November // Rome Day 3 // Books

Well hello there November! 

This is how I feel... year after year. Don't get me wrong, I love me some summer days. But fall is my season! However, here in Germany, it kind of feels like we just skipped over the whole fall weather thing. :(


Rome

First I am going to share our Day 3 in Rome! If you missed Days 1&2 click here.

We woke to a really beautiful day in Rome. We got up a little late so we grabbed a quick breakfast and hopped on a city bus. We were on a strict itinerary after all!

Well, after 35 minutes of being on the bus, and still not yet arriving at our destination, I pulled up google maps, and sure enough we were going all over Rome, but nowhere near The Colosseum. Not sure what happened, but we got off and walked!

We passed this on our walk! Not sure what it is. 

We made it to our first stop...

The Colosseum

Well, technically our plan was to visit The Roman Forum first. Typically, the line is shorter for the Forum. So you buy your tickets there, and then already have tickets for entering the Colosseum. Well again, the lines were incredibly long at both!!! Like 3 hours each! My plan didn't work, yet again. We chose to admire this from the outside. Looking back, I wish we would've gone inside them both, but oh well - Next time!



All the people.







It was still pretty magical. 

Trying to see what we could of the Forum without actually having tickets to go inside!



Next, we checked out the Spanish Steps!

I loved these! We loved sitting and watching the people! Fun fact: Did you know you can't eat, lay down, or even smoke on the steps! There are guards who walk up and down the steps to remind people of the rules. 





View from the top of the steps!

After the steps, we broke the #1 rule of eating out in Rome. We ate RIGHT BY THE STEPS. (The rule is not to eat near any tourist sites.) The food wasn't that great, and the prices were astronomical. But, we were hungry. Sometimes the convenience factor has to come in to play.

After the steps we wandered to a park that was nearby that promised to have an awesome view!



Getting close!



It was amazing in person.

We wandered through the park for a bit, and enjoyed the sunshine.

Next, we walked back to the Trevi Fountain to see it during the day, and to toss our coin in! It is said that if you toss a coin over your shoulder into the Trevi Fountain you will return to Rome one day. 

Blake tossed a coin a few years ago when he was there, and it worked for him. :)



We tossed our coins and ate one last gelato before having to head back to the hostel to catch our flight. Again, we broke the rule. We got gelato right by the Trevi. It was a bit more expensive, but guess what? It was the best! We loved it so much we got gelato from the same place twice!

We missed a few things on the second day because of our late start and our weird bus detour. We would've loved to also see the Pantheon and a few more churches.

All in all, we had a great time in Rome and I do feel that we got to see a lot in our short time. We were exhausted for at least 3 days afterwards. But we left with happy hearts, and bellies full of pizza and gelato! Really, what more can you ask for?


Book Review

HOLY books batman! I was busy reading the past two months! 7 books in total, 3 in September, 4 in October. Amongst this collection is quite possibly my new favorite book of all time!

First up was Silver Girl. I love all the Hilderbrand books that I read, but this one was by far my most favorite of hers! It is based off a true story and it was fun to discuss the real events with Blake! I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Next up, I read The Choice.  I usually don't read Nicholas Sparks books, I don't have a good reason why, I just usually reach for other things. BUT, many people recommended that I read this one. Well, I loved most of it, but I have mixed feelings about the ending. I am giving this one 3.5 out of 5 stars!

We listened to this book while driving to and from our various destinations. Big Little Lies was one of my favorites from Liane Moriarty! She writes a suspenseful story that even intrigued Blake. Win win for me! I really loved this one. 5 out of 5 stars!

It Ends With Us is probably the best book I have ever read! I loved it so much, and it made sure to make me feel! It is one of those books you will think about long after you have finished. I don't want to give anything away about it, so I am just going to say read it! If you asked me for a book recommendation recently, I probably told you to read this! The amount of love I still feel for this book is crazy. 6 out of 5 stars!

After reading It Ends With Us, I was kind of on a book hangover. I knew that nothing would be able to compare with the love I was having. So I Googled books similar to It Ends With Us and that is how I found Swear on This Life. It was also a really good book. I loved it for different reasons. I bought it in the evening one day, and it just so happened I couldn't sleep that night. SO I read the whole thing by morning. It had many similarities, but enough differences to cure my book hangover. 5 out of 5 stars.

The Hating Game was sassy and quirky! It takes place in an office setting and deals with the relationship between two co-workers. It was really hard to put down! It is a little raunchy, but a great chick lit novel! 5 out of 5 stars!

The Hopefuls is set in Washington, D.C. so naturally I was a little bit interested by that fact alone. But I think anyone would really enjoy this book. It is a novel about a woman who's husband works on Obama's campaign and then works in the White House. It talks a lot about life in D.C., and it was really easy to read. I have never read a book that took place somewhere I lived. So I had fun with that! There were a few parts that seemed to drag on for me, so I am giving 4.5 out of 5 stars. 



