The Final Count Down

Arrivederla my sweet Italia! Only three more days of class and then 3 days of exams before I say goodbye for now to Italy. Monday we didn't have class because it was still part of Easter Holiday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning were our last day of classes and then Thursday afternoon through Saturday morning we had our final exams. Then it's the start of summer vacation for me!

Tuesday night was our last formal dinner and I thought the food was by far the best. During the dinner there was a slide show running recapping all of our CIMBA travels. After the dinner we had a mini CIMBA prom with a DJ which was really fun. Guys were taking their dress shirts off and crowd surfing, a few of the professors showed us some moves and I shagged the night away. Good thing first thing Wednesday morning I had a final presentation to give for two of my professors who were at the dinner. It went very smooth though, no worries. I even booked my flight home! Yep, I waited until almost 2 weeks before I needed to be home to book my flight. I was trying to delay the inevitable because I refused to accept reality.

Now onto the ever dreaded Thursday...I had two classes in the morning and then my first exam at 5:15 that afternoon, plus I had to finish planning my post-program travels. Friday I had two exams plus packing and then Saturday I had two more exams, mote packing and we had to be checked out by 2pm. After our last meal of pasta with red sauce Saturday afternoon we all rushed to finish packing and say goodbye because the first two buses were leaving for the airport at 1:00 and 1:45. Most people were staying after to travel for about a week, a good number of us planned to spend our fist night of summer vacation in Venice before we all split and the rest were going straight home.

83 days later there we were all standing outside in sleepy little Paderno Del Grappa saying goodbye. Of course it is another over cast day so Mt. Grappa was no where to be seen. Typical. It almost felt like the last day of summer camp accept there was no "see you next summer!" being yelled out. For some people it was "see you at home," or "see you in the fall," but for me it was "I'll see you when I see you." Of course I will see a good number of people as we all finish traveling around Europe but for the majority of the people there that will be the last time I ever see them. For me it wasn't a sad goodbye at all. It was more of a "thanks for the memories, it was fun" type of moment.

At 4 my travel group and I headed off to Venice for the night. Back to the city where it all started. I had never actually seen the city in the daylight and our train to Vienna didn't leave until 9:05pm Sunday so I was very excited to get going despite the end of the semester

Chasing the Sun

Yay 4 day weekend! As excited as I am about a 4 day weekend I am also really sad that it is our last weekend before the semester ends. For our bitter sweet celebration we chased the sun down to the Amalfi Coast on Thursday. When we got there Thursday night we put our stuff down at the hostel and headed straight out toward city center. At some point we turned down a side street and found an empty pizzeria, so we went in. The two guys working there were young Italian guys who were eager to show some Americans a good time. Pasquale, the 19 year old waiter started making drinks for us mixing gin and beer, corona and tequila, beer and vodka, etc. They also made us some fried eggplant and mozzarella along with deep fried grilled cheese. Yum! So basically that we our first night in Sorrento.

Friday we had a private boat tour planned leaving from Sorrento, where we were staying, to Capri and back. It left at 9:30, stopped at Capri for about 2 hours before heading back to the harbor around 5. A cab picked us up from the hostel and took us down to the harbor where we met our Captain and Bruno, the first mate. It was a beautiful 40' boat just big enough for our crowd of 7 plus 5 other girls who are studying in Barcelona. It was already warming up nicely when we headed out to Caprie which was nice because all 7 of us wore our bathing suits. Finally my bathing suit got to see a little sunshine and salt water!!! Even though there was rain in the forecast we still managed to all get a little color. We cruised around the Sorrento coast line toward Capri and stopped in a few places so we could see the many grottos between the rocks. From the boat we also had a really great view of Mt. Vesuvius!! At one point, near the ruins of an old Roman aqueduct we decided to swim. We jumped off the back of the boat and into the ice cold water. I only went in twice simply to say that I swam in the Mediterranean. I needed to lay in the sun for a good while to bring up my body temperature. We cruised around the island of Capri near these famous rocks. One has an arch way under it so naturally we went through it. At one point we anchored the boat to swim but I was too content laying in the sun to even move far enough to take pictures. I have learned that sometimes you just have to put down the camera and take it all in for yourself because no matter how hard you try a camera can't capture the moment as well as a memory can. We also made our way over the the famous Blue Grotto which, as luck would have it, was closed due to the high tide. The only way to get in was to swim through so there went everyone but me, swimming into the grotto. I do not like cold water and the swim was far to long for me to pretend to grin and bear it the whole way there. I do not regret my decision to say in the boat. About the time the 6 of them made it to the entrance a tourist boat came by and everyone started taking pictures of the silly Americans who were swimming as well as the 6 of us who were on the boat. It was kind of comical!

We made it to Capri around 2 and got off to walk around the city. It's pretty small but very exciting. I was surprised by the amount of high-end retail shops that were there. The number of tourist however was no real surprise. We got some gelato, took pictures, met Americans and then went back to the boat at 4:30 to finish the cruise. On the way back I asked Bruno if I could take the wheel for a bit and he had no problem handing it over. He told me where to go and left me to it for about 15 minutes. I was loving it!!! When we got back to the harbor in Sorrento a can was waiting for us to take us back to the hostel. We hated to leave especially after such an awesome day but we were all getting a little burned and hungry so back to the main land we went. For dinner Julia, Ross and I found a restaurant near the main square and had a great pizza and tiramisu. Of course, when in Southern Italy, we got complementary limoncello shots with the check. At 8:30 in the street Sorrento has two processions for Easter. There was one Thursday night, the Procession of Our Lady of Sorrows and then Friday, the Procession of the Crucified Christ. It went all the way around the city and then finished back at the church around 11. It was very cool to see and a nice Italian man explained the history and significance of the procession. We watched it leave from the church, grabbed a few drinks and then watched it come back into the city and enter the church before heading back to the hostel.

