As of this Monday, I have arrived safely back in the United States, all of my schoolwork at the University of York is complete.  Even though this will be my final post, I wanted to share my last week and a half in Great Britain. On June 6, in celebration of the end of exams and for Davis’s birthday we went on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway as a day trip.  We got to ride in style (on both steam and diesel trains) as we toured the moors.  I felt like I was in Downton Abbey.  I even got to stop at the Hogsmeade Train Station from the Harry Potter films.

The Hogsmeade Station

The Train Engine

The Moors

After this day excursion, move-out day came quickly, and soon I was on a train to Manchester to pick up my family.  They arrived, only an hour later than expected.  I collected them and their luggage, and we took the train back to York to start their tour of England.  We dropped out bags off at the hotel, and I started the Grand Tour.

I showed them all of the things I had already done in York and mentioned in this blog in previous weeks.  We started with York’s old castle keep:  Clifford’s Tower.  Then we moved on to The Castle Museum, which is one of my favorite places in York because of its reconstructed Victorian town.  I showed them the outside of the Minster, and then we went to the Shambles.  While there we found a pamphlet about all of the Cat Trail.  In York, there are cat statues on many historical buildings, so we used this pamphlet to find the closest ten statues.  It was really fun and a great way to show my family York.

On the Cat Trail

The next morning I showed them the ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey, which is one of the first things I did in York. We then walked the walls for a little bit, because no one can leave York without walk its walls.  I then brought them to Betty’s to experience high tea.  We still had a little time to see the Yorkshire Museum before we had to pick up our luggage to catch our train to London.

York Train Station

Upon arriving in London, it was too late to go into any museums, so we simply walked around and looked at everything from the outside, including Trafalgar Square, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye.

Lion in Trafalgar

The next morning, we tried to go into St. Paul’s Cathedral.  It was very pretty inside, but we decided it was not a high enough priority to pay almost 20 pounds per person to go through.  Instead we decided to walk through the Tower of London.

St. Paul’s Cathedral

The Tower is still my favorite place in London.  It is filled with so much history, and I love exploring it, even though I had already been there.  I also felt pretty smart because I  could tell my family about it.  I supple that really added to my positive feelings about the place.

Return to the Tower

Even after touring the Tower, we still had time to go through Westminster Abbey.  This was exciting for me because I hadn’t really toured the Abbey.  I only got to be inside during an organ concert in January.  This time, I was able to see so much more.  I was really nerding out.  I was able to see the graves of so many incredible historical, scientific, and literary figures, including Queen Elizabeth I, Sir Isaac Newton, and Charles Dickens.

Westminster Abbey

On our way back, we had a little time to stop outside of Buckingham Palace, just to see the outside.  This was pretty cool, though because one of the Queen’s garden parties was just ending, and all of the visitors were trying to leave.

Buckingham Palace

The next morning, we went to the British Museum, but this time we did not have much time to spend looking at things.  We decided to use the museum’s Top 10 guide to see the things that they recommended.  It was pretty fun tracking down everything, like a scavenger hunt.  If we saw other interesting things, we also stopped and looked at those, too.  It was a fun, useful way to see the museum.

Double-Headed Snake from Mexico

We did not have much time at the museum because had decided to go to the Globe Theatre, a replica of Shakespeare’s theatre, to see Anthony and Cleopatra.  Both my aunt and my grandma chose sitting tickets, but I got standing, which was so much fun.  It was one of the highlights of this trip to London.

Me Before the Show

We ended the day and our time in London with a nice walk through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.

Kensington Palace with Statue of Queen Victoria

The next morning, we made our way to Paddington Station to take the train to Bath, our final stop.  The trip didn’t take too long, so we had time to do some exploring before it got too late.  We started out, with what I think is the best thing in Bath:  the Jane Austen Centre.  The building introduces visitors to what Jane Austen’s life in Bath would have been like, her personality, and how Bath affected the events in her books, especially of Northanger Abbey and my second favorite book Persuasion.

The Jane Austen Centre

While we were in the centre, we decided to have tea from their tea room.  I couldn’t resist after I saw this poster hanging there:

Tea with Mr. Darcy

After we finished tea, we visited the two most famous neighborhoods in Bath:

The Circus

The Royal Crescent

That night, we knew we wanted to see Stonehenge the next morning, so we decided to take a tour bus there.  It seemed the easiest way to get there.  Our guide brought us safely there and back, though I wish we had a little more time to explore.  I thought it was so cool to see it.  I wanted to learn everything and hear everything from the audio guide, so I took a little longer than most other people.  I still find it fascinating how important that formation was for the people of the area and that it was important for at least a thousand years.

