Allison's Wonderland

After my six hour layover in Philadelphia, and my 7 hour flight over the pond, I was back in Heathrow again.  This time I was staying, so there was no chance of me missing my flight.  I had to go through customs and that seriously makes me nervous.  I'm only here on a tourist Visa so technically I can't work.  The guy at the desk asked me all kinds of questions.  I got soooo nervous!  He asked me where I was staying, why I was staying there for so long, how I would support myself, how much money was in my bank account to support myself, if I had met the people I was staying with before, where would I be going...etc.  I got all hot and sweaty and nervous that he wouldn't let me in.  Yikes!  That would have been terrible!  Finally after his millions of questions I was able to enter into the UK.  YEAH!  First time here and I finally set foot onto British soil! 

Now it was time to find Wendy.  I stood outside of the arrivals gate for like 20 seconds and than there she was in her little white hat.  I think the name Wendy is just so British.  I kind of love it. :)  We couldn't find the way out of the parking garage which gave me a flash back into my trip to Ireland where Micah, Shaun, and I were trapped in a garage for like half an hour.  Not the brightest moment of my life.

We drove to Gerrards Cross, which I found out is one of the top 10 places in the UK for over 2 million pound real estate.  It's like one of the ritziest places outside of London.  I also found out that the people here are not very friendly.  I've never met an English person I didn't like, but now might be an exception.  It's not like at home where I can make chit chat conversation with strangers.  I told one of the girls at the train station that I liked her shoes and she just looked at me like I was a complete idiot.  The Ellie and Sophie (the girls I watch) made fun of me too, because I guess that's not something you do in this area.  You don't make chit chat with strangers.  It's kind of like New York City in that sense.  I might have a hard time making friends if that's going to be the case.

We made it to the house and from the outside it looked absolutely gorgeous.  Once I brought my luggage into my upstairs room, I realized how "lived in" the house was.  Not the tidiest place, but I guess that's what I'm here for.  I was just tired and seriously wanted to nap, but I had to meet the girls and have a little tour around the place.  There's a lovely garden with trampoline and little outdoor cabin that has an indoor fireplace.  Oh and in the UK a "back yard" is considered a garden.  It takes a little bit of getting use to.  After I got the tour, unpacked, and settled in my room, I thought to myself that this is going to be a very INTERESTING summer.  Wish me luck.  :)

Front of the House

Dining Room/Living Room

Kitchen

Living room/Conservatory

Outdoor Cabin and Hot Tub

Back of the House....love the IVY!

My room with the little sink

My Bedroom

It was Goodbye again for me at the Milan Grand Central Train Station, but this time I was saying goodbye to my travel buddy, Megan.  Our Ryanair flight, which if you've ever flown Ryanair is cheap but really terrible, got in on time so Megan and I hopped the bus into town.  We were extremely tired, but I was meeting Simona in Milan for a little sight seeing and to get my loads of luggage in order to fly out of Milan Malpensa the next day.  We said our goodbyes and than I was left alone in a strange city, with a strange language and no idea of how to get to the Duomo which Simona had designated as our rendezvous station.  No problem!  I'm an expert.  Haha...not really...

Me, La Duomo & the boots

Megan gave me some tips as to buying a ticket at this tabacchi and than taking a tram to a stop and than hopping on another tram.  I found it pretty easily.  I looked like an idiot because when I checked the weather for Paris it said it was going to rain most of the time.  So I packed my rain boots.  Well I didn't really pack them, I had to wear them.  Here I was in the middle of Milan with a tank top on, jeans and rain boots.  It was about 85 degrees out and my legs/feet were seriously sweating in those puppies.  I looked like one of those weirdos.  I was a bit early to the rendezvous, so my first course of action was to find La Scala Opera House.  It's on my bucket list to actually see a show there.  Well, I wasn't about to do that today.  Plus the tickets were uber expensive.  I wanted to come home with a little bit of cash.  Sat outside the theater just looking.  I peeked my head inside at one point

