Europe is known for many great things; its culture, its food, its atmosphere-all things that Matt and I  are attracted to. There are so many reasons why we chose to go that it’s hard to pinpoint one particular thing that made us want to go. But when it comes down to it, we really just love to travel and experience new things. After researching a bunch of different countries and cities in the end we chose to go to France (Paris and Nice), Italy (Florence and Bologna), and Germany (Berlin).  Aside from such rich and traditional cultures that these cities have, we chose those specific places because they are geographically close enough to see within two weeks.

We flew into Paris and stayed for one night before heading down to Nice by train. Nice was simply stunning with its uniquely turquoise sea. We were lucky to get an apartment that had a view of it. We mainly just took this time in the south of France to relax by the pebble beaches and soak up this laid back culture.

Our next stop was Bologna, Italy. We took another train from Nice and it was such a beautiful ride. We passed through Monaco and Milan and were able to see the Mediterranean along the way. After coming home we realized that Bologna was our favorite place. We just loved the lifestyle of the Italian people and their strong connection to their families.

We also took a day trip to Florence!

Berlin, Germany was next. We took a short flight into the Tegel airport and quickly got to our apartment. We really liked Berlin. We had some amazing food and though we were only there for 1 full day and it was raining, I think we made the most of it. We saw what was left of the Berlin wall, ate a lot of schnitzels and strudel, and saw a 360 view of the city from the top of the Berlin radio tower.

Our last stop was Paris. We jetted over to Paris by plane again on a short flight VERY early in the morning. Our hotel room wasn’t even ready for us yet so we just dropped off our luggage and hit the ground running. We knew we wanted to see a lot and only had 5 days so we started with pastries and coffee. Paris was so big and full of life that it was pretty hard to keep up! We experienced a mix of good and not so good food and actually ended up eating Japanese food a few different times. Since our Paris trip landed on my birthday I wanted to not have high expectations of it and especially not of the Eiffel Tower, which I waited to see until my birthday. It was pretty magical the way it lights up and sparkles, I must say.

I just love the terraces in Paris. I took so many pictures of facades because they are just so pretty with fresh flowers and plants decorating them. It’s surprising how it makes any building look sophisticated and fresh.

And, the grand finale, the one… the only… le tour Eiffel in all it’s glory.

Europe has such great qualities, and we are so glad that we took this trip. It allowed us to refresh and revive from busy life and even made us think about how we live our lives on a daily basis and that it’s ok to rest. Life doesn’t have to be so busy, it’s really what we make it to be. We were able to really soak up life and it makes us want to change some of the ways we do things back home in order to live more fully. It’s ok to say no to things, and it’s ok to want to enrich your life in such a way that you have that time to sit back and reflect on ways to do it. For us maybe that simply means not rushing through meals, taking more walks, or spending quality time with friends outside of large group settings. Whatever it ends up being, I’m thankful for this new motivation and I’m just excited about life again.

Until next time,

~ciao