Home Again Home Again Jiggidy Jig

This trip has been an unforgettable experience and has changed me in ways I can already see and I know many ways I am unaware of. I can only begin to express my gratitude and appreciation for the opportunity to travel to so many countries fresh out of university. I do need to mention that this trip would not have been possible without the help of my grandfather who passed away only 2 years ago this fall. With his passing I recieved a small inheritance that I used for this trip. My grandfather and I were never very close and rarely saw I to I but I know he was very proud of me and this trip was the greatest gift he ever could have given me. **Thank-you Grandpa - you are missed everyday**

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In my final night in Rome I wanted nothing more than to experience one last flavour, purchase one last useless souvenir, gawk at another magnificent building that I had no idea what it was. My goal that final night and each and every night that came before that was to live in each moment. My best experiences on this trip have been the moments where I stopped and I acknowledged 100% everything around me. I would smell the crisp air; I would acknowledge the feeling of being engulfed by a humid and sticky cloud; The little droplets of sweat would drip down my face; I would smell the trees or crops or fresh ocean air. I could see for miles and each landscape would speak to me in a new way but never cease to amaze me. In the cities it was no different, the sounds of the moto horns would carry through the streets, the crow of the morning rooster would never fail to wake me (yes their were roosters in the city - Siem Reap is the most vivid in my memory), and the varied architecture was uniquely produced by each community and culture. The simplicity of life, in Asia in particular, is something I aspire to bring into my life and to appreciate the small things.

First of all leaving Asia and coming to Europe was an extremely difficult time for me. Some may have noticed and some maybe not. I had many people waiting for me in Europe - so many friends from home, yet I felt like I was leaving my home when I left Asia. The culture shock I felt hitting Ireland a month ago is difficult to put into words. Everything was different! People drove in cars and obeyed most traffic laws. Every toilet was a western style toilet - what, no more bum gun! Then the expense of things took the air our my lungs and the jingle out of my pocket. Food was completely opposite as it was extremely rich and heavy- potatoes were the staple in Ireland where as Asian food is much lighter with rice in every dish. Clothes! Everyone looked so nice and put together - I had to start doing my hair again, putting on make-up to even feel comfortable around people. Oh and the amount of daylight in Europe took me for a loop. In Asia you have daylight from 6am-6pm (give or take) then I jump over to Northern Europe in peak summer where it stays light out until 10:30pm!! I could never gauge what time it was. There were just so many little things that no one would think were be that different but were such big changes for me. That doesnt even touch on the fact that I was leaving a place I felt such a connection too.

It is very interesting to reflect on the connection I felt to places over time and how they changed. When I left the anxiety I felt over the length of my trip was immense and I struggled with it but knew I just needed to take each day one at a time and experience everything I could. When I hit the half way point of my trip I was in Vietnam - as we know Vietnam was a roller coaster of emotions for me- and it was at this point that I realized I had less time ahead of me to travel and my departure home was quickly approaching. I wasn't ready to go home. It was also at this point where I was beginning to feel incredibly distant from friends and family back home. I had tried to maintain contact with them through facebook and emails but responses became fewer and communication faltered. This was something I struggled with but I could not let myself dwell on it for long because I wasnt going to let others negatively impact my experiences from half way across the world. So as I felt I was losing my connections with people back home I was putting more into the relationships I was building in Vietnam- I built a family there. This was also a contributing factor as to why it was a difficult transition for me coming to Europe. When I saw all my friends in Scotland for the best wedding ever ;) I still felt that disconnect that I could not explain or articulate to people. I could see that none of them had changed and they treated me like I never left, which was great... but they also treated me like I never went anywhere- meaning there was a very limited interest in my time away which I struggled with. But as I have been told the trip was not for anyone else but myself and I know that now more than ever and I plan to embrace every memory. It was during the final hours on that long flight home, and as untrue as it is, I felt like I had no one to come home too. It was one of the moments where I felt most alone during this entire trip... My anxiety levels were probably on par with the anxiety I felt leaving Calgary 5 and a half months ago. I had come full circle. Canada is my home yet I didn't necessarily feel like I was home. Its weird to think that I need to adjust back to my "regular" life. I felt extremely anxious I have no direction for my life. What I want is to continue to travel and see so many of the incredible things in this world.

