These three people helped me grow up. They were the big sisters my parents never gave me and going on this trip with them was amazing. And as this picture shows, we have an awesome time together!
Oh, is FIFA in town? Is there some type of soccer tournament going on? Dani, Molly, Keri and I down at the water front in Frankfurt.
This is the Reichstag in Berlin, Germany. It houses the parliament of the German Empire. Although it looks old and historic, it actually was severally damaged in 1933 by fire and also by bombings in WWII. The building was refurbished after the reunification of Germany in 1989.
This monument is dedicated to the politicians who opposed Hitler and were murdered for it. Most of these names came from the Valkyrie incident, but there were plenty more.
This is a picture I snapped in the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, otherwise known as the Holocaust Memorial. It was finished in 2005 and consists of a 19,000 square meters site covered with 2,711 concrete slabs arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. It was quite trippy.
This is the stretch of whats still standing of the Berlin wall. It is covered in murals by various artists from around the world that remain untouched by graffiti. This was one of my favorites.
After a few days in Germany, we headed to France. This is Molly in the main courtyard of the Louvre.
This is Molly in the outer courtyard of the Louvre that houses the famous pyramid. It was constructed with non-reflective glass panels so there is no glare or shine. However, it seems as though most/all Parisians despise the pyramid. I liked it!
Escargot! Any one who knows me well knows I'm a pretty picky eater, but I loved them! They were covered in delicious pesto sauce and tasted like scallops. Nom!
The Arc de Triopmphe. This was one of my favorite sites in the city of Paris. It was built by Napoleon Bonaparte to celebrate his many victories around Europe, specifically his most recent over the Austrians. However, he died before he was able to see it finished. Still, I think he would've approved. It's simply breathtaking!
We spent a day at the palace of Versailles outside Paris. This was my absolute favorite part of the trip! This picture was taken in the Hall of Mirrors, which was the most memorable to me. The entire palace was sensational. Nice job, Louis XIV!
The Hall of Mirrors.
The upper level of the MASSIVE gardens at Versailles. The gardens are 800 hectacres, have 200,000 trees, and 210,000 flowers planted annually. Even though the weather was partly cloudy, it was still an awe to walk through.
The Petit Trianon on the garden grounds of Versailles.
Marie Antoinette, probably the most famous queen of France, had a small obsession with the life of peasants. She had her own domain built outside the Petit Trianon so that she could "live the life of a peasant without actually having to do peasant work." She might not have been the best queen, but she was certainly an interesting individual!
The planes flying over on Bastille Day! We were lucky enough to be in Paris on Bastille Day, the French day of independence. It was great! The entire country was out to celebrate all day long! So fun to experience!
We posted up across the street from the Assemblée Nationale. It was an awesome background to take photos with. :)
We went to visit some of the more toursty locations during the day after the parade and before the evening events. This is the interior of the Saint Chapelle church on the Ile de la Cite. It was constructed by Louis the IX to house the Holy Relics he retrieved from Constantinople, one of which was the Crown of Thorns. The church is famous for the epic stained glass, as you can see from this picture!
Although I liked Saint Chapelle, this was the church I was stoked to see: Notre Dame. It lived up to every one of my expectations. Beautiful.
This is the rear exterior of Notre Dame. The church was built using flying buttresses, which you can see in this picture.
It was really hard to find on the map we had, but this was a stop I simply had to make! This is me outside the Shakespeare and Company Bookstore located in the Latin Quarter of Paris. It was hard for me to decide which book to purchase, but I finally settled on my favorite Shakespeare play: The Merchant of Venice.
Waiting on the Champs de Mars lawn for the fireworks to begin. The Eiffel looks even more beautiful at night!
BOOM! Fireworks from the Tower! So incredible to watch!
It might be the most famous tourist spot in all of Europe, but the Eiffel Tower still blew my mind. It was a beautiful day and an amazing site to see.
Sunshine, Eiffel Tower, chocolate baguette, delicious beer and good company. Great day!
This picture makes her looks smaller than she actually is, but this famous painting was still much smaller than I thought it would be! It's measured at 30 in × 21 in. Still, it was amazing to see!
The Louvre! It was so cool to tour inside, but it was certainly exhausting! Apparently if you spent only 30 seconds in front of every piece of art in this place, you would be there for... 2 months. Yeah, it's that massive!
We were lucky enough to experience the Women's World Cup Final game and clearly we were not going to live down this experience! We all came wearing our USA gear (or getting some there) and proudly rooting on our girls! Clearly, I'm stoked.
Some super stoked soccer fans! USA! USA! USA!
Frankfurt Stadium. Our seats weren't too shabby! Thanks German citizens who didn't want to attend the final game after the Germany team lost early! Or should I say, danke schön!
The ending might have been devastating, but it was still the opportunity of a life time. You're welcome, USA National Team! I'll cheer for you any day!
Even though this was probably the best 11 days of my life, it feels good to be back in Seoul! Chocolate croissants might be the greatest food I've ever consumed, but its nice to return to kimchi and aujimmas. I may have only been here 5 months, but this little box of an apartment feels like home. Still, it was nice to venture back out in to Western civilization for a little while. Seeing three of my friends from Washington has made me miss home a little more, but Seoul feels like home now too. I've only got 7 more months left (or maybe 19 if I resign?) so I'm going to enjoy every moment here. Thanks for the beyond amazing time, Europe! But its lovely to be back in Asia.
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