10 things I love about you

I have to admit that I keep a few notepads in my phone filled with blog ideas. One of them has been another likes/dislikes list that I update when I suddenly think of something and don't want to forget it. Ever since my previous post on my likes and dislikes of living in England, I've become conscious of more and the list keeps growing. It's really easy and probably natural to automatically compare both countries. It's a weird feeling though, almost like I am constantly comparing an ex to my new boyfriend or something, haha. Does that mean that England is actually, possibly growing on me? We'll see!

My updated likes:

1. Gun control. I don't think I need to linger on this topic for too long. England knows what's up, but seriously America, wtf? Haven't you learned anything? I cringe to think about what it might take for any changes to be made.
2. The BBC. The news, the coverage, the website - all of it, simply amazing. They are always on top of their game and you can always count on them when it comes to WORLDWIDE topics, (not JUST the USA, come on). The weather is annoying, but that isn't down to them in the slightest, ha. They are neutral. The Olympics coverage was phenomenal. Even their TV shows, dramas and movies are gripping and addicting. No commercials, either? Hell yes. I didn't realize how much I have fallen in love with the BBC until I was in San Diego and was appalled by one of the news programs, awful. Cheers BBC, I will certainly miss you if we decide to move.
3. NHS. Okay, as an NHS employee, I will admit that their system seems a little backwards (too top-heavy, not enough patient/customer-focus {mental health, anyway, can't say this for all NHS Trusts}), but coming from America where insurance is a big, scary issue, it's been a huge relief being here and knowing I am covered by the NHS, no matter what. It's a big relief too when I think about children and family coverage in the future.
4. Working out at the gym. Back home, working out at the gym can be uncomfortable. The guys are creeps. They watch you; they hit on you, etc. Not fun, and not what you go to the gym for. It's not a place that guys should frequent to meet the ladies. LA Fitness, and probably most gyms, are renowned for this - yuck. Of the 2-3 gyms I've been to here, including the one we go to now, is just the opposite, thank God! People come to the gym for the SAME reason, to WORK OUT! Halleluja people, thank you!
5. Eco-friendly! From the endless footpaths and bike routes (and supporting websites), to a lowered to-no tax if you have an eco-friendly car! I have always been a big fan of conserving and preserving energy so I love the fact that this country actually supports and applauds it, too.
6. Simple Living. When I was growing up, we lived in house that had a lot of land and lots of animals and it almost felt like we lived in the country even though we were in a city. We were close to shops and restaurants, but didn't frequent them as much as I found myself after moving closer to downtown where the streets are actually buzzing with places that lure you in. When I went home this August, it really hit me how different my country-living is compared to my city-life back home. Living in a city is like living on a high street. In a city, there are people everywhere; there are tons of shops, restaurants, bars, and constant events to keep you busy and your wallet empty. How did I afford to eat out so much? Living in a tiny village in the countryside feels like the complete opposite, and I surprise myself when I reflect on how well I think I've adjusted to the differences. Living in the country is sweet and  s i m p l e. You become aware of little things that make you happy like the first bud on your orchid, or a home-grown tomato turning red. Giving cookies to the post man, getting to know the people at your local post office or the hairdressers next door. Finding a beautiful run where you actually see more cows, sheep and horses than you do people. Cooking at home, experimenting with food, wine and watching movies snuggled up on the couch. These things make me actually appreciate days out, going to the movies or going out to dinner. It's just simple and I love it!
7. Proud Brits. Thanks to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the 2012 London Olympics, I've witnessed what it's like to watch a country come together and show just how proud of their country and their culture they really are. Unfortunately, I have really only seen this from America after 9-11 or on the 4th of July when no one really knows or cares about why we're celebrating. It's especially in-your-face when America can't seem to decide on who to elect for president when the country is actually divided by Democrats vs. Republicans. Shame, we have some learning and catching up to do. It shouldn't take a terrorist attack for us to come together.
8. Drugs. Although a lot of people here smoke cigarettes, and actually quite a lot of young kids do too, I haven't been exposed to or aware of any other drugs, and frankly, I really like that. I rarely smell weed which is a breath of fresh air in itself (pun intended). I have no idea who does what, and I like feeling distanced from drugs the way I do here. It doesn't seem popular or cool like it seems to be in...ughmerica. In San Diego, unfortunately, I know TOO many people who do them, know how to get them, or have tried them. bleh. Life, in my eyes, is just too short and precious and I have too much respect for my health, well-being and my body to fill it with crap.
9. Roundabouts. At first, I didn't understand them and because of that, I was afraid of them. When I started riding my bike to work in April, I was (and sometimes still am), fairly intimidated by them. BUT, after being home and driving to Cabrillo and sitting in traffic lights on Rosecrans for God knows how long, I am so thankful for roundabouts and now curse traffic lights. How did I ever live in Point Loma again?
10. Colored doors.

