I am usually a good traveler.

I love to travel. Seeing new places, experiencing a new culture, meeting new people – this is the jam for me.

Most of the times the experiences I write about on the blog are pretty great because I’m on vacation and I’m doing cool things. (Note that I don’t write about the unexciting commute to work or my struggles of waking up and going to the gym.)

But since I really don’t want to lie to you and transparency is the hip thing these days, I will tell you the cold harsh truth: Andy and I sucked at Lyon. Like big time fail. Like Julia crying on a couch telling Andy they should never travel internationally together failure.

Yes, it was a quite dramatic moment in our marriage. #thetruthhurts

Of course, there were absolutely good times in Lyon and I am SO SO happy to share those with you because no one wants to read a depressing blog. But please know that we are aware we did not do the city of Lyon justice and this post should not be a reflection of the amazing times that are possible in Lyon.

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It all started in London and I blame Ben.

Okay, sorry sorry, I just wanted to blame someone. It wasn’t really Ben’s fault, but it did all start in London.

On our last day in London we went on this awesome hike. However, the awesome hike was directly in the sun all day and let’s just say we had a little sunblock issue (read between the lines: we did not put on enough sunblock).

Andy got burnt on his arms and legs. I was good on my upper body, but my legs? They were fried. Worse than a campfire. Worse than a smoked lobster. Worse than any sunburn I have EVER experienced before.

Almost just as bad was the anticipated disappointment from Mama Fiorio. For those of you who are unaware, my mother is a sunblock queen. Even Andy puts sunblock on every once in a while because my mom just nags us into it. So when I messed up this bad by not putting on sunblock, I felt an immediate need to confess…like I said, I’m really bad at being deceitful.

Needless to say, traveling to Lyon the next day was horrible. Andy was RADIATING heat from his sunburn to the point where he was constantly sweating. I was in so much pain that I couldn’t do anything without a stabbing sensations. Things like going to the bathroom (you have to pull down your pants/underwear to your legs), sleeping (no position is comfortable when your entire legs are burnt) and generally walking (my sunburn was pulling on my skin to the point of throbbing pain) were the biggest struggles.

Oh and did I mention I didn’t bring any pants with me to Europe and Lyon is super sunny and hot?

Ah, you are now seeing how this is a recipe for disaster. But let me add one more ingredient to the mix.

Lyon does not believe in air conditioning. Or fans. Or just a general cool temperature. Which is quite a problem because Andy already needs to sleep with the temperature at below 70 degrees. So add a sunburn on top of no air conditioning and life was just miserable.

Queue Julia crying.

Let me speed up the rest of this story for you:

• Our AirBnb did not have air conditioning
• There was no way Andy was able to sleep without air conditioning
• We called several hotels to find any hotel that had both availability and air conditioning
• We paid an absurd amount of money (it was the World Cup semifinals…) for a hotel room with “air conditioning.” Except “air conditioning” in Lyon is not the same as the US. The room did not feel cool at all and there was no cross breeze at all from the window
• Julia ended up with sun poisoning (headache, nausea, chills, dizziness) and had to stay in the hotel with a borrowed fan blowing on her. Andy was too scared to leave her for fear she would take a turn for the worse
• Yaaaay for a super fun vacation in a foreign city!! Just the way to spend your time off from work! (No, I’m not bitter at all….lolz I’m super bitter)

Alas, before you start to take pity on us, know that all was not bad. We really did have some great experiences in Lyon and for these moments I am so thankful. 🙏🙏🙏 So cheers to the good times and remember: ALWAYS WEAR SUNBLOCK!!!

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1. Museum of Printing (Musee de l’imprimerie):

We did something touristy!!! Look at us go!!! Just going to pat myself on the back over here 👏👏👏

But really, after all of our sunburn struggles, the fact that we made it out of the hotel was a straight miracle. I love museums and Andy (being the sweet husband he is) tried to bribe me to leave the hotel by saying we could go to ANY museum that I chose.