Me at Stonehenge

The Stonehenge tour only lasted the morning.  We returned to Bath to tour what Bath is famous for: the baths!  I have seen many Roman baths (never thought I’d say that!), but this one especially interesting.  I learned more about how important this bath was to the Romans because of the natural spring.  They also explained how many centuries later, the British Georgians returned to Bath to use the spring’s supposed healing powers, and it is their building that we see today.  The pool in this picture is my favorite because so many people threw in coins, it sparkles.

A Pool in Bath

That day, we also went in the Bath Abbey.  It reminded me a lot of other gothic churches.

I realized that we had really covered all of the main sights in Bath by the end of that second day, so that left us with a problem.  What to do our last full day to explore England?  We decided to leave England behind for the day and cross into Wales.  We visited the capital city of Cardiff.  The day started with a tour of the National Museum of Wales.  This museum had everything:  art, science, a little history.  I think we all found something enjoyable to see there.  For me it was the dinosaurs.

National Museum of Wales

Most of the day was spent at Cardiff Castle.  The castle was pretty amazing to explore.  It started out as a Medieval Castle, but was heavily altered through generations, and grew into its current state during the Victorian period.  I didn’t know much about Welsh history, so going to this castle was a great opportunity for me.  Besides, the interior of the Manor House is beautiful.

Me and the Keep of Cardiff Castle

Things were beginning to get a bit rowdy as the British prepared to cheer on England during the World Cup, so after a quick walk through a park and some dinner, we returned to Bath for the evening.

The next morning, we had the morning to explore before our train departed to go to Manchester.  We went through the William Herschel Museum.  It is where he lived when he discovered Uranus.  He was an accomplished astronomer, scientist, engineer, and musician.  Quite an interesting set of skills.  I thought his garden was especially beautiful.

Herschel’s Garden

There was still time to relax before our train, so we watched a local bocce ball tournament and grabbed some lunch.  When we did catch our train, everything seemed to go so fast.  We zoomed up to Manchester.  The the next morning, we left our hotel at 7:15.  After a few complications in the airport with my family’s flight, we all made it on our respective planes.  About 15 hours later I arrived at my front door.  Of course, it rained the entire way home and there was a black out, not exactly the best welcome home.  My cats made up for it.  They still haven’t stopped following me, so it is nice to be home.

In the past few weeks, I have had a presentation, two major papers, an exam, and I have one exam left to go.  Not to mention, I have to stop and think about how I will fit everything back into my suitcase because soon my family will join me for a week in England before I return back to the United States.  It’s coming so fast!

In the middle of this academic chaos, a group of nine of us Hamline students went on our last organized excursion.  This time we went to visit Hadrian’s Wall.  As many of you know, The Roman Empire was huge, and it even extended into modern England (York was its northern capital).  At one point, they decided to stop expansion and build a wall, marking the northern-most boundary of the Roman Empire.  This wall was named Hadrian’s Wall after the Roman Emperor.  Much of the wall is gone now, either shortened or gone completely.  Only about 20 miles of it still exists out of about 70.

On Thursday afternoon, the nine of us plus our professor and his family, boarded a train for Newcastle and then to Hexam.  From there we climbed aboard a minibus that carried all of us to a youth hostel that was literally in the middle of nowhere in a place called Once Brewed.  It was a good location, though, because the wall was literally across the road.

After a quick dinner in the only place that could support feeding nine people, a pub just around the corner in a place called, you guessed it, Twice Brewed, we all went for a walk.  It had been raining the past few days, so the entire walk was just filled with mud.  It got all over my shoes, socks, pants, and jacket, but it was a lot of fun.  We followed the wall for quite a while, but turned back as it got dark to play a round of Cluedo (the UK’s version of Clue) before bed.

The Wall

Some Friendly Sheep

An Abandoned Watchpost

The Tree

The next day was our only full day visiting the wall.  We started by visiting Housesteads, the most complete Roman Fort on the Wall.  We all climbed around the hill, imagining what life would have been like for the Roman soldiers that lived at the fort.  It was fairly easy to imagine.  The only things visible for miles were sheep, so I just imagined them as an invading army of Scots.

The Latrine, Complete with Plumbing

The Barracks

The Fort from Afar

We walked back to the hostel to eat lunch.  From there we took a bus to another fort that was nearby.  It predates the wall.  It is called Vindolanda.  It is currently still under excavation, but they have already found some amazing things.  The most special of these are Vindolanda Tablets which are the earliest known handwritten documents in Britain.  Most of these are in London, but I was able to see a few at the museum on the site.  These documents have provided researchers with important information about life in Roman Britain.

