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Friday, August 12^th:

Myself, Golfing in Scotland:

            With a bit of a change of plans, today I decided to change my return flight and to head home. A combination of overall illness, fatigue, homesickness, and the desire to spend more than two days in Iceland led me to my decision. Iceland shall wait for another day. After all, over two months spent travelling can be tiring!

            What a truly remarkable experience this trip has been—one I will never forget. I met wonderful people, saw incredible things, and tasted flawless dishes. I like to think of this trip as a feeling-out trip for all the beautiful places and cities that I visited, as I plan to return to nearly all of them when I have more time to enjoy them with friends and family. In the end, I can’t decide which city or country was my favorite; they were all magical in their own way. Thanks again to all the people who helped me out along the way. Until next time, Europe!

Myself, on the Dubrovnik City Walls:

France: Day II (Paris)

Thursday, August 11^th:

Notre Dame:

            What a whirlwind of a day! It certainly does not help when you start feeling ill while travelling, but with such a short time in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, I had to make the most of it. Well rested, Matt, Max, and I had some breakfast at the Marriott Rive Gauche before heading out to our first site of the day, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, or as the French call it, the Sacre Coeur. A quick trip on the incredibly efficient Parisian subway, and a short climb up the hill of Montmartre had us there in no time.

The Sacre Coeur:

            I had admired this church from a far before, during my last trip to Paris in 2006. The short stay during that trip did not allow for me to come see the Sacre Coeur, so I was delighted to finally be able to visit it. From a far, the Sacre Coeur resembles the Taj Mahal in its bright white marble exterior, but inside it is covered in gold leaf and tile mosaics on all walls. I was amazed at the color contrast from the outside to the inside, and wish that I could have taken a few pictures! After a few moments in silent thought, it was time to move on and talk another walk through the neighborhood of Montmartre.

Montmartre:

            Notoriously the district of Paris to house writers, artists, musicians, actors, and performers, Montmartre has a very interesting and different feel than the rest of Paris, almost like Brooklyn differs from other parts of New York. Montmartre is built entirely on a hill and without subway access, and is also the cities center for strip clubs, sex shops, and burlesque performances. We took a long walk weaving in and out of artists offering their skills for a quick portrait odd part of the city for sure, but it was time to get back into the center of things.

The Arc de Triomphe:

            Next up was the Arc de Triomphe in the center of the great star of the Champs Elysees known as Place Charles de Gaulle. Completed in 1836, the massive stone arch commemorates those who fought for France in the Napoleonic wars and the French Revolution. Underneath the arch is France’s tomb of the Unknown Soldier, representing all those whom were not identified during World War I. The square itself is very cool, as twelve straight avenues come together at a single point, and tourists need to use underground tunnels to get to the Arc and avoid stopping the many lanes of traffic!

The Eiffel Tower and Trocadero Gardens:

            We continued our tour of the city by walking over to the Eiffel Tower, or Tour Eiffel. My family and I went up to the top of the Tower on our first trip to Paris, so I suggested that we do that again, this time avoiding the huge line for the first elevator by climbing the first set of stairs. I guess we got our exercise in for the day, because that climb did not prove as easy as it looked, but it definitely saved us lots of time spent waiting in queues. Humorously, Max waited until we were halfway up the second elevator to tell us he was afraid of heights. He must’ve swallowed his fear, though, because shortly after we walked out onto the platform 900 feet up. What an incredible view! The tallest building in the world for over forty years, I am still amazed that this building was built in 1889.

Notre Dame Cathedral and the Seine:

            All of us were beginning to feel the affects of rapid travel and our bodies were beginning to slow down by now. We decided to take in one more sight before returning to the hotel for dinner and more rest. We hopped on the subway again to Notre Dame Cathedral that stands on the Île de la Cité in the oldest part of Paris. Completed in Gothic style in 1345, the Cathedral reached world-wide recognition as the setting for Victor Hugo’s novel, and subsequent Disney animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I was absolutely blown away by the detail on the stained glass and the magnitude of the windows. For such an old church, the stone and glasswork were exquisite and very well maintained. If only other churches around Europe could be that well preserved!

