Starting Off The Holiday Season With A Bang!

The first Art Walk of the Holiday season takes off tomorrow at 5:30 in downtown St. Augustine. This event is a self-guided tour of the beautiful scenery of downtown St. Augustine, as well as the amazing artists that dwell in the heart St. Augustine. This event is a great time to spend with family and friends to stroll along the lit ancient streets to enjoy the beauty of art. 

There will be free parking offered at any participating AGOSA art galleries. Being a local of St. Augustine we can easily forget about these amazing events that take place in our city. We have the chance to partake in refreshments, live music and new exhibits! These events take place every first Friday of the month. So do not hesitate to get up and get out to enjoy the beautiful city of St. Augustine and what it offers!

Most Exciting Trip Of My Life!

Fun Photos Of My Trip!

Palace of Versailles

History of Versailles

The Beauty of Versailles

Imagine the most beautiful gardens, with angelic fountains surrounded by statues, outrageous paintings hundreds and hundreds years old, incredible and lavish rooms filled with the most expensive furniture and then cover it in gold and you have Versailles. Versailles was the home of the Royal French family. 

The day we visited Versailles I was very eager to see the palace because I had studied it in previous classes and I instantly fell in love with the history and the art. As we walked through the palace each and every room became more and more lavish and outrageous! There was gold moldings, gold furniture, gold emblems, just gold everywhere! I was astonished to pace around in awe, knowing the royal family, including Marie Antoinette, once lived here. When we came upon the hall of mirrors I was stopped in my tracks. In all honesty I started to tear up. It was miraculous. The chandeliers, the mirrors, the gold and the statues were outstanding. Just knowing that this was where Marie Antoinette took my breath away.  

What really made my jaw drop was also hearing the history behind the palace. At this time in history the country of France was starving to death, however their ‘leaders’ the royal family were living as though they owned the entire world! This is where the famous words were spoken, “let them eat cake.” 

I found myself strolling in the Versailles gardens unaccompanied, yet again. This truly made me realize how incredibly romantic the country of France was. I realized the next time I come I will definitely bring my future husband. The gardens of Versailles were spectacularly manicured where not one thing was out of place. I was taken aback by the amazing fountains and the beautiful flowers.

In the center of the gardens was a small lake where everyone was able to rent a row boat. A few of my friends and I got a boat and ventured out onto the small lake. However, none of us had ever rowed a boat before, so needless to say it was interesting. However, we ended up getting the hang of it and we had a blast! Once this day was over I realized how lucky I was to be able to go on this trip and to see all the beautiful things the world has to offer. This trip ultimately inspired me to further pursue my dreams of traveling. Next stop Italy <3

Romantic Night with the Eiffel Tower... or not.

There are days I wish I could go back to Europe and escape from the terrors of college and the life I lead. Visiting England and France was a great escape and I recommend everyone venturing out to see the world and what it offers. 

One of my favorite visits in France was to the Eiffel tower. It was a miraculous view! 

 

Our first night in Paris we were taken to the Eiffel tower to ride a boat tour around the city. I was with my friend Colby and her boyfriend Joey. Of course, I had no person of interest to join me on this lovely and romantic boating trip. As we were paraded under the bridges and through the coves we passed the Notre Dame Cathedral and numerous couples having romantic, candlelight dinners on the riverside. Then we approached another bridge, but this was a special bridge, the most romantic bridge in Paris. Well isn’t this just darling. As we came closer, the tour guide proceeded to tell us if lovers kiss under the bridge then it will bring them eternal happiness. Then she went on to explain that if we did not have said lover (me!) then just make a wish under the bridge and love will come your way. Well, that lady was wrong. 

 

Anyway, we ended the tour back at the Eiffel tower to see it go up in sparkling lights. It was beyond gorgeous. Definitely a moment to spend with a significant other, however, I spent it with the drooling old man sleeping on the hand rail. Awesome.

Reunited!