Vindolanda

We soon had to return to the hostel to eat dinner before it closed.  After that, we decided to just stay inside and play some Monopoly and card games.  We played a little poker, but I really have no idea how to play (don’t worry.  We didn’t bet).  In the last round I got this hand.  Everyone including me was quite shocked.  Not bad, right?

My Card Hand

Monday marked the first week of exams.  Luckily I didn’t have an exam until this coming week, so I decided to procrastinate on my studying by going to Edinburgh for three days.  I have wanted to go to Scotland since I arrived in York, but I lost track of time.  I realized that this would probably be my last opportunity to go.  Besides, it was a much more interesting use of my time than studying.

I arrived in Edinburgh around 1:30 and checked into my hostel.  Then, I walked around town.  Edinburgh is such a pretty town that just wandering around is enjoyable.  I enjoyed finding the oddly named streets like Bread Street and Earl Grey Street.  I also thought it was pretty cool that Edinburgh Castle is visible from all over the city.

View of the Castle

Along the way I found the Elephant House Cafe.  For those of you who don’t know, it is the cafe that J.K. Rowling wrote the Second, Third, and Fourth books of the Harry Potter series.  Of course I had to go inside and have a scone and some tea.  I also used the restroom there, which was an experience.  Harry Potter pilgrims from all over the word have travelled to the Elephant House to write messages in tribute to J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter.

Me Outside the Elephant House Cafe

Bathroom in the Elephant House

Nearby, I found the statue of Bobby Greyfriar.  He was a dog, and when his owner died, he followed the casket all the way to the cemetery.  The dog stayed there until he died years later.

Bobby Greyfriar

The next morning, I awoke early to climb the dormant volcano that is just outside Edinburgh called Arthur’s Seat.  It is about 822 feet tall.  Somehow I managed pick the most difficult path up the the hill, but eventually I got there.  It was cold and windy, but the view of Edinburgh was pretty cool. The way down was a little more difficult for me.  I fell a couple of times, but I finally made it back to the ground, fairly unscathed.

Arthur’s Seat

Made it to the Top!

After my descent, I went to the National Museum of Scotland.  That is such a huge museum.  There is no way I would be able to see the whole thing.  It took me two separate visits just to go through just the Scotland History portion.  It was good, though.  I was glad to learn more about how Scotland has fit into British history.

National Museum of Scotland

I could only stay at the museum until 5:00 because I needed to meet across the street for a walking tour of Edinburgh.  A Harry Potter-themed tour!  I found an add for it while I was in the Elephant House Cafe, and I figured it would be a good way to see the city, and of course to learn more about the influences behind the Harry Potter series.  I saw so many cool things about the series, but my favorite thing was in the Greyfriar Cemetery:  the grave of a father and son both named Thomas Riddell.  J.K. Rowling used this name for the infamous Lord Voldemort.

The Riddells

I spent most of my last day in Scotland touring the Edinburgh Castle.  It reminded me a lot of the Tower of London, except smaller.  I liked walking around, though.  I was able to see where many American sailors were kept in prison during the American Revolutionary War (they call it the American War for Independence).  I also really enjoyed seeing the Scottish Royal Honours, which include a crown, a scepter, and a sword.  These items are older than the English Royal Jewels because Oliver Cromwell was never able to capture and destroy them during the English Civil War.

Chapel at Edinburgh Castle

I spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the National Museum of Scotland.  Then I had to catch the last train back to York.

This has been such a busy and hectic week.  On Wednesday I had a presentation, Thursday was the last day of my Hamline Class here, and on Monday I have a group project AND a 10-12 page paper due.  As you can imagine, I’ve been pretty busy, but soon all I have left will be two exams.  It is so strange that I can start to see the end of my time here, and that is bitter sweet.

Anyway, a week ago today was our group trip to Whitby.  Like London, the entire Hamline group went together for a day trip to Whitby.  Like Scarborough, Whitby is a pleasant sea-side town.  Bram Stoker’s Dracula made it, and especially its Abbey famous.  We went as a group to the Abbey, which is an English Heritage site.  It was dismantled by Henry VIII during the Reformation like many other similar institutions throughout Britain.  The ruins were very beautiful and mysterious, though there wasn’t that much left.  We didn’t have much time to explore the Abbey anyway because a storm was coming, and we had just barely enough time to find shelter.

