The last chapter

France: check.
Germany: check.
London, Edinburgh, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Helsinki: check.
Its all finished folks; the European whirlwind tour has come to an end I’m a much better person for it, I can already tell. I heartily recommend a big kick-your-ass trip to everyone out there, especially if you find you’ve gotten too comfortable doing whatever it is you do and you need to rediscover what life’s all about. Paris was really awesome and since I felt like such a retard not being able to speak french with the locals I am determined to take some classes and tame that beast. Plus; I heard that French spoken with an American accent is considered sexy. Woohoo!

In 2 days (note to self: watch 2 Days In Paris when you get home) my mom and I went up the Eiffel tower, saw Napoleon’s sarcophagus, strolled down the Champs Elysees, rocked the Arc d’Triomph, kicked it at Notre Dame Cathedral, went to the Natural History Museum (note to self: watch La Jetee when you get home) and the Louvre. The next day we all went to Montmarte and ate baguette sandwiches at the bottom of the cathedral hill (note to self: watch Amelie when you get home). We rode the metro tons of times and it was very easy to get from point A to point B in Paris. All in all, Paris was quite lovely and I’m looking forward to going back.

Germany was a quick although lovely little expedition; just 2 and half days spent with one of my best friends from high school who lives with her husband in a small, lush, green village close to Bonn and Cologne. I did most of my tourist shopping here and came away with a cute jacket and a fake license plate with my name on it (because NOTHING in America EVER has my name on it. I have to go all the way to Europe to get my ‘Marina’ toothbrushes and fake mini license plates. Psshh..). Spent a day in Bonn and spent the next day in Cologne. I found it absolutely amazing that there were no old buildings there outside of the Cologne Cathedral (which was quite a monumental sight) because something like 95% of Cologne was annihilated during WW2. Sheesh… It was hot and humid in Germany and I made sure to eat sausages and REAL weiner shnitzel during my stay. Both were quite tasty. I also ate lots of ice cream which comes very soft, gooey and yummy in Germany. Mmmmm! Came back to London last night and flying back home tomorrow morning.

In a few hours I’ll be on a 11 hour transatlantic flight back to America. It was an amazing experience and I feel totally refreshed and ready for action once I’m back in the states. Looking back, its hard to believe I actually went to all these places. For so long I was the one that only listened to everyone’s travel stories and said “oh man, that sounds so cool.. I’d love to do that one day” and finally now I got the chance to give it a go, Marnie style. Being away from the states made me appreciate a number of things like customer service, smoking laws, cheap gas and free water at your dinner tables (I was seriously thirsty 75% of the time I was in Europe, maybe 95% in Germany). It also made me appreciate a lot of European things we don’t have like metros, sophisticated fashion, Marks & Spencers, the Autobahn, saunas and er, culture. Do I wanna go back and maybe live there? You bet. But first I’ll come home, get started on some projects and spend a lot of money on things that cost twice as much in Europe (”Go worthless dollar! woo!”) cuz I can. If you see a tiny red Virgin Atlantic plane in the sky tomorrow wave cuz I’ll probably be in it. Farewell! -Marnie

Pat Boone: I’ll Be Home


Napoleon is inside here.


One very triumphant arch.


Not so much a picture of the Eiffel Tower; more a picture of me. Cue Carly Simon’s You’re So Vain…


Okay, that’s more like it.


Natural History Museum. Probably my favorite destination in Paris.


Seriously, the Mona Lisa was a) so ridiculously small b) very far away c) surrounded by crazies with cameras. Er, me being one of them…


The Louvre at night.


Montmarte Cathedral (lots of steps to get to the top but I made it).


Cologne Cathedral in Germany.


I basically paid one Euro for this photo. I think it was worth it, though.


In Bonn. Beethoven was born here. Crazy, eh? I totally went inside too.


Just having a small cappuccino in Germany. What..?


My friend Erika and I took lots of pictures of the clothes we tried on in shops. A pretty normal thing to do, no? Also, this is the jacket I bought. Love it!!


Enjoying a locally brewed Kölsch beer and great company in Cologne.


It just wouldn’t be right if I didn’t eat this in Germany.