{the boat}

Woke up, got ready and went to explore Genoa for a bit before we needed to board the ship. We found a cute coffee shop hidden inside an outdoor museum. I think that is one of the best things of Europe is the cute cafes and the relaxed feeling.

After coffee, we went to grab a bit to eat at a little, local restaurant and then headed back to the hotel for check out. We headed to the ship, boarded and explored. The ship is HUGE and decorated….very, very decorated. A bit too much for my taste, but what are you gonna do, eh? It is really cool though because there are so many nationalities aboard and just walking around you hear so many languages and all the stuff speaks so many different languages. I really wish I spoke more languages.

Today was pretty uneventful, but Barcelona tomorrow!

{Genoa, Italy}

After meeting my parents in Paris, we flew together to Genoa, Italy. It is a small port city, but beautiful none the less. We checked into the hotel and began the Withers walking tour. The city is so old. It has beautiful cobble stone roads and old buildings with beautiful architecture. I love going to cities where very few speak your language because you really have to embrace the culture and figure things out for yourself.

After walking around for hours, we found the restaurant we were looking for (after several failed attempts for directions). My mom is gluten intolerant so we had to find a certain restaurant that catered to it. The restaurant we found was delicious and SO filling, but you can’t fret calories here especially with all the walking we did. With a full belly, we decided to trek about the city some more. I really wanted to get higher up in the city so we could look out over everything, and higher we got. Italy is very hilly and mountainous so we definitely got our workout for the day.

We made it to the top of a smaller hill and looked out over the city. It was such a spectacular sight. I am always amazed at this beautiful world around me. Since we were still jet lagged and had been up well past 24 hours, we made our way back to the hotel, ate and passed out.