To express what I have learned and what I will take with me into my everyday life is hard to tell. The person I am while travelling is the person I love. A person searching for something new each day. A person growing from the daily challenges and struggles of the unknown. A person who must be content with not knowing what tomorrow will bring. A person who embraces the moment with every cell in her body. A person full of patience. A person with unlimited tolerance. A person with an appreciation for everything in front of her. A person that is ok with not knowing what her future may hold because each day in a new day - its not something you can plan or control but something that you can only guide. People say you can take these things home with you but it is so much more difficult than anyone can imagine when you are surrounded by conflicitng entities that threaten this at every turn. While travelling you are surrounded by people who share the same thoughts, the same feelings, and are experiencing the sames things while sharing that love for travel and exploration. Home is much more...basic, follows a routine. It's different.

All I can ask from my supportive and incredible loving friends and family is to be patient with me. I am still trying to find my place in this world and right now my compass in reeling in every possible direction....

The Final Days

Our final days in Italy were in a beautiful and tiny little town called the Greve (pronounced Gray vÉ) in Chianti. This region in known for their red wine - mama steps was in Heavan! The wine is stamped with a "gallo nero" or Black rooster to distinguish it from other regions of Italy. Now before I dive into the vino talk first I haaaave to describe the amazing location of this town.

We ended up staying at an organic winery up in the hills about a 10 minute walk from town. The views from this place were phenomenal. The rolling hills surrounding around us were full of vineyards, lined with endless rows of grapes as far as the eye could see. It almost didn't seem real. I could tell by the awe-struck look on my mom's face how gorgeous and unbelieveable she found this place. It was like something out of a very sophisticated fairytale.

Us ladies had two hikes planned for our two days in Greve... yeah we made it through about half of one haha. We started off on our first hike with me dragging my ass and a huge lack of motivation (all that bread, wine, and pasta were starting to take its toll on me). Of course the views were magnificent so I pushed myself to go. When we reached a small little castle over-looking the smalll town below we made a short pit-stop to have a little snack and some water. This was a bad idea because then our sense of direction was flipped and our hiking directions set us off in the wrong direction. We probably walked for a solid 30 minutes before giving up and saying "We cannot find this path, we should go back." Once we got back to the castle we looked at the directions again to see if they made more sense... low and behold there was a pathway leading down into the valley beside the castle!! This was the way we were supposed to go. But we were getting tired so we opted to head back to town - which was still a 7km walk round trip.

Next day - Wine tour :)
Now many of the vineyards and wineries are miles from Chianti and without a car we could not reach them. But luckily there was a winery in the town of Chianti, which was only the biggest winery in Italy with over 150 different wines! They had a pretty technical way of setting up their tastings where each guest buys a make-shift "debit card" where you add 10-25 Euros. Then throughout the winery there are stands holding 18 bottles of wine. The stand is divided into two sides with each side controlled by a debit slot. You slip your card in the slot, pick a wine and you can choose if you would like a 1,2, or 3 ounce taste. Each taste or ounce varies in cost depending how much the bottle of wine costs. The once ounce samples ranged from 0.50 to 9.00 Euros! Crazy right! So my mom and I made it through three 10 Euro debit cards - we needed to make sure we liked the wine we were purchasing, so we needed to taste those wines more than once :P Then to make this experience even better they served us two cheese and meat platters to go along with our tasting....Mmmmm! I have never been a huge cheese fan or a salami fan but this sh*t was good!

Then we had to say goodbye to Chianti and we set off for Pienza before ending up in Rome for our last night before our departure back to Canada. Pienza was in yet a different province in Italy called Siena and this area was again beautiful. I thought it was incredible and more magnificent than the Chianti region. This area is worth a Google images search - Pienza. The patchwork crops (similar to home) went on forever with tall cyprus trees distinguishing the driveways in the long open fields. The colours were extremely full, vibrant and rich in nature. Finally we had to catch our last train back to Rome for our last Italian meal and our last gelato (sad panda) - but incredibly delicious!

The final plane ride of this trip around the world felt like the longest flight ever... it did not pass by quickly. We did make it back to Canada safely though with no major setbacks and our baggage! (I was worried on my final flight my bag would get lost). Now it is time for me to settle back into a new reality back home - what a change it will be.

