Our Flight from Seattle to our layover in Calgary was at 12 pm. It was a short one with a couple hours wait before getting back on a plane for what will be a very long flight to Italy. Upon arrival to Rome, we got a taxi to head to our Airbnb. First impression was drivers in Italy are insane, I'm talking driving between lanes and fast. It was a decently short ride to the Airbnb but when we arrived we were horrified to discovered we had to climb 8 flights of stairs to get to out Airbnb, with our luggage and everything. Once I made it up, sweaty and out of breath, I was pleasantly surprised at how beautiful our place was! Enough beds for everybody as well. We settled in and decided to get some dinner seeing as it was only like 2 pm there. This is where things started to get a little dicey. We searched for a bit and decided on a place called Cafe Academia, the waiter was nice enough and we ordered some pizzas, 1 for each of us. We enjoyed our food, our company and eventually we were stuffed. None of us finished our pizza because they were full size pizzas and we're small women but it was delicious nonetheless. We decided we were ready to go and asked our waiter if we could have our check, he said not until we finished our food, we all laughed as we thought it was a joke but were in for a nasty shock when we discovered he was not joking. We waited and waited and he would not bring it, he would make eye contact with me and wouldn't bring it, we asked another waiter, and he didn't bring it, we asked that waiter again and he still didn't bring it, an hour passed since our initial request for the check and the other waiter finally got annoyed with us and told our waiter to bring us the check. Reluctantly he came over and asked us if we were sure we wanted the check, like yes sir I was sure an hour ago. I believe he thought we didn't like the food but that was not it, we were just full. Finally he brought the check and we payed and hightailed out of there. Not sure if that was Italian custom, but not a great first dining experience in Rome. We turned in for the night after that.

Day 2 was quite the eventful one. We got a very early start because we had to make our tour group to go to the Vatican! Our journey there was a long one, we decided to walk, which would prove to be a horrible mistake for me because it was a 40 minute walk which I knew but was unprepared for the toll it would take on my legs and feet the next day. Anyways after grabbing a croissant for the road we made to our tour group. The rule for entering the Vatican is no shoulders or knees and no midrift. Seeing as I don't own any normal sized shirts, I pulled up my pants to meet my short. So because the Vatican is within Vatican City and Vatican City has become independent from Rome, they had their own border patrol. I found this very interesting. In case you're reading this unaware of what the Vatican is, it's the home of the Pope, Catholism and the Sistine Chapel! So after entering the Vatican we were presented with a courtyard where we could see St. Peter's Basilica which remains Rome's tallest building and out of respect nobody builds higher. Our tour and tour guide, Hilaria or Hillary in English, were amazing. The Vatican is covered in art and sculptures everywhere. Most impressive being the ceilings, they had the most beautiful paintings. The sculptures were interesting to see because one of history's popes decided to alter some statues to cover their genitals because at a time when women were finally allowed to enter the Vatican they were not supposed to see a males genitalia in public so they had to be covered, same with some of the paintings however most have been restored to their original appearance. Most interesting statue to me was Laocoon and His Sons (pictured) famous for capturing movement of the body but also deep emotion as he knows he and his sons are about to die. Obviously, the most exciting part was to see the Sistine Chapel, more specifically The Creation. The rule when entering the Sistine Chapel apart from the dress code is silence and no photos. Out of respect. Unfortunately, that place was NOT silent. People suck. To see the work of Michelangelo in person however was breathtaking. It made me sad to think all the years he spent painting while looking up, it sure was worth it though, I'm sure. He is so famous now. I learned that after spent all that time painting the Sistine Chapel Michelangelo fled the Vatican. It took them 20 years to track him down and bring him back paint the Last Judgement. In that painting you'll find a self portrait of Michelangelo as just skin, which he added as a response to all the critism he was receiving for the piece. He was truly a genius. After exiting the Sistine Chapel, we headed to St. Peter's Basilica and walked around the church, mass is still held there. Once again every piece of this building was covered in something, there were also Popes like embalmed? and on display there, it was unsettling. A big piece there was a statue of Mary and Jesus called The Pieta, also by Michelangelo. After heading back to our Airbnb, we got some rest and did some souvenir shopping.