Whitby Abbey

I decided to wait out the rain by eating at a fish and chips place.  When on the shore, there’s really no other option than to eat fish and chips, no matter how much you dislike seafood.  After lunch, I found my to the Captain Cook museum.  Apparently the famous explorer did his apprenticeship in the building.  He and his fellow apprentices lived in the attic while they were in port.

Captain Cook’s Apprentice-Era House

Unfortunately, the weather just did not want to cooperate with us that day.  We only had a little time to walk around Whitby before the storm returned.  I ended up seeking refuge in a casino/Chuck E. Cheese-style arcade.  I got to play a round of Victorian-style bowling before the rain lightened up enough to go outside.

My Shelter from the Rain

Now, the real reason I was excited to go to Whitby is because they are apparently THE best public place to hunt for dinosaur fossils in all of Britain.  I was pretty disappointed because I had been told that the site would only be accessible during low-tide, which wouldn’t be until after I left.  With only an hour and a half before I had to leave, I decided to just look at the spot.  I saw that there were rocks that I could climb across to reach the cliffs where the fossils were.  Of course Davis and I traversed the rocks  to the cliffs.  We looked for fossils.  At first, it was fairly difficult, but eventually we found some.  They are small, and some of them we couldn’t get out because we only had our fingers to dig with, but it was still a lot of fun.  Of course, the rain started up again, and we had to leave, so I suppose it was perfect timing.

Cliffs of Fossils

Class has been in session for three weeks now, and my homework load has been enormous!  Luckily, last weekend was the perfect chance to catch up a bit because it was a four-day weekend.  I got so much work done on Friday, that I decided to take a break on Saturday to visit the nearby town of Hull.

Hull has one of the best aquariums in the UK, which is why I wanted to visit.  Unfortunately, though, I didn’t get to visit.  They have plenty of other museums that were closer and free.  They were still really interesting, too.  Besides, I’ve seen enough aquariums for a while…  I guess…

First I went to William Wilberforce’s house.  He was a famous abolitionist in England, and he was born in Hull.  The house was split into sections.  One section described his life, including his religious beliefs.  Another part of the house explained what slavery was like for all people involved.  The third section showed how slavery was ended in Britain, which was interesting because Americans don’t really know much about that.  The fourth section discussed slavery and other violations against human rights that occur in the world now.

William Wilberforce’s House

Next, I visited the street transportation museum, which is right next door.  It was filled with all kinds of forms of transportation.  Everything from street cars to a tiny yellow car.  They had recreations of horse and buggies in a Victorian street, which are always fun to see.  Also, they had a fake car that you could pretend to drive while a video played and the car bumped.  Of course I did that, though Davis was the one to drive.  They also had some old arcade-style games that still worked.  My favorite was the foot massager.  My legs felt so jiggly afterwards.

Tiny Yellow Car

The final museum, which also happened to be my favorite, was a natural history museum.  It followed the history of the area, starting from when the UK was underwater until medieval times.  The museum didn’t have many artifacts, mostly just recreations of what it would have been like, but it was still pretty fun to see.  Personally, I really liked the giant mammoth that they had.

Manfred the Mammoth

As if I hadn’t had enough of Natural History, the next day I went to the Yorkshire Museum in York.  This museum has the same theme as the one in Hull, and it is much better funded than the one in Hull.  Not to mention, York’s history as an important city and even occasionally a capital provides much greater collections of artifacts to look at.  Also, the museum is built on the ruins of an abbey that Henry VIII had destroyed, so that gives it a very historical feeling.

Roman Gravestone from York

As some of you may know, a week ago today was my birthday.  Knowing this, my friend Kristina suggests that we take a weekend trip to do nothing else but look for scenes from the Kiera Knightley version of Pride & Prejudice in Derbyshire.  Personally, I could not imagine a better way to spend my birthday weekend, so I heartily agreed.  Last Saturday, the two of us got on a train to Sheffield, which would be our base as we travelled.  While we were there, we ran into a festival of some kind.  There were dancers and music.  There were also these giant statues of people.  I really wish I knew what everyone was celebrating.

Oversized People in Sheffield

Of course, we weren’t at the festival for long.  We were soon on a bus that brought us to Chatsworth House.  Chatsworth is one of the great estates in England.  Jane Austen apparently visited it once, and it is said that she used the house as inspiration for where Mr. Darcy’s house in Pride & Prejudice.  It is also the house where many adaptations of the book were filmed, including the Kiera Knightely version.  Unfortunately, it is not where the Colin Firth version was filmed, which of course was the best version anyway.