The Emperor Hot Spot, the Origin of Pizza, and the Historical Centre

The island of Capri and the Historical and Cultural centres of Naples and Florence 

So it's been a few days and of course lots has happened but ill try and be brief. The island of Capri was incredibly beautiful just like the Amalfi coast. The island was once a holiday destination for one of the Roman emperors- Emperor Tiberius. We spent two days here and unfortunately it rained one of the 2 days. Our first day was spent struggling to find our hotel in the hot Italian heat-we didn't take the time to find the local porters who would have taken our baggage up to our hotel so we struggled with our bags while trying to read maps and road signs- not much fun. 

Once we were settled though we received loads of info from the concierge man at the front desk and we took off to the other side of the island called Anacapri where there is a chairlift going up to some amazing views. This was definately worth it, then we toured the town a bit and found our first pair of Italian shoes! :) my mama was pretty excited they had size 5s. The following day was the day of rain. We had a hike scheduled but opted out due to unfortunate weather so we had a bit of time on our hands. We chose to bus it over near the Blue Grotto which is a small cave in the side of the island. The water shines in and lights up the water to a magnificent highlighter blue, though with the cloudy skies it wasn't quite as bright. But we did get our 24 Euro picture inside the cave. Yeeeeah... They charged us an 8€ entry fee plus a 4€ government tax- this was a pretty expensive 10 minute boat ride in and out of the cave. But it was cool all the same, I guess back in the day the cave was used by the Romans as a special bath, at another point it was believed to be haunted. 

Off to Naples via ferry! The origin of Pizza! 

I loved Naples. We only had one day there before heading off to Florence but this city had such an amazing character and so much life to it. When our transfer picked us up from the ferry we drove through the run down and grungy streets absolutely covered in graffiti. It didn't matter where, it could have been a historical statue, a museum, a dark side street, it was covered in graffiti. The streets were lined with endless apartments, laundry hanging down from balconies, signs for restaurants or churches- the streets were full and so narrow. My mom and I roamed the streets and did some more shopping- Naples had some amazing sales while we were there so yep we bought some more shoes :):) Naples is often described as intimidating due to the chaos and high volumes of people but I felt right at home in that city- maybe it took me back to Asia. Then of course we had to have pizza in the city it originated in!! Soooooo good :) 

I do have to mention our hotel- pretty wicked little place buuuut it was a gated hotel. This tells you a bit about Naples and that it can be a bit more of a rough and tough city. This place is where you are most likely to get pickpocketed- especially during awesome street dancer shows in the streets:) we saw some kids break dancing and doing some killer moves after our dinner- gah it was so cool!! 

Next day- Florence via Train! The city of the Renaissance 

The trains take a lot out of my mama. We don't have any sort of convenient train system back home so it's quite foreign for her. The stations are busy and crowded and there is no one around to help us with our heavy heavy bags. Luckily I can put mine on my back so I can step up the large steps onto the train- my mom isn't so lucky with the suitcase half the size of her... Once on the train though it was quite an enjoyable ride. unfortunately though our driver was not there to pick us up to take us to our hotel- #firstworldproblems

We were a bit tired by the time we were settled in our hotel and we only had the evening there before heading off to Chianti the following day so we did a small bit of touring in the city centre before enjoying one of the best meals in Italy yet- but of course we ate until we were about to burst!! Florence was a pretty cool city, and was in stark contrast to Naples with a classic and historical feel to it. This was my first impression anyway as we spent less than 24 hours there. 

Now we are in Chianti- wine country!! Like we need encouragement to drink Vino ;) 

Amalfi- The Blue Illusion

The Amalfi coast is one true wonder of the world. This area is beyond beautiful with its lengthy coastline, rustic cliff-hanging homes, windy one lane roads and exhibits the blue Mediterranean as far as the eye can see. We have been extremely lucky with the weather here with not a cloud in the sky. The ocean and the sky blend in to one another making it look like an optical illusion. Our two beautiful hikes we did from Amalfi allowed us to see all of these magnificent views from the highest points on the islands as well as visit many of the coastal towns. 

Our first stop was the town of Ravello which was about a 25 min bus ride full of twists and turns as we gained elevation up the coastal hills. In this cute little town we took the time to visit the Villa Cimbrone. This villa consisted of some spectacular views from the "Terrace of Infinity;" gardens full of oak trees,  flowers and shapely bushes; beautiful marble sculptures; as well as bronze statues wonderfully tarnished to a beautiful teal green. Now it wouldn't compare to the gardens of Versailles in France but Mama Steps was in her glory and the views were beyond comparable. 