Real quick I want to talk about the Trevi Fountain, which was a 1 minute walk from our Airbnb and if you've ever seen the Lizzie McGuire movie you might be familiar with but it was by far my favorite thing in Rome, no matter how many times I saw it or walked by it, it was amazing every time. Words cannot describe how beautiful it is in person.

As the evening approached we did a quick outfit change and headed to what our Airbnb host called the "young part of Rome," for dinner and some fun. We made the 20 minute walk over there and had dinner at a lovely restaurant called Trastevere. I had a Carbonara and an Aperol spritz which is very popular drink down there, its advertised everywhere. I decided the spritz was not sweet enough so for my second drink I ordered a Sex on the Beach, which was also really strong. After dinner I shopped from some of the street vendors and we looked for our next moved when it was fated we stumble upon a man playing music in the street surrounded by a group of people singing and dancing. We were immediately drawn in. Nedi and I decided to jump into the circle of people dancing and had tons of fun. We stayed with the an for about an hour, he was playing classic American music like Should I Stay or Should I go, and Wonderwall! After, I really needed to pee so we found a bar and while I was in there everyone else took a shot, followed by another shot in another bar. By this point everyone is feeling pretty toasty so we're looking for our next move when a bouncer we were passing by ropes us into the establishment he's standing in front of. Come to find out it's actually a hookah bar but we just want drinks so we order drinks and listen to the DJ but we want better so we request he play Bad Bunny of course! He does and we get jumping, we're singing, dancing, and having a good ass time. The people next to us are joining us and the people at other tables were smiling too. Even our waiter was dancing with us, when all the sudden I look over and some lady is signaling me to keep it down and I'm confused so I ignore her, shorty after her, some guy and the BOUNCER, the same one that brought us in, come over and tell us to be quiet. Girl what? What's the DJ for? Anyways, that was flying with us we came to have fun so we left and stumbled home.

Day 3 was by far the hardest day I experienced in Italy. We had an early morning as we headed towards the train stop to our next destination, Florence, Italy. It was on the walk to the train stop where I started feeling fatigued from overuse the day before. The train ride was I believe a little under 2 hours. Once we arrived Florence felt different from Rome, it felt newer and the roads were much more put together, and the buildings didn't look as old as in Rome. We walked past another church that was soo intricately designed. You could probably spend days staring at it and still not see all the detail on the building. This was Cathedral Santa Maria De Fiore. This however was not our destination. We did have a slot reserved for where we were visiting but we were early so we grabbed breakfast at this Cafe called BEN. It was supposed to be American style breakfast and I would agree that it was but when I tell you this Cafe had the most delicious orange juice I have ever tasted in my life and mind you I typically don't like orange juice but this juice was different. Aside from the orange juice, I got an omelet. After breakfast we headed toward our destination, Gallery of the Academy. Now this place is extremely important and extremely exciting because this is where apart from many beautiful paintings, the one and only 'The Statue of David' by Michelangelo is held. Upon entering the corridor in which David stood at the end of. My breath was taken away. Aside from the fact that he's massive, he's also beautiful. A sight to behold for sure. Towards the end of my visit with David, my feet were hurting so bad. Barely able to walk, every step I was wincing but we still had until 8 pm here in Florence and it was only 11 am. We attempted to walk through town a bit but I was so drained and in pain I couldn't go to much longer. I felt awful, like I was slowing everybody down and ruining their time. I wasn't being kind to myself or my body at this point but now I realize my health is important and my friends would understand. I was caught between wanting to go home and staying in Florence for everyone else. I was able to take a break lasting over an hour seated on a bench while my sister and our friend looked for some food. I'm not sure of the name of the place but they were supposed to be these amazing sandwiches and according to them the line was out of the door. Personally, it was not my cup of tea. We did some browsing and shopping and I was able to hold it together. After we walked to the river to watch the sunset, our time to leave was approaching soon. The sunset was beautiful in Florence. Our walk to the train was a short one and I was nearly falling asleep waiting for the train. Once we got on, I fell asleep. We ubered home and I elevated my legs and went to bed.

