	Epic Europe Excursion-
Hola, buon giorno, hello! Wow, 2.5 weeks and it’s amazing the things I was blessed to do. I have over 500 pictures of 4 different countries, a new vocabulary, many 1st time adventures, a championship trophy, and lots of new friends. I am still recovering from this epic trip and wish I could have taken you all with me. I will try to keep this short, as you know I am very long-winded and give you just the highlights. For those of you confused or didn’t read my last update, I was invited to play in a tournament in England and decided to travel for a week before competing in the tourney. So here are the highlights of some of my travel. Stop #1: Florence This has always been #1 on my list to places to see and it was absolutely beautiful. I got the see the real Michelangelo’s David ( a picture was illegally shot by friend Peter.. but he’s not arrested yet) I saw more scooters than I thought existed and saw one of the most beautiful views ever! Stop #2: Rome People say that Rome wasn’t built in a day, but I sure saw almost of all of it in a day. Thanks to friend Patti Kranske who helped me find all the highlights I was able to see the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica. I have never walked so much in one day but it was sure worth it. The history there is absolutely incredible especially seeing the Colosseum where so much happened was a highlight for me. If I could have seen these things in history class in high school, I would have liked history a LOT more! Stop #3, #4 Naples/Palma Not much here to report other than tasting the “worlds famous” pizza in Naples and then trying to walk around with my eyes closed due to all the topless women on the beaches. YIKES!! Not a fan!! Stop #5: Barcelona This actually was one of my favorite places to be, except Peter got his I-phone pick pocketed in the subway. I got to spend more than one day here, and one of the highlights I saw was the Sagrada Familia created by Gaudi. The incredible statues of Jesus and his life situated on the front of the church and the back were breath taking. My other favorite stop was seeing the Olympic stadium and grounds from the 1992 Olympics. Standing on the same ground where all the best athletes stood was very powerful. I am not a fan of museums, but this was an athlete’s museum that I loved!! In Barcelona I also got to play on the beach and enjoy some of the best smoothies I have ever tasted. A friend Tori from playing on the AVP in CA lives there so we played against some of the people there. So fun! Stop #6: London My friend Dave Miller was so generous and took really good care of me while I was in London. He picked me up from the airport and showed me around the country for the week. I also got to spend some amazing time with my childhood friend, Dana and Travis Hayes with their 3-week-old new baby, Amira. It was so fun to be together. After a day in London, I left for Great Yarmouth for the volleyball tournament: VICTORY in England The tournament was held on Saturday and Sunday and it’s funny I met my partner, Helen, Friday afternoon around 4pm. We had a short practice and then we had to get out there the next day and play. Dave was the one who introduced us and she turned about to be a total blessing and a gem. She was such a delight to play with. After a short practice, one of the players made us all dinner and I got to experience my FIRST strawberries and crème!! YUMM!!!! It was great, and while I ate my delicious treat, all the players were giving me a real “English lesson.” Did you know that the “boot” = trunk of car, “garden” = backyard, and everyone says Cheers all the time. They even got me to say “Oh Buggar” when I messed up playing! Ha ha! Our first game day, Saturday, was super cold and rainy but we played really well and upset the #1 seeded team in the 3rd match of the day. This put us in the semifinals on Sunday. Sunday was a beautiful day and the sun was out. We beat a good young team, 21-12, then 24-22. The last game was a nail biter! This set us up for the championship game against their best player and defending champion. We were down 4-6 in the 1st game before my partner served 15 straight points and we won the 1st game 21-9. Then the second game was super close and we edged them out for a 22-20 victory. It was super fun and we got our names engraved in a plaque and little trophy’s to take home. Everyone was so nice to me and I had a blast playing on their tour. Cambridge: On our way home we were passing Cambridge and we stopped for dinner and walked around there. It’s amazing to think that it existed before Columbus discovered America!! I loved all the history that England has. Here I also went to my first English pub and had the traditional famous, Fish and Chips. Wimbledon: This perhaps was the highlight of the entire trip. As a little girl I used to watch this on TV with my dad and had always dreamed of going, so to be able to go to this was thrilling!! After getting home from the tournament around 12am Dave and I woke up at 5:00am to get in line for tickets at 5:30am. And once we got there we were the 3,555th person there! Yikes! Luckily we got into the gates (ground pass) around 11am and then stood in another line until 5:30pm to get centre court tickets!! 12 hours to see one match in centre court.. worth it??? Definitely! Although sitting/standing in the heat for that long was not fun, sitting inside centre court and watching Rafa Nadal play live was AMAZING!!! I even got to see Prince Will and Kate in the Royal box and they even participated in the wave started by the crowd!! Too fun! I also got to see the Bryan brothers play doubles who ended up winning the whole thing. Not only am I a huge Wimbledon/tennis fan, I had NO clue the famous signature food was strawberries and crème!! It’s like this event was created just for me! Ha ha!! So I had only 3, and tried to refrain since the pound kills the American dollar. It was a long day, but one that will go in the memory book as one of the highlights of all time!! Paris With only 4 hours of sleep, we got up the next day to take the train (through the tunnel of water) to Paris for the day! I was completely exhausted but amped on adrenaline. If I am being completely honest, I was excited to see all the sites, but was more excited to eat strawberry crepes with nutella at every corner. Yes, I actually set aside a crepe fund in the US before I left. I love those things!! We started at the Eiffel tower and that was un-real. So huge!! And there were amazing views from the top, including the crepe place right next to the tower! Ha ha! Then we went to Arc de Triomphe, followed by a stop for a crepe then to the Louve, which was unfortunately closed that day. Next stop was Sacre Coeur in Montmartre. The view there was amazing too! Our last stop was Notre Dame, where we saw a small service there. We saw so much and even strolled down the “rodeo” drive street. London After being in England for almost a week, it was weird I hadn’t seen much of London, so the next day, my moms friend Diane who happened to be there on vacation took me all around London! What an amazing place. We started at Buckingham Palace and watched the changing of the guards, and saw the famous balcony where all the “kisses” take place. Then I got to tour the “Royal mews” which is the royal stables and saw some royal horses and all the famous coaches/carriages. So fun!! Then we walked down to horse guard’s parade where the 2012 beach Olympics are going to be held (see pic). That was fun to me to stand right where all the players are going to be playing. There I also tried to get the guard to smile or move and almost kissed him on the cheek but he looked like he was 12 years old and had a weapon! J Our next stop was Trafalgar Square, then Westminster Abbey (which was way smaller than it looked on TV), house of parliament, Big Ben, St. Paul’s Cathedral (where we actually sat through an “even song” or service) and then the last stop was Tower of London and I got to see the crown jewels. Home It was a packed-full adventure and I can’t believe I saw 4 countries in 2.5 weeks. But I have to say my bed has never felt so good!! God really blessed me with the most amazing weather, great new friends and people like my grandma, Peter, Tori, Dave, Helen, Dana/Travis, and Diane to make my trip epic and so memorable. Thanks for all your prayers while I was gone and all the support you constantly show me! Love you guys and now it’s back to the real world. I just need to tell my body the real time of day, it’s still confused!! Cheers! :-)

