PLEASE NOTE: This was my handwritten journal that I kept while in Europe. I never pictured myself putting it on a website, so it is not the most grammatically sound, or exciting thing you’ll read today.
Day 1
Sunday, February 23, 2020
Copenhagen – Munich
We began our trip with our flight to Munich, where we had an 8 hour layover in Copenhagen. We went down to the picturesque spot of “Nyhavn”. It was dreary and drizzly out, so we went into a restaurant for about 2 hours. Since it was born in Copenhagen, I got a Carlsberg. On our walk to Starbucks, for Brooke’s mug, we saw the Rosenberg Castle – the home of Christian IV. Then it was time for us to head back. Once we got back we made good use of my “Priority Pass” lounge access with free food and drinks. After a long day we finally arrived in Munich and checked into the “The 4You Hostel”.
Day 2
Monday, February 24, 2020
Munich
We began our day by going to “Marienplatz”. A popular square in Munich. Then we bought tickets there at a tourist center for Dachau. Dachau was eye opening. We saw the sign “Arbeit macht Frei”, where they slept, the gas chambers and the crematorium. It was both sad and humbling. Then we ate lunch at the Hofbräuhaus. We ate Schweinshaxe, along with a pretzel and a big beer. Then we dashed to the airport and flew into London. We arrived, took a bus into the city, walked two miles through Hyde Park and checked into “The Pride of Paddington”.
Day 3
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
London
The first thing we did today was pick up our tickets from Dave Hagedorn. After that we bought our tube passes and headed over to Westminster for the “Thames River Cruise”. We went all the way to Greenwich and back to Westminster. It took around 3 hours. We got to see all the cool sights and even went under Tower Bridge. Then we went to The Churchill War Rooms, which was fascinating. After that we went to Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus – where we ate “5 Guys”. After eating we made our way over to Stamford Bridge for the 1st Leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 match between Chelsea and Bayern Munich. I got a match day scarf and a Christian Pulisic jersey and Brooke got a crew neck. Then we went to our seats in the 2nd row. I was so close to the pitch that Thomas Müller was within 15 feet of me several times. After a scoreless first half, Bayern put the beating on by scoring 3 goals. Throughout the match I had friends Snapchatting me photos and videos of us on TV. Despite the cold weather we had an absolute blast.
Day 4
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
London
Unfortunately, when we woke up this morning it was quite cold. Nevertheless, we walked over to Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guards. We were there for about 2 hours and then ate at a cafe near Westminster Abbey. Then we toured the Tower of London and saw the Crown Jewels. Immediately after we walked to Tower Bridge and went up that – we even got some good pictures of us on the glass floor. Then we stopped in the uniquely shaped city hall building for a bathroom break. Then we rushed over to the London Eye and got our pre booked tickets. I had already gone up it before, but I think Brooke really liked it. Since that finished at around 6 P.M. and there were no other places open we took a walk down the Thames and went to the MI6 building. We finished the night by checking out the Prime Minister’s house (what we could see of it, because of security) and then went to 221B Baker Street to see where Sherlock Holmes lived.
Day 5
Thursday, February 27, 2020
London
We began our day by heading over to the Houses of Parliament. I learned from the internet that you can attend sessions of Parliament for free. So we went to Cromwell green visitors entrance and got into the Houses of Parliament. From there we went and watched the House of Lords for half an hour – they were discussing “The Future Relationship with the European Union”. After that we went to the House of Commons. The portion we heard was about “Rough Sleepers” (A.K.A. Hobos). We watched for a half hour. Then we walked across the street and toured Westminster Abbey and St. Margaret’s Church (on behalf of my momma). Then we took the tube over to St. Paul’s Cathedral. Unfortunately, the Whispering Gallery was closed, but we did climb to the top – which was grueling.
Then we went to the Shard and went up to the viewing deck on the 69th floor. We watched as the sun set over the London Eye – magnificent.
Then we took the tube over to Hampstead to meet my friends Dave and Marj Hagedorn who were treating us to some high quality Indian Cuisine (which I had dressed up for and Brooke had just changed into a dress in The Shard bathroom, despite the frigid temperature).The conversation and food was absolutely amazing. To finish the night we went to “Dukes Bar”, where Ian Fleming thought of the “Vesper Martini” from Casino Royale. The bar was so fancy. Nearly every guy was wearing a suit coat. The bartenders were wearing white tuxedos and they were all Italian. I got the Vesper Martini, which cost me 21 pounds plus a 12.5% automatic gratuity. The jokes on them – the pen I used to sign the check I stole and and I’m using to write this. We took a London Black cab back to the hostel.