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

and time, but got yelled at a little.  WHOOPSY!  Don't care because it was beautiful!  Simona was running a bit late, but I headed to the Duomo to just take a gander.  It was absolutely stunning!  So gothic looking and cool.  Now I've seen quite a few of the big churches like St. Peter's in Rome, St. Francis in Assissi, San Marco's in Venice, Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Sistine Chapel, Notre Dame in Paris and Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (Duomo) in Florence, but this one was probably one of the coolest from the outside.  I loved all of the gargoyles that surrounded the church.  You were also able to go to the top of the church, but I didn't want to ask Simona if she wanted to go.  She's probably done it before.  It was disappointing though because they had some big concert going on that night and there was a huge stage in the square that was being set up which didn't make for good pictures.

McDonald's!

I finally found Simona in the crowd of people.  She was hungry and I was hungry...so where do you go for your last meal in Italy?  Why McDonald's of course!  It was absolutely wonderful.  I hadn't had McDonald's in about  7 months and here I was eating it for the last meal of my Italian experience.  Oh the irony!  During our conversation, I asked Simona what time the airport would accept my luggage.  I was planning on hanging with Simona and then having her drop me at the airport so I could have a little sleep over there.  I was definitely NOT looking forward to it as I got three hours of sleep the night before and would be loosing lots of sleep on my way back home in the plane.  She got a funny little look on her face and said, "Well I was going to wait and tell you, but I booked a Hotel room for the night."  Seriously I could've sat right down there in the middle of McDonald's and cried.  That seriously was the nicest and best gift she could've ever given me.  Here I was thinking I would have to sit on guard in a crazy foreign airport with my three bags of luggage overnight, all the while I had a hot shower and warm bed just waiting for me.  I could've kissed her!  But I totally didn't.  A hug will do in these type of situations.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II from the inside

 

Spinning on Bull Testes

After lunch we started walking through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping center which is absolutely huge and houses many Italian Designer shops.  The four huge corner shops are Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and you guess it, McDonald's :).  Simona and I did quite a bit of window shopping, because that's really all we could afford.  I didn't even want to step foot in any of the designer shops with the way I was dressed.  It also was odd that most of the people in the shops were Asian.  I guess they're the ones with all of the money.  After our window shopping was done it was time to find the Bull.  Now tradition in Milan is if you spin three times on the bulls testicles which are in the floor tiles of the shopping center, you will have extreme good luck.  So of course I had to do it.  I did my three spins and I could feel the luck just spreading all through out my bones. 

In front of La Scala Opera House

We made our way to La Scala again just to get a quick picture.  Than it was off to do some serious window shopping in one of the major fashion capitals of the world.  It was really cool to be there as I had seen a lot of the shops and roads in shows such as "America's Next Top Model" and "Project Runway."  None of the stuff was remotely affordable.  It was just nice to pretend.  After walking for what

Posh Shopping Street

seemed like forever we got some gelato at the Opera House Cafe.  Two gelato's and two waters cost us about 25 Euro.  Yikes! That's like a lot!  We were so tired and sweaty so we both had had enough and we picked up the metro and got to the car.  That's where we had the next adventure of trying to find the hotel when we didn't have an address just a city name.  Simona is kinda weird in the sense that she always gets lost and she kinda likes it.  I have never known anyone to be that way, but whatever. :)

The Opera House Cafe

Sweet Sweet Bed

We traveled past Milan Malpensa, which was the airport I was flying out from, into this little podunk town called Oleggio.  It was a very nice hotel called Aer Hotel, with free shuttle service and I wasn't happier in all my life to see a bed.  Seriously it was amazingly wonderful!  I had to carry all my huge heavy luggage up, which was a pain in the butt.  It was then another goodbye for me.  I'm

A Sweaty Goodbye Pic

starting to get good at this goodbye thing but I kind of hate them.  Simona had been a wonderful host Mom to me for the past seven months.  She treated me like a member of the family and not just like an outsider who was an employee.  It was hard to say goodbye, but it had to be done.  We hugged, got a picture and both got a little teary-eyed.  What can you do?  After all that, it was a shower for me and than bed at 8:00 pm.  Bed never felt better! 

