Goodbye, Europe! We will truly miss your beauty, artwork, culture, history, people, food, and wine. Until we meet again! 💕💕💕💕 Diana and Courtney 

On our last full day in Spain we took a bus tour to the Dalí Theatre-Museum and the seaside town of Cadaqués. Of course I had heard of Salvador Dalí, but didn't really know much about him. I recognized his piece with the melting clocks, which Courtney told me is called The Persistence of Memory. She was much more familiar with him than I was. She told me some of the things were going to be odd, but I remember seeing works of his at the museum at Montserrat, and those weren't that strange.

Today we visited two of Antoni Gaudí’s creations, Park Güell and the Basilica of La Sagrada Familia.

Today is my 65th birthday! We had a full day beginning with a bus trip to the Benedictine Monastery of Montserrat. The name Montserrat means “serrated mountain,” after the unique rock formations.

We arrived in Spain on a clear, lovely day!

On our final day in Paris, we began with cappuccino and croissants at a café recommended by friends of Courtney. The place was warm and cozy and it was nice to hold our hot drinks and chat while the morning’s tiny bit of rain passed over. After breakfast we walked right around the corner to the Luxembourg Gardens, a beautiful park that backs up to the French Senate house, and happened upon the 160th anniversary art exhibit by Salon des Beaux Arts.

We started the day with a quiet breakfast at our cute little boutique hotel, then made our way across the river to one of the most famous places in France. After Courtney won me over to the elevator instead of climbing the stairs, we stood in line for tickets to get a lift up the Eiffel Tower for spectacular views of Paris.

Caserne Napoléon (Napoleon's Barracks) is one of many historic sites in Paris.

We woke up at 4:00 am to pull ourselves together for our very early departure from Florence. After Courtney called us a taxi and we had one last experience with Italian driving, we flew from Florence to Paris. It’s a short flight, but you can feel how different the culture is from the moment you exit the plane.

On our final day in Italy we visited another UNESCO listed site, the historic city center of Florence. We began with a guided tour of the Galleria dell’Accademia museum for a guided tour to learn more about works of Michelangelo, Botticelli, and other Italian artists. It turns out Michelangelo was quite a character! We were some of the very first people in the museum for the day, so our guide Francesca said that we had to do what was usually last first, and go see Michelangelo’s David while the room was almost completely empty. She said almost nobody gets the chance to take photos there that aren’t full of other people! 

Today we had an all day bus tour into the hills of Tuscany, to visit three UNESCO World Heritage Sites! Our first stop was Siena, which is listed for its city center and famous for its medieval architecture. We had cappuccino and croissants at a city center cafe, then walked through the historic streets to the Siena Cathedral. As we walked down the narrow cobblestone streets, I felt like we had been thrown back to medieval times, which is my favorite period to fantasize about, as through the years I read many novels set in that time period. 

On our second day in Florence we visited the Basilica San Lorenzo, a Renaissance church full of artwork commissioned by the de’Medici family, including works of Donatello. The de’Medici family ruled the region until the 1700's and were responsible for many notable innovations in art and architecture. We bought tickets and downloaded an audio tour on Courtney's phone and shared her Bluetooth headphones, which I was really glad she brought. It's a good thing she never goes anywhere without them!