The happiest place on earth is in Paris?

     No, I do not mean the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre, but those places are both incredible and I will talk about both of them in another blog post. I am talking about Disneyland!! If you are in Paris for an extended vacation and are tired of museums and old churches, I would 100% suggest you go. We went on a warm-ish day, and it was perfect. We got there at 11 and by the time we walked out after the fireworks show we had gone on every single ride, some twice and had seen everything that we wanted to see. Imagine a Disneyland that is a little more run down, the rides are a little shorter, and there are no churros… that is Disneyland Paris!! And the best part is that we did not wait longer than 15/20 minutes for a ride. Most of the time we could just walk directly onto the ride. It was perfect.
If you buy your tickets online a few days before they are only 55€. I have never been the one that buys my tickets when I go to Disneyland in California, but I think it is WAY more than 55€ for a day.
One thing that we noticed while we were there was that all of the rides were just a little different. The teacups only fit three people, the Haunted Mansion ride did not have the ghost sitting next to you, and Indiana Jones is a stupid roller coaster. As long as you get over the fact that you are not in California you can have an incredible day.
     At the end of the day, they have a fun light/firework show. If you think that it is like the world of color at California adventure you are wrong… remember everything in the park is a little different. They turn the castle into a screen where they play cute sing-a-long sense from a bunch of different Disney movies ending with a big firework show. I would have to say that that was my favorite part of the whole day. I was sitting with 2 of my sorority sisters singing on the top of our lungs to all of the Disney songs.
     ** One thing to remember is that if you are taking the metro to hurry as soon as the show is over. The metro starts slowing down and making fewer stops as the night goes on, so it is important to rush out of the gates to make sure you make the metro. You will be squished in like sardines, but it is so worth it making the train.

Our other roommate Ashley decided to make the trip to Disneyland with us for the day!

My 2 cute Alpha Phis on the Tea cups

Taylor and I being silly

After a long day it is important to have a photo shoot with the princess castle.

It has already been three weeks in the City of Lights!

I can’t believe that I have already been in Paris for three weeks, and I also can’t believe that I haven’t posted anything since I was in Italy. But to sum up the past few weeks all I can say is that it has been incredible. I can proudly say that I have had enough crepes and croissants for my whole life, but when in Paris right?

I have the cutest apartment. Our kitchen is the size of a large closet, but we make do. I am living with 2 of my sorority sisters Taylor and Mia. They have been the best part of my trip. They have been the biggest blessing in my life for these past few weeks and part of my familiar life back at home. The best thing is that we are always having a great time together. We are constantly laughing… not just little chuckles… So hard that our abs hurt (it’s like I’ve been working out every day Its great!).

We live in the 11th arrondissements, which is how they differentiate the districts from each other within the big city. Everyone in our program is scattered around the city, and loves to brag about their district... But to be honest we have it all. We even have a Starbucks and Chipotle. What more can you need? We live on the second floor in our apartment building. Below us are a restaurant and a magazine shop, at first we were worried that it was going to be super loud at night, but luckily there are rarely any people eating at the restaurant, so it has been great.

Our Mondays-Thursdays are all pretty similar. We wake up a few minutes to late, hurry around the house and pretend that we are eating cereal or a piece of fruit when we all know that we are going to the boulangeries (bakery) at the end of the block. After we grab a croissant or two or three we walk across the street to the metro stop. Remember how I said earlier that we have the best locations? Well, most people have to walk a few minutes to get to their metro, we only have to walk about 30 feet to get to ours. After we ride two different metros, we get off and walk to our school. Right now it is under construction, so it does not look attractive from the outside, but without construction I think it might be fun courtyard to hang out in after class. We have class every day from 9-12 and then on Monday/Wednesday we have a one-hour French class afterward.

After our classes, we have free time. Some days we go home and get stuff done. We do homework, watch Netflix, take naps… important thing. Other days we go out and explore. We have been all over Paris. Sometimes we go out without having a destination, other days we go to a museum/church/historic site.

Highs

+ I get to explore Paris with 2 of my favorite people

+ I know how to order food in French

+ The shopping in Paris is AMAZING

+ My bed is so comfortable

+ I am walking everywhere and becoming a Parisian

Lows

- I had to get a French phone number

- The pho place by my house has bubble tea (YAYY my fav), but it is so watery and gross

- We don’t have a laundry machine in the house, so we have to lug all of our dirty clothes a few blocks away to a dirty, gross laundry mat (first world problems)

The first day of class we took a boat tour and just happened by this awesome tower

Mia, Taylor and I on the boat tour

My bed (I'll post more pictures of my house another day, but its such a comfy bed!!)

Sometimes we honestly forget that we are actually in Paris for school because we are constantly roaming the city!

After a long night out we deserve a crepe or two :)

Oh Italy ...

     Wow. All I can say about Italy is WOW! We spent five days hiking the Amalfi Coast with a traveling company called Backroads. I had never traveled with an outdoor adventure travel company.  The handled everything from setting up our meals and hotels to making sure we have the proper attire for the day and having yummy snack or drink waiting for us in the middle of our hike somewhere. We hiked through Sorrento, Capri, Amalfi, Positano and so many cute little towns that we just passed through. There were breath-taking views, and we climbed to the tallest peak on Capri and along the cliffs of the coast. 

     On the first day after we did our first short hike around Sorrento, we made our way to the dock and took a beautiful sailboat ride to the island Capri. It wasn’t just any sailboat. Backroads do everything with style, and we took the prettiest wooden sailboat I have ever seen (I don’t know much about sailboats, but from what I have noticed it was unbelievable). Over the week we went to some of the oldest churches in Italy, had a pizza making lesson, ate tons of gelato, had some of the yummiest lemonade I have ever had, slept, and one of the best parts was that I got to do it all with my mom and 16 other super-fun people! 

     One of my favorite hikes that we did was on the island Capri. We took the cutest convertible taxis to the other side of the island and hiked from the bottom all the way up, ending with a beautiful lookout. At the top, there was a café and the Backroads leaders rewarded us all with the most delicious lemon/mint slush drink that I have ever had! It was sweet yet perfectly sour, and the fresh mint made it a drink that I will remember forever.  After resting at the highest point on the island, we took a peaceful single person chair lift down the mountain.

Lows

- I got sick for a few days after

High

+ Traveling with my mom

+ The food

+ That lemon slush drink that I just want to drink 24/7

+ All the way cool people that I met

+ Not having to carry my luggage anywhere

+ I am a pro pizza maker

 (All the coastal towns are so cute!)

 (Our transportation from the main land to the island of Capri)

 (On the sail boat ride! These 3 rocks/boulders(?) are super famous. The middle one has an arch (reminds me of Cabo) and it is suppose to be good luck to go through it.)

 (All the different boats on Capri)

 (I call this one: Goat on the ruin)

 (The single person chairlift that I was talking about earlier. It was so peaceful! If anyone goes to Capri they MUST ride this either up or down)

(the Amalfi coast is so beautiful. This is Positano!)

(Such an amazing trip all thanks to this lady!)