A Tale of Two Cities...

... is a really great book that I read in high school. As everyone knows, it takes place in Paris and London, both of which I've now visited! Michelle and I spent the weekend with her family in London, and it was really great. We flew in on Friday really late and left Sunday afternoon, so it was a short trip, but totally worth it. Everything was green and beautiful, but it was rainy on Saturday. But what's a weekend in the UK without a little drizzle, eh?



















The famous phone booths














The Tower Bridge














The Queen's quarters at the Tower of London














Fish and chips! (With salt and vinegar, of course.) Delicious.















The London Eye















Me and Michelle in front of Buckingham Palace







































Westminster Abbey















Another shot. I couldn't take enough pictures of it!















Wonderful English breakfast at the hotel















Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (white building)














Picadilly Circus














I found it Melynn!














Classic double decker bus

Ooh la la!

Here it is-- the Paris entry. It was definitely one of the best weekends EVER! We flew into Paris Orly airport on Thursday afternoon and had planned on seeing the Eiffel Tower that night but ran into some hotel problems and were happy to call it a night after those were resolved. The next morning was the Palace of Versailles, then around lunch we went to the Tower (where we spent about 2 hours just looking and taking pictures!). Afterwards, Notre Dame, dinner with a Parisian friend, the Tower again (this time at night), and finally back to the hotel. A very full day!

The next morning, Saturday, we had a great crepe breakfast then headed to the Louvre. We saw as much as we could take in, including the Mona Lisa of course, but there was still so much more! We ate lunch back at the Tower, enjoying street performers and eating more crepes for dessert. We wanted to go up the Tower and enjoy the view, but the lines were horrendous. So instead we walked a bit and experienced French culture at its best-- an outdoor "market" street called Rue Cler. We saw, smelled, and/or tasted amazing produce and lots of kinds of cheese and beautiful flowers and fresh pastries. It was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip! After Rue Cler we went to see the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysees. Paris has so much to see! Again we went back to the hotel after dark, tired but happy. The next morning we flew out at 11am. And thus ended our French adventure.

I'll NEVER forget this trip. (It would be hard to with all the pictures and video I took!)



















The chapel in the Palace of Versailles














The Hall of Mirrors at Versailles














The gardens















Another part of the gardens. Look how far they go!














Crepes! This was seriously one of the best things I've ever eaten.



















One of my favorites




































Christmas card



















The Tower sparkling!














The Louvre-- there were so many rooms!














The actual Mona Lisa. Sorry she's so small-- it was hard to get close!



































































Arc de Triomphe

Portuguese is NOT the same as Spanish

I love Portugal. Lagos, a small ocean town that I visited a few weeks ago, and Lisbon, where we just spent a 4-day weekend, are really different but both wonderful. The drive to Lisbon was about 5 hours. We entered the city by a huge suspension bridge over the river Tajo. (There's a picture below.) Lisbon is a sprawling city right by the ocean. We visited a castle, a monastery, and a tower by the river, among other things. It also has a modern feel-- there's an enormous aquarium, lots of museums, and even a metro system! The bullring in Lisbon (which was 2 blocks from our hotel) is a good example of how the new and old coexist-- the beautiful old building has a shopping mall under it!

This trip was lots of fun for us also because we had a few tastes of home. Blake, our friend Zach Barnes, and I played lots of frisbee right in front of the bullring. Portuguese TV has a lot of American shows-- we found Grey's Anatomy, America's Next Top Model, Pushing Daisies, Extreme Makeover Home Edition, and more. Our first dinner in Lisbon wasn't especially American but definitely memorable. We went to a restaurant called "Chimarrão," an all-you-can-eat meat place. They served us about 8 different types of meat off the skewer, as much as we wanted or until we exploded! Among the meats was beef, which we NEVER eat in Spain, so in that sense it was homey, for sure.

Next weekend-- Paris. Look out!















The bullring, with the mall entrance under it















Rachel, Michelle and me enjoying the grass in the cloister of the monastery. I love this picture.














The Cristo Rey, a massive statue on a cliff overlooking Lisbon. There's one a lot like it in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.














The view from the base of the Cristo Rey. Here's the suspension bridge-- yes, built by the same guys that designed the Golden Gate.

Trent leaning off the wall of the castle. In the distance-- more castle, Lisbon, and the river/ocean

Michelle, Vicky, Chaille, Sara, me, and Rachel