salida colorado wedding photographer
The hubs & I decided to take a chance this year and accomplish something HUGE from our bucket list. Something I thought we’d always talk about doing, but never actually get around to – a month-long trip to backpack through Europe!
Finally, I was able to behold with my own two eyes the remnants of history, infamous works of art, and cultures I had only known in my school books growing up. We researched, bought special shoes, ventured out in using awesome new-to-us services like Airbnb for inexpensive private rooms/apartments, yet nothing could truly prepare us for such an undertaking. With 15 lbs in my backpack and 5 lbs worth of camera & lens, we made our journey.
Here are just a few of the highlights. First up we have El Escorial in Madrid.
Continuing our Spain adventure in Barcelona, we toured the (perpetually under construction) Sagrada Familia and Arc de Triomf.
Then, we decided to warm things up a bit by heading south to the French Riviera in Nice, France. This was our favorite for many reasons, including the views,…
…the architecture,…
…(sigh) the mouth-watering food!…
… and of course just the relaxation of being near the water.
Moving on to Interlocken, Switzerland. Having grown up on the Sound of Music (which yes I realize was filmed in Salzberg), this kind of natural beauty had me singing “the Hills are Alive!”
This particular day I kept singing to myself, “High on a hill was a lonely goat herd..”
Then, we took Italy by a storm, visiting Milan, Naples, & Pompeii in a 48 hour period. I don’t recommend traveling at this pace as it led to my (now-hilarious) exhausted breakdown on the Metro in Rome. But that’s another story for another day. El Duomo of Milan, followed by me participating in a Milanese luck tradition of spinning on the bull.
There’s a small worn spot in the tile where my foot is.
Then in Naples, on our 5th wedding Anniversary, we found the pizzeria from Eat, Pray, Love on a friends recommendation. It only had tomato puree, mozz, & a tiny basil leaf and yet it was the best pizza of my life.
Pompeii is fascinating and overwhelming in size.
Vesuvius before we left for Rome.
In Rome, we did the most touristy things. They are popular for a reason.
There is no distortion. The gelato cone is almost half the size of my head.
Coliseum at Night (I’m most proud of this because I had no tripod.)
We even procured a hat for Bryan, who unintentionally received 2 euro off the price when the vendor confused his indecision for haggling.
After Rome, we met up with some old friends & rode with them to Pisa (not pictured) and then Venice. **Forgive this image’s quality – taken with a phone**
Finally, there was Paris. Our favorite major city, by far. It deserves every bit of hype, from the majestic Eiffel Tower at night,..
..to the Pont des Arts bridge of lovers’ locks,…
…to the beauty Parisians inject into every aspect of their lives whether it’s architecture, or an ice cream cone that lasted less than one minute after this photo,…
…to the artwork in the Lourve,…
…to the macarons!
Our final night of the journey, we were ready to come home and yet not ready for the journey to end. But I guess it never really does…
