Finally Firenze

Okay my final post about spring break. Sorry it’s taken so long. Busy girl ova hurr! But anyways so we left Rome and took the train to Florence. When we got there we were all pretty tired but we walked around and saw a few things such as the Duomo. Then we ate dinner at a cute restaurant and went back to the hostel where we watched side effects.

The next day was our big sightseeing day. We saw the Duomo, ponte Vecchio, “the fake david” (the real david was closed due to some political meeting, or as I like to say, the mafia. There was a bunch of cops everywhere and about 8 black cars parked outside…) and we also walked around a bunch of leather shops and the leather market. 

So this far into the trip Shaz and I were in desperate need to do laundry. So we did. While we waited we found a mexican place that was playing pitbull songs on repeat. It was literally like god placed it there for me. Three of my favorite things: Pitbull, Mexican food, and Margaritas. So a pitcher of margaritas later we were ready to go out!

So then we met up with the other girls and ended up going to a bar near by called Full Up. We considered YAB which is super famous and Jersey shore went there all the time but everyone we talked to (on tinder lol) told us to go to full up. We did and it ended up being chock full of Americans. Which was a nice change of pace. At the same time though, it made me realize that I’m happy I don’t go out in Paris trying to meet Americans. We hang out in a small group and genuinely try to go places where we won’t find any Americans and because of that, we’ve actually met a lot of French people. Now that I think about it, I think we’ve only met other American people one time when we went out and we just shot the shit and that was about it.

The next day was deadly. Probably that most hungover of all the nights we went out lol. But so we went to the pizza place that the Jersey Shore cast worked at which was funny to see all of their pictures and clothes all over the place and the pizza was actually surprisingly good!

Our final big thing of the trip was a wine, cheese and olive oil tasting. We tried three wines, three cheeses and two olive oils. What was really cool was that she had this box of scents like apricot, peach, tabacco, flowers, etc. She’d pass around a smell and we’d smell it and then smell the wine and you could really pull out the smells that were in the wine. Then we’d try to guess what the smell was. It was really informative. I’ve never had tuscan wine either and the third bottle we tried I loved so I bought one for my host mom and one for my parents. Also we tried this cheese that was a peccorino cheese with truffles in it. OMG talk about a gift from god. I’m a cheese whore as most people know and this was one of my absolute favorite cheeses I’ve every had (nothing beats my Camembert though. Definitely my all time fave).

Then after dinner some of the girls got dinner but me and Shazia wandered around the town. She was looking for gelato and I was looking for a wallet. My wallet had been broke for a month and everyone suggested I look for a leather one in Florence. I wanted a cool embossed one but no one was really selling them. Eventually we wandered in a few stores and I found one store that looked promising. So I showed him Shazia’s wallet which he said he didn’t have but showed me what he did have. I accepted defeat in that I wasn’t gonna find an embossed one but I really liked the one he showed me. Then he told me he could print my initials on it and I was sold. I’m not exactly proud of what I paid for it cuz it was kind of pricey, but it was a great souvenir. I also hate the way my full initials look, but it turned out nice and pretty subtle on the wallet.

The next day we woke up super early for our train to Bologna where we were flying out of. For some reason someone in our group thought it would be a good idea to go super early to see Bologna….other than being known oral sex (according to the secret life of the american teengager…) there isn’t much there. We walked around. Sat in two different parks. Went to a market and got cheese and bread and then decided to go to the airport super early because we were all just tired and ready to go home.

Overall, it was a successful trip. Extremely tiring, but well worth it. It’s something I will never be able to do again. I had an amazing time and I met so many people and did so many things that I would have never imagined. From jumping off a 20m cliff in Santorini, to seeing ruins destroyed by Vesuvius, the Colosseum, and eating countless amounts of pizza, pasta, and gelato. Italy really did surprise me and I ended up liking it way more than I thought I would. I was also pleasantly surprised by how nice everyone was. I feel like I have been missing out my whole life by not traveling more. Not only do I want to return to these places again and bring all my family and friends to show them how amazing it was, but now I want to experience even more of the world that awaits out there.

