"Rome is the city of echoes & the city of illusions..."

Ciao from Rome! First thing I have to say is that it is freaking HOT here. I went to see the Coliseum and Roman ruins today. It was quite miserable even starting at 10am (earlier than I can say I did much of anything in Barcelona). Now I just finished up an insalata mista e margherita pizza at this restaurant near the Hostel Alessandro on the corner of Via Vicenza and Via Palestro. This might be my very first time eating at a sit-down restaurant alone.

Me quedó el corazón en Barcelona

Wow...what can I say about Barcelona? Kabul was incredible. I loved everyone I met. Tons of Canadians and Brazilians and Australians. I met Hana, from California, and I became close with Meagan, a Canadian who was also traveling alone. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see all that I wanted to see. I missed the Museo Picasso and the Olympic Stadium, but I made it to the highlights. And the club scene is CRAZY. I went out every night and most nights I didn't even get back until 5am.

Room 501 will live forever in legend - Josh, Henry, and Chris (Cambridge, UK); Alan, Paul, and Jason (Bay Area, California); Meagan (Edmonton, Canada); Jaime (Melbourne, Australia); Hana (Marin, California); and Ron, Aaron, Chris, Ben, Lachie, and David (Melbourne, Australia).

So the highlights? Parc Ciutadella, Parc Güell, La Rambla, the beach, La Sagrada Familia, and La Pedrera (Antonio Gaudi's house). I loved Barcelona so much that it's been hard to get excited about Rome. But I suppose I'll be excited when I get there!

A Very French 4th of July

Happy Fourth of July! Today was a crazy busy day. Possibly the best one yet, mainly because my feet finally stopped hurting! We got up relatively early and made our way out to Versailles. Incredible palace. I didn't realize it was now in this small community town. I imagined it to be more in the countryside. I really had wanted to see the gardens of Versailles but they have recently started charging €6 to enter, so we took a few pictures in front of them and then headed to, get this, a Tex-Mex restaurant caleld El Rancho that was right next to the train station. Of course, it was no Ninfa's or Chuy's but it hit the spot. Bonnie, Jean, and Erin had been craving it all summer. After lunch, we went to the Louvre where we didn't spent a lot of time, but we were able to see the Mona Lisa and I got an awesome photo in front of it. Then we went outside and saw the famous Louvre pyramid and dipped our feet in the fountain, refreshing us enough to try and scope out the Museé D'Orsay, but by the time we got there, Bonnie had texted us letting us know that Van Gogh's "Starry Nights" wasn't there and that they were finished, so we headed back to the hotel to rest up a bit before tonight. Everyone went to the Eiffel Tower one last time while Bonnie and I went to the Seine River with a panini and sat and watched the riverboats pass Notre Dame. We saw these two old ladies had painted a picture of the scene and had it propped up against the stone wall. Bonnie complimented it, and then they took it over to a tree about 15 feet away and propped it up there with a stone. We thought maybe they were trying to sell it, or that they wanted us to take it. Unfortunately, they took it with them when they left. Then Bonnie and I decided to meet up with everyone at the Eiffel Tower, but we took the Metro in the completely wrong direction and ended up in some lower class Parisian suburb. It took us about an hour to get back! Still, a perfect last night in Paris.

Sacre Coeur

We're at Sacre Coeur sipping Evian. It is a beautiful cathedral atop a hill overlooking the Montmartre district of Paris. This man sketched a picture of us sitting on the steps while we were watching a musician sing and play the guitar. The weather is much better today too (not so hot!). We woke up to rain and cooler weather. It has been scorchingly miserable the last several days so this is a welcome break! Before Sacre Coeur and Montmartre, we stopped at a creperie and I had my first real crepe with Nutella and banana!








Now we are sitting in the Notre Dame Cathedral. It's just like in the Disney movie. I can even faintly hear the sound of a choir. I'm not sure if there is actually a choir in the building practicing or if it's just in my head.



We went back to the Eiffel Tower again tonight and met up with Rémi and Thomas. Bonnie and I worked on some Bordeaux again!

Paris with Bonnie, Jean, and Erin

We are currently eating at this restaurant in the Latin Quarter...our waiter called Texas "Bush City and that Bush was "crazy, stupid, and abnormal." Wow. First anti-American statement I've heard while in France.

