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Catching up with Chloe Kiefer
January 05, 2012 | Women's Soccer
Jan. 5, 2012
After completing the 2011 season and closing out her fall semester, Louisville goalkeeper Chloe Kiefer took a two-week trip to Europe. Below is her recap of the trip and some of what she experienced.
Greetings From Abroad!
Hello Louisville! Chloe Kiefer here recapping a nice little two-week vacation abroad. I was lucky to have my exams finished soon enough this year to have the chance to fly out to Italy to visit my friend who is studying in Rome for the semester. I arrived in Rome in the beginning of December and was greeted with weather in the 60's. Being from Wisconsin, this was obviously a heat wave for me, especially for this time of year. However, the culture of Italians, specifically in Rome, is to wear pants and down coats. Not wanting to stick out like a sore thumb, I had to try and look as little like a tourist as I could, which meant spending most of the trip sweating in pants and a coat.
I spent the first half of the trip in Rome, and the second half in London. While enjoying my time in Rome, I was fortunate enough to experience the Roman Colosseum. We were too late to get in for a tour of the interior, but we took our time observing the exterior. The outside was enough to observe for plenty of time. It was so great in size, yet there was a sort of peaceful feeling around it knowing it has been preserved since 72 AD (Wikipedia - Don't want to get in trouble for citing incorrectly!). We then spent some time strolling through the Roman ruins observing many ancient battle cites and even Caesar's place of death. Dining in the Roman ruins was certainly an experience. The buildings in all of Rome were so beautiful and unlike anything I'm used to seeing in America.
My next stop was the Vatican. I was lucky enough to get in for a three-hour tour, which believe it or not, was hardly enough time. This was the highlight of my trip. The tour guide took our group room by room through the Vatican. The detail that each painting and sculpture in the Vatican possessed was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Upon entering the Sistine Chapel, I was immediately overtaken by an even stronger spiritual feeling than I had felt being in the Vatican City. The room itself wasn't too big, but still felt overwhelmingly immaculate. I could have spent over an hour in that room alone. The last stop of the tour was St. Peter's Basilica, which was also obviously a sight to see. The church was so beautiful and peaceful wall to wall. It's definitely something everyone should get to experience at least once in their life!
Onto London! London had a much hipper, more American feel to it than Rome did. Everybody also dressed very chic and was quite good looking; the accents didn't take much getting used to either! We were lucky to find a decent hotel in a very nice part of London. We stayed in Kensington, surrounded by streets and streets of million pound flats right by Notting Hill! The homes were quaint and old Victorian looking, and stayed so well maintained. Our first step on English soil was far from the cobblestone roads we were used to in Rome. All of the cabs and phone booths in London were old-fashion just like the ones I've seen in movies and pictures; it was so cool! Our first stop was at the Big Ben Clock. Sundown was much earlier than we were used to, so by the time we got to Big Ben the sun was setting. The sun reflecting off of the tower made it all the more beautiful. Pictures I have previously seen of the clock have not done Big Ben nearly enough justice. Seeing it in person and how big it really is, especially connected to the surrounding Houses of Parliament -- which are also beautiful -- shows how truly special the tower itself is.
Right around the corner from Big Ben was Westminster Abbey. Like most of the other tourist hot spots we visited, it was packed with photographers and had people swarming it. Westminster Abbey was also so immaculate and intricate with its design in entirety; it too was a jaw-dropping site to see. The London Eye was on the other side of the bridge away from these monumental places. The bridge had a beautiful enough view, so we did not go take a ride on the London Eye. While we were in London, we also took a day to enjoy Hyde Park and Kensington Palace where Princess Diana lived. It was easy to spend a day walking around it because it covered so much space. Since it was the Christmas season, they even had a Winter Wonderland Carnival taking place on the property. We then took a day to just walk around and soak up the streets of London. We visited Harrods department store to stock up on little gifts to put under the Christmas tree for the family! The main reason for our trip to London, however, was to see Coldplay in concert at The O2 Arena. It was an amazing concert, and although we had seen them perform live four times prior to this, this was by far the best show!
It was a wonderful trip, not all the highlights happened in Europe though! I was happy to be interrupted numerous times throughout my trip to be notified of postseason honors that were received by Chelsea Hunter, Christine Exeter, and of course Karen Ferguson-Dayes ("Fergie"), which brought back many amazing memories of what an amazing and special season we had this year!
Go Cards!
Chloe