What I don't fancy so much...

1. Behind on things. Like movies, free internet in cafes, certain music on itunes, US and UK itunes are different and you can't get or even see the same apps unless you have two itunes accounts? (I guess you can't necessarily blame the UK for that though can you!)  This is just a tiny annoyance that I can obviously live with.
2. Small roads. I sometimes like the small roads on lonely bike rides when there aren't many cars around. But if someone is driving and we have to constantly pull over to let the other driver go by, not only is this time consuming (and annoying), but it makes me kind of car sick. It's also not so great for bike rides on busy mornings when huge semis (lorrys) get way too close because the road is way too small.
3. Car sick. I've never really been car sick before living here, but I think because of the small cars (thus, low to the ground) + small roads + cold air outside + hot air inside= CAR SICKNESS. Easily one of the worst feelings. I'm pretty sure it's mostly caused by having the heater on, as it seems to throw off my balance which in turn triggers the car sickness. Whatever it is, it's not fun.
4. No outlets in the bathrooms. None. Only for men's shavers. WHY!? Even France, Germany and Italy have outlets in their bathrooms! Come on, England!
5. I noticed this next complaint a few months ago sometime during that horrible summer. If you don't know, it was the wettest and most miserable summer I've ever experienced, hence my last minute decision to go home and see the sun (and family and friends). When the skies are cloudy, you don't really see the moon or stars. Well, it had been a few months of constant rain, and finally one night I noticed the moon and realized--I had not seen the stars or moon in months. Not because I didn't look, but because our sky had been blanketed by clouds for SO long, that you just couldn't see them. It's a pretty silly thing to complain about, but being from clear blue skies all my life, I actually felt pretty sad that there's just no way of controlling this weather that affects you day and night.
6. Customer Service. One of America's fortes is that customer service is important to us. We make connections with our customers by smiling, making eye contact, initiating conversation, etc.  You're lucky if you get a smile here! 

These are just my observations up-to-date. Cheers!

Films Vol. 3

Time to update the old film list with the films we've seen in the past...6 or so months? I've already mentioned what a huge film fan Peter is, so thankfully I've gotten out of the sappy rom-coms and into the good ones!

Here is a list with the films we've watched since my last post (hopefully I haven't forgotten too many!) with my favorites in bold and my least favorite italicized:

The Dark Knight Rises

The Amazing Spider-Man

BRAVE

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Schindler's List (yes, only recently believe it or not!)

Moneyball

Shawshank Redemption

Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2

The Shining

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 

The Artist

Vertigo

Rear Window

James Bond: Casino Royale & Quantum of Solace

Gladiator

P.S. I love you

Inglorious Bastards

Benjamin Button

Snow White and the Huntsman

Big Fish

Drive

Jersey Girl

Going the Distance

Definitely Maybe

That's all for now!

Deutschland

GERMANY from Lindsay Reynolds on Vimeo.

Our quick 4-day trip to Germany and Austria was so amazing and all thanks to Peter's parents for treating us!! I won't ever be able to thank them enough.

