My Trip to Europe, Part 1: Durdle Door, Dorset, England.

In July 2013, two months after walking for my college graduation and one month prior to officially having my degree, I was given a three week trip to Europe has my graduation gift from my entire family. No, I didn't backpack or anything absurd (Sorry - nothing about backpacking through foreign countries sounds appealing to me. Give me a hotel. Or a hostel. Or something. Good god). My sister, Rose, and her husband, Kalin, currently reside in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. I'll go ahead and point out the obvious for those of you who snoozed through middle school geography: Bulgaria is in eastern Europe. Just above Greece,  right below Romania, neighboring Turkey. You're welcome. Moving on.

Anyway, my grandparents footed the entire flight, and because Rose & Kalin live in Bulgaria, it made a week and a half of my trip extremely cheap, as ya know, I didn't have to pay to sleep somewhere. During those 24 days, I hopped about Bulgaria, Rome, and England. To say it was the trip of a lifetime would be an understatement, and I recently realized that I never really documented my travels. So I figured why not give it a whirl, eh? (My dad's a full blooded Canadian. I can say things like that).

Like any good Pinterest account holder, I have a travel board. This worked to my advantage when my sister asked if there was anything I was dying to see in England. Obviously I wanted to see everything, but it helped when instead of spewing out the usual "I don't know, I'm game for anything, I have no opinion on how I spend my time in Europe," I said Durdle Door, which is located in Dorset. 

I was in luck, because that particular night, we were staying with my sister's good friend, Lizzie, who lived just outside of Dorset. Rose had never been either, so Lizzie was thrilled to take us. 

As soon as I arrived, I told my sister "this place kind of reminds me of Jurassic Park." Only to find that we were on the Jurassic Coast. Derp. 

JUST LOOK AT IT. Is it not one of the most majestic places you've ever laid your eyes on? Unfortunately, I didn't even think to bring my swim suit, so dipping my feet into the water was as far out as I could go. It was actually a prime place for a picnic, as there's no sand on the beach. Zero. Zip. Not a grain. It was all soft rocks. And by soft I mean only the texture - walking on them? Not so soft. I may or may not have taken a few. And by that, I mean I did.

 There were two absolutely breathtaking sides to this part of the coast. For one, there was obviously "Durdle Door." It blows my mind that not one bit of this place was man-made. That rock was straight up Mother Nature. She's awesome, that woman. 

The left of Durdle Door looked a little more tropical. I've never been the Bahamas, but I kept comparing it to the Bahamas. To be honest, I kind of forgot I was in England. Okay, not really. But when you think England, do you think blue and turquoise coastlines? Let's get real.  

Hands down, this was one of my favorite parts of my trip. I can't even describe the sense of tranquility I felt walking around. I live in Florida, so I've been a beach goer my entire life, but this was a completely different level. Here, I had a fleeting thought of, "holy shit, what they say is true: I really am just a microscopic dog flea compared to this giant, beautiful, magnificent Earth." I think everyone needs one of those moments. Specifically, the Kardashians.

Until next time! Happy Monday XO