and how bad I feel for the animals.

Overall, Lima was great! It’s a major city with about 10 million residents. There are some bad neighborhoods that we wandered into and some beautiful neighborhoods we toured. The people were extremely friendly and helpful when we asked for directions or advice. The city itself was incredibly clean (take a note Philadelphia!) and had a ton of culture. I would definitely visit Lima again, however I am ready to move on to the next leg of our adventure: Cusco.

A Peruvian Adventure

It’s been a year since backpacking through Europe. Now Ben and I are on another backpacking adventure, but this time it’s around Peru. A lot has changed in the last year since coming back from Europe. I graduated from Temple University with my bachelor’s in English and Creative Writing, I started working in real estate, and have become more comfortable with online writing. Not only have I advanced academically and career-wise, but have also come to know myself a little more over this past year.

 

But now it’s time to embark on another adventure, this time, on a new continent with a very different history and culture than Europe. It all started with a 2 am phone call over winter break. Half asleep, I answered a call from Ben, whose excitement took me by surprise. Eyes still closed I heard, “I have an idea, but I need like a month or two of your time over the summer.” I already knew this wasn’t going to be a conversation I wanted to have in the early hours of the morning. “For a graduation gift, I want to buy you a plane ticket to Peru.” It was a sweet and romantic gesture that I couldn’t possibly appreciate as much as I should have because of my drowsiness.

“That sounds great, but can we talk about it in the morning?” were my answering words. His excitement didn’t suppress as he talked about all the things we could do and how great it would be. Eventually, he agreed to talk about it in the morning and back to sleep I went.

 

It only took a day to figure out if Peru was the right place to go and when to do it. After a few more phone conversations, the decision was made. The next step: telling my parents. They hadn’t been too thrilled about our backpacking in Europe at first, so I was nervous to tell them that we had decided to go on another international trip. We bit the bullet and told them over Christmas Eve after a couple glasses of wine. Once again, they weren’t thrilled, but knew that they couldn’t do anything to stop us. And so the tickets were bought and we only had to wait six months until our trip.

 

Which brings us to today. We leave for Peru and will be there for three weeks. Just two days before leaving, we uprooted our original plan of spending most of our time in Lima (Peru’s capital) and traveling to Cusco and Machu Picchu for a few days. After talking to some people who have traveled around Peru, they recommended to spend most of our time in Cusco and not to plan anything. So, I’m sorry Mom and Dad, after June 19^th, we are completely winging the rest of our trip and I don’t have an itinerary to send you.

 

At first, the upheaval of our plan to relax and stay in one city made me nervous. I also was really looking forward to not backpacking again and being able to have a suitcase with more than four outfits. If you ask Ben about that night and conversation, he would tell you I was acting like a crazy person, which admittedly, I was. Now that we are packed (with just five outfits and two pairs of shoes) I’m ready to be a backpacker again! I have mentally prepared myself for wearing unwashed clothing multiple times and carrying all of our stuff. I’m ready! Unlike Europe, this trip has no concrete plan, so I’ll just let the wind take hold of us.

 

From Peru With Love

xoxo

 

The Place to Be – Amsterdam, Netherlands

Amsterdam at night is like a party the whole world was invited to. Neon lights line the streets full of people from different parts of the world just looking for a good time. Adorable brick buildings line the streets on either side of the canals housing little boutiques, restaurants, coffee shops, and girls in the window.

Of course being in Amsterdam at night we had to walk through the Red Light District, which wasn’t hard to find. Red lights could be seen from a few streets away down a crowded alley. The windows were large with the lights around the border presenting barely dressed women evoking men to come in. I was more interested in seeing how the men around me were acting towards the prostitutes rather than the women themselves. Each one of them had wide eyes darting from window to window with their mouths gaped open as they moved slowly down the street. I can’t say I would walk down that street again, but I’m in only in Amsterdam once, so why not check it out?