Day 1 we were up at 3:00am that Friday and out by 3:30 headed to Gatwick. I have no idea why, but for some reason, I was the only one to stay awake in the car or on the plane. It was a short, easy hour and a half flight into Munich. When we got to the airport, I watched everyone marvel at the beast of the SUV Peter's dad hired (haha - they joked about me being used to big cars, which is so true!) and went into the center of Munich for breakfast. After breakfast, we decided to do a kind of unplanned "beer garden crawl," stopping first at the Hofbraehaus. Of course if you know anything about German beer or their beer gardens, then you probably know that they come in liters instead of pints, they are huge! We strolled through the Englischer garten and at the next beer garden, tried a (my very first) massive German pretzel! We then headed back to the hotel to properly check in and take a quick nap before heading to...the next beer garden for dinner! I will say, although the food is meaty, stodgy, and filling, it's delicious and just the right amount!
A very obvious observation: Germany is impeccably clean (toilets, streets, the underground station), on time, and the people are incredibly efficient. A perfect home for type-A personalities :-)

Day 2, we left Munich and were en route to Neuschwanstein! As we approached and saw the view from behind, we weren't sure whether or not we were seeing the castle because unfortunaetly, there was scaffolding all around the back. It didn't bother me though because, here I was seeing it in person nonetheless and I couldn't have been happier about that. Much to our delight, we skipped the huge line of people waiting to buy tickets, grabbed our pre-ordered tickets and walked up the hill to find that you couldn't actually see any scaffolding from the front! Yay. We had a guided tour of the 15 semi-to completely finished bedrooms (of about 75) and then took a short hike to get a view from the Marienbrücke (Mary's Bridge) suspension bridge. After our lovely time at the castle, we didn't travel too far to get to the dry toboggan run where we had a yummy bratwurst and enjoyed the ride after. Next was the drive to Gamish. We got to Mercure, our cozy hotel, rested a bit (I took a seriously relaxing bath), then went out for drinks, watched a parade go by, and headed to the cutest and coziest tavern for dinner. It had the best atmosphere with singers yodeling, traditional dancing, and mouthwatering food.

Day 3 was our drive to Austria with a stop in a town called Innsbruck, where we had breakfast in a posh cafe, wandered the streets, then made our way to a cable car near Alpach-our next stop. Once we got to the top of the mountain, it would have been rude not to try their apple streudel, especially as I hadn't tried any yet! Delicious. After that, we headed to our hotel in Aplach, easily my favorite hotel ever, checked in and after quickly admiring our room and the view from our patio, headed straight out to the pool with Cat and mum. The hotel is tucked away nicely at the bottom of the Austrain Alps; surrounded by trees and mountains; it was the most serene and relaxing place I have easily ever been to. We lounged by the pool for hours (It's felt like years since I'd been able to comfortably lay outside in a bikini with the lack of summer here in the UK). This was followed, of course, by drinks and a four course dinner, no less. My whole experience at Alpach was above any of my expectations and now I understand why it holds such high standards in Peter's parent's books. I look forward to the day we re-visit this gorgeous paradise.

The next day, our last day, Peter, Cat and I hired bikes and did a 45 minute climb just before breakfast. After that we packed up and tucked into our self-serve breakfast buffet of freshly squeezed juices, fresh fruit, cereals, bread, and anything you can possibly think of when you imagine the best breakfast ever. We hit the road again, this time to Dachau. After recently watching Schindler's list and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Peter and I had been really interested to visit a concentration camp, so we all decided to go since we'd be in the area anyway. Honestly, experiencing a concentration camp for the first time deserves an entire post in itself. It's unreal. I won't go in to detail, but if you'd like to read about it more from a similar perspective, then read Heather's blog . She explains the whole experience beautifully and in a way that I cannot.

Germany and Austria were both so beautiful and I am so lucky to say I have experienced and touched foot in both countries, even for just a few days. I will definitely go back and am so thankful to Peter's family for taking us and showing us the best time. Auf Wiedersehen!

