hello friends
i have converted to the ever-dreaded young married couple blog. BUT the easiest way for me to do this was (and change the URL to not have 'harris' in it...) was to create a new one.
here it is:
rappintappens.blogspot.com
please add us to your sidebar etc.... (Henry and Tori Tappen) and if you have a private blog i would love another invite :)
thanks!
<3 tori
This is a very abbreviated part 1. More pictures to come (to stole this one from Henry's sister Alexis)!
This is part of the reason I love Mr. Henry Tappen.
I think he's cute. I'm glad we're getting married in 14 days!
Warning! I've uploaded lots and lots of pictures! I just got back from my trip to Italy with Liz. We stayed in a B&B in Rome for five nights. I've decided that B&B's are made for romantic couples. So it was a bit funny when we, two college-aged girls, came in to discover this bed:
It was quite romantic to say the least. Hey, at least it was a good price. We also had a quaint little breakfast table and..... A BIDET! I used it for washing my....
....feet!
Our first day in Rome morning in Rome we saw the Colesseum! It was beautiful!
Here is our tour guide for the Colesseum. She had a very thick Italian accent.
I love the Roman trees
Palantine. Everything there was ruined.
Lunch at a little outdoor cafe right by the Colesseum. They had a student discount that sucked us right in.
And I took this artsy shot. Those scooters are EVERYWHERE in Italy.
Then on to the Vatican!
St. Paul's was majestic and overwhelming.
Then we relaxed a bit in the shade in front of St. Peter's.
The next day we headed to Florence! The train there only took an hour and a half, so we couldn't pass it up! I took so many street shots because every corner we turned was picturesque (notice the gelato in this shot)
Mmmmmm..... panini......
Here is the fake David. We did get to see the actual one in a museum. There were also so half-way finished statues by Michaelangelo. It was interesting to see a statue in that state - it really emphasized how amazing the process of creation of this work of art is.
To the gardens of Boboli. The whole time I kept thinking about the frozen pizza. But there was a great view with some of the landmarks of the city there.
And we were exhausted from walking, as you can tell by my stance and expression. Italy was so hot! It reminded me of Arizona.
Right before we left Florence we saw this gorgeous couple come up to this church to have their pictures taken.
The next day we headed to the beach! It happened to be a bit cloudy that day, but still nice.
It was a nice little town even if it was a bit ghetto. Before we left we saw these street performers juggling. They weren't that good, but they were entertaining. It was nice because I didn't hear any English while I was here, only Italian.
Waiting for the train back to Rome...
...at the very nicely decorated train station.
And dinner! Simple but delicious.
We spent our last day in Rome doing an open-bus tour. I don't usually like feeling like an automatically labeled tourist, but it was nice to have transportation between all the sights. Here is circus maximus... or here it was (the field in front, not the structure in back). The marble was "recycled" to build St. Peter's.
I love the look on this guy's face:
Hmmm.... more food! This time with spinach!
Inside the Pantheon the light shows through a single hole. When we were there it lit up this spot so beautifully.
Notice the construction and scaffolding. It was EVERYWHERE in Rome.
The only shot I got in the Sistine Chapel. I thought I could take no-flash pictures until the guards started yelling "no foto, no foto!". It is so interesting to be in a room where everyone is just staring at the ceiling and it is semi-silent. It is so easy to turn your thoughts to the Lord, especially with all of the beautiful religious images there.
Find Tori on the Spanish Steps!
Dinner once again!
So our biggest adventure came on the way home. We arranged our flights in the cheapest way possible, which included a Ryanair flight to London, and then an Easyjet flight to Belfast. Unfortunately, our Ryanair flight was delayed SIX HOURS! So we had to reschedule our Easyjet flight at our own expense because the airline doesn't cover connections. So much for travelling as cheaply as possible. I found this sign quite ironic as we were about to board our flight at 12:30pm that should have left at 6:30am... hmmm....
So Italy was beautiful, but after all of the hectic travelling I think I'm ready to take it easy in Coleraine for a while. Back to the beautiful, green, rolling hills; the stormy skies; the roommates; the small branch; and curing leukemia! One month until I return!
I had to get one with me at the Victoria Tube station before we left. One of my favorite accomplishments of the whole trip was mastering the London and Paris underground systems and being able to get everywhere we needed to go. I love travelling in big cities because it is so convenient, even if it is smelly, crowded, and hot.
So on our first day in London we saw the British Museum, the National Gallery, Trafalger Square, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, and Wicked. That last one wasn't a tourist attraction, but a show on the West End at a discounted student price! My favorite was Westminster Abbey because of all the amazing history there. Above is a pic from when we stopped for lunch (sandwiches) in Russell Square by the British Museum. 
The next day we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum, Hyde Park, Kenzington Gardens, Kenzington Palace, St. Paul's, the Tower of London, and the Tate Modern. I love modern art. While some of it may be a bit graphic and difficult to look at, I think the really good stuff gives you a new way to look a beauty and the world. I don't have a very trained eye, so I just like what looks pretty, or interesting. I liked this pic above because we caught one of the red double-deckers in the background.I am so glad that we didn't do a double-decker tour. While it is a nice way to see everything, I hate being immediately labeled as a tourist and staying in the tourist bubble while travelling around. I didn't exactly venture away from the tourist sites (due to lack of time), but at least I wasn't surrounded my Americans the entire time.
This bus was our home for eight hours. We travelled from London to Paris through the chunnel tunnel. A lot of the time was spent collecting passports and waiting for passage on to the chunnel, but we also got to see a bit of the French countryside. It really didn't impress me after being in Ireland with the green, rolling hills for two months.
In Paris we stayed at an actual TWO STAR HOTEL!!! We had a bed and a bathroom and everything. We came back to the hotel exhausted every night so this was a definite plus. The food in Paris made me very, very happy. It was good that we did a lot of walking to compensate for the pastries and crepes. Here are a series of pictures of some of my favorite foods:
This was on the window of the bakery we went to. I still don't understand why there is a sexy dear trying to sell anything. But hey, it's France, so who knows?
Here are some favorite shots from Paris:
We started with a touristy bike ride through the main Parisian sites. It was really nice to have a break from walking for a bit, but I still don't like really organized tourist affairs.
We even stopped at a cute, but expensive outdoor cafe. I had a chocolate crepe, of course.
Notre Dame
Jardin de Luxembourg
Our dirty feet
Arc de Triomphe
Me (sunburned) on top of the Arc de Triomphe
Mona Lisa
Crowd around the Mona Lisa (I really don't get it, I think there are many other amazing works of art)
The inverted pyramid!
Henri Mattisse painting at the Pompidu
Well, I have many more pictures and stories, but I feel that this blog post is getting way too long. I will update soon.