Saturday we took the bus from Sorrento to the town of Amalfi for a few hours. The road to Amalfi is carved out of the side of the cliffs and its a straight drop down into the water so that part was kind of scary. There is not much to do or see in Amalifi on a rainy day other than a cool church. We all bought some bottles of limoncello and looked at some tiles that are native to the region. Julia and I had our afternoon glass of vino rosso before going back to Sorrento. Dinner was probably the best part of the day because we went to a mozzarella bar and had a mozzarella platter and focaccia bread for dinner. It was SO GOOD and actually pretty filling. The night ended back at Pasquale's pizzeria, he actually closed early just so he could hang out with us so that was nice.

Sunday was a lot more exciting and had better weather. Despite it being Easter Sunday there were actually a lot of people out and shops open when Julia and I left for Pompeii! I was really hoping to have the chance to go to Rome for Easter or at least go to mass but obviously neither one of those worked in my favor. That's alright, I'll have something to come back for! Anyway, Pompeii was awesome. We walked through the ruins for about 3 hours and enjoyed the last bit of sunshine we will see before going back to Northern Italy. It was cool to see everything I had learned about in my high school laying class. I knew I would get something out of 4 years of Cober's lessons! Some of the mosaics and frescoes were actually very well preserved but I was surprised by the lack of "restrictions" in Pompeii. The only think that separated me from the ruins was a worn down piece of caution tape or a rickety wooden gate. I could have easily stepped over and there was no once there to enforce the rules, but I still obeyed them. Toward the end of the day we headed to the Napoli airport for our flight back to Venice. The trains had stopped running by the time we landed and the cab rides that were outside were so expensive so we called our Italian Dad who is also the owner of the Pizzeria to come pick us up. It was a long weekend and I was happy to come home a day early and have all day Monday to study for exams. I also needed that Monday to book a flight home to the USofA and make my travel plans in between....

Il mio giornata molto Italiano

So today I realized how short my time left in Italy is and how much there is still left to do in my town. My 10:20 class was canceled for whatever reason so I decided that instead of sitting in my room and doing homework I would go to Alpina which is a café 3 minutes from campus. I ordered a cappuccino and a breakfast pastry and worked on homework up until lunch. It was so nice to just sit in an Italian café for a while and I cannot believe that I had never taken advantage of it before.

The rest of my day when on like usual until 3 pm. Anthony and I had decided to walk to the next town over which is about a 15 minute walk. There we got some gelato despite the now freezing temperature. The sun has consistently failed to shine this week and will do so throughout all of Italy during out Easter weekend… But we still enjoyed it and as usual I got nutella flavored gelato because it is easily my favorite. Tiramisu is a close second though, followed by a strawberry and lemon mix. After gelato we walked the next street over to the wine bar. There are a lot of vineyards in Northern Italy near campus so many of them will open up smaller stores or bars in town where you can actually by the bottles. At this particular one you can bring an empty plastic bottle, like a water bottle, and they will fill it up for you. It is usually about 1.70€ for a liter and a half where as a bottle with their label can go from 5€ to 9.50 €! Between Anthony and me, we got 3 bottles for tonight because it is our last night out at the pizzeria before the program ends. Around 4:30 Anthony went to get a haircut and I headed back to campus because team Let’s Get Weird had our last LEAP coaching session followed by dinner at 5. Dinner is the next part of my very Italian day…

There is a hotel, Hotel Monte Grappa, about a 3 minute drive from campus. They are known for having great pasta because, of course, it is handmade. So that is where the 9 of us went for dinner. The pasta was SO good, much better than the boxed stuff that we get on campus. I’m not even really sure what mine was but it is quite possibly one of the best pasta dishes I have ever had! While we were eating dinner a group of professors came in for dinner, one of which was my marketing teacher who is the best teacher I have ever had. When we were leaving he came up to us and asked him to help him with a prank he wanted to pull on the class. He had heard that everyone was going to the Pizzeria and so he asked us to spread the word when we went that he was going to give a pop quiz in class the next morning at 8:25. Obviously he was kidding but boy was it a good prank! People were panicking and some people even tried to study for it, but we have been giving presentations for the past 3 days so what they tried to study exactly, I don’t know….

Next and final part of my day: Al Sole. Like I said before, it was the last night that we really had the chance to go to Al Sole before the end of the program. Thursday night we would all be gone for Easter and wouldn't be back until Monday. Tuesday night we have our 3^rd formal dinner and exams start on Thursday and go until Saturday so Wednesday night we will all be studying. I got there around 9 and there were all ready a good number of people there but the place really got packed around 10. Out of the 126 of us in the program I would argue that about 100 of us were packed in there along with some random Italian students, some of the MBA student and a few professors here and there. Basically it was awesome. We all had so much fun hanging out, socializing, drinking, playing cards, and basically just celebrating the semester. The whole night was like one big toast to the Pizzeria! After Wednesday night though it’s probably a good thing we don’t have time to go back, at least, I cannot imagine them wanting us to come back….

Vado a Milano!