I’m sure you know that marijuana is legal in Amsterdam, but I wasn’t expecting to see such an emphasis on it. I thought it would be an accepted part of life, just like how having a drink in America is part of our social experiences. There were many head shops and souvenir shops with paraphernalia and products decorated with weed leaves. There is so much more to Amsterdam other than coffee shops and brothels.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather our first full day in Amsterdam. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky our entire time there. It reminded me of Venice with many canals running through the city. As we walked along the canals and had a beer looking at the water I realized just how many cities we have been to that incorporate a river or canals into their lives. Many people had boats out on the canals either having lunch, lounging with friends, or drinking on a Sunday afternoon. Amsterdam is absolutely gorgeous with full bright green trees along the canals and colorful brick houses and decorated bikes riding through the streets.

Before coming to our last city I decided to read Anne Frank’s diary so I could go to the Anne Frank House with the knowledge of her thoughts and experience. I had picked up the book many times when I was younger but for some reason never finished it. Determined to finish it before Amsterdam, I read through it quickly on our trains and buses, but I didn’t expect it to become so important and emotional to me. (If you haven’t read it, please do.) So, we waited in line to enter the house and crawl up into the hiding space of eight people during WWII. All of the furniture had been removed but there were pictures and trinkets displayed. Anne’s room still had the magazine clippings and pictures that she had pasted to the wall to liven it up.

And so, that concludes our grand European adventure together. Amsterdam was the best place to end our travels thanks to the beautiful weather, an upgraded hotel room, and a relaxing day by the canal. It is so fulfilling to travel with someone you love and creating new memories and really getting to know them. If Ben hadn’t pushed and nagged me to go on this trip and drag me out of my comfort zone I probably never would have gone, but I’m so thankful I did. I have learned a lot about the world, different cultures, and myself during the last few weeks and looking forward to coming home and incorporating what I’ve learned into my everyday life. So while Ben stays in Amsterdam for another week I continue my travels to Oslo, Norway to see my dad who has been living there since February for work.

From Europe With Love

xoxo

It’s Never Sunny in Paris – Paris, France

Riots, natural disaster, and labor strikes worked against the city of Paris during the week we spent there. Before leaving Florence my parents had warned me of vicious riots taking place in the streets of Paris due to the labor reform, which caused many train conductors to go on strike. After talking to our host and were assured that Paris was safe we decided we would still go and not let this ruin our time there. Although, neither of us thought that we would be affected by the strikes, as well as the Seine River flooding more than 20 ft.

The entire time we were in Paris the sun did not shine once. Our first day there it poured nonstop, but that didn’t discourage us from walking to the Eiffel Tower and marveling at the size and details of the ironwork. Just like some other incredible monuments I was overwhelmed with joy to see this beautiful tower in person. After taking French all throughout high school and a couple semesters in college I had always seen pictures of it, but never thought I would be standing under it myself. Our last night in Paris I made Ben promise that we would see it at night lit up with yellow lights. There may have been a soccer match going on because at one point we heard crowds cheering and the next thing we know the tower is flashing bright white lights from top to bottom. It is one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen in Europe.

The churches in Paris are of course beautiful as well. We went to Notre Dame one morning. From across the river it looked smaller than we had expected, but once we walked through the large doors we realized it was much bigger than we had expected. The stained glass and chandeliers were amazing along with the large arches towering over the altar and pews.

Notre Dame

And of course the church bells were beautiful. We also went into Sacre Couer, “Sacred Heart” church where people have been praying consistently, nonstop for 125 years. It sat on top of a hill that overlooked Paris where we could see Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower.

So after trudging through the rain for a couple of days we finally caught a break and were able to visit the Palace of Versailles on a dry, gray day. We took a train to the palace but were unable to make it to the station closest for some reason. This was the start to our misfortunes with the public transportation. After spending the day looking at artwork of kings and queens with large foreheads and extravagant clothing, rooms with large fireplaces and detailed woodworking, a Hall of Mirrors, and perfectly trimmed hedges in the gardens we tried to make it back to Paris.

