New Location.

Alright, the unveiling of the new blog is finally happening. From now on you can find me, Christine, here. I'm not sure if Hillary is going to continue in the blogging world, I'll let her come and reveal her new location if she does. There's nothing too exciting at my blog yet, but hopefully there will be some good posts along the way.

Better Late Than Never??

So here I am, returning to the blogging world, holding true to my word. Mentally I've had a hard time returning because I felt like I couldn't move on with current blogging until I had finished with our trip. Many have tried to convince me that I just needed to move on without looking back, but I just couldn't bring myself to do that, so here I am to finish out the last two weeks of our whirlwind tour of Europe. I apologize now because it isn't as detailed as if I had done it in the moment, but even so, at least there will be pictures. And now I promise, I will continue to keep a blog of my exciting life in Provo... I know you're all on the edge of your seats now. I really can't back out now, huh??

Rome and Florence, Italy

I'm not sure what exactly to say about our time in Italy. At this point it's all kind of a blur, but we did a ton and had a great time all along the way. I'll just let the pictures help tell the story.

In Rome we spent our time traversing the city trying to hit all the best sites. First we made it to the Colosseum.

Here is Hillary outside the Parthenon with the guys who take pictures with all the tourists. We didn't actually know they charged for the pictures until they demanded ten euros from us after we had already taken the pictures. Yes, we did fall into the category of dumb tourists here.

Trevi Fountain

The Spanish Steps. We sat at this fountain for awhile resting our feet, and were so intrigued by all the people who drank the water from the the fountain while also putting their own feet into the water and watching the many pigeons bathe in the fountain water. We asked someone if the water was safe to drink and he informed us that in fact it was, so we figured they must have some cleaning system? Hopefully at least. We braved it enough to fill a water bottle with the water and try it ourselves, and it was in fact very good water. We're still not positive how the water is clean enough to drink, but at this point maybe it's better not knowing.

We made it into the Vatican City on the last day and the Sistine Chapel where I snuck a picture of the ceiling.

In Florence we saw lots of art. These statues weren't the originals, those are kept in the museums, but we did make it into the main museums and saw some really impressive things.



We also climbed to the top of the Dumo Chapel and got some truly gorgeous views of Florence.


Florence was a really neat city, Hillary would probably say it was her favorite place. We walked around a lot and became very comfortable with it. The city isn't too big, so we were able to really get to know the place and had a lot of great interaction with the locals. It's just big enough to offer lots of great things to see, but just small enough to be manageable.

Overall we had an amazing trip. We saw so many great things and loved visiting all the different places. It flew by and now that we're into school it seems forever ago, but it gave us some great memories that we'll never forget.

Santorini and Athens, Greece

Santorini was amazing. It was exactly what we needed after being on our study abroad and after the week long bus tour of the UK. Everyday was spent relaxing on the beach reading books (and fitting in our summer tan to four days), then walking around town to get dinner and check out the cute little shops. The best part of it all was the great hotel we stayed in with the cute old couple running it.

We did have one adventure while in Santorini. The second day of our trip we made it out to the beach early and set up shop on some beach chairs to soak in the sun. After about three hours of reading I noticed Hillary get up from her nap to go in the water and I chose to follow. Once she reached the water she was kind of stumbling around and laughing that she had stood up too fast and was dizzy, so I suggested that she sit down until she was no longer dizzy. Next time I turned around to look at her I caught her trying to stand up, but then feinting to the ground. I wasn't sure if she was still being silly or what, but after she didn't move when the water came up to hit her face, I rushed over to pull her out and try to see what was wrong. In the mean time, a group of Greek vacationers (read: partiers) who had seen what had happened asked if I needed help, then proceeded to yell at me for trying to make Hillary go in the water (which I hadn't), and then yelling at me to find out what Hillary had been drinking. When I responded that we don't drink alcohol, they were sure that she had been sneaking something and continued to yell at me. As I was getting more frazzled, Hillary slumped over as she feinted yet again, sending me into a slight panic. After some guys helped to carry Hillary to the shade, we continued to sit and wait for thirty to forty minutes for the ambulance which had been called, all the while Hillary getting worse, then finally getting slightly better.