From these beautiful gardens we departed on our first hike. Of course we were confused and slightly lost from the get go haha. Our hike took us about 4 hours taking us through lemon groves which covered the hillsides and then the path of the mills, full of very old paper mills which were once powered by the nearby stream. These paper mills were one of the first places paper was printed in European history, so you can imagine how old they were. Many of the walls were almost overgrown by vegetation and none of them were sheltered by a roof. There were many times where our instructions left us confused and we weren't sure if we were still heading in the right direction and like Pompeii some dark clouds were rolling in- this made us pretty nervous. As usual though it all turned out fine and we ended up in Amalfi right where they said we would. 

The next day, awoken in the early hours by the nearby church bells, we were sporting some sore muscles. We had a relaxing breakfast on our rooftop terrace with a gorgeous view (again we are spoiled) We opted out of our planned 13km hike up to a nature reserve in Scala and instead decided to explore the nearby towns of Minori and Maiori, with a short walk connecting the two. We enjoyed some delicious gelato and walked the boardwalk before catching the local bus back to Amalfi. Now, the buses! I have been on some crazy bus rides in my time and this one is definitely up there as an experience haha. The roads are quite narrow on the Amalfi coast and the buses would be the same size as city buses back home or the city buses in Vietnam- for those of you reading from around the world :). The roads are FULL of narrow hairpin turns and I did not think it was physically possible for these buses to make it around these narrow points, but they did. At one point we met another bus head on from the other direction and our bus driver had to back the bus down the road at least 100-200m. This may not sound impressive but he had to manoeuvre the narrow roads, the curves of the street plus avoid any parked cars on the streets, it was very impressive. 

Day 3- The path of the Gods 

I know you must be getting tired of reading by now but I have to touch on our 3rd and last day on the Amalfi coast. We did another 3 hour hike called the Path of the gods and it had earned its name. The views again were beyond beautiful, there was not a cloud in the sky and the cliff faces were pretty amazing (nothing like the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland but these were full of green vegetation which contrasted beautifully with the never ending blue ocean waters. Our hike started from a town called Bomerano and ended in Nocelle. We were in need of a nice refreshing drink after this hike and stopped at the first little spot we could. I opted for a Fanta where my mom ordered a lemon juice. The Amalfi coast is known for its lemons- who would have known!! Anyway she thought her juice would be a nice refreshing lemonade- nope her drink was the juice of 2 whole freshly squeezed local lemons! Can you say sour or what?! The look on her face was priceless! Haha 

From here we had two options to travel down to the coastline again to a chic town called Positano-We could catch a bus or battle 1700 stairs... We opted for the lazy option and took the bus haha. So anyway we followed our instructions and walked to the end of a pedestrian pathway where we thought we could catch a bus. We saw the bus pass us going up, aaaand then pass us going down.... Shit! So we walked up the road searching for an actual bus stop. We found one and proceeded to wait almost another hour for the next bus to arrive. Right beside the bus schedule was a little ticket stand, so I bought 2 bus tickets, or what I thought were bus tickets.... My mom and I get on the bus, showed the driver our tickets and he's like that will be 1.60€ please. I was like no we bought our tickets from that stand outside.... Ya that was to pay for parking... Can you say blond moment folks! Oh we had a laugh! 

Needless to say each day has been an adventure and has had something unique about it. These crazy moments are creating memories my mom and I will share forever. We aren't always on the same page and at times get snappy at one another but she has the Visa card so I have to be nice ;) I'm just kidding!! I wouldn't want to be here sharing these beautiful places and great memories with anyone else. 

We are currently on the Island of Capri and off to Naples and Florence in the next couple days! 

Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii

Before departing for Amalfi us ladies had a full morning in Rome. We  visited the Pantheon and Piazza Navona, along with a nice walk through the old streets of Rome- of course this included some gelato ;) 

We had our transfer take us to the railway station in Rome where we set off for Amalfi. This being Mama Steps' first time in a busy railway station she was a bit intimidated- our driver pointed towards the main entrance, took our bags out of the van, and basically said have a safe trip. For me this was nothing to worry about you check a screen  and look for signs then hope for the best. Of course we figured it out and jumped on our train, which left 40 min late- I thought "western" schedules were a bit more secure, I guess not! Haha The train was quite comfortable though. We did experience a moment of confusion when we left the Naples station (one stop along our journey) The train started moving the the same direction we had just come from! My mom and I looked at each other and said "didn't we just come from this way?" Haha but it turned out the train looped around to another track in a new direction. I said to my mom that it was easy to know your stop in Asia because you just follow the group of white people haha Europe you need to pay a bit more attention! 

