2 Weeks of Europe

This was our first day in Milan. After NO sleep on an 13+ airplane rides. Kelly really wanted to see this church(Duomo) It took us a while to get there cause we got off the plane, took a train, couldn't find our hotel, an hour and a half later found it and left to the Duomo. Which you had to take another train/subway to see. Once you got to the Duomo you had to climb a spiral enclosed marbel staircase till you felt like your legs were going numb. But well worth it. :) It was so beautiful. It looks great in pictures but even better in person.



This is in Barcelone, Spain at a Monistary clear up in the mountains. Joanne and I couldn't believe how big the doors were and we weren't very good about listening to our tour guide so we snuck over and snapped a couple pictures. We REALLY wanted to go hang on the light cause it was huge but Blake and Brandt distracted us.



This is par of the Monistary. Barcelona, Spain.

A long bus ride to the top to see the Monistary.

Shelly and I at our formal night on the cruise ship.

(Sorry my pictures are not in order) This is right next to the Monistary to show how high you have to climb to see it.

Shelly and I on the cruise ship with the weird lights that changed colors. This was before we left on our excursion in Alicante(Canary Islands) to hike a 6km(4.5 miles) a volcano.

This was our Matridee who gave us coke like 3 nights in a row becuase we were Mormon.

(Like I said, not in order) This was part of the volcano rock we saw on our way up to the huge volcano. Alicante is pretty much covered in volcanic rock. We hiked on it on our way back to the bus! It reminds me of Hawaii alot but 10X the amount of volcanic rock. They pride themselves in using the rock to help grow farms. What the rock does is allow the humidity and moisture to stay in the ground so they NEVER have to water the plants.

Tenerife, Canary Islands. Our excursion for the day was to go to a theme park there cause that is what they are known for. But, everywhere you do go they really pride themselves on their volocanos. Tenerife has an active volcano that was covered in snow so we didnt want to go see it. (it snowed at home) At Loro Parque which is the animal theme park at Tenerife they have a whale show...which all the whales were born and raised at Sea World in California and brought to Tenerife. Plus there was a dolphin show.

Shaun, Joanne, Me, and Shelly all crammed in the back of a cab so we could fit all 9 of us in 2 cabs. The reason we crammed in is cause we had to make it back in time to get on the ship. This was Malaga, Spain. Sandy's nephew Alix lives in Malaga and knows Spanish so we asked him to come hang out with us while we were in port. He took us up on a 2 hour bus ride to Rhonda. We had no idea what we were getting our selves into. lol. It was so beautful it was one of my favorite places. So to make it back in time we crammed.

Rhonda, Spain. This was the most beautfil place. In Europe everything is bigger and this was huge. With a river flowing underneath it and a view from every angle I couldn't put all the pictures up so I put one of my favorites. It is a really must see place to experience.

The Colloseum! Rome, Italy. I loved it! It was beautiful and so unique I just couldn't get enough of the Colloseum and that was our first day in Rome! We actually disembarked off of the cruise ship 2 days early at Rome so we could see more of Rome. I loved it. It was so nice to get fresh air (cause everyone smokes there) and to ride a double decker bus around to see the sites.

Joanne, Me, and Shelly at the Colloseum. (I am neglecting Blake apparently in my pictures)

Florence, Italy. We spent the night right next to this church which is 1 of 3 most famous sites in Italy. Yet, it is just ANOTHER church! lol. The most unique thing about it is that it took roughly 150 years to build.

My picture got messed up. This is Blake and I at the Duomo(top) It was freezing in Italy and I wasn't feeling too hot with no sleep and no real food.

The one thing I really missed is American food. OH MY! I am to this day so sick of pizza I haven't had any Italian food even though it is Americanized. I won't eat it. Give me another two weeks. We had pizza every day and even though they have fresh cheese they put on their pizza it still stunk. Holy Moly.This is going to be so sad but they have McDonalds everywhere in Europe and a Burger King sometimes. One night I was just sick as a dog of Italian food I turned the corner and saw the yellow arches and almost started crying I was so happy. I had a Big Mac that i will cherish forever. lol.

The worst part is this isn't all the pictures...after I took the last picture of the Colloseum my camera battery died. It was so depressing cause the Colloseum was our first stop of the day in Rome and it was like 9 in the morning. So luckily, my cute Blake said to me, "I have my camera. Now you HAVE to sit back and relax and enjoy the trip. You worry about getting pictures and are not in the pictures." So Joanne, Shelly, Sandy, and Blake took extra pictures for me and with me in them. Except for the fact Shelly's camera battery died like 10 minutes after mine. It also didn't help that Shelly said,"I never sleep walk, I just talk in my sleep" Well the little sleep walker tried to put our books in the fridge and probably unplugged my camera battery from the charger. haha.

So there is more pictures to come even my favorite place the Trevi Fountain and the picture of the Pope. But its Christmas Eve and I still have lots of presents to wrap. :D

Merry Christmas!

I'm Back!!!

It feels so good to be home...let alone it AMERICA! I didn't realize how much I would miss just being in America and all the wonderful food, snacks (junkfood), and things available that you do not get outside the states.

Italy was beautiful. Pictures will post later! I could have stayed in Rome for a week. I loved all the tourist spots. The one thing that I really related to Italy was it was like downtown Salt Lake. You see all these buildings and you turn a corner and this beautiful Temple is there in the middle of everything. The Trevi fountain was my favorite to see.

Once we disembarked off the boat at Rome we stayed in the city and the first stop was the colloseum. My last picture of the colloseum my camera battery died!! (I think my bunkmate was sleep walking at unplugged it) but luckily Blake had his camera and took some great pictures so I could just sit back and enjoy.

I can't believe Christmas is just around the corner! It really didn't hit me until I walked in my front door and my house is decorated! They played christmas music on the ship but it isn't the same cause it was humid and 75 degrees. We had a couple of ports that we were unable to stop at so we had a couple of unscheduled stops but that made the cruise more exciting.

There is so much we did in 2 weeks I don't know where to even start! For our dinner everynight we noticed the Matridee (he is the boss of the dinners) was watching us and he came over and asked if we are one family...we said yes. We even said some are missing and he was shocked. After dinner he said tomorrow he will bring us some of his best wine for our patients with dinner and Sandy(Blake's mom) said we don't drink wine. He was stunned then in his Italian accent he said,"Mormon?" we said, "YEAH!" The next night for dinner he came over with a can of coke for everyone at our table and poored it in our wine glasses.

I will post pictures soon with some captures of the trip.