Paris: the city of romance, lights, and the Eiffel Tower.
London: the city of the Beatles, Benedict Cumberbatch, and (most importantly) One Direction.
You know, I should probably be ashamed about the above list, but…I’m not.
Finally, finally, finally, this is my LAST blog post about fall break! I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get this blog back up to date- thanks for being patient and sticking with me!
We got to Paris the morning of the 29th, bright and early. Of course, the first thing we did was head straight for the nearest wifi- at the local McDonald’s. McDonald’s has become our safe haven over here in Europe! (I can’t believe I just said that.)
After checking into our hostel (which was SO nice), we all headed back into the center of the city. Our goal? See the Eiffel Tower! Somehow, just by pure luck, we ended up getting the most magical first glimpse of the Tower. Clark, Cole, Taylor, Leah, and I exited the metro, walked around the corner, and BAM! The Eiffel Tower stood proudly before us, like a reincarnation of the magnificent Colossus. The steel giant dominates the landscape, watching over the city like a benevolent guardian.
The Eiffel Tower is definitely the most beautiful monument that I’ve been lucky enough to see over here in Europe. It was different than I thought it would be- bigger, bolder. I absolutely loved it!
First glimpses
Such a great fall break group!
Cheesin’ hardcore
Roomie love!
My true colors…modeling in front of the Eiffel.
We made the short trek to the Arc de Triomphe next, where we met up with Nat, Em, and Marge again. We all ate a super delicious French meal together in a restaurant near the Notre Dame Cathedral. As we headed back to see the Eiffel Tower at night, we happened upon the famous lock bridge. We’ve seen some version of this bridge in almost every city we’ve been to, but France’s is the lock bridge. It must have had thousands upon thousands of locks attached to it! As we all stood on this bridge dedicated to lovers, we sort of spontaneously began to sing love songs. Classic love songs, rap love songs, silly love songs, sappy love songs- we sang them all, and we didn’t stop until we got back to the Eiffel Tower.
I have a list called “Things That Feel Like Christmas”. The things on this list are random, and it takes a lot for something to earn a coveted spot there. In case the title isn’t self-explanatory (which it’s not..), “Things That Feel Like Christmas” are those things that make me feel absolutely, 100% content. They’re the things that feel like home. That moment, when we were all singing at the top of our lungs in Paris, late at night, with some of the best friends in the whole world- that moment made it onto the list. 🙂
Arc de Triomphe
River Seine!
Eiffel at night
The next day, after agonizing over how we were going to get to London, we headed to the Louvre. We didn’t go in, which was a big bummer. The line just looked like it was way too long. We visited the lock bridge again so we could see it by daylight, and then we headed back to the Eiffel one last time. I had really, really, really wanted to go to the top of the Tower, but we just had really poor time management and planning skills, so I didn’t get to go up 😦 I was way more bummed about this than about missing out on the Louvre, but Clark sweetly reminded me, “Now you can come back with your husband one day and it will be perfect!”
While I don’t know if Paris has been my favorite city so far, I do know that it is the one I want to come back to the most. There was so much of the city that I didn’t get to see because of the limited amount of time we were there, and there are several bucket list things that I’ll have to come back and accomplish at some later date!
Outside the Louvre
The lock bridge!
After a harrowing taxi ride to catch our bus, we were on our way to London! We arrived in London really late on the night of the 30th. We went straight to our hostel, which was the WORST. Well, I mean, it was pretty bad, but Leah and I just decided that we hated it, and the poor boys heard no end of it.
London was absolutely brilliant, but once again- totally different than I expected. There isn’t a city center- instead, everything is really spread out. However, the tube was one of the best we’ve yet encountered, so it made getting around the city a breeze.
The first thing we saw in London was the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. There were so many people waiting to see it! Next, we headed to King’s Cross Station to buy our tickets home from London to Vienna. We encountered yet another setback here, as we found out that our tickets would be 90 pounds. So after a momentary freakout (in which Leah and I stayed cool and collected!), we found a bus that we could take part of the way. Then we got to go to Platform 9 and 3/4! This was one of the best things I got to experience in London (although there were a lot of best things here!). Even though I haven’t seen the Harry Potter movies yet, I really loved the books, and the little shop and photo-op were the best. For Taylor and Cole, seeing this place was a dream come true!