Once the ambulance finally did arrive, Hillary was feeling better and wanted to go back to the hotel, but after asking the ambulance drivers' to just drop us off at our hotel, they informed us that they didn't speak English and told us to get in. The fact that Santorini is a small island leads directly to it having only one hospital and no major roads, so we sat in the back of the ambulance for the thirty minute drive back, all on small, windy roads. Hillary was lying on a gurney that wasn't really secured down and continued to slide from side to side around each turn, which just made her sicker after she was feeling better.


Arriving at the hospital was a whole new experience. The building was pretty old and broken down, and inside no one really knew what to do with us. After receiving some information about what had happened (which included the doctors insisting that I reenact Hillary's stumbling and feinting) they sent us to sit on a bench outside in the shade for an hour and told us to let them know when we were leaving. We were pretty shocked that was the prescription from the doctor, and more shocked that they didn't ask for any personal information from Hillary, who had received a ride in one of their ambulances, which would've cost her thousands here in America. Well, we followed the doctor's orders then went back to our hotel.


Despite our half freightening half amusing adventure to the Santorini hospital, we overall loved our time there and it ranks high on our favorites list. It was definitely a plus that they had delicious crepes, both savory and sweet, and great Greek sandals.

After Santorini we spent a quick 24 hours in Athens on our way to Italy. Since we didn't have a ton of time, there isn't a whole lot to report from Athens. I did insist that we make it up to the Acropolis, so we made the hike up in the extreme heat.

Where In The World Are We??

Sorry to be so MIA this past week, but with all this traveling we've had precious little time on the internet that's been dedicated to finallizing our plans for our next destination.

After four nights on the island of Santorini we moved on to spend one night in Athens. From there we flew to Rome where we stayed two nights, and then by train on to Florence, where we've been for one night and have one more night here. We've had a great time everywhere we've been and have seen so much. Our time in Santorini was spent relaxing on the beach, which was much needed. In Athens we saw the Acropolis, in Rome we saw the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps, and so far here in Florence we've climbed to the top of the famous Duomo Cathedral. And in every city we've walked and walked and walked just exploring the city.

We'll give more detailed updates with pictures and all once we're back with reliable internet.

Santorini, Greece

This is who greeted us when we arrived at our hotel on the island of Santorini at 7:30 in the morning after a long, sleepless night spent in the Athens airport. Ok, so it wasn't really the cartoon, but it was the human version of this cartoon man. We walked in to find the sweetest old man who was excited to see twins walking in. He immediately took us to a room, despite it being before typical check-in time, and showed us around the room excitedly pointing out all the comforts it had to offer, including a running faucet. It was the perfect welcome.

It's been a great first day here on the island. First we napped for a few hours to regain some strength. Next we ventured out to the beach, where we spent four hours doing nothing but soaking up the sun and occasionally taking a quick dip in the water. We came back to our room and were exhausted and pretty much crashed. It's crazy how much doing nothing on the beach really takes it out of you ;) It was the perfect, relaxing day after a pretty painful trip down here. We've kind of been slacking in the picture department lately, so we don't have any from today, but we'll quickly get some to document our wonderful adventure. We're excited for these next few days to explore the island and find some fun activities!!

Goodbye England, We Will Miss You!

We finished our tour around the UK and that means we are done with our study abroad of England. I was sad to leave this beautiful country but I have already promised myself I will return someday, hopefully sooner than later. As for our coach tour, I am glad we are done. We stayed in Cardiff, Wales- Liverpool, England- Ambleside, Lake District, England- Edinburgh, Scotland- Yorkshire, England- Stratford Upon Avon, England and then back to London! Sleeping in a different hostel every night, eating at rest stops, being in a different city every few hours, paying for internet, never feeling like your surroundings are clean especially the bathrooms, getting car sick, it all gets very old so needless to say it was a long week. Although it was tiring, I did have some favorite parts of the trip around the UK. In no particular order...


I have learned to love crepes, before I wasn't too sure but Christine has shown me the ways of crepes and now I definitely crave them a little too often. I can't wait to get back to Provo and make them all the time.


At the Warick Castle in Stratford-on-Avon we met a family that was so sweet to let us take our picture with them. This place was a lot of fun and I highly recommend it, there's so much to do and learn about!


The Lake District in Northern England is beautiful and has cute little villages, one of my favorites was Hawkshead where Beatrix Potter is from. We took a walk down to the lake and bought duck food to feed the friendly ducks.









