Back in September Gavin and I went crazy and bought tickets to Europe for Graduation! We just love any excuse we can get to travel.
We left HNL the same night at my parents. We both had a red eye flight to different parts of the world.
Getting to Ireland with being sore from a marathon was the most uncomfortable thing. But we survived! We met up with Kadee who arrived the night before in Ireland. Once we landed we drove straight to the Cliffs of Moher. We loved that our rental car was the tiniest thing in the world. I can't believe we all squished in it. We called her Wee-bit.
Ireland is very country. We drove for probably 4 hours to get to the other side of the country. This place is lush with so many green fields and sheep. There weren't any highways that we were on when we were driving around. Instead we were zipping around the tiniest towns. When we got to the cliffs of Moher I asked the man how the weather was up there and he said quite warm and nice. I don't know what he was thinking because it was seriously 40 degrees. I was freezing. But the cliffs were amazing and because we went right before they closed we were the only ones there!
We drove a few more hours to a huge house we were staying in for the night. We were so tired from flying and driving all day we literally crashed and slept for 12 hours.. We woke up the next morning 4 minutes before the maid was going to come and clean the Airbnb.
The next day we drove to Londonderry to explore the wall! On our way we stopped at the Dark Hedge and Giants Causeway. Both were very beautiful places. This country is basically just a road trip with sigh seeing along the way. We stopped at Primart one night to get warmer clothes. And by that I mean I needed warmer clothes. While we were there we saw the some Micky snuggies which actually looked really warm. We decided to buy them to be matching for Disneyland Paris.
Ireland was a lot of driving and pulls of to see beautiful cliffs, castles, and landscape. I am so glad that Kadee came with because she is one of my good friends and I don't get to see her very much.
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The last night we saw the new Spiderman movie in theaters. It was the movies opening night in theaters and every theater was sold out. We ended up getting a show time for 11 pm. I was so tired that I only saw about 4 minutes of it. But everyone else loved it!
After we drove to our Airbnb and it was the tiniest place ever. It looked nothing like the pictures online. It was so tiny that Mya, Kadee and I shared a queen bed and Gavin slept on the twin mattress. The house was freezing and I mean freezing.. But we woke up 4 hours later in a pile of sweat. With all of us girls in the bed we got so toasty. We had to get up really early to catch our flight to Belgium. Kadee left to London so she could see the temple and was going to meet back up with us in Paris. While Gavin, Mya and I flew to Belgium. This was probably the most stressful moment of my life... The airport was packed and I mean packed. Mya had to end up paying 50$ for her bag because it was too big.. We rushed to the security to find it a mile long. We were already pushing our gate time. When my bag got flagged. The lady was taking for ever and was inspecting every little thing. I told her she could just throw away everything in the bag because I needed to go. She said that wasn't allowed. I was not to rush her but wait. I swear I thought we were going to miss our flight. I told Mya to run and get on the plane and not wait for us because I didn't want anyone missing the flight because of me. Once the lady threw away every bottle of product I had we had to run. Our plane had 5 minutes left of boarding. Gavin and I were running through the airport. Imagine that scene from home alone where the McAllister family is running through the busy airport at Christmas time. That was us. In fact I think I might have heard Run Run Rudolph in the back ground. Anyways because we travel for so cheap our gate was a mile after security. We had on all our coats and sweatshirts because we didn't want our bags to look to big. We were sprinting and my bag was open still and Gavin was running barefoot. None the less we literally made it with 4 seconds to spare. #blessed
Once we landed in Belgium we were pulled aside by an officer. He told us that if we couldn't show proof of a negative covid test taken with in the last 48 hours we were to be detained at the airport for 10 days. WHAT... We were freaking out and asked him when this rule started and he said this morning. Panic set it at this point. None of us had a valid covid test. Ours was all from a week earlier and was a rapid one.. We saw some other people in the room made out of concrete. My guess was that they were detained. Their was one cot and florescent lights. No ways was I going to spend my holiday here. We ended up pulling out our old covid tests and crossing our fingers the guy wouldn't notice the date. The guy was looking at them one at a time zooming in on the date and time. He would look at us, the look at the date, look back at us. He approved of Myas then Gavins and was staring at mine for a long time. He even left the room with my phone. My heart was beating so fast I thought I was going to die. When all the sudden he said you are ALL good to go. We grabbed our bags and ran out of there so fast.
Belgium was our destination for one day. We basically came for the Christmas markets and food. We wanted to eat fries and Waffles and enjoy the markets. And we we did just that. Our luck kept getting better because our hostel was a brand new one and it was their opening week! Because of this the front desk agent told us we could stay for free and get free breakfast! wow! We shared the room with 2 other random guys. They were nice and super eager to get to know us. I ended up stealing his cashmere scarf the next morning... Thinking it was mine.. I felt so bad.
Belgium definitely is one of those cute Europe cities. It has the cobble stone streets, orange stone walls and yummy food. We were walking around and Gavin found one of the pit stops from a season of the Amazing race! We also saw the Atomium in Belgium. It was freezing when I was here. FREEZING. We all had on chaco puffs for the trip my toes were the only things that were warm. We ended the night with more fries and waffles! Gavin was so nice and bought a homeless man some warm fries. Belgium, we loved you!
