Venice

my parents are here!

it has been so fun showing them around and i am so grateful to have them here. they got here around noon on saturday and i knew it was them when i heard suitcases being rolled down the street and heard my mom say "well i guess this is it!" outside my window. i showed them around florence and we got panini's from pinos for lunch. they were pretty tired so i let them rest for a few minutes before venturing out to apperitivo and gelato. 

on sunday we got up and took the train to venice! we spent the day wandering around the streets and canals and getting lost, obviously. we had pizza for dinner at rossopomodoro. it was amazing. i had a spinach, sausage, and cheese pizza. we were too full to have dinner! 

cuties

we watched a beautiful sunset over the grand canal 

just look at that thing!

my taste buds..

1. risotto with "sauce of the roast"

2. caramel creme brulee

3. chocolate on a stick with pistachios from interlaken

4. the best brownie i think i've ever had

5. hot chocolate with caramel bailley's 

6. cheese fondue

7. potatoes, pears, and pickles to dip in our cheese

8. soup with shrimp and muscles

9. deep fried mozzarella sandwhiches

Interlaken

on the lookout on top of harder kulm

i'm not sure i could sum up the beauty that is interlaken in one blog post. or ever really. 

 we got to interlaken on friday morning around 5:00am. i hopped off the bus sans jacket and immediately began shaking from the cold. with florence still in the high 60s everyday, i forgot what cold feels like! we checked into our cozy hostel, balmers, and went right to sleep.

we didn't book any activities for the weekend so we were excited to get up and explore. we wandered in and out of chocolate shops and stopped in a cafe for some hot chocolate. we also walked down to the shore of Lake Thun. it was a gorgeous walk along the bright blue river that opened up to the most gorgeous view of lake thun. it was amazing. we got chocolate for lunch (naturally) and hung out at the hostel before getting fondue for dinner. 

on saturday morning we woke up and hiked to the top of Harder Kulm which was way harder then expected (har har). there is usually a funicular train that takes you to the top but we decided to walk hike  struggle to the summit. i'm blaming it on our lack of hiking gear. anyway, the views at the top were completely worth it. there was a lookout that spanned over the side of the mountain, allowing for amazing views of both lakes. the tip of that thing was a little scary when the wind picked up and it was bouncing all over the place. after the hike we stopped in utopia for some hot chocolate with caramel baileys amazingness. (we just went to the grocery store so we could make this stuff. currently drinking as we speak) utopia is owned by a cute woman from new jersey who now lives in interlaken with her husband and kids. after we warmed up and showered we went to a chocolate show at schuh. a woman showed us where coco beans come from and how they get turned into chocolate and finally truffles. i was was more concerned with the free samples. the ticket for the show also came with a voucher to spend in their chocolate store. 

i was terribly sad to leave the mountains but the drive home was so pretty it was almost worth it. almost. until next time, interlaken. 

so many cows!

look at that water!

on the shore of lake thun

on top of harder kulm

straight ahead is Jungfraujoch, the highest point in europe

my taste buds..

1. giant hazelnut pretzel at the international food festival

2. i actually have no idea what this is an don't remember eating it

3. celery veloute with glazed artichokes, pine nuts and roast meat sauce

4. honey-glazed baby rooster with thyme-flavored baby potatoes

5. risotto with burrata cheese, sunchoke and truffle scent

6. lime-scented macaroon

7. chocolate hazelnut coffee mousse cake

8. also not sure what this was

9. pesto pasta

10. stuffed red onion

11. wurstel from the international food festival

12. some sort of chocolate cake

13. glazed lamb

14. also some sort of chocolate cake

15. true european "hot chocolate" from hemingway's

16. finally made it to gusta pizza!

Paris

i had preconceived notions of paris being dirty and gross so i had low expectations. however, it turned out to be my favorite stop on the trip and i would go back in a heartbeat. 

we arrived at our hostel on tuesday night after a quick stop in brussels. on wednesday morning we departed for our walking tour. during the tour we made a pit stop in starbucks where i dropped a whopping $7 on a pumpkin spice latte. yes $7. more expensive then my dinner the night before. anywho, after the tour we ran like giddy school children to get up close and personal with the eiffel tower. that thing is pretty darn cool. we then made our way to the avenue des champs-elysees where we shopped and stuff. or not shopped because study abroad students are flat out broke, you feel me? that night we headed to montmarte hill which has some pretty kick ass views of paris at night. we got croque-monsieurs at a little french cafe before booking it to catch the eiffel tower sparkle. the tower sparkles for 5 minutes at the top of each hour so when i saw we booked it i mean we literally ran off of the metro to see this thing. we all had tears streaming down our face (not really, but close) as we tried to take pictures through the trees. we got nutella crepes at a nearby stand for dessert. standing under a lit up eiffel tower at night with a crepe in your hand is seriously something straight out of a Disney movie. 

the next day we made the trek out to versailles. we were in a time crunch so we didn't have a ton of time to wander through the gardens like i was hoping to do. this means i'll just have to come back (mwahaha). however, we did get to see the hall of mirrors so i was good with that. the dark bed chambers mixed with thousands of tourists was the epitome of claustrophobia so i was ready to get the heck out of there. we went to a cafe for lunch to have crepes again. this time a raspberry crepe followed by a giant chocolate macaroon. i had never had macaroons before coming to paris and i'm sad i tried them because those things are so good. after lunch we got more macaroons (thank goodness) and wandered along the river to browse the various street shops. we made our way to the love lock bride and ended day at the notre dome. 

versailles

hall of mirrors

love lock bridge

inside notre dame