I finally made it to Milan! Abbey Whalen and I have been talking about meeting up in Milan for years now and I actually made it there so this is good news. My trip did not come a moment too soon either because school was awful this past week. Projects, tests, papers, LEAP…the usual x10! We had a three day weekend from school because Friday was supposed to be a school field trip but it got canceled. Abbey’s school was taking off for spring break but her Mom was not flying over until Sunday so the timing was more than perfect! So, I bought a train ticket and prepared to leave Thursday at 4. I was taking the bus from Paderno to Castelfrancco and from there I had to take a 15 minute walk to the train station. I was a little hesitant at first but I made it to the station with almost no problems. The weather definitely helped because for once we actually had a warm(ish) AND sunny day in good ol’ PDG. So my train was supposed to leave at 6:12pm for Vicenza and then I would switch to the train going to Milano Centrale and arrive there around 8:55. This is the schedule I had given Abbey and she was going to meet me at the station. Well, right when I thought I was getting good at traveling alone I ended up getting on the wrong train in Castelfrancco and went two stops before I realized it. So I had to get on a different train and go back to the Castelfrancco station. Luckily my first ticket was valid for 4 hours after the start time so I could use it again to catch the next train to Vicenza which was coming in 30 minutes. My ticket to Milan however needed to be updated but it only cost 9 euro. So I got on the next train and made it to Milan at 10:25pm. As expected, Abbey was no longer waiting at the station. Wifi is not a common luxury in Italy so at no point during my travels was I able to message Abbey to tell her what had happened. After making a few laps around the station I noticed a McDonald’s across the street and went in there thinking that if I bought something I could use their wifi, so I got fries. Well that was a waste of money and calories because A) They weren't even good and B) You had to have an Italian phone number to use their wifi, which I don’t have. I did try using the CIMBA RA’s number and it still didn't work. My next plan of action was to go in and out of hotel lobbies until I was able to connect to one of their wifis. An hour and 3 hotels later I finally had a winner! Hotel Michelangelo let me log onto their wifi after threatening the water works for being “lost and alone in Milan.” Turns out Abbey had gone to her friend’s apartment nearby to use their wifi because I had a bunch of messages from her asking where I was! The night turned out to be quite an ordeal but she finally found me and by the time we got back to her apartment and in bed it was almost 1:30am. So much for getting to Milan at 9!

Friday was a beautiful day in Milan, perfect for sleeping in and sightseeing! Abbey has these incredible shutters in her apartment which eliminate ALL of the light so when I woke up at 11 I thought it was 3am. We went straight into the city and got breakfast at a place called Arnold’s Coffee which is incredibly good and similar to a Starbucks because they don’t have Starbucks in Italy. We caught up and swapped study abroad stories all day which was really fun! I love having people from home in different parts of Europe!! Then we headed over to the iconic Duomo in Milan. Like all of the Duomos in Italy it is magnificent. The detail on the outside and the inside is remarkable. It is such a massive structure and it is perched right in the heart of the city. Milan is the perfect mix of new and old. For example right beside the Piazza del Duomo to the left is the best shopping I have ever seen. The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is SO NICE and SO BEAUTIFUL. We wondered in and out of shops like Prada, LV, Mercedes, you know, the usual. Just kidding, we window shopped. But we did venture into the Ferrari store which was really cool. I had my eye on a Ferrari bathing suit and Abbey had her eye on a toy car.

Universita Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore

Once we decided that we had done enough shopping we walked across town toward Abbey’s school so I could see where I would have/should have gone. Just kidding, I like CIMBA. But Cattolica is so beautiful and much bigger than I expected. It was nice to be back on a real college campus and because it was Friday it was filled with actual Italian college students, who knew?! After my tour we stopped for a snack and then got on the metro to go to the castle. The metro was insanely crowded because there was a metro strike that day so they were only operating for a few hours. I thought strikes meant that you didn't work at all but I was thankful that they were open for a little while. The Sforza Castle is very beautiful and it has a great park right behind it with Milan’s version of the Arc de Triomphe more formally known as Porta Sempione on the opposite end. We saw what we assume was an Italian Military graduation or promotion going on so that was kind of cool. It was nice to leisurely stroll through the castle and the park on with such great weather. I should note that while we were walking around Milan Abbey kept pointing out where certain designers had their tents set up during fashion week and one of them was in the castle.

View of the castle through the arc

By this point it was getting late in the day and I was getting hungry. Abbey had been talking about going to this place called Spritz along the canal for aperitivo which sounded so good to me! In Italy, appertivo is basically a meal of appetizers. You usual pay one price, i.e. 9 euro, and get a drink plus unlimited appetizers that are usually set up in a buffet style. It was a semi nice night so we elected to sit outside under the heat lamps which was perfect for people watching. Round one of aperitivo consisted of a strawberry spritz, nutella and fruit, antipasti, and cheese. Round two was small pizza, bread, chicken and more pasta, round three was a martini bianco, nutella on bread, meat and more cheese. All in all we probably sat there for about 2 hours during which time a group of 3 British ladies took a seat beside us. Well, they felt compelled to lecture Abbey and me for about 5 minutes on how we should protect our drinks and purses from pick-pocketing and drugs. I do appreciate travel tips along the way but an unsolicited lecture at dinner was not welcome. I have made it through Barcelona, Paris, Florence, Rome, and now Milan without any trouble. That’s not to say that it still couldn't happen but I like to think that I am a smart and pretty aware of my surroundings when I travel. Anyway, after dinner Abbey and I headed back to her apartment and settled down for a chill night in which meant watching She’s The Man aka my favorite movie!! I have missed it so much and even though my quoting skills were a little off I still managed to hit the most important ones.

