Just a Few Pictures from Europe!

As I promised, here is a post about my Europe trip! It all started on July 25 at the JFK Airport in New York! We flew Lufthansa to Frankfurt, Germany and then to Venice! Getting to Venice was the best feeling ever. It was gorgeous and just so exciting to be there. We stayed at the Bauers Il Palazzo and it was gorgeous. The hotel was in a hundreds year old building right on the main canal and was very antique-y. The bathrooms were marble and gold and the rooms had huge chandeliers along with gorgeous bedding. It was definite five star status! After a couple of days, we boarded the Ruby Princess and set sail for Athens, Greece. Athens was actually my least favorite place on the cruise. The ruins we saw were amazing, but the city itself was dirty and just not very pretty. After Athens was Kusadasi, Turkey. In Kusadasi, we saw the House of the Virgin Mary, this was the house that the Virgin Mary died in. I have to say, it was pretty swanky for the times! Kusadasi is considered a resort town in Turkey, so the beaches are absolutely gorgeous and I could totally vacation there. Next was Istanbul, Turkey. Here we visited the Blue Mosque, which I learned is only what the tourists call it since the inside is blue. We also went to a bazaar, which is a similar to a shopping mall. Istanbul was the only place it rained, and by that it was only a 20 minute storm! After Istanbul, we had an at sea day, which was very relaxing. Next stop: Mykonos, Greece! Mykonos is a gorgeous resort town with all white houses. When you see pictures of Greece, this is what you see. It was absolutely gorgeous!! Next was the rest of the Italian part of the trip! We went to Naples, Florence, and Rome. Naples (or Napoli in Italian) was gorgeous, we visited Sorrento and instantly fell in love. Here we saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa, which was absolutely fascinating. Florence (or Firenze in Italian) is known for leather, so it only felt right that we visited a leather factory. We also saw the Statue of David, which was very detailed to say the least. Next up was Rome (or Roma in Italian), here we saw the Colosseum, St. Peter's Basilica, and the Pantheon. The Colosseum was something else, the way that the Romans have restored it over the years was absolutely phenomenal. Next up was Monte Carlo, Monaco. Monaco is the smallest state in the world next to the Vatican. Monaco is also extremely wealthy, a house where I live that would cost $800,000 would be about $12,000,000 in Monaco. Monaco is basically filled with a lot of extremely wealthy people and the royals (ohhh Grace Kelly)! While there we took a tour of the palace and it was absolutely amazing! After Monaco we sailed to our final docking place, Barcelona, Spain. Here my family extended our vacation for three days. We stayed at the Pullman Barcelona Skipper and it was just as nice as the Venice hotel, but a lot more modern. While in Barcelona, we learned that the city was modernized and transformed for the 1992 summer olympic games. Before then, the beach and city were separated by huge walls, now you can do some shopping and then walk five minutes to the beach! While there we relaxed, we did a little bit of touring, but we mostly did some shopping and went to the beach and pool. I fell in love with Barcelona and did not want to leave. I still wake up every morning wishing I was there. On August 13, we made our trek back to the United States. We flew from Barcelona to Frankfurt and then back to JFK. Here are just a few pictures to summarize my trip!

My sister and I waiting for the flight to Frankfurt!

Posing in St. Mark's Square (Piazza San Marco) in Venice (Venezia)!

Waiting for a water bus in Venice!

Having fun wine tasting with my sister!

All ready to board the cruise ship!

Just one picture of the gorgeous bathroom at our Venice hotel.

Bellini time in Venice!

The Chanel bag I bought at the bazaar in Istanbul!

The gorgeous white houses in Mykonos!

Photo-Op time in Mykonos!

My name in Greek!

The coast of Naples!

Leaning Tower of Pisa!

Dinner one night :)

The colosseum in Rome!

Sistine Chapel in Rome

Gorgeous Monaco!!!!

Beach day in Barcelona!

Shopping in Barcelona!

The trip was absolutely amazing and now I am seriously thinking of either studying abroad or moving there for a year after school. I would most likely go somewhere in Italy for both! Have any of you traveled to Europe, if so, where?