Timeline

A few months ago, I went on a run and started thinking about my life from the beginning, or, what I can remember of the beginning of it. The moments and people that have defined who I am today. I started thinking back from a few years ago, to college, to high school, to middle school, and elementary school, and thought about each event and the people that have impacted and helped shape me. I ran for about an hour, and the entire time, I was listing all of this in my head and figured it would make a good read and would be nice to read again in the future.

As I was reminded of the events and my achievements, I couldn't help but feel a little proud of what I've taken on and accomplished over the years.

I'll start from the early school years, when I would stay with my nana and tata in National City. The elementary school I went to was Palmer Way and it was just a short walk from their house. I don't remember much about those first three years, probably because I didn't think too highly them. I remember having a few close friends, but I am so very glad I moved away from that school after 3rd grade. The kids were bad. And mean. I have a feeling I would be very different had I stayed there. I remember winning an award for inventing some kind of gardening tool we called "The Ram." My favorite teacher was Mrs. Cole in 2nd grade, and in 3rd grade, I joined the chess club. I remember going to this after school daycare program occassionally and dreading it because the other kids would spit in everyones snack, so I never ate. I also remember sitting in these chairs with the circular hole in the back, and the mean kids used to run around and kick everyone in the back. It was like in Toy Story 3, I went from the really bad classroom, but then after moving schools it was like transfering to the super nice classroom where the kids are really gentle with the toys--except the kids were gentle with each other. My biggest influences at the time were nana and tata. We played cards, I played with the dogs, developed a liking for coffee with nana, learned a little bit of spanish, and we watched TV. We watched I love Lucy, Lassie, and As the World Turns. I am thankful for those years with my grandparents because now I have such a closer relationship to them than if I hadn't spent so many years with them while growing up.

After 3rd grade I moved to Highlands Elementary where I started 4th grade with Ms. Scrudato and also started Am/Pm, our before and after school program. I made so many new friends here, most of which I still have today. Fourth grade whizzed by and soon I was in Mr. Hales 5th grade class playing Oregon Trail any chance I could. By this time, I was playing piano and took lessons every Monday night and also played any and every sport from football, kickball, softball, basketball, capture the flag, to four square and beating the boys in the 1 mile. That year I also became Class President and had one of my closest friends, Michelle, as our Vice President and we took a trip to the "capital city" Sacramento, which is really exciting when you're a 5th grader! My best friend was Jessica Mayne; we did everything together from hanging out during the weekend, to roller blading in the rain together and pretending we were spice girls. She was my first best friend and I still cherish the genuine friendship we had. That's the year I auditioned for Belle in our Am/Pm annual summer play and got the part! The year before I'd auditioned for Wendy in Peter Pan and ended up as a Pirate named Noodles! Auditions span from every school in the district, and I was shocked to have gotten the part of Belle. (I think it was a slightly biased decision by my favorite leader (and neighbor and basketball coach at the time, Nick)), but I wasn't complaining! Play practice lasted the entire summer and went from 9am-5pm. Originally, I was in "Cast A," which practiced in the mornings, and Cast B in the afternoon, but Cast B's Belle eventually dropped out, so I took both parts and practiced full-time.  My favorite friends were: Jessica, Ryan, Tomilyn, Lisa, Clinton, Dallas, Michelle & Adrian. At home, the pool had just been built, we had Lucky, Valley, and Missy, BW, the peacock and chickens.

Spring Valley Middle School was next. Band was my favorite. There were 4 levels of band: cadet, intermediate, advanced and symphonic. I joined cadet in 6th grade after seeing Jethro Tull in concert with dad. I started playing the flute and took private lessons every Saturday. Half way through the year, I moved to intermediate band. The best thing about band, was obviously Mr. Ring. What an amazing man; the only person I have ever known to control 90 students with instruments in their laps, and actually, to get all 90 students to adore him while doing so. 7th grade I made the jump to symphonic band, and by 8th grade I was the section leader and was also helping Mr. Ring every Friday before school with the flute section at Highlands Elementary. My close friends were: Cristina, Britnie, Jacelle, & Laura. My favorite teachers: Mr. Ring & Mr. Brus.

