4,600 Miles From Rocky Top

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Anna's Birthday Trip to Malta!!

For my 23rd birthday, BJ and I decided to take a 4 night trip to the Maltese Islands. They are a very small, independent country in the Mediterranean Sea south of Sicily. We got to see a lot of the country! We spent a day touring the north island of Gozo which is rich in history, culture, and landscape. The next day, we took a boat cruise to the blue lagoon on the uninhabited island of Comino where we went swimming and just enjoyed the beautiful blue water and the natural, limestone landscape. On Friday, which was my 23rd birthday, BJ and I just relaxed and enjoyed the area we were staying in. Just sitting on a bench by the sea was so wonderful. I have never in my life seen landscape like Malta or water so blue!

Valetta, the capital of Malta from our ferry to the city

Me on the rocky banks of Valetta

BJ with the city of Valetta behind him

BJ and I

Bell Tower on the Valetta Harbor

Beautiful Garden in Valetta

Valetta's Gardens

The view from a little cafe we sat at in St. Julian's

BJ at dinner the first night with St. Julian's Bay behind him

Amazingly blue water at the harbor in Gozo

Church in Gozo

Park in Gozo

Gozo countryside

Gozo countryside. The arches are what is left of an old irrigation system to get fresh water throughout Gozo

Gozo countryside as we were coming up on Azure Window

BJ on the beautiful Gozo shoreline

Azure Window

Us.

The Mediterranean is extremely salty! This is where the water has evaporated and I of course had to play in it

Mhmmm Salt! (No, I did not actually eat it!)

Me with Fungus Rock behind me

It was extremely windy which made the water even more beautiful

BJ playing in the wind

Enjoying the coastline

You would not believe some of the places our bus fit through, so I took pictures

More of the crazy roads our bus took

A beautiful church in Gozo

This is out front of the church

Xlendi Bay in Gozo

Marsalforn, Gozo where we got in a swam a little

The blue lagoon on the uninhabited island of Comino

Comino, the water was as blue as my swimsuit and you could see straight to the bottom even though it was 5-6 feet deep here!

Super nifty guards in Valetta. They marched back and forth in front of this door all day long

My birthday picture in Valetta! My pretty earrings are from my amazing boyfriend =)

Cool statue in St. Julians

Heading to my birthday dinner!

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Parents Week Part I - The Bacons Invade Paris & Cinque Terre

My parents came to visit for the first week of June, and I met them in Paris for the first four days of their visit. Unfortunately, the weather was quite chilly, even for June, but it was still an amazing visit. We got to see almost all of the major sites and got to take a cool open air bus tour of the city and a riverboat cruise through the city. We also got up early one morning to beat the crowds and see an amazing view of Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was definitely the most memorable vacation I have ever had with my parents and I really enjoyed it!

Me right before we went into the Lourve. I didn't realize this was the museum from the Da Vinci Code until I saw the glass pyramid!

Dad & I at the Louvre

Inside..it actually wasn't horribly crowded

Well...we saw her..time to go!

Mom & Dad on a pretty staircase in the Louvre

Next stop..Notre Dame!

Mom & I outside Notre Dame Catherdral

View of the Eiffel Tower from a nifty bus tour

Mom & Dad at Luxembourg Palace

Mom & I at Luxembourg Gardens

Super Excited!

Luxembourg Palace & one of the guards

Arc de Triomphe

We had to walk up these to get to the top...

Mom & I outside the Arc, I had to steal Dad's hat because it was so windy!

This might be the coolest functioning clock I have ever seen!

Mom & Dad

The Family...

Awesome view of Notre Dame from a boat tour

Musée d'Orsay from the boat tour

Eiffel Tower from the river

Conciergerie

I'm under the Eiffel Tower!!! ("Shopping in Paris!!!" -BJ)

The tower at sunset

Twinkling!

From the top of the tower.

Basilique du Sacre-Coeur

Eiffel Tower from the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur. I climbed up on top of a huge fence for this photo

After Paris, my parents took the train back to Torino with me, where we met up with BJ. Dad got his pizza, mom got her shopping, and we all went to the Egyptian Museum and the Royal Palace. We walked around the city quite a bit and just enjoyed seeing what all Torino has to offer.

BJ & I by the Po River

Mom & I in the round a bout near our dorm

Mom, Dad, & I

Dad snuck an awesome picture of the Royal Palace Ballroom

BJ & I overlooking the city

While my parents were visiting Torino, we took a day trip to Cinque Terre and were able to see 4 of the 5 cities. The weather was great and we had some amazing views of the ocean, cliffs, and cities themselves. The trains were packed with tourists like ourselves, but the cities weren't too crowded and they were definitely breathtakingly beautiful. Plus, BJ, Mom, and myself were adventurous at lunch and had some amazing seafood!