Saturday morning we had planned to meet up with one of Abbey’s friends from school to get breakfast and go to a market with her. We met Iz at her apartment and went for breakfast at a great bagel place. For the first time in Europe I was able to find a bagel that was meant to be eaten for breakfast with cream cheese plus coffee in a to-go cup and free water. WHAT!? That never happens. After breakfast we hopped on the metro to head over to the market. All of the stands in the market had purses, shoes, jewelry, clothes and some other random items. We each bought a scarf and some jewelry before heading back to Arnold’s for more coffee. By this time the temperature had dropped significantly and it was beginning to drizzle. We did a little shopping near Arnold’s and then headed back to Abbey’s for the rest of the afternoon. We had pretty much decided to watch a movie for the rest of the afternoon and then make dinner in her apartment. We watched Moulin Rouge and then made a delicious dinner of chicken, asparagus, and pasta with a role. SO YUMMY! I do miss cooking for myself and not always having my meals dictated for me so I really enjoyed dinner. Eventually we decided to go to a bar that Abbey recommended called Kings so we headed back out for a few hours. Despite the weather I was surprised by the amount of people out and we actually had to weasel our way in to get a table and a beer. Abbey, Iz and I hung out there for a good bit just chit chatting about Italy, study abroad and the possibility of me coming back after the CIMBA program ends! After a while we called it a night because Abbey’s mom was coming in the morning and my train was leaving from Milano Centrale at 8:05 the next morning meaning I needed to get up around 6:30 am.

Wolfpack in Milan!

Sunday was even colder and rainier than the day before which did not make it easy to wake up. I was dragging a little bit which put was behind so we had to hustle to the station. Luckily I made it onto the right train on time and settled down for the long ride after saying goodbye to Abbey. The ride was long but quiet so I got to read a lot of Tender is the Night which was nice. I switched trains in Padova and then arrived in Bassano Del Grappa at 11:41. When I walked outside of the Bassano station to get a taxi I had quite the epiphany. I walked up to the first taxi, opened the door and before I could say so much as Cioa the driver asked  Instituto Fillipin? I answered with Si, to which he laughed. It was then that I realized that no matter how hard I try to fit in, I will always stand out. I mean, he didn't even give me a chance to pretend to be Italian! Oh well, at least I had a nice weekend in Milan.

Nice is nice, and so is Barcelona

When we arrived in Nice it was pretty late and I was pretty hungry so we made the short walk from the station to our hostel which was a block from the beach!  After a late dinner we went to go check out the beach at 12am and even at that dark hour it is so beautiful. I was however surprised to learn that the beaches are covered in pebbles, not sand. 

Wednesday morning we woke up to the sun shining and balmy 50 degree weather but it was still such a nice change from snowy Paris. We had a quick breakfast at the hostel and then headed outside. We went straight to the beach  and marveled at the bright blue water. It looked so inviting despite its ice cold temperature, but that still didn't stop some people. Nice is a pretty small, self guided city so we pretty much covered the coast line in a day. They have a great path at the top of the sea wall which we followed fro. One point to the other. We headed over to the harbor and saw a MASSIVE yacht which we later learned was over 400 ft long and belonged to the Emperor of Qatar, the richer country in the world. Seeing the helicopter on the back of his boat made me want to learn how to pilot one so add that the the bucket list! 

 We also walked out to the light house at the end of the jetty for a better view of the coast line. The best view though came from the top of a fortress/park that was built into the mountainside. At all the different levels there were breath taking views of Nice and the Alps. The gardens were so lovely and it was incredibly hard to focus on just one angle of the view at a time. We also went one block behind the Main Street and found an open air market (which turns into restaurant seating at 1) filled with flowers, fruits, paintings and lavender! It all smelled delightful and Alexa, Julia and I split a basket of strawberries which were delicious. For lunch we just got some sandwiches and took them to the beach where we could sit in the sun with people bold enough to be in a bathing suit. We went back to the hostel and ran into 2 guys from CIMBA and their friend from home who happened to not only be staying in the same hostel, but also in the room beside us! I thought Alexa, Julia and I were the only three in Nice. Nope. We. Are. Everywhere! But, the more the merrier and merry it was! After drinks on the beach at sunset the six of us headed to dinner where the market used to be. We had a great seafood dinner and I tried escargot. I personally don't recommend it, but go for it. Any who, good food, good friends, good wine, good time! Next on the agenda was MONACO for the night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, that didn't work. We missed the last bus into the country for the night. So we went to a piano lounge aka the only place open in Nice other than a casino. We still had a good time because the boys turned the lounge into a karaoke bar. It was quite an entreating was to end the night. 

Breakfast on the Beach!

Thursday morning was so beautiful despite the cloud cover. The sun was peeping through over the sea and it turned the water 6 different shades of blue! After we checked out the boys joined us for breakfast on the beach. During the day restaurants are set up all along the beach and we found one that had an incredibly breakfast special. Two eggs, baguettes with butter an jelly, orange juice and a cappuccino that put Italy to shame! After that we headed back through the market and toward the harbor to get one more glimpse of the mega yacht, then it was off to the airport for us! I don't care where you spent your spring break, the French Riviera is BEAUTIFUL!  I hated to leave Nice but Barcelona was calling our name. 

