London and Paris and Lisbon Oh My!

By: Amanda Pretti
Since I have been taking over this blog, I feel obliged to fill you in on the beginning of our trip. Our first stop was London. We passed the colossal buildings enveloped by old stones with intricate designs, yet they seeemed insignificant to the city. Every corner I turned I fell in love with the relaxation, tranquility, and beauty of London. After marveling at the old buildings, we were lifted into the night sky by the biggest ferris wheel I have ever seen! It was called the London Eye. We were 340 meters up in the pitch black sky gazing over the lights and streets of London. While in London, we had dinner with the locals at a Turkish restaurant. From our hotel, we could wake up to the gorgeous view of Big Ben and the London Eye. With the perfect wakeup call of Big Ben to start the day, we took our first black cab to the Thames River. We hopped on a long boat that led us under the London Bridge and ended right by our hotel. After that we saw the Lion King! It blew me away at how real it seemed. It left me astonished at how they could have possibly put on such an amazing show. Throughout the show I had to keep on pinching myself to make sure it was not a dream! The next day we got a brief introduction to the beheading and executions of the 13th century during our visit to the Tower of London. We toured the Bloody Tower and the White Tower. We also ventured inside the Tourture Chamber. One of my favorite parts was seeing the crown jewels. After the tour of the towers we went to the Natural History Museum. When you first walk in, you come face-to-face with a HUGE dinosour. We learned all about Mammals, Whales, Dinosaurs Bones, and Blood Cells. What a journey!
We then ventured off to Paris and exchanged our Pounds for Euros. We went to the Eiffel Rower and went all the way to the top but were soon annoyed by the many people trying to sell us things. After the amazing bird's-eye view of Paris, we hadour first crepes which turned out to be our favorite breakfast food in Paris! We used the subway system, the Metro, in Paris, which was really easy to use. It was so cool how fast it went. The next day we visited the Catacombs. We waited in line for over an hour, but I would have to say it was worth the wait. There were piles after piles and row after row of skulls and tibias in the underground tunnels. They created the Catacombs to make Paris a more sanitary place since the graveyards were filling up. They moved all of the bones from the cemetaries to into the underground tunnels. It was really cool (yet a little disturbing) to see how old the bones were. After exiting the Catacombs we walked beside the Seine River. We then wento to the Lourve! There, we also befriended a Fench chef. Before saying goodbye to Paris, we lost ourselves wandering through the small streets of the Latin Quarter. There was shop after shop and stand after stand of food. It was the cutest little place I have ever seen! We left Paris with a sigh and headed off to Portugal.
We arrived in Lisbon (or as the Portuguese call it, Lisboa.) We took a trolley up to the Alfama and ended up at a huge castle called St. Jorge. The castle had spectacular views overlooking Lisbon. As a family, we have all come to a consensus that Lisbon was one of our favorite stops. We love to walk around on the cobblestone and look at all of the little ourdoor shops and cafes. After the castle, we went to a plaza where there was a huge fountain and a pattern on the floor that used to make people seasick. As crazy as this might sound, the boys found one of their favorite new hobbies: pigeon catching! As much as we loved lisbon, we packed our suitcases and headed for a nice beach break at the Algarve, away from the city. I am so grateful to be here and love the adventure of travel!