The Entryway into Chatsworth

Unfortunately, I could not see all of the house.  It is still the functional home of the Duke of Devonshire.  However, there were many incredible rooms that I was able to see.  My favorite was probably the dining room.  It was all decorated as if for dinner.  There was even a mini-menu on the plate for the expected dinner.  It was very expensive and very French.

The Dining Room

Another room of honorable mention is the library which was originally just another long room.  One of the dukes, though, ran out of space for his books, so he kept converting the space into a larger and larger library.  Out of view on the left is a hidden staircase.  It is behind a wall of fake books with clever titles on them.

The Library

I also got to see the statue gallery, which is featured in the movie.  Unfortunately, the current owners of Chatsworth are in love with modern art, so they decided to have all of the bases in the room colored pink, which really detracts from the experience.

Statue Gallery

Finally, there was the man himself.  After the filming of Pride & Prejudice the actual bust of Matthew Macfayden who played Mr. Darcy was donated to Chatsworth House.  That was a pretty exciting moment for both of us.  p.s. There was a sign that said “Please do not kiss” on the statue.  So hard to resist!

Mr. Darcy

Next we ventured out into the gardens.  I got to see the outside of the house:

Outside of Chatsworth

Then I played with some of the modern art:

Under my Umbrella

I found a lake, which I was desperately searching for because in the book he comes out of a lake, and that is how he and Lizzie reunite.

The Lake

We explored the gardens for quite a while, but eventually it was time to head back to Sheffield to prepare for our adventure the next day.

On Sunday, my birthday, we went to the Peak District National Park.  Lizzie goes there on her trip in Derbyshire, so of course we had to, too!  We tried to find the exactly place where Lizzie was, but we were on a time crunch since we had to return to York that day.  Whether or not we found it, it was still a good, though tiring time.  Also, the views were pretty amazing:

Going up a Rocky Hill

Made it to the Top

Me, Thinking I’m Lizzie

Alas! My arrival in Paris marked the beginning of the end of my time on the continent.  It was bitter-sweet.  On the one hand I was excited to be seeing the City of Lights, but on the other hand, I was saddened that this part of my adventure was coming to an end.  Of course, it wasn’t quite the end.  I still had so much to explore in Paris.

When I arrived in Paris, I was met by Florent, a family friend of Marty’s.  He kindly allowed us to stay at his apartment for our time in Paris.  It was the perfect home-base, near a metro station, and living in his apartment while we were there made the whole experience more enjoyable.  I am spoiled now, though, because now I want a fancy French apartment, too!

I began exploring the city by visiting the Arc de Triomphe.  This was a fantastic starting point because I was able to wait in a fairly short line to buy the Paris Museum Pass which would allow me entry into a huge number of museums AND skip be able to skip the line.  After I purchased the pass, I climbed to the top of the Arc.  The view was very impressive.  I could see the Champs d’Elysses (the main shopping street), the Louvre, Notre Dame, and it was my first view of the Eiffel Tower.

Me at L’Arc de Triomphe

View from L’Arc de Triomphe

After seeing the Louvre from above, I followed Champs d’Elysses to the art museum.  I could also smile gleefully as I strolled pass the massive line of people thanks to my Paris Pass.  That little piece of paper became my best friend in Paris.  The inside of the Louvre is like one massive maze.  I got so confused trying to find my way around, and I became a little frustrated because I was on a time crunch.  Not to mention, that museum is SO overwhelming.  There is so much to see, and it seems impossible to see everything.  I did see the basics, though like the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo.

Le Louvre

My next day was by far the busiest that I had in Paris.  I woke up early to go to Versailles, the huge palace which first became the royal residence under Louis XIV, and it later became even more famous during the French Revolution.  The entire château is huge and extravagant.  I could understand why the kings would hold such incredible and expensive parties there.  Of course every room had tourists jammed packed in, all trying to take pictures of everything.  While I still enjoyed seeing everything, the huge number of people definitely didn’t add to the experience.  I was also disappointed because I didn’t get to see the Versailles tennis courts because that was where the Tennis Court Oath was taken, which prompted the French Revolution.

Chapel Inside Versailles

After a while, I decided that it was time to leave Versailles and return to Paris.  This time I had to wait in another line, but this time it was to climb up the towers and hang out with the gargoyles of Notre Dame.  This was a cool experience.  It makes me wonder what was happening in the minds of the people who created the gargoyles.  They were surprisingly creepy.