While I was in England I set up a time to meet up with my brother who lives in England. Tyler, my brother, lives in Tadley which is an hour and a half outside of London. Tyler and I have the same dad and different moms. His mom, or should I say mum, is from England, so that is why Tyler was raised there. He is 2 years older than I am, so whenever we see each other it is always fun because of the closeness in age. 

He and his other sister Loren, who I am not related to, took the train into London and stayed at the same hotel our group was staying in, the Premier Inn in Hanger Lane. I was so happy to see them I cried. At this point I had not seen him in almost two years. I was beyond excited to be with him again. At this point we visited in the hotel bar and had a few drinks to get reacquainted. 

Luckily that night was a “free” night so Tyler, Loren and I took the tube into the city to go to a few pubs to watch the football match (soccer) and have a few pints. Tyler took us to an old antique looking pub. It was so beautiful! The walls were a glossy wood and the ceilings had amazing hand painted murals that looked like something Michelangelo created.

 We spent more time talking and catching up while I watched one of my first football matches. This was such an unbelievable night. I was in an authentic pub in London with my brother that I have not seen in so long, sharing drinks and watching a match with a crowd of Londoners. This was easily one of the best nights I have ever had.

Meeting London

I wish I could go back to England. The opportunity to widen my horizons was such a blessing; I encourage everyone and anyone to travel. The night life in London was incredible. There are many different areas of life in the London area. A few that I visited was Soho, Covent Gardens and China Town.

Soho is said to be where the “Londoners” hang out. What astonished me was seeing local bar goers walking around in the streets with pints of beer. This is not uncommon to see. It is legal to venture the street with your drink. I thought this was awesome! It created such a relaxing and enjoyable scenery. 

         Covent Gardens was also a very lively part of the city that many tourist journey around. It has great markets and small restaurants and pubs that were very welcoming. One area of town, which I cannot remember what it was called, had an amazing Indian restaurant. I ordered a chicken curry and it was absolutely phenomenal! With my meal I also had a yummy mango smoothie that was meant to soothe my pallet after dinner. As I sat in the restaurant next to a large window looking out into the city, I felt overly blessed to be able to experience the exciting life that is out there. It opened my eyes to new cultures and I realized there is so much out in this world to see than what we have in America.

After dinner, a friend and I searched for a nice pub to enjoy a few drinks in. First, we set off to find the rest of our group, but we ended up finding this amazing bar called, “The Adventure Bar.” Oh, and it was sure an adventure. This bar was underground in a basement. Definitely something I was not use to. The dim red lights and the funky music really set the mood for a fun and unique time. After a couple drinks at the bar we finally ran into a few others from our group and everyone else ended up loving the bar just as much as us!

The Beginning!

During the summer of 2012 I embarked on a 10 day European trip. I was traveling with a student group of 16 from the Flagler College Communication Department. We traveled to London, England and to Paris, France and I saw the coolest things ever! While flying over to Heathrow I met this charming young English woman. She told me about all the great places to go in London and explained to me how much fun we all will have!

We landed! I was beyond excited to see what England looked like. As we were landing, I looked out my window and saw the cutest little cottages and the green landscapes. It felt like we were all flying into a movie set. We were all pumped to see what lied in England for us!

Seeing as how my favorite color is purple I was very happy to notice that England had PURPLE taxi cabs! Unfortunately, I was unable to ride in one, I still snapped a picture! This picture was taken right outside the Heathrow airport. To my surprise, stepping outside I was freezing! Being a native of Florida for generations, I thought since it was the middle of June it was going to be warm summer weather. Well, I was far from right! I was absolutely freezing! It was in the 50s, I could honestly say that their summer was colder than our last winter. Burrrrrrr.

Luckily I brought a few cardigans, but honestly, that really was not enough. I should have known better and brought jackets and sweaters. I guess it’s more of a “better luck next time” kind of thing. This photo above was taken on our first train ride in England. It would be an understatement saying we were tired. We were utterly exhausted. Flying 8 hours over night and barely getting any sleep and then waiting a couple hours in line to be able to even exit the airport was beyond tiring. However, we were finally at our destination, and we all were eager to start our adventure!