The Break Breakdown

Here's a little breakdown of my trip in lieu of a massive update, at least for now.

# of days traveling: 15
# of pictures taken: 1435
# of gelato dishes consumed: 6
# of pizzas eaten: 5
# of hours spent cursing the Roman bus system: 71 (every waking hour in Rome except one. I had one beautifully executed bus journey.)
# of miles walked: ~50
# of items lost/left behind: somehow, only one. One pair of headphones.

A List of Amazing Coincidences

1. One girl in my hostel in Paris was from Forest Lake, MN
2. Running into Madison on the streets of Rome. Madison is from my college, studying abroad in Rome. She just happened to be coming back from class at the same time we were heading out to dinner. 
3. One woman in my hostel room in Rome, from Sweden, lived in Eden Prairie MN the year I was born.
4. A girl I met in my hostel in Rome is in the same Celtic Civ class with me in Edinburgh, also studying abroad there from the USA.
5.  I had dinner with my Swedish roommates on my last night in Rome, and while eating, two men sat down at a table nearby. They were speaking Swedish. Turns out the men were from the same town in Sweden as my roommates

Yvonne, the friend with whom I was traveling, also bumped into a few people that she knew while in Florence. Small world.

Here are a few pictures from each spot..

With our friend Mona at the Louvre

Laduree, a Parisian bakery

The tower and I.

Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome

Via Appia in Rome

Florence from the top of the Duomo

The Ponte Veccio in Florence

Sunset from the Piazzale Michelangelo in Florence

Day trip to Cinque Terre, Italy

Westfalen Park in Dortmund, Germany

 I also just got back from a weekend trip to the Isle of Skye with my program, which was also amazing. Back to studying for now, though.