Our European Adventure - London

The last stop on our European Adventure was London.  I was so excited to go, meet Jakub's cousin Ewa, and see all of the famous sites.  We had a laundry list of things that we wanted to see and we somehow managed to pack in almost everything in a short 3 days.

The first day, we went to the London Eye.  It is absolutely must do when you are in London.  The views are beautiful.  We then took a Thames River cruise down to the Tower of London where we saw the crown jewels.  Holy beautiful! It's amazing how old some of these pieces are and they are absolutely stunning.  I'm fascinated by the royals and it amazes me that someone can rule a country for 50+ years.  We also went to see Wembley Stadium but unfortunately it was closed for tours to set up for an event that weekend.

Jakub in front of Wembley Stadium

View of Parliament from the London Eye

View of Buckingham Palace from the London Eye

View down the Thames River from the London Eye

The London Eye

Tower Bridge

Guard in front of the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London

On the second day, we had Ewa as our personal tour guide and we stopped at some really cool places.  We went to Piccadilly Circus, Covent Garden for a little shopping with the local vendors, Trafalgar Square, and saw the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace.  We also took in a pint in a local pub which was a must!

Guards in front of Buckingham Palace

Changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace

Piccadilly Circus

China Town

10 Downing Street (this is where the Prime Minister lives)

The last day in London was just as busy! We toured through Westminster Abbey (which was my absolutely favorite), got up close and personal with Big Ben and Parliament, went to Olympic Park, and finished our list of "must see" items.

Big Ben

Wesminster Abbey

In front of Westminster Abbey

Wellington Arch

Aquatics Center from the 2012 London Games

Olympic Stadium from the 2012 London Games

ArcelorMittal Orbit at Olympic Park

We had an absolute wonderful trip and everything was perfect.  We have so many memories with friends and family...Jakub and I couldn't ask for anything more.

M

Our European Adventure - Paris

Bonjour! We decided to take a mini trip to Paris during our European Adventure. It was such a beautiful city with such a great history and stunning architecture. We took the Eurostar train which was nice and easy right into Paris. When we got there, we grabbed what we thought was the right metro but ended up in a 30 block walk to the hotel. We finally arrived, checked in, and went straight to the Eiffel Tower. 

We celebrated our anniversary a little early and had dinner in the second floor of the tower. The food was absolutely delicious and the view was breathtaking. Unfortunately we didn't get to see it lit up at night but still had a wonderful time.

View from dinner in the Eiffel Tower

On the second day, we made our way downtown to take a river cruise down the Sienne.  Because we had only about 36 hours in Paris, it was a great way to see a lot of the sights that were hard to get to in such a short amount of time. We had a wonderful guide which gave the French and English version of the tour.  We then made our way back to London for a jam packed 3 days.

Notre Dame

Notre Dame

Sienne River Cruise

M

Our European Adventure - Poland (Part 2)

On Wednesday, we headed up to the mountains at Zakopane. It was breathtaking. We rode on an incline to the top of the hill and were able to get some great photos and have some coffee. I was able to squeez in some shopping with the local vendors which was so fun. We ate lunch at this delicious restaurant that served food on wood platters. It was a great day trip and so happy we got to see it.

Zakopane

Zakopane

Zakopane

Jakub, Grandma, Janek in front of the restaurant in Zakopane

Jake and I also had a mini date night back in Krakow. We had dinner in the center of the square and did a little shopping. It was nice to have time just the two of us.

Thursday takes us to the Salt Mines.  The mine was beautiful and my favorite part was the center with the large chandeliers and beautiful salt sculptures.  It was well worth the 400 stairs it took to get down to the mine.

Jakub walking through a tunnel of salt

Rock salt statue in one of the many chapels

Salt Mine

Christmas Sculpture

The Last Supper

One of the many lakes in the Salt Mine

On Friday, we returned back to Otwock and Jake was able to see one of his childhood friends that he hasn't seen in about 15 years. She was an absolute sweetheart and I was able to hear stories about how they locked Marcin in garbage gate when they were young. It was a great evening and glad we were able to go.

Saturday, Grandma and Janek threw us a party with their family and close friends. There was lots of drinking and toasts with great company. I was able to meet a lot of people in one place which was nice and everyone was extremely welcoming. It was a great way to end he first portion of our trip.

Janek, Grandma, Jakub

Grandma and I

Grandma and Jakub at the party

This is only about half of the food that we had that night

Our European Adventure - Poland (Part I)

We are back from 2 beautiful weeks in Europe.  It was a wonderful trip and I have so many pictures and stories to share. I apologize for the multiple posts and length of posts in advance but I promise that they will be well worth it!

Wow, where do I start? Let me first start by saying that Poland was more beautiful than any picture I have seen. There is such a rich history and am so lucky to have been able to go.

We first boarded the plane in Chicago with the Polish airlines LOT. I was nervous about the 9 1/2 hour flight to Warsaw since this was my first big flight abroad. When I walked on the plane, I was pleasantly surprised. I watched a movie, ate dinner and breakfast, had my favorite chocolate from Poland, and slept the majority of the time. The only downfall was that my feet were swollen like a pregnant lady.

When we finally landed, we went through customs and finally got to grandma. There were hugs and kisses galore. We went back to grandmas and had some bitki and mountain cake. We were happy campers and went to bed for the next 12 hours. The time change definitely took its toll on us.

On Monday, we ventured out to see Warsaw. The weather wasn't too cooperative but we were able to see many of the sights by car. We did get a chance to walk around Old Warsaw Square and have a beer. Nothing like some good old day drinking with grandma.

Grandma and I in an old church in Warsaw

Tomb of the Unkown Soldier

Grandma and Jakub with the Polish National Stadium in the distance

Old Warsaw Square

Old Warsaw Square

On Tuesday, we headed south to Krakow. To say that this city was beautiful is a complete understatement. We went around the old square and up to the old castle. One of Jake's family friends was kind enough to give us a tour of the city. He was very knowledgeable and we got to know the in and the outs of the city. The weather was beautiful which made for some great photos. This is definitely a place that should be on everyone's bucket list.

Church in Krakow

Krakow Square

Inside Wawel Castle in Krakow

Wawel Castle

M