Our 11 day tour through Europe!

So, I have been a total slacker getting my pictures uploaded from our trip to Europe. Casey and I are in the process of moving and all my stuff is packed up. So, I am using my sister in law's pics for now. Once I get mine uploaded I'll put tons more up. But for now, Ill just tell you what all we did.
We flew in to Rome - (mine and Casey's favorite stop). Our hotel was a block down from the Vatican and St. Peter's Square and the Basilica - it was beautiful.

The vatican was awesome! These pics dont do it justice. But the paintings and arcitecture was to die for.



The Sistine Chapel was Beautiful! We learned so many cool stories about Michelangelo and his paintings. Did you know he wasnt even a painter? He was commanded by the Pope to do all those paintings! What a gift he had. When we first walked in to the Vatican Museums, we quickly noticed that all of the male statues were missing there "male parts" we later learned, that one of the later Pope's servants was offened by so many nude statues that the Pope ordered for them to be either covered by fig leaves or chopped up. Those that were chopped off got tossed into a basket that, that Pope placed somewhere - and now, can not be found. Wont that be an interesting find for someone later on. "Honey! Look what I found, a basket of Penis's!" Sorry, couldnt resist myself.
Anyway, some of you already know a lot of the other cool stuff we found out, but if anyone else wants to know - I am happy to share! Here is a picture of the top of the Basilica.

Sterling and Deanna missed their flight to Rome on Sunday, so they missed out on the Colosseum and the Roman Forum where Roman Legions marched in triumph. So pictures are to come on that. We LOVED the Colosseum and the Forum and have some awesome pictures of it.
Now we are off to Florence! We did a tour (which I highly recommened) and traveled to each new country by bus (which I loved). The scenery was divine!

Florence was our least favorite place. But the statue of David by Michelangelo put Casey and I in awe. You werent allowed to take pictures, but I have to share something cool... Back then, you werent allowed to to do biopsy's on dead bodies, so, Michelangelo and Leonardo Divinci actually dug up bodies to study them and use what they learned for their art. The statue of David is capturing the moment right before his big battle with Goliath. You can see EVERY muscle and vain with exactness! it was amazing. We also saw in Florence, St. Mary's Cathedral, Giotto's Bell Tower, the Baptistry's heavy bronze "Gate of Paradise" and the sculpture studded Signoria Square (pictures to come). Florence is known for their leathers goods and gold jewelry, so it was fun to look at that.
Off to Venice... Here we are in our boat in Venice that took us around to all the diff islands.

So we totally entered in style by a private boat to St. Marks Square where we saw the Byzantine Basilica, the Clock Tower, lavish Doge's Palace and the Bridge of Sighs.

We watched Glassblowers fashion their delicate objects (a vase and then a horse) the horse seriously took him 45 seconds to make and it would cost you $47 euros to buy (thats almost $80 US dollars). Then we took a romantic gondola ride (once again, pictures to come!).
Off to Switzerland!
Our stop in Switzerland was Lucern, but we stopped for lunch in Lake Lugano. If I could live anywhere - this is where I would choose! Loved it here!

After we left Lugano, we made an unexpected stop to catch some views
Here we are enjoying it...


That night in Lucerne, we went to a dinner folklore party with yodeling and alphorn blowing. Casey was chosen to go up on stage to blow the alphorn, and Sterling (my brother) was chosen for the yodeling contest. They both did great and gave us a great laugh!!
And we got Fondue!



The next day we stayed in Lucerne we went up the mountain 6,935 feet high at St. Gotthard Pass. That was a site - cant wait for you to see more pics of that!

Off to Paris...
The first night we were in Paris, we went for a quick tour and made a final stop at the Eiffel Tower, where we got to see it light up. I was so excited for the Eiffel Tower! Did you know that when the Eiffel Tower was built the people there thought it was an eye sore and demanded it was taken down? Glad they didnt win!

In Paris, I think we saw pretty much everything - but, to name a few...The Arc de Triamphe, Champs-Elysees, Notre Dame Cathedral, and more.

We even walked half way down the Eiffel Tower

And saw the original Mona Lisa,

Off to London by the Eurostar!
Our first night in London was so fun! We ate amazingly the whole trip - here are a few picks (it was so dang good!)My appetizer & Deseret


Our Resturant was right outside Buckingham Palace.

Dont you worry...this guard totally cracked a smile at Deanna and I - and talked from the outside of his lip - GET COOLER!!!
The next day, Deanna and Sterling were leaving, so we ended their trip by going to the Phantom of the Opera! It was great!

Other things we saw in London were, Knightsbridge with arrods, the House of Parliment and Big Ben and the London Eye - the largest ferris wheel in the world - lining the River Thames, Westminister Abbey, Whitehall's mounted horseguards and the Prime Minister's Downing Street. Also, St. Pauls Cathedral and the ceremonial pageantry of the Changing of the Guard, we even saw the Queen's car! Then we went to Windsor Castle and even saw the queens dollhouse! It had electricity and plumbing - what the? Spoiled!
We ended our trip with a cruise down the River Thames starting under the Tower Bridge seeing many well known landmarks and a four-corse dinner! It was so much fun and by far - one of the best trips EVER! Not to mention, I got to see my dad!
I must say - if you are still reading this, what a great friend you are!