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Verona

Verona was such a lovely choice. It is a bit off the beaten path but was nice for a day trip.

It ended up being a lot bigger than I expected. So darling, right?

I needed a moment for a fake pout about something. I think the sun was in my eyes.

Therefore, (fake) pout.

Juliet is not actually buried here. In fact, who knows if she was even a real person. This is more of a city museum.

Inside the supposed tomb. Decades of lovers have left their mark.

At Juliet's Window for a little counseling session for the heart. We're pretty sure they paint these walls once a week or so. I left a message or two - for my eyes only, though.

At the Window people also leave a lock with their lover's name or initials. So obviously you have a photo shoot with a friend in front of them. I had no name to write on a lock and attach to the gate. Sigh.

There is the wall where you can leave a message or a mailbox. I hope I get a reply! (Mom, I put down your address as the return address, please let me know if I get a letter from Juliet any time soon)

Italian men did not seem to wear much deodorant. Yikes.

Cherries were the fruit of the trip. I hadn't had cherries in years but seemed to have them once every few days in Europe!

Venice

We left Croatia after four lovely days and took a ferry to Venice. Let me be quite clear - I am obsessed with this city. I must return with a lover in the future. Mom, don't be weirded out with my use of the word lover.

Walking from the ferry to the train station we had to stop and ask directions from seven different people. The city is set up in a nonsensical sort of way but the charming nature of it makes up for the frustration you feel.

You understand why I'm obsessed, yes?

At one point I felt like I was having a panic attack. I started to feel shortness of breath and tears came to my eyes because I was so overwhelmed at the beauty of it all. 

We happened upon a square where these two were singing some of the most beautiful opera I've ever heard. He was a local and she was a tourist from Toronto who sings with her husband there. It was incredible! This only happens in movies.

There are too many canals and bridges to count. It is all just so indescribably quaint and beautiful. This city is definitely near the top on my list of favorite places I've ever visited.

I bought a cannoli to eat after lunch and it was cruelly stolen by a brazen pigeon. The little rat swooped in right as I stood to pay the bill. 

Italian men are humongous flirts. I didn't mind.

There is a lot of graffiti in Venice and it's not the artsy kind. Ugh. I will never understand why permanently defacing something so lovely is desirable.

I had my first ever spaghetti carbonara. It was love at first bite. 

Italian hot chocolate with cinnamon - yum!

I had gelato twice in an hour. Normally I would think I was disgusting but in that moment I high fived myself. It was awesome and totally worth it.

Many of the bridges we encountered in Europe had locks on them

When you feed the birds you run the risk of having them attack your face. 

Basically, Venice is magical. Put it on your bucket list!

Croatia

Soooooo...I went on a trip. These blog posts are mainly for my mom and sister, who don't have Facebook. If you are friends with me on Facebook feel free to ignore the next few posts - I won't be offended.

I made sure to write notes about my observations of the people and culture of every country we visited. These posts will basically be those observations plus photos.

I had wanted to go to Croatia for a long time. When my friend, Erin, told me that she was going to be taking a 10 day course in Croatia I informed her that I would be meeting up with her when she was done. Because I'm awesome like that and invite myself on international escapades. Our friend, Emily, who lives in London joined us for Croatia and Scotland.

Our trip started in Rovinj (sounds like ravine) and can I just tell you - it was WAY better than I expected! 

We started our trip on the cheap side (hooray!). Croatia is still quite affordable to travel around. Getting there can be quite spensy (<---expensive, spread it around, y'all) but meals and transportation were cheap once we got there.

Gorgeous, right? I don't own any photo editing software - this is literally how it looked. Sigh. Such a happy and peaceful place.

I bought about $15 worth of candy that I thought would last us at least half of the trip. It lasted 2 days.

The only thing we could watch on TV at night was "The Big Bang Theory" and "Two and A Half Men". What a disappointment! I'm sure you're thinking, "Wow. You go to Croatia to watch crappy American comedies?". Well, no. Only "Two and A Half Men" is crappy and things shut down early at night. Also, your feet KILL at the end of the day. I promise.

These European buildings KILL me! They're so unique and vibrant. If you needed architecture to explain how I dress you need not look any further than these darling European towns. (I dress like an out of control elementary school art teacher)

We took a choppy boat ride through the fjords and totally sailed closely past a nude beach. It was traumatizing just how close we got to it. Why are old men so confident in their bodies??

The ship captain gave this little boy some bread to feed to the birds. A few swooped in and took it right out of his hands! I may have been a little seasick so I missed any good pictures I could have taken of the birds coming in. On the positive side - no puking!

We just marveled.

One day I was sitting on a ledge overlooking the ocean and my phone promptly dropped from my pocket. Oh, and did I mention that it was at least a 30 foot drop? I scooted my bum down the steps, crawled over some rocks, waded through an inlet, and got to my phone. It landed perfectly straight down on a small ledge. There was a bit of a scratch and that's about it. Samsung for the win!

A man trying to woo us into his restaurant, "We are making coffee better than George Clooney". Doubtful, but excellent try!

See what I mean??? They just absolutely SLAY me!

There was a religious procession one day and these lovely rose petal were left over. I like to think that they laid them out for us.

Guys, go to Croatia. It can't wait to meet you.