Day 16: 9/29/12 - I <3 Capri

I'm writing this on 9/30 so will be short but had a wonderful day in Capri yesterday! My stomach is still bothering me so I was only up and about for 5 or 6 hours but I made the most of those!

I am staying near the port so when I woke up I took the Funicular (a tram) up the mountain to the main plaza in Capri. Now I know why everyone always says capri is so ritzy - because it is! All the streets surrounding the plaza had designer shops and even the restaurants were super nice and also super pricey. But I figured since I would be having my first real meal in days that I would treat myself.

I ate at this restaurant that Corrin recommended called Aurora. It. Was. Delicious. I tried to take it easy and so just had a little mozzarella appetizer and then half a thin pizza, but even that was a lot for my tummy to handle. the restaurant was also on a cute little side street, see a picture of my view during lunch below.

After that I wandered the town, ambling in and out of shops and eventually started searching for those handmade Capri sandal shops. Not only did I want a pair for myself but I thought it would be the perfect gift for Poops.

There were a couple of shops but I picked the one where I liked the styles the best (I don't have the name handy, I'll add it later). Basically I picked a style and then they handmade the sandals right in front of me! I could pick which leather straps I wanted and they custom fit it to my feet. Which, if you know my hot dog feet, was a deal-maker in itself. Check out a picture below of the guy (cobbler? That doesn't sound meaty enough ...) making my sandals.

The only sad part about this story is that I wasn't able to get a pair for poops. They are quite pricey, which I didn't mind, but I think a lot of the value is being able to custom fit them to your feet, which we obviously wouldn't be able to do for her. Ah, I guess we will just have to come to Capri another time.

After that I grabbed a quick bite of gelato, but only ate a couple spoons because my stomach was still iffy and headed back down the mountain to my hotel.

I spent a couple hours reading on my balcony with a view of the sea, which was great except that I got EATEN ALIVE by Mosquitos. And those who know me know it isn't a pretty sight when that happens. I have bites all over my body and the worst one had swelled up to now 3 inches in diameter and is red, rock hard and hot to the touch. Yummy, I know.

Anyway later that night there were random fireworks over the sea for some reason so those were cool to see and then I went to bed, super popped from such an eventful day. Note the sarcasm.

Day 10: 9/23/12 - Merci beaucoup Paris, hello London (part 2)!

Today was not only the last day in Paris but also the last day with mom and poops, booo!

We started the day pretty early with another breakfast buffet at the hotel and then stashed our stuff so we could head to the Louvre for the morning. We also were luckily able to buy our tickets to the museum at the concierge desk so we didn't have to wait in line at the museum. We got there and got in pretty speedily and basically did a quick tour of the highlights of the museum - Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, etc etc. We also saw a couple things that were new to me, mostly the basement part where there is the statue of Rasmus (I think that is what it is called) and then some of the original parts of the Louvre from when it used to be a fort.

After we left we lounged around a bit outside and then walked down the Rue de Rivoli to find a patisserie for mom to get dessert, but since it was Sunday lots of stuff was closed and we couldn't find anything :(

We headed back to the hotel, ate a little lunch and headed to the train station. The return back to London on the Eurostar was the same as getting there - pretty easy but freezing cold! I also love the assigned seating, I wish Amtrak had it in the US instead of the bum rush for seats that it usually is.

Once we got back to London we were actually all taking the same subway so we got in together. About halfway to heathrow I had to get off to go to corrin's, so I sad a said goodbye to mom and poops who headed to their flight.

It was crazy rainy in London but I pretty easily found my way to Corrin's new flat, yay! She and her roommate had just moved in today and it's so nice of her to still let me crash with her. We chatted and caught up for a bit and then headed to PJ's place for dinner.

We got lost on the way there (and were the worst house guests because we brought nothing!). PJ had so graciously out together a set of British foods and we hung out with him, his man and Florian for a bunch of hours and even played some Settlers!! It was so wonderful to see some of my ACT trainers again. Of COURSE we did our Ai Se Eu Tu Pego dance and also made Corrin watch the video from training. Haha. So much love.

After that we just headed back to corrin's apartment and hit the sack for the night. I'm a bit bummed because it is so rainy here and is supposed to rain all week which means I probably won't be able to do wing walking. So so so sad :(

Day 9: 9/22/12 - I love love love love Paris!

I had always dreamed about Paris as this magical place before I came here, and after the first time I did, everything I had dreamed of was confirmed. I absolutely love this city and had the most perfect day here with mom and poops.

We woke up relatively early and had breakfast in the hotel. It is a little thing but I love how the breakfast buffets here have fresh yogurt in the little glass bottles with fresh strawberries on the bottom. It just is so delicious and tastes not processed and without too much sugar. And, of course, who can beat the croissants in Paris?

Then we headed out for some sightseeing. Poops had told us that the weather was only 48 degrees and so not wanting to make the same mistake as London I really bundled up - leggings and jeans plus 4 thin layers and a jacket on top plus a scarf and my Toms. Well, that was a mistake. It was the most gorgeous day and I got so warm and whined about wanting my flip flops. Last time that I listen to that girl.