Stained Glass Inside Notre Dame Cathedral:

            After a long walk back to our hotel, all of us were exhausted. Tomorrow, Matt would head home to New York. Max was off to begin another adventure meeting family in his native country of Ukraine. For me, it was on to one more country before home: Iceland! Au revoir Paris! À la prochaine…

France: Day I (Paris)

Wednesday, August 10^th:

The Arc de Triomphe inside the Jardin des Tuileries and the Eiffel Tower at Sunset:

A return to the city of lights! After a rather annoying morning motivating my hungover travel companions to get to the airport in Barcelona, we finally made our way to Paris, France. Bonjour! For both Matt and I, this was the second time we had been to Paris, but the first for Max. Both of us thought we had the city figured out pretty well, but our inability to get to our hotel proved us wrong. After multiple cab rides because there are apparently three hotels with the same name as ours, we arrived at the Marriott Rive Gauche. Thanks again to Matt’s father for putting us up in a wonderful hotel after so many nights in hostels!

Matt and I immediately hit the ground running, as it was already late in the day and we wanted to get some sightseeing in. Luckily we had heard that the Louvre was open late on Wednesday nights, and Matt was eager to show me around as I had not visited the Louvre on my first visit, so we headed straight there, leaving Max behind to rest.

Entering the Louvre:

What a remarkable art museum. It seems cliché to say, but the Louvre truly is spectacular, and it would take months to take in all the magnificent works. We opted for an accelerated tour of just the highlights, focusing on key items in the museum’s collection. These key items included the Greek sculpture known as the “Winged Victory,” another Greek sculpture in the “Venus de Milo,” the Egyptian collections, and, of course, the Grand Gallery including numerous Italian Renaissance artwork and the world-famous “Mona Lisa.” Our visit consisted of about two hours running around the world’s largest art museum, and we didn’t even get to more than half of it!

Winged Victory and Venus de Milo Inside the Louvre:

Following our Louvre visit, we decided to walk towards the Eiffel Tower while the sun was setting to meet up with Max for some dinner. The walk across the city of Paris was certainly not short, but definitely made us realize why it is nicknamed the City of Lights. At night, the city really comes alive with beautiful shades of red, white, blue, and gold. We walked through the Jardin des Tuileries, passed the Grand Palais and Hotel des Invalides, where Napoleon rests, and finally met Max at a restaurant called Café le Dôme. I ate some traditional Steak Frites and gulped down some Kronenbourg beer after a little bit of waiting on a disgruntled waiter.

Notre Dame Cathedral at Night:

Immediately after we fueled up, we wandered over to the park in front of the Eiffel Tower, now illuminated in beautiful gold light. Every hour, on the hour, for five minutes, the entire structure twinkles with thousands of light bulbs for the whole city to see. We remained here for a long while, speaking with other tourists and college students, all of whom have gathered to drink beer and wine and enjoy sitting underneath what is perhaps the most recognizable landmark in the entire world. After a while, and a few beers, we decided to return to the hotel to turn in and get some rest before a long day of sightseeing tomorrow. After all, we are only in Paris for a short time, and there is so much to see!

The Eiffel Tower at Night:

Spain: Day VII (Madrid)

Tuesday, August 9^th:

Retiro Lake and the Monument to Alfonso XII Inside Buen Retiro Park:

            Another day in paradise! I still can’t get over how much I have lucked out on weather on my entire trip. I think I can count the days it has rained on one hand! Today was another awesome day, and perfect because we got to relax a lot. Max slept in again while Collins and I decided to head to the Museo del Prado.

            The Prado Museum ended up being far larger than I had thought, and I was definitely impressed. The museum showcased some of my favorite artists’ works, including many by Goya, Velázquez, and Bosch. Many of these works are extremely dark and odd, which is in stark comparison to much of the work I have seen on my trip so far. It was definitely a breath of fresh air seeing modern art again after spending so much time observing classical Christian themes. We spent the majority of the morning here before deciding to enjoy the sunshine outdoors.

