Vienna, Austria

Hello!

I can't believe I feel so far behind in my blogging but at the same time I can. We were constantly on the go touring the city all day and coming home late and then waking up, getting ready and out the door we were so keeping up with blogging was rough. But now I'm back in the states and ready to share the rest of my photos!

Vienna was lovely! To be completely honest, Austria was probably my least favorite country we visited but it was still so cool to be there. We had a great time walking around the city even though it was rainy most of the time but we still got to see some really cool stuff. Right outside of our hostel was an amazing food market that had all kinds of fruits, veggies, meats, cheeses, breads, souvenirs, etc. It was so hard not to buy everything there. We got to see the gardens at the Belvedere Palace, we toured inside Shünbrunn Palace, and had dinner with a local. But my all time favorite part was touring St Stephen's Cathedral.

We originally decided to just go inside St. Stephens just to check it out but then decided to do the Catacombs tour. It was so fascinating because we got to see rooms full of piles and piles of actual human bones. The tour guide said that even Motzart's bones are in there. At the end of the tour we made friends with the tour guide and asked us if we had done the tour to see the Pummerin Bell and when we said no, he took us up for free! There we got to see the bell and the city begin to light up as the sun was setting. Then the elevator got stuck so we couldn't get down so we had to walk around the whole roof to get to a super narrow spiral staircase that we took and led us into the attic. We couldn't believe that we were inside the attic of such a famous cathedral. We got to see the doors where they lower the chandeliers into the cathedral, we got to see a replica of a hamster wheel they use to lift the stones to build the church, and we got to see some original head stones of some popes that were destroyed during WW2. We were seriously blown away by what we were experiencing. Finally we got to go on the balcony that's on the front of the church and even go into some rooms that were roped off in the actual sanctuary. It was seriously so cool! That will be a memory that will never be forgotten!

Rome, Italy

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Yay!!!! Today I am finally posting about my trip around Europe and I am going to start off with Rome. I plan on blogging after every city because 1. I don't want to share just one super long post at the end and 2. I want to share about the city when it's fresh in my mind.

Rome. Lively, incredible, dazzling. Those are just a few words I would use to describe Rome. Yeah, we stopped in Norway for just a couple of days on our way to Rome but, I would say Rome is truly the first stop in our trip. This was the city where we really got to settle down and explore which was so good for our souls after traveling (what felt like non stop) for a couple of days.

Once we got in we ordered some delivery pizza that was seriously BOMB DOT COM. So delicious! Then we went to bed and woke up to start our day by taking a tour of the Vatican, the Vatican Museum, St. Peter's Basilica, and the Sistine Chapel. Let me just say it was so worth it! I was so overwhelmed by the beautiful, grand buildings and rooms and not to mention Michelangelo's paintings (especially the one of God creating Adam). Dreams do come true!

On the next day we decided to head to the Trevi Fountain. On the way there we decided to just head in the general direction and wonder the amazing streets. On our way we got the most delicious gelato and stopped at a few shops and boutiques. Also, while wandering we came across an amazing cathedral and fountains in front of it called The Four Rivers. There we got a snack and did some people watching. Then we moved on and came across the Panthenon which is known for it's huge dome. So cool! After that, we FINALLY made it to the Trevi Fountain and my heart exploded just a little bit. I could not believe that I was at this place on such a beautiful day in the country that I dreamed of visiting for forever! I literally had to stare at it for a minute and maybe pinch myself a little bit because I could not believe I was there. Plus all of these emotions came up of thankfulness to God for this time in my life as well as slight sadness because of the fact that I couldn't share that moment with my husband but also complete satisfaction and joy knowing I made it! Such a neat experience!

Then night passed and the next day came and we decided that was the day we were going to visit the Colosseum. We started our trek by once again wandering the city until we get there and on the way we came across the Altar of the Fatherland as well as an A-MA-ZING cathedral that was attached to it. This was by far my favorite thing in Rome. It was a cathedral with tons of chandeliers, paintings, detail, gold trim and a gold ceiling. I literally could sit there and stare all day if I wanted to. Maybe even cry a little. Also while we were there my friend Shannon belted out Amazing Grace and a handful of people surrounded her and recorded her (so she may be YouTube famous one day haha). Afterward we made it to the Colosseum but unfortunately it was too late to buy tickets so we had to admire it from the outside....but it was still breathtaking.

Finally, on our last day of touring we went back to the Colosseum where we got our tickets and toured inside. It is an unbelievable structure and we were totally stuck daydreaming about what could have possibly went on in that arena. Lastly we exited the Colosseum and toured some Roman Ruins right next to it. This was so cool to see because some of the structures we saw were from 100-300AD. I pretty much could not even comprehend what that meant because it was so awesome......and old lol.

Anyway, that is our very general itinerary because we visited a few more smaller places as well as shops and there were a few more sweet moments we had but this would be the longest blog post if I went into every detail haha. 

So without further ado, here are some photos! And check out the video at the end!

First main city of our trip through Europe. I love you Rome!