After a couple days in a row of just go, go, go, we had the chance to pump the brakes for a day and have a less crammed schedule. We did get to sleep in a bit. On the itinerary for the morning, we were supposed to attend the vintage market in Rome, after taking an uber to rest our legs a bit we arrived at the supposed location of the vintage market, only there was no vintage market, it seemed to be closed that day which was such a bummer because I was really excited to do some vintage shopping in Rome. However after some brief rearranging we decided to just visit some vintage shops instead, we were able to visit two, and the clothes had a lot of potential if you're into reworking and upcycling! I would've loved to try something if I wasn't worried about overflowing my suitcase. After two vintage shops we grabbed some food. We ate at _____ and I had what became my favorite meal in Italy. It was a seafood pasta, consisting of shrimp, mussels, clams, octopus, and squid. I love seafood so this was just heavenly to me. After lunch, we made our way to the Pantheon which another church famous for its circular architecture! While making our way down there we some more beautiful fountains. After taking in the beauty of the Pantheon, we skedaddled home and rested for a bit. Our plan for the evening was to see the Spanish steps, and we happened to go at sunset which is great because the steps have an amazing view. It was breathtaking. We also grabbed gelato. Definitely recommend gelato. For dinner my friend wanted to try this Italian-Jewish place really bad so that's where we went. I believe it was called Yotvata. There were two must-tries on our list due to a recommendation and those were the fried rice balls and the artichoke. Both delicious but especially the rice balls. Here is where things got a little weird. Our first waiter who gave us the appetizers was so sweet, he was this little old man and we adored him, but after he served us the appetizers we got a new waiter, and this waiter was not so nice, he seemed to have some sort of vendetta against me and I don't know why. So first we finish eating our apps and we're waiting for someone to come take our order, its kind of taking forever and this is when we meet our new waiter and he just comes over and is like, are you ready to order, our kitchen is closing soon. So much attitude too, so we're like uuuh yea. Everyone orders and its my turn and I tell him what I want and he shakes his finger at me and says "we don't have that," so now I'm panicking because I didn't have a backup so I order a margherita bruschetta. We also order a bottle of wine. He then comes back with the wine and 2 glasses, then he goes and gets two more, he pouring us the wine and I'm 3rd to be poured and I go "Oh I don't want any thanks." Typically I don't like wine. After I say that he slams the bottle down on the table and walks away, he didn't even serve our last friend. After some coaxing from my friends I tried the wine and it was delicious, perfectly sweet, I'm sure when he saw drinking it, he got pissed. I don't know for sure but probably. Finally our food comes and mine is just a piece of the bruschetta bread with tomato sauce and melted cheese and I was expecting like a margherita bruschetta, tomato, basil, mozzarella globs. I don't know if it means something else or if he did that on purpose but it was alright. I looked it up on google and the images show what I was expecting so maybe he was being malicious, I don't know. Anyways, remember I told you he had said their kitchen was closing soon? Well when we were leaving, we saw a waitress sit two people down and they were supposed to be closing soon! So I don't know. I still recommend going however. On our way home we stopped by the Trevi Fountain once again. Seeing it is like a goodnight kiss.

