Roma, Parte Due

Here are some photos of the rest of our time in Roma!

Spanish Steps, here we met a nice Canadian lady and her husband

Loved this tunnel!

The Trevi Fountain was PACKED at night, but it's seriously the better way to see it.

Bocca Della Verita, a la Roman Holiday <3

After reading Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, I wish we had gone in!!!!

See? Like I said, not as nice in the day...

The view of Piazza del Poppolo from Villa Borghese park.

Sweet rollerbladers.

Loving life

Selfie.

Loving the busts (no pun intended)

The Vatican is beautiful.

Matisse <3

Not allowed, but I managed a non-flash photo of the Sistine Chapel.

Swiss guards: Love their outfits.

Citta Del Vaticano

Castel Sant'Angelo

Nice view of the Vatican St. Peter's Dome

It was 15 Euros to get in without a student ID, 7,50 with one. Again, as for the Colosseum, people try to sell you tickets to cut the line. Not necessary, we waited only about half and hour when they claimed the line would be 2 hours. Save yourself some money =]

We enjoyed Rome, but prepare to spend some money. I don't know for sure if it's the Mafia responsible, but everything has an extra charge. Hostels have a "Rome city tax" not included in your rate...Sit down in a restaurant in the blazing heat, be prepared to pay 3,50 for a drink, 5 euro for a piece of meat ( order a hamburger and don't get a bun or anything, literally JUST the meat) other than that, it's a nice place. We were there for 4-ish days and felt it was adequate. There are so many tourists there that most people speak English. If you're from Australia, buy your English language books here as they are less than half the price!

Next, we were off to Bari to catch the Ferry to Patras, in Greece!!!

Paris Je T'aime, Part 2

Here are some more photos from our time in Paris!

We did the Catacombes, which I have wanted to do for many many years, and finally did. It is probably the coolest place I have EVER been to! It's thousands of bones, deep underground, as well as scultpures, wells, and tombs. It's not very expensive (8 euro for adults, under 26 4 Euro). The employees are nice, but make SURE you show up well before their 5pm closing time, as the last group allowed in is at 4pm, and there is always a line. We got there in the pouring rain in the middle of the week and waited over an hour and a half, not sure if we would make it in. Luckily, we did, and it was well worth the wait in the cold rain! To get here, take Metro line 6 to Denfert Rochereau, Line 4 Denfert Rochereau, or the RER B toward Robinson OR Saint-Remi Les Chevreuse to Denfert Rochereau. It's ON the Roundabout, and the entrance faces a big Lion Statue. Here are some photos:

It's a well!

Lots of Tunnels

Stop: This is the Empire of Death

Jolly Roger and I

Stoked, as usual haha

Talking and drinking with my Uncle at an awesome restaurant in Paris

Dave's first experience with Escargots!

 Notre Dame is a lovely place to visit. This is also free, unless you want to go up to the top. Honestly, the only place I want to pay to go "up" and see a nice view is the Eiffel Tower. Anyway, to Get to Notre Dame, You take the RER B to St-Michel Notre Dame.

Notre Dame de Paris, loving the weather that day, makes for a dramatic scene!

 To get to la Grande Arche de La Defense, take the RER A Toward Cergy, Poissy, or St. Germain en Laye to La Defense. There are a couple of Malls (aka Shopping Centers) in the station at that stop if you are looking to do some shopping while in Paris, although I recommend Champs Elysees or Les Galleries Lafayette for shopping.

La Grande Arche de La Defense

We found a big Thumb!

Those of you reading that know me, know that I have a special place in my heart for Disneyland. So, naturally, I went to Disneyland Paris for the first time, as well as the park next door, Walt Disney Studios. This was SO fun!!! The roller coasters are faster, and there are more rides with loops, which I have grown to love. Honestly, It's a must-do in Paris! Take the RER A to Marne-La Vallee, which is the stop ONLY for Disneyland, so it's easy to find =]

Showing the La love in front of the Eiffel Tower. To get here, take the Metro line 6 to Bir Hakeim, or RER line C to Chamos de Mars Tour Eiffel. To go up, it cost us 13 Euros Each to get all the way up to the top by Elevator. I'm afraid of heights, to There was no way I was going to take the stairs! I can't remember for sure, but there may have been a student discount or under 25 discount. Be sure to go a little bit before sundown, because seeing it twinkle every hour on the hour at night is a MUST.

I'm silly, I know.

I want to mention that I saw My Theatre Teacher from Elementary school twice along with her partner twice, but somehow forgot to take photos BOTH times!! How silly of me. We were just having too much fun! We went to a show the first time, and had a drink in a Pub the second. I have known Caroline since I was a little girl, and I'm so glad we have kept in touch over all this time. She is such a fun person! We look forward to seeing them both again when we return, and this time I promise we will take photos! Thanks again Caroline!

We also got to see a girl I used to babysit, Simone. I feel so old seeing her at 18 years old! She's doing an internship in Paris and going to an Ivy League school, I couldn't be more proud of her! We also forgot to take pictures because we only saw each other for about half an hour for a quick lunch. It was great to catch up though!

After 2 weeks in Paris, we were off to Nice from the Orly Airport to Cote D'azur Airport to hang out with our Buddy Alex!

Beijing

This is the last leg of our China Trip. We met some super nice people at Woodward, Expecially Max and the Woodward Crew, thanks guys! We had some hot pot dinner ( which I have grown to LOVE). We did have ONE incident in a Muslim restaurant where we though we were going to be poisoned or something...They were asking us where we were from, if we were Muslim, etc. We thought they might not want to serve us, but eventually they asked us our order again and we just waited, fearfully, for half an hour...seeing pictures and drawings of menacing looking men on the walls... It was strange, but we didn't get sick or anything thankfully! Anyway, Here are some photos for you!

Inside of Woodward Beijing

Loving when it's Chinese AND English

New friends!

We made the Wall of Fame!

Next we stayed at the Beijing Heyuan Youth Hostel. It was very modern in the room, but traditional outside. There was a pond next to our room, I loved it!

On the Cable Car going up the Great Wall!

Tobogganing down!

Cable Cars

My honey and I at Tower 2 I think it was? Too bad it wasn't a very clear day.

We ate at this restaurant near our hostel, it was delicious and the menu was in English!

Pond next to our room

Entrance to The Forbidden City

Overall I truly enjoyed China and look forward to visiting again one day. I definitely want to go back to Hong Kong, and Shanghai. Thank again to EVERYONE in China who helped us out. Shocker Dudes ( Karl, Bob, Travis, and Yuen) in HK, George, Jason, and Ronron in Shanghai, Ping in Chengdu, and Max and the crew at Woodward Beijing!