Our 9 day trip was concluded by a weekend spent in Nice, France. It was extraordinary! Nice sits on the coast of France and below the French mountains. We arrived in the afternoon and spent some time walking on the beach before checking into our AirBnB. Though it was not warm enough to go swimming, the weather was perfect to take a walk in. That night our friend Rachael made a reservation at the Hard Rock Cafe. I had never been to one before and was at first skeptical because I wanted to eat some French food. However, I have never been so excited to eat a burger and fries than I was on this day. I realized how much I missed American food so that night was a special treat. Afterwards, we spent hours sitting on the beach talking and enjoying the beautiful moonlight. Since Saturday was our only full day in Nice, we decided to split up our time between Monaco and Nice. We Ubered to Monaco in the morning because we could not understand the french ticket machine at the train station. We were dropped off at the famous Monaco Casino and the staff waiting outside burst out laughing once they saw that 5 American college girls were spending their day in this lavish city. Apparently we stand out in every country in Europe. This city was amazing! There were beautiful designer shops, a harbor full of huge yachts, all the expensive sports cars you could ever think of, and amazing food. We spent a majority of our time walking around in Monaco but we enjoyed getting to have a coffee next to the yacht club and later having sushi in a hip place. We figured out the train on the way back to Nice and then we headed to the beach to watch the sunset. We walked along the beach until we got to their Carnival celebration. It was similar to a fair here with lots of activities, yummy food, and many people. We then wined and dined at a seaside restaurant with typical french food for appetizers. After eating snacks we decided we should have macaroons before dinner. We found a local bakery with the most amazing macaroons I have every had. They melted in your mouth and they had just the perfect flavors. Finally, to finish our night we headed back to the ocean to eat at another seaside restaurant. Our trip was too short to Nice and Monaco and we were very sad to leave the next morning.
To say goodbye to our new getaway spot, we spent some time sitting on the beach and watching the waves come in. It was the perfect end to our travel week.
0 Comments
Our next leg of our adventure was the amazing city on water—Venice! This city looked just like it does in the movies or in pictures. The city sits more than 100 small islands in a lagoon. There are no roads what-so-ever and the streets are so narrow. We got lost several times, but it was the perfect city to do so. When we arrived, we had to take a water bus to get closer to our airbnb. However, it still took us over an hour to find our apartment because we got lost and had to drag our heavy luggage across the cobblestone roads and bridges. Everywhere we went people were still laughing at the silly American girls as well tried to haul all of our belongings through the tiny streets. The city had a gothic feel, like we were in a romantic, old time movie. Our Airbnb was quite the experience! Since Venice is such an old city, our power kept going out and it was a little scary. We would have to walk downstairs and switch the backup generator on in the pitch black when it would go out. It always happened when we would use any of the kitchen appliances. One night it took us 2.5 hours to cook some veggies for dinner because the power went out so many times. Needless to say, it was another funny memory to add to our experience! We mainly did three things during our trip: get lost, shop, and eat all the yummy Italian food. Since the streets were so windy, we would wander through them and look at all the adorable hole-in-the-wall shops. About every 5ft there was a leather shop with purses, gloves, hats, and shoes. There were also several authentic Italian restaurants which all tasted delicious! Venice was an old city so it was amazing to see some of the historic buildings. One of my favorite places to see was the central square around St. Mark’s Basilica. The church was so beautifully detailed with statues of the apostles in gold stretched across the alter. My very favorite part of this trip was taking a Gondola ride in the afternoon while we listened to our driver Alan sing in Italian to us. It was so serine on the water as we just slowly floated along. Venice truly looks like the set of a movie—it was dreamy and unlike something I will see again in my lifetime. I think I am officially in love with the country of Italy! Rome is so different from the United States, I have truly never experienced a place with so much history and rich culture. Every corner we turned, there were stone buildings covered in details. I felt like I was in a movie! Since the moment we arrived Italy, everyone was very kind to us even though people still laughed, pointed and said Americans under their breath in Italian just like we’ve experienced in Spain. Between my friend Molly and I, they must know from the blonde hair, blue eyes, and loud personalities that we are American girls.
