Roma!!!

There has been so much happening over the last few days...it's so hard to know where to start!!! We've seen the pantheon, the Colliseum, the Roman Forum, Crypt of the Capuchin Monks....the list goes on and on.

Our hotel is right next to the Spanish steps and smack in the middle of shopping central. Stores like Prada, Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Versace...i'm in window shopping heaven!! I saw one shirt that I liked today in Versace that cost 995 euros. That's about $1400.00. Ha!

The food has been amazing. Last night we had pasta, wine, and creme brulee at a cafe' just off the banks of the Tiber River

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It's been a while...

Sorry it's been a couple of days, but Justin and I have been making the most of our days and nights in Paris. Very little down time left for blogging. We got up EARLY this morning and successfully made it to Rome this morning. The last couple of days in Paris were amazing as were the first few...We went to the Eiffel tower and saw the sunset, saw Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde's graves, the catacombs, Basilique Du Sacre-Coeur...amazing experiences.

As they say, when in Rome....eat Gelato. Ciao.

Day 2

Day two has been a blurr. An amazing blurr. We woke up bright and early and went down to breakfast complete with fresh fruit, cheeses, champagne, fresh croissants, juices...delicious!! Then it was off to the Louvre

The Louvre was quite an undertaking. I'm pretty sure you could spend weeks in there and still not appreciate all it has to offer, but we just spent several hours. There are so many great works of art. I don't know what to include on the blog...Of course when everyone thinks of the Louvre, they think of the Mona Lisa...so that's what I'll show. (Although, I must say, I saw so many much cooler things!!)

After walking MILES around the museum, we took off on foot and walked the 3.6 miles to the Arc de Triomphe....and then proceeded to walk up the 284 steps to reach the top. I was exhausted!! But I made it! I'm not sure Justin realizes just how proud he should be of me for not stroking out half way up. GEEZ!! And it wasn't a slow pace up either. NO WAY! It was a tiny spiral staircase with a stampede of people right behind you, so you practically ran up. I deserve a tiny Parisian medal! ;) No worries. My reward was the view!

When we were done at the Arc, we decided to try our hand at the metro to get back near our hotel to grab dinner (Paris's subway) After staring at a map for a bit, we finally figured it out and crammed ourselves into a subway car like a sardine and away we went. We only got lost once...at the corner of "Rue Ravioli and the place where the map folds" but I guess as long as you know where you are, you really aren't lost, are you?? ;) Once we were acclimated again, it was off to dinner at a Parisian restaurant complete with wine and escargot. The battery was dead in the camera or I would insert pictures here. Quite yummy. Then all topped off with pistachio and cherry vanilla gelato for Justin and I. It couldn't have been a better day. Tomorrow is PACKED with things already. I must get some sleep. Au revoir!

Day one...from the beginning...

Okay...so here goes...are you ready?? To preface this, it's 1:30am Paris time, which means it's 6:30pm my time...which means it's been about a day and a half (I think...I can't really keep up anymore) with no sleep...I actually did get an hour and a half sleep in the hotel, so that's not entirely true. Anyway, all that is to say that if this doesn't make any sense, it's not my fault. 36 hours without sleep does a lot to a person's brain. The neurons stop firing at about 24 hours. Justin and I figured that out the hard way when walking seemed to be a difficult task. Sleeping on the plane proved to be an impossible tasked. For me, I was just too excited I think.

So, to pick up from Memphis. I boarded the plane and ended up smack in the middle of a heavy metal band named Seven Witches. (Pictures to follow, right Jack???) They were totally cool and kept me company the whole way...I know you guys can't imagine me fitting in with a heavy metal band, but I'm cooler than you give me credit for!! And if I hadn't been already sleep deprived, I would have a group picture to insert here...but Jack is now a follower of my blog and is going to send me a pic. I have faith ;) ha!!

Anyway....once in Houston, I after standing in line forever, then waiting on Justin, we finally boarded our flight and were inbound to Paris!! :) We had several movies to watch, but never really got around to watching any of them...we played games, read books, talked, and kind of goofed off. And then nine hours later....ARRIVED!!!

Once we were here, we managed to make our way to the hotel. And it actually wasn't that tough of an experience. Even though we ended up in the "slow" line of the train ticket machine...but it was fine. We only missed the first two. ha! We weren't sure that the hotel was going to let us check in early anway, but we got here at 11:00 and they were nice enough to let us go ahead and check in and we were able to shower, change clothes and head out. We went to the place where Marie Antoinette was held. Then grabbed some lunch at an Indian place. It was awesome!! Then we were so sleep deprived that we came back and took a nap for about an hour and a half and half. Then we headed back out again. This time we went to Notre Dame and walked around and took in the sights. We finished it off by drinking a few glasses of wine at a cafe on the banks of the Seine. It was the most amazing night. I can't imagine what the rest of the trip can possible have in store!!



Eating at the Indian Place.................

Notre Dame

Completly jet Lagged and about to call it a night

Made it!

Just a quick update to say we made it. We got in at 8:00am local time
and hit the ground running. We've already seen the ace where Marie
Antionette was held, Notre Dame, and a couple of othe museums that my
very tired and jet lagged brain wo tet me process right now. As soon
as I fiqure out how to hook up the laptop to the wifi and I get some
sleep, u guys will get some picutres and some coherent posts, I
promise. Until then, stay tuned!!