Alright on a less sappy note, all the Italian words I can remember that I learned:

Ciao-hi/bye
Bonjourno-hi
Arrivederci-bye
Prego-your welcome/ready/basically whatever you want it to mean
Piazza-plaza
Salute-cheers
vaffanculo-fuck off
grazie-thanks
bambino-baby
scusi-excuse me
due-two
bancomat-ATM
statzione-station
servizi-bathrooms
bounaserra-good evening
biglietteria-ticket office
and probably some more.

I just loved trying to pronounce all the words in an italian accent. It’s much easier to master than a french one. Which is super hard and no fun to imitate.

Well I leave for Barcelona tomorrow! So I’ll be sure to update after that! Arrivederci ya’ll!

Spring Break Part II: Roma Roma Roma!

Okay so after our wonderful time in Sorrento, we trained up to Rome. It was actually so much pretty than I expected. A lot greener than bland grey/beige Paris. It was cool seeing how old everything actually was. 

Our first day there we checked into the hostel and headed over to the colosseum. Took some pics, went in for like 12 euro wtf. 

Then we wandered around and got dinner. I got baked pasta. It was delicious. We passed this thing full of cats and when looking up things to do in Rome later that night we found out it’s actually a cat sanctuary. Which to me is digusting. Hate cats. Dog lova for lyfe! lol. 

Then we hit up Trevi which was beautiful at night. I threw my coins in. The first I literally forgot to make a wish. Then I did it about 10 more times to try and get a pic. So that’s where all of my money went on spring break. Of course I didn’t spend it on clothes and alcohol…..Then of course, none other than my best friend gelato. Never gets old.

The next day was somewhat rainy. We walked over to the Vatican and literally got stalked by this Irish man trying to sell us a tour. We weren’t having it. But once we found out the line was 5 hours long just to get in, we decided to throw down a few extra dollars for a guide and a line jump. I think it was only like 10 or 15 more so that’s not to bad. Our tour guide was hilarious and basically Joe from the Princess diaries. Plus nothing beats the feeling of cutting 5 hours worth of people waiting in line. However, the tour was a little too long for my liking. Still cool nontheless. We saw the sistine chapel and st. peter’s basilica so the Vatican visit was official and legit.

That night we met up with a few of the girls studying in Rome. Shout out to my girl Sandy Pants for showing us around town. We pregamed on the Spanish steps. It was a lot of fun. We went to some little square that I’m totally blanking on the name. Walked past the Pantheon. Ended up meeting some Chilean guys that invited us to the apartment they were staying at that night. They were super nice but Shaz and I weren’t having it. We were so tired from a long day at the Vatican so we bounced early. Ended up walking past Trevi again before we called a cab so we took an impromptu pic.

The next day we were all hanging pretty hard so we went to this famous Piazza called Piazza nuovo and guess what we did…..GOT GELATO! Hahaha. When in Rome I guess.

After some major nappage, we headed off to a Roma soccer game, or should I say futbal. It was actually probably one of my favorite parts of the trip. Everyone was so pumped up. I’m not really into soccer but this was definitely an awesome experience! Unfortunately we didn’t see anyone score any goals because we left early to avoid crowds on the metro just before the Verona team scored. Booo. But I must say Todi was pretty nice to look at! :)

Our last day in Rome we visited the Borghese gardens. Which were really pretty. Personally though, I must say I prefer the gardens in Paris. Luxembourg is mah shit. But it was still cool because it was owned by the Medicis family. Then we got none other than pizza and headed back to the hostel to get ready for our train to Firenze!

Spring Break Pt. 2 “Bonjourno Italia” (Sorrento Edition)

Okay so I most definitely shouldn’t be writing this now. And I most definitely should be writing my 20 page paper (in French). But it’s due in 3 weeks so I guess that can wait. Plus I just had a massively long dinner with my host mom and the other exchange student where we drank two glasses each of the wine I brought back from Italy so I’m no slightly tipsy and tired….Yes I know my tolerance has gone down. Yours would too if you were living in Paris where drinks are 10euro a pop. But hopefully that will make this post slightly more entertaining.

Anyways so after our interesting experience in Athens, we took a flight to Naples to begin our esperienza Italia (yes I googled how to say experience in Italian. Unfortunately it’s not one of the many italian words I learned). Speaking of which I’ll post a list at the end of this.