Besides looking like absolute tourists, we got to experience authentic Italy. After our long day of travel we decided to go to a famous mom and pop restaurant in the city. The pasta was INCREDIBLE! There was a sweet, little Italian woman who sat in the window of the restaurant hand rolling the pasta everyone ate. I have a gluten intolerance but I made a wise sacrifice to feel a bit sick for this delicious pasta I probably would’ve only had once in my life. That night we explored the streets of Rome where we heard live music, saw about 50 Gelatarias and many beautiful shops. The next morning we woke up early and were in full tourist mode. We started the day with a guided tour of the Colosseum which was worth every penny. I learned so much not only about the beautiful arena but the Roman culture too. This was one of the first Arenas in the world where people would come to watch sporting events. They had an average of 65,000 spectators that would come to watch prisoners fight animals. Hearing about it all was very disturbing but it was also interesting to learn about how they ran all of the events. The Romans were incredible architects and they very innovative. Within the arena that they built in only 10 years, they created manual elevators to lift the animals from the lowest level, bathrooms for spectators, and even stores for people to purchase meals during the events. This was all from 72-80 AD!! On our first day we also got to awe at the beauty of the Spanish Steps, the Roman Forum, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the Via Condotti shopping district, and the Altera della Patria. To keep us fueled the entire day, we stopped for gelato and coffee twice. We were exhausted after our long day so we decided it would be fun to cook in our cute Italian flat we stayed in. Our night in was so much fun and refreshing. On our second day in Rome we took a visit to Vatican City to see the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and meet the Pope. (just kidding we did not do that). The museum was astonishing! There were paintings of stories from Scripture of the Bible everywhere surrounded by gold ceilings and marble floors. My favorite part of the day was walking into the Sistine Chapel where everyone was quietly standing mesmerized by the real life paintings created by Michael Angelo. He truly had a gift! There were interpretations of Biblical stories such as the fall, David and Goliath, the last supper, the resurrection and my favorite (his most famous painting) the Creation of Man. There was too much to see in Rome for what little time we had, but we sure did cover a lot of ground. I will most definitely be returning to Rome for a trip to see more. Ciao! For our first weekend as a group in Spain, we decided to explore more of what Barcelona had to offer. After we ended school on Friday, we headed to the train station and made our way to Barcelona. We arrived at about 8:30 and the town was very lively. Barcelona is so active at night—there were people everywhere! After getting settled in our hotel we went to a cute, little Italian restaurant across the street. It was very authentic and the portions were huge compared to the other portions we had received at our other meals in Spain. The first night was a success! The next day we woke up early to get a big breakfast in so we could be fueled for our busy itinerary. We began at Casa Mila, a famous stone building built in the early 1900s. There were many tourists but we most definitely stood out the most. Everywhere we walked people would stare at our group either because two of us have blonde hair or we we were loud Americans. Truth be told, it probably was a little bit of both.
After snapping a few pictures of the beautiful architecture, we went to see La Sagrada Familia. It was the most incredible church I have ever seen! Looking at this church made me wonder how human hands could possibly build such a structure. The church has been in the process of being built since 1882 but has been interrupted by civil wars and various issues with fundings. They are still completing the construction and the current architects believe it will be finished in the year 2026—over a century later than when they started. Next on our itinerary was seeing the town square on our way to shopping. In the center of Barcelona there are many restaurants, shops, two breath-taking fountains and a square where people can hang out. While we were visiting, there was a group of people who were swing dancing in the square. I joined in on the fun and I felt like a local! The best part of this day was shopping in the center of Barcelona. Compared to the United States, everything here was so cheap! I got nice boots for 19Euros which is equivalent to $21 US dollars! Not only did they have great deals on clothes and shoes, but they also have high fashion items. Since this is a once in a lifetime trip, I took this once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase some European fashion while the prices were so low. You could say this day was successful! Though Saturday was incredible, my favorite part of our trip was on Sunday morning. We woke up before sunrise and climbed to the top of a lookout spot called "Los Bunkers de Carmel" or Carmel Bunkers in English. The view was astonishing! We watched the sunrise over all of Barcelona with a view of the ocean. I loved this moment because the city was still and we got to peacefully awe in God's beautiful creation. Barcelona was a dream come true but we couldn't wait to get back to our small town to teach again. This trip was a teaser for our weeklong trip this upcoming week! Follow along on my blog to stay updated with my travels! Today consisted of a traditional Spanish breakfast with fresh meats, cheeses, homemade bread and lots of fresh fruits. It was incredible! The two other women in our group arrived that morning and we headed to the train station to get to Vic. Between the five of us, we were carrying a total of ten suitcases and five backpacks through the train station. We got many strange looks from the locals because our American was definitely showing. Luckily, one of our supervisors who came along with us is fluent in Spanish so she was able to navigate for us through the city. As you can see from the photo above, we played a game of Phase 10 to pass the time until our train arrived. Once we arrived in Vic we had to walk up the hill to our place of stay with all of our luggage for almost a mile. It was chilly and exhausting but a funny memory to have.
The town of Vic is small and located in the country hillside of Spain. From our room we can see the mountains and the sweet little town square. Tonight we will explore the city and get acquainted with our new little city! I am very excited for tomorrow when we head to all of our schools and meet with our cooperating teachers and new students. Keep following my page for more updates! We arrived in Barcelona on February 2nd and took a taxi to our hotel in the heart of the city. After getting settled we explored to get us moving after our long travels. We walked around Park Guell and took some amazing pictures of the view from the hilltop of the Mediterranean Sea. Our first dinner in the city was a local spot on the ocean called La Fonda Del Port Olimpic. There was fresh sea food and even a live accordion player with dancing. We had so much fun that day but after walking a total of eight miles and traveling for fourteen hours you could say we all slept pretty well.
|
Archives |