 Do not ever trust weather.com.  They . . . whoever, "they" are, are absolute liars!  Megan and I planned our entire Paris trip by using this little website.  We put our Paris plans in the hands of weather.com and we got our hands slapped.  From it's predictions 2 days before our trip, we saw that Thursday May 10th would be rainy & gross, and Friday May 11th, was suppose to be sunny & beautiful.  Thursday we had planned all our indoor activities such as the Louvre, the Orsay Museum, and the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.  Attractions that in poor weather wouldn't be a problem doing.   Friday was everything outdoor which consisted of the Palace of Versailles, the Eiffel Tower, etc.  Thanks to our absolutely flawless planning, Thursday was 86 degrees and sunny, and Friday was 58 degrees and rainy.  Just perfect for roaming the grounds of Versailles.  I. Was. Bummed.

The Extensive Grounds

 I have had a fascination with the Versailles Palace every since I saw the movie, the "Man in the Iron Mask".  I've always been fascinated with the French Revolution and the history of Marie Antoinette.  I also studied the Palace of Versailles at University for my Interior Design degree.  So needless to say I was stoked about seeing it, but the weather was really dampening my spirits, and also my shoes. Megan and I didn't plan too well for rain.  I was wearing canvas shoes and neither of us had a rain coat or umbrella.  That's when I found my little savior of a cardboard box that was lying on the road on the walk to Versailles.  It kept my head and body dry for awhile, but since cardboard is just heavy paper, it started to kind of melt into this big paper bag wad.  By that time though we were at the golden gates of Versailles.

The Golden Gates of Versailles

Megan & I in the Hall of Mirrors

Even though it was raining and gross I was still in awe.  This place was spectacular just from the outside with all it's gold staring at you.  A little intimidating, but absolutely gorgeous.  Due to time constraints we

Queen's Chambers

kind of had to fly through the castle, and Megan wouldn't let me get an
audio guide.  Such a little meany!  Haha...not really Megan, you were right we just didn't have time!  It confirms the fact that I must go back and see it, so I can get all the facts the audio guide has to offer.  My suggestion to anyone who would go, is to definitely save a whole day for this puppy.  We only had about 3 1/2 hours to do the entire house and grounds.  I will also say about Versailles, is I have never seen so many Asians in one place.  The rooms were large, but with the amount of people being stuffed into them, it got a little cramped.  I absolutely loved the Hall of Mirrors and for some reason, I don't know how we missed the King's Chamber's.  We only saw the Queens.  I loved everything about the place and kept thinking to myself that I could totally live here!

La Petit Trianon Music Room

Putting Holes in my Shoes

After our walk through the castle we made our way to the grounds.  I was set on seeing Marie Antoinette's quarters which is called La Petit Trianon.  When we got there, after paying 6 Euro's for the tram, since we didn't want to walk all that way in the rain, it wasn't open until 12:00.  That meant we had to wait another half an hour just to be admitted.  My little heart was set on going, and even after putting up a bit of a fight, Megan relented and we waited.  We were suppose to meet Megan's friend at like 1:30 at the Eiffel Tower, so we were kind of cutting it close, but like I said, I HAD to see it.  Of course while we waited we had to a do a bit of a photo shoot.  I wanted to get this one pose where I was standing on the gate, but what I didn't realize is how sharp the little decorative gol d things were.  I stood on them and they went right through my shoe and into my sock.  Lucky for me they didn't draw any blood.  I loved the little Chateau but it just seemed so tiny in comparison to the grandeur of Versailles.  We then found out that her friend would be late to the Eiffel, so we decided to grab some eats at this little cafe over looking the grounds.  That's when we ran into Francois who was so Suave. :)


Frenchmen are a lot like Italian men in the way that they flirt and ooo and aaahh over you.  We were beckoned into the restaurant by a nice little host who wouldn't stop giving Megan and I compliments.  Found a table on the terrace outside and sat next to a nice little outdoor fire.  Our waiter came up and just had a huge grin on his face.  He didn't say a word.  Just grinned.  So we told him what we wanted to eat and drink.

