discovering joy.: A visit from some family

The end of my adventure is Europe will be coming to an end in 3 weeks. When I was planning this semester at this time last year people told me to "cherish every moment because it will go by so fast!" they were right! This semester has been full of highs and lows, life lessons, figuring out who I am, what I care about, what I want to do with my life. It's been filled with challenges of living far away from people who know me well, making new friends, managing my way in a non-English speaking country. I've learned things about myself this semester that I didn't expect to learn. I'm excited to go home, but I am sad that my semester abroad will soon just be a memory and stories.

Last week, my Aunt Karen, mom, Jimmy and his friend Jason all came to visit! Jimmy and Jason spent the night here at the manor and then we all met up in London! It was so crazy to have so many people from home all in London together. After that, Aunt Karen, my mom, and I headed to Paris then Rome and my mom and I spent 4 days in Cinque Terre, Italy. It was a busy trip filled with ups and downs. More ups than downs, but the travel is just so exhausting. My friend Leah told me a quote that says, "you don't appreciate your trip to Europe until you are at home unpacking your suitcase". This couldn't be more true. In the midst you don't realize what a gift it is because the chaos of travel gets in the way. Europe is definitely not a relaxing vacation, but I think everyone should at one point in their live go there!

We spent 10 days seeing everything we could in Paris, Rome and Cinque Terre! Some of my favorite things about Paris were the Parisian girls in dresses and heels riding mopeds, eating sandwiches from bakeries and walking the streets of Paris, the Eiffel Tower all lit up at night, the Louvre, taking a boat cruise down the Seine and eating at this adorable little French restaurant with a fire burning stove right next to our table and lamb kabobs for dinner. We also loved croissants and ordering cafe oles! Rome was completely different. Paris felt romantic and beautiful, the Seine is just gorgeous with 37 bridges along it. Rome felt medieval and historical, mostly because it was! Our highlights of Rome was our hotel directly across from the Trevi fountain, eating gelatti's about 3 times a day!, the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, The Forum, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican! My mom and I spent Cinque Terre exploring the little villages, sitting on the beach, drinking red wine and enjoying some quality mother/daughter bonding!

Enjoy some pictures!

Me + Cotton Candy + Eiffel Tower=sooo happy!!!

We studied this during the semester! And I thought it was amazing to see artists re-creating the artwork!

During the day, I like it way better at night!

We saw these artists on the way to the Moulin Rouge

beautiful day in front of the Louvre

My brother, Jimmy, came to visit!!

The Louvre! It's amazing.

My adorable mother and aunt in Paris

Rome, can you believe these ruins are still there?!

In front of the Colosseum and one of the last 3 arcs in Rome

Trevi Fountain was right across from our hotel! The legend is if you throw 3 pennies in the fountain then you will return to Rome someday! Lucky me, I get to go back in 3 weeks!