The flight in was a little bumpy but the view out the window took my mind off the distracting thoughts of the turbulence taking our plane down over the coast line. No worries, we landed safe and sound on the wings of a prayer! Our first day in Barcelona we kind of just chilled all afternoon. We walked the streets looking for our hostel and saw a lot of really cool buildings and for dinner we had sangria and papayas which was very good! There were a lot of people from school hanging out in our hostel so we chilled with them for the night, but I turned in pretty early. 

Friday we got a late start but we needed the sleep. The first thing we did was go to La Boqueria off of La Rambla. It is this huge market that has fish, meat, cheese, bread, veggies, fruit, chocolate, spices and much more. They have all of these really great fruit juices for only 1€ so we got some of those to sip on while we walked around.

Gothic quarter

It was such a cool place and everything was so fresh to the point where some of the shellfish was still moving on the ice...yummy. We pretty much walked lazily around the Gothic quarter and through Barcelona until we hit the beach. It was so beautiful and there was a good number of people hanging out including CIMBA people. No one was in a bathing suit because it was 50 degrees but there were people in wet suits who were paddling boarding and a lot of sailboats on the horizon. It was so nice to be able to sit on a beach in the sun and look at the water despite the cold temperature. Around 6 we went back to the hostel to meet up with one of Alexa's friends who is studying in Barcelona. She took us to get churros and then to a really great restaurant for dinner. We just has a whole bunch of tapas which were delicious.  In Spain they have lunch at like 2, churro time from 5-7, dinner from 8-10, bar time from 11-1:30 and then club time from 2-6:30 am. While we didn't stay out until 6 we did go to a bar then a club. We left once we started getting too much attention from some guys from London....

Saturday was our last full day of Travel Week 2 and by that point I was still exhausted and in the French Riviera mind set. After breakfast we went to Gaudi's Sagrada Familia and ignorant me did not realize that the church is still under construction and isn't scheduled to be finished until around 2050! After a really pathetic lunch at a tourists trap known as a restaurant we decided to settle down for a siesta. Our hostel doesn't have outlet in the rooms so I went down to the lobby to charge my camera when I ran into a couple of the guys from the program. They were all headed down the the beach so I went with them. It was a windy and overcast day but we still had a good time just hanging out. I met back up with Julia and Alexa back at the hostel later and we all went out to dinner by Port Vell with Shane and some of their friends from Clemson. We had some really good burgers. As crazy as it sounds I was tired of Spanish food so a burger with sangria was a great change of pace. After dinner I strolled along the port back toward the hostel (trying to get my mind off of NCSUs loss in the ACC tournament).  It was actually really great because I didn't realize how much I missed being around the water and boats, especially because I have been living in the mountains for so long. Nice and Barcelona definitely made me want to hang around port cities more often. Everything moves with the tide, whether it be fast or slow, but either way they are full of life and adventure! 

Christopher Columbus!

As usual, Sunday morning half of CIMBA congregated from all the corners and crevices of Europe and Africa in the El Prat airport for our flight back to Venice. Then it was back to good old PDG for hell week before our upcoming 3 day weekend! 

Here's a parting thought from Travel Week 2 courtesy of Mark Twain: 

"20 years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw of the bowlines. Cast away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sail. Explore. Dream. Discover." 

The City Where I fell in Love...Paris!

I am head over heels for Paris! So Friday I was challenged with the task of navigating my way from the VCE airport to Jessica Adams' hotel...alone. No cellphone, no nothing. My flight left at 9 putting me in Paris at 10:30. From there I was instructed to take the RER to a specific stop then get on tram 2 and take that to another stop and at the top of the metro I was supposed to be able to see the hotel. An hour later and a quick hop over a tram stop I was above ground in Paris headed to the hotel. The directions were perfect and I did not get lost or panic once! When I got to the hotel I asked the lady at the front desk where I could find Jessica's room, after a while she directed me to the 2nd floor. When I got up there the first person I saw was Brooke Scott and holy mackerel did we scream! Then we found Jessica Adams and I'm pretty sure we woke up all of Paris when we saw each other. After a short while Jana strolled in from practice and it was the best feeling of excitement and relief to see so many familiar faces from home in Paris! We caught up for a few hours and then went to bed because Jessica had to fly back to Raleigh Saturday morning.

Saturday: Today Jana, Brooke and I did everything! Apparently Jana had never really done the touristy stuff so I'm glad she didn't mind showing me around. We left the hotel after Jessica left to go back to the States. When in Paris, first thing is first: Starbucks....just kidding, shopping. We headed to the Avenue des Chapes-Elysees where we found a MASSIVE and quite impressive Abercrombie and Fitch. I haven't been in one of those stores in years and here I was waiting in line to go in. Apparently that is not uncommon. There were these huge gates, a courtyard and a shirtless male model that you could get a Polaroid picture with. The inside was 4 stories of a middle school wonderland. Crazy. As we walked down the Champs we went in and out of so many cute stores, even a store dedicated to welcoming David Beckham to Paris. We eventually stopped in a Macaroon store called Laduree. Oh my it was delicious. I had never had a macaroon before and this place set the standard really high. Word to the wise: Rose Macaroons are not the best, vanilla is always a safe option. At the end of the Avenue des Champs-Elysees is the famous Arc de Triomphe! We took pictures under and around the impressive structure. Props to Brooke for having driven through the roundabout of death surrounding the Arc.