Ahhh, Monte Visa High. I remember how exciting high school was, with freshman orientation, finding out who your teachers are, picking out an elective...etc. I joined the cross country team, track team, started taking spanish and moved into honors English where I made friends with the smart kids, haha ;-) Sophomore year I fell in love with black and white photography- and Ms. Breedlove. I can't remember junior year being overly exciting other than when one of my teachers had anonymously selected me to attend a 2-day women's leadership conference at UCSD with the Jenna Druck Foundation. Senior year I was in mostly AP classes, on varsity cheer (whoa, switch over from CC and track), the senior ads yearbook editor, a key club officer and also working part time after school at Sweetwater Springs Elementary. I joined the choir at my church my senior year and spent a number of evenings practicing and recording for the Christmas performance in a a small group called "Angel Voices." I dedicated all of my Sunday mornings to worship that year. By 2005, I was an honors graduate, yay! My closest friends (in my year): Cristina, pretty much the entire boys water polo team, Amand: my psuedo brotha, PJ, Scuba Steve, Batman, Robbie, Andrew, Katie, Shaheen. I loved my running coaches: Naranjo, Lorenzana and coach Ross.

My Fav subject: Photo & yearbook
Fav teachers: Breedlove, Thomas, McAloney, Verdugo & Kastan

Next on the list--college!

Unlike all of my smart friends, I didn't get a ton of scholarships and offers, but in the end, it didn't really matter because I had no idea what I wanted to study and they did. I ended up at SDSU and quite happily so now that I reflect on it. I lived with my mama in Old Town for the first two years, then in Hillcrest the second two and was working as a shift supervisor at Starbucks (Point Loma, then Mission Hills). My favorite class turned out to be ASL in my second year{american sign language}, so much that I decided to study in the department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences. We learned about deaf education, phonetics and audiology. The only problem with this department is that you pretty much have to take it 150% seriously in order to get your masters or PhD to get a career in either field (whether it be deaf ed, speech pathology or audilogy). Regretably, I didn't take the GRE and I didn't apply to grad schools in the end. I say regret, but if I had, I wouldn't be where I am today!
My bests: Leiann, Andrew & Starbucks crew
Favorite classes: Astronomy (Douglas Leonard), ASL & Geology of National Parks and Monuments
Biggest inspirations: Mom, W.E.D. & Jeff Corwin

Post-college: I took a 30 day trip through Europe, ran my first marathon, volunteered with the Education Outreach Program at the S.D. Humane Society, met Peter, hiked half dome & we are now on our way to living happily ever after! I am so thankful for the wonderful people I've met and the opportunities I've been blessed to have endured and very much look forward to all the wonders ahead!

Til next time, all my love -

Make It Count

During these grey months, I often need reminders to help stay cheerful and positive. This Nike 'Make it Count' video is the perfect inspiration to keep my mind where it should be. It's reminded me that I need to cherish every moment. Even on a bad or rainy day, I need to be thankful for simply being alive. Death can come so quickly, so unexpectedly, I need to make the most of my time and not dwell on my past and what I don't have anymore; this happens more often than it should. Life is just too precious, and too short to get hung up on the negative. 

Turning 30

(Not yet!)

My cousin sent me this link about turning 30, and there has been one "By 30 you should know" that I have been conscious of for the past few years. It's number one.
By 30, you should know ...