Anyway we headed to the Louvre and enjoyed the beautiful building and scenery. Then we walked through the Tulieres garden and over the Seine and all the way down to Notre Dame. We also stopped on this super cool bridge where people put locks on it to symbolize their forever love. I made a joke about how D and I hadn't put a lock in the bridge and so that's why we didn't last and mom immediately responses with "no D was a jerk and that's why you didn't last. You could have put all the locks in the world on that bridge and it wouldn't have helped". So hilarious.

Then we walked over to Berthillon for some ice cream and had lunch at a yummy tiny creperie down the street.

After that we headed to the Eiffel Tower, probably my favorite thing to look at in the whole world. We spent an hour or so there and mom and I just soaked in the view while poops was obsessed with some street dance going on. Weirdo we can see that in NYC anyday!

We then came back to the hotel and took a nap and after that headed out for another long leisurely dinner, this time a bit off the Champs Élysées. It was delicious and fun and after we walked to the river to see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. On the way we passed this memorial and realized it was for Princess Diana at the entrance to the tunnel where she died. Super super sad.

Then we took a bunch of pictures in front of the eiffel tower and headed back to the hotel. I'm so sad that mom and poops are leaving tomorrow but am excited to hang out with my London friends!!

Here are some pictures from the day (don't judge our silliness).

Day 8: 9/21/12 - Thank you london (part 1), bonjour Paris!

Exhausted again so short post today but we have arrived in Paris. I love love love this city! London is ok, but this place is just the best.

We spent the morning in London going shopping - Topshop, Harrods and Zara. Then we went to go see Westminster Abbey (the inside) but when we got there we realized the entrance fee was 16 pounds a person. That is nuts!! So we headed back to the hotel to pick up our stuff and head to the train station.

We took to EuroStar train from London to Paris, which was super comfortable. A little under two and a half hours and we were there. The only thing is that it was freeeezing cold on the train!

It was raining when we got here and there was a long taxi line but we finally made it to our hotel (which is pretty lame to be honest). We then walked around a bit and had a long, leisurely dinner at this local yummy brasserie. Poops ate snails, ew, and we even got mom to try a sip of wine, which she also said was ew.

Now we are back in the room about to conk out for a fabulous fabulous day tomorrow in one of my favorite cities in the world. Yippee!

Day 7: 9/20/12 - Getting detailed on the sightseeing in London!

Exhausted so super short post today but we did a lot of sightseeing - The Royal Mews, the Queen's Art gallery with an exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci's scientific drawings and studies (which are so ridiculously amazing they are hard to believe), the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace (including the special exhibition on the Queen's diamonds) and then Westminster bridge and the outsides of Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. We then chilled and napped for a bit and went to this Indian restaurant called Woodlands that I would not recommend. And why is London sooooo cold?? But a great day with the Aggie girls and more fun to come tomorrow!

Ok some pictures from the day and off to Paris tomorrow!

Day 6: 9/19/12 - Chizzilin in London with the fan

The quote of the day is "THIS is Victoria Station" from the very aggressive Underground announcer.

We had a good first day in London. Mom and poops arrived pretty tired but especially mom because she couldn't sleep at all on the flight over from the states. Poor lady!

Anyways we all arrived at the hotel, dropped our stuff off, freshened up and headed out. We first had to pick up tickets for our buckingham palace tour tomorrow and so we headed over there but realized we were hungry on the way so stopped to eat. At Burger King. Embarrassing I know. Then we proceeded to get lost a million times trying to find the Buckingham Palace Ticket Office (all my fault mind you). We finally picked up our tickets and then headed to the bus tour we had lined up. And I got us lost again. I normally am super good at directions but I was wayyyy off my game today.

Then we got on the bus tour and it was ... ok. It was freezing cold and we had two audio guides going on and it was just too much for a travel day. So we got off mid-way through and headed back to the hotel. Before we did though I snapped the included picture of poops.

Back at the hotel we chilled for a bit and decided mom needed to rest up for our day tomorrow so she took a nap while poops and I headed out. We decided to do what we do best - go see a show. We went to the TKTS booth in Leicester Square and it was totally empty. Why isn't the booth in Times Square ever like that?? We wanted to see Les Mis but it was sold out. So we got tickets for Billy Elliot, which we were only feeling lukewarm about. Boy were we wrong! It was one of the most amazing shows I have ever seen. The lead was this 12 year old boy who just was phenomenal at everything - ballet, tap, hip hop, gymnastics, singing AND acting. This show may be my new obsession (replacing Book of Mormon now that Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad are gone) for the next few months.

Then we headed back to the hotel area where we wanted to find a pub with some food but everything was closed except McDonald's. Literally everything. Talk about and embarrassing food day.

Anyways now we are ready to hit the hat and are looking forward to another great day tomorrow. Yippee!

Day 6: 9/19/12 - I'm in London baby!

(name that tv character)

I made it safe and sound to London and am now waiting to meet up with poops and mom. Can't wait to explore this city and Paris with them!

Will probably do fewer posts since I have been here before ... But will at least try to recap daily so I can remember the trip!