We saw a lot of ruins through out our trip and although many are interesting, at times they do get old so we decided to liven them up.



We had many more adventures on this coach trip but those were a few highlights. Most importantly this was our group, take a good look at our director, he is a character.
Tomorrow we pack up again and are off to Greece and Italy, our next adventure starts on the island of Santorini!

Whirlwind Tour of the UK

Sorry we've been missing for a little. We are currently on our final tour of the UK. In the past seven days we've been to three countries, ten towns, six hostels (yes hostels, we may be the only BYU group that stays in hostels, it has been interesting), lots of sites, and countless hours on the coach. Needless to say we're exhausted and excited to get back to Germany to relax for a couple of days before continuing on to Greece (where hopefully Rachel will meet us!!) and Italy. We've had limited internet access at each of our hostels which explains our lack of updating and why this is brief, we'll do a longer, more detailed post as soon as we have more time!

Our Daily Lives in London

It's a sad night here in London as we've been packing up our room for the past few hours. In the morning we get on a bus for a week long tour of the rest of the UK, then our time with the group is over. It's been amazing here, and I think we're all wishing we could stay longer. We've been here just long enough to see everything, but would love the chance to stay longer and really get to know the city on a much better level. It just means we'll have to come back!!

We want to remember some of the daily things of our time here in London, so here are some pictures of our room, our daily walks, etc.

Mine and Hillary's beds with my closet and our fridge.

Beth's bed and our small bathroom.














Our tube stop which we became quite familiar with.

Hyde Park Chapel where we had class Mondays through Wednesdays.

The Perks of Paris

The three days in Paris flew by so fast I don't even know how to break it down so here are the perks of the beautiful city of love...

Our adorable hotel room at the Hotel du Pantheon to put us in the French mood... it was perfect. Thanks Grandma and Kelly! :)


Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile, the view was worth every step to the top.



Right when I saw the merry-go-round next to the Eiffel Tower, I knew it was a must.







The city is beautiful at night, especially the Eiffel Tower when it twinkles.





Christine introduced me to Amorino Gelato, nothing will ever compare. We ate it every night! The best part is they make a rose out of it on the top of your cone.

My favorite part of Versailles was Marie Antoinette's little cottage town in the gardens. It was beautiful and quaint compared to the elegant, elaborate palace

To my surprise, hidden behind a tall hedge was the beautiful Luxemberg Gardens right down the street from our hotel.












Christine and I first went to Notre Dame at night and it was beautiful, then we decided to go back and climb the hundreds of stairs during the day to see another beautiful view of the city. The best part was meeting up with Cadee which was a beautiful face from home.



We only had a short time in Paris so we were constantly on the go by the time we got to the Louvre my grandma and I needed a quick nap.



We decided to choose a few pieces of art in particular to see at the Louvre so it wouldn't be as overwhelming but on our way to see the Mona Lisa, which was one of the pieces chosen to find, I found my favorite piece by Paul Delaroche called The Young Martyr. Also there was another beautiful garden with a pond across from the Louvre, we decided to walk through to draw a close to our Paris experience.

Paris, Je T'Adore!

Sorry we've been missing for a few days, but it's been busy around here. It's coming down to our last days in London which is so sad, it seriously feels like we've hardly been here at all. We've got a list of things that we're racing around to get to for the first time or get back to for another visit. Time seriously flies when you're having the time of your life!

This past weekend Hillary and I hopped over to Paris with her step mom and grandma. I love Paris! Hillary has been trying to figure out why I love Paris so much, and I've realized that it's just a familiarity thing. I feel comfortable there and as if I know the streets and the areas. It's fun to walk around and have random memories come back to me from when I was little and all the various trips I've taken there. I'm not sure if I instilled my love of Paris into Hillary, I'll let her give her view of the trip. But I had a fabulous time walking around Luxemberg Gardens and Tuillerie Gardens, Notre Dame and the Latin Quarter, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, and the wonderful streets of Paris and remembering what it is about the city that makes me love it so much! Thanks a million to Kelly and Carole, you guys made the trip amazing and I can't thank you enough for everything you did for us!!

Sitting outside Notre Dame.

Walking through Marie Antoinette's domain at Versailles.Tuillerie Gardens outside the Louvre.

These are for Rachel. We stayed around the corner from your favorite umbrella shop and walked past the wedding dress shop you like.