P.S. – The martini was exceptional.
Day 6
Friday, February 28, 2020
Edinburgh
Probably the worst day I’ve had traveling. We woke up at 4:30 A.M. to leave for Edinburgh. The train gate we needed was closed, which set us back 15 minutes. Then, we needed to get a bus at Victoria Station which was 10 minutes late and arrived 30 minutes late. Then we got our boarding passes only to find out I wasn’t guaranteed a seat. THEN they took 20 minutes to check Brookes bag, which I was sure was going to make us miss our flight. Our gate closed at 8:10 A.M. …we got there at 8:10 A.M. exactly. Once we arrived in Edinburgh it was pouring. We walked around the city and got drenched – it even started snowing. Then, I had pre ordered tickets to “Edinburgh Castle” for $30 each (18 pounds), so when we went there we expected to get in. Nope. They said our bags were too big. We were forced to go back to the airport for our flight at 6:55 P.M. Our flight was delayed and departed at 9:00 P.M. – over 2 hours late. Because of this we missed our flight to Paris. I made several phone calls and talked to the EasyJet employee – all to no avail. We found a hotel room at the airport, which Brooke’s mom paid for for 102 pounds. I bought a plane ticket for $170 to Paris scheduled to leave at 12:55 P.M. Our plane has been delayed an hour so far. It’s 1:30 P.M. on 2/29. Hopefully this day goes a bit better.
Day 7
Saturday, February 29, 2020
Paris
Today we woke up from our hotel and went to our lounge for a free meal. Then we got onto our flight to Paris. Brooke left her Passport in her bag that we had to check…that was troublesome. I had to get her bag and Passport and go back to give it to her. Then we met two Canadians and shared a taxi with them to our hotel. It was 55 Euros split 4 ways. Then we check into our hotel that Brooke’s parents paid for. Then we walked around Paris. First to the Eiffel Tower, then Trocadero, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Élysées, Place de la Concorde and the Louvre. Then we took the Metro back to our hotel. Tomorrow we wake up for sunrise and for something Brooke will be quite surprised for…
Day 8
Sunday, March 1, 2020
Paris
We woke up at 6:30 A.M. for what turned out to be a pretty big day. I told Brooke we needed to dress up for a fancy breakfast. Little did she know I was soon going to ask her to marry me. Sunrise was scheduled for 7:32 A.M. We got there at 7:15 A.M. (she thought we were just stopping by before breakfast).I had picked out a spot the night earlier when we went out walking. It was a spot right on “Le Seine” river, we had to take stairs to get down. It was quite cold during the morning and Brooke kept asking me if we could leave. Because of how cloudy it was we didn’t see the sun right away. Brooke was wearing a dress and flip flops, so she was freezing. I put my jacket around her legs and my gloves on her feet. At 8:00 A.M. I was still waiting for the sun to be in the perfect position for a video, but she said she was only waiting 15 more minutes. Finally at 8:15 A.M. I asked her to take a picture with me. I secretly started a video. I still had to get the ring out of my bag, so I told her to turn around, so I could take a picture of her. While she was turned I got it out of my bag and stuck it in my pocket. I ran over to take a picture with her (I have a bluetooth clicker thing). I asked her if she liked the view and she said yes, then I asked her if she thought we could frame the picture – she said yes. I said “Oh good”. Then my heart started pounding and I took a step back just like the YouTube videos I watched on Eiffel Tower proposals. I held the box up and asked, “Will you marry me?” I was so nervous that I don’t even remember if she said yes. She just started crying. Then I took the ring out and hid the box by my foot (YouTube again). I was very nervous that the ring wouldn’t fit, since we’d never gone ring shopping. To my delight, it fit nearly perfectly. After that was done, we were still pretty cold, so we began to walk back to our hotel – after I told her we weren’t actually eating breakfast. I FaceTimed my mom and dad – who I had already told to stay up late as a warning. We got back to the hotel and Brooke called her mom and dad. After telling family and friends, we decided to take a nap because we were exhausted from all of the traveling we’d done. Afterwards, I FaceTimed my sister and grandpa. It was pouring rain all day after that, so we opted out of Versailles. We finally got moving around 6:30 P.M. We went to eat and got pizza…then another we were so hungry. Then we went up the Arc de Triomphe. After that we went up to the summit of the Eiffel Tower. Afterwards we walked back to the hotel and went to bed.
