I’ve Been Trippin’ – Part Deux
For someone who does most of their travels solo, I knew this trip was going to be very different for me. I quickly learned that it’s nice traveling with someone. You don’t have to take your luggage and coffee into the airport bathroom with you.
Paris:
Our flight was delayed 7 hours and we ended up landing in a snow storm anyway. We got to the hotel about 2am.
Welcome to Paris! Watch your step.
We hit the Louvre first due to the fiercely cold and wet weather. I’m telling you, that weather was not for pussies. Do you see that hat Evan is wearing below? He loses that in the Louvre and spends the rest of the day not complaining about having a freezing, buzz-cut head.
Let the Louvre adventures begin!
We spent four hours exploring and I started to get hungry. As we made our way to the exit, we found ourselves lost. It actually felt more like being trapped – that place is situated on almost 100 acres with 60,000 square meters of exhibit space. Some of the stairwells were shut down due to restoration of certain major artifacts in the Greek Antiquities section – We walked in circles until it was comical. I kept spotting another couple who looked like they were having the same issue – we were making our circles in opposite directions.
Lost in it all.
I thought I would starve in there. But, we made it out and found a warm, cozy restaurant to enjoy some delicious French Onion Soup.
We were denied access to the Eiffel Tower later that day and were only permitted to climb to the second level the next day due to the inclement weather.
Tour de Eiffel
Top de Eiffel – DENIED!
One of my favorite places to visit and photograph was Notre Dame.
It is the 850th anniversary of the Notre Dame cathedral.
Pigeons in Paris can be pets, flying rats, or dinner. It just depends on where you are.
There were hundreds of pigeons around her. She put them in our hands and on Evan’s head.
I paid way too much for coffee… Italy has spoiled me in the caffe category. Oh, and I got hustled at Three Card Monte. I knew better, but apparently couldn’t help myself. But, we stayed in a fun and sexy hotel, had amazing meals and drank delicious wine. The people in Paris were kind and helpful, regardless of the stereotype. And the public transportation there is outstanding! I will return – with more money.
London:
We left the city of love and went to the city of pubs via train. It was our first time taking the chunnel; the ride was completely uneventful, but strange for me nonetheless. To be honest, I was disappointed there was nothing to see. I know it’s silly – you can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t shove her on a train 250ft underwater for 23.5 miles and her not expect to see submarine-style windows with dolphins waving Union Jacks in their cute little fins welcoming her to England…
Evan and Big Ben.
I did, however, enjoy showing Evan around one of my favorite cities (still cold, wet and gray) and introduced him to a few of my friends. Of course, we ate and drank like British royalty… at least I’m pretty sure William and Harry love big English breakfasts, cold beer, big burgers, fish & chips, Sunday roast and Punjabi cuisine.
Dinner at Tayyabs in White Chapel.
We flew out of London City Airport for the first time and were totally impressed by the easy access via the Tube, short security lines and great food vendors (one of which gave me free breakfast sandwiches because it was almost 11am and they don’t waste food – what a novel idea).
Our next stop was Amsterdam.
Walking across one of the many canals in A’dam.
Evan and I both love Vincent Van Gogh; we enjoyed some great Van Gogh pieces in the National Gallery in London, but were both excited about visiting the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Unfortunately, the dedicated museum is under construction until late April so we visited “The Van Gogh Museum in the Hermitage Amsterdam” – a partial display of 75 pieces of work. It was lovely, but I was majorly disappointed. I wanted it all. I wanted Starry Night and Caffe Terrace at Night and Starry Night Over the Rhone. Can you tell this west Texas girl loves her stars at night? Evan just wanted Sunflowers. And he got what he wanted. I’m sure there’s a lesson for me in there somewhere.
We also had fun smoking in the local coffee shops and wandering around the quaint streets and canals high as a kite.
You can’t order booze in the coffee shops. Smart! This was my favorite drink – mint “tea” (hot water and fresh mint) – 3 euro a pop!
We even took a tour through the Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum, which made me think of my dearly departed friend, John Defee. I had a feeling he’d visited there before, or perhaps he was there with me. Either way, I felt him which was fun.
I loved this picture hanging in the museum.
One night I took Evan to Supper Club for his birthday where we enjoyed delicious culinary treats in bed. It doesn’t get much more “I amsterdam” than that!
And then we came home to Bologna – the oldest college town in the world!
View of Bologna from the tower in centro.
The weather was warming up a bit – upper 50’s – so we wandered through the market in Piazza Santo Stefano and then climbed to the top of the Due Torri in centro and had fun taking pictures of the city.
The antiques market in Piazza Santo Stefano is always fun to explore.
Beginners luck? Our Lasagna Bolognese was the bomb.com.
We visited the Archaeological Museum, made our first (but not last) Lasagna Bolognese, and said good-bye to my favorite bar keep before we took off for Sonoma County, California.
I’ll share my North American adventures next time.
