We are back home in the US of A after an AMAZING trip. My ever growing pregnant belly made the amount of walking and climbing a bit of a struggle at times, but I fought through it and toughed it out so I could really take advantage of all the trip had to offer. I will try to post a belly pic soon...I am seriously huge.
It was hard to come back but at the same time I was so ready to see my sweet Blake. I feel like he grew so much while we were away I've been enjoying loving on him non stop. Brad and I are really struggling trying to get caught up from the jet lag. We barely had any on the way there but for the life of us can not get back to feeling "normal". Hopefully by the time we go back to work on Monday we'll feel a little more human. We took around 800 photos, but don't worry I won't post all of them here! I kept a journal while we were gone, so will be posting pieces of it with some of the photos.
Starting off here is a recap of our first two days....
Our travels began on Tuesday June 16th. It was incredibly hard to say goodbye to Blake, knowing I wouldn’t get to see his sweet face for 10 days and leave him in someone else’s care, even if it was grandma, but I was very proud of myself for being as strong as I was. I made a conscious effort and have continued to do so while on our trip to not let my feelings of missing Blake get in the way of what I am getting to experience, the opportunity I am getting, the sites I am taking in. A trip of a lifetime, all expenses paid to Paris and Rome by way of Germany by Brad’s very gracious brother. What an amazing gift as well to share this trip with Brad. The last several months Brad and I have had basically no quality time together. I am not only visiting places I have always wanted to see, but I am getting the gift of time with my husband. Remembering who he is, why I love him the way I do. I sat next to him on the plane to Germany and looking at him was filled with more love that I’ve felt for him in awhile…I started to cry as the feeling was just overwhelming. Our flight to Germany was uneventful and better than Brad and I had anticipated. We arrived at around 11:30am Germany time and drove back to the town Tom lives in where we had lunch, a tour of the Air Force base he works in, and then visited a small castle on top of a hill overlooking the town.
It was very picturesque and could not have asked for better weather. Brad and Tom enjoyed a German beer outside the castle while we sat outside enjoying the view and each other’s company.
In efforts to help keep Brad and I awake to help us adjust to the time change, we then went into downtown Lanshtul and walked around window shopping and then sat and people watched while Brad and Tom enjoyed another German beer. By that time it was late enough that we were able to head back and get some shut eye….ahhhhh, sleep!
Thursday morning we were woken by Tom letting us know breakfast and coffee were waiting for us downstairs…seriously spoiled. We enjoyed some German pastries and then headed out to the train station. Before that I should mention I slipped and fell getting out of the shower that morning and injured my shin and ankle...it was incredibly bruised and my ankle also swollen. Awesome injury for a pregnant girl to get right before a trip walking miles and miles every day and climbing stairs, stairs and more stairs. But I digress…After a very long delay (several hours…apparently someone ran across the tracks and may have been hit?) we arrived in Paris via train. The cab ride was very intense, scared for our lives and those of the cars and bikes around us at times, but we eventually made it to our hotel, which was quaint but very nice and across the street from Louis Vuitton, perfect location. After getting settled into our room, we made our way to the Musee Orsay. We enjoyed the works of Monet and Van Gough to name a few and after our tour of the beautiful museum ate at the restaurant inside the museum.
It was a gorgeous dining room, but the food was a little disappointing. Then we headed towards the Eiffel Tower.
While on our way, a parade of Royal guards on horseback rode by us out of no where and it was pretty cool.
Then we walked past the Invalides, which is the Military hospital and there was a concert by the military choir going on out front. Again, not anything we expected to see, but what a treat. We sat on a bench outside this beautiful building, in beautiful weather, listening to beautiful singing, with the Eiffel tower off in the distance. It was amazing.
After enjoying some of the singing we finally made our way to the Eiffel Tower. The site did not disappoint the build up of the structure I had in my mind. Stunning, breath taking, romantic… Shortly after we arrived it lit up and everyone around us cheered.
Then one of the worst decisions of my entire life was made…to walk to the second deck of the Eiffel tower, all to skip the even longer line to take the elevator all the way to the top. So, away we were to climb the stairs. As I climbed I could see the headlines on the paper the next day…”Pregnant Girl from America Collapses and Falls Down Eiffel Tower”. But needless to say we finally made our way and took the elevator the rest of the way to the top. It was night time and the city down below was lit up in all its beauty. What a magnificent site.
By then we were completely worn out and it was midnight so a taxi was taken back to our hotel.