1. How to fall in love without losing yourself.

In my last relationship, I completely lost myself (which is why I think I took the breakup so hard). I was embarrassed not to know who I was after we split. What were my hobbies? Who were my friends, what did I like to do with my spare time? Where did I put my energy, time, and money? Learning that you don't actually know yourself is seriously frightening and takes time, and some serious soul searching to find your inner you again. It took me approximately (maybe a little longer) three months to find me again. My strategy (totally unplanned, by the way): no computer for three months and hardly any phone usage,  unless absolutely necessary. I hid my computer under my bed and it took the place of that monster we've all been afraid of as a child. I didn't want to touch it, look at it, open it, or face any sort of social network reality. I didn't know how to deal with it because, quite simply, I didn't really know myself single! After three months of this, and after surrounding myself with amazing, inspirational people, after filling up every free minute of my day with something fun and active, I learned who I was again. And I fell in love with the person I'd become. I accepted who I was and vowed to never lose myself again, but instead to always continue to live a rich, full, vivid and colorful life. If there's one way that I could explain this strange process it was that before, I was living in black and white. But gaining so much insight, having more energy and finding where and how to channel it, I realized how truly colorful my life was becoming by practicing these new routines. I think you can only truly find yourself and gain this sort of "fresh start" after hitting a hard and nasty rock bottom. 

If you've talked to me lately or have been reading through the blog, then you probably know that it's been quite the adjustment for me moving to England. I've left behind sun, family, friends and a lifestyle that's been familiar to me my entire life. It's taken lots of time, patience, and more soul-searching dealing with my feelings and emotions I've felt over the last year, and I've had to completely readjust my way of living. On top of being newlywed, I am in a new country and everything is brand new and different. It's exciting having a new beginning, but as you can imagine, it's also terrifying, as change usually is. We have no plans for our future yet regarding where we'll live--we are trying to stay as open minded as we possibly can and not rule out any possibilities, since anything is possible! Overall though, as I reflect on my past year of living here, I've had my highs and lows, it's been a new and challenging experience for me; one that has made me work at not losing myself in it all. Thankfully, Peter and I are so very connected, and so open and honest with each other, that if I am ever feeling unbalanced, he's always happy to provide whatever I need to get back on track. 

15 Things you should give up to be happy

I found this next site on facebook and a couple of these "things to give up" kind of struck a chord with me. The few I've practiced working on are: to stop complaining, giving up resistance to change, giving up the past, and giving up attachment. 

Complaining. Who doesn't complain? It's way too easy to do. For me, it's mostly been about the change in weather. Heck, half of my blog is dedicated to my complaining about the weather! But alas, it's no good complaining about something you have no control over.

Resistance to change. We've all been through it, and as I've said before, it's scary! It's hard to change, especially when you can't let go of the past. Which leads me to...

Give up the past.

"I know, I know. It’s hard. Especially when the past looks so much better than the present and the future looks so frightening, but you have to take into consideration the fact that the present moment is all you have and all you will ever have. The past you are now longing for – the past that you are now dreaming about – was ignored by you when it was present. Stop deluding yourself. Be present in everything you do and enjoy life. After all life is a journey not a destination. Have a clear vision for the future, prepare yourself, but always be present in the now."

I will admit, this is my biggest struggle! It's too easy to forget that when you were living in this 'past you can't let go of', you didn't stop to appreciate it enough. You didn't realize you'd miss it so much. This realization and struggle has really motivated me to stop focusing on what I left behind and pay more attention to what I have right in front of me, here. I am very happy here and have so many things to be thankful for--I just need to tuck my past away into a special folder in my memory.

Give up attachment. This is a tough one when a lot of my past attachments are at home and I constantly long for them. They span from people (family and friends), to hobbies (mostly hiking, racquetball, scenic runs) to food (the variety & having special meals with friends). Attachments create routines and it's a challenge to start brand new routines.

These are my goals, written. 'Til next time.

Venezia

I can't believe it's already been two months since our trip to Venice! I was so excited with the way we planned this trip because it was so spontaneous of us! Since we have x amount of bills to pay, debts, and savings to worry about each month, we had talked about a little getaway since my homesickness was at a peak in winter, but never really moved forward with that plan. Then for a few days in February, we talked about where we would go if we could and decided it would have to be Venice! On Leap Day (Feb 29), EasyJet was having a big sale on their flights and we found a really good deal to Venice and just went for it!! It was literally something we'd discussed for just a few days before booking. Ironically, our plan was (still...) to get away from the miserable gloom that is English weather, but lo and behold, the weather predicted rain and thunderstorms just before we left! Nonetheless, it's all about the experience, which is really what I should keep reminding myself in the meantime about living here! 