Epic Europe Excursion-

Hola, buon giorno, hello!

Wow, 2.5 weeks and it’s amazing the things I was blessed to do. I have over 500 pictures of 4 different countries, a new vocabulary, many 1st time adventures, a championship trophy, and lots of new friends. I am still recovering from this epic trip and wish I could have taken you all with me. I will try to keep this short, as you know I am very long-winded and give you just the highlights.

For those of you confused or didn’t read my last update, I was invited to play in a tournament in England and decided to travel for a week before competing in the tourney. So here are the highlights of some of my travel.

Stop #1: Florence

This has always been #1 on my list to places to see and it was absolutely beautiful. I got the see the real Michelangelo’s David ( a picture was illegally shot by friend Peter.. but he’s not arrested yet) I saw more scooters than I thought existed and saw one of the most beautiful views ever!

Stop #2: Rome

People say that Rome wasn’t built in a day, but I sure saw almost of all of it in a day. Thanks to friend Patti Kranske who helped me find all the highlights I was able to see the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica. I have never walked so much in one day but it was sure worth it. The history there is absolutely incredible especially seeing the Colosseum where so much happened was a highlight for me. If I could have seen these things in history class in high school, I would have liked history a LOT more!

Stop #3, #4 Naples/Palma

Not much here to report other than tasting the “worlds famous” pizza in Naples and then trying to walk around with my eyes closed due to all the topless women on the beaches. YIKES!! Not a fan!!

Stop #5: Barcelona

This actually was one of my favorite places to be, except Peter got his I-phone pick pocketed in the subway. I got to spend more than one day here, and one of the highlights I saw was the Sagrada Familia created by Gaudi. The incredible statues of Jesus and his life situated on the front of the church and the back were breath taking. My other favorite stop was seeing the Olympic stadium and grounds from the 1992 Olympics. Standing on the same ground where all the best athletes stood was very powerful. I am not a fan of museums, but this was an athlete’s museum that I loved!!

In Barcelona I also got to play on the beach and enjoy some of the best smoothies I have ever tasted. A friend Tori from playing on the AVP in CA lives there so we played against some of the people there. So fun!

Stop #6: London

My friend Dave Miller was so generous and took really good care of me while I was in London. He picked me up from the airport and showed me around the country for the week. I also got to spend some amazing time with my childhood friend, Dana and Travis Hayes with their 3-week-old new baby, Amira. It was so fun to be together. After a day in London, I left for Great Yarmouth for the volleyball tournament:

VICTORY in England

The tournament was held on Saturday and Sunday and it’s funny I met my partner, Helen, Friday afternoon around 4pm. We had a short practice and then we had to get out there the next day and play. Dave was the one who introduced us and she turned about to be a total blessing and a gem. She was such a delight to play with.