PARIS
Our next city was Paris! Gavin has been dreaming of Paris since he was a child. He grew up doing French emersion so when we decided to go to Europe he knew he needed to put Paris as top priority. We decided to get covid tests anyways in Belgium just to be save. Our flight to Paris was early that next morning. We were at the airport so early we had time to watch this Lizard show that being broadcasted on the wall about 12 times.. The joy of waiting in airports.
When we landed in Paris it was freezing. Our luck just got better because we our shuttles that was going to take us into the cities credit card machine was broken. Because of this we saved the 20$. Yippe! We landed in the shopping district. From here we walked to our Hostel to drop off our bags so we could start to explore the city. Our first stop was breakfast. We ate yummy pastries, cuishe, and hot coco! Our first stop was the Louvre! We walked around the grounds and took pictures from the outside. When we came around the corner that is when we saw the Eiffel tower! Half of it was covered in the clouds so we could only see the bottom but it was still so exciting! After we walked Across Lockheart bridge where Gavin and I locked our hearts to the bridge and threw the key into the water.
Paris is really just a stunning city. The buildings, food, and people are just some of the best parts of it. I couldn't believe that I was here again. I never thought I would have the chance to come back and yet here I was with the love of my life. So much to be grateful for. Last time I was here we some how just stumbled our way to the Eiffel tower. But today I knew I wanted to take Mya and Gavin the same way I went the first time. I like doing it this way because you go down the street by the cannel and when you turn the corner you see the Eiffel tower. I caught Gavin and Myas reaction on video and it was so sweet. Both of them were crying. The Eiffel tower really is so amazing and beautiful. We spent the next serval hours just walking around her staring at it. Literally hours. We just couldn't stop. I see why everyone wants to see the Eiffel tower because she is really such a gem. After hours of taking pictures and walking around the grounds we stopped for some Pasta and waited for Kadee to join us.
That night at our hostel we had the strangest roommates. I am pretty sure one of the ladies was homeless and the other gal was 80 years old and was quite the snorer. Good thing I have my ear plugs ;)
The next morning we went to see the Palace of Versailles. We got lost on the metro and didn't think we would make. French people can be quite rude I think they gave us the wrong directions on purpose. None the less we made it! We couldn't go inside because of Covid but honestly the grounds were amazing. 2,000 acers of just beauty. I could defiantly tell this building was a display of the kings wealth and power. My favorite part of the palace were the statues. Seriously the amount of detail, size, and quantity was mind blowing. We spent some time walking around the gardens. Once we got to cold we walked to the Paris France temple while we waited for lunch reservations at a near by crepe shop.
The Paris temple was totally different than what I was expecting. I pictured it sitting more on a hill or taller but it blended in so well with the neighbor hood. The ground were open so we were able to walk around and take some pictures. I always like seeing temples around the world
The crepe shop was absolutely amazing! France knows how to do crepes they are yummy, savory, sweet and really cheap! We warmed up in the cozy shop before heading aback to the Eiffel tower! This time we wanted to go top of it. We walked up half way before taking the Elevator all the way to the top. Gavin and Mya were facetiming Loana. She joined as we climbed to the top.
It was so beautiful and fun up there we made it to the top just in time to see the sun set from the top. We watched the city come to life and city lights take over the day light. We had so much at the top of the tower. We were up there on the hour when the lights twinkle which makes the Eiffel tower more magical than ever. We were able to see that from the top and the ground. We decided to watch it glisten from across the street by the capitol building. We had so much fun just watching it glisten. Seriously so magical!! Gavin and I shared a little kiss under the lights. Paris we love you!
Anyways, we were some of the first ones in the park! We were running all over that park in our Mickey Snuggies. It was hilarious. The park it's self was a lot smaller than the one in Anaheim. They had a really cute main street USA still with all the yummy food. A lot of the rides were the exact same as well. Indian Jones was an outside roller coast on tracks like you were in the mines. That ride was so fun but my face basically froze off. We decide to get a park hopper because we weren't sure when we would be back. The other park is called Walk Disney Studios. It had Tower of Terror, Slink dog, Ratatouille, and a fun cars show! We were able to basically do everything twice because of the size of the park! Gavin and Mya went till midnight running around. While Kadee and I stopped to get some food and shop. We loved the Castle and fun vibe of Paris Disney! Everything was in French which made it fun. They had a color/firework show above the castle that was so AMAZING! All the Disney songs were playing in French who ever was singing had the most incredible voice. They literally made me cry. We had so much at the park! Disney really is such a magical place. We also saw someone wearing the same Mickey hoodie we were! In face everyone loved the Mickey Snuggie. We kept getting asked where we got them from. Who knew they would be such a hit?
We went home exhausted and went straight to bed. I swear when I go on Vacation I never sleep. There is just so much to do and see. We got up early the next morning for baguettes and breakfast items before heading back to the city. Once there we saw the Notre Dome and arch of Triumph. We said goodbye to the Eiffel tower and packed our bags so that we could get back to the USA for Christmas!
Je t'aime Paris et au revior (I love you Paris and goodbye)
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