smile & stay a while

August 2007 - London, England

Amy and I were searching for the London Bridge and despite reading the signs that pointed to the left, we kept walking toward the big, pretty, blue bridge on the right because we were convinced that that was the London Bridge and that the signs were just wrong (I mean, who says signs can’t be wrong in London?). Upon finally reaching the bridge, Amy and I had someone take our photo while we posed like we were playing “London Bridge.” We felt so accomplished having seen it then decided to walk back to the left towards what the signs were pointing to as the London Bridge. Sure enough, the signs weren’t wrong and a smaller, gray, not-so-pretty bridge had “London Bridge” engraved underneath. Turns out, we posed “London Bridge” in front of Tower Bridge. That man who took our photo was probably thinking, “stupid Americans.”

London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down…

What a beautiful bridge! This was our favorite bridge in London.

This is the London Bridge.

November 2007 - Venice, Italy

In light of my Europe vacation fast approaching, I can’t help but think of my time studying aboard in Italy for 4 months. It was one of THE BEST experiences of my life and the craziest/scariest/ bravest things I’ve ever decided to do.

This is one of my favorite memories from my adventures. My friends and I often visited a different city on the weekends and these photos are from our trip to Venice, Italy. It was about a 5 hour train ride from Siena and unlike the other cities we visited where we made a list of sightseeing and things to do, Venice was different because the whole city is a must-see destination. We just wandered and got lost (which pretty much happened every time we turned a corner).

There are bajilions of pigeons at San Marco Plaza and people sell bird food for cheap. My friends Taylor and Cassie bought some and these photos pretty much speak for themselves.

My encounter with the pigeons cannot compare to Taylor’s and Cassie’s.