We had been really anxious for the entire three months leading up to the trip. We found this adorable apartment to stay in and had been in touch with the owner in the months prior to our stay. We'd researched restaurants and gelato shops (none of which we actually went to) and did a little studying and practicing of the beautiful Italian language. This was also going to be our very first flight together!! :-) Kinda crazy, right?!

When we arrived, we paid for our extortionately priced bus and vaporetto tickets (more on this later), and made our way to the gorgeous island of Venice. My first feelings about this incredible place reminded me of the way I feel when I'm at Disneyland. A blissful, romantic feeling completely overwhelmed me, despite the gloomy, misty weather.  As we tried finding our vaporetto route, we were told the America's Cup was currently happening (not sure how we didn't know about this!), so we weren't able to get off where our apartment was. Turned out, it was actually happening right in front of our apartment which was pretty exciting!! Luckily we took an early flight from Gatwick and it was only about 1:00pm when we got to our apartment so we had plenty of the day left to explore (and eat!).

We had decided that 200 Euros would hopefully be enough to get us through the few days we were there, but we were proved wrong pretty quickly. When we'd arrived at the airport, we paid for our return bus tickets, and 12 hour vaporetto (waterbus) tickets to get us to our apartment once on the Island, and for both of us, this came to 55 Euros. Ouch. I had been told that Venice was expensive but I didn't take it into serious enough consideration, clearly! Because it's such a tourist trap, shops and restaurants get away with and take full advantage of ripping you off. Peter and I do pretty well on a tight budget and tend to go for the cheaper options, but even the cheapest option in Venice is still ridiculous and it became really hard for me to wrap my head around and justify. That being said, we couldn't really afford much other than food.

I thought our apartment was located in the perfect part of Venice. It wasn't in the crazy hustle and bustle  where all the annoying tourists lurk, but it was just on the outskirts where some of the locals live. One downside of it being such a tourist trap is that it's actually a challenge to find locals and listen to them speak or watch them live their day-to-day lives. I really enjoyed that part with where we stayed-- we could see everyone's laundry hung above us just outside the door to our entrance, and we could hear the locals walking by daily.

We spent a lot of time getting lost and did a lot less planning than I wanted to. The walk from our apartment to St. Mark's Square was about 15 minutes, so we wandered up that way everyday and used it as our landmark. One of the days turned out to be ridiculously rainy and wet, so much so, that when we got home, we had to peel our clothes off and lay them on the heater to dry them out. We stopped in a cafe that day, hopeful that the rain would die down, and when it didn't, we popped into a shop, bought a pack of playing cards and headed back to our place to let it pass. It turned out to be the perfect opportunity to rest our feet since we'd been walking and exploring non-stop. 

Although the restaurants are too overpriced for me, the quality and taste of proper Italian food is more than enough for me to go back. I don't think I have ever wanted pizza as much as I did in the few days we were in Venice. The great thing about that is there are little carts/shops all over where you can pick up a slice to go for about 1,50-2 euros and the slices are massive!! As a bonus, I was overjoyed to find my most favorite toppings everywhere!!! Prosciutto & artichokes=heaven! (Artichokes are all over, which is heaven in itself for me!) It's been far too long since I've had some variety in food and Italy was the best place to indulge in that. Of course we also had to stop for a few gelatos...my favorite being pistachio, surprise surprise! Overall, the food is simply to die for and I certainly look forward to my next visit to that beautiful, delicious country!

Putting the gloomy weather aside, the over-priced (but extremely delicious) food, and a few minor flaws in our apartment (two single beds put together to make one which wasn't very comfortable to say the least), I must admit that it was such a perfect getaway for us and I know we'll go back one day when we can afford to spend out a little bit more. It was the perfect excuse for Peter and I to put our phones away and focus on each other and let the romance-filled air totally consume us. I felt so much closer to him and could actually feel the growth we'd made together from those few days away in that gorgeous city of love.

Watch our video below!

Venice from Lindsay Reynolds on Vimeo.