Gargoyles Pondering on Notre Dame

After running around the top of Notre Dame, I walked to the Museé d’Orsay.  I knew that they would be open late that day, so I saved it for last.  When I got there, I also prioritized my time to see what I really wanted to see.  I went through a few rooms on the first couple of floors, but I was definitely most excited for the top floor to see the Impressionists.  I really like their paintings because they have some pretty interesting subjects, much less boring than portraits.  They also all had such unique techniques to make me want to stare at them for a long time.  Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed in the Orsay, unlike the Louvre, but I snuck a picture of the inside of the building.

Inside the Orsay

By the time I left the museum, it was already getting dark, but that was perfect for my last stop of the day.  I thought that there was no way to leave paris without seeing the Eiffel Tower at night, so I went on an expedition to find it.  To be honest, it was pretty easy.  It’s the biggest thing in Paris, not to mention it is all lit up!

The Eiffel Tower at Night

However, it was not until the next day that I actually climbed the tower.  Okay…  “Climb” might be a strong word.  I actually ended up in the wrong line and took the elevator to the top instead of stairs.  Oh well.  I did make it to the top, though.  The view was quite impressive.  I spent hours admiring it and climbing up and down the tower.  However, it was a bit strange not seeing the most iconic landmark in Paris from where I was, but that was because I was standing on it.

Me at the Top

From there I went to visit Napoleon I’s tomb.  He was not originally buried there because he died while he was in exile, but his body was later brought back to France and put in the Hotel d’Invalides.  The room that he is in is decorated by statues of him doing good works.  I think it would be weird to be buried surrounded by pictures of me.

Napoleon’s Tomb

I had one last museum that I wanted to visit in Paris:  The Rodin Museum.  To be honest, I was never super excited to see the museum of The Thinker, but I missed out on seeing The David in Florence, and in my mind, the two seemed to be of a similar status.  It ended up being fun, though, because the museum is in an 18th century house.  It was fun for me to walk around and view the architecture.  Also, I liked how many of the pieces of art, including The Thinker are just sitting outside in the garden, much like how they would have been originally.

The Thinker

There was one last place that I wanted to visit that evening.  I HAD to see the Moulin Rouge!  Of course I couldn’t get in.  I was not dressed correctly for that, but I still wanted to see the infamous windmill in red lights.  And yes.  The song “Lady Marmalade” had been stuck in my head all day.

The Moulin Rouge

The next morning I had to make a choice.  I only had time to see one other church.  Either Sacre Couer or Sainte Chapelle.  The first one was much newer, but it is bigger.  The second one was older (its original use was to hold France’s relic collection), but it was also much smaller.  I decided that for convenience’s sake, I would just go to Sainte Chapelle.  It seemed to take less time, and it was on the route to the train station.

When I first went into the chapel, I was less than impressed.  It just seemed old and things were not well preserved.  I thought that there was only one room.  I saw a staircase, but it said “Do not enter.”  I was about to leave when I noticed other people climbing a second staircase.  When I reached the top, the sight took my breath away.  I was completely surrounded by gorgeous stained glass windows.  Apparently about 70 percent of them are original, which is impressive, considering they were made in the 11th century.  I was very glad that I ended up choosing Sainte Chapelle.

Upper Chapel of Sainte Chapelle

When I left the chapel, it was already time to catch my train, so I had a quick lunch from McDonald’s (because everyone should try a foreign McDonald’s), then I headed to Garde du Nord.  From there I took the Eurostar through the Chunnel back to London briefly before I took a train back to York for some new adventures.

Me on My Way to the Chunnel

After so many weeks of traveling, I needed a break and some relaxation.  A vacation from my vacation!  That’s why my next stop after Rome was Nice, France.  It is part of the Cote d’Azure, also known as the French Riviera.  I spent my first day there just walking up and down the beach of Nice and climbing up a hill to see the gorgeous view.  I was disappointed, though because it wasn’t quite warm enough to go swimming.

Nice from Above

The next day I decided to visit the tiny country of Monaco, which is very close to Nice via train.  It is known for its city Monte Carlo, its Monte Carlo casino, celebrities, and of course that Grace Kelly became their princess.

View from Monte Carlo

My thing in Monaco, though, was their aquarium.  Anyone who knows me knows that I love aquariums, and almost every time I see one, I try to go in.  I heard that this aquarium was especially good, so of course I was excited.  It did not disappoint.  There were many cool things inside, including a tank of fish swimming in a circle.  It kind of reminded me of the fish that make shapes and get caught in the net in Finding Nemo.  I even got to touch a shark!  Okay.  It was a little shark.  Just over a foot long, but still.  It’s a shark!