So we decided we wanted to get Neopolitan Pizza. Or basically I made everyone stop in Naples so we could get pizza there. A restaurant just opened in DTNaperville that makes Naples style pizza and I’m obsessed. So we had to try. Let’s just say the Naperville pizza was better. But let’s also say that it was 4:30 so the fancy restaurants weren’t open yet. We probably still waited but I’m not complaining with how the pizza tasted it was pretty good!

Then we took another train to our apartment. It was amazing! It was the priciest place we’ve stayed thus far (about 75euro per person for 3 nights). But it wasn’t horrible and we had our own kitchen and washer. So it was good. The place was big enough for us all to spread out comfortably.

First stop: wine. We wandered the streets in search of a grocery store to get detergent to wash clothes. But more importantly to get wine. So we find this weird ass looking place with like ferns and hidden half way underground…needless to say it was sketch. But we went in anyway because it was all we could find. So we’re looking at wine and it’s not too bad. About 8 euro a bottle. But that is pricey compared to what we can get in France (try 3 euro a bottle). Then out of no where your stereotypical Italian grocery store owner comes out and is like HEY here try this I made it! It’s 1euro50 per litre. He was hilarious and basically became our new bff for the week.

https://vine.co/v/bQ5VrrOiQqZ

So the first night we just played card games and chilled at the apartment drinking wine. It was fun but we had a pretty early wake up call the next morning for our boat tour.

So we woke up and got picked up by Catello (remember this name). He brought us down to the pier about 20 three point turns later. We got on the boat where we met Mario and Luigi. Yup Mario and Luigi. Who were our tour guides. Catello and Luigi are brothers and Mario is their friend and they run a boat service around the island of Capri. We had some beers and experienced some of the best views! They were so nice and informative about all the different tourist spots in the area!

Then we wandered around the island of Capri. Which is super chic. Saw tons of pics of Bey and Jay-Z. And of course ate Gelato number one of the Italy leg of the trip.

Then we got back on the boat and recieved our “free gift” from Mario and Luigi of some Champagne. And we got to be models for Mario’s dad because we christened their brand new boat and they wanted to put it on the website. Hahaha. Lucky us..Still waiting to see this new boat pics Mamma Mia.

So Catello (as mentioned above) invited the girls to his other investment, his bar. He must be really good at investing or something…how did he know that’s exactly what we were trying to find? haha but anyways so we went to dinner. I got some delcious gnocci. And between the few glasses (or five) of wine we had before dinner and the bottle we split at dinner we were feeling pretty good so we decided to try out Catello’s bar. Met some of his friends who happened to work there two which basically meant bottomless tequila shots for the entire night…for free. Word of the wise: the words tequila and free should never be combined in a sentence. It’s deadly and never ends well. Hahah. We randomly met this Italian dude that lived in Skokie until he was six and then moved to Italy with his mom. His dad was 100% italian so he was fluent in Italian and English so that was nice for us…he also had this tattoo:

So this was certainly a conversation starter. Hahaha. Anyway we spent the night drinking for free with these Italian dudes. Let me just say: do not compliment any Italian man because then they will turn into a complete creepshow. But after a long night it made waking up the next morning horrific. And I really do mean horrific.

We woke up early to go to Pompeii but decided to go to Ercolanos instead. It’s a little bit further than Pompeii but the natives recommended it to us because it was destroyed in the same volcanic eruption as Pompeii but apparently there are preserved bodies and bread. We didn’t see any of those. But it was still really cool and I remember all the stuff I learned in elementary school about Pompeii. I wish I wasn’t so hungover and feeling like garbage. But I’m still glad we went!

That night we went back to our favorite grocery store and got supplies to cook a home made italian meal. Obviously only as authentic Italian as we are (and for me that’s 0% Italian) but it was still delish and only 4 euro a person so that’s great! Dinner was accompanied by wine and the soundtrack to the Godfather so it was pretty fucking awesome.

The next day we said goodbye to beautiful Sorrento and trained it up to Italy. Which I will attempt to post about tomorrow because I need to do homework. 