Sent from my iPhone

Touched down in the land of the delta blues

So, I've successfully completed the first leg of my flight. I sit in
Memphis as I update the blog. It was fairly uneventful (which is
always good ... ) But not without it's comedic moments ... Probably
more funny to me though because A) I was there to witness and 2) Ive
been up since 3:45 am. Sleep deprivation always makes things a lot
funnier!

First of all ... Apparently I look very suspicious because my carry on
had to be "bag checked" and scanned twice. I mean completely emptied
and scanned. I didn't think my granola bars and hoodie could be so
ominous when viewed through x-Ray!! Lol it was quite funny. And the
metal detector kept going off when I walked through it. For no reason.
Funny stuff.

And the flight attendent on my flight was new. Very obviously in
training with another attendent helping him. And he looked EXACTLY
like Clay Aiken from American idol. And his name was Clayton. He read
everything straight from the manuals (except for the occassional ad
libbed, "ugh...I hate this part!") it made me chuckle. Think Clay
decided to give up the singing thing and go flight attendent?? I wonder!

Sorry if this all seemed like a lot of rambling ... I was too excited
to sleep well last night. Stay tuned!

Singing off from the land of the delta blues!

Misty

Sent from my iPhone

Yay!!

Cleared for take off!!

For those of you who are keeping up, Justin finished everything up and is CHECKRIDE COMPLETE!! Oh yeah! So that means that in 4.5 days we will be en route to Paris! Can you FEEL the excitement in my words?? lol

Now I can get back to thinking about this packing crisis and all the cool, and awesome things we are going to do in France and Italy.

Stand by for another post coming up soon. I'm kind of liking this blogging thing. (As soon as I think of something to post about!)

My first attempt at blogging from my phone

As I try to get all my ducks in a row before the big departure date
(which will HOPEFULLY happen in just five short days...) I wanted to
see if I could post a blog from my phone. So bear with me while I test
out my theory. If this works, who knows! You guys can even keep up
with me while I'm bored and in the airport waiting on my plane! The
possibilities are endless and I know you are waiting with baited
breathe ;)

For those of you who are keeping up with the status of our trip, one
flight down, one to go ... Justin should be flying right now, as I
peck away on my phone, hopefully completing that final checkride.
Stay tuned!! And as Dr. Story says, eat two cookies.

Sent from my iPhone

High Hopes...

Apparently, "I've been warned..." But my hopes are as high as the Eiffel tower. :) WE (and I use that term loosely because I had nothing to do with it except for my good weather dance...lol) got one flight out of the way. One down and one to go!! SCORE! But there is still the shadow of one flight that looms over our departure date. Tomorrow afternoon I'll know whether the trip is definitely on or definitely still in limbo. So keep the positive thoughts coming our way! Cross those fingers and toes. Somethings working! And stay tuned!!

Glass half full...

Bad weather and broken planes all around....

So...as the frustration and worry set in, I decided to see if a little blogging will make me feel better. Maybe i'm becoming addicted?? Will the trip even happen?? (insert some heavy duty scary music here...) Stay tuned to find out. This next week has to go PERFECTLY as far as scheduling, weather, and maintenance for Justin in order for it to still take place. And considering it has taken three weeks to get 1/2 of one flight done?? Well...who knows at this point. So, light a candle, think good thoughts, say a prayer, hop around on one foot...what ever it is that you do to send some good vibes our way! ;)

Misty

The plan for our first night in Paris...!!!

So, as I peruse the internet, waiting for our departure date to arrive, what do I find?? On June 24th, Paris celebrates their annual, "Midsummer Festival." Here is what google has to say ... "Paris sees in midsummer with a bang on June 24th. The French capital celebrates the shortest night of the year with a massive firework display held right in the heart of the city."

How awesome is that?? What a way to celebrate in our arrival into the city of lights than a huge fireworks show? Have I mention that I love fireworks?

As I patiently wait....

I'll use this time to do a "test" post with pictures so that way when Justin and I are in Europe there won't be any surprises and I'll know what i'm doing! Here are some pictures from the Old Mill in Little Rock from a few weeks ago. Here is what I found on Google about the place -- "A short drive from McCain mall will bring you to a quiet, tranquil place that looks like something from an old movie. As a matter of fact, it was featured in the opening scene of Gone With the Wind. It's believed to be the only remaining structure from that film". It was very cool. Enjoy the pictures.

The Nitty Gritty (Otherwise known as the When and Where)

June 24, 2009 Paris, France -- Hotel Jardin de Cluny http://www.paris-jardindecluny.com

June 28, 2009 Rome, Italy -- La Lumiere Di Piazza Di Spagna http://www.lalumieredipiazzadispagna.com/en/hotel.html

July 2, 2009 Florence, Italy -- Antica Torre Di Via Tornabuoni http://www.tornabuoni1.com

Now if only I can figure out how to pack for all this fun into ONE airline sized suit case!! Oh the problems! ;)

The countdown begins!!

T-minus 15 days and counting!!



As the departure date to my European vacation approaches, I find myself making lists, checking them twice, and organizing it all neatly into binders..."just in case". (For my health center friends, maybe I'm more GOLD than I thought, huh??) But I digress. I thought this might be a fun and nerdy way for me to keep in touch with everyone back in the States while I'm gone. (Read as: a good way for me to start bragging about all the cool, awesome, romantic things that I'm doing before I even get back ;) lol )

Stay tuned for an itinerary of where Justin and I will be and when.