Our Train of Thought

Good Morning from Italy!
So much has happened since our last entry. Sorry we haven't been as devoted blog writers as we should, sometimes we just get too tired and sleep instead :/ anyway, where did we leave off....Versailles 

So we actually did wake up early just like we planned to take our pilgrimage to the most decadent, embellished, beautiful palace in Europe.  It was HUGE! Built by Louis XIV and was home to only two other French King's after that. Louis XV and the poor Louis XVI...who as you all know was the poor sucker who got his head chopped off by la guillotine. This palace was unreal. It was the definition of overindulgence. We got to see where Louis and Marie Antoinette were married, where they slept, ate, partied...it was good to be the king. Until a mob of furious peasants came knocking on your door and dragged you off in your sleep. The gardens were amazing as well, and we got to see the fountains working which was beautiful. 

After Versailles we went back to Paris to fit in some last minute sight seeing before our night train. We walked down the Champs Élysées down to the Arc de Triumph. We took a trillion pictures at the Eiffel Tower. We had an excellent dinner where we sat next to a mother/daughter pair from Texas! They were so sweet and very helpful. We then ran (literally ran) back to the Eiffel Tower to see it all sparkly at night..we didn't make it in time, so we sat on a bench for an hour waiting for the sparkles to start again. It was totally worth it. We freaked out the locals by singing French songs as we watched the tower glow...it was lovely. 

Then we said goodbye to Paris and boarded our 10:25 night train to Nice. Man we're glad we did that, cause that was a ten hour train ride, and we slept through most of it.  Lets clarify one thing during this blog, we are coming back to Nice. Holy Cow. Everything about it was amazing. Our Hostel was wonderful, the weather was gorgeous, the beach...heaven. Our hostel was the most welcoming place yet. It was basically run by Aussies, and inhabited by tons of college age travelers just like us. 

Right off the bat we met a girl named Alisha who was from Sidney Australia. She was traveling alone after a business trip and we hit it off right away! She had been in Nice a couple days so she knew how to get around better than us. We took the tram to the market where we saw flowers, soaps and food. We went down to the beautiful beach and ate our bread, cheese, olive and fruit picnic lunch. We decided to take the bus to a better beach, but after laying out for about 30 minutes the sun went behind the clouds so we left. The French coast is sooo picturesque. The water was crystal clear, mountains were lined with cute village houses of different colors, and there were so many people leisurely enjoying themselves in the sun, some clothed, some not so much. I feel that things are so much simpler here in the smaller towns than in America. It seems that people do little to impress others and that there are few trying to 'keep up with the Jones'. I love this aspect of Europeans that claims 'here I am, take it or leave it.' 

That night Alisha shared some delicious pasta with us and we split a pizza from the hostel. We met our Dutch friend Villem, who we met on the bus, at a bar called Wayne's. Turns out Villem just graduated from a university in Amsterdam with a Sport Marketing degree! So Lauren and Villem had a lot in common. We heard it was awesome and we felt right at home with the band playing country music. We went back quite early, for we had to catch our train to Pisa at 7:50. 

We got to Pisa around 2 and took forever to find the hostel. Over an hour later, 15 kg bags still on our backs, we made it to the hostel which was literally down the street from the Leaning Tower to find out that something was wrong and we had to stay at another place. Quite frustrated, we were taken to a hostel 10 minutes away. We were bummed that we were now so far from the tower, but made the best of the situation. Luckily we got a discount on the room and a discount for a restaurant close to the tower. We got pretty and went to take pictures by the tower. I was surprised to see how much the tower actually leans; they weren't lying when they called it that! It was funny to see so many tourists doing the typical 'I'm pushing the tower over' and 'Ah! The tower's falling on me' poses and we joined right in and shamelessly took some of our own. We ate pizza (again) and walked back to our hostel by 10. We were curious to see who would be in the two extra beds in our room and were pleasantly enthused to find two middle aged women from Lithuania. They loudly talked our ears off and gave us tips about Rome. They were gone when we got up and we headed to the train station again. Destination: Rome. 

Lauren and I both decided that we don't really mind and almost anticipate our time on trains for it gives us time to soak everything in. About an hour ago we had a great conversation about what we have learned about ourselves so far on the trip. Some things, like our flaws, are hard to come to terms with, but I am so thankful that we have each other to help us learn and become better. Although confrontational conversations can be difficult, after getting some things off our chest I think I can speak for the both of us when I say that even though we get lost and sometimes drive each other crazy,  I have the best travel companion anyone could ask for!