Day 9
Monday, March 2, 2020
Normandy
We woke up at 4:30 A.M. and ran to a bus station near the Eiffel Tower to head over to Charles de Gaulle to pick up our rental car. We got a pretty nice Jeep. I was scared to drive it. The speedometer was in kilometers and all of the street signs in French. We drove to Bastille, then to Notre Dame, to Place de la Concorde, down the Champs-Élysées, and around the Arc de Triomphe. It was exhilarating! We arrived at the American Cemetery after 3.5 hours of driving. We drove through several very old French towns. The exact ones you see in World War 2 movies. We walked all around the cemetery. We watched as the American flag was taken down and folded while “taps” was being played. It gave me goosebumps. Then we drove to Omaha Beach. Then to Point du Loc – where we saw and went into the Germans stations. It was crazy thinking we were right where they were. Then we went to Utah Beach – it was closed unfortunately. So we went back to Omaha Beach. We took our socks and shoes off and ran into the freezing ocean water. Then we drove to Bayeaux and got some gas and McDonalds. We started the journey to Beauvais airport, where we had to drop the rental car off and catch our flight to Rome. It was so difficult. I had been up since 4:30 A.M. It was mentally difficult to keep my eyes open. We finally arrived at 11:55 P.M. I dropped the keys off in the drop off box before midnight. Very sadly for us – the airport closed at 11 P.M. We were over 2 miles away from the city. Brooke had stayed in the car, so we slept there. Very quickly it got freezing cold. I woke up at 3:30 A.M. to find somewhere indoors for us – no dice. I should have just kept the keys. We woke up at 6 A.M. and went into the airport. We’re about to board for our flight to Rome – hoping for warmer weather…
Day 10
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Paris – Rome
We didn’t do a whole lot today. We got little sleep and caught our flight to Rome. When we were exiting the airport police took our temperatures to see if we had the Coronavirus – we didn’t. When we got to Rome it was raining. Brooke took a 2 hour nap while I worked on our itinerary. Then we walked around a bit. Spanish steps, Piazza Narvona and then we ate some dessert next to the Pantheon while we talked to a Belgian couple. Then we went to bed.
Day 11
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Rome
We slept in late today because of how little sleep we’ve gotten lately. Then we ate spaghetti and pizza. We walked over to the Coliseum, which was amazing. Then we went to Trevi Fountain. We got back to our hostel around 7 P.M. We’re talking to a Chilean couple and hoping to do laundry tonight.
Day 12
Thursday, March 5, 2020
Rome
We began the day with a tour of the Coliseum. Brooke and I were the only two in the tour, so that was nice. Because of the Coronavirus there was nearly no line to get in. The Roman Forum was also included in the tour. After the Coliseum we grabbed some grub. I got lasagna, Brooke fettuccini pasta and we both got a glass of white wine. Then, with the same touring agency, we toured the Vatican. I took a picture of the Sistine Chapel … shhh! We also saw “The School of Athens”. Our tour guide was nice and showed us some interesting stuff in St. Peter’s Basilica even though the guided tour didn’t include it. I sent my grandma and grandpa and my mom and dad a postcard from the Vatican’s post office. What was interesting is that I couldn’t take my bag into the museum because of my tripod. Once our tour was over the place I had given it to was closed, so I went through a long process of getting it, which had me escorted by a policeman and some Swiss Guards back into the Vatican (after hours) – pretty neat huh? We began to head back. We walked along the Tiber River and saw some of the spots where the James Bond movie Spectre was filmed. We also stopped to see the Coliseum at night.
Day 13
Friday, March 6, 2020
Rome – Pisa – Florence
We woke up early today to get to Pisa. We’re now using the trains with our EuroRail passes. We walked to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, bought tickets and climbed to the top. Once again, we didn’t have a line. The view from the top was incredible. Brooke and I took some neat photos. Then we took a train to Florence. We checked into our Hostel, got organized and then wandered about. First to “Duomo di Firenze” or the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, then to Palazzo Vecchio where there’s the fountain of Neptune and a replica statue of David. This is also where we ate dinner. I got the Florentine steak – a delicacy here. It didn’t disappoint. Then, we checked out Ponte Vecchio Bridge and then made the walk up to Basilica San Miniato al Monte, which gave us a great view of all the lights lighting up Florence. After that we called it quits and headed back to get some sleep for our train to Rimini tomorrow at 5:24 A.M.
