Europe Vacation - First Stop: Paris

So, I've been pretty awful about posting this year. There are so many things we've done that I would love to share with you, but I just haven't had the motivation to write. Well, that is going to change this summer. We are traveling through Europe this summer, and we will have some down time. My plan is to do a write-up between cities. That means, in the next five weeks, I will post at least 8 times! Goals are goals. Let's see if I can do this! Follow us on our trip through Paris > Brussels > Amsterdam > Berlin > Prague > Vienna > Rome > Zurich > Paris.

The last day of school was June 22nd. Since then, we've been hanging out with friends, saying see-you-laters to friends who won't be returning to Cairo next year, relaxing, and packing. That's right, we are moving apartments for the next school year. We had to be out of our apartment before we left for vacation, so we packed everything up and moved it all into a friend's apartment since we can't move into our new place until August 1st. (Thanks, Joe!)

On the morning of June 28th, we made our way to the Cairo airport. The flight was smooth, and about five hours after we took off, we landed in Paris. We decided early on that we would stay in a hotel chain that we are familiar with (ibis) (Thanks, Josh & Kalie!) because we know we can rely on their internet. Having internet is extremely important this summer because we both have school classes to keep up with. Once we got to the hotel, it was almost dinner time, or so we thought. It was close to 4 pm, and we thought that we should do a search for dinner places around our hotel so that we would have an idea of what was around when we decided to eat in the next couple of hours. A quick search revealed that most restaurants closed at 3 pm and didn't open up again until about 7-8 pm. Our only option was to walk around and look at the neighborhood. We ended up finding a small bar with outside seating, so we drank a couple and people-watched until we were hungry - darn our luck! We had another drink or so at dinner, and when we looked at the time, we couldn't believe it! It was almost 10 pm! In Cairo, it's basically completely dark by 8 pm. We've gotten so used to the sun setting early-ish that we had forgotten what it was like to have the sun set so late. It was really starting to feel like summer - except for the temperatures. The high temps while we were there were only in the low 80's. I'll take Europe summer temperatures any day!

The first full day, we went on a free Sandeman's city walking tour to get a feel for the city and the different things there was to see and do. While on the tour, we saw Notre Dame de Paris, the Louvre, a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower, and so much more! We were leaving the next day, but would be back in Paris at the end of July, so we thought we would get a start on planning what we would do when we came back.

At the end of the tour, I asked our guide about doctors and how I could go about seeing one. For a little over a week, I'd had a huge "rash" on my cheek that kept getting more and more painful. He suggested I go to a pharmacy and ask them, so I did. They were able to give me the name and address of a doctor just a few streets away. After some frustrations with finding the place and a quick bite for lunch, we were finally sitting in the doctor's office waiting area, which was actually just a small apartment that was made into a doctor's office. No glitz or glamour, just the very basics. The doctor spoke fairly good English with a heavy French accent. I really enjoyed listening to him even if I didn't completely understand everything he said. Thank goodness Zach was there! It turns out, I have a staph infection, and had been self-medicating for a week thinking it was an allergic reaction to a bug bite or something. The doctor visit cost 30 Euros ($33) and the medicine he prescribed (which I picked up at the pharmacy that told me about him) cost about the same. Thank goodness for universal health care! With that little hick-up behind us, I am on my way to getting healed, and we are ready to keep exploring.

That night, we walked around our neighborhood a little more, had dinner, and went back to the room so that I could work on homework. It isn't all fun and games - even when traveling through Europe.

This morning, we made our way to the train station. I had a little meltdown when we went to the wrong station and didn't have enough time to grab breakfast before getting on the bus to Brussels. But, the bus has free wifi, and we even stopped halfway through the trip to use restrooms and grab a quick bite to eat. I'm starting to feel a little better about things now that I'm not hangry anymore. We should be to Brussels in about an hour, and we are very excited to explore this relatively unknown (to us) city.

Fontaine Saint-Michel 

Start of our walking tour

Notre-Dame de Paris

Notre-Dame de Paris

Notre-Dame de Paris

Seine River (The old Love Lock bridge)

Seine River

Seine River (What do you see in the background? That's right! It's the Eiffel Tower!)

Louvre

Stupid Staph Infecton