Guest Post from Melissa!

hello strawberry halls forever readers! i'm melissa from i carry your heart. i'm excited to be guest posting here today. i'm a 28 year old wife, mama, and marketing professional from twin cities. i have a 2 year old daughter named azalea, who is equal parts crazy and cute. i hope you'll stop by my blog and say hi when you are done reading. 

when katie said she was looking for people to write a post on travel, i jumped at the opportunity. i love to travel and while i'm no where near an expert on the subject, i've been to 37 states and canada, mexico, and europe. there are many more places i'd love to see! since katie is currently in europe, i thought i'd share some highlights of my 2006 trip to london, england and venice, italy. spoiler alert: i got engaged ;) 

~ london ~ 

i loved london. it felt like a european version of new york city to me. we did a mixture of touristy stuff and also just some exploring on our own. 

we stayed in the high street kensington area and visited buckingham palace, tower bridge, trafalgar square, westminster abbey, etc. 

after a few days in london, we took an easy jet over to venice for super cheap. that was an experience in itself! the flight attendants looked like high schoolers. :) 

~ venice ~ 

venice was the most magical city i've ever visited. there are no roads or cars on the whole island, just canals and boats. 

there was an endless supply of sidewalk cafes, with cheap wine and gelato. i think we ate gelato every day! 

we did all the touristy things like san marco plaza, doge's palace, and the bridge of sighs, but we also loved exploring off the beaten path as well. 

a little back story on the engagement: my husband and i had been dating for 4 years when we went on this trip and a few people told me "you are totally going to get engaged," but i brushed it off. little did i know, thatcher had been putting together plans for a while. on our second night in venice, he took me on a long walk through the winding passageways of the city until finally we sat on the steps of a church overlooking the canal. we chatted for a bit then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. there were many happy tears as i said yes and put on my ring. such a fun story to share, even nearly 7 years later.

hope you enjoyed my post! have you  been to europe? what are your favorite destinations?