His bribe worked.

And that’s how we ended up at an obscure museum on printing.

Do you know why the press (as in journalists) is called the press? Well, it all stems back to the printing press. The printing press, the machine used to make/copy papers, was named that based on the mechanics of the machine…aka you are standing up and have to PRESS down in order to PRINT papers. Viola! The printing press is born and so is our aptly named journalism/media entourage.

In case you were ever wondering about how mass printing got started…Gutenberg (a German) was the first person to successfully develop a method for mass printing in Europe. Around the 1450’s, Gutenberg introduced his method. His technique was essentially to take metal letters (as opposed to wooden) to make words, add ink and then press down on them with a lot of weight so the words transfer to a piece of paper (kind of like a fancy stamp or a trace).

The museum also spent a lot of time talking about the role of the press throughout the centuries – from constant oversight in the 17th century to battles against political regimes in the 19th century. Sometimes I feel like we, in America, take our freedom of press for granted and don’t fully appreciate the boundaries that journalists push to share information with us. It was super interesting pairing the role of journalism with the technological innovations/advancements of printing…even when the technology was available, there was often resistance from governments or churches to implement and use the technology.

And on a more random note, there was a picture of Ernest Hemingway’s Key West house in the museum! Since this is where my last cousin (Livia) had gotten married, we determined a picture was needed 🙂

Now, in full disclosure, the problem with this museum is that it was not super english friendly. Most of the exhibits had an english translation, but not all. The museum workers barely spoke english and since Andy and I speak ZERO french it was a bit of a struggle (although, let it be known that we did make Cati and JB teach us how to say the important things such as “Aloe Vera”, “Chocolate Croissant” and “Bathroom.”).

Even with the language difficulties, the museum staff certainly wanted to make sure we were having a good time. On the day that we arrived, the museum happened to be having an interactive demonstration on how to use an old printing machine. They told us it was happening, but mentioned that it would only be in french. Andy and I decided that we would skip the demonstration and just spend time walking through the museum. All of a sudden, as we are walking through the museum, the woman from the ticket counter comes running upstairs and gesturing at us.

Now, I might not speak french, but I am quite fluent in non-verbal communication and the message was loud and clear: Follow her downstairs and we needed to do it FAST.

Of course, the fast part of the message I got because this woman was legitimately running down the stairs. I don’t know if she was skipping steps or what, but I have never felt so slow in my life. I wanted to explain that my sunburn was crippling my ability to be speedy, but that was well above my grasp of the french language.

So we just kept on running (or fast hobbling in my case) after the woman. She takes us to where the printing demonstration is already going on, opens the door, shoves us inside and says something to the guide in french. Everyone in the room stops what they are doing to stare at us. Oh hey, don’t mind us two Americans just chilling in the back here. Nope, wasn’t awkward at all.

And so it turns out that Andy and I were going to the printing demonstration after all.

The demonstration was all in french, but I was able to pick up on a few things:

• To use the printing machine (VERY unclear what time frame this machine is from) you have to write everything upside down and backwards for it to show up correctly when you print it
• You add color to the paper in advance of having any words printed on it
• The machine is harder to use that it looks

Yeah and that was about it! BUT we did get to make our own papers with different designs and words which was really neat.

Andy chose a soccer design (how appropriate) and I chose a Rosie the Riveter design. Look how beautiful our final products were!! (These may or may not have been hanging on our fridge back home for the last six months…)

2. La Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière:

On impulse, after our trip to the museum, I pointed at a pretty church on one of the tourist maps we received and said that I wanted to go there. It didn’t look that far, but when we plugged it in to google maps it was a good 40 minute walk. Turns out this church is seemingly on top of a mountain (potentially a slight exaggeration…but how can I be married to Andy without adding some serious hype to my life? 😂😂), so we decided to take public transportation. Pro top: You should 100% not walk to the basilica and should use the funicular railway to get to there instead!