This was my life after finishing my books this month. Such a good book month!

September // Life // The Harz Mountains

Well hello there FALL! I love fall and I am especially loving that it is September!



Someone posted this and I couldn't help but love all over it! It speaks such truth. ;)

Brace yourselves, this is a long post :).

Let me start off by saying August came and went with a snap of my fingers! I didn't blog much, we didn't travel much, I didn't read much and I spent 25+ hours a week learning German.

August was especially nice because 3 of the weekends we stayed home, and as much as I LOVE traveling, it was nice to stay home. It was nice to sleep in a little and do typical Saturday things. Because incase you didn't know, waking up in a new country every Saturday isn't typical ;).

German Classes
Monday - Friday during the entire month of August, I was in a classroom learning German. Intensive course they call it! And when I wasn't in class, I was doing homework.

Boy oh boy have I come a long way! I am extremely proud of my progress, but I still have a lot to learn. I can understand a lot, but my pronunciation needs work. It is so affirming to be out and about and actually understand what is going on around me.

All in all, it has been successful. But my brain is a little tired, so I am looking forward to a break!

It has me reminiscing on my last semester of college... not quite sure how I worked 2 jobs, plus an internship 2 days a week, plus class. But hey. Here I still am. :)

Life
Like I said above, not much happened for us this month, and we were really okay with that!

We did take a visit to The Harz Mountains, which you can read about below, but other than that we BBQ'd and relaxed. :)

But, I do have EXCITING news!

Blake's family is coming to visit for 2.5 weeks! We will be gone for 18 days, and we will be visiting 5 countries! I contemplated whether to blog throughout, or just blog when we get home. I have gone with the latter. SO with that, after this post you won't see me until September 26th! I have also decided to leave our destinations a surprise! But, if the suspense is killing you, you can check my Facebook and Instagram throughout the month to see bits and pieces of where we are. :)

I am so looking forward to our travels this month, and am excited to share them with you all when we get home!

Doing it this way will allow me to fully enjoy the trip, every stinking minute of it. :)

Books
Well, I promised to keep you updated on what I am reading, and last month I told you I was starting The Royal We. Well, I started it and finished it and loved it. But then didn't read the rest of the month. #Fail

However, this month has lots of traveling, which means lots of hours in cars, trains, and planes = lots of reading time. :) So next month I will have lots of books to review and this section will be much more interesting.
#Ipromise



The Royal We is Kate Middleton Fan Fiction. But it is also a fabulous read! It gives a glimpse at what life is like for an outsider trying to fit into life at the Royal Palace. It is like picking up a tabloid and reading all about their lives first hand. It was just fun and is the kind of book that makes you happy. And makes you dream about becoming a princess. :)
The length seems daunting, but it is a quick read! All in all 4.5/5 stars.

The Harz Mountains

Blake LOVES the outdoors and all activities that one would do in the outdoors - hike, camp, etc., I however am not as big of a fan! (I am working on it. #Goals)

The Harz Mountains are a quick 45 min drive from us, and they were begging to be explored. Blake was more than excited; I was skeptical! 

Blake planned us a 16km hike (roughly 10 miles) with a 2000 ft increase in height (I think that is how you describe that, but who knows). We drove to the town of Schierke, parked the car, and went on our way. We were hiking from Shierke to Brocken. For the experienced hikers it is 2 hours up. For those who wish to explore Brocken but do not wish to hike, there is a train that goes to the top.

Starting out I was loving it! It was beautiful, it wasn't TOO difficult, and we were just enjoying ourselves.

Crossing the train tracks! Up to this point it was only a little bit steep, but not unbearable.

Sitting for a minute to watch the train go by.

After the small incline, there was a long beautiful FLAT surface. I was thinking wow this is great! I can totally hike ;).

And then folks... 

This happened! I looked at Blake and I was all :I don't know about this"! But we kept on! It was a little tough, and I was a lotttttt sore afterwards, but it was worth it!

 

After 2km of nothing but climbing up hill on those rocks, we reached the paved part. 1.5km of uphill pavement leading to Brocken. 

 

360 degree views of awesome!

We refueled on our packed lunch. There are a couple of restaurants at the top filled with all the people who took the train up. :)

Braunschweig  - 52km away! 

(I tried entirely too hard to get this photo to turn, and it wouldn't. So I apologize to those of you who are cranking your necks sideways!)

Climbing down was a bit easier. :)

Heading back.

All in all, if it wasn't for the rocky part at the top I would encourage everyone to do this! But that bit was tough! It took us 5 hours total including our break at the top.

:)

See you in a few weeks!