London, and Michaels, and rings...Oh my!

We flew from Charles DeGalle into London Luton airport and took a train into town. Our hostel right next to russel square wasn't all that great but it worked. The first night we got stuck in an "under construction" room but the rest of the nights we had decent sleeping rooms. We found this restaurant that we really liked called Giraffe, and ate there 2 of the nights we were in London. After dinner we went to see the London Eye and walked along the river over to where Parliament and Westminster Abbey are. It was so fun to see these things that we had heard about, but to see them in person was so much more fun. Everything was lit up and reflected off the water, which was cool and we determined that even after being there just a couple of hours we already loved this city.

The day after we got there I got really excited, because unbeknownst to Emily or any of our friends, Michael was planning to fly out to London and surprise emily. So I had us get all dressed up in our cute dresses and we planned to have afternoon tea in the park. It was the perfect plan. We left the hotel and went to see the London Tower, the Tower Bridge, and Buckingham Palace. We sat in Green Park for a while and enjoyed everyone louging in the grass on lunch breaks from work. We then went to Harods which was such a cool store, with everything you could ever want. Big designer clothes, interesting furniture, and yummy pastries kept us entertained for a long time as we explored the 5 levels of the giant store. We got some pastries for our tea time, then went over to starbucks and got our favorite kinds of tea. I was supposed to have Emily in the park at the Joy of life fountain at 5:30 where Michael would meet us so we headed over to the park. I asked if we could find the fountain because "i really wanted to see it." We asked and asked people but no one knew where it was, we also found a map and couldn't find it on the map. I was getting really worried that we wouldn't find it! We finally found where it was and had to walk all the way across the park to get there. Emily was so sweet to fulfill my desire to sit by the fountain, even though it seemed a little silly. So we set up our stuff when we got there and enjoyed a wonderful tea party in the park. When 5:30 came around I kept glancing around hoping to see Michael at any minute but he never showed up. By 6 and 6:15 it was hard to justify staying in that spot because our food was all gone and we were getting cold. I was worried his plane may have been delayed or thought he might have gotten lost on his way to the park. So we went back to the hostel to get jackets and chill for a while. I checked at the front desk and they said he hadn't checked in yet so i sent him an email asking where he was. About a 1/2 an hour later he emailed me back and said "Oh no! i thought you knew i was coming tomorrow!!" Oh, I felt so stupid! I got the days mixed up. It was a good thing i didn't say anything to Emily about the mishap, and spoil the surprise. The rest of the night we found some fun places to look at down the street and got some pizza for dinner. Tomorrow would be the day Michael comes.

Since we had gotten all dressed up yesterday, we just wore normal clothes to sightsee around today. We went to see Shakespear's Globe theater, and St. Paul's Cathedral, then took the tube over to Piccadilly Circus which was a crazy part of town! Then we relaxed in Kensington Gardens for a while because it was such a beautiful sunny day. We searched for a while to find the Peter Pan statue, and finally did, then after that I suggested we go sit by the london eye and "watch it go round." The Jubilee Gardens next to the london eye was the new meeting place michael suggested because I had blown the first one. So we arrived and walked a round a little bit then settled down in the middle of the grass. I was looking around hoping so much to see Michael. After a couple of minutes he appeared behind us and surprised Emily as she was taking pictures of the clouds rolling by. He talked for a little while and pulled out a ring and proposed. It was so sweet, and Emily was entirely shocked. She couldn't believe he was there, in london, half way across the world. I was relieved that everything went so well. Having Michael there with us the rest of the time was so much fun. We went to dinner at Giraffe to celebrate that night, and Emily called her family to tell them the big news. It was a fun day.

Our last couple of days in London we saw the rest of the sights, got to watch the London marathon, and got a tour of the city from Michael's cousin. After the tour we went over to his cousin's friend's house and had desert and champagne to celebrate their engagement. Our last day got a little overcast and rainy but that didn't stop us from having fun. We went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards, but they weren't having the ceremony that day, so we headed toward Harods because Emily wanted to take Michael to see it. I let them have the rest of the day to themsleves and went to cafe Nero, a little coffee shop, to catch up on some journalling. After that I shopped at H&M for a while, then stopped in at the National Gallery. I didn't even pay attention to most of the rooms, i just found the 3 impressionist rooms and settled there, enjoying the artwork. There were some really fun paintings by Monet and Pissarro that I admired for a long while. After the Gallery I met Emily and Michael back at the hostel and we got ready for dinner and WICKED. Dinner at this little italian place was good, and Wicked was soooo fun. It was the perfect ending to our trip.