(Minor side note: Public Transportation in Lyon is amazing. The #1 thing that Andy said he would bring back to the US (besides delicious espressos of course) is the efficient and functioning public transportation system that exists in France. I was truly impressed with how timely, easy and vast Lyon’s public transportation was. All around good job to Lyon!)

Our impulse decision to go to the basilica was a great choice (I know…we finally made a good choice while in Lyon!!). Not only was the basilica beautiful, but the views of the city were glorious.

Interestingly, the basilica is the only church in France that is owned by the city and not by the state or by the church.

The basilica was built by the city to honor and praise Mary, who saved the city from the plague in the mid 1600’s as well as from other bad events (e.g. cholera in the 1800’s.) There is even a golden statue of Mary overlooking the city of Lyon.

3. Traditional Lyon Dinner:

When we told our cousins that we were going to Lyon, they told us to make sure and eat some traditional lyonaise food. Apparently, Lyon is the capital of gastronomy in France (aka they seriously pride themselves on their food) and have several top rated restaurants in the city.

Although most of our time in the city was spent doing World Cup related activities, we wanted to make sure we had at least one night to eat a proper lyonaise meal. So Andy and I did what we do best: googled “food near us” and chose the restaurant with the highest stars which ended up being a place called “Notre Maison.”

PRAISE JESUS, GOOGLE DID NOT LET US DOWN!!!!!!

Notre Maison is a hole in the wall restaurant that somehow manages to fit tables for thirty or so people in a room the size of our living room. The restaurant is located in a part of town that is a bit off the beaten path from tourists and seems to have more locals than visitors (which was a rarity given the influx of tourists for the world cup).

They specialize in food that all comes from pig…but like the super weird parts of pigs (think: pig foot, pig stomach, etc.). We chose to get their three course meal (for 29 euros each) which was WAY too much food. However, it was well worth it to try all the different options.

In conclusion: our meal was out of this world and the restaurant atmosphere/staff couldn’t have been better. I would HIGHLY recommend making a stop here if you find yourself in Lyon. However, please do make a reservation in advance! Unless you happened to arrive exactly as they opened (like we did) you will be turned away without a reservation.

And of course, how could you end the night without a nutella crepe made from a random street vendor?? 🙂

Sighhhh…I seriously miss my freshly made nutella crepes.

4. World Cup Semi-finals:

Am I allowed to say that the world cup semi-finals was kind of meh? I know that sounds terrible and I should really have had the time of my life butttt you know I don’t like to sugarcoat the truth:

• The game in itself was really lame. The US was playing England and neither team played well. It did not feel like it was the semi-finals of a world cup. On top of the mediocre playing, it was a really slow game. All three goals happened within the first 30 minutes and, after that, about zero action.
• Our seats were in quite possibly the worst location ever. We bought our tickets as soon as they went on sale and spent extra money to not be in the lowest pricing bracket. However, that didn’t seem to work in our favor. We were in the very last row of the stadium, in a far corner and our view was obstructed by netting.

  

  

• Getting to and from the stadium was a disaster. Lyon (as a city) did their best to be prepared, but there was no way they were truly ready for the influx of people going to the game. The shuttles they had leaving from the city center were so crowded that we were being directed to get on the metro going the opposite direction to take a different bus to the stadium. Although we did eventually get there, getting home was even worse. You were slammed on top of people the entire way and it took forever. I think we spent about an hour and a half trying to get home after the game when it is usually about thirty minutes.

  

• THERE WAS NO HYPE AT ALL DURING THE GAME!!! I learned a very important lesson while being in Lyon for the World Cup: America shows up in numbers, but we do not show up in spirit. We do not have any single unifying chant (besides U-S-A) and this was never more evident than at the semi-finals game in which it was practically silent. I scream more at my TV when I watch at home, then I did while in the stadium watching the semi-finals.
• On top of all of this, we were still sunburnt beyond belief and it was quite hot in the stadium.

