European Adventure

The crumbling columns of the Parthenon, the quarky smile of Mona Lisa, the smelly donkeys in Santorini, the croissants eaten sitting on the edge of the Grand Canal.... my European adventure has come to an end, but the memories that I will carry with me for the rest of my life will always be there.

There is too much for me to talk about in one blog; really I should have been doing a weekly post, but I didn't have access to the Internet, so I'm going to give it my best to do a quick summary.

London was so fun. I hadn't been in 7 years, and I missed all my family so much. My cousin Gemma, turned 21, which in London means you are a true adult; being able to drink if you travel to the US is just an added bonus. For her birthday, we went to the dog races. The name of the place where you place your bets is called "Coral." I tried to get a free bet out of the deal because, obviously, my name is Coral, but unfortunately that was out of the question. But hey, it was worth a try!

Dog races are so exhilarating. The rabbit goes buy, the gates burst open, the only sound is the pounding of the 6 dog's legs on the dirt until seconds later the cheering starts. "6 and 3, 6 and 3, come on 6 and 3!!!" That person was doing a forecast reversal. You bet on dogs 6 and 3 and if 6 comes in first and 3 in second, or 3 in first and 6 in second, you win! I always just did a straight 1 pound bet on a single dog. I never won, though. I have terrible luck - just terrible. I should never go to Vegas with a plan to win big because that just wont happen for me.

Cruising is great. I recommend it to anyone. If you find a good deal on a cruise, like the one my mom and I found - it is so worth it. You don't need hotels or food or transportation; it is all done for you and included in the initial price. I gained 10 pounds on my vacation - I'm not exaggerating either - i weighed myself when i got back last night :( But that is what happens when you have access to buffets and 7 course meals in restaurants.
Every night on the cruise, my mom and i would go to our assigned table at 6:45 p.m. and sit with the 6 other people who were assigned to the same table. We would all get our Menus and just stare. Every night, so many options were available to chose from, and there were 7 courses!! Appetizer, soup, pasta, main course, salad, cheese and crackers and dessert.
Obviously people don't have to order something from each category, but when that option is available to you, than of course you have to try a little of everything; or at least I do!!!

My favorite stop on the cruise was Santorini. My mom and I paid the 5 euros to ride donkeys up the trail to a town. It took about 25 minutes. By the time we got off the boat, stood in line for the donkeys and road the donkeys, we only had about a 45 minutes to look around the town before we had to get in line for the cable car to take us back down to the tenders for the ship. My mom and I managed to do quite a bit of shopping in that 45 minutes, though. We are expert shoppers. We can spend hundreds of dollars in a few minutes - not that we did, but we could if we ever had that kind of money. We did do a lot of spending though. In the 45 minutes we had in Santorini, I spent close to 100 dollars. But I loved everything i picked out. I got a pair of mother of pearl earrings, a scrap book, a silly gift for a friend of mine, and a delicious pastry! That is another part of the eating - everywhere you go in Europe there are amazing deserts and pastries. Well, actually I wasn't impressed with the desserts on the cruise - they didn't have any flavor, but every time we got off the shop there was plenty to choose from. My mom got a gelato from every port :)

Paris was amazing. We arrived at 8 in the morning on the train and had to make our way to the bus station with all of our bags. I had the same two bags i went on the cruise with; they were just a little more full, but my mom had to buy an extra one! Navigating the Metro in Paris with our arms full of luggage was an ambitious task, but we made it with no problems. Nobody tried to mug us, we didn't miss any trains or get on the wrong one - Besides being pretty worn out by the time we got to the bus station, it was a great journey. When we got to the bus station, though, the bus we wanted was full, so we had to find a hotel and take the bus the next morning. We were going to take the overnight bus, but after sleeping on a train and walking around Paris all day, my mom was actually really happy that we had beds to go to.

After finding a hotel and storing our luggage, we took the Metro to the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa. It was obviously crowded, but I got to get my look at it, and a picture of it. I didn't think pictures would be allowed, but they were. The Mona Lisa is small, covered in Plexiglas, and barricaded so people can't get closer to it than about 6+ feet, but it was still worth the visit. Now I have seen the famous painting. I asked my mom when we were walking through the Louvre on our way to the painting, "I wonder what Da Vinci would think about this painting getting so famous." I mean, when he painted it, he couldn't have expected it to be his most famous painting - i just wonder what he would think about it.

After the Louvre we walked to Notre Dame. My mom LOVED the gargoyles! Then we walked to the Eiffel Tower, where i collapsed on the grass and just laid there staring up at it for a good 5 minutes. So much walking tuckered me out. When I finally got up, we went and stood in line for 45 minutes to go up the tower. I was happy just seeing it - I'm an impatient person and don't like waiting in lines, but my mom was determined to go up it, so i went with her. When my mom was 12 or 13, her mom took her and her brother and sister to Paris. Her brother and sister were able to go up the tower, but for some reason my Nana wouldn't let my mom go - she was too young I guess, so because of that, my mom NEEDED to go up this time - understandable.

After the Eiffel tower, my mom and I were going to walk to the Arc de Triomphe and then walk down the Champs-Elysees (Chan-de-la-zan), but we were just to tiered to do it, so we just made our way back to our hotel and collapsed on our beds.

It is was sad that our European adventure had to come to an end. I could see myself living in London - I love it there. I have considered maybe trying to get a job and move there some day - We'll see what happens.

We spent the weekend in New York City before arriving back in Sitka - it was great. The Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Time Square, Central Park. It was all so crowded and loud, but I loved it. I got up in the mornings and went running through Central Park - I felt like a native. I can see myself living in New York City, too. I used to always say I wanted to write for the New York Times, and people told me I would never want to live in NYC, but they were wrong. Now I've been there, and it just makes me want to live there more. Who knows, maybe after a couple months of living there, I would be sick of it and ready to go back to the good-old Pacific Northwest, but for now my dream will be the Times and NYC.

Now that I'm back in Sitka, I will be starting my treatment. Tomorrow to be exact. After my English class tomorrow, I will be taking my first shot! I'm scared, but I'll be OK. I guess i don't want to think about that - in the words of Scarlett O'Hara, "I'll think about that tomorrow."