Athens

We weren't as enthusiastic about Athens as any other part of our trip... We were only here a day, and that was enough. Our hostel was walking distance to the Acropolis, which was the only thing we were interested in so that was perfect. We were both still a little under the weather and tired from our 2am ferry ride, so relaxed at the hostel most of the day after visiting the Acropolis. We took a risk and tried Mexican food, and we won't be doing that again. It was probably the first really bad food we had had on the whole trip. Athens was just a stopover for us and we were fine with that, but we were both glad we had time to at least see the Acropolis or what is left of it!

 This part of the acropolis has been renovated and is used for concerts!

Allie taking a picture of Ellie taking a picture of the Parthenon.

Santorini

Santorini was easily one of our favorite places yet! We loved the overall atmosphere and environment. It is such a beautiful island, and the people there are the friendliest we've met. It was a very relaxing three days, but we both wish we had more time there. 

We stayed at Anny Studios on Perissa Beach and had a private room with a kitchen and bathroom - quite the luxury! The staff was nice and very helpful. We even managed to get a ride to our 2am ferry for free! It was also in a great location. We found markets and a bakery in walking distance as well as tons of restaurants, and of course the beach.

Although difficult to get to, Santorini was well worth the trip. The ferry from Athens was only 4 hours, but it was in a smaller rocky boat, and a lot of people were getting sick around us. The ferry back to Athens was much more pleasant, other than the fact that it was from 2:00 to 8:30 in the morning.

We both agree that Santorini (and possibly additional Greek islands) is #1 on the list of places to come back to!

Day 1

Flight from Rome to Athens

Ferry from Athens

Went to market and bakery

Cooked dinner in the hotel

Day 2

We rented a car and explored almost the entire island!

Red Beach

Lighthouse

Fira

Oia

Pasta dinner at Skala in Oia

Bakery for dessert

Day 3

We were both a little sick, so didn't do much today

Walk around Perissa Beach

Cooked dinner in the room

Ferry back to Athens at 2am

 Red Beach

 View of the inner islands

 Oia

 Donkeys going up the hill in Oia. If you don't get out of their way... they just run into you.

 Oia

 Oia had dogs everywhere... they were so friendly!

 Oia again

Possibly the best pastries we've had, from the 24 hour bakery!

 

Black sand beaches

 

Our adorable rental car!

Rome

We both have mixed feelings about Rome. We loved the food, sights and weather, but it was the smokiest city we've been to, and the people were kind of stingy. (Although it is possible that we were just becoming fed up with the overall stinginess in Europe. We're getting tired of paying to go to the bathroom.)

Our favorite sights were the Colosseum and Palatine Hill. We also found a great place for dinner near our hotel called Gaia Bio. It served organic Italian food and was delicious! The most important highlight of the trip was probably Old Bridge Gelatto, located right next to Vatican City. It was incredibly delicious and super cheap! It reminded us a lot of Diddy Riese in Westwood. Overall it was a great visit and we would both love to go back some day!

Day 1

Gaia Bio for dinner

Day 2

St. Peter's Basilica

Vatican Museums

Sistine Chapel

Gaia Bio for dinner

Day 3

Colosseum

Palatine Hill

Roman Forum

Trajan's Markets

Capital Building (from the outside)

Trevi Fountain

Pantheon (from the outside)

Piazza Navona

Spanish Steps

Old Bridge Gelatto

Gaia Bio for dinner

Day 4

Laundry

Walking and shopping

Old Bridge Gelatto

Gaia Bio

Day 5

Easter Mass at St. Peter's

Chinese food for lunch

Old Bridge Gelatto

Pizza, wine and Ferris Beuller's Day Off

Swiss Guard at the Vatican

At the top of St. Peter's Basilica

The Colosseum

Trevi Fountain

Spanish Steps

Old Bridge Gelatto = THE BEST

St. Peter's Square during Easter Mass

The Pope giving his Message & Blessing

Barcelona

We only had a quick visit to Barcelona, but it was great! Our hostel was nice and clean, had big bathrooms, free breakfast, and free wifi. Only drawback of the stay was the smelly guy on the bed next to us. We didn't do much sightseeing, but spent more time just walking around the city. There was good shopping in Barcelona. Maybe a little too much good shopping... The city was not as dangerous as everyone said it would be, although we did witness an attempted pickpocket. We never actually got to go into Sagrada Familia, so we are both looking forward to doing that next time we are in the city, and maybe more of it will be finished!

