Oh my goodness. Life has been crazy, I haven't posted in almost 2 months! During that time, I've spent a week in Florida, got a new computer--it's a hybrid and I just got my keyboard for it last week! (having no keyboard put a serious obstacle in my blogging), gone to a family reunion, and I took one of my Praxis exams! I certainly did not expect the latter part of summer to be this busy! It's been the good kind of busy though. Certainly frustrating and stressful at times (no keyboard and a major exam) but really enjoyable overall.
I am planning on finishing my Europe 2014 blog series. I feel so bad for everyone who's been asking me about and I have to tell them I haven't worked on it. I'm also really excited to finish it and preserve my own memories. I also have some more crunchy diys to write up and publish. I'm also reconsidering the direction for this blog...making it more personal and not tweeting every post...at least until I find my own voice and vision. I'm also considering throwing in a few food recipes...I've been experimenting in my kitchen this summer. Anyway, that's my brief excuse for my long absence. :)

From Paris to Krakow, we took flew there, with a layover in Frankfurt. It wasn't super horrible, except that I only had 4 hours of sleep the night before. Once we arrived in Krakow, we breifly visited Wawel Castle, which had a gorgoeus garden. Then we able to go shopping at the Market Square and it was so awesome. Everything was so mucIh cheaper there, but of such high quality. One of the "specialties" of the market is amber. Much of the world's amber comes from around the area and it was everywhere we shopped. One of the vendors told me that they got their amber from a quarry about 200km (about 125 mi) away. I was able to get beautiful handcrafted amber earrings for the equivalent of about $10 USD. They also had beautiful handpainted & handcarved wooden boxes for really cheap too. I purchased a majority of my gifts there. 

After shopping, a friend and I visited one of my favorite churches of the trip. It was an incredible Franciscan Church very close to the Market Square. I had read about if beforehand on TripAdvisor and heard it was beautiful, so I really wanted to see it. The stained glass was insane.  It was pretty dark in there, so the stained glass really glowed. There were also gorgeous murals/paintings on the walls (frescoes). The church was still clearly being used though--I saw people praying and using the confessional--so out of respect I didn't take very many photos. The church had a rich history as well. It was built in 1237 by the Franciscans and went through many renovations. It was one of the very first brick & sandstone buildings in Krakow. At one point, after a period of foreign invasions, it was one of only 8 Franciscan monasteries in Poland (from a previous number of over 90).
Our next day in Krakow began with a walking tour of the Jewish Quarter & Ghetto. We saw a lot of locations that were used in the filming of Schindler's List. It was crazy though how many Jews used to live in Krakow before the war and now they barely have enough to run a synagogue service. After that tour, we drove out to Auschwitz and Birkenau. It was a pretty numbing experience for me. I didn't take any picture though, out of respect for how sacred the sights were. They place felt so heavy. We saw horrible places...standing cells, starvation cells, suffocation cells, gas chambers, crematories...it was too much. There was so much evidence of pain, suffering, death, and murder. It was a really tough ending to the day. Overall though, Krakow was one of my favorite cities.

Oh Paris.our time in Paris was full of phrases such as "This city is a wasteland" and "This place is a cesspool." I was warned about Paris...and I did by best to be optimistic...but that city is a wasteland. Granted, a lot of the city hate is due to poor planning of our time there. We did not have a map and our free time was too short to go somewhere but too long to stay where we were. So we got lost, stuck, and bored...a lot. Also, the Louvre is not all it's cracked up to be, at least in my opinion. Other people loved it, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. The city buildings were beautiful though, lots of old architecture.
Our first museum in Paris was the Musee D'Orsday, which was mostly an impressionist museum. I actually really liked it; it was quite lovely. They had a special Van Gogh exhibit and it was pretty awesome to see. I was able to see a lot of his famous works including Starry Night Over the Rhone, which was stunning. Also, there's this gorgeous ballroom area in the museum, The Salle des Fetes, and it's incredible. It's over the top Neoclassical with marble sculptures, gilded frames, gold-leaf, massive mirrors, and elaborate chandeliers. It's the type of decadent luxury that just takes your breath away. I wanted so badly to take pictures, but photography was forbidden in that museum.