Day 14
Saturday, March 7, 2020
Florence – San Marino – Venice
We woke up early for our 5:30 A.M. train to Rimini. Then we took a bus into San Marino, a small country inside of Italy. It’s at the top of a small mountain. It was very foggy, so there was little to do. We both got our Passports stamped. After that we went to a Chinese restaurant. The waiter spoke no English, so I was able to use my Chinese skills. We took the bus back to Rimini and then a train to Venice, which was about 5 hours. We got to Venice as the sun was setting. It was quite picturesque. We walked the 2 miles to our hostel, which included a water metro. Once we got there we checked in, got settled in, ate dinner and then hit the hay.
Day 15
Sunday, March 8, 2020
Venice
Today we woke up, checked out of the hostel and ate breakfast, which included an Italian coffee. Then we took the boat over to San Marco (St. Mark’s Square). Once again, almost no people here. I took quite a few pictures (including James Bond Casino Royale scene locations).We walked over to Ponte di Rialto (Rialto Bridge) where I got a gondolier down from 80 euros to 40 euros. We went up the Grand Canal and through some small canals. Brooke was in love with it …as was I because we went by the building that collapsed in the ending of Casino Royale. The ride lasted 20 minutes. Afterwards we ate lunch near the Rialto Bridge. I had grilled salmon and an Aperol Spritz. Now we are currently sitting in St. Mark’s Square with the sun on our faces enjoying warm weather…
To Be Continued…
We walked back to the train station. On the way we bought some paintings from a guy selling them on the street. They were originally 140 euros (combined), I got them for 80 euros. After a crazy time trying to get our tickets from the Italian behind the desk we finally got on our train … only to get fined 50 euros each by a stupid Italian. We had a short layover in Milan. Then we had a 5.5 hour layover in Domodossola. It’s a very small town. When we got there (11 P.M.), there was only one place open – a hotel for 130 euros. We decided to stay in the train station. It was absolutely terrible. We were so cold we couldn’t sleep. That’s something I hope I never do again.
Day 16
Monday, March 9, 2020
Zermatt
What a day! We got to Zermatt at around 7 A.M. It was snowing. We ate breakfast at a place right next to the train station. After that we went across the street to the rental store. I got boots, skis, jacket, snow pants, helmet and goggles and the guy was nice and gave me a pair of gloves to use. After that I got my lift ticket. This was unique for me because it was just a card – like a student I.D. card. The jacket had a special place in the arm where you could zip it in and then you had to scan it before every lift. The skiing was not easy at first. I quickly got used to the quick, sharp turns. I was unfamiliar with the mountain and all of the signs were in German. I made my way towards the Matterhorn. There was a point where I could barely see because the visibility was so bad. Until about 11:15 A.M. the visibility was so poor that I could barely see the Matterhorn. At noon it was clearly visible and gave me goosebumps thinking of when I read “Banner in the Sky” in my dad’s 7th grade class. I skied for about 3 hours and then decided to get some food. Partially because I was hungry, but mostly because my feet hurt so bad. I ate a burger, fries and beer, which cost 42 francs or about $45. If I would have known that before I was seated I would have just eaten the snow. While I ate I talked with an old Belgian guy that was a rich know-it-all, but decent company. When I was done I kept going. I learned that you could go much higher up than I had been. So that’s what I did. For my last run of the day I took a gondola that could hold 24 people – sitting down. I was the only one in it. Once to the top (4,000 meters!) I started my journey all the way to Zermatt. I made 2-3 short stops along my way only to take pictures. It was absolutely breathtaking. Near the top it was so cold. The wind was terrible and it made it difficult to see. Once I got out of that it was spectacular. I found out that in order to get to Zermatt, without the aid of using a lift, I would have to ski down a black run (they don’t use the diamond system – just black). It was something I was quite fearful of. It was a very steep and narrow chute. I did it without falling. It certainly wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t as hard as I told myself it was going to be. I got all the way to Zermatt without falling. I took a bus to the place to return my rentals. You have no idea how great it felt to take my boots off. It felt like mouse traps had been taken off. Brooke and I checked into our hostel and then went to a small convenient store. We got some sausage and cheese and went to a nearby park and ate it. After that we walked the street of Zermatt for a little bit. All of the stores closed at 7 P.M. which left us with nothing to do – especially since I wasn’t about to spend 12 francs on a beer. We were in bed, lights out at 8:30 P.M. It felt glorious getting to bed early for once. Our train to Interlaken (which I’m on right now, departed at 6:13 A.M.)