Changing of the Guard!
Gryffindor pride!
Lovely group photo in which Cole is mostly covered up…whoops.
The next item on our agenda was SEEING PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Oh my goodness, you guys… seeing this musical on Broadway has been my dream for such a long time. I can’t believe that I actually got to go see it! All of us girls had bought masks to wear beforehand since it was Halloween night…it all worked out too perfectly! The show itself was absolutely incredible. All of the actors and actresses has insanely good voices and the set design was beautiful. My favorite numbers were All I Ask of You (I’m just really partial to Raoul), the Phantom of the Opera reprise, and Masquerade!
The stage! Our seats were great- we could see everything without any problems!
TOO excited!
My beautiful ladies ready for the masquerade! 🙂
The next day was filled with even more dreams-come-true. Clark, Taylor, and I went gallivanting around the city together. Our goal was to be “mega-tourists”, and hit all of the big sites that we didn’t the day before! First we went to Vauxhall, which is where the MI6 headquarters are located (that one was all for Clark), and then we visited 221B Baker Street (that one was all for me!). Sherlock Holmes is my literary hero- I want to be just like him. My best friend Mallory and I even call ourselves Sherlock and Watson! I love him in all of his incarnations, but I must say that I am very partial to Benedict Cumberbatch’s portrayal of the “highly-functioning sociopath”. Here’s yet another shout-out to BBC’s brilliant television series, Sherlock. If you haven’t watched it still, stop what you’re doing right now and get on that.
Sherlock’s home!
I say, dear Watson, the game’s afoot!
Next, we made the long trek out to Abbey Road, where we got to recreate the famous Beatles’ album cover and write on the wall outside of Abbey Road Recording Studios. The boys went to see a soccer stadium next while I went to the River Thames to see Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, and Big Ben. Embarrassing confession- I saw Big Ben and thought that I was just looking at some random clock tower. I finally saw a map telling me that I was, indeed, looking at the real thing. I can be stupid sometimes. When the boys met back up with me, we walked around the whole area again and then spent a large amount of time strolling from London Bridge to Tower Bridge. We had the BEST conversations during that time!
Oh, and we recruited some random guy to be our George Harrison (I totally had to look that one up)
I just adore my boys!
I make them take pictures of me and they don’t even complain!
Just luvin London
Obsessed with this all-natural version of Starbucks. SO GOOD!
Parliament
Hey there, Big Ben!
We finished out our time in London by taking a trip to Piccadilly Circus, where there is tons of shopping! I got to visit Topshop for the first time ever- it’s like an even more overwhelming, nicer version of Forever 21. Then, we all ate at a traditional fish and chips diner that Clark picked out for us. It was incredibly good! Of course, fish was off the menu for me, so I ended up with a huge plate of chips and a chocolate milkshake. No complaints here 🙂
We left London early the next morning. I loved that city! We all agreed that out of everywhere we’ve visited so far, we could definitely see ourselves actually living in London. The people were so friendly- it felt like we were back in the South! Except for, you know, the British accents. I was so glad that I got to do everything I wanted to do (and more!) in London…it was most definitely a dream-deliverer! 🙂
On our way home, we had a 4 hour layover in Brussels, Belgium, which meant that we got to explore that city a little bit as well! So I suppose my title for this blog post is a little misleading…but we only spent enough time there to buy a Belgian waffle (to die for). We got back to Vienna the next morning at 9 a.m. after 26 hours of traveling.
There you go! That is the full story of my fall break. The two weeks of constantly being on the go were definitely draining, but I wouldn’t trade them for the world. The sights I saw in Italy, France, and London were unmatched by anything previous, and the fun I had was priceless!
Now it’s only 22 days until I come home. Can you even believe it?! Two more weekends of travel and then we’ll all be gearing up to head back to our homeland! Can’t wait to see each and every one of you again! As always, you bless me beyond belief. Thanks for reading and for keeping up with my crazy stories!
It's Been a Real Slice 