Nutella Crepes & Omelet

He nodded or shook his head in approval or disapproval with this weird grin on his face the WHOLE time.  Megan and I were just laughing because it was absolutely hilarious.  One time we were just sitting chatting to each other, he picks my camera up off the table, takes the picture of Megan and I, and then just leaves without a word.  Bizarre.  I ordered an egg and cheese omelet, with Nutella crepes and Darjeeling tea. The perfect afternoon delight.Our waiter kept watching us and every time we looked up at him he was just

Francois & Me

staring across the patio with that silly grin on his face. He finally came up, after we had practically finished the entire meal, and started asking us questions about ourselves.  Megan was a bit disappointed because it took away from the mystery.  Such a little weirdy. :)  He was super nice.  Found out his name was Francois (pronounced Fran-swah) and that he had a motorcycle.  He told me next time I'm in town he'll give me a tour of Paris from the back of his bike.  Than he wrote down his number and we got a picture together where we look like lovers.  Haha....Megan kept telling me that he loved me.  Love at first sight?  Hmm....maybe, but I don't think I'll be calling him any time soon. 


After our lovely lunch, Megan and I were rejuvenated and of course had to do a photo shoot on the grounds.  The gardens in Versailles are absolutely spectacular.We didn't have to much time to romp around, but we did our fair share of picture taking.  There's a beautiful little lake on the grounds where you can go and take boats out on the water.  Once we had seen all we could see on the grounds we headed off for the train station.  By this time the rain had stopped, and we were all set to go to see Paris' most worldly recognized icon; The Eiffel Tower.
We hopped on the train to the Eiffel Tower.  We couldn't see it once we got off the train, but then it just opened up into this glorious clearing, and there it was.  Megan and I both kind of thought that it really wasn't that beautiful.  It's just this massive metal structure in the middle of the city.  It has its charm though, but I do realize why the Parisians didn't really like it when it was first built.  We didn't have that much time because we wanted to make it to the Musee d'Orsay before it closed.  We couldn't find Megan's friend in sight so we got in line to take the stairs.  It was about 800 stairs and 12 Euros cheaper verses taking the elevator.  There was also only one elevator working so that pretty much made the decision for us.  Once we started we were all gung ho, but after about the first 100 stairs I started getting pretty tired & Megan did too.  Whew.  Once we made it to the second level though, the view was spectacular.  I never realized how white the city of Paris was.  We were able to see the Basilique du Sacre'-Coeur where we were yesterday, the place where Napoleon is buried, the Palais Royale, and pretty much the entire city view.  We got some nice Orthodox Jews to take our picture and than we were on the move again.  Megan was set on going to the Musee d'Orsay where I could really care less to go.  I was in for a real treat though, and the museum was one of the highlights of our trip. 

Part II of Day I in Paris

Megan and I had some interesting things happen to us on our trip to Paris.  While on the Metro the first night we got there, some crazy man started screaming at a couple who were sitting across from him.  They weren't doing anything to him and didn't even know him.  One minute he's sitting there quiet, and the next he's screaming.  Another incident occurred with a strung out couple on the Metro.  Megan and I moved away from them on the metro car, but they followed us all the way down the aisle and asked everybody for a lighter.  The guy was sweating profusely with bloodshot eyes and the girl wouldn't stop shaking.  It was creepy.  Even with all our crazy encounters none can compare to our conversation with Paul.  I'll get to that in a moment....

