Ah Paris ♥

Bryan and I took the train into Paris and found our hotel. The hotel had a FANTASTIC view of the Eiffel Tower and I was in awe. We walked around had a relaxing night because the next day we went to Versailles. 

Versailles was beautiful. The palace was unbelievable and the gardens would have been beautiful if it wasn't winter and they were all dead. The hall of mirrors was very cool and Marie Antoinette's house was awesome to see how different her personal home was compared to the palace. I would definitely   recommend coming here to anyone! 

Christmas Eve, Bryan and I woke up early and went straight for the Louvre. We saw Mona Lisa, Venus and a bunch of other art pieces. I could not believe how packed it was in there! 

 

We then stumbled upon the love lock bridge. We got a lock, locked it onto the bridge and threw the key away. 

We found our way to Notre Dame and I cannot explain how beautiful it was! 

We did a little shopping (my FAVORITE!!) on Avenue des Champs-Élysées! We went to see the Arc de Triumpe and found the LARGEST Christmas market that I have seen! 

We ended our night with my family annual tradition of Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve! 

Christmas morning we slept in and exchanged gifts. We got ready and made our way to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower! We climbed 704 stairs but it was all worth it when we got to the top and had a spectacular view over Paris! 

 We then went to Georges for dinner which is on the sixth floor of a museum so that was also a spectacular view of Paris! The food was to die for and we had a really nice Christmas dinner. 

Bryan and I headed for Venice the next morning! 

Good-bye KES

I know, I know I have been totally slacking on this blog! I just became so busy and involved with my last few weeks at KES and traveling! Leaving KES was one of the hardest things that I have had to; I have made some amazing friends, had fantastic co-workers and some of the best students that I could ever ask for. Sally was a great mentor teacher and I have become a better teacher because of her guidance! 

My last bulletin board at KES! 

I also helped out with the high school cheerleading team! They are an amazing group of girls and I will miss seeing them improve and I know they will do an awesome job at their competition in February...that I will be FaceTiming into! 

Within my last few weeks in Germany, I went to several Christmas markets. The Christmas markets are amazing! They have hand made gifts, unbelievable food (my favorite including Kartoffelpuffer or potato pancakes) and gluhwein which is a hot wine! 

The day that Bryan flew in, we went to Kaiserslautern and went to the Brauhaus to get a tower with Lynnie, Linda, Cathy, Andy, Mark and Mike! We had an amazing time!!! 

I really am going to miss living in Kaiserslautern and all of the wonderful people that I have met on this journey!

When in Roma...and Florence

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed their turkey while I had delicious authentic Italian pasta! 
I apologize in advance for how long this post is, but I didn't want to skip out on anything! 

My students were so excited to make turkey feathers and write what they were thankful for! 

Kristen and I went to the airport and headed for ROMA! We met some Italian guys on the plane who helped us learn how to say hello, good-bye and order wine! We got to the hostel to find out we were upgraded to a private suite! We went and got some pizza, had a few drinks at the bar downstairs and went to bed to get up and explore! 

In the morning, Kristen and I wandered around the Colosseum area and found ourself in San Pietro in Vincoli. We noticed people taking a picture of this statue called Moses. We decided to take a picture and I paid 1 whole euro to "light up" Moses. Turns out that Moses is a statue done by the one and only Michelangelo! 

We found our way to the Colosseum so I could meet up with my walking tour! 

The walking tour was my FAVORITE thing that I did the entire trip. We went into the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill and the Colosseum, but not just the basics of the Colosseum but the underground chambers and the third tier! 

We started at the Roman Forum which was so cool! 

 I was neat to see all the ruins and imagine that people actual lived their daily lives there. 

We went up to Palatine Hill and seeing where the Emperor lived was so interesting! We got to see original flooring, wall art and the Circus Maximus which is where most stadiums get their look from. 

Going into the Colosseum was my FAVORITE part!!! I could barely contain my excitement  We walked in and someone was there waiting for us with a key to go behind the gate and what was behind the gate was incredible! 

IS THIS NOT BEAUTIFUL!!!! 

We headed down for the chambers which was the part of the tour that I was the most anxious for! We got to see the trap doors up close, the animal cages and actually walk the tunnels that the gladiators walked before starting the "show". 

 

Once we were all ready to go, we went up to the third tier which gave us the BEST view of the Colosseum! 

If I could recommend one thing to do in Rome, it would be to pay the extra money to see the entire Colosseum.  

I met up with Carly and Kristen and we went to the Pantheon and ate a delcious spaghetti Thanksgiving dinner!  

We went back to the hostel and got ready to go out for the night! We had so much dancing and meeting new people! 

We woke up early and headed to Vatican City. While Kristen and Carly went in, I decided to go shopping! 

We finished our night in Rome with shopping, gelato, the Spanish steps and a trip to the under construction Trevi Fountain. Kristen and I still threw pretend coins into it! :) 

 

We took the train to Florence and met up with Jamie! I got ready for a fun-filled day of sight seeing! 

First thing in the morning, we went to the leather market! It was huge and made me want to buy hundreds of purses...I resisted and only got 1! 

From there, the girls went on a wine tour while I went and discovered Florence! The first thing I saw was the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. It was gorgeous and so big! 

Then I went to see David!

I walked to Ponte Vecchio and crossed to the other side! It was fun looking at all the jewelry shops and seeing a different side of Florence. 

When I was headed back, I ran into Special Olympics Italia. They were having a flash dance and I couldn't help but stay to watch! I was excited to meet them and see that people with disabilities in Italy have a great support system! 

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving break in Italy with great friends! I cannot believe that I only have a month left in Europe; the time really flew!