Day 17
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Interlaken – Lucerne
We woke up early today for our 6:13 A.M. train to Interlaken. When we got there it was cold and rainy. We walked 2 miles to Lake Thuner…we couldn’t see a thing. I will say that the water was very clear, which was cool. We walked back to the train station to warm up. Brooke was not having a good time. We were cold and wet and running out of dry socks. I got us some Swiss pastries to lighten the mood. Then we walked over to the Interlaken Monastery. We took a few pictures and then headed over to the other train station to catch our train to Lucerne. It was mostly the same weather, but everything is much closer. We were also able to check into our hostel, which is AMAZING. They are literal space capsules. Then we went to “Spreuer Bridge”, which led us to “The Lion Monument”, a carving in the side of an old quarry of a dying lion that represents the Swiss mercenaries who died protecting King Louis XVI during the French Revolution – made in the early 1820’s. After “The Lion Monument” we went to Lake Lucerne. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see much again. Then we went over to Chapel Bridge – the emblem of Lucerne. We saw a nearby Starbucks, so Brooke was able to add to her Starbucks mug collection. That makes three on this trip along with Copenhagen and Edinburgh (Italy doesn’t have starbucks). We finished the night by eating some Swiss fondue right by Chapel Bridge. It was “cheap” fondue… only 25 francs each. I have a string of pictures that show how much Brooke enjoyed her first bite of fondue. We’re back in our hostel about ready to watch The Sound of Music because tomorrow we’re off to Salzburg. Our train leaves at 5:35 A.M. We’re making a quick stop in Lichtenstein.
Day 18
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Liechtenstein – Salzburg
This is going to be a short entry because I’m currently in the Düsseldorf airport on our way to Newark. Yesterday we explored Vaduz, Liechtenstein for a couple hours and got our Passports stamped. Then we went to Salzburg and explored a bit, which included me sneaking into the Von Trapp house from The Sound of Music. Not the home itself, but the backyard where the children were in the lake and the adults drank lemonade. I called my momma afterwards and she was proud and said that it was fitting that Brooke was there with her mothers ring, since that was her favorite movie. Momma said her momma would have been happy.
Day 19
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Salzburg – Düsseldorf – Newark (NYC)
I woke up at 3:30 A.M. to Brookes sisters repeatedly FaceTiming her. After rejecting it several times and them not stopping, I figured it was pretty serious. I myself had dozens of missed calls and around 20 Snapchat notifications. The time back home was 8:30 P.M. It turns out that the United States was in complete chaos over the Coronavirus. The NBA suspended the season and Donald Trump stated that beginning Friday at midnight no flights from Europe will be allowed into the United States. After a call from my Aunt Anne vehemently advising me to call my dad, I gave him a ring to find out that this was very serious. Brooke and I got dressed and waited for further directions from my parents. My parents called me back and said they had booked us a flight to Newark with a layover in Düsseldorf – where we are now. We quickly went to the train station and caught a taxi to the Salzburg airport. We left at 8:20 A.M. I FaceTimed my cousin Ellie before our flight because she’s in Ireland in the same boat as us. If we don’t get back to America in time we risk being unable to complete our 2nd semester. This whole situation has felt like a James Bond movie. It feels like we’re on the run for our lives trying to get back home. It’s a very weird feeling that I don’t know how to describe, however, it’s an oddly thrilling and exciting feeling…
To Be Continued in NYC (hopefully)
I am on the plane to Newark. The plane lands in 1 hour. Local time in Newark is 2:14 P.M., but for me it’s 7:14 P.M. This plane is packed pretty full of Americans. It’s obvious people are trying to get back before Friday at midnight. Somehow I’ve been able to text my mom on the plane. I am very worried about going through customs. We both have to fill out a “Customs Declaration” form. On the form there’s a section that states, “Countries visited on this trip prior to U.S. arrival.” I fear that since we have been in Italy they will quarantine us. In fact, we are lucky to be on this flight. As we were going through Passport Control, they asked us if we’ve been to China, Iran or Italy in the last two weeks. I said we had been to Italy. He quickly got his supervisor. That guy asked me where in Italy we had been. I lied to him and told him we’d only been to Rome. That guy quickly pulled out his phone and called who I’m guessing was his supervisor. He stepped outside of the glass room we were in so we couldn’t listen. My heart was pounding out of my chest for what seemed like an eternity. A minute late he came back and shewed us past as if he was trying to be discreet. I’m guessing Germany doesn’t care much if Americans are leaving their country after being in Italy. My fear is that America won’t be so inviting. It’s a lot easier to leave a country than it is to enter one. I do not think I have the Coronavirus, but I have a runny nose and I’ve been sneezing. I’m almost positive this is just allergies. My parents have been pivotal throughout all of this. They got both Brooke and I flights from Salzburg to Newark and a flight tomorrow at 7:30 P.M. a flight to O’hare with a layover in Atlanta. Let’s hope we are allowed on that flight.