After the Arc Brooke had to split and Jana and I went in search of the popular French purse known as Longchamp. Jana took us to this fantastic shopping mall that had everything your heart could desire. And my gosh Longchamps are so inexpensive here, no wonder everyone has one! I am proud to say that we walked out of the store with Jana's first purse and she loves it! Post-purse-purchase we went to lunch and then to some really cool place with a great view of Paris that I don't remember the name of, but I have pictures! The view is breathtaking and only encouraged my love affair with Paris. Jana and I talked a lot about living abroad and what it was like for her when she moved. that conversation was the biggest encouragement for me to move to Europe after graduation. Next on the list was Notre Dame! But first we passed by Hotel De Ville and a museum with an ice rink out front, keep in mind that it had to be almost 60 degrees today. A short walk away was Notredam which is 10x more magnificent that any picture or movie have ever seen, inside and out. My words cannot do it justice but being inside was quite moving.

Jana and I were fading fast and the sun had not yet set on our day. We played around in a music store before stopping for a coffee along the river. My friend Conner had told me about a really neat book store in Paris where Fitzgerald and Hemingway used to hang out so naturally I had to go. As it turns out it was only a few feet away from where we were, diagonal to the cathedral so that was our next stop. The bookstore is called Shakespeare and Co. and it is probably one of my new favorite places. It is so tiny and old but jam packed with books. I bought Tender Is The Night by Fitzgerald in honor of our next destination: Nice.
 By the time we left the bookstore it was good and dark outside meaning it was a perfect time to see the Eiffel Tower! OH. MY. GOSH. OMG OMG OMG. When we got there I couldn't believe I was seeing it with my own two eyes. I'm pretty sure I asked Jana if I could touch it. We made it right on time to watch it sparkle on the hour and sparkle it did! Everyone clapped and cheered when it started to sparkle which made it even more awesome. I also engulfed my first Nutella and banana crepe at the Eiffel Tower, yes I said engulfed. When I was done inhaling it I freaked Jana out a little by complaining and saying "Jana someone stole my crepe." That is just how fast I ate it because it was soooooooooo good. Before we left Paris to go back to  Jana's house we blew through the red light district to I could see the Moulin Rouge. It is smaller than I expected and there isn't an elephant like in the movie but there is a windmill on top so that was the same! By the time we took all the trains and metros to Jana's town the buses to her house had stopped running soooo we hitched a ride with 18 year old boys who were madly in love with the gorgeous 6'3" blonde American model/volleyball player. End of day one. 

Sunday: My Day Alone in Paris

Today Jana had a volleyball game 5 hours away so she had to leave really early and I was to meet Brooke at the train station to go to the Louvre for the day. Only at a sorority sisters house can you still find southern hospitality on a different continent. Before Jana left she had set out breakfast food and tea for me! What a doll! I leisurely got ready and had planned to meet Brooke around 1 at the station, well that never worked.  I was running late and she had to baby sit the sweetest little girl in all of France known as the Kraken. Sorry Brooke! After reading my book and waiting at the American congregation place known as Starbucks I decided to test my system 2 thinking and put my K-T certification to the test. Mind you that when I left Jana's I had no phone, no internet connection and no possible way of telling anyone where I was or if I was even alive. After a quick ride on metro 14 and short switch to 7 I was in front of the Louvre. It was already turning into a dreary day in comparison to the day before so hanging out inside a museum sounded good to me. My Questura papers got me in for free as an EU student so I wondered around there for a couple of hours. All the while I am thinking, "Way to go Emily, you are alone in Paris. Why couldn't you be alone in Florence? It is as big as my pinky finger in comparison to Paris. And where is CIMBA? You CIMBA kids are forever running into each other. Here you are in a popular and iconic tourist destination, CIMBA has to be hanging around her somewhere. Y'all always find each other." So here I am walking aimlessly through the Louvre checking out ancient works of art and giant statues. At some point I made my way to the Mona Lisa who is much too small. Most of the famous pictures, statues and structures that I have seen are bigger than expected  but not her. Anyway, so I am standing there trying to get a glimpse of the tiny thing when I hear the all to familiar call to the wild " CIMBAAAAA!" I whip around and there is Usman, Julia, and Alexa. At that moment the Mona Lisa became irrelevant and I honestly did not even turn around for a final look before we left the room. I was so happy to have found friends in Paris. I finished touring the Louver with them and then we headed outside to take pictures with the famous glass pyramids before going across the street for a snack. I had been so occupied with not getting lost that it did not even occur to me that I was almost 6 in the afternoon and I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. I got a ham and cheese sandwich on a baguette which I also inhaled. After what turned into my dinner we said goodbye and parted ways. They were headed to Notre Dame  Cathedral and I needed to go back to the mall that was in the Louvre to by an unmentionable tablet. After roaming Paris utterly alone and unconnected with the world my system 2 thinking switched to system 1. No worries, an hour later that problem was solved. However, I now had a new problem. Jana lives 30 minutes outside of Paris and the bus that runs from the train station near her to her house had stopped running which meant I was walking. After switching to 3 different metros and the RER I was in Conflans, however I still needed to take one more metro to Jana's. I knew the tram had been delayed but I could not tell for how long so I decided to ask a lady with a stroller to read the monitor to me. Despite her perfect English she still responded with "people are crazy." And that is relevant how? While waiting her husband showed up and we struck up a conversation about study abroad, Paris, the USA, their 4 year old daughter and being originally from Ukraine, etc. By this time it is a little after 10. Finally the train came and as luck would have it we were going to the same stop. Before parting the husband asked me how I was getting home and I told him that I was just walking because her house was 20 minutes up the road. I know this sounds like a dumb idea but there are angels in this world and you know them when you see them. He insisted that I call Jana to get her address and use my unmentionable new tablet to google the exact directions. I would not have gotten home without it, but just like Jana had said it was a straight shot up the road. Like a true father her gave me a a few words of advise about walking alone in the dark, being cautious and all that jazz. He wished me well by saying "be safe, God bless you and Jesus loves you" I thanked him and his family a thousand times and we parted ways. It is people like that that make traveling so pleasant. I turned a 20 minute walk in to a 15 minute trot to Jana's house where I let myself in a settled down with a cup of earl grey while waiting for her to come home. Around 11 she came home and we swapped stories about my day and her teams win! One episode of Duck Dynasty later I was sound asleep. 

