HEARTS

I've learned things don't always go our way. I mean, we don't always get what we want when we want it. But maybe that's because there is something better waiting for us. It doesn't seem cool in the moment and might "ruin your day," but we have SO many days that are awesome and so many things to find beauty in. We just have to want to find that beauty.

Love is my favorite color and I've been trying to use it a lot more to paint my world.

My heart is so full of gratitude for kindness people have shown that has helped me along the way to find beauty when maybe I was looking in the wrong places. I really love you guys!

Mushy feelings. Blah blah blah.

MACARONS

You can take the girl away from Italy,

but you can't take the Italian cookies away from the girl's hands.

Don't. Even. Think. About. It.

I love these macarons.

ITALY Day 4 & 5 - MILAN

Once again, we woke up early and took a fast train to the next city....Milan.

It was raining when we arrived, but we didn't let that stop us.

The Duomo is beautiful in any weather.

Don't forget the gelato!

 We headed to a super cool indoor shopping area

with a fun Ferrari store. Across from the Ferrari store, we noticed people lining up to go inside a building like crazy. I asked around later in the afternoon (because the line to enter the shop was still out the door ridiculous) and was told it was because there was a big soccer game tonight.

What?! We couldn't let the opportunity to experience the biggest rivalry in Italy (InterMilan vs Milan) with crazy Italian fans pass us by so we headed to the sold out stadium later that night to buy tickets from some shady guys.

My new friend and I parted ways to go to different airports to continue our travels in different places.

I found a shop with every italian treat I could think of: pistachio croissant, macaron, and cannoli.

Time to kiss & fly my way back to Prague.

ITALY Day 3 - CINQUE TERRE

Cinque Terre means 5 lands in Italian. We woke early for a day trip via bus to this area of amazing little villages.

We were able to visit 4 of the 5 villages and they are all so darn charming. You can take a ferry, train, or hike between them.

I couldn't find one thing wrong with this place. 

OK. I lied. There are a lot of pick pockets around that you have to beware of while visiting. There are signs posted everywhere warning you and one person in our group had their wallet stolen. Other than that, this place is so fabulous!

ITALY Day 2 - FLORENCE

I think I have travel ADHD. I usually only need one day in a city and then I'm ready for the next. That being said, we woke up early this morning and took a high-speed train to Florence.

 My room at the hotel had THE best window to view the streets! It was perfect. I could hear accordion players below as I went to sleep.

Everything about Florence was magical.

 The gelato was scooped perfectly.

The sights were fabulous.

 The art was plentiful.

And the people were amazing.

It even had a charming bridge and everyone who really gets me should know I LOVE a good bridge!

ITALY Day 1- ROME

I have free time and a few friends to meet in Italy...so why not pack my bags and jump on a plane to the country of amore?!

First, I flew to Rome and met my friend Grant.

 We boarded the hop on/hop off bus of the city and our first stop was the Colosseum.

The colosseum is super impressive, but right across from it is the Palatino and Roman forum area which is massive and super fun to roam around inside. DO NOT SKIP IT. 

You can also get a great panoramic shot of the area there.

 We continued on the bus tour with our headphones toward Vatican City.

 The lines are huge at everything here and there are a million tourists in Rome 24/7 it seems. If you want to go inside, you can either wait in line for hours or pay for a tour which allows you to skip the line.

We decided to take a photo outside of this one (sorry Sistine Chapel)

and eat pizza instead.

There was a lot of construction happening and this cool Trevi fountain was out of order.

Next stop was the National Monument to Victor Emmanuel II with the tomb of the unknown soldier. On top of this building is a cool terrance with an option to get a view of all of Rome. It is totally worth the hot elevator ride up.

 We climbed up a ton of stairs to a few places with neat sculptures

 and churches. Rome is fabulous!

I didn't mention the 3 gelatos along the way of the tour, but I think that's a given!

PLASY - Czech

I discovered a place called Plasy during my last visit to the Czech Republic. I found photos of an amazing staircase on the line and decided I HAD to go see it! I drove to it in November and found out most Czech places are closed in Winter. I'm here during summer months now so I made the trip on a Monday and found out it's only open on the weekends. I couldn't let it win!

 Friday came. Three 40 minute drives later and I finally made it to go inside this Plasy church.

 I had to endure an hour long tour all in the Czech language to be able to see it. But I didn't mind because it's gorgeous!

 The interior rooms are super fancy.

Little details made it even more fab.

And then you can't forget to look up!

And finally, the staircase!

It was a beautiful day of exploring.