  

Okay, okay…enough of all this complaining. There were some definitely good parts as well!

First, and foremost, WE WON!!!! USA IS GOING TO THE WORLD CUP FINALS AND WE ALREADY HAD TICKETS!!!!! Nothing is greater than that.

Second, just being there in person was a really unique experience. You can’t help but to feel like you somehow have an impact on the game by being there live as opposed to watching it from your couch.

They also had a really sick halftime show which I appreciated.

Third, we met some cool people. On the way to the game we spent our entire ride (an hour plus) with a man from Baltimore who’s wife was an assistant ref at the world cup! He had been in France for the better part of a month traveling to games and it was great to hear some of his stories. I learned way more than I ever knew about referring soccer at an elite level (in case you’re curious: it’s real hard and you need to be uber in shape).

We also ran into a couple that had customized “Equal Pay” world cup jerseys. As the pay discrepancy between our American women and men teams continues to be in the spotlight, it was great to see some representation at the actual world cup.

After the US semi-final, I suggested to Andy that we skip the second semi-final game the next day (Netherlands vs. Sweden). Ironically, it was a much better game that the US semi-final game, but I cannot express how nice it was to just be at a bar with drinks in hand! (Oh, did I forget to mention no alcohol is served in the stadium?!? Apparently, these European soccer fans get too rowdy when they drink, so soccer stadiums don’t serve alcohol to help limit fights and other disruptions. What a difference from the American way!)

5. World Cup Finals:

After our semi-finals adventure, we felt much more prepared to handle attending the world cup finals.

1. We bought face paint!! Well let me be a tad bit more accurate…we bought paint that was washable enough to come off your face with soap. Apparently, face paint is not as popular of a thing in France as it is in America. But did you know that face painting is actually really hard? It was not easy to paint attractive designs on someone’s face!! Especially when you don’t have an actual paintbrush so you’re only using your hand. So while we were very proud of our face paint, if anyone asked we mentioned that our nine-year old cousin did the decision – no one can judge a little kid!

   

2. We left SUPER early to get to the game. This is essential because (a) it allowed us to execute our sneaky plan (see #3 below), (b) we had no issue with crowds/traffic getting to the stadium and (c) we had time to take a ton of pictures around the stadium.

   

   

3. We found a way to get new seats. Soooo I had this brilliant (yet super sketchy plan) to get us in different seats. It all started when I was hawking tickets on Stub Hub for the game. That may sound weird because obviously we already had tickets, but our seats SUCKED and I did not want to experience the finals in those same seats. I thought that if other tickets weren’t too expensive we could buy new ones and sell our old ones.

But tickets were REALLY expensive. Like well over $500 per seat expensive (for comparison, we paid $100 each for tickets to three games). So clearly, that option was out.

This is where my new plan came into place: why not stalk Stub Hub to see what tickets are left at the beginning of the game and just sit in those seats since we know that they will be free? This went against all my natural inclinations of rule following, but I was desperate. Thankfully, Andy doesn’t believe in rules so he was all on board with this idea!

We found four open seats that were a couple of sections over from ours in the middle of the field and sat in two of them. I then began aggressively checking Stub Hub to see if the tickets got bought. Fifteen minutes after we sat down, a family of four sat in the seats next to me. The man pulled up his phone and showed me the seat numbers, saying “I think you’re in our seats.”

Even though my heart was pounding (who likes confrontation?!), the problem was that he was just showing me a screenshot of the seat numbers, not actual tickets. Obviously, I realized he had the same thought as me and I wasn’t about to give up my great seats to someone else who was doing the same thing, but just got there later! So I (politely) told him that these two were our seats, but that no one was sitting in the two next to us if he wanted to sit there. He didn’t argue and after a few minutes got up and left. SCORE ONE FOR TEAM JULIA & ANDY!

