GRAND TOUR: THIS AMAZING EXPERIENCE

Italy… what can I say. This country is beautiful. The sights, the sounds, everything about it. Rome is crowded, loud, and slightly overwhelming… but the history behind it all makes this great city a treasure. The Colosseum is amazing… even after seeing it thousands of times in pictures and textbooks, its still amazing how it can take you breath away the first time you see it live in color. When I picture Italy in my head I see Florence. The colors, and the building, the close streets, everything. Florence is quaint and charming. Venice has to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. There is a feeling of peace and serenity as you walk through the maze of streets and bridges. There is always the background noise of the canals, and further our, if you listen hard enough, you can hear the beautiful sounds of the ocean. Venice has to been , (at least to me), a small piece of heaven on earth. Italy is a country of beauty and great history, and I feel very fortunate to share and learn of it.

Paris is a land of great culture. Everywhere you go you can feel that the Parisian have great pride in their nationality and in themselves. The famous architecture found in Paris is a sight behold. Like the Colosseum in Rome, the Eiffel Tower is simply breathtaking. As the sun starts to set, and the tower is suddenly shimmering each night… I don’t think there are many sights in this world that can rival. The great palaces of France… Fontainebleau, Vaux Le Vicomte, and the great Palace at Versailles, are so incredible. Visiting them is like stepping back in time and experiencing the lavish, opulent lifestyles that the French aristocrats lived. Famous for their gilded décor, and grand gardens, Paris is easily a place everyone should visit at least once in their lives.

England is like a breath of fresh air. The lifestyles in Britain and back home in the states are similar enough that you sometimes forget you are in a different country let alone in a completely different hemisphere. If it were not for the incredibly attractive accents (wink) you could forget all together. Like Paris the architecture and landscape is grand and opulent. London and the surrounding country side is the land of the grand manors and palaces, such as Blenheim Palace, country homes such as Wilton House, incredible college campuses, Cambridge and Oxford to name a few, and so much more. England (and the rest of the British isles) is comfortable, beautiful, familiar. Its like a “home” away from home.