Paris and Amsterdam!

Hi sorry for taking so long between this and my last post! I have been traveling so much recently, it is so great to see so many different countries and cultures. Last weekend I was in Paris with my Mom, her friend Annie Walsh, and my cousin Bridget. The four of us strolled around the beautiful streets of Paris and hit up all of the big stops in the city. Since we did so much I will just highlight my favorite parts of the trip. We popped into the Lourve and saw the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and other priceless and famous works of art. We went to Versailles for a whole day, and we walked around the beautiful palace and then walk through the massive gardens of the estate. Every aspect of these gardens were perfectly manicured and decked out with fountains and flowers. That night we went to the Eiffel Tower, and saw it all lit up and sparkle. We met a nice man named Roy who's wife accidently ordered too many tickets so we got to skip the long line, and got tickets from him. Two terrifying elevator rides later, we were at the top of the Eiffel Tower. The top with breathtaking for three main reasons 1. it was one of the prettiest views I have ever seen, 2. it was absolutely freezing and literally difficult to breath, 3. I am absolutely terrified of heights. Luckily the views from the top were so stunning I was able to forget about the reasons two and three very easily. The last night we went to a Cabaret show, which is not as cute as they make them seem in the United States. The four of us could not stop laughing at the many naked men and women that walked across the stage. Overall the night was so fun, and something I know I will never forget. The weekend was amazing, and gave me that perfect feeling of home that I needed halfway through my semester abroad.

Amsterdam is one of the most interesting cities I have been in. It has a different feel than most cities, and every block that we walked looked similar but had its own certain charm. The city connected through many different canals that are all so beautiful. There were not many tourist attractions that we took part of besides the Van Gogh Museum and Anne Frank House, so for most of the weekend we just walked around. On our last day we took a Canal Cruise throughout the whole city, where we received a little history on each part of the city. The cruise was my favorite part because it was a peaceful ride where we were able to talk to each other while also enjoy the city. The most interesting part of our journey was probably our hostel. We staying a "Camping Hostel" which was thirty minutes outside of the city. I am not going to lie I was dreading this decision after it was made by several people that I was traveling with.  I have never really been the camping type, but much to my surprise I ended of really liking the place that we were in. We stayed in Chalet ten which had four bunk beds, and a table in the middle. It was a very peaceful place to come home to every night, and enabled all of us to spend a lot of time together. This trip was one of my favorites because I got to really enjoy my time there instead of rushing to places that I feel I need to see.We got to wander around the city and really pick up on the atmosphere of Amsterdam.