After a short practice, one of the players made us all dinner and I got to experience my FIRST strawberries and crème!! YUMM!!!! It was great, and while I ate my delicious treat, all the players were giving me a real “English lesson.” Did you know that the “boot” = trunk of car, “garden” = backyard, and everyone says Cheers all the time. They even got me to say “Oh Buggar” when I messed up playing! Ha ha!

Our first game day, Saturday, was super cold and rainy but we played really well and upset the #1 seeded team in the 3rd match of the day. This put us in the semifinals on Sunday.

Sunday was a beautiful day and the sun was out. We beat a good young team, 21-12, then 24-22. The last game was a nail biter! This set us up for the championship game against their best player and defending champion. We were down 4-6 in the 1st game before my partner served 15 straight points and we won the 1st game 21-9. Then the second game was super close and we edged them out for a 22-20 victory. It was super fun and we got our names engraved in a plaque and little trophy’s to take home. Everyone was so nice to me and I had a blast playing on their tour.

Cambridge:

On our way home we were passing Cambridge and we stopped for dinner and walked around there. It’s amazing to think that it existed before Columbus discovered America!! I loved all the history that England has. Here I also went to my first English pub and had the traditional famous, Fish and Chips.

Wimbledon:

This perhaps was the highlight of the entire trip. As a little girl I used to watch this on TV with my dad and had always dreamed of going, so to be able to go to this was thrilling!! After getting home from the tournament around 12am Dave and I woke up at 5:00am to get in line for tickets at 5:30am. And once we got there we were the 3,555th person there! Yikes! Luckily we got into the gates (ground pass) around 11am and then stood in another line until 5:30pm to get centre court tickets!! 12 hours to see one match in centre court.. worth it??? Definitely! Although sitting/standing in the heat for that long was not fun, sitting inside centre court and watching Rafa Nadal play live was AMAZING!!! I even got to see Prince Will and Kate in the Royal box and they even participated in the wave started by the crowd!! Too fun! I also got to see the Bryan brothers play doubles who ended up winning the whole thing.

Not only am I a huge Wimbledon/tennis fan, I had NO clue the famous signature food was strawberries and crème!! It’s like this event was created just for me! Ha ha!! So I had only 3, and tried to refrain since the pound kills the American dollar. It was a long day, but one that will go in the memory book as one of the highlights of all time!!

Paris

With only 4 hours of sleep, we got up the next day to take the train (through the tunnel of water) to Paris for the day! I was completely exhausted but amped on adrenaline. If I am being completely honest, I was excited to see all the sites, but was more excited to eat strawberry crepes with nutella at every corner. Yes, I actually set aside a crepe fund in the US before I left. I love those things!!

We started at the Eiffel tower and that was un-real. So huge!! And there were amazing views from the top, including the crepe place right next to the tower! Ha ha! Then we went to Arc de Triomphe, followed by a stop for a crepe then to the Louve, which was unfortunately closed that day. Next stop was Sacre Coeur in Montmartre. The view there was amazing too! Our last stop was Notre Dame, where we saw a small service there.

We saw so much and even strolled down the “rodeo” drive street.

London

After being in England for almost a week, it was weird I hadn’t seen much of London, so the next day, my moms friend Diane who happened to be there on vacation took me all around London! What an amazing place.

We started at Buckingham Palace and watched the changing of the guards, and saw the famous balcony where all the “kisses” take place. Then I got to tour the “Royal mews” which is the royal stables and saw some royal horses and all the famous coaches/carriages. So fun!! Then we walked down to horse guard’s parade where the 2012 beach Olympics are going to be held (see pic). That was fun to me to stand right where all the players are going to be playing. There I also tried to get the guard to smile or move and almost kissed him on the cheek but he looked like he was 12 years old and had a weapon! J

Our next stop was Trafalgar Square, then Westminster Abbey (which was way smaller than it looked on TV), house of parliament, Big Ben, St. Paul’s Cathedral (where we actually sat through an “even song” or service) and then the last stop was Tower of London and I got to see the crown jewels.

Home

It was a packed-full adventure and I can’t believe I saw 4 countries in 2.5 weeks. But I have to say my bed has never felt so good!! God really blessed me with the most amazing weather, great new friends and people like my grandma, Peter, Tori, Dave, Helen, Dana/Travis, and Diane to make my trip epic and so memorable. Thanks for all your prayers while I was gone and all the support you constantly show me! Love you guys and now it’s back to the real world. I just need to tell my body the real time of day, it’s still confused!!

Cheers! :-)