Italy, France, and Home Sweet USA! : Travel Blog #10

To finish up our two months over seas we headed to Italy for the weekend and then to relaxing in the French country side! It was such a bittersweet end.

Pros of Leaving Europe

• the comforts of home!

• European food was incredibly difficult to adjust to as well as the grocery shopping opportunities. We got by but were VERY excited to return to the American convenience of lots of options for food and stores being open almost all day long! A couple of our meals were a little slim and a little interesting.

• We also were looking forward to laundry: almost none of our houses had a dryer.

• And deodorant! European deodorant was just not the same on any level.

• Do not be deceived: European pizza is nothing like American pizza so we were highly anticipating our return to normal pizza!

The thought of being totally clean, fresh, and well rested was tantalizing, but at the same time we were quite reluctant to leave!

Cons of Leaving Europe

• Europeans live at a calmer more peaceful pace of life. No one is ever in a hurry and, in turn, basically no one is rude or impatient at all even with the slowness of tourists like us who take much longer to do simple things.

• Even though everyone had different political stances, they were all endlessly respectable both with their looks and their actions!

• Every single person was classy looking, there was absolutely no trashiness anywhere in Europe at all except for the huge touristy cities. Generally there was this very safe and wholesome feeling.

• Every single European was also healthy looking. Even a slightly unhealthy person stood out quite dramatically in this culture of lean and strong individuals. They walk everywhere and eat hardly anything processed so it's no wonder! Although they do all smoke constantly which does seem slightly counterproductive to their healthy mindsets.

• The history around every corner dates back thousands of years and is truly incredible!

In summary, the pros were stronger than the cons and it was very very difficult to leave but also still exciting! And our last week was one to remember!

Unsurprisingly the most notable part of Italy was the food! We went out to the most delicious dinner of our entire trip! After Italy we went to several cities in France to soak up some rest and relaxation and the SUNSHINE that was finally warming us up after a cold stretch! We visited coffee shops, chateaus, made soccer friends in the park (if you bring a fùtbol anywhere in Europe you will make instant friends!), and spent our final night back in Barcelona where we started!

As we were catching our flight out, a woman fainted in the tunnel on the way to the plane! She broke a bunch of her teeth and was completely incoherent! So my mom, Nurse Anna, stepped in to help! She was alright and our plane eventually took off. Now we're back in the USA enjoying our family and the comforts of home!

GOODBYE EUROPE, WE'LL MISS YOU!!