4 Euro Lemonade

Notre Dame

After our visit to the Sacred Heart Basilica, we rode the metro to the Notre Dame Cathedral.  I was so excited to visit the church because I'm trying to get all of the main ones crossed off the list.  I've got St. Peter's (Vatican), Sistine Chapel (Vatican), La Sagrada Familia (Barcelona), St Mark's (Venice), St. Francis, (Assissi) and hopefully will cross West Minster Abbey off the list this summer.  On the way to Notre Dame we had to stop and buy 4 Euro freshly squeezed lemonade which was soooo good!  By Notre Dame there's a little square out front where you can sit and people watch.  Megan and I played "I Spy" but with people and it was pretty fun.  In the middle of our game we had another

I SPY

strange encounter with a French man.  This older man who was wearing a suit that was 4 sizes to large for him just sits down next to Megan.  He then tries to speak to us in French.  We said we didn't know French.  He then starts naming off every other language under the sun.  Portugeese, Russian, German, etc.  All the languages we didn't know.  Megan knows Spanish, and Italian pretty well and obviously English, but those weren't any of the languagesthat he named.  He then asks us in broken English if we want to go have Champagne with him in his van or something.  We both look at each other and are like "Um....No."  He was probably the weirdest other than our friend Paul.

Side View of the beautiful Flying Buttresses

View of the Inside - Rose Window

Notre Dame was absolutely gorgeous and we got lots of pictures.  The rose windows were stunning as well.  It's amazing to see such a structure in person when it's something you have learned about all your life.  After Notre Dame we went and took a quick nap at the hotel and then were out on the town again.  We wanted to go to the Orsay museum, but just as we got there they were 15 minutes away from closing.  So we went and sat on a bridge over the River Seine, waiting for Megan's friend Adrien to call for dinner.  We had an absolutely gorgeous sunset that evening and it was so peaceful over the river up until we met Paul.  

River Seine

You know how growing up you are taught social skills?  Well, as Megan and I are sitting on a bench minding our own business...Paul sits down next to me and immediately asks Megan and I where we are from.  I think both of us were taking aback by this, as most people enter into a conversation with some joke, or saying something witty, or just being not weird and creepy.  Paul was both weird and creepy.  He asked us question after question.  I was getting so uncomfortable I just turned over to Megan and started giggling because Paul had no social skills whatsoever and when I get uncomfortable I do a nervous giggle.There were these long awkward pauses when he wasn't grilling us with questions. He asked us what we were doing the next day and if we wanted his number.  We tried to make up excuse after excuse but he was NOT getting the hint.  That's when I started asking him questions because I was sick of being interrogated.  Found out his name was Paul and he was an unemployed photographer from the Netherlands.  We finally were like fine give us your number so we can go meet up with our friends, who still hadn't called us by the way, but we had to get out of there.  We both were nervous he was going to follow us in to the St. Germain neighborhood which is beautiful by the way.  After we walked a a bit and made sure he wasn't following, Megan was assured that he was a serial killer and that we both just escaped our deaths.  It was kind of funny, but made me a little freaked out.

Vietnamese Dinner - I got DUCK

Adrien & GF at the Restaurant

Goodbye Picture

Finally met up with Adrien after numerous expensive phone calls.  It was ironic too, that in Paris, we ended up eating at a Vietnamese Restaurant.  It was very good, but not really French at all which is kind of what I was looking forward too.  Plus, at the restaurant, the one waiter was reading palms and started freaking out when I showed him my "life lines" on my hands.  He told me to be very careful and that I was prone to accidents.  Which is not really true at all.  At first it was amusing, but after awhile he just kind of freaked me out and got on my nerves.  Megan and I had high hopes to go to the Eiffel Tower after dinner, but since we ate so late, and that Metro stopped running at 12:30 we headed back to the hotel.  Said goodbye to all of Megan's friends and went to bed.

On our way home we had another quite interesting thing happen.  We had to walk about 3 city blocks back from the Metro stop to our hotel.  First of all, we saw this woman on the side of the road just puking her guts out.  We switched sides, but I couldn't turn away.  It was disgusting and we both made mental notes not to walk on that side in the morning.  Lucky for me, I forgot that mental note and walked right through it the next morning.  GROSS!  Interesting thing number two, there was a guy walking behind us and kept coming closer and closer.  So, we slowed down to let him pass.  Once he got past us he just stopped and stared.  Umm...yeah that freaked me out a lot.  After we passed him, he kept staring a bit and went inside the building he was standing outside of.  It was a little freaky to say the least.   We were a little shaken up from the days events, but we were definitely ready to take on Paris for day #2!