Also disclaimer: I know my life seems a little unreal right now with the beaches and the binge drinking, but I promise it gets more touristy and historical in the next posts. Anyways CAIO.

Efxaristo Greece!

So as I’m currently sitting at my hostel in Rome, I’ve decided to break my spring break up into two parts: A Greece post and an Italy post. Because we’ve already done so much and we’ve still got a week left.

Here’s our route for the 2 week spring break:

So we left on Thursday night. I conveniently have my internship in a Paris suburb on Thursdays so I had to lug my suitcase all around the metro which was absolutely horrible. But we made it to the airport without any major problems and then began our flight to Greece. We had a layover for 10 hours in Athens which was pretty horrible because it was at night so we didn’t even leave the airport. We ended up sleeping on some couches at Mcdonalds (ghetto I know) and then watching the sunrise from the airport. Hahaha.

Next we took a short 45 min flight to the island of Santorini. Which is amazing! We got picked up by Stelio’s from the airport. He was so nice! We settled into our hotel for the next 5 days which was super nice considering it only cost 10 euro a night/person (compared to the shitty hostel I’m staying in at Rome which is 27.00/night and not worth it). Then we went to the black sand (or rock) beach of Perissa. 

The first night we grabbed dinner on the beach with some complimentary ice cream for dessert and then wandered down to a bar that was also on the beach. It was literally dead. There was maybe 5 ppl besides us in the bar because it’s off season but we ended up getting a ton of free drinks because of it. The bartender was hooking us up with Raki and Ouzo  shots all night haha. We also ran into two guys that were staying at the same hotel as us. They were canadian and we ended up befriending them for the trip hahaha.

The next morning we all woke up feeling like a million bucks…or the opposite of that. We knocked on the Canadians’ door and then walked across the street to rent ATV’s. We ATV’d the whole length of the island. First we stopped in Fira and got gyros (which I’m obsessed with). Pork gyros is literally amazing. So much better than the American imitations.

Then we kept riding until we got near Oia. There we found our way to Amoudi bay. For those of you who have seen Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, that’s where Lena meets Kostas. hahahah. <3 We had heard you could cliff jump there so we found this cool platform and decided to try it. We didn’t really know how it was gonna turn out so we made the boys go first. Thank god they were the test dummies because otherwise we probably would have never done it. It was so cool and definitely worth the risk since I’m still alive hahaha.

Then we hung out at the beach near there for a bit and then went to Oia to watch the famous sunset and eat dinner where we got free sweet wine from Santorini!

After dinner we made the trek back to Perissa which was super dark and somewhat scary on the winding roads. We actually ended up getting split up which was a little nerve racking but everyone made it home safe and sound.

Sunday morning we spent the day on red beach which was really relaxing.

A few drinks in we all decided that we would go out even though it was a Sunday. We went to a bar on the main road and ended up having a blast. The Canadians met us there and we made friends with all the employees haha. We paid 3 euro for one drink but had our fair share of free shots. The bartender studied english so it was really cool talking to him.

Monday we visited the Volcano and hot springs. It was kind of a trek on a hangover but the view was amazing and made up for it. It was one of those things I’m never going to forget. I was literally blown away by how beautiful it looked. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I have never really gotten to travel outside of the country until now. We drove over the border of California to Mexico for a day with my cousins and then I visited parts of France when I studied in Arles for the month, but nothing like this trip. I am seriously so blessed to be able to experience all these different parts of the world.

We spent the last day at the pool then sadly had to leave in the afternoon for Athens.

Athens however was another story….Definitely not as beautiful. And a little bit grimy. It was cool to see all the greek stuff though. I’m a huge greek mythology fan so I was interesting to see all the things I’ve learned about in real life. For some weird reason I was getting this Game of Thrones vibe the whole time.

Sadly almost everything was closed the day we were there because there was a strike and/or a protest. But we still got some good pictures. We climbed the top of this mountain, which was pretty painful in the 85 degree weather. But the view was worth it. We also saw the olympic stadium and Zeus’ tomb. As well as the acropolis from the outside.

Overall it was a great start to our break. All the greek people were extremely nice. So welcoming and very helpful. Any time you needed directions they were happy to help you out on the streets. We also got a ton of free stuff