Hall of Mirrors

The Queen’s Chambers

Palace of Versailles

The train station was hectic with people walking around and many tourists not sure where to go. We couldn’t find the train we took on the way there on the schedule so I went up to some policemen to ask if they could help. (It’s true what they say about the French, they do not like Americans. Each time I would ask if someone spoke English in French they would say “Only a little” and proceed to answer my question in perfect English with a very little trace of an accent) So they explained another way for us to get home, then after a little while of waiting in the cold and seeing no train coming the cops came down to us and told us to take a different train. We waited a while longer and the train finally arrived. Ben and I grabbed the first seats we saw and waited for the train to fill up and haul us back to the capitol, the Seine River had other ideas though. Due to major flooding the tracks of this train were underwater so we had to get off and wait for another train. It took us a total of three hours to get back home with all this confusion and waiting due to conductors being on strike and the floods.

Now being the bookworm that I am I knew that Paris was a popular city for Modernist writers (Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Ford Maddox Ford, etc.) so I dragged Ben to a café where Hemingway and Fitzgerald would hang out and bounce ideas off of each other. When we arrived outside of La Closerie des Lilas I wasn’t expecting to see a beautiful restaurant with flowers and vines growing along the building and on the patio by the front revolving door. I had always pictured a small coffee shop when professors would talk about the cafes these writers would go. A café in Paris is actually a bar or a restaurant, if they happen to serve coffee then they can consider themselves a café. It was a lovely place with men in suits and women drinking tea. We sat in a greenhouse style part of the restaurant on comfortable couches and chairs and ordered a cocktail. Of course I had to get the one named “Gatsby” in honor of my reason for visiting. It was extremely overpriced but I’m glad I went and sat in the same place as famous writers I admire.

The rainy weather set a perfect atmosphere for our visit to the dark catacombs in Paris. The first process of going through the catacombs is to walk down a stone spiral staircase that seems like it will never end after you descend it for a couple of minutes. We had to stop a couple times to reorient ourselves. Finally we had to walk through long dimly lit corridors for about a half-mile. Psyching myself out I kept thinking about the tunnels collapsing and picturing all of the human bones we would see in a few short minutes. After many turns and tight quarters we made it into a large room with information about what we were going to be walking into. Still creeping myself out I examined a fossil on one of the tables and a boy behind me coughed in the silent room. I could have jumped right out of my skin I was so startled grabbing my heart. The group that saw me chuckled to themselves and turned away from me. Red-faced and embarrassed I grabbed Ben and we walked into the grave.

Catacombs

There were millions of bones stacked methodically on each other. The piles were taller than me and reached many feet back to the wall. I had never seen an actual human skull in my life and seeing the remains of people from hundreds of years ago was an experience I will always remember. We had been to a few cemeteries while in Europe, but this was by the far the creepiest and most moving. To see the remnants of what used to be living, breathing people hit me harder than seeing a marble tombstone with a name.

I now fully understand what my mom means when she says that I have champagne taste on a beer budget. The city of Paris is filled with beautiful architecture, monuments, and people. The metro system is amazing and so easy to use and except for the strikes and flooding, runs smoothly. I can definitely see myself living in this city sitting at a café drinking espresso watching Parisians walk through the streets, however it is much more expensive than I thought to spend time there. Our stop here was worth every penny though.

Memorial where Princess Diana died

From Europe With Love

xoxo

Doing Things My Way – Florence, Italy

Traveling with someone you love is one of the most fulfilling things to do, but we are only human, humans who can get on each other’s nerves and have different wants and needs to make us happy. Two and a half weeks into our trip and in our eighth city Ben and I were made to realize that to have the most fun sometimes we need to do things on our own. After long overnight train rides and early buses, sleep inevitably caught up to us and instead of walking the cobblestoned streets, pillows and sheets seemed more exciting. So while Ben gave in to the need for sleep, I wandered the city on my own.

Walking through the streets without a certain destination was surprisingly more fun than I expected it to be. Somehow I had found myself in the midst of almost every tourist attraction in the city, the Duomo, a square full of Renaissance art, and a bridge built in the fourteenth century. The Duomo is a beautiful church built in the thirteenth century and until modern technology, had the largest dome in the world. When I stumbled upon it I was absolutely amazed, the intricate detailing of the outside of the church left me in awe. I felt like I was staring at a painting that had come to life.