Sharks!

After the aquarium, I could go into the palace for only a Euro more.  It is still the current residence of the reigning prince, so I didn’t have access to enter most of the building.  There weren’t many other tourists walking about, so I could really look around each of the rooms.  I even got to see where one of the Dukes of York died while he was visiting.

Changing of the Guard at the Palace

The last thing I saw in Monte Carlo was their famous casino.  Unfortunately I didn’t go inside.  I wasn’t dressed “properly.”  I still got to take a picture of the outside, though.

The REAL Monte Carlo

The next morning marked the end of my beach-side vacation.  All I had time to do was walk along the beach one last time before I hopped on a train to my last destination.

Good-bye Ocean

Rome was by far the place I was looking forward to visiting most, so of course I had huge expectations for it when I arrived.  I wanted to see EVERYTHING that Rome has to offer.  Good luck with that, right?

My first full day in Rome, I started my day early so that I could get in line at the Vatican Museum.  Lines in Rome are interesting because the entire time you are bombarded by vendors and people trying to sell you tours that will allow you to “skip the line” for double the price.  There was even a musician playing for tips in the line.  This made the line seem to take so much time.  Eventually, though, I was able to enter into the museum.  I was a little disappointed, though because they didn’t check my passport since Vatican City is technically its own country.

Inside of the museum, there are so many incredible pieces of art.  It’s unbelievable how many things the Vatican owns.  The most famous piece of art is the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo.  Sorry I don’t have an pictures of it.  Photos are strictly not allowed, and there was a guard watching my area like a hawk.  It isn’t all Christian art pieces either.  For example, I liked their statues of the Greek Muses.  This one is the Muse of history.

Muse of History

After I left the museum, I tried getting into St. Peter’s Cathedral, but the line was WAY too long, and it was starting to get pretty hot out.  Instead, I decided to move on and find some other sites in Rome, including where Caeser was killed, which I accidentally discovered along my way.   This care called the Theatre of Pompey is now known for being a stray cat colony.

Theatre of Pompey

I continued until I found the Roman Pantheon.  The building was originally made as a temple to all of the Roman gods, but once Rome fell, the Christians made it into a church.  This allowed the building to be preserved until now.

The Roman Pantheon

Pantheon’s Ceiling

Then I found my way to the Spanish steps.  To be honest, I don’t really understand the appeal of the Spanish Steps.  They were only made in the 1700s (clearly the “old” things were made by the Ancient Romans), and they are just a big set of stairs.  You can’t even see them because there are so many people sitting on them.  They are just something you have to do when you go to Rome.

The Spanish Steps

I had one last stop that day:  The Trevi Fountain.  Don’t worry, I threw a coin in, so I will be returning to Rome one day.

Me at the Trevi Fountain

The next morning, I awoke bright and early again to head over to Palentine Hill and the Forum.  Rick Steves taught me that a good way to skip the line at the Colosseum was to go to these places first because no one would be there and you can buy the ticket for the Colosseum at the same time.  The trick worked so well.  There was nobody else on the Hill, so I could stroll around the ancient palace happily and without fear of getting jabbed in the back by another tourist.

On Top of Palentine Hill

After exploring Palentine Hill for quite a while, I moved on to the Forum.  This is where the government of Ancient Rome did all of their business.  There were a lot more tourists here, but I could imagine what the area might have looked like back in the day.

The Forum

After I left the Forum area, I was able to gleefully bypass the ticket line and stroll into the Colosseum.  What a massive structure.  Before I saw it, I figured that I might be disappointed, that it wouldn’t match my expectations.  It definitely matched them.  It was incredible to learn all about the building and about the people who would have attended the shows.  I even learned that at one point they had mini naval battles  by flooding the bottom of it.  I was disappointed, though, because I couldn’t tour the maze of paths underneath the floor where the gladiators would have been.

The Colosseum

I still had one more thing to see that day.  I walked all the way out of Rome into the countryside.  It was here that the Roman-era Christians were buried because they were not allowed to be buried in the city.  I was able to descend into the biggest known Christian catacomb near Rome.  It was interesting to learn how the catacombs were built from the top down and how Jonah actually appeared more than Jesus on the walls.  I even was able to see some of the earliest popes, many of whom had the symbol of a martyr engraved on his tomb.  Pictures were not allowed in the tomb, so here’s a picture of the countryside instead.

