#12: Visit the Mona Lisa & #11: Throw a Coin in the Trevi Fountain

It's hard to believe that I've been home from Europe for two months and I still haven't blogged about seeing the Mona Lisa or tossing a coin into the Trevi Fountain. In truth, I've been suffering from a tremendous bout of writer's block, and try as I might, I just couldn't think of an interesting or compelling way to position the "checking off" of these two items. Needless to say, I sort of feel that if I haven't been able to come up with a good story in the last eight weeks, it might never happen, and seeing as I have a few other "30 Things" on deck, I need to force myself to get this one on paper. So do excuse me if this post is particularly boring, short and/or overwhelmingly reliant on photographic evidence for proof that I did indeed accomplish what I say I did.

Let me begin by saying that I was sort of disappointed in my Paris experience and the fact that I was disappointed continues to disappoint me, and I think it might into perpetuity. I still can't quite put my finger on why I disliked the city as much as I did, but part of it could be blamed upon the fact that our trip started off on a bad foot. After arriving on the Eurostar decently exhausted, we had trouble getting onto the Metro (couldn't figure out how to buy tickets), were "accosted" in the train station by some creepy Parisians and then, try as we might, couldn't help but get thoroughly lost, no matter how closely we attempted to follow a map. Combine these early troubles with the general aloof nature of the French, our lack of language skills and our hotel situated off the beaten path, and our generally poor disposition begins to make more sense.

With this said, you shouldn't be surprised that our bad luck sort of followed us to The Louvre on our second day in the city. It started with a 45-minute hunt for our bus stop, which coincidentally wound up being about 2 blocks away from our hotel and continued with a somewhat harrowing journey where we were squished among a group of Parisian pre-schoolers heading out for a field trip whilst desperately trying to gauge just when we had arrived at our stop.

The great news is that we had a goal in mind, and achieve our mission we did (see how the thumbs up in the photo clearly showcases my happiness in making it to the Louvre in one piece?).

Thanks to my travel-savvy friends, I had been prepped in advance that Mona would be small, so thankfully, I wasn't too disappointed when I saw that, indeed, she is a lot tinier than one would expect. What disappointed me more was the fact that there was a rope around her, holding the crowds back at about 10 feet away (you can see me straining against it in the photo) AND the entire wall that the painting was on was covered in a sheet of plexi-glass. Art connoisseur, I claim not to be, however, I was hoping to at least pretend to be of the haughty-tauty variety and admire the brush strokes of the Mona Lisa from a foot or so away.  In this instance, my plot was foiled, so after Melissa and I spent a good 15 minutes taking pictures, we moved on to explore the rest of the massive museum.

TIME WARP to Rome, about a week later, and I am now sick with a cold that Melissa caught in Paris and so kindly decided to share with me :). Despite it all, I am in good spirits and attempting to relish every last second of vacation before the real world comes back into focus. The day that we were scheduled to view the Trevi Fountain was our last in Rome, so we had thrown in some more touristy sightseeing that afternoon as well, stopping by the Spanish Steps and Pantheon, as well as a famous gelato place where I got nutella flavored ice cream that was fantastic!

Interestingly, our map issues that we acquired in Paris continued to haunt us in Rome, so we certainly took the scenic route in getting to our destination, but once we arrived, we were floored with the Fountain's utter beauty and sheer size! If Mona was smaller than expected, Trevi was so much larger!

I can definitely say that pictures do not do this beautiful fountain justice, as the detail gets totally lost, but I can promise you that were I not being hounded by strange Romans trying to steal my camera and/or take my picture with their vintage one (which had I let them surely would have ended badly), I could have stayed and stared for hours. Unfortunately, in this circumstance, it was business as usual -- we were there to take photos and throw a couple coins and then be on our merry way.

Now I just have to hope that the legend is true and that I'll be returning to Rome someday (and perhaps with the husband I wished for, hehe! Oops, maybe I'm not supposed to share that...).

All in all, despite my quacking, my trip to  Europe was most definitely a fantastic experience and I'm so thankful that I was able to go and see all the sights I saw. I've learned a lot about the way I like to travel and certainly hope to do a lot more of it in the future, which begs the question...where to next?!?

#25: Visit the Guards at Buckingham Palace

Ever since I was a little kid, I have been enamored by England. Although I don't 100% know why, I vividly recall practicing my English accent on my Home Alone-style tape recorder, trying to befriend kids at school that were UK transplants and watching any film that took place in England or starred English actors (Sense & Sensibility was a favorite). I think part of me wanted to BE English, since it always seemed like a much more exciting culture, and even to this day I would LOVE to have an international work assignment in the UK. It should come as no surprise then that the first destination that Melissa (my travel buddy and best friend from college) and I selected for our big European vacation was none other than London. And naturally, the number one thing we wanted to do and see in this fantastic city was pose with the "I can't show any emotion that would distract me from my post" Guards in front of Buckingham Palace (I've seen so many fun photos of friends' from the past and couldn't resist adding one to my personal collection).

