Paris

October 18, 2016 by Savannah Herring

Paris, France
September 14th-18th

Taylor and I arrived in Paris before our parents and the Jaras did. We got to see the apartment and get settled in before they showed up which was nice. The apartment itself was huge. It had two bedrooms, 2 living rooms, a large dining room and a kitchen. The windows were floor to ceiling and the weather was perfect to leave them open. Once everyone arrived to the apartment we were immediately ready to explore Paris! Mom, Taylor and I all got ready in separate rooms and when we all met in the living room, we realized we were pretty much wearing the same outfit. We got such a kick out of this none of us changed and went with it. We set out to walk towards the Eiffel Tower to find a place to eat.

After a meal in a very small restaurant we ventured back out into the city. Of course, the minute we walked outside it began to rain.. then pour. We huddled under a tree and tried to make a game plan (Wanda was the only smart one with an umbrella). Half of us were ready to jump in a cab and head home, and the other half of us wanted to stay out in Paris regardless of the rain. The rain let up a little bit and we began to walk. Of course we stumbled upon the Eiffel Tower again, this time at night time, and we were completely mesmerized. Its one thing to see it in pictures and completely different seeing it in person. We took another bazillion pictures and decided to see if we could go to the top.

We waited in a relatively short line and got tickets! Before we knew it we were on the elevator and headed up the Eiffel Tower! It was a bit crowded at the top but a very cool experience all together. We waited for our chance to look out and see Paris all lit up from the top of the tower. I think dad and I repeated over and over again "I'm in Paris. I'm at the top of the Eiffel Tower." It was just awesome.

On our way down we stopped on on the second level. We walked around just to see what the restaurant, bar, and glass floor was all about. It was here where my mom and sister had yet ANOTHER surprise to tell me about. They told me that the next day we would be eating in the restaurant in the Eiffel Tower! They are very good at keeping secrets! I was so excited I couldn't stand it.

As I have mentioned in a previous post, getting a cab for 6 people is not the easiest thing. We ended up paying 5 euro each to take an open disco tourist tuk-tuk back to the apartment. It was more fun than we expected! Plus we made it back way faster and drier than we would have if we walked.

The next morning, dad, Hector, and Wanda headed to Normandy for an all day tour. Mom, Taylor and I woke up leisurely and got ready. We headed out for a quick coffee before ubering to have lunch. We got there a bit early so we wouldn't feel rushed. We had to figure out how to get to the restaurant which involved a series of booths and lines, but we made it. There was a little table set up for 3 and they sat us almost immediately. Our view wasn't of the city but was more in the center of the Eiffel Tower. It was pretty awesome getting to look up into the intricacies of the structure. By the end of the meal we were full and satisfied. It was a real treat. Thanks Mom!

Once we left lunch, we had a run in with the street vendors. Mom caught it on camera from afar. We caught another uber to head to Taylor's favorite Macaroon place! We ended up getting a few macaroons each and walked home! Mom took a nap, Taylor relaxed, and I worked on the blog for a bit. After a while we were ready for dinner and a drink. We heard from the group in Normandy and they let us know they wouldn't be back until 11:30pm. We took this as a sign to get another drink. Mom, Tay, and I had the best time at dinner! The service was great and the cheese was good.

On the way home we made sure to buy wine and cheese for dad and the Jaras. They had a long rough journey back to Paris. We ended up drinking wine and eating meats, cheeses, and bread for a while. It was fun!

Friday morning we had our sights on Notre Dame. Once all six of us were ready, we headed to the cafe for our morning caffeine and a few pains au chocolate. We then took the metro and navigated it pretty well. Notre Dam was beautiful. We waited in line for a free visit inside. We were all amazed.

After leaving Notre Dame, we decided to walk towards the Champs-Élysées. Before we could make it very far, we stumbled upon a street festival and decided to check it out. Almost every booth had free samples as well. We sampled a few things, listened to street music, drank a beer, and bought some cheese to eat later that day. I as very happy this randomly became a part of our day.

We then continued our journey to the Champs-Élysées. This walked ended up being much longer than we expected. We stopped to see where they moved the love lock bridge railing to, to see the pyramid outside the Louvre, and to walk through the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. We were eventually made it to the Champs-Elysee and were ready for a meal. We stopped to have pizza and risotto. Our plan was to go to the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étiole (the most famous one) but were pretty exhausted from the day and decided to go another day. We took the metro back to the apartment and decided to rest for a bit. Dad and I stopped to have a beer at the cafe we ate breakfast in and then Wanda and Hector joined us. Since we had a pretty filling and late lunch our dinner consisted of meats, cheeses, and bread we had left over from the night before. We drank some wine as well.

Later in the evening, dad and I decided to go to a bar Taylor told us about. Everyone else was too tired to join us so we ventured out ourselves. We took an uber because we had no idea where we were going. The place was called Lavomatic. It was a speakeasy located in a laundromat. Literally you walk in to a laundromat. The "bouncer"outside let us in, and left it up to us to figure out where the door was and how to get inside. We literally pulled on a machine lever to open this door. Nuts. Then we walked up the stairs to the teeny tiny bar. We each got a whisky drink and took in the atmosphere. A nice guy came up and tried his best to communicate with dad and I. He ended up buying us a green drink, which was nice. The flavor was interesting. We bought him one back to say thank you. Overall, it was a cool experience! We caught a cab back home and called it a night.

On Saturday, it was our last full day so we had to fit a lot into this day. Tay and I were about to send back her Macbook with our parents (along with a lot of other stuff) as we were trying to downsize for the rest of our travels. Because we wanted to send the computer back, I decided I would get a very small and simple travel computer. I did my research to find a store where we could buy one and we set out on this journey. We walked all the way to where we thought I would be able to buy a computer and we had no such luck. Not a computer in sight. So that I didn't waste everyone's day, I decided to purchase a computer when we got to our next destination. That is a story for a later time. Anyhow, we got some coffee and headed to go to the Arc de Triomphe de l'Etiole. Upon our arrival we were informed it was free this day! We walked up all of the stairs to the top even though it was rainy outside. We spent a lot of time up here taking in the view.

Next we were headed to the Sacré-Cœur. We hopped back on the Metro and made our way to that side of the city. We had kebabs once getting off the Metro and ate them on a bench outside. It was a lot of delicious food for a good price. Now that our tummies were full, we began our walk up to the Sacré-Cœur. It began as a steep hill and the turned into a lot of steps. It took a while but was well worth it. The views were breathtaking and the Basilica itself was gorgeous.

After viewing the inside of Sacré-Cœur, we took the stairs all the way to the top. Again, it was worth all of the steps. It was a great view and surreal to be at the top of such a beautiful place.

On the way back down, there was a guy playing his guitar on the steps. Many people gathered to sit and listen. He sang uplifting songs that most people would know. It was very cool to listen to because everyone on the steps were singing along.

Once we reached the bottom, mom and Wanda got the crepes they had been dying to get and I got a little beer. Can you find Taylor?

Our time was running out for the day so we did a bit of souvenir shopping and headed back to the apartment. Taylor had also heard of an interesting place for dinner so we decided to give it a try. This place is called Refuge des Fondus. Its interesting because it is a fondue restaurant, you step over the table to get to your seat, and you drink your drinks out of baby bottles. We had a blast!!

After we finished up with dinner we made our way back home and got packed up as everyone was leaving pretty early the next morning. We waved goodbye to mom and dad as they left for the airport. Taylor and I left a couple hours later and but didnt have to leave for the airport for a few hours. We walked around the city, packs on our backs and all for a while. We ate lunch at a corner cafe and it was really good! Once finished with that we walked to get some macaroons and ate them while sitting on the steps by the river!

After a while we put our packs back on and headed to Berlin!

Peace & Love,
Savannah

Milan

October 16, 2016 by Savannah Herring

Milan, Italy
September 12th-14th

We left Cinque Terre by train. This was an interesting experience all together. We ended up backtracking back and forth but, none the less, we made it to Milan. When we walked off of the train, we walked into a beautiful train station. I thought I was going to go back in here at a later point to get some pictures but never had the chance. Once we left the train station, we walked a quick 5 minutes to the hostel! It was so close. We quickly realized we had gotten lucky with this hostel. They checked us in, and offered complementary drinks while we filled out paperwork. The community area was very cozy and inviting. They also had a 24 hour bar, breakfast was included, AND dinner was included. How cool.

We walked up to the first floor where our room was located. The room was nice. We each had a twin bed and a nice bathroom. We dropped our things and went on a little walk. Being on the train we didn't walk much so we were anxious. There wasn't much time before dinner was served so we made sure we were back in time. Dinner consisted of pasta, couscous, salad, vegetables and bread. It was very delicious. We each had a drink afterwards and retreated to the room for the night.

We always get excited when we each get our own bed!

The next morning Taylor and I had some weird will power and did a work out before we had breakfast. Don't worry, it was our first and last workout. Once we were finished with breakfast we set out for a free walking tour that started 10am. We walked a mile or so to the meeting spot.. Little did we know this walking tour would last 4 hours. We learned about the Milan Cathedral, Ospedale Maggiore, and the San Bernardino alle Ossa (a church decorated with human skulls and bones). In the middle of the tour we were given a little break where I got a deliciously rich, chocolate ice cream cone.

Overall the tour was great but we were exhausted. We had asked our tour guide where would be a good place to eat and grab a drink for lunch. He mentioned a brewery, showed us where it was on the map, and sent us on our way. After another hour of walking, we approached the front door only to find out it was closing for its mid day break in 2 minutes. Now we were really hungry, really tired, and had really sore feet. We settled on a gelato place near by and called it a day. This Gelateria had all of its flavors named after something to do with rock and role bands. It was pretty good.

We walked 30 or so minutes back to the hostel and decided we were done for the day. Our hostel had a little haven on the roof where Tay and I sat in hammocks for a while. It was so nice to relax after hours of continuous walking and lack of a hearty meal.

Later we went down to our room to get ready for dinner. Taylor had brought a bottle of wine from Cinque Terre and decided tonight was the night to drink it. After dinner we shared this bottle and passed out early. This was a good thing because we had to leave pretty early to catch a bus to the airport and then fly to Paris!

Peace & Love,
Savanah

Cinque Terre

October 06, 2016 by Savannah Herring

Cinque Terre, Italy
September 8th-12th

Taylor and I took a train from Rome to Cinque Terre. It took a bit of navigation and good ole faith in humanity but we made it. Our temporary landlords were at the station to meet us which was very helpful. We quickly found that there was a major language barrier between us but we somehow made it work. We slowly walked through a tunnel and up a hill to the place we would call home for the next few days. If anyone has been to Cinque Terre before, you know what we mean by hill. This area is nothing but steep, steep hills. Unfortunately our pictures do not do justice in this regard.

Once we reached our apartment, our sweet landlords offered us a welcome beer and gave us the rundown. I quickly unpacked my clothes as they had not dried from when I washed them in Rome and hung them to dry outside the window.

Taylor and I were staying in Riomaggiore and knew little about this town. We looked up a well rated restaurant and were on our way. After many twists, turns, stairs, and slants, we realized we weren’t going to find this place. We happened on a beautiful view and couldn’t be more grateful.

We made our way back down the mountain and settled on a restaurant we had passed earlier. Our parents were in Cinque Terre the day before our cruise and recommended we try some pesto pasta the first chance we got. Taylor and I did just that and were very happy about the decision. We called it a night after this dinner because we had big plans for the next day.

We woke up relatively early to head to Monterosso to begin our big hike. We had hoped of hiking from Monterosso to Riomaggiore but that did not work out. Mud slides have damaged the trail and it was not open for us to walk on. We did get to walk from Monterosso to Vernazza and then from Vernazza to Corniglia. This is not a hike for the faint of heart despite what the internet says. We walked up what felt like a continuous flight of stairs. We were lucky to meet a man who was making fresh orange juice at one point which tasted like the best thing we had ever had at that moment. The views were absolutely indescribable and it made all the hard work worth it.

After we made it to Corniglia, it was time to eat. We were tired, hot, and hungry. We walked around trying to find a place with a great view but also in the shade but we didn’t have much luck. We settled on a nice 2 air conditioned restaurant up a steep set of stairs. Each of us got a beer along with some pasta. We enjoyed this place very much. As we were leaving, the owner and some locals played some music in the 1st level of the restaurant. It was great!

Next, Tay and I stopped by a gelato restaurant that mom and dad had recommended. Really, it was just cool that we ate gelato at the same place they did a couple days before!

Once we successfully treated ourselves, it was time to head home. Both of us were pretty exhausted of our activity filled day! We made it back and took it easy for the next few hours. Eventually, we both managed to shower and get back out into the town. We had walked by a bar called “Vertical Bar” many times and decided to check it out. It was a very small restaurant but had great reviews. The seating outside was interesting as everything was slanted due to the fact it was on such a large hill. The staff was amazing. Taylor asked which drink was his favorite and his response was “all of them – each drink is made with love”. He wasn’t kidding. We both got a “Vertical Drink” and it was fresh and delicious.

Notice the tilted pole.  Also, there is a case of Coca Cola to hold it from falling over. — Notice the tilted pole. Also, there is a case of Coca Cola to hold it from falling over.

We also ended up getting salads and sandwiches which were great as well. It ended up being a lot of food so we took it home to eat another time. Overall, we loved this place. After leaving Vertical Bar, Tay and I went to a little shop and bought some wine. I think we both spent less than 5 euro each. Our apartment had a little terrace with a table and chairs so we decided to sit out here and enjoy a night cap. Tay and I had good time taking (way too many) pictures and reminiscing our trip so far.

The next day we were determined to go to the pier to sit on the "beach". Beach meant giant rocks, and we knew that. I wish I could explain just how beautiful this place was, it really felt like you were in a painting or a famous photograph. Anyways, we made it down to some rocks and sat there for a while with our feet in the Ligurian Sea. We might have been the palest people in sight but we had fun!

Later this evening, we didn't have any solid plans. Both of us were exhausted from hanging in the sun all day so we decided to pick up two pizzas, and 2 big beers and have a night in. I guess we eat a lot more than the locals because they kept suggesting we buy just one pizza. We definitely got some stares while leaving this place. We both like cold pizza for breakfast so no judgement needed!! Taylor and I ended up watching The Da Vinci Code while enjoying our weird (but surprisingly good) hot dog pizza and beer.

The next morning, Taylor and I were excited for the boat tour we had planned! We had already been to 4 out of the 5 cities at this point. We were going to the 5th one to catch the boar tour. Mind you, we became pro's at navigating these little areas. Taylor had been conversing with the tour guide whom let us know if we were more than 5 minutes late we would be left behind so we were rushing. Of course, we ended up being the 1st people there. There ended up being only 5 of us on a personal boat. Talk about a great time. Our tour guide arrived with a cooler of beer and told us to follow him. We got on the boat and started the tour!

Our guide was great. He grew up in Cinque Terre and had many stories to tell from when he was a kid. We learned so much. Eventually we got to get out of the boat and take a swim in the sea. The water was cold and extremely clear. We were told to jump off the side of the boat even though it looked like we would land directly on a rock. The rock was 6(ish) meters below the surface but it definitely did not look like it. We had goggles and snorkels and were told to have fun.

We got back on the boat and cruised over to another area to swim. The water was so salty is was so easy to float. Definitely a cool experience. Tay had her go pro and got some pretty great photos under water.

We drank a beer and rode around on the boat a while. We listened to music and took in what it would be like to do this all the time. It was probably the highlight of this portion of the trip. Definitely the most relaxed we had been so far.

Once the tour was over, we walked up to a restaurant recommended to us by our tour guide. The restaurant was called "Billy's" and of course was up a bunch of steps. A nice woman from the tour joined Taylor and I as well. It was great to listen to her travels and share ours. I got tuna (literally just a tuna steak) and they both got pasta. We shared some wine and overall had a great time.

We made it back down the mountain, said our goodbyes and parted ways. Tay and I took the train back over to our city. We decided to take the long way home and see the last little bit before we left the next day. While going this long way we ran into some people who thought we were Irish from the way were talking. I thought that was interesting. We both got vegetables for dinner since we felt like we hadn't eaten much at all on this entire trip so far. We ended up packing up our clothes and got ready for our next adventure to Milan the next day!

Rome

October 04, 2016 by Savannah Herring

Rome, Italy
September 6th-8th

We all got up pretty early to begin our adventure to Rome. We walked the 30 minutes to the train station and hopped on a fast train. This was my first time riding a fast train and I thought it was great. Unfortunately, I still wasn't feeling well and slept the whole way.

Once we got to Rome we had a short time to get settled in before we were going to head to the Vatican. We had booked a walking tour for 1 pm and had to get moving. Looking back, I am very glad we had a tour booked in advance because that place was crazy busy.

We grabbed a quick bite of food on our way to the tour. Thank goodness because this tour was 4 hours long. Again, I had studied The Vatican in school and was beyond excited to be going inside. I took so many pictures while trying to take in as much as I could. We were walking pretty fast to make our 4 hour time limit and there were so many people walking with us, I didn't want to miss a thing.

Being able to walk into The Sistine Chapel at the very end was unreal. I absolutely could not believe I was standing in such a place, underneath the famous paintings I had learned so much about. We were not allowed to talk or take photos but that was fine. It is something I will never forget.

After leaving The Vatican, our group split up for a short while. Taylor, dad, and I walked around a bit and mom, Wanda, and Hector went back the the apartment. We walked to see the Pantheon and ended up getting a little lost on our way back home. Luckily, we figured it out and met the everyone back at "home".

Later in the evening, we all decided to go to the Trastevere area to have dinner. We were told this would be where we could get some of the best food in Rome. Mom, dad, Wanda, and Hector took a cab while Taylor and I took the metro. Getting a cab to fit 6 people wasn't a simple task. We didn't know exactly where we were all headed to but at least we would be in the same area and we could meet up wherever the final destination would be. Well, this did not work out as we had planned in our heads. The taxi driver recommended a place that was not quite in the area Tay and I were headed. We ended up backtracking, got off the metro at the Colosseum, and walked 40 minutes to meet them at the restaurant. Turns out this restaurant was closer to our apartment than to the train station we got off at. The food and the wine were alright. Also, we got a cab for 6 people on the way back. Once back at our place we walked across the street to have a night cap before our big day the next day.

The view Tay and I saw when walking out of the train station. It was so beautiful.

The next morning we had another tour scheduled. This tour was for the Colosseum. Luckily, Taylor and I were familiar with this stop on the metro as we were just there the night before. Our tour started at 8:30 and we couldn't have been more grateful. We just happened to be able to enter the Colosseum through a special entrance that is only open to a certain amount of people a day. It was awesome.

Once the tour of the Colosseum was finished we walked up the Palatine Hill. Here we learned about the origins of Rome. At the very end we made our way to the Roman Forum which once was considered the heart of Rome. There was an ongoing art exhibit which allowed us access to another part of this area that was usually closed. Lucky us!

We filled our bottles with water running throughout the ruins.

On our way back, we stopped by the Colosseum one more time to take some photos. Then we headed to have some lunch. We enjoyed this last meal together as our parents and the Jaras were leaving in a few hours for their anniversary cruise. Once the parents left, Tay took a long nap before we ventured back into Rome.

After her nap, Taylor and I were in the process of getting the apartment/our bags ready for our departure the next day when we heard a noise. Being alone in the apartment we were very spooked. We looked at each other with one of those "you go look/no, you go look" faces.. I was the lucky one. I walked towards the noise (which was towards the bathroom) when I saw them, two large pigeons! They were stuck between the window and the screen and were trying to fly out. Feathers flying everywhere. They weren't having any luck. Tay and I tried helping them out with a bread knife (to hold down the flap so they could fly out) and then some water to wake them up and force them to fly out. Needless to say, we are not pigeon whisperers. We eventually gave up, as both birds had done as well. We decided to go for dinner and hope the birds had some success while were gone.

I wanted to see the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. Tay and I had googled a good restaurant nearby and headed that direction. The steps were completely blocked off due to restoration, the fountain was beautiful but packed full of people, and our dinner was SO GOOD. Believe it or not, we don't have pictures of this meal. We did splurge a bit. We got a bottle of wine, an appetizer of Olive Bruschetta, a Margarita pizza, and an entree of sausage and spinach. We were in heaven.

We walked back to the apartment and finished packing up. Upon our arrival, we noticed one of the birds had escaped! We tried to help the second one for a while longer but nothing came of it. Luckily, by the time we woke up the next morning, we were free of trapped birds! This made me very happy. Now, it was time to leave and head for Cinque Terre!

Peace & Love,
Savannah

Florence

September 21, 2016 by Savannah Herring

Florence, Italy
September 1st-Sepetember 6th

After an hour train ride from Pisa, we were in Florence! The train station was easy to navigate and soon we were walking to our AirBNB! Again, Taylor had been here before and new what to expect around every corner. She kept looking back at me and I wasn't exactly sure why. Then we saw it, le Duomo, Cathedrale Santa Maria del Fiore. I had studied this in college and was very excited to see it, but I had no idea the magnitude of its beauty. Needless to say, I was in awe.

We arrived a bit early to check in with our AirBNB so we sat in the square and took in everything going on around us. It was busy but manageable. I saw the bronze and gold doors of the Florence Baptistry known as the "Gates of Paradise". I was mesmerized by my surroundings.

Eventually, it was time for us to head to the place we would be staying. It ended up being about 2 blocks from the Duomo which was a plus for us. It was a nice little apartment equipped with a washing machine. We hit the jackpot. Before we let ourselves settle in, our clothes from Tomatina went directly into the washing machine.

We were pretty tired from all of the traveling so we took it easy for a few hours. We munched on our pizza, sorted through our clothes, called nana and papaw, and napped a bit. Taylor and I have found that many of the things we brought were not only unnecessary, but a pain to carry around. We are looking to lighten our loads when mom and dad arrive.. THANKS MOM AND DAD! After a bit of relaxation we ventured back out into the city. We walked to the Ponte Vecchio at sunset and through many plazas. On the way back to our place we picked up a bottle of wine for €4.5.

Once we were home we finished our pizza along with the bottle of wine. Around 10pm, Taylor found a wine tour in Tuscany that started the next morning at 10am. We really wanted to do something like this but only had a limited amount of time in Florence so we booked it! Quickly we realized we needed to get to sleep so we would be ready in the morning!

Tay and I woke up and got ready for the tour. We were instructed to eat a big breakfast before showing up. Unfortunately, we had a few errands to run and did not make time for this suggested breakfast. When we met up with our tour group, they again made sure we ate breakfast.. Tay and I were a little worried for what we had gotten ourselves into. Everyone around us was bragging about what they had eaten and how much. We have been on a few wine tours before and hoped for the best.

We got on the bus and headed to the wine country. We listened to many interesting facts and stories about the area we were heading to. Our tour guide was great. He let us know we would be tasting 6 or 7 wines at our first winery and again that he hoped our breakfasts were good ones.. After about 45 minutes we arrived! It was a lovely place called, Tenuta Torciano in San Gimignano, Tuscany. We had a great time learning a new way to hold the glass, sniff, and sip. It is always interesting to see each winery's preferred way to taste their wine.

We tasted some amazing wines and even some great olive oils. We made it through our first winery without breakfast! Luckily they had plenty of snacks for Taylor and I to catch up with. Before we knew it we were back on the bus and headed to the second winery. This one was at the top of a mountain called Pietraserena, also in San Gimignano. It was beautiful and the wines were great as well. Here we tried a few wines and were suited for the warm weather. We all sat at a table outside overlooking Tuscany. We were even served bruschetta and some limoncello at the end!

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Once we were back on the bus we were told we were heading to the small city of San Gimignano to try the "World's Best Gelato". We were very excited this was a part of our tour! Once we got to this town, we found a sign that said "World's Best Gelato" and got in line. The line was relatively small and we considered ourselves lucky. We got our cups and took a picture to document the moment. Then we walked out of the store and saw another gelateria with a much longer line.. Apparently we went to the wrong world's best. Naturally we walked to this shop and took a picture in front to pretend we were eating the most delicious and popular gelato of the land.

After walking through this little town, we hopped back on the bus. This concluded our tour and we were headed back to Florence! We survived with no breakfast! We spent all day on this tour and were extremely tired by the time we got back at 5pm. We trekked back to the AirBNB to take a nap before heading back out for dinner later this evening. We met up with a few people we met on the tour at the market where we ate dinner. Taylor and I each had a salad with a glass of wine. One of the girls sitting with us had gotten truffle pasta and we knew we would be back to give it a try. We shared and listened to stories and then headed home for the night.

The next morning was a relaxing one. We didn't have to get up to run anywhere by a specific time. I hadn't slept well either, it felt like I was getting sick. We eventually left the house with one goal in mind: eat truffle pasta for lunch. We walked through a few markets before heading in to try this truffle pasta. Once we ordered and had a seat, our lunch came out shortly after. We had a great waiter named Sebastian who made sure we enjoyed every part of our meal. He showed us how to get a euro off on a glass of wine as well. We tried this truffle pasts and about fell out of our chairs. It was ridiculously good. We thoroughly enjoyed every bite of the meal along with the service. Sebastian offered us many things to try has they had truffle infused EVERYTHING. Taylor even tried a chicken liver pate on bread!! After getting to sample a few items, Taylor and I each left with a jar of Truffle Olives and Truffle Pesto.

Later this evening, we headed to a gelato place recommended by Hannah. It was easy to find. We trusted Hannah's judgement as she went on a quest to find her favorite gelato in Florence. Man, it was good! THANKS HANNAH!

If you cant tell by now, Taylor and I revolve around food. We are Herrings after all. Later this evening we were looking for a restaurant that had great reviews. We walked all around town trying to find this restaurant before we realized it didn't exist. It must have closed down. Anyhow, we ended up at the "Yellow Bar" to have some pizza and wine and were pleasantly surprised. On our walk home we saw a bar that looked like fun and walked in to have a beer. It turns out this a bar that the US Army that is stationed over in Italy hangs out at. It felt like we were back in the states. After another beer we headed back home to get ready for our move in the morning.

The following morning Taylor and I had to be out of the AirBNB by 10am sharp. Our parents were going to be in Florence later that evening and we were headed to their place! After another long walk carrying way to many things on our backs we made it. The place wasn't ready for us but the owners were kind enough to let us store our luggage there for most of the day. Taylor had planned this day to go to the top of the Duomo. I was beyond excited.

We had already bought out tickets and got straight in line. Being it was Sunday, access to the top of the Duomo opened up at a later time. We ended up waiting an hour, which was not too terrible. Then we headed up the stairs. All 400+ of them. It was worth it.

After getting to experience the Duomo, Tay and I had planned to stop by All'Antico Vinaio. We heard it was popular and affordable. The street was lined with people eating sandwiched from here so we knew we were in the right spot. The sandwiches were as good as everyone said they were!

We headed back to the apartment to rest a bit before our parents and the Jara's showed up! Tay and I walked to the train station to meet everyone and a new adventure began. It was nice to see familiar faces and to share this journey with them! We all headed back to the market Taylor and I loved so much to have dinner before getting a good nights rest.

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The next morning we all woke up and walked around the city. We walked around the Duomo, the leather market, and then went inside the Cathedral. It was very special to get to go inside such a place. Taylor and Dad lit a candle for Grampa Herring and even with a ton of people there, it was very beautiful.

We had to get back to the apartment pretty early because we were all about to have a once in a lifetime experience. Well, twice for Taylor, but whose counting. We all were going to a personal chef experience with Jeffrey Thickman. We took a tram to the end of a station and were picked up by Jeffrey and Igor. They brought us up to their lovely home where we would be learning to cook an authentic Italian meal of Tuscany. It was amazing.

Before we started cooking, we had Prosecco and olives.

Once the class was over, many hours later, Jeffrey and Igor brought us back down to the tram to send us on our way! We were all full from the delicious food we made that we went straight home. We had a big day the next day as we would be headed to Rome!

Peace & Love,
Savannah

Pisa

September 10, 2016 by Savannah Herring

Pisa, Italy
August 31th-September1st

Once we finished up with Tomatina, we were off to Pisa. We caught a taxi to the airport and were a bit early for our flight. We hung out in the airport for a little while before checking a bag and getting on the plane. Keep in mind we still smelled of Tomatoes. Our flight was quick and we were in Italy before we knew it!

We hopped in another taxi and arrived shortly after at our hostel. It was after 11pm and we were exhausted. We were excited to sleep but even more excited for a shower. The next morning, Taylor and I had a small breakfast on the roof of our hostel.

Because we were only staying in the hostel for one night, we grabbed our bags and headed to the tower. I had never seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa before (this would be Taylor's 3rd time) and couldn't leave Pisa without taking the obligatory picture. We were staying right around the corner from the tower and could see it the minute we walked out the hostel.

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We walked the short walk to the tower. It was pretty awesome to see up close in person. I was amused with the amount of people there, standing in every direction, trying to get "the picture". We joined in and took our own versions.

Once we got our photos, we walked over to have our first pizza in Italy! We each got a pizza which neither of us could finish.

We packed up what was left of our pizzas and started our walk to the train station. I was about to ride on my first train in Europe!

And just like that we were off to Florence! In just one hour we will be arriving in our 5th city!

Peace & Love,
Savannah

Bunol

September 07, 2016 by Savannah Herring

TOMATINA

**FYI** I am having the hardest time getting our electronics to work for this blog. We now have my sisters computer so we will see if this is worth lugging around for the rest of this trip..

Let's just talk about the most exciting part of our trip so far. Taylor and I were lucky enough to partake in the giant tomato fight festival, Tomatina!

We woke up at 5:30am to begin our trek form Valencia to Bunol. While hoping our tickets were legitimate, we walked a mile or so to meet up with a group to take a bus to the festival. There is a limited amount of people who get to attend the festival and knew we were at risk of being scammed. Fortunately for us, we weren't!

There were a lot more people waiting than I was expecting!

While waiting for some order in this chaotic moment, we met some lovely people. It was a bit disorganized but eventually everything was worked out. We made it onto a bus and were headed to Bunol.

Once we arrived, we were given bracelets and t-shirts. Tay and I wore black and ended up changing into the white t-shirts they gave us. We were excited to see how red we would be after the fight was over! We got giant cups of sangria and were ready for the festivities to begin!

Our little group of 6 made our way through the city and towards the pole with the ham on it. The homes and businesses that were along our walk had tarps, wood, etc covering their windows and doors in preparation of the messy fight. After experiencing Tomatina, I completely understand.

We made it to the crowded area where the pole with the ham on it was located. This is a tradition of Tomatina. There is a pole that has been completely greased from top to bottom with a ham stuck at the very top. The idea is, someone has to climb to the top to retrieve the ham. As you can imagine, this is not an easy task and in recent years it is hardly reached. If the ham is retrieved, the person who got to it gets to keep it. Also, if the ham is reached before the time the fight is supposed to start, the fight will start early. No one got to the ham but it was fun to watch them try!

We were in this crowd for quite some time before moving out of the center. It was a becoming more and more packed and we wanted a little bit more breathing/throwing room.

And then the fight began. There were 6 trucks in total that came through the street. Each truck was FILLED with tomatoes and people to smash / throw them. The fight itself lasted exactly one hour. It was such a fun time!

And just like that the fight is over! Everyone is completely covered in tomatoes. As we walked back to our bus we were hosed down by some locals. We were very appreciative of this as the line for the showers were way too long. We really had no choice but to hose down what we could and the let the hot sun dry us off as we had to be "clean and dry" before we could get back on the bus!

Once we were back in Valencia, Taylor and I were still covered in tomato. We smelled pretty bad as well. We had already checked out of out hotel and had to catch a plane in the next couple hours. We asked the hotel if we could use their restroom and did as best as we could to wash up in the sink. Needless to say, we still had tomatoes in our hair when we walked out of the hotel. We were tired and hungry after this ordeal and celebrated by having a couple drinks before we left Valencia.

All in all, this was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Tomatina was high on Taylor's bucket list and I couldn't be more grateful!

Peace & Love,
Savannah

Valencia

September 02, 2016 by Savannah Herring

Its been a few days since we were in Madrid and we've done so many things! We left our hostel and walked to the bus station. With all of our gear on, this 3 mile walk turned into quite the workout.

We made it to the bus station to find out that this particular station didn't have a bus that went to Valencia. We had to hop on line 6 and head to another bus station. Luckily, there were some very nice locals that sent us in the right direction! We got our tickets, made it on the bus, and were off for our 4 hour bus ride to Valencia!

Once we made it to Valencia, we took a cab to the hotel. Our hotel was in a perfect location and the rooms were pretty nice as well!

Later that evening, Taylor and I spent our time walking around the city. It was gorgeous. We drank wine while enjoying a crepe filled with mushrooms and spinach. We walked in the church of San Nicolas too!

Eventually we made it to our favorite place of the day, Lizarran. Here you eat tapas help together by a little stick. You keep ahold of these sticks and thats how you know much to pay at the end. Smaller sticks cost less, larger ones cost more. Every time the kitchen made new tapas, they rang a bell (which seemed to be every minute or so) and the wait staff brought them around to your table to see if you wanted some. Tay and I had a ball. The fact that our glasses of wine were only 2 euros each might have helped.

The next morning, our hotel had an amazing breakfast with an amazing view! We enjoyed a variety of meats, cheeses, cheesy zucchini & tomatoes, and tortilla de Espana (Tay's favorite).

We ventured back out into the city to run a few errands and happened on Les Torres de Quart. The towers were built between 1441 and 1460. They were part of a medieval wall that surrounded the city of Valencia. Tay and I each paid 2 euros to walk around and it was well worth it.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by the market where we got fresh juice and lots of water. We have found its hard to stay hydrated with the heat and how much we are walking. The market was beautiful and busy.

After leaving the market we stopped to have a glass of wine with some cheese, olives, and a pork and pepper bocadillo. Tay's Spanish speaking skills came in handy with helping the next table over ask the waiter a question!

I was pleasantly surprised to see a craft beer place right down the street and stopped in. I chose a brown ale that won first place in a 2014 competition. It was from Ireland and really good! Sorry, I forgot the name of it!

We got back to our hotel and napped before heading out to gather some last minute items for the next day's adventure: Tomatina! We went to El Corte Inglés to get some snacks and goggles! I had no idea this place was a 6 story grocery store/mall all rolled into one. Needless to say, we were able to get all of our last minute things all at once.

On the way home we grabbed something quick so we could eat and head to bed early. We had to be up, packed, and out the door at 6am the next morning. Taylor and I decided we will do a separate post just on Tomatina so look for that within the next 24 hours!

Peace & Love,

Savannah