Once we arrived in Scalerno we had another transfer to our amazing B&B just up the mountain from the small coastal town of Cava Del Terrini. What a beautiful place this was filled with gardens in full bloom and an amazing view from the restaurant terrace. 

The following day included our ascent of Mount Vesuvius and a visit to the ruins of Pompeii, a city devastated and completely preserved by the Vesuvius eruption in 79 AD. Mount Vesuvius included a 1000m ascent up to the volcanic crater- we crushed it!  For me the volcano itself was a bit over-rated but the view of the Bay of Naples and the entire coastline was incredible. Our driver told us that if Vesuvius were to erupt today that over 1 million people would be displaced. 

Then came our visit to Pompeii. This civilization/city was first inhabited by the Greeks and then later taken over by the Romans. All the main roads ran from east to west- in the direction of Rome of course. There were market places, meeting homes, bath houses, and multiple temples. All of this was hard to discern because much of what is left is broken down walls and pillars. We needed to use our imagination to build a picture in our minds of how people lived during this time. 

Finally we needed to make our way to one of the exits. You would think this would be an easy task buuuuut turns out not so much. Between misleading maps, blocked walkways and killer cobblestone roads I didn't know if we would make it out of there. I thought I would end up spraining my ankle on the uneven roads, my mom was worried we wouldn't find our way and then to make matters just that much more difficult, and entertaining, a huge rainstorm hit! So us ladies were wandering through this ancient city trying to find our exit in a downpour of rain haha it became quite the adventure. 

Our Dinner = Italian pizza- yep! We both deserved it after today! Oh and a bit of wine for 3Euros a bottle ;) 

Reunion with Mama Steps in the Eternal City - June 27

After an extremely early morning in Paris I departed the city of love to head to Rome where I get to meet with my mama. I have been patiently awaiting this part of my trip for weeks and could not wait for it to begin. 

My arrival went down without a hitch and I made it to the hotel with time to spare to catch a quick cat nap and freshen up in our cute Romanesque hotel before the expected arrival of my mom. Unfortunately her arrival didnt Go as planned- with a delayed flight out of Calgary by over 3 hours she missed her connection to Rome. This meant another 4 hours in the Frankfurt airport before another connecting flight was arranged for her. She finally arrived in the early morning around 1:30am. I gave her the biggest hug ever and didnt want to let her go. I was so incredibly happy to see her. We talked for a solid hour and could have talked all night but with only one full day in the Eternal City we needed to make the most of it the following day and needed to get some sleep. 

First of all I need to talk about the view from our room. We were lucky enough to be placed on the 6th floor and we could see for miles. Our view consisted of  rooftop gardens of nearby apartments, St. Peter's Basilica in the distance and endless historical buildings with our garden terrace below. Then what a breakfast spread we got!! Holy there was so much food, with delicious coffee, the sweetest watermelon (which is saying something after I just spent 4 months in Asia- this watermelon was better), croissants, yogurt, cereals- so much deliciousness!! We were spoiled right off the bat, we can only hope our other B&Bs are as amazing as our first. 

With only one full day in Rome, which was also my moms birthday, we decided to have a relaxed day but also visit some historical sites. Before departing we decided to take a coffee up to our room to finish gathering our stuff for the day. We weren't sure if we were allowed to do this but did it anyway- then we got stuck in the elevator! Haha so maybe we weren't supposed to take our coffee to go and karma stepped in :P we were only stuck for maybe 5 minutes and we found it quite humorous, though if we had been stuck for longer you could get quite claustrophobic in such a small space- it was heating up fast in there! 

So after our adventurous morning with our gourmet breakfast and elevator mishaps we set off for our first historical visit- the Colossem. What an incredible building. This stadium was build in only 8 years with the labour of 40,000 slaves and at one point was completely covered in marble. It would have looked so majestic and beautiful in its time covered in marble. During the time that Rome was becoming Christianized the Church ordered a "recycling" program where the marble was stripped from the building, crushed and made into cement to build and construct churches throughout the city. Clearly that's a good use of marble, don't you think? 

The Colosseum was a source of free entertainment for the Roman people. Entertainment consisted epic battles between gladiators or slaves and ferocious animals such as tigers and lions. The arena housed anywhere between 50,000-75,000 spectators who would come cheer on their favourite gladiator and watch him fight to his death. The arena floor was wooden and covered in sand- all the better to soak up the pools of blood. Ick! 