If you know me at all in real life, it should also come as no surprise that Melissa and I had this vacation planned to a T. We researched everything and anything that it was possible to do research on. TripAdvisor was our best friend, as were real life friends that had lived in each destination we planned to visit. We read Frommer's, Rick Steves and Fodor's. By the time we left for the trip we had built a 7 page itinerary that listed every activity we were planning to do. It even outlined exactly when we'd have "down time" or time to "be spontaneous" (yes, I have been told this level of planning is insane, but hey it usually gets the job done!). Naturally it all came back to bite me in the butt in the end -- clearly someone from above was trying to teach me that life isn't all about schedules, itineraries and plans -- but we will get to that shortly.

Although I don't want to spend a ton of time rehashing our stay in London, I will tell you that we LOVED it. We were staying in the St. Ermin's Hotel, which was centrally located right outside the St. James's Park Tube station and within walking distance of Westminster Abbey and Big Ben/Parliament. In our first four days we took trips to Stonehenge, Windsor and Bath, did tours of Westminster Abbey & St. Paul's Cathedral, went to the Tower of London, had traditional afternoon tea at a fancy hotel and squeezed in time for shopping at Harrod's and on Oxford Street. We also went to an English pub, ate fish & chips, walked through Trafalgar Square and visited the Victoria & Albert museum (which unfortunately, was our least favorite activity of the trip). All this to say our schedule was packed and we were looking forward to capping off our last day in the city with a royal viewing of the changing of the Guards.

Of course, this is where, despite all my planning and scheduling and researching, our plot was foiled. That morning, as we were asking our Concierge for directions, he sadly informed us that the changing of the Guards would not be happening that morning,. Of course it happened the morning before, and would happen the morning afternoon, but this particular morning? No dice. My heart sank! We were leaving for Paris early the next day, so it meant I had totally and completely missed my opportunity to see this piece of traditional London. I couldn't believe that somehow I had made such a fatal mistake, particularly knowing that this was one of the key items on my 30 things list and that I thought I had much such an ironclad itinerary (I should have spoken to the folks that built Titanic, clearly).

Despite the disappointment, we headed toward the castle anyway, figuring that we'd make the best of things. We wound up taking lots of pretty pictures in front of the castle (including a close up of the balcony where Will & Kate kissed!) and then started walking down a long dirt path back toward the center of the city.

Alas, about a half mile down we saw a crowd of people standing around what looked like a small garage entry, and then moments later, noticed that there were two Guards standing nearby guarding the gates! Hallelujah! This was no Buckingham Palace, but the red jackets, black boots, bayonets and tall black fuzzy hats were in tact, just waiting for us (sorry but you'll have to tilt your head to watch the video as I can't figure out how to flip it!).

Hurrying, we crossed the street and strategically placed ourselves in a position primed for photo/video-taking (you see these Guards actually marched up and down a roped off area, so you had to be ready at any moment to catch them at a good angle). Interestingly, each of the two guards appeared to be about 18 years old. I don't know why I expected them to be older men, but perhaps they have to start here at the servants entry before they get promoted to the front of the castle! We wound up standing in the same spot for a good 20 minutes until we were able to snap the perfect shot: As Melissa says, he had a little captain in him! :) (P-S: Does anyone else think those chin straps look INCREDIBLY uncomfortable??)

After we had our fix, we continued down the path feeling much more satisfied and ready to finish our final day. When we did depart, we felt sad to leave London behind, but glad to have experienced so much in a short period of time. And although there are still many things I'd like to see and do, I chalk it up as an excuse to come back one day...and one day soon!

Coming soon in a few days...meeting Mona!! Til then...

Updates! Marathon, Europe and Learning French!

Since it has been a good seven-ish weeks since I've updated this blog, I'm sure many of you thought I'd either a) become a total slacker or b) just given up on my quest to complete these 30 Things. Rest assured that the case is neither, and in fact, I've spent the last few weeks diligently chipping away at no less than FIVE items on my list. Updates commence:

