Favorite Picture Friday: April 1st, 2011

Numbers from our trip to Europe 2011

I love our tradition of counting up events that happened after a trip and remembering our favorite moments. The trip went by in a flash and now it just feels like a blur or a distant memory, even though it was only a couple of weeks ago! Mom was saying that she looks at pictures of the places we have been, like Venice, and still she can't believe that we were actually there, as if it were all just a dream. Thank goodness we bought a ton of souvenirs so that we have proof that it wasn't a dream! Here are our numbers from the trip:

# of countries visited: 4 (England, France, Italy, and the Vatican)
# of cities visited: 5 (London, Paris, Rome, Vatican city, and Venice)
# of nights on the trip: 12
# of plane flights: 5
# of hotels: 2 (London and Paris)
# of monasteries we stayed at: 1 (Rome)
# of Bed & Breakfasts we stayed at: 1 (Venice)
# of train rides (not including public transportation): 3
# of boat rides: about 6 (we did one in Paris and a lot in Venice)
# of scoops of gelato: a lot, but we are thinking about 8 per person for the whole trip (WOW!)
# of slices of pizza: 4 per person
# of crepes: 4
# of pastries: can't count that number because we all had a ton, but some liked the pastries more than others
# of plays seen: 1 (The Lion King in London)
# of times Jason got lost: 0 # of times Lisa, Mom, and Dad got lost: well... let's just say we aren't as good as Jason and leave it at that
# of scarves bought: 26 (20 for mom and 6 for Lisa. We went a little crazy with them and mom kept seeing ones she liked so we would go on hunts to find them)
# of stairs climbed: probably over a thousand- and we felt every single one!
# of tired feet at the end of the trip: all 8 (we were exhausted!)

Favorites from Each Location:

LONDON
Mom: Walking across Tower Bridge
Dad: Westminster Abbey and seeing the grave of Charles Darwin
Jason: The British Library and the Ceremony of Keys
Lisa: Being back in London and seeing "The Lion King" with British accents!

PARIS
Mom: Seeing and climbing up the Arc de Triomphe and pastries
Dad: Spending time in the Louvre
Jason: Seeing Van Gogh at Musee de Orsay
Lisa: Walking around the Eiffel Tower at night

ROME/VATICAN
Mom: Good weather at the Colosseum
Dad: Seeing the Pantheon
Jason: Vatican City- the whole thing
Lisa: Sitting and enjoying the Sistine Chapel and gelato

VENICE
Mom: All of the boat rides
Dad: Seeing St. Mark's square
Jason: Climbing up the Bell Tower in St. Mark's square
Lisa: Sunset out on an island looking on to Venice

We still have plently to show and tell from this trip so don't think that we are done just yet!

Favorite Picture Friday: March 25th, 2011

Venice

As you have probably guessed by now, Jason and I have made it safely home from our trip. After a long flight home we all were so glad to see our own bed and slept great- despite the fact that we had to get up and go to work the next day. Just as Jason and I travel without stopping, we work just as hard as well. So that's why I haven't had time to post pictures from our last stop on our trip: Venice.
Venice was such an amazing place to see. It was so surreal that every time we turned a corner and saw a canal with boats and bridges we had to stop in awe. There is something magical and mysterious about Venice. We would walk around talking about how the existence of the city defies logic, but yet there we were enjoying the food and the scenery. Here are a few pictures from our time in Venice. More to follow.

The Rialto Bridge- probably on of the most famous bridges in the world, and definitely the most famous bridge in Venice.

Jason looking at the sunset over the water on our last night in Venice. Such a bittersweet moment because it was actually our last night on our trip. In this picture we are actually on a different island looking back on to Venice. We loved visiting the other islands nearby.

There was something so romantic about Venice.

A picture of St. Mark's square. One of the most beautiful things about Venice was the architecture of the city. The center of town was no exception.

Rome

Even though at this point we have already visited Rome and Venice and are on our way home I am trying to catch up on posts and atleast give you some pictures from those places. Rome was impossible to do anything with the internet because they didn't offer any at our monestary. That's right, we spent our 3 nights in Rome at a monestary! We were also located just outside the Vatican walls, so how much more appropriate could we be? You might think that it would have been an usual experiment, but we had a blast staying there and it was one of my favorite places we have ever stayed. The nuns that ran the place didn't speak a word of English, so my broken Italian and gestures were enough to figure everything out. The rooms were incredibly clean and we were just a 5 minute walk from the Vatican and seeing St. Peters square and cathedral.See the pictures below.

The name of our monestary where we stayed. It honestly was one of the coolest experiences we've ever had.







Here we are in St. Peter's Square in front of St. Peter's Cathedral. The balcony behind us is where the Pope resides.






Inside St. Peter's Cathedral. Probably one of the most beautiful, elaborate, and outrageous cathedrals we have ever seen!

We saw everything in Rome, from the Vatican Museum that includes the Sistine Chappel, the Colossuem, the Roman Forums, the Pantheon, Castle San' Angelo, the Fountain of the Four Rivers, Trevi Fountain, the Spanish steps, a ton of pizza and of course so much gelato that I don't think we can look at any ice cream again.

Inside the Colosseum. What an iconic site to see on such a beautiful, sunny day.

Down below the main floor of the Colosseum.

Jason and Lisa at the Fountain of the Four Rivers.

Getting gelato- honestly I don't remember what time of the day or where this picture was taken at, because no matter where we were in the city we were eating gelato... and loving it!!

Just a quick shot of some pizza that we sampled in Rome. Delicious!!