Monday we had played with the idea of going to Versailles but when we woke up at 11:30 it was already cold and raining to we decided to go back into Paris. We had delicious creeps for brunch and took some super cute pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower. Of course the weather had inspired us to shop so that what we did! Eventually when we were cold,tired and hungry we headed go to meet Jana's French/Moroccan friend from the gym, Seb,  for dinner.  After dinner Seb came back to Jana's apartment to escape the now snowy weather. We were later joined by Alex who is a British guy that also plays volleyball with Jana. I absolutely loved meeting her friends, and she is quite popular in her little town! We introduced them to Duck Dynasty which was hilarious! Alex thought it was ridiculous which was hilarious. Eventually the boys found a break in the snow and headed home and Jana and I went to sleep. 

Tuesday morning we woke up to almost half a foot of snow on the ground. Seriously? It was almost 60 and sunny my first day in Paris and now it is pouring down snow! Luckily my train was not canceled though although I would not have been opposed to staying in Paris with Jana. We opted to hang out in her apartment until the last possible moment because we both dread spending time in cold and snowy weather. Sweet Jana made biscuits for breakfast so we had those, cereal and tea. It was lovely! Eventually we needed to suck it up and make moves toward the station. Before we left Jana tucked a chocolate bar, Nutella packets and pack of tissues in my bag for my travels. I absolutely love her! We made it through the snow to the train station and stopped for one finally meal of creeps before taking the RER to the station where my train to Nice was leaving from. Saying goodbye to Jana was so hard and it was all I could do to hold back my tears on the train. Spending that short amount of time with her in Paris made me happier than she could ever know! When I said my last goodbye and got on the train I was only hoping that Alexa and Julia were also on the train. I was initially kind of bummed that Jana never got to meet them but apparently that was not the case. About 5 minutes after the train left the station and I had settled down with my new book here comes Alexa flying into my car looking for me. Turns put she and Julia almost got on the wrong train and in a dead sprint to our train they ran into Jana who pointed them in the right direction. I ended up moving to sit near them for the duration of the train ride. The ride was long but nice, the French country side is very beautiful and their stories and quantities of chocolate were hilarious! When we got to Nice we checked into our hostel, grabbed a late dinner and went to check out the beach which is two minutes from our hostel. I think I am going to like it here....

I miss you already Jana! Thank you for showing me Paris!!

Florence: The Quest for the Loafers

So this week was actually kind of chill. I did not have a single test and we had our second formal dinner on Thursday night, and I finished booking travel plans through Easter so I had plenty of time to get in the right mindset for our weekend in Florence.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Florence smells intoxicatingly wonderful with the leather aroma hanging around the city!
• I came to Italy with the intent of buying a nice pair of leather loafers. I was not coming back to the states without them.
• Post-Italian elections this past weekend the Euro’s value is declining against the dollar so it is a perfect time to spend money.
• It is also off season for tourist to the prices have not gone up yet!
•  It was also in the 60s while we were in Florence.

So Friday afternoon we had a bus of about 60 people leaving for Florence which is about a 3 hour drive away. We got to our hostel around 9 and almost all 60 of us were staying in the exact same one so check in was a mess and we had dinner plans at 11 so everyone needed to get into their rooms and get ready. One of the guys in our group has a buddy who has been living in Florence for a good number of years and works in the restaurant/club industry so he had planned a really fun night for us. For 20 euro we had a phenomenal dinner (potentially better than the Formal Dinner) of antipasti, steak and potatoes (again), cappuccino, and unlimited wine AND UNLIMITED WATER!!!!! The 20 euro also included free drinks at one of his bars plus free entrance and drinks at one of his clubs. We all also got a voucher for buy one get one free breakfast at one of his places that serves American style breakfast. Needless to say we had a great first night in Florence and the fact that the city is so small but still such a huge study abroad destination spot makes it even better.

So much Leather!