Our second day in Paris began with a...you guessed it!, a bus sightseeing tour! One of the more interesting stops we made was at the Luxembourg Gardens. It was beautiful, very clean, and lots of bright flowers and lovely statues. We also saw the (Paris) statue of Lady Liberty. It also had a plaque there to memorialize 9/11 victims where they planted a tree near the statue. Also on our bus tour, we visited Notre Dame. It was stunning. I really really love old churches and stained glass. I took tons and tons of pictures, but I picked some of my favorites to put in the gallery. There was so so much stained glass it was insane.
After that we went to the Louvre, which, as I said, wasn't my favorite museum. I did get to see the Mona Lisa, which was super tiny and crowded, as I expected. I also was able to see Venus de Milo, which was really amazing. It was sort of a full circle humanities moment for me, being able to see a piece that I really liked that we had studied. After the Louvre we walked around for about an hour in the rain trying to find a church that nobody had bothered to look up. It was miserable. That wandering (we never did find it, by the way) was my turning point from optimism to "this city is a wasteland." Dinner afterwords, though, totally made up for it (sorta). I had absolutely delicious Indian food (palak paneer) and then for dessert we went to a grocery store and bought mango sorbet and cookies. We took the dessert back to my room and just sat on the bed and ate and talked and it was super perfect, and cheap too!

The next day we walked around some and got lost, but whatever. I had espresso again in a tiny little coffee shop where nobody spoke English and it was wonderful. To be honest, I loved the language barrier. I loved trying to find new ways of communicating and working together as humans. I loved the unknown culture and the shaky confusion as we (fingers-crossed) hoped to understand each other. It was fun, unsure, and exciting. Every conversation was an adrenaline rush. After coffee, we went to to the Pompidou. I like modern art, so I enjoyed the museum, but we only had access to one (small) floor and 2 hours to see 30 minutes worth of art. Therefore, I got real bored real fast.  
After the Pompidou we went to the Eiffel Tower. Most people went up, but I have pressure sensitivity and I didn't want to be in pain on the elevator. The 3 of us who didn't go up, instead walked around the city and somehow accidentally walked to the Arc de Triopmphe. It was a lot longer of a walk than we were intending on...and we had to walk the whole way back too. But we got crepes! I finally had a Nutella crepe, and it was yummy! I think that day in Paris was our most walking-intense day. In the evening we went on a boat tour of the city, which was pretty redundant as far as seeing the sights goes, but we did get  to see the Tower at night and it glittered on the hour, so it was pretty beautiful. Okay so Paris isn't the worst city in the world, but it was by far my least favorite of the entire trip.

So the ferry to Normandy was approximately the worst. We got on super late & got off super early, so I maybe got 5 hours of sleep. It was very cramped, so I wasn't able to properly get ready for bed or ready for the day. Suffice to say I looked and felt like death. That day, May 25th, will forever live in infamy as Ratchet Day 2014. However, other than feeling and looking like I got hit by a truck, my first day in Normandy was awesome. One of the first places we went was the Musee de Debarquement. Up until our visit, I wasn't really aware of the floating port at D-Day (you can see a picture of part of it to the right). Churchill was a genius to come up with that idea. I can't imagine how quickly they built it, but it had such a huge impact on the war. Without the floating port at Aromanches, the Allies would not of had supplies and thus would not of been able to continue fighting in Europe. They actually built almost all of the pieces for the port in England and then towed it all across to France and sunk the pieces in place.  It's actually really interesting stuff, so I suggest you check it out! The beach itself was also pretty gorgeous too (pictures in gallery below). Also, I had my  espresso there. I went off to order coffee & she asked if I wanted a large or a small so I said small. Apparently in France, a small coffee is an espresso...but it was so yummy. I only drank espresso for coffee in France. New addiction...? :)

We also were able to visit one of the American beaches, Omaha (pictured right). We also saw a lot of German bunkers and such in the area and visited the American Cemetery (in gallery below). It was a really moving and interesting day. We also went there just a the day before Memorial Day (May 26) so it had some added significance, plus June 6 was the 70th Year Anniversary of D-Day.
I also had one of the best meals of the entire trip for lunch at a coastal town we stopped at (Port-en-Bessin). It was salmon ceviche (raw salmon cured with lemon juice) and it was mind-blowing delicious. It was like butter, so tender and yummy. Absolutely excellent. (Sorry no food porn, I was too busy eating to take a picture). 

Our next day was easily one of my favorite days of the entire trip. We started our day at Saint Malo, a beautiful castle town that was separate from France, an independent city almost, like the Vatican. The water was so clear and the sand was glittery. We walked barefoot on the beach some and the soles of our feet were covered in glitter, which we decided was proof we're mermaids. The beach was absolutely lovely. There was also a church there too, La place Jean de Chatillon, and it was incredible. It was full of history. It's a very old church, and had been updated and rebuilt often, but in 1944 (during the war) it had been destroyed and was rebuilt and reconsecrated in 1971. The stained glass was therefore modern and it was stunning (pictures below). While we were in Saint Malo, we had a generous amount of free time and so I spent most of the afternoon wandering around the little town with a baguette in hand. It was like something out of a beautiful daydream. The weather was gorgeous too, sunny and pleasantly warm. We also did some shopping at  this store that I freaking loved. It's called Cinco and everything in the store was €5. So of course I had to buy tons, and I got a scarf with fleur de lis on it, a red & white polka dot headscarf, a wallet (which I actually needed), and a black French watch (which I kinda needed). I freaking loved that store. Oh, and we had crepes for lunch, and my almond butter crepe was divine.