Crystal Palace Inside Buen Retiro Park:

            We decided that for the rest of the day we would wander around the massive Buen Retiro Park in Madrid’s city center. Just before entering the park, we grabbed an outdoor table to fuel up called Harina. I ate a delicious chicken and dried fruit salad with goat cheese. Love the food around here! The Buen Retiro Park is absolutely enormous, and it was truly beautiful to spend such a nice day wandering around enjoying the sunshine. Some of the highlights were the Crystal and Velázquez Palace buildings inside the park. Both of these buildings have little function outside of being works of art and small greenhouses. Sunflower seeds in hand, we also got to watch a traditional Spanish dance lesson, complete with traditional dress and music. It was quite the treat!

San Miguel and San Benito Church from Buen Retiro Park:

            It was really nice to relax today, as I was starting to feel pretty run down after bouncing between sights in different cities all around the continent. We had planned on going out again tonight, but after starting to not feel too great I decided it was a better idea to get a good nights sleep before an early rise to head to Paris in the morning. Matt and Max decided they were going to paint the town red, and by the 4am drunken knocks on the door, I knew they had accomplished that feat. Oh well, Adiós España!

Spain: Day VI (Madrid)

Monday, August 8^th:

The Palacia Real Madrid (Madrid Royal Palace):

            Spain is a wonderful place. Today was one of the hotter days of the trip, with temperatures in the upper 90s, but it really did not feel that hot due to the extreme dryness away from the coast. We started off the day by grabbing a salad for breakfast near the Palacio Real. Max slept in while Collins and I explored the grounds around and inside the Royal Spanish Palace.

The Palacio Real Madrid:

            The Spanish palace was particularly interesting to me because it is one royal family in the world that I know almost nothing about. Walking around the beautiful halls of the palace also gave me a history lesson along with the immaculate décor and beautiful artwork found all over the place. The palace is not one of the tallest I have seen on my trip, but it contains hundreds of rooms and extends laterally in many directions. We wandered around the palace for what seemed like a couple hours before meeting up with Max in the massive palace courtyard to check out a nearby church, the Almudena Cathedral.

The Almudena Cathedral:

            The idea behind the Almudena Cathedral came about when the capital of Spain was transferred from Toledo to Madrid in 1561. Madrid did not have a massive Catholic cathedral for royal use at the time. Unfortunately, plans were set aside and the Almudena Cathedral was not completed until 1993, over 400 years later. As a result, the church is lavishly decorated with modern Spanish art, but used for such important events as the weddings of royals. The church is a pretty unique combination of modern art and ancient artifacts, and it was a welcome change from many of the other churches I have been visiting over the course of my trip.

Max and I eating Caviar at the San Miguel Market:

            Following our visit to the Almudena Cathedral we decided that we were pretty hungry for lunch. Wandering around the city for a little while, we stumbled upon a market that we later discovered was the San Miguel Market and known as the “upscale food market of Madrid.” We wandered around in here for a while, sampling different exotic seafood dishes and traditional Spanish tapas fares. Max and I even had some Russian Beluga Caviar with Russian Standard Vodka! I had never had real caviar before, and Max, being from the Ukraine, treated me to a unique experience.

Plaza Mayor:

            We spent the rest of the day wandering around Madrid and relaxing. It was a very hot day, so we didn’t end up doing a whole lot. We did find Plaza Mayor, one of the main meeting places and lively scenes in the city, and we found a bar crawl to join up on for the evening. To pass the time, we walked up and down the Gran Via main road in the city before getting hungry. We got some dinner at an Italian restaurant back near Plaza Del Sol where I ate my usual, Spaghetti Bolognese and a Caprese Salad before heading back to Plaza Mayor. We found an Irish bar to grab a Guinness or two before starting the crawl, again with the same Sandemans company that I used for my bar crawl in Scotland. We had a fun time wandering around Madrid with a crew that was much smaller than the Edinburgh pub crawl. This crawl didn’t take us into the early morning hours, but we had fun and made a friend in the Sandemans host. Only a few more nights of my trip left!

The Gran Via: