København

Not once did I imagine I'd visit this beautiful city but I'm here! When I arrived on Thursday, I wasn't sure what to expect but I was excited. Before we landed, I passed over a bridge...to nowhere. I was so confused and fascinated! Where is this bridge coming from and where is it going?? The bridge's landing was on an island... But the island was bare. I mean, it was literally a small piece of land and that was IT. Where were the cars going? How were the cars simply disappearing into the ocean/island like that?? So many questions...

I disembarked and noticed how clean and modern the airport looked. I made my way through the baggage claim, out the exit doors and did not see my name on a sign! No one was there to pick me up. Did they forget I was coming a day early? Was the weekend trip cancelled and I didn't get the memo? I had so many questions. 

After searching through all of my email accounts only to not find any correspondences, I found a phone number in an email signature and called for someone to assist me. They informed me that I "should have  been told that no one was picking me up because I came a day earlier than the rest." 

Though quite unhappy, I decided to inquire about other transportation options. I took a cab to the very swanky Imperial Hotel that I was staying at, in the centre of "København" or Copenhagen, as we call it. When I walked into the lobby, two people staring at me suspiciously said, "Monique?" 

"Yes! That's me!" I exclaimed happily. 

They were my tour directors. They were reminded... Ahem, I mean notified, of my arrival. So, they were in the lobby to greet me and assist with getting me checked in. 

"I will need your card to put a $1,000 hold on it for incidentals", the hotel's receptionist requested of me. 

"Umm... I only have my debit card with me and I don't have that kind of money on it!" I shrieked. 

"Well... I'm sorry but I'm going to need something Madame."

I immediately shot a look at my tour directors as if to say, what are you going to do about this?? You didn't even pick me up at the airport due to your lack of communication and now they want $1,000 from me!? Do something people!!

I was not happy. 

One of the tour directors stepped in before the daggers shot from my eyes and placed his card down for me before joking, "don't go crazy with the mini bar."

My time in the city was a fun one. Over the next 24 hours, people began trickling in from different parts of the USA to partake in this Teacher Appreciation Weekend. We went on many walks through town, visited (& ascended) the Round Tower, went on boat tours, bike tours and I finally saw the little Mermaid statue that I've been dyyyyying to see! Spoiler alert:  She's a lot smaller than you might have imagined. 

I made friends and surprisingly the tour directors, guides and the tour itself ended up being a lot more casual than I envisioned! We even went out to experience the nightlife. We had an amazing time! 

Another amazing thing that happened was that I was able to meet up with a family friend. She's a Dane who lived in Jamaica with my family as an exchange student back in the 90s. We've kept in touch thanks to social media but nothing beats one-on-one interaction! We were merely kids when we last saw each other, so to meet again now was truly wonderful. 

Overall, a splendid vacation. I enjoyed it so much! Copenhagen is a beautiful city that I would visit again!

PS-- on one of the tours, I discovered that the bridge I saw from the plane on my way to Copenhagen,  was the bridge & tunnel to Sweden! From Denmark, there is an underwater tunnel that then emerges above the Sound (water where the Baltic & North seas meet). The bridge then continues into Sweden!

OXOX,

M

A stop during the bike tour:

View from the back of our boat:

Kronberg castle:

Dinner with my dear friend:

The Little Mermaid:

Famous street where Hans Christian Anderson lived:

Venezia

Oh Venice... How I love thee. 

This city is so picturesque. It's a great mix of a pedestrian style city and a leisure life by "the water", where people rely on boats instead of cars. Your taxi isn't the usual European choice of Mercedes Benz but instead, a slow-moving speed boat. A bus is a water bus, which runs every 10 minutes throughout the day and night. Every so often, an ambulance boat would speed by and it hits you...this city really does operate entirely by water!

Every corner there's a bridge with an amazing view of the canal! There are long corridors of buildings and very narrow streets. People live above the stores and thousands of tourists below. Their homes have petunias in window boxes above you. The people are friendly and accommodating, probably because they're used to the visitors. The summer is the busiest time of year for tourism which was evident in all of the people I saw and languages I heard! 

Which made me wonder.... How many people ACTUALLY live here though? I saw a university but no primary schools, no movie theatre, no everyday life stuff. I knew that there's a neighboring town on land called Venezia Mestre, so perhaps the citizens lived there? I wasn't sure so I looked it up!

Venezia facts:

1. The population of Venice Italy is 270,660 as of April 2010.

2. Venice has a higher population of women than men; men 47.4%, women 52.6%.

3. There are 2 movie theatres. 

4. Europeans travel a ton in August so I probably didn't see many native Venetians. 

The weather was perfect. We walked around Piazza San Marco, visited churches, bought some murano glass (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murano_glass), chased pigeons, meandered. All throughout our Italian excursion, we've been rushing here & there, making sure that all sites were seen & digested but in Venice, we walked around without a purpose for a change...it was lovely.

If you like the sight of water, seafood and walking, you'll love Venice!

OXOX,

*M*

The train from Florence takes you right onto the main Venice island:

Just a view from one of the city's random bridges:

Taking a photo break with my little cousin-to-be:

Firenze

We left sunny Rome for a rainy Florence on Sunday the 3rd. I now know what it feels like to be completely drenched while being fully clothed. It sucks. Then add the feeling of dragging your luggage down cobblestone streets trying to find your hotel and, well...That just takes the annoyance one might feel to another level. 

