After visiting friends and family in San Diego, Phoenix and New York- Dan and I took the long way home and stopped by Europe for a quick 10 day trip passed some of our favorite places and the chance to check out a few new ones.
Our first stop was in Paris. We stayed in an amazing apartment that we rented of Air bnb. It belonged to a girl around our age and she has the best little flat with a view of the Eiffel Tour outside her window. It was in a traditional Paris building and the lift only held one of us and maybe a backpack, so bringing our luggage up the 6 flights of winding stairs was a bit of a mission.
The view walking to our apartment after we got off the metro
One of the million photos I took of the tour sparkling
The little street we lived on
Local Market on Rue Cler
Mulled wine (and one of the MILLION photos Dan and I took of ourselves... the negative in traveling with only the two of us :) )
Our tiny Paris apartment
Best part of being in Paris? Meeting up with Kelly, Mauricio, Rick and Paula for NYE at the tour! it was so great to see some of our closest friends on the other side of the world to ring in 2014 right!
NYE
O'Brien/Estrada Parisian NYE
O'Brien/Estrada/Rogers Parisian NYE!
This one is a funny story..
Leave it to Dan to take us to the only Irish pub in Paris.. #ginger
After we were done posing as Parisians, we took a little road trip down the to Chateau that Dan used to live at when working for Contiki. We were lucky enough to get let in since Dan's VIP and I got the private tour of the estate. It was an amazing house in an amazing France countryside equipped with old people, vineyards, rolling hills, and sleepy houses. Definitely worth the stop.
The Chateau
Selfie #6,452
winery across the street from the Chateau
After visiting the Chateau we spent the night in Chambery, France to then catch a train to Milan the next morning.
Chambery
Milan was super cold and super rainy, but Dan had never been there so it was nice for him to see.
Dan's first Italian coffee of the trip (1 of many and the main reason we went to Italy i think..)
PASTA!
Beautiful Milano
After Milan we took a train to Florence to get out of the rain and for me to get a chance to see Florence the way Dan sees it.
We rented an apartment in Florence that was in the best location and had an amazing rooftop balcony. Next time we want to go back in the summer and invite all of our friends.
Seeing Florence the way Dan sees it and experiencing all he had when he lived there was really great. I personally fell in love with Florence this trip, and can't wait to go back and spend more time there.
the view from our rooftop deck
our amazing apartment
selfie strikes again
We got ripped off.. this gelato cost us like $20 USD.. so it gets a photo so we feel we're still getting our money's worth... it was good.. but SO expensive.. don't worry, we later found cheaper options
Rooftop sunset
One of the most special moments of the trip was meeting Franco, a dear friend of Dan's that lives in Florence. Franco runs a bar where the Contiki groups go and so Dan worked closely with Franco when he lived in Florence. He was a beautiful man and I feel really lucky to have met him.
Dan forced me to go past where the Jersey Shore crew lived when they were in Florence.. oh Dan, you're reality TV obsession is really something to worry about... (Disclaimer- not all of this caption is true)
After a few days in Florence we took a drive to the hills of Tuscany to spend check out the vinyards and the hills of Tuscany that both Dan and I have dreamed about. We had a great night in the country and then took off to Venice the next day.
Dan has often spoken about this place in the Chianti region where you get a wine credit card and can go sample wines... i thought he was making it up from some obscure dream.. i was wrong, this was it. Logan and Daniel- if you read this... you would LOVE this place.. would love to go back with you guys.
Greve, in Chianti
Tuscany hills
we got a Fiat as a rental.. so fitting (well 'fitting' might be the wrong term)..
Venice is special to Dan and I since we first sort of decided we kinda sorta liked each other last time we were in Venice :)
we splurged for our final night in Europe and this was our Venice hotel
View from our window
View of the bridge of sighs from our window
I was 'that American' that ordered the American pizza with french fries on it.. it was gross.
Dan in his old stomping grounds
We have close to this exact same photo from almost 5 years ago..
It was great to go back and just roam around all the spots we first roamed as a happy soon to be couple.
Overall we had an amazing trip in Europe and are already planning our next trip back... well maybe dreaming is a better word than planning.
Until Next Time...