When we got up Saturday morning we were ready to hit the ground running. After breakfast at the hostel we were off to see The David. That boy is huge. Everyone said The David is much taller in real life but I mean wow. And the amount of detail in his body is unreal, and to think that it is all from one block of marble! The veins that are carved in his hands and his feet were probably the two parts of him that I was most fascinated by because they seem like they would be such minor and unattractive parts to sculpt. After walking around in the museum for a little bit longer we decided that it was time to shop. There are leather markets everywhere, I cannot possibly imagine where it all comes from but my goodness the streets smell wonderful. All of us girls had an item in mind that we wanted to buy so we all decided that we would not buy anything else until we bought that one item. Keep in mind that we all had specific “criteria” so we were not looking for just any leather item. Unfortunately, we all purchased scarves first. I got a beautiful 100% Italian silk scarf for 20 euro. I’m pretty sure it was stolen from a high-end retailer at some point but I paid in cash and it’s back in Paderno now.  The first person to buy something was Kaymon and she got her leather purse from one of the vendors. Next was Alexa’s beautiful tan leather jacket which she was able to get for such a steal! Note: you should never buy anything for full price in Florence. While is sounds and looks so easy to find leather in Florence Julia and I were still struggling to find her boots and my loafers. After lunch Alexa and Kaymon decided to head back to the hostel for a nap while Julia and I decided to keep searching. After walking half way around the city, in and out of any store with shoes in the window, through and indoor market and always ending up back at the historic Duomo, we finally found Julia’s boots! The store was filled with boots and Julia got the most beautiful pair of boots that she later found out is made out of some of the best leather you can buy in Florence, I also got a recommendation of a place across the Ponte Vecchio where I could find some loafers.  We were supposed to meet up back at the hostel at 3 to do some sightseeing and didn’t think we had time to go to the PV so instead we decided to get some gelato and hang out in a piazza. Plus, I was suffering from not taking a nap so I needed a pick me up. We went and accidentally got the best, biggest, and most expensive cone of gelato in all of Italy. Mine was a dark chocolate and cream mix and Julia had the same chocolate and coconut mix. We decided to walk around the city a bit to “burn off the calories.” We found a really fun and lively piazza that had a carousel, live music and entertainers, and a mini market filled with different types of olive oils, breads and cheeses. We walked down a street that was lined with Prada, Gucci, Tiffany, Channel, LV, Dior, you get the idea. Just like in Rome, we rounded a corner, and BOOM there was Fiume Arno aka the Ponte Vecchio! We took some pictures and I debated going to look for my shoes but by that point it was already almost 3 and Florence is so small that our hostel was only 15 minutes in the other direction so we decided to go back and get the girls first.

After booking it back to the hostel and then back through the city we made it to the Ponte Vecchio. In the Fiume Arno there were groups of young boys rowing up and down a small stretch of the rive which was really neat to watch. Of course we took even more pictures but I was itching to find my shoes. Just like my directions said, cross the bridge, walk for no more than one minute and it will be store #10 on my right. Well there it was, there my shoes were not. You can only imagine my disappointment. The small of leather was becoming nauseating because I was so upset and my head hurt so badly. Oh yeah, I had a headache the entire time I was in Florence. Have no fear, not even 100 yards away, diagonally to the left there was a leather shoe store filled not with boots but genuine Italian loafers and dress shoes! I swear this store was the only one in all of Florence where I had any chance of finding my shoes. I wish I could say it was like a Cinderella moment when I put the shoe on but we defiantly had some debating between options going on. In the end, I walked out of the store oh so very happy and content with my purchase. It was almost time for sunset and we head that the view of Florence from the Piazzale Michelangelo was breathtaking so being that we were already on that side of the river off we went wearing our new Italian leather. The hike to the Piazzale was so wonderful. It was just Julia, Alexa, Jake and me and it was warm, it was beautiful and it was so Italian. We made it just in time for sunset and the city looked golden, unlike the bronze copy of The David that is also in the Piazzale Michelangelo. There were a lot of people there, a lot of American students especially. The view of the city was spectacular. We could see the Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo, and the Dolomites created the most perfect backdrop. As the sun began to set we headed back down, across the river and into the city. At 7 Julia, Alexa and I had dinner with one of Julia’s friends from high school who is studying in Florence. We went to a great Italian restaurant (typical) and had a nice time. Unfortunately my head hurt too bad to go on the bar crawl with everyone that night so after dinner I headed back to the hostel to sleep. Fun fact for the day: the bar crawl ended at Space which is the club the Jersey Shore cast went to when they were in Florence so no real great loss on my part there.

The Shoes!

Sunday morning we got a late start leaving us with only about 4 hours left in Florence because we needed to leave by 4:10. After a quick brunch we attempted to climb to the top of the Duomo but it was closed so we headed across the river. On the way over we stopped to purchase more leather items. I wanted a new purse, a wallet, a belt, and a portfolio but instead I just got a really awesome gift for Alex as a Confirmation/Birthday gift! You’ll get it when I get home buddy!! We heard that the Boboli Gardens are absolutely beautiful and the weather was so spectacular so we decided that the gardens would be a good place to start our day. I don’t know if the weather was just that nice or the gardens were just that beautiful but my gosh what a spectacular place. All I could think about the magnificent garden parties that used to be held here and how much fun it would have been to be a little Italian princess running through the pathway. Nothing was really in bloom but that didn’t matter to us. The gardens sit behind the palace which is situated on top of a hill overlooking the city of Florence and the country side. There were so many people just lying out in the grass enjoying the sun or having a picnic. I was super jealous, I could have stayed there all day but the clock was ticking. On our way back to the hostel to pick up our luggage we had some time to kill so Julia, Alexa and I split a lemon and strawberry gelato while sitting in a Piazza listening to more live music and watching the crowds walk by.

At the end of the day, in true CIMBA style we all congregated at the train station and off we went back to good old PDG! I am adding Florence to the places I want to go back and see again in the spring/summer. I can only imagine what the city looks like when it is in full bloom!