After our quick tour of the Colossem we had a guided tour through  Palatino Hill where Rome is said to be founded. Here is where many kings and emperors built their palaces. Did you know back in Roman times an average meal would take the royal class 6-8 hours to conclude a meal?! They would lie in their beds and eat until they were so full they were almost bursting. At this point they would get up, go to the corner of the room and purge everything from their body before returning to their beds to stuff their faces with food once again. This would be repeated 3-4 times each meal- today we would classify this as an eating disorder, but then it was symbolic of power and wealth. Crazy right?! 

After this we walked through the Roman Forum- a huge area spanning a large portion of the city centre. This area was used as a market place, a religious hot spot and where many many importance political decisions were made influencing not only theRoman empire but the history of many parts of the world. It was a pretty significant spot in history. History buffs would love it! 

Of course we had to enjoy some gelato on our first day in Italy- mmmm mmmmm good! Then On our way back to the hotel we grabbed a couple half litres of wine to enjoy in our room and put our feet up before the big birthday dinner. This dinner was D-licious!! :) we ate at a small place called Crispi 19 where we enjoyed another half litre of wine each- we're in Italy we couldn't resist- plus the waiter suggested it! 

Needless to say we had a wicked first day in Italy! We are on our first train (which was supposed to leave 40min ago...) and are heading to the Amalfi coast where we will begin our hiking days! We both loved Rome and the feel of this city and of course the fresh water fountains found at every turn on the streets. This was a Pretty wicked aspect of the city, especially for me coming from Asia where water must always come in a bottle. Can't wait for more Italian times to come with my mama :):) 

Scotland and the City of Love

ScOtland ScOtland ScOtland! And the City of Love- Paris 

Being in Scotland felt like my friends and I were in a fairly tale. The landscape was majestic, the forests were so full and green- but a different green from Ireland and the small town of Dunkeld was such a cozy place to set up camp for a week. All of my friends who were able to make it to the wedding got to stay in 2 amazing homes while we were there- one was a cozy little cottage and the other an apartment. We were all extremely fortunate to have these places to stay before and after the wedding- another make-shift home away from home! 

My amazing friends Mark and Richelle got married last Friday on June 21st in Dunkeld at a GORGEOUS cathedral. The wedding was phenomenal and the bride was breath taking. The ceremony made me cry and weak in the knees. Seeing two of my friends, who have been together since high school, finally tie the knot was incredible. I surprised myself with the feelings and emotions that came over me but I was, over the top, so incredibly happy for these two. I could see the love Mark had for Richelle as she walked down that aisle and I have never seen such an incredibly large smile on Richelle's face then after she walked out of that church into the bright sunshine. They share such an amazing connection and I wish them a lifetime of happiness.

 During the ceremony the reverend said something that stuck out to me:

" There are 3 things that last forever-Faith, Hope and Love" and honestly how true this statement is. We cannot make it through our day to day life without these 3things. Faith can push us through the harder times, hope sets our horizons and love completes us. Life is beautiful when surrounded by these things :) 

PARIS 

After the amazing wedding and sharing the love of these two amazing people a bunch of my friends and I headed off to Paris! This is a city I have wanted to visit since I was 10 years old. Why? I cannot explain. The Eiffel Tower was my absolute favourite though and I fell in love with this place instantly. I was lucky enough to go up the tower and experience the never ending view of the Parisian skyline- what a view!! My friends and I ended the evening basking under the lights of the tower and drinking wine. If you don't have your own wine- no problem! There are people all around selling bottles of it! 

I was extremely fortunate to be able to go up the tower the first night because  the following night when we returned the tower was closed due to a "social movement." Which is a nice way to say "strike" and no one was able to go up. 

With only a couple days in Paris I got to see the Eiffel Tower and some of the Palace of Versailles - what a magnificent place this was! The gardens go on forever! After visiting Versailles I had a very "French" evening with a wine and cheese dinner followed by a delicious crepe down by the tower. That city is like a dream. 

My final European destination is Italy with my favourite person in the world- my mom. I cannot wait to see her!! As I write this she may or may not be on her way from Frankfurt. Due to a delayed flight she may miss her connection to Rome, my fingers are crossed she makes it tonight and I can finally see her!!!