Flying home, the three of us left around the same time, Michael going straight back to LAX and Emily and I flying to Chicago. When we got to Chicago we had a couple of hours before the two of us split and she went to San Antonio and I went to Orange County. It was a great time to process and journal and really reflect on our trip. Being at the airport, it felt like we had just gotten to Europe, but then looking back on all we had done, i realized how much we really got to experience. Travelling is tiring and we were excited to return home to our eager families and friends. Seeing so much of Europe was exciting, but sharing stories and pictures with everyone made us anxious to return as well. This was the most wonderful trip and I am so thankful we got to do it together. We were amazingly blessed with good weather, good health, safe travel and so much more.

If you made it this far, I'm so glad, because I had a great time writing these blogs. I hope you were able to experience Europe with me, and I can't wait to share more with everyone. Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement!

Ahhh Paris

I know it has been sooooo long since i've written, but i thought it would be best to finish out the trip! After Brussels Em and I made our way to Paris! When we got to the train station we needed to make a reservation for the 11:09 train into Gare de Nord. The ticket man told us it was going to be 26 euro each!! We were like....oooooh no no no. After some searching around he found us a train leaving an hour later that would take us into Charles DeGalle Airport for 5 euro each. That sounded much better. We found our way from the airport into town and got to the right stop where we had directions to where we were staying--with our friends Stephanie and Adrien. Their apartment was so comfy and they were so hospitable. They welcomed us in (we were 3hours later than i had predicted) and we chatted and settled in. That night the two of them had a birthday party to attend so Emily and I took full advantage of having a nice kitchen and made a mexican fiesta! We had so much fun cooking up our white rice, kidney beans, corn, and tortilla chips, which made a pretty good mexican meal for what we could find at the grocery store. We also took long hot showers which were such a luxory after all of the hostel showers.

Our first day of sight seeing we went to the Eiffel Tower first, and got crepes while we took in the awesome sight, then we found our way to the Museum d'Orsay. It was a wonderful gallery with stuff by Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Degas and others. Alot of impressionist work, which we really enjoyed. After that we walked around the Tulleries, caught a glimpse of the Louvre, and walked for a little while up the Champs-Elysees. Stephanie and Adrien took us to a creperie for dinner which was so fun! We had dinner crepes and dessert crepes...a great experience.

Our second day we found the flea market, the Moulin Rouge, the Notre Dame, and the Arc de Triumph. The architecture of the Notre Dame was so cool, especially when viewed from the side and back. So many flying buttresses and a cute little garden behind. The traffic at the Arc de Triumph was CRAZY. No lanes, just circling traffic from all different spokes. At one point the traffic was stopped so a marching band could march across the street to the center--we never really figured out why the band was there. That night we were entertained in the French fashion. Stephanie prepared a meal served in this order: appetizers and wine, more appetizers, main course, salad, cheese plate, dessert plate. We had a great red wine Cote de Rhone, salami, pickles, foie gras, duck, potatos, salad, goat cheese, mountain cheese, and a chocolate cream dessert. It was so fun to experience the culture of France.

Day 3 like everyday started slowly because our room had black out blinds that kept us sleeping through the morning. But we finally got up and took the metro out to Versailles. The palace is outrageously ornate and HUGE. But the grounds are even bigger. it seems like they go on for miles and miles. We got to see Marie Antoinette's estate as well and explored the gardens. We had a beautiful day (as we have had the whole trip it seems) and took the metro back. The ride back was the most crowded train we have ever been on. People smashed wall to wall with strollers, children, and all sorts of people. It was not a fun hour and 20 min ride home! We made dinner together again--pasta with chicken and veggies and a pink sauce while we listened to Adrien and some friends play guitar. They had us join in to sing the English songs which was fun to be a part of.

Last day in Paris, and we visited the Opera House. It was the most gorgeous place. Candles everywhere, gold accents, ballrooms, and a beautiful theater. It was so much fun to explore. I felt like the Phantom of the Opera would appear any moment! We also found a starbucks nearby that was decorated almost like the Opera house. it was so cool. We went back to the apartment to rest for a while and watched the Hunchback of Notre Dame. it's so much more fun to watch when you're actually in Paris! Stephanie made us dinner AGAIN and this time it was quiche--so good. We played European Ticket to Ride after dinner then went to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle on the hour after dark. It really was beautiful to see, and of course we got nutella crepes again while we watched it. Au Revoir Paris!