To be honest, the next 25 minutes waiting for the game to start was soooo stressful. I kept checking my phone to see if the tickets were bought because the seller kept lowering the price of the tickets. Two (out of the four) tickets were bought so we moved over to leave those seats empty. A girl with her grandfather showed up not long after. Then right as the game was starting, the tickets disappeared from the site. I was soooo upset!!! We had gotten so close, but alas we would have to head back to our dingy seats.

Except, the weird thing is that no one ever showed up to claim the seats. I kept waiting and watching, but by half time Andy and I finally agreed that the seats were just going to be left vacant and we should enjoy ourselves. While it was an overall stress inducing process, it was definitely one of the best decisions we made in Lyon!

Beyond our seats, the game in itself had a much better vibe to it than the semi-finals. USA was playing Netherlands and although we were the clear favorite, we could not get the ball in the net. At the end of the first half, it was tied 0-0.

I would like to take this time to re-point out that America MUST step up our game when it comes to country spirit. Americans took up about 90% of the stadium, but you would never have been able to tell that by listening. The Netherlands fans were out of this world! Somehow they smuggled in a legitimate band set and had drums and horns to accompany them on their chants. And these are not just your average chants. Oh no, not even close. There were at least 7-8 different changes, all several minutes long and many of them had specific response and answer portions. I don’t know how the Netherlands did it, but I swear they must have sent a group text out to the whole country because EVERYONE was on the same page. It was actually pretty impressive.

But back to the game…around 15 minutes in to the second half Alex Morgan was fouled in the box which has the potential to completely change the game if a penalty kick is awarded. In the audience we should be ecstatic that the tide might be changing for us soon, right?

EXCEPT WE ARE KEPT IN COMPLETE DARKNESS!

There are no “replays” or “slow-motion” or “rules analysts” when you watch from the stadium! You are just stuck waiting on pins and needles trying to remember what you saw for a split second and hoping it is enough for a penalty kick. I swear, its like someone in FIFA gets a kick out of keeping 60,000 people on the verge of a heart attack.

After what felt like an eternity, the referee awarded a penalty kick. Megan Rapinoe took the shot for the USA and WE SCORED! Officially on the board with 1-0.

Not long after, Rose Lavelle scored an AMAZING goal from her spot in the midfield and made the score 2-0.

At this point the stadium was going wild. I had never seen so many happy people in one place in my life.

The USA held it out for the last 25 minutes or so until they officially became world cup champions!!!!! The whole purpose of our trip to France had been achieved!! Next up: 2020 Olympics!!

We did not stay for the award ceremony. I know, I know…this probs makes me a bad American (I take full blame, Andy was all about staying). However, after having an empty bus ride in which we actually got seats, I regret nothing!

6. The City of Lights:

On a bit of a different note, Lyon in a wonderful place to walk around in. The architecture of the buildings and the quaintness of the streets makes you want to photograph everything!

One of the best parts about Lyon is that at night, the entire city lights up! Okay, okay, maybe not the entire city…but pretty close! Somewhere around 350 monuments and sites across the city light up and it is BEAUTIFUL.

On our last night in Lyon, Andy and I wandered along the river until the lights came on and it was such a perfect way to spend some time in the evening.

I would definitely recommend spending an evening walking downtown if you are visiting Lyon – well worth it!

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General Culture Thought: As a parting thought, I feel the need to comment on the whole bathroom situation in France. In America, we having all these bathroom wars about who is allowed in what bathroom and what kind of message that sends.

Meanwhile in France, they give ZERO CARES about who uses which bathroom. Multiple times I walked into a bathroom and there was a urinal or stall for a male and a stall for a female, yet we both used the same bathroom. Multiple times I saw women using the men’s rooms and men using the women’s rooms. Nobody cared and while it seemed strange to me at first, let me tell you how much more efficient and easy it was.

So let’s all chill out and let people just be without stressing about this gender stuff. And maybe the lines for the women’s bathroom will shrink too 🙂

Oh, and final final parting thought: GO USA!!!! So proud of our women for killing it out there and representing our country! Thanks Lyon for hosting!