This day was so exciting for me. On the itinerary was the Colosseum! I was looking forward to this for so long. So in the morning we got dressed in clothes that would be comfortable because we knew we would be in direct sun most of the day. We almost arrived late to our tour but we didn't. Before heading to the Colosseum we got to see the Roman Forum, located at the center of ancient Rome and used for religious and political activities, as well as the Palatine Hill, one of the 7 hills in Rome and the place where Caesar's ashes were scattered. If you're not familiar with the stabbing of Caesar I recommend doing some research! Very interesting stuff! We also saw Emperor Nero's palace from the Palatine Hill, however most of it is ruins. One of the most interesting things I learned on this tour is the story of how Rome started and the twins Romulus and Remus. I highly recommend familiarizing yourself with this story, it's roman mythology and very fascinating. Finally we made it to the Colosseum. It was so surreal to be inside it. To know that so many battles and fights happened in it. A lot of the Colosseum is missing sadly though. In the past the Colosseum wasn't seen as the marvel we know it as today and a lot of pieces were use to make the floor to St. Peter's Basilica. All the statues that were once there are gone. We also learned at one point it was housing people. It was a community of people living there. It has quite the extensive history, and used to have a huge statue of Nero next to it but that's gone now. It's believed because of this colossal statue of Nero that the Colosseum got it's name. Unfortunately, the floor is gone now as well but it appears to be in the process of bein replaced. After our wonderful tour of the Colosseum we asked our tour guide for food recommendations and unfortunately I don't know the name of the place but it was quaint and felt family owned. I got sausage and potatoes because it sounded good and it was! After our lunch we went home and rested. After some much needed rest we went to a beautiful park above the Spanish steps. It was super big and had an amazing view of the sunset. We walked around for a bit and then got hungry again. We walked around for a bit and saw some ladies eating a beautiful charcuterie board and our interest was peaked. We went inside and ordered a huge board and some more of that delicious wine from before. We cheersed to our last night in Rome and then headed home for some rest.

My sister woke up bright and early to go get a tattoo and our friend , Sarai accompanied her while Nedi and I stayed at the airbnb and cleaned up and finished packing. Check out was at 3 and our flight was at 9 but we were gonna be at the airport at like 5 or 6. We found a luggage holding service next to our airbnb and spent the couple hours walking around the area, killing time. When the time came around we ordered an uber, headed to the airport and said goodbye to Rome.

After arriving late the night before to an airbnb much smaller than our one in Italy and smelled like cucumbers, we got up and got dressed for our day at the Louvre. After walking through a door into a huge courthouse, there was the unmistakable giant prism in the middle of it. The Louvre. I'd always wanted to go to the Louvre, its such an iconic part of being in Paris. After waiting in line which moved surprisingly fast we were able to go in and pick a direction in go. As we were walking through the Egyptian exhibit, my sister and I realized there was an absurd amount of stuff, sarcophagi, jewelry, sculptures, a ton of stuff. Super well preserved as well and we had no idea how these things had survived so many years and why the French had sooo much of it, until our friend, Sarai told us that a long time ago French royalty and priests and stuff would eat the mummies for medicinal purposes and delicacy purposes. I haven't been able to get that out of my head. So gross. After walking through a lot, we got hungry and visited this small stand of food in there and we got prepackaged sandwiches that weren't that good but it was fuel. That's when we decided to come up with a plan about what we want to see because we won't be able to see everything. Of course number 1 was Mona Lisa and everything else would just be pushed aside. So we began our hunt for Mona and along the way my sister and I got separated from Sarai and Nedi. Dey and I finally were getting closer and we reached a huge corridor, it stretched so long and we figured she was probably at the end of it, so we walked the whole thing only to realize we passed her, so we went back and found a side room and that's where she was. Of course there were a ton of people but again the line moved fast. They had a system, snap your pictures and get out so Dey and I made it to the very front. She was smaller than I thought she was but beautiful nonetheless. I'm having a mandela moment though because I swear she wasn't smiling, it was like a whole thing but she is smiling so am I crazy?? Anyways , shortly after leaving the Mona Lisa, Sarai and Nedi caught up with us and they too were able to see the Mona Lisa. They were a little bit behind us. Since we walked through a lot of the museum on the way to the Mona Lisa we headed out of the Lovure and went to a restaurant nearby called Cafe Ruc. It was a pretty fancy restaurant actually and we didn't even realize but we stayed. Unfortunately, I did not try any snails during my trip like I wanted to, which is really disappointing. At this restaurant I did get salon and green beans and it was so good! After lunch we walked around the beautiful park near the Louvre and sat and took it in but by this point most of us were really sleepy so we went back to the airbnb and stayed in for the night.

