With only 11 full days of school in December (thanks to long weekends and holidays) and a two week Christmas break, I took advantage and did a lot of traveling. In the beginning of the month, I traveled to Porto, Portugal and Rome. In Porto we drank a lot of wine, tried some Sherry (not my favorite I have to say), ate a lot of Cod (their specialty), looked at a lot of tile, visited churches, and walked at the waterfront. The weather was beautiful and the town was small but charming.
Next up, Rome, where I ate my weight in pizza, pasta, and gelato. With the help of personalized lists from friends and family, every meal we ate was delicious! One night, we were seated at a table of 8, with 3 other couples. We all spoke different languages-French, Italian, and possibly German. While we didn't mind, and found the whole situation pretty funny, it probably wasn't their idea of a romantic dinner...
With only 3 full days, we woke up early, walked around a ton, and by the end of the night were absolutely exhausted that I slept extremely well in our hostel, in the top bunk for that matter. We visited the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Gardens, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, Vatican and probably more. We navigated our way around the city using all different types of public transportation, soliciting help from bus drivers, bus-riders, street vendors, other pedestrians, and more, using a combination of Spanish, English, a few Italian words, and miming. The people in Italy were all extremely nice and understanding. Some gave us their map, others walked us to our destination. All in all, a wonderful (and delicious) adventure!
My family visited me during Abby's winter break, and for the first few days I got to be the tour-guide in Madrid. My dad has told me he is now entrusting all future trip planning to me...not sure if I am up to the task just yet, though aside from some minor complications (for example, the restaurant I booked for Christmas Eve, the one night when everything is closed, ended up being closed) I think I did a good job for those 3 days. Maybe trip planning is in my future?
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| Templo de Debod- An Egyptian Temple in the center of the city! |
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| Palacio Real |
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| Parque Retiro |
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| At our last-minute Christmas Eve Dinner |
After 3 days in Madrid, we set off Christmas morning for Paris! This was my first time being there and it was beautiful. We spent about four and a half days there, and all of them were packed. Of course, we ate a lot of great food (what would a Shuster trip be if it didn't revolve around food?). From a restaurant that only served steak and french fries, escargot, fondue and too many crepes to count (Nutella, banana and sometimes coconut, yummmm) we were never hungry. The restaurants were great, but I was a big fan of the street food. Especially since we were there during the holidays, there were a lot of Christmas markets. We hit many of the major museums, and I think my favorite was L'Orangerie (with the water Lillies) or the D'orsay. The Louve had a lot of great work, but it was huge and crowded and a little bit overwhelming. We of course went to the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, saw many stained glass windows and churches. One of my favorite things we did was wander through the different neighborhoods of Monmartre and Marais. Wandering and getting lost is one of the best ways to get to know a city.
(Sorry in advance for the multiple Eiffel Tower pictures...though this is just a small fraction of the ones I have on my camera, oops!)
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