1) Running a Half Marathon:
After a slow start (translate: running once a week, feeling exhausted by it and needing a full 6 days to both mentally and physically recover), I have kicked my butt into full gear. It finally hit me that the time to race day wasn't getting any longer, and frankly my couch potato "training" routine wasn't getting me any fitter. With inspiration in check, I purchased a Jeff Galloway run/walk/run timer off the Internet (which came with a signed Galloway Training Programs book) and about 4 weeks ago I officially began my training. Last Saturday my long run was 5 miles (I completed 5.2 miles if you count my cool down), and I must say I impressed myself. Never did I think this body could actually exercise for a full hour and 15 minutes without stopping/passing out/collapsing. Granted, if you calculate my pace based on that time of an hour and 15 minutes, you could argue that I was hardly "running" at all. And in truth, I'll admit that a very small portion of that time was actually spent running (I walked the first and fourth mile, and did a run/walk ratio of 1:1 for the other three). However, note that Mr. Galloway himself has said that it's NOT about the speed, but about the distance and endurance, and that us first timers should never set a time goal, but just a goal of forcing our bodies to continue moving forward for the full 13.1 miles. This weekend, I'm set to do a long run of 6 miles, which I think will feel particularly accomplishing as it's roughly half way there!

With all that said, I still have a long way to go (according to the training program, I still have 15 weeks left), but I am hopeful that my recent progress is an indication that I CAN actually do this. Of course, I still have a million questions running through my brain. For example, when does this shit get easier? Regardless of run/walking 5 miles last Saturday, my 30 minute, 2.7-mile "run" yesterday was painful with me reaching almost near exhaustion with a good 10 minutes left. Also, I still don't really understand how comfortable I'm supposed to expect my shoes to be. They definitely hurt, but I'm also doing an exercise that requires a consistent pounding on said feet, so I'm not sure how much I can expect my shoes to alleviate things. All things considered, I am enjoying the journey and hope to someday be able to feel comfortable self-identifying as a true runner.

2) Learning a Second Language:
Bonjour mes amis! Je parle francais un peu! (translation: Hello my friends! I speak French a very little bit! haha). For the last four months I have dutifully been studying the beautiful language of the Parisians thanks to the folks at Rosetta Stone. If you have heard of Rosetta Stone, I'm sure the first thing that jumps to mind is "Damn, that's expensive stuff!" and indeed, you would be correct. However, I figured that given my failing past performance in language learning environments (3 years of high school Spanish, failed college attempts at learning Spanish, French and Hebrew, AND a semester of Berlitz French at HBS that did nothing for me), this route was likely less expensive than hiring a professional tutor, which is about what I think I'd need if I were to take the structured class route. Instead (don't get scared) for $500, I have a program that I can use at my own speed with the ability to repeat lessons as needed...and I have it for life in case I forget things or need to take extended breaks! (Plus, I got a 5-month payment plan at 0% interest, so that helped soften the blow. Yes, I realize I am going bankrupt thanks to my 30 Things ambitions).

So far, I am enjoying the Rosetta Stone course, and definitely see that I am making progress. The vocabulary piece comes pretty easily, but the pronunciation and actual creation of sentences that make sense is naturally more difficult. I'm nearly finished with Level 1 of the software (to give you perspective, there are 5 Levels...within each level there are 4 units and within each unit there are 4 lessons), and my goal is to complete Level 2 and be somewhere within Level 3 by the time I visit France for real next April (more updates on this in the next section). My only complaint is that the program does not give you any options for the asking of questions. The system relies on this "immersion" technique where they translate nothing, but rather show you pictures of things for you to build associations with. This works really well for basic vocabulary, but less well for grammar, as I mentioned. For example, I had to wind up Googling the difference between the French pronouns ce, ces, cette and cet, because I was utterly confused about when to use which. All else considered, so far I am a satisfied customer.

3) Visiting the Mona Lisa, Throwing a coin in the Trevi Fountain and taking a picture at Buckingham Palace.
You may be wondering how I can be "in progress" on things like this, seeing as they are events that happen during a moment in time versus something you have to practice for like my first two updates. Nevertheless, I felt the need to share the news that my trip to Europe is booked for next April, so checking these three items off my list is a guaranteed reality versus some of the other things I hope to do!!

I'll be traveling with my friend Melissa, and aside from a flight and a few Starbucks-fueled planning sessions, we don't have much under our belt at this point. Of course, if you have recommendations on places to stay, things to see, gourmand restaurants to try and the like, we will happily take every piece of your advice into consideration. Just leave your comments below! :)

The basic plan is to hit Rome, London and Paris, with side trips to Versailles, Florence, Stonehenge, Bath and Windsor thrown in. Yes, I know this is a lot to squeeze into 15 days, but we are not rich and do not foresee a return trip anytime soon, hence the pressure to do as much as we can mentally and physically handle. I can guarantee that I'll need a vacation from my vacation, but then again, what's the fun in taking a trip across the Atlantic to sit around and relax for two weeks?


So that's it for now, folks. I still need to get one of my "quickie" items on the calendar (I'm leaning toward my acupuncture treatment next, but need to find a good Asian doctor to go to), so hopefully I will have some additional updates, fun pictures and wacky stories to share soon. For now, au revoir!