This day is probably on my lists for favorite days on the trip. It was a much more relaxed day. We went out to breakfast and had a hot chocolate, orange juice, croissant and scrambled egg. The egg was a little watery for me but everything else was delectable. After our meal, we headed to the Eiffel tower! It was amazing to see it in person, stand in front of it and be able to get our pictures. After we just sat in the grass and on a bench for a bit then headed off to the Shakespeare and Company bookstore! A really popular, amazing bookstore. I felt like a kid in a candy store in there! I bought 3 books. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone for Micah and I to read, a Winnie the Pooh book, which will make sense if you know me and a children's book for Micah's sister's baby coming in November. I thought it would be cool for the baby to have a book from Paris. We sat at the connecting cafe so Sarai and Dey could recharge with a coffee. I don't like coffee so I didn't drink any this whole trip. Our next destination was the Notre Dame Cathedral. Just from outside though since it's still closed from the accident. What're your thoughts on this by the way? Do you agree with the critism it received for the amount of money they were able to raise for it as opposed to the money donated to natural disaster relief and stuff. They received an insane amount of donations. Almost 1 Billion I believe. After looking at the ND we still had 3 hours before our next place so we just headed back to our airbnb, rested, did an outfit change and we left again. This time to the Catacombs!! This was something I was so excited for, I just couldn't wait! It's always been a dream to be here. It did not disappoint. First, you have to descend a lot of stairs to get there, then some dimly lit tunnels, and then you're there! Just like you'd think there were some organized bones and skulls all along the pathway. An insane amount of bones. Really makes you wonder how many bodies those bones make up. It was a great experience very morbidly fascinating. Definitely a must-see! At dinnertime we went to La Source and I had an extremely delicious meal. A french onion soup or just onion soup for them, and a seabass with a side of, wait for it, RATATOUILLE!!! The combination was soooo good! I was stuffed. After dinner it was bedtime and that was day 2.

Day 3 had a rough start, I almost didn't go to our destination because I felt sick and nauseous. I was starting to get sick. I mustered up the strength to get up and get ready and did very minimal makeup and hair. It was a gloomy day in Paris, borderline raining so I didn't help the way I was feeling. We had to a walk a little bit to get to the place we'd be meeting our tour group to get on the shuttle to the Palace of Versailles! If you're not familiar with Versailles it's where French royalty lived, most notably Queen Marie Antionette! Who, fun fact, was decapitated on my birthday many years ago. The bus ride was about 45 minutes and I slept a little bit but it was cold in there! When we arrived it was crazy, not only big but shiny as well. There is a lot of gold on the castle and it was so shiny. Almost unreal. The picture used as the background of these journals is Versailles. We made our way through the palace, not all of it of course it's too massive, we saw King chambers and Queen chambers, the hall of mirrors and the garden which is massive. Very Alice in Wonderland-esque. We saw a whole lot more but during this whole tour I was so drowsy. It was very hard. Keeping in theme all the ceilings of Versailles had very beautiful paintings as well. After our bus ride back to Paris we headed back to the airbnb for some much needed rest, we were tired, sick and needing a nap so that's what we did. Around 9 p.m. we went to dinner at Pastamore. I got a clam linguine and that was Day 3.

Much to my delight, day 4 was a rest day. A day to just take it easy. I was feeling slightly better on this day but still sick. After getting ready for the day we decided to some shopping. While out we stumbled upon a protest, there were men guarding the gathering with the biggest guns I have ever seen. I'm not 100% sure but we believe they were a pro-war and anti-Ukraine group. It was weird and scary but we moved past it. We visited a lot of designer stores in a very luxurious mall, Sarai and Nedi were needing to buy designer purses as a request from their roommate. We also visited a crazy store, I think it was a thrift tore but I'm not sure. They had some crazy items of clothes though. Very unique. The place was right next to where we had lunch so that's why we went. Unfortunately, I did not take a ton of pictures this day so I don't know the name of the restaurant. I had a Nicoise salad, it was good but the anchovies were ridiculously salty. We continued to shop, I contemplated getting a tattoo but I didn't. I went to a Tabaco store to get Micah some Parisian cigarettes (his request) and a vape for myself. Mine had died in Italy. Later that night the rest of the girls decided to go see the Eiffel Tower at night but I stayed at the Airbnb because I still wasn't feeling that good. I facetimed my boyfriend for a bit and around bedtime the girls came back. We finished up the day with some Jersey Shore and then went to sleep.

