Wow. The past two weeks have been insane. Mostly in a good way.
Mike and Chelle arrived in Rome on Thursday, March 12. I took them back to Anguillara, where Kristoffer surprised me by meeting us at the bus stop. He was supposed to be in class, but he skipped so he could finish getting things ready at the house and then be there to meet us when we got back. He's such a good husband. So we took them back to the house to get settled, and then we all had a nice big lunch together. After we had finished eating, Kristoffer and Chelle surprised me by telling me that we would be off to Paris the next morning for the weekend! They had been sneaking around behind my back (which I had suspected) for some time, planning a trip to Paris for an early birthday present. I could hardly believe it! Not only have I always wanted to go to Pairs, it's something that Chelle and I have always wanted to do together. I never imagined we would get to do it this year! I think that was uncontestedly the best birthday gift ever. So far. Ha.
So we gave them a tour of Anguillara, then returned to the house to get ready for our morning flight to Paris! I still couldn't even believe that we were really going until we were actually there. Here we are on the train from the airport into the city:
We stayed in a really nice hostel. Kristoffer and I had a private room that we liked to call the "corner penthouse". It was on the top floor, had its own bathroom, a little table with flowers, and our own corner balcony! So I guess if a hostel could have a penthouse, that would be it, haha.
After we had gotten settled at the hostel and had a late (but yummy) lunch at the restaurant downstairs, we set off on a walking tour that Chelle had found in her Rick Steves book. She was a very good tourguide. We started out at the Notre Dame Cathedral, which is absolutely breathtaking.
It's the most beautiful building I have ever seen. I love gothic architecture, so Notre Dame is pretty much it for me. We happened to visit while there was a sung mass going on, which really added to the experience. It was like walking into a story.
That was one of my favorite parts of our time in Paris. We had planned to climb to the top of one of the bell towers to see the view and the gargoyles up close, but it was closed by the time we got there. Oh well. Next time.
Next we walked along the river for a little while, gazing at all the cute little outdoor cafes and listening to an accordian playing French music off in the distance. It definitely felt like we were in Paris by that point. We discovered that most of the places we could actually go into on the walking tour were already closed for the night. So we headed over to the Eiffel Tower.
Yes, we did go up to the top. It was amazing! We had to wait in a pretty long line to go up, so by the time we did, it was dark, and the whole city was lit up. It was a beautiful way to see the City of Lights.
It was definitely a memorable experience. Kristoffer and I dancing and kissing on the top of the Eiffel Tower may just be the most romantic experience of my life. =)
Once we were back on the ground, we found a nice restaurant and had a late dinner. I had a really yummy steak and fries. Almost every dish in Paris comes with French fries, which makes sense, though I had never thought about it before, haha. Kristoffer was brave and tried steak tartar, which I think he later regretted, but he never complained. I think it was something he wanted to try just once, so at least he can cross it off the list now. Chelle and I shared a real honest-to-goodness French creme brulee for dessert. It was delicious!
The next day, after having some yummy baguettes and nutella for breakfast, we picked up the walking tour where we had left off the day before. After stopping in a patisserie to pick up some croissants for later, we went to the archaelogical crypt underneath Notre Dame, which was kind of neat. Then we made our way over to Sainte Chapelle, which was absolutely beautiful.
We stopped in a cute little cafe for lunch. I had some delicious French onion soup (there, just plain onion soup, ha) and of course, fries. There was an enticing-looking chocolate shop across the street, so after lunch, we went over there and bought some yummy treats for later. Next we strolled along the river, stopping to look at some of the booksellers and other little riverside shops. We arrived at the Musee d'Orsay, where we spent some time gazing upon many priceless works of art. They had a rather impressive Impressionism section. There was an entire room of Van Goghs! I was in heaven.
After we were finished at the museum, we went over to the Arc de Triomphe.
From there, we walked down the Champs Elysees, looking in posh shops and wishing we were all richer than we are. Then we went back to the hostel and had another nice dinner at the restaurant there before turning in for the night.
On Sunday morning, we woke up bright and early, checked out of the hostel, and went to see Le Sacre Coeur, which was lovely.
Then we went over to the Louvre, which was our last activity in Paris. Thanks to Rick Steves, we were able to see all the most important things there without too much confusion or wandering. I wish we had had more time to spend there, but it just means we'll have to go back someday to see the rest. =)
So then we went back to the airport, bid au revoir to gay Paris, and went back to Rome. It was a wonderful, magical, enchanting, not completely mishap-free (what trip can be?), but still overall fabulous weekend.
Some time in the future, when the economy is better and we're all in a better place financially, Chelle and I will return to Paris for some serious shopping.
