Leavin' on a Jet Plane

So this is going to be a crazy and thrown together last entry, but wanted to officially end my blog before I go back to the states. I know the saying is time flies when you are having fun, but somehow the past few weeks have felt like a separate year. Maybe there is a physics formula that accounts for public transportation and hotel rooms in calculating the speed of time. Okay that made no sense, but what I'm trying to say is that in the past 10 days I've stayed in 6 different hotels and I'm exhausted. Here is my time with my mom/italy/end of paris in a nutshell.

Venice-

beautiful city, absolutely loved the water. still can't decide if real people actually live here

Florence- now that's what I call gelato, tuscany stole my heart,

and you can't beat biking through vineyards and castles on a full pasta stomach

Siena-

this hill city loves its horse race.

imagine harry potter style flags over the entire city, but there are 10 "houses" and they only care about the horse competitions for the cup

Rome- tremendous city that I liked more than expected, and now I wish I could go back and relearn all my ancient history with interest

oh, look how pretty the trevi fountain is. Wait... no.... this is what it actually looks like when 200 people all take the same picture I just took.

There are so many pictures I could post from our trip, but I feel like these give the feel. We of course visited the major museums, but pictures of us eating gelato are much more important.

I can't believe it's my last night in Paris and feel so lucky I lived here for a summer. There are so many different ways to get to know a city, and I'm glad to now know Paris intimately. Before I came, I got many lists of "have to do in Paris!!!". But I feel like everyone has their favorite croissant, crepe, museum etc that get overlooked if you are in a new city with 14 cafes in front of you and you are hungry. So for any future Paris travelers, I've tried to make it easy.

MUST do Paris (aka Malia's favorites)

chocolate passionfruit macaroon from Pierre Herme (listed first for a reason!)

try Kir (cheap white wine drink at most cafes-I will try to import the idea back to the states)

Le Cantine du Troquet (best meal of my life restaurant. I'm revealing the name. chef's meal. do it)

Yogurt. any market/any flavor and taste the French difference

any museum on a late night day

WALK. seriously, it's the best view of the city and the thing I'll miss most about Paris

goodbye paris, hello california.

sad but ready!