Woohoo! Day 5. I was very excited for this day because we were visiting Disneyland Paris! I haven't been to Disneyland since I was like 7, but to go to the Paris one was very exciting. I wore a very cool Tigger baseball jersey because I love Winnie the Pooh. We scheduled a shuttle to take us to Disneyland Paris, it was about an hour drive and that was at 8 a.m. Once arriving we went to Walt Disney studios first because they close sooner. First ride went on was the Avenger's ride and let me tell you I did not expect it to go that fast. I don't typically like roller coasters but this trip changed that for me. So after avenger's we waited in like a 40 minute line, (spoiler: all the lines were really long), to ride the Ratatouille one. Of course we had to we were in PARIS. It was so cute, you get in this little rat cart and you are a rat, it was amazing. After that one we grabbed a snack, a beignet, like the ones in Princess and the Frog but they were so disappointing, they were not warm and gooey and melty. They were cold! So sad. After the disappointment, we went to the Cars Road Trip ride, it was cute but way too juvenile. Dey was expecting something else. After Cars was the new Spiderman one. This one wasn't a ride but like a game. They use a technology that allows you to shoot webs from your hand and defeat these spider bots that Peter Parker accidentally let loose. Tom Holland was there. Well, not the real one. Just him on a screen. After Spiderman, Crush's ride. The turtle from finding Nemo. The wait on this one was ridiculous so we purchased a fast pass for this one only. So worth it. This one also was so fast and loopy. That was the last of Walt Disney Studios. Now onto Disneyland itself. I honestly cannot remember the order of the rides but we did Buzz Lightyear's blaster something. This game was surprisingly hard for me. I couldn't get my laser to shoot anything, then the ride broke down 2 minutes in. We also did Hyperspace Mountain for my sister, the Star Wars dork. It was rad, I was so scared to go on it, I could hear the coaster and people screaming I was so scared, but it was soooo fun. We stopped and saw the parade for a bit and I was so excited. I love Disney, I don't care. I grew up on it. We did Haunted Mansion, which was so nice to sit down and just relax, I liked that one and because of the parade the line was only a 5 minute wait. We also did Pirates of the Caribbean, which always reminds me of my mom, plus Captain Jack Sparrow's robot was looking fiiine. Then we did Indiana Jones, and oh boy. So I forgot to take my glasses off and during a loop-di-loop they FLEW OFF. I was so scared but luckily they landed by my feet, well as I was trying to retrieve them so they wouldn't fly out, my sister thought I passed out and made me put my head up and then another loop-di-loop happened and I was thinking they're for sure gone now. I was trying to accept it. Then the ride ended and they were still by my feet thank goodness!! Anyways those were all the rides we went on. Somewhere in the middle we got a disappointing lunch too. That's when I received the devastating news that Winnie would not be out in the park today... :( My real bone to pick here is that I paid 75 euros for a photo pass. Access to all the pictures taken on rides, photographers, all of it. I to this day do not have those photos, my card didn't work. I can't believe it. Back to the park, our shuttle was gonna arrive at 9 and we had an hour left. You're probably like girl that was 12 hours? Yes it was, so for the last hour we did shopping. I bought my mom a mug, a bought a magnet (at Micah's request), the 30th anniversary mickey ears, a WTP Christmas ornament and a Tigger plushie. Successful day. Until we got lost trying to find our shuttle and almost missed it. At this point though all of us were ready to go home. Europe chewed us up and spit us out. That was the last day in Paris.

We arrived in Seattle at 12 p.m. and I was greeted by my beautful boyfriend.

If you made it this far, THANK YOU SO MUCH for taking the time to read about my trip.