The Duomo

After making a circle around the building I chose a street at random to walk down and came across the piazza of Renaissance art and statues. Street vendors and tourists crowded the square and I let myself get lost in the statues. On the perimeter of the square was a platform of statues with seating around the edge of it. Since it was upwards of 90 degrees the shade felt great and refreshing and I sat and people watched surrounded by 500 year old sculptures. The rest of my journey brought me to the river and a very famous bridge lined with jewelry stores and a great view of Florence.

After venturing my way home with gelato melting in my hands I found Ben awake and refreshed, ready to see Florence. We started our afternoon with a trip to the oldest garden in the world, which was started by a Duke in the sixteenth century, which was peaceful but unfortunately unkept and containing less flowers than I expected. Afterwards I took Ben around to the sights I had seen earlier in the day.

Our second day we visited Piazzale Michelangelo, which is situated at the top of a hill overlooking the city of Florence and the river. The view was incredible, especially seeing the Duomo stand above the city. A few minutes away from the piazza there stood a church on yet another hill (we did a lot of hiking) that had a gorgeous cemetery filled with old tombstones and mausoleums. This is the third cemetery Ben and I have ventured into and I must say, they are extremely interesting and provide a peaceful atmosphere after a long day of dealing with tour groups.

I enjoyed my time in Florence so much better than in Rome. The streets were calmer and I was able to navigate myself through the streets so well that I didn’t need to use a map to get home after wandering by myself. There were many outdoor leather markets and surprisingly a lot of college students studying abroad. The whole feel the Florence was friendly and less tourist oriented. It is definitely a city I would love to come back to later in my life.

 

From Europe With Love

xoxo

Touristland – Rome, Italy

Sunset over the Vatican and Tiber River

There were many points during the three days we stayed in Rome that I thought we might just die here. There must not be many rules of the road when driving in Italy because first, our bus driver to Rome was an absolute maniac. He drove in the left lane for most of the journey and honked the horn at cars to get out of his way multiple times. We made it to Rome a decent amount of time before scheduled, even with a 15 minute stop at a gas station. Walking through the city is terrifying. There are crosswalks across major roads, but hardly any traffic lights. Cars and mopeds are just expected to stop when they see someone crossing the street, no matter how fast they are going, and yes they drive terrifyingly fast. Mopeds add a whole other aspect to the traffic as they swerve in between cars and most of the time drive faster than the cars themselves. The traffic patterns are also very nerve wracking especially because there is hardly any indication of lanes for cars to stay in while making large turns. Stop signs also didn’t seem to be present. Anyways, I’m just glad we were able to make it out of Rome alive.

Our first full day in Rome I wanted to get most of our sightseeing out of the way so we went to the Colosseum, the Forums and Palatine Hill, the Pantheon, and Trevi Fountain.

Trevi Fountain

The Pantheon

View from Palatine Hill

Forums

Forums

All were absolutely beautiful in their own ways and of course I loved them because of their history and architecture. As I have mentioned before I always dreamed of seeing the Colosseum after learning about it in grade school. As we were walking I was able to see it in the distance and my heart fluttered. I was finally going to see this beautiful monument in person and witness where gladiators stood looking up at the crowd of Romans. As we stood in line waiting to buy our tickets I kept getting peaks of the interior. When we finally walked through the doors all I could do was smile. The old stone and the remnants of the hallways that were under the now collapsed floor made me think of everything that took place here many years ago. The only thing that ruined my experience were the insane amount of tourists and tour groups.

Inside of the Colosseum

I did it to myself, really, going to all of the tourist areas of Rome, but I had no idea there would be that many tourists. With everyone yelling and talking to each other and crowding around shoulder to shoulder it was difficult for me to appreciate the beauty of what I was seeing. I have also formed and even more intense hatred of selfie sticks. The large outdoor sights weren’t too overwhelming for me, but when we went to the Vatican I was getting frustrated. It was difficult to move when looking through the museums and heading down to the Sistine Chapel was another adventure.