Roman Countryside

I had allotted for four almost full days in Rome, but already in the first two, I had seen a HUGE amount of the city.  I wanted to take a side trip somewhere, but I had no ideas.  I of course Googled “good day trips from Rome,” and the top of the result was the ancient ruined city of Pompeii.  I did a little research and found that pretty much every other source said that Pompeii would be be really expensive and that travel time would be so long, I wouldn’t have time to see what I actually wanted to see.  I really, REALLY wanted to go, though.  My heart was set on going, so after a sleepless night, I got out of bed to get to the train station where I caught the next train towards Pompeii.  Luckily it wasn’t either as difficult or as expensive as everyone made it seem.

Besides, once I got there, it would have all been worth it.  Pompeii is just like everyone says it is.  When Mt. Vesuvius erupted, the whole city was covered in ash, and this helped preserve everything so well.  Rows and rows of houses, baths, cafeterias, temples, and other buildings fill the area of the ancient city, their walls still intact.  Their art and pottery were also incredibly well preserved.  The interior walls are still colored, including some very impressive frescos.  The floor mosaics that were recovered are also incredible.  I can’t imagine how long it took to put every tiny piece in its place.

House in Pompeii

After walking through Pompeii, I decided to stop in Naples at the National Archaeology museum, which is filled with artifacts taken from the Pompeii and surrounding sites.  All of the artifacts that could not be kept in their place in Pompeii were moved to this museum to be preserved.  Just the sheer number of items they had was impressive, but the incredible detail in each object was fascinating.

One Example of a Mosaic

My final day in Rome was to catch anything that I hadn’t gotten to earlier.  I began with waiting in line at St. Peter’s Basillica.  While the architecture was very impressive, I wasn’t too interested in the images within the church.  This is probably because I have no idea who any of the Catholic saints are, but now I do feel like I need to brush up on my Bible stories.  My favorite part was seeing Michelangelo’s Pieta.  That was an honestly beautiful statue.  Of course I couldn’t see it for too long because of all of the tourists.

Michelangelo’s Pieta

After visiting the basilica, I had just enough time to find and explore Hadrian’s Mausoleum, called Castel Sant’Angelo.  It was originally the burial place for Emperor Hadrian.  Later, Catholic popes converted it into a castle, where they could hide in times of trouble like during the Siege of Rome.  This was particularly interesting for me because I will be visiting Hadrian’s Wall in the UK in a few weeks.

Castel Sant’Angelo

My next stop after Venice was Firenze, or as it’s known in English, Florence.  I only spent a few brief days here, but it was the hottest place I visited in all of that time.  On the one full day I spent there, it got up to over 80 degrees Fahrenheit.  I can understand why there were so many tourists visiting, trying to escape the cold temperatures everywhere else in Europe.

My first night I didn’t have much time to do anything besides walk along the river that goes through the center of Florence and see the Ponte Vecchio, which is the famous bridge in Florence.  It has little shops all along the bridge.

Firenze at Night

Ponte Vecchio at Night

The next day, despite the heat, was busy.  Of course I accidentally scheduled my time in Florence, so that the one full day there was on a Monday.  I completely forgot to notice that almost all museums are closed on Mondays in Italy, including the famous Uffizi Gallery and the Academia Gallery, which has the real David statue.  Then on Tuesday mornings, it is almost impossible to get in because the lines of tourists are so long.  Needless to say, I did not make it to a museum in Florence.  However, I did end up seeing the major land marks in the city.  Including…

The Duomo

The Clock Tower

The Fake David

The Palace

From Piazzale Michelangelo

This wasn’t the end of my day, though. Piazzale Michelangelo is a fantastic lookout of Florence, but of course it is up a steep hill.  I was going to continue further up the hill to see the church with the highest altitude in Florence, but I decided “Nah.”  Instead, I walked back down the hill to the train station where I hopped on a local train to Pisa.  When I arrived in Pisa, I had no map and no idea of where to go.  I was in search of the famous tower, though.  I figured that it must be pretty easy to spot, so I just kept walking forward.  I kept walking until I was almost at the city wall.  I figured that I must have passed it.  Just as I was about to turn around, I peeked around a corner and saw this tall, white building that looked as if it was about to topple over.  Found it!

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

Me and the Leaning Tower

The next day I only had a half day in Florence, so I tried to get into a museum, but it just wasn’t going to happen.  Instead I ended up at a pretty small and unknown palace in the city.  It belonged to the Medicis, and even Michelangelo lived there for a while after the Medicis discovered his talent.  After that, it was time to leave Florence for Rome.

Inside the Medici Palace