To Be Continued
When we landed I found out that if you download the Mobile Passport app that you don’t have to list the countries you’ve recently visited. When we went through customs I was shaking I was so nervous. The last thing I wanted was to be quarantined in NYC. The lady scanned our phone app and asked us where we were coming from. I told her Düsseldorf. Then she asked me, “Anywhere else?”, since she knew it was just a layover. I said, “Salzburg.” She paused for a couple of seconds and told us, “You’re good.” Did I tell a half truth? Yes. Did I save us a possibility of being quarantined? Most certainly. After that we got a bus to Times Square, which is where our hotel was. After relaxing and unpacking for an hour we decided to go out to eat at our favorite restaurant… Buffalo Wild Wings. American food never tasted so good. After we were done eating we decided to call it a night because of the jetlag.
What. A. Day. One we will never forget.
Day 20
Friday, March 13, 2020
New York City – Atlanta
We slept in until about 10 A.M. A little bit later than I would have preferred, but it helped us recover from the Jetlag. Since I had been to NYC twice already, I felt pretty comfortable being the tour guide. We had to be back to our hotel at 4 P.M. to catch the bus back to Newark, so everything was quite rushed. The first place we went to was Grand Central Terminal. Since it was right outside, we checked out the Chrysler Building. We then took the subway to the Empire State Building. Naturally, I had to play “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z as we went past it. We walked around Madison Square Garden and then Brooke had to make a Starbucks pit stop. As she did that I bought us tickets to go up to the Pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. We quickly went and saw the Arch at Washington Square Park, which is featured in the movie I Am Legend with Will Smith. We hustled over to Battery Park where we caught our boat to the Statue of Liberty. The boat gave us a great view of Manhattan. When we got there we hurried, so we didn’t have to wait in line. We were there for about an hour, since we still had plenty to do. Once we got back we went and took a picture with the Raging Bull. In an effort to save time, I rented us bikes. This turned out to be a great idea. We biked to Trinity Church, where scenes of National Treasure are filmed and then to Wall Street, where we saw the Stock Exchange Building. Then we biked over to the 9/11 pools and the One World Trade Center. It was crazy being at the exact spot of the worst terrorist attack in history. Then we biked to Brooklyn Bridge. I felt bad because Brooke was getting awfully tired – we kept going. I took her to Jane’s Carousel, which is underneath and to the left of the Bridge when you’re going into Brooklyn. This spot is significant to Brooke and I because it is in the final scene of the movie Nerve, which is the first movie Brooke and I watched together and is when we first kissed. Then we took the subway to 72nd street, an entrance to Central Park. We got some Hot Dogs and water from a street vendor. Partially because Brooke was exhausted, but also because we were in New York City. We rented some more bikes and biked through Central Park. We headed towards our hotel, because we stored our bags there. We finally got there, got our bags and ran to the Port Authority Bus Terminal and got on the bus just as it was about to leave. We got through security and of course, went to an airport lounge. Thank goodness for the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card…NBD. Our flight to Atlanta ended up getting delayed a little over an hour, which meant that we missed our connection to O’Hare. We switched our flight to 8:58 A.M. on Saturday morning. When we arrived in Atlanta we took a Lyft (I also get a free Lyft Pink membership with my Chase Sapphire Reserve Card) to our hotel. We got to it and crashed. Another eventful and busy day.
Day 21
Saturday, March 14, 2020
Atlanta – Chicago – Home
This morning we woke up at 6 A.M., ate some breakfast and took a Lyft to the Atlanta airport. We got there and went to our last airport lounge. We took off at around 9:15 A.M. We’re currently in the air and should land in Chicago in about an hour. Brooke and I are excited to get back home. It’s been a great trip and definitely the craziest spring break of our lives.
To Be Continued At Home…
We arrived at O’Hare and were greeted by Brooke’s family. They took us to a Chicago style pizza place. We went to their home where my parents picked me up.
Conclusion
Sunday, March 15, 2020
Home
What a trip. 21 days long. 11 countries: Denmark, Germany, England, Scotland, France, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Austria. We were on 11 planes and 10 trains. We got engaged and were part of history as we fled Europe to the United States. Our trip was an absolute blast. I’m glad I was able to do this with Brooke and I’m eager for our future adventures together.