But seriously, it was a dream come true, and I'm so grateful that we got to go. I loved every minute of it. I think the next time we decide to spend a year in Europe, Paris will be our top pick. =)
The weekend in Paris was exhausting, so on Monday we tried to kind of take it easy. We slept in a bit and got into the city around noon. The weather was gorgeous that day (and for the rest of the week actually), so Mike and Chelle decided to go see the Colosseum. I met up with them later, having scouted out a good place to have lunch. After lunch, I took them on a walking tour of the Pantheon/RBC/Piazza del Popolo area, which was fun.
The next day Mike and Chelle spent the morning seeing the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill. I met up with them afterwards for lunch, and then we went to the Museo Nazionale Romano, which has a large collection of ancient sculptures and mosaics. It was interesting. Before we went home for the evening, we rather surprisingly found this great little hole-in-the-wall gelateria near Termini Station. I had strawberry cheesecake flavored gelato, and it was very yummy.
On Wednesday I took them to my favorite place for cappucino near the church, then we went over to the Villa Borghese and had a picnic lunch in the park before their 1pm reservation at the Galleria Borghese. I had to teach, so I couldn't go to the gallery with them, but we had a nice little picnic before I had to leave. That night all four of us had a lovely dinner at this great restaurant in Anguillara called Zaira. It's actually the place we ate lunch the day we moved into our apartment. We all got dressed up and had a fun and delicious evening out, which was lovely.
The next day we were supposed to go to the Musei Vaticani, but they ended up being closed because of some obscure holiday, which was kind of disappointing. We still went to St. Peter's, and Mike got his Popeners (bottle openers with a picture of the pope on them, haha). We spent the rest of the day wandering a bit. We looked at a few churches, did some shopping, took a walk through Trastevere, then went home for their last night in Anguillara.
On Friday we rather reluctantly parted with Mike and Chelle, but then we got to greet Justin and Amanda, who arrived by train from Vienna that morning. Kristoffer and I had to teach, so we left them to their own sightseeing for that day and met up with them later to bring them back to Anguillara and have dinner before turning in for the night.
The next day we all went to see the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Palatine Hill together. It was nice to finally get it crossed off our list and fun to do it with them.
Later we went to the Capuchin Crypt, which is decorated with the bones of thousands of dead monks. Definitely creepy, but also kind of cool.
We had dinner that night at Zaira again, since we knew it was good and would be open. It was lovely, though Amanda was a little creeped out by her food looking at her.
On Sunday we went to church and then did the Pantheon area tour. It was a little different this time, because a lot of the churches were closed at midday. But it gave us an opportunity to explore some places we hadn't been before, which was fun. They had an evening train out of Termini, so we accompanied them to the station and then headed home ourselves. We had a fun weekend with them.
On the train home that night I had a guy fall on top of me and hit me square in the eye with his backpack. Ouch. It really hurt, and I woke up the next morning feeling like a truck had hit me. But at least I didn't have a black eye.
I spent Sunday night and Monday morning scrambling to get everything together for this travel grant I'm trying to get to go to Hungary this summer. The application materials had to be postmarked by Monday, which was possibly the worst time for it to ever be due. They didn't make the application and guidelines available on the website until the beginning of March. If it had been posted at the beginning of February (like it was supposed to be), I would have had plenty of time to work on it and be done with it by the time our guests started arriving. But oh well. Somehow I managed to pull it off. Now all we can do is pray.
Yesterday Kristoffer and I went to the zoo! Finally. We have been wanting to go ever since we got here in August. It was one of the first things we saw a sign for in Rome. So we finally went, because Kristoffer had a sketchbook assignment to draw a hundred animals or something crazy. It was really fun! I realized once we were there that I hadn't been to a zoo since I was in Australia five years ago. I like zoos.
Today I'm trying to catch up on the aftermath of all the guests, haha. Lots of dishes, lots of laundry, etc. Among other things. But I wanted to post about all that has happened in the past two weeks before I got too far behind.
I updated the birthday wishlist in the previous post. There's a couple more things on it, but I'm still not coming up with much. To be honest, all we really need right now is money to get us through our last two months of rent and living expenses. There are a couple of things I would really like (and even that I really need), but even those things would make more sense to buy for myself. So I don't know. If anyone wants to give me anything in particular for my birthday, just mail some money to our PO Box and designate how I'm supposed to use it, I guess.
Of course, I've already had my trip to Paris with my wonderful husband and my wonderful friends, which is the best birthday present I could have EVER gotten this year. Plus, Laura will be here for my birthday, which will be awesome! This will be the second year in a row that has happened. I really wish Lindsey could come too. She's raising money for her missions trip to Uganda this summer, so I understand. Besides, it won't be too long before we're all together again! Only another five weeks before we're on our way home...
I applaud you if you made it all the way through this ridiculously long post.
Comments (2)
So, how are you liking Roland? A couple of times I had weird dreams while reading those books.
Also MONKEYS! I like little monkeys. And lemurs. Were there lemurs at the museum?
@Cheverly - I finished The Gunslinger last night and then had a dream that I was living in Jurassic Park. So yeah...
There were lemurs at the zoo, but we didn't see them. I think they were hiding.