Day 1

Plaza Catalunya

Las Ramblas

Boqueria

El Corte Ingles

Park Guell

Day 2

Sagrada Familia (attempt #1)

La Pedrera

Casa Batllo

McDonald's

Park Montjuic

Castel

Sangria and Paella for dinner!

Day 3

Sagrada Familia (attempt #2)

Spanish coffee

Desigual and shopping

Park Guell

Sagrada Familia

McDonald's

Park Montjuic

Spanish Coffee

 Bomb squad outside Sagrada Familia (this was attempt #1)

Street artists on Las Ramblas

Casa Batllo

Nice

We really enjoyed Nice and our hostel had a lot to do with it. After nonstop sightseeing in London and Paris, we were looking for a place to relax and we found it! We met great people, drank lots of wine, and saw some beautiful places (in that order). Since we were not able to get a train to Barcelona, we ended up staying an extra day, but it was being a blessing in disguise.

Day 1

We took the TGV from Paris and arrived in time for dinner at the hostel, where we met our Nice family.

Day 2 - Allie's Birthday!

Flower & Fruit Market

Chateau (that had views of all of Nice)

St. Jean Peninsula

Happy hour at the hostel

Amazing hostel food for dinner

Lots of wine and birthday celebrations

Day 3

Fell asleep on train and got off on the wrong stop (we were trying to get to Grasse)

Stood in the rain waiting for another train for an hour

Get off 1 stop before they check for tickets

Sit on a beach near (but not in) Cannes

Celebrate Emma's birthday!

Day 4

Russian Cathedral

Nice "pebble" (but really rock) beach

Allie went for a run on the promenade

Ellie went to Cimiez to see the Matisse museum and Roman Ruins

Home-cooked dinner: 1 bottle of wine each, full box of pasta with pesto and chicken and a brownie!

 A selection from the fruit and flower market in town.

 The ocean was so beautiful it didn't even look real!

Right before Allie pushed Ellie in the water.

Views from our walk around the peninsula.

Allie's birthday baguette!

Paris

Paris was quite a contrast to English-speaking, proper London. But it's an amazing city and we had a great time there. We did all the major sights... Sacre Coeur, Moulin Rouge (if that even counts), the Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe & Champs Elysee, Versailles, Giverny (Monet's house and gardens), Notre Dame.

We also got to spend part of a day with some of Ellie's relatives in Orleans, and saw Chateau du Chambord with them. This was one of the best days of the trip to date, and it was nice to have a delicious home-cooked meal!

Day 1

Sacre Coeur & Montmarte
Moulin Rouge

Galeries Lafayette

Jardin du Tuileries

At Sacre Coeur, our first afternoon in Paris

Day 2

Versailles

Eiffel Tower

Fountains in the gardens at Versailles

Distance to home from the Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower at night!

Day 3

Monet's Gardens

Jardin du Luxembourg

Latin Quartier

At Monet's water lily pond

Our crepe place! (Next to the Palace du Luxembourg)

Day 4

Louvre

Latin Quartier (again)

Notre Dame

Latin Quartier (again)

Arc de Triomphe

Champs Elysee

Outside the Louvre

A delicious bakery we found in the Latin Quartier

View from the Arc de Triomphe

Day 5

Musee D'Orsay

Orleans & Chateau du Chambord

Chateau du Chambourd in the Loire Valley

Us on the roof of the Chateau

London

We both LOVED London! It was a great place to start our trip. It's such a clean, easy to navigate city. We especially loved all the different parks and that the museums were free!

 Countdown to the Olympics in Trafalgar Square

 Big Ben, Ellie and Allie

 So that the horses know when to cross

On the London Eye! (Our favorite London activity.)

Here's a list of the stuff we did in London:

Day 1
Harrod's
Buckingham Palace (we got there just in time to see changing of the guard)
St. James Park
Big Ben and Parliament (we saw them from the outside)
Trafalgar Square
National Portrait Gallery
Covent Garden
Westminster Abbey (from the outside)
Green Park
Hyde Park
Nando's for dinner!

Day 2
Tate Modern
Globe (walked by)
Took the Millennium Bridge to St. Paul's
London Eye
Dinner at a pub called Nag's Head in Covent Garden

Itinerary

Here's our travel plan... Subject to change.

Map!

We decided to wear matching outfits on the flight over. For safety purposes. (So we didn't lose each other.)