Hundreds of people walked down many steps into the crowded chapel. I had heard so much about this chapel and the paintings by Michelangelo, but I didn’t expect the paintings to cover the chapel from floor to ceiling. It was absolutely beautiful. You could really spend hours tilting your head to the ceiling examining every scene this wonderful artist painted. Though this is considered a Holy place, some of the tourists were being very disrespectful speaking to each other, wearing inappropriate attire, and not taking in the beauty of this masterpiece. (I probably feel so strongly about respecting places like this due to my Catholic upbringing.) The only escape I had from the tourists was to look up and immerse myself into the painting.

We weren’t supposed to take this picture (Sistine Chapel)

Our host where we stayed suggested that we climb to Gianicolo Hill and watch the sun set over Rome. It was definitely a hike up there, but it was absolutely worth it. On this hill we were able to see both sides of Rome, the old city and the newer parts. We were able to pick out where we had been earlier that day and saw the Vatican from afar. In the background there were large mountains adding even more beauty.

It seems that Italians eat and drink from the minute they wake up until late into the night. There are many courses of food throughout the day. One of the courses we tried is called aperetivo, which consists of a glass of wine and some food to eat before dinner. We stumbled upon a small place with outdoor seating with a small buffet (with many food options) and a free drink for a small price. I definitely don’t have the stomach of an Italian because after a great glass of wine and some food I was good for the night. We didn’t end up getting any official dinner. There are also tons of gelato places everywhere, next to each other and across the street from each other. I must say, that might be the thing I will miss the most about Italy.

From Europe With Love

xoxo

The City That Stole My Heart – Venice, Italy

“Where are you from?”

“America, Philadelphia to be exact.”

“Oh Philadelphia, like the cheese!”

We have had this conversation with multiple Europeans in different countries during our trip. The first time we had it was in Prague at a Burger King (yeah I know, but we had just gotten off a bus and were starving!) the cashier asked where I was from and when I answered he pointed to the fried Philadelphia cream cheese balls they served. Ben and I get a kick out of it every time.

Venice stole my heart. The seconds before walking through the doors of the train station out into the city my heart raced and images I had seen on Google flashed through my mind. I was going to be there, in front of the canals, witnessing these photographs I have seen so many times in person. I was going to be able to touch the buildings and hear the water. The minute I walked through those doors I gasped. It was everything I pictured it to be and more. The numerous tourists that usually annoy me and add an unwanted layer to an experience I want to enjoy disappeared and all I could feel was the hot sun on my skin and my eyes grow wide as I scanned the scene in front of me. 

I grabbed Ben quickly and ran to the top of a large bridge with many people taking pictures. I swerved in between people, unable to get to the top fast enough. Out of breath and now waiting for Ben to catch up I stared down the Grand Canal and watched the boats, gondolas, and tourists moving around this city on water. After taking our pictures and soaking in the view we made our way down the cobblestone allies and got lost on the island.

Group singing on the island

When people say that Venice is easy to get lost in, they are not lying. There are so many turns and little allies that it feels like a maze when walking through. We didn’t care though, we just wanted to explore and see what we came across. Crossing bridges and wandering down dead-end streets I was impressed we were able to find our way back to the Grand Canal and main points on of the island.

To get around the different islands of Venice a water bus is offered. We spent a lot of time on these water buses due to getting on the wrong one multiple times and going in the wrong direction others. Our desired destination was Murano, the glassblowing island. I’m sure you’ve seen the Murano glass jewelry and vases around in little gift shops and on the boardwalk. When we finally arrived at the island we found everything to be closed (since it was a Sunday and things close at 6 pm in Europe) so we were on what felt like a deserted island. It was peaceful and absolutely beautiful as we watched the sun set over the water. I’m glad to say that we were able to make it back to the island the next morning before catching our bus to Rome.

I wish we had stayed longer in Venice, one day was definitely not long enough. I am starting to realize just how crazy we are going on this trip and having it all planned out. In the past 2 weeks we have visited 7 different cities in 4 different countries. It’s really starting to take a toll on us, especially with the overnight transportation and waiting around for check-ins and buses. Even when I’m exhausted though all I think about is 20 years down the road from now I’m going to look back at this trip and say “One time in college I backpacked around Europe for a month and saw everything I dreamed of seeing and more.”

From Europe With Love

xoxo