We went back to the Eiffel Tower tonight and saw it "sparkle" -- gorgeous! We made some friends too, who wanted to practice their English for an exam. Thomas and Remy...they thought English was a "pretty" language! (Or maybe just an attempt at a pick-up line).

La deuxième journée

Today I went to the area west of Avenue Wagram to find a purse I had spotted by the French designer Longchamps. It was on sale for €55, which is a steal! Anyway the store is called Bory's, and underneath shelves of purses were these cabinets with even more to choose from. Of course I wanted to see all there was to see, so I opened the cabinets to peek. I upset one of the employees...she said "That is not for you!" and is actually the first rude French person I have met.

I think I am finally on the European time zone. It's a good thing that I didn't go out last night or I would probably sleep the day away. So far today, I've gotten to know the 8e and 17éme arrondissements, purchased a French purse, ate lunch at Monoprix (basically a small Whole Foods), and now I am about to explore the Champs Elysees!



I have stopped at this little garden off of the busy avenue, and there are people laying in the grass like they don't have a care in the world. There are people shamelessly making out too...I saw this at the Luxembourg Gardens yesterday and last night on the street as well. They had put a sweater over their heads, but it was still obvious what was going on. And there were just standing there on the street corner! They didn't even try to be discreet. Maybe in the next few days I'll find myself a French homme to make out with publicly, too! Ha.

Paris, Je T'Aime

It is my first full day in Paris but I have already gotten my picture taken in front of the Arc de Triomphe and I am currently sipping Bordeaux and eating brie in the Luxembourg Gardens. This is bliss! I even met up with an old Wichita friend, Andrew!

Je suis à Paris!

I am finally in Paris and it is simply surreal. Beautiful buildings and streets. I arrive around 7am and took my luggage to the hotel, changed clothes, and walked around the neighborhood. I must have a fantastic accent, or look, because I can't tell you how many people mistook me as a French woman. I love walking around here. It is so interesting, nothing I could find anywhere in America.

Still in the States...

Now I am in Charlotte, North Carolina waiting to board and there is this adorable little girl with her mother sitting across from me. She is eating a croissant from Starbucks and her mom is speaking to her in French. The little girl responds in English. I've seen a lot of families like this who switch between Spanish and English, but I've never seen a French/English bilingual family. So interesting. Children who speak another language are so cute!

Today is the day!

"Paris is always a good idea." - Audrey Hepburn

Today is the day! I can't believe how quickly time passed for it to get here. It still feels like it should be much further away. Yet I will be in Paris in only 14 hours! I don't think it has hit me yet, but I bet it will right as the plane touches down at Charles de Gaulle.I'm not too nervous yet, but I bet I will be when I walk off that plane and find myself in a whole new world. I'm worried about making my way on the Metro and making sure I have the right ticket and get to where I need to go. Spain and Italy will be easier to navigate, I think, than France because I know the languages better. I must admit I have a fear of how the French people will treat me, mostly the ticketeers at the Metro and the concierge at the hotel. I've decided to begin each conversation with what little French I know. "Bonjour!" and "Comment ça va?" and "Je m'appelle Hilary" to make sure I don't look like an ignorant American. Which I will still appear to be, probably.

I really hope that I have the energy to stay up and walk around once I arrive. It will be nearly midnight central time when I land, but nearly 7am Paris time. I don't want to waste half the day sleeping! I can only hope I can kill time on the flight by sleeping! Which reminds me of the 3 hour layover I'll have to deal with in Charlotte. I'll probably end up doing something stupid like paying $6 for a magazine I'll flip through once...or get a head start on the wine consumption I plan on doing in the next two weeks! Probably not a good idea. Hopefully my coach doesn't see this...

The ordinary one.

Yesterday: 4 miles, 32 minutes.
Today: 7 miles, 1 hour.

"Top results are reached only through pain. But eventually you like this pain. You'll find the more difficulties you have on the way, the more you will enjoy your success."
- Juha Vaatainen

Ohmygosh less than 6 days left until my trip. Is this really happening? I can't wait to see Bonnie, Erin, and Jean! Paris is going to be absolutely magical. And with a few of my best friends, I couldn't ask for a better time! Bonnie booked us a few nights at the Hotel Garden near the Bastille. From pictures, it looks adorable.