Rome Photo Diary

Rome. The Eternal City. Our last stop was the place I wanted to see the most. This city is overwhelming...to say the least. Once you arrive in the city center, you are bombarded by ruin after ruin, monument after monument, chiesa after basilica. How can anyone ever run out of things to do here? Even though I loved Rome, I think once is enough. Maybe when I'm older I'll want to come back. The city is beautiful, but the amount of tourists really turns you off. Be prepared. Having a local guide might be helpful too.

The ancient history of this city is so interesting and being able to see all these places and touching them was quite humbling actually. I felt so small and insignificant, compared to everything we saw. The artists of that time period created such awe-inspiring masterpieces and you wonder how they did even did it.

We made it to the Colosseo! Please buy your tickets in advance. You get to skip a very long line, unless you want to wait of course.

I wish we got to see the lower grounds.

These steps were so beautiful and quite easy to walk up too.

The Pantheon is literally in the middle of a busy square.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION. THAT IS A POSTER. I CRIED ON THE INSIDE. WHY??

The Spanish Steps. Too many people.

The view was nice at the top though.

Pizza!

Caprese salad (I ate this everyday)

This staircase is actually two, just like a double helix. This is how you exit the Vatican Museum.

Saint Peter's

Every church we went into had it's own special thing about it. This was one of my favorites. There are huge sculptures of the twelve apostles in this hall.

Our last meal in Rome had to include pizza.

The best gelato I've ever had in my life was at Giolitti's. I would love some hazelnut gelato right about now please.

I hope you guys have liked reading about my Europe adventures. I actually really liked writing these posts and sharing my pictures with you all. If I travel some more, I'll try to do these photo diaries again. :D

Berlin Photo Diary

The third stop was Berlin (pronounced "ber-lean" by a few German friends). This was my favorite city of the trip, there's just something about the environment and people. Once you arrive, you can just feel the energy. After spending four days in Berlin, I'm strongly debating whether or not to move here. I loved how in this city, all these different cultures meshed together and no one feels out of place anywhere. There's always something to do, whether it be going to an art gallery or maybe seeing the Festival of Lights, which we were fortunate enough to witness during our stay. They have open markets every Sunday and it's packed with anything and everything. We went to Mauer Market and I wanted to buy all the cute furniture, but I didn't have enough room in my suitcase!

In front of Berlin Cathedral. The tour guide told us this cathedral was built to imitate ancient cathedrals of other cities, and it was only a little over 100 years old. This picture was taken by the first friend we made on the trip, Danielle! We went on the same walking tour and hit it off right away. It was so sad to see her go :(

Currywurst! Covered in ketchup curry sauce and I didn't hate it!

The Memorial of Murdered Jews. It was really sad walking in this area. The cement blocks are actually really tall in the middle, and you just feel so small and lost in them. Please do not step or jump on them. It's disrespectful.

Random statue of a man.

Brandenburg Gate. ALL THE TOURISTS.

And here the street art begins...

East Side Gallery. Did you know the Berlin wall was really two walls?? One for each side. The things you learn.

"Many small people who in many small places do many small things that can alter the face of the world" - I wonder who wrote this.

Some apfelstrudel at Mauer market. There were so many different kinds of strudels to choose from!

Molecule Man statue

Haagen-Dazs just tastes better when you're in a foreign country...YUM

Oktoberfest festivities go on all day!

Humboldt University during the Festival of Lights

My favorite image was here.

#selfie

Our last night in Berlin. Brandenburg Gate is beautiful lit up.

I'll be back!

Amsterdam Photo Diary

Next stop: Amsterdam! This city was absolutely breathtaking. Everywhere you walk are canals, but somehow you never get bored of them. The houses are slightly tilting, because the city was built on marshes, but it gives the city character. We went on a free walking tour the first day we were there and the guide was super helpful. If we went exploring on our own, we would have missed so much, such as the tiniest house in Amsterdam!

It was raining all 3 days we were here, which sucked, but I guess we experienced real Amsterdam October weather. It would rain cats and dogs for 10 minutes and the sun would suddenly come out, it was like this the whole time. So any blue skies you see in these pictures was a very rare and precious moment for me to take out my camera! The canal ride at night was so much fun, we went on it at night, so it gave us a different view of the city. 

One of my favorite places that we saw was the Rijksmuseum, which has the I AM Amsterdam sign in front of it. It was so hard to stick myself in these pictures, people need to learn to take pictures faster, it was so crowded!

Say hello to my little furry friend. We went to a cat boat, which is pretty much a shelter, and you can adopt the kitties. This little guy was just chilling outside on a bench.

The little houseboats are adorable. You see them everywhere and the small glimpses inside people's homes were so interesting! I would love to live on a boat and ride it down all the canals.

Albert Cuyp market. It was fortunately not crowded this day because it was extremely cold and rainy. We got to take our time and stroll down the whole street and even got to talking with one of the vendors who sold us some jewelry. I wish I can go back :(

The chocolatey goodness of a fresh made waffle. Mmmm. I'm still reminiscing about this.

On our last day in Amsterdam, we decided to get some Dutch pancakes before heading to the airport. We went to the Pancake House, which was named "Best Pancakes in Amsterdam", so of course we had to go. You can't tell from the picture, but this thing was massive and we got full halfway through! Delicious though, California needs a Dutch pancake restaurant.

Anyone from Amsterdam? Or has anyone been there before? :)