Our European babymoon

This post is a couple of months late, but better late than never!

 Adam and I spent 2.5 weeks in wonderful Europe (first time for both of us) over Christmas and New Years. It was the first vacation we'd been on (longer than three days) for just the two of us since our honeymoon. What a wonderful time we had! Now, we weren't planning on it being a "babymoon" but we had a little one with different plans. It actually worked out fine because I was sick with first trimester sicklyness...and Adam had a nasty cold the ENTIRE time we were in Europe. But, being that we both weren't feeling the best, neither one of us minded if we slept in, went back to the hotel for an afternoon nap, or called it an early night. We slowed our pace, and really appreciated just being our sick selves together.

Here are some things we learned...and enjoyed...while on our trip (picture explosion to follow):

 First stop...LONDON, UK

 

 Top row:

 -Loved our cool hotel room

-It was cold cold! Pretty much every picture of us had us looking the same (scarves, hats, multiple coats, gloves, and though you can't see them we were wearing thermals)...and we were still cold

-"Tidy Thames" on the dirty Thames, with the Tower of London in the background

-The London Tower Bridge (loved the blue color)

Middle row:

-The Tower of London

-Infamous "Traitor's Gate" at the Tower of London...don't get caught in this building during the middle ages...I'm just sayin'

-We thought this bird had the best seat in the city

-WARNING: DO NOT OPEN THE TELEPHONE BOOTH TO SAVE YOUR LIFE...EVEN IF YOU'RE A BRITISH SUPERMAN!! I thought it would be great to get a picture of me inside...BIG MISTAKE! It smelled like...feet wrapped in leathery burnt bacon. *gag reflex reflexed* 

Bottom row:

-Eclectic architecture

-Mary Poppins lied to us...there were no birds to feed at Saint Paul's Cathedral...just tourists.

-Saw this on the side of a bank. Brought back memories of Morocco for Adam.
-Cool fire escape door at hour hotel
-Visited the ridiculously over the top, Harrods department store

My brain would always add an "i" in the space when I looked at these signs. At least I got some giggles in...

GO SEE Les Miserable while you're in London (even if you've seen it before). It was AMAZING! The stage production was so compelling and this was a highlight of our trip. Sing, Jean Valjean, sing.

A two hour bus ride from London to Plymouth, then a 5.5 hour ferry ride to Normandy later...Second stop...CAEN, FRANCE (said like can..but more Ka + han (as in hand)...yah I struggled with it)

 We took a day tour through the Caen Memorial Museum  to tour the sites of the WWII D-Day invasion of Normandy, France. An amazing experience. 

Caen sunrise on a cold cold day

Top row:

-This was a large poster in the museum that showed what the city of Caen looked like after WWII - 80% of the city was destroyed, so devastating!
-A German bunker cut into the hill on the coast looking over the coast line.
-Some bunkers had relatively well preserved German guns. Our tour guide said that these guys could shoot up to 14 miles away. Yikes!
Middle row:
-Driving through the Normandy countryside. I'll take that chateau please...
-We stopped at the American War Cemetery...this was hallowed ground. You could not help being moved to tears seeing the evidence of such great sacrifice.
-There were so many of these grave markers..."Here rests in honored glory a comrade in arms known but to God"...*tears*
Bottom row:
-This statue represented all of the young men who died in the waters off the coast of Normandy, and how they were being taken up to heaven.

-Such a beautiful monument
- "Bloody Omaha Beach" - Our tour guide told us how during the summer this beach is spotted with children playing in the sand, beach towels and colorful umbrellas. There was a US war veteran who came back to Normandy for the anniversary of the D-Day invasion and someone had asked him how he felt looking out upon the children building sandcastles on ground that was once littered with the blood and bodies of his comrades. The veteran teared up and said that that was why they fought in the first place - for freedom.
-Caen sunset at the end of a cold cold day

This was in our hotel room in Caen...in case you couldn't tell what the purpose of the room was.

 A two hour train ride later, we made it to PARIS, FRANCE

Top row 
-Artisan breads

-Lovely doors!
-cool churches everywhere
 -Searching for the Hunchback at Notre Dame
Middle row
-Hoping to find the Phantom at the Opera
 -Stained glass at Notre Dame Cathedral
 -The Eiffel Tower
-Escargot, anyone?
Bottom row
-Cheese the size of my torso
-The Eiffel tower from far away, and underneath
-Mopeds everywhere...but some were cooler than others
                      

 Notre Dame - Instead of Quasimodo we found a gargoyle munching on a poor unfortunate creature...disturbing to say the least.

Oh, to be a tourist

After Paris we spent out New Years Eve 2010/2011 on a 12 hour overnight train to VENICE, ITALY

We thought our train would be like this:

Sapa Eden

Expedition yacht

...but the reality was a shoebox we could barely fit out luggage into

 But despite the cramped space, it was worth it getting to Venice

Top row

-A gondola through the canals

-Church of San Barnaba, you might recognize this as the "library" from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

-Narrow narrow walkways

Bottom row

-More canals (there are a lot of them...)

-This was an emergency pull in our hotel shower...I was terrified I'd accidentally hit it and cause the police to storm in

-Looking down at the canal view from our hotel

Venice is always portrayed as a quaint gem in all the movies, and we were really surprised by how much graffiti littered EVERY wall. They must spend hours in the editing rooms to preserve that image.

Saying goodbye to Venice, we rode the train three hours to ROME, ITALY

 Top row:
-Pictures of at the Roman Forum (or town center of the ancient Roman empire)
Middle row:
-The Coliseum (outside and inside)
-Amazing architecture
Bottom row:
-Look at those pillars! Can you even imagine the structure that used to be here?
-An ancient Egyptian obelisk dating back to 10 A.D....just in the middle of a piazza...
-Us overlooking Rome
-Adam being like the mummies we saw at the Vatican (dedicated to our nephew David)
 -This was a sculpture at the Vatican that made us laugh. Ugly, no?! Adam's convinced that the man who sculpted this was soon put to death after the man who commissioned it made saw what "artistic license" the sculptor took
-Loved this old Roman door...wish it could have fit in my luggage


Europe, it was fun. But we were definitely glad to be heading home after 2.5 weeks. Things we missed from the USA:

...sleeping in our own bed

...being served water without having to pay (a million euro) for it (pic)

 ...getting service at a restaurant before we expired (pic)

...and the NO SMOKING laws. Europeans must have missed the memo that smoking is bad, horrible, KILLS you. (pic)

Until next time!