After Saint Malo, we drove out to Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey and it was stunning. The abbey is built in a spiral on a large rock in the sea. It was a climb that made Sutton Hill look like a leisurely stroll. The abbey was so overwhelmingly beautiful. Every room was full of incredible architecture, breathtaking views, and glorious stained glass. It was massive with so many rooms, we needed our map. It was unreal, I could only dream of worshiping there.
Our second day in Normandy was nothing short of perfect. It was a beautiful day full of beautiful views. I think I might not be lying if I said that it was my absolute favorite day of the entire trip. Oceans, castles, churches, sunshine, stained glass, baguettes, espresso, friends...basically everything I loved about our trip rolled into one day.

One of the first things we did in London was visit the Churchill War Rooms and Museum. It wasn't the most exciting place we visited, but Churchill has some pretty great quotes, especially about literature. It was also cool to see the actual place where he and his cabinet took cover during the London Bombing Raids. It wasn't my favorite museum, but it did have a lot of important history there. Then we visited the Tate Museum of Modern Art. I really wasn't looking forward to all the modern art museums we were going to visit, but I think the Tate might of been my favorite art museum of the entire trip. I actually kinda really like modern art because I get it & it's relevant to me in a way that Renaissance art & all isn't. Because of my American Lit class I took a few semesters ago, I have a decent grasp of modernism and post-modernism (at least in literature) and so I can translate that knowledge into understanding modern art. And--plot twist--I really like modern art! Anyway, for our tour journals we had to write about two pieces from each museum we visited, and for the Tate I my two favorites were Before the Storm & Shooting Picture (pictured below). Instead of boring you with all my opinions and reactions, I just included the museum plaque's info by the pictures.  
That night, we went to see Titus Andronicus at the Globe. It was...amazing. First of all, it's *The Globe Theatre*!! You know seeing a Shakespeare play where Shakespeare had most of his plays performed?! It's kind of a big deal. I was doing all kinds of English major nerding out. Anyway, it was also awesome because we were in the standing section and we were at the most like 3ft away from the stage; there was only one row of people in front of us. Additionally, a lot of the action took place within the audience. We were constantly moving out of the way to let actors, set pieces, and props go by. Also, there was fire! The play itself was incredibly violent...like one of the most violent pieces of entertainment I've ever seen in my life...and it was live action too. I'm not going to go into detail here because it really is that graphic, so if you want to know more, read the play. Let's just say I that two members of the audience passed out  and I will never be teaching Titus Andronicus in my high school classroom. Ever. But my goodness it was such a great play. There was a great balance of comic relief and the story line was dramatic and engaging. I wasn't able to read it before we left (finals then only one week to pack) but I'm hopefully going to find time to read it this summer. It was such an awesome experience and it was only £5, so it was a freaking great deal for the experience of a lifetime. 
The next day began with a guided bus tour (shocking, right?!). We saw Buckingham Palace, which is gorgeous, by the way. Westminster Abbey though was incredible. It's breathtakingly beautiful, the gilded paint, vibrant colors, intricate sculpture, detailed woodwork...and of lot of it is so incomprehensibly ancient. SO many notable people are buried or memorialized there--Darwin, Newton, royalty, musicians, and authors. I also loved the Poet's Corner. I've been wanting to visit since I was 17, so it was really exciting. Chaucer, Shakespeare, Tennyson, Coleridge and so many others are buried or memorialized there and it's just incredible. I bought a book in the Abbey shop about the Poet's Corner, I loved it so much.
 In the evening, we went to see...Wicked!!! And yeah, it really is as good as everyone says it is. Maybe even better. It's kind of one of those "you just have to experience it" things, but the music, acting, staging, lighting, everything was incredible. The next day we basically just went to the British Museum. It was cool I guess, but history museums aren't really my thing. I did get to see some interesting things though like a Tiffany & Co. cash register (of course I got a picture!). Oh and the Rosetta Stone, no big deal (but no good picture, bad glare). Yeah, okay, seeing the Rosetta Stone was kinda really awesome. So yeah, that was London. London was really great. I don't know if it was my favorite, and it wasn't the most beautiful, but the entertainment scene there was pretty rad and I really really liked the Tate.