For the past 13years, I thought I had seen Michelangelo's "David" standing outside in some piazza among other statues. However, the original David is located inside the Accademia which is not open on Mondays. We were leaving Florence on Tuesday, which meant that Sunday -our rainy arrival day- was all we had to see David. Did I mention it was pouring and we arrived drenched? So, we had to quickly change, find dry clothes out of our luggage & make our way to the Accademia in half an hour. The line was ridiculously long (only because all visits on the 1st Sunday of each month are free), but it moved quickly and let me just say, the original David is MUCH more impressive than it's replica! :)

Florence is a much cooler city than I realized. 13 years ago, I must've come on a holiday because the streets were dead. I spent a day there and did a day trip to Pisa, then was out of there faster than you can say "leaning tower". Now here we are over a decade later and I visited a museum, did some shopping, enjoyed some street entertainment and even went to a club! Much more to do now than during my previous visit. 

My family is having a ball. They've been enjoying the sites and Tuscany's leather goods, among other shopping! Now we are off to Venice!

OXOX,

M

Michelangelo's "David", after defeating Goliath:

Totally forgot that Pinochio is an Italian story... We had lunch here:

"Rape of the Sabine Women". A sculpture of an older man beneath a younger, stronger man who is grabbing a woman forcibly:

The Duomo:

Just because:

Who knew?

It is possible, folks! It is possible to get bitten by a mosquito on your face. Who knew?!

...And who knew that there would be mosquitoes in Rome? As it turns out, Rome is a lot further south than I realized, with their warm climate and palm trees. I'd also like to announce that I was wrong about the "funny looking trees" I mentioned in my last post. Whatever tree it is, the branches have visibly been sawed off to form that shape. How creative and esthetically pleasing!

Today, we visited nearby Tivoli. It was gorgeous! The weather couldn't have been more perfect. There was a ton of walking though.... A TON. The plan was to have a birthday dinner for my mummy (ended up being lunch) and to visit the gardens of Villa d'Este. The restaurant we went to, Sibilla, was a definite must-see. It was picturesque. Simply breathtaking. I could envision the numbers of proposals taking place on it's patio because of how stunning the views were. It sat on the side of a hill overlooking a waterfall. We sat underneath the wisteria covered portion of their patio and admired ruins of an ancient roman temple just adjacent to us. Plaques of names of all the princes, princesses, emperors and past presidents that have dined at Sibilla, hang on white marble slabs on their bright orange walls. I can't say it enough...it was breathtaking. 

I had an amazing lobster linguine, we toasted to my mother's birthday, enjoyed each other's company and soaked in the ambiance. 

The Villa d'Este gardens were beautiful as well! I'd recommend visiting with a significant other, however. Otherwise they're just flowers and fountains. Voilá. 

Overall, another great day in Roma! I'm going to tend to these mosquito bites & hit the sack. 

oxox,

M

Roma

13 years ago, I visited Italy for the first time. I was a junior in college who was living in St. Etienne, France, practicing her French and learning their culture. My dormitory neighbor, Stacey, was an adventurous girl from New Mexico who had an unwavering appetite for exploring (I should say she "is" -not "was"- because to this day, she is off gallivanting in South America, enjoying life). Together we decided to journey to Italy for our spring break. 

The thing is, back then I was the proverbial broke college student! There were no reservations at nice hotels, only pop-up stays at hostels. There were no traditional Italian 2-course dinners, only meals bought in pubs or at food trucks. Whatever we could find was good enough... We were just happy to BE.

I even recall getting to Venice & not knowing we arrived dead smack in the middle of their carnival i.e. Everyone had on masks or costumes i.e. There were masquerade balls & parties i.e. Not one hotel had available rooms! Talk about a sticky situation. 

So, returning to the same 3 cities I sped through in college, not only brings back memories but it makes me appreciate this country all over again. 

I loved Rome then & I love Rome now! It's the perfect blend of modern day and centuries-old history. The streets are still cobblestone (all of them, not just downtown or in the touristy areas). There's a horse & carriage parked next to a BMW not sold in the states. Their culture is a laid back, no fuss type of culture as seen through their fashion and sense of direction (sidebar: I absolutely love that by the way. When asking for directions to the bank, a guy said "5 min walk." Had we known that we needed to add 10, it wouldn't have been a problem!  Same goes for "it's not far, just go straight then turn left", as that "straight" could be 20 min alone and the "turn left" mayn't even exist! It reminds me of Jamaica, lol. It's like they're subliminally saying 'everyone isn't in a rush, so why are you, Ms. Tourist lady?'). Like Paris, everyone walks in Rome. No one is overweight. Traffic can give you a heart attack, so don't pay attention to it😉... But they're attentive to pedestrians and are very respectful, so no worries. 

In order to keep this short, I'll itemize some of the interesting things I've learned so far:

1. Julius Caesar. He got his name because he was born in July (Julius) and his mother had to cut him out of her during birth... Hence the name Caesar, for scissors. Also giving birth to (no pun intended) the name "Caesarian Section" (C-Section)!! 

2. Michelangelo was forced to paint the Sistine chapel... He didn't want to at all. Therefore, he depicted himself within his famous ceiling painting in a few ways like as dead skin or in the inferno. 

3. 13yrs ago, I wondered what was up with all the penises on sculptures or leaves covering the penises. I got my answer today. 

It's the Vatican. 

The pope can't have all these penises running around, duh! There are even sculptures that look asexual intentionally.

(Breasts are allowed though... I mean, they do feed mankind)

4. Construction on the colosseum began in 72. 

Not 1972..... Not 1872.... 

THE YEAR 72!!!!

...Let that marinate for a moment... 

5. They have funny looking trees that I love. They're like pine trees that don't start growing branches until there 60 feet high! They're all over Rome....

Anyway, enjoy my pictures!

That's all for now. I'm sure I'll be back to share about the next city. OXOX