Day 20 - Tuesday July 9th, 2013 - All good Things must come to an end

-My final thoughts on my amazing trip-

It's always hard to believe it when a vacation you have looked forward to comes and goes. I remember booking this trip in January and thinking it will never come. Now here it is come and gone and I'm on the plane back to the US. I really LOVED my trip. I sincerely enjoyed all the time I got to spend with my mom and my sister, Katie. Since I don't live at home I think it's good when we get that type of time with one another. It's fun getting to know her on a more grown up level. I admire my mom's sacrifice to let me drag her around and love that I got to experience some of my travels with her. I also enjoyed spending time with Mandy and her family. They are so wonderful to have hosted us. I loved watching Mandy and George interact, they are so good together. I love how they can play off of one another, that makes a good marriage. They also are such great parents to their sweet little girl. I really loved my time with Mike. we don't get time like that at home so it was great going on fun dates with him every day. I always give him a hard time about being a bad driver. I learned on this trip he is actually a fantastic driver. He's only a bad driver when he has a cell phone to distract him. However, given our current car situation (my car in the impound for 10 days) I don't think I'll have to worry about that too much anymore. I think he's learned his lesson.

Anyways after being away from home and traveling for three weeks I've made some great memories, seen a lot of beautiful places and enjoyed fantastic company. But I must say I am incredible happy to be going home. I am soo glad to live in American. I know a lot of that is because it's what is familiar to me, but regardless of the reasons why here are some things I won't miss about Europe

Paying for water
No ice
Worrying about pick pockets
People trying to con you out of money
Everything being more expensive because the € and £ are worth more than the $.
Disregard for personal space
Lack of personal hygiene
poor labeled streets
Streets with names like ss263
Ridiculously high gas prices and road tolls
Having "service" added to you bill rather than paying based on performance of service
Ketchup that taste like BBQ sauce
No lines or organization, people just jump in front of you if you seem to be in a line.
No signs or stop lights in intersections, just make space for your car then floor it.
Salads being served with only oil and lemon

All that being said, I really did enjoy my trip. And here are some things I will miss to prove it.

Lemon soda
Peach yogurt
European chocolate
French baguettes
The rich history of the area
the magic that comes in discovering a new place
Fanta
Fresh orange juice (I promise it's better there)
Gelato
Learning about other cultures
Making memories with my favorite people


And here are my top 5 favorite things I did over the whole trip

Drive on the Amalfi Coast
Beach day in Cinque Terra
Disneyland Paris
Les Miserable on West End
Fireworks over Sorrento