In the spring of 2018, my family and I decided to take a trip to Europe for a couple weeks. We spent a majority of our vacation exploring beautiful cities in Italy. First, we stopped at Rome. We stayed in the tiniest AirBnB but I didn't mind because I was determined to live my best Lizzie McGuire life. Luckily our place was in walking distance to many of the tourist spots. All in one day, we toured the Vatican, sat on the Spanish Steps and ended our night throwing coins in the Trevi Fountain. The next day, we drove to The Colosseum. Nobody warned me how many steps I would be climbing that day, but I decided to wear heeled boots and it was the worst decision of my life. Nevertheless, I had to push through the pain just so I could get that iconic Lizzie picture. We spent the next day chasing trains to make our way to the next stop: Venice. I immediately fell in love with this place. We arrived just before sundown, so the sun was setting on the water and made color of the houses turn warm. I sat on the patio of our AirBnB for a few minutes to admire the scenery and we headed out into town for dinner. The next day, my family and I went on a boat tour to Burano, a town known for its lace making and Murano, another town in Venice known for glass making. At the end of our day, we stopped by a local sandwich shop to grab some food. We also got gelato for dessert! We hopped on the boat and went through the Rialto Bridge and made our way back to our home.
We packed our things and headed for the station where our next adventure began. Trains were such a common way of transportation in Europe. We rode a panoramic train ride called the Bernina Express. It was a bright red train with windows that went all the way up to the ceiling so you could see the view. The train went from Tirano, Italy and went through the Swiss Alps to get to Chur, Switzerland. The whole ride was about 4 hours. It felt like I was in the movies, Polar Express and Harry Potter. The views would change from bright green valleys, to forests with extremely tall trees and then snowy mountains with a few people hiking. We arrived at Chur, but we had to catch another train to Zurich. It was a quiet city and it was pretty cold and gloomy during our visit. We stayed there for a few days walking through the city, we even visited the Lindt Chocolate Factory! Our time in Switzerland was short and sweet and it was on to the next country!
Paris, baby! Truthfully, arriving in Paris was pretty anti-climactic. It was SO cold and gloomy when we got there that there were barely any people touring the Eiffel Tower! I feel like the experience could've been better if we had visited during the summertime. My family and I joined a bus tour so we could go sightseeing! Even though it was cold that day, I decided to sit on the second floor of the bus since it was a double decker. The host provided us with headphones that connected to the seats so we could hear the guided tour. After sight-seeing, we roamed through the busy streets and stopped for some crepes, which I had to scarf down immediately because we were going to be late for our train ride home. The last day in Paris, we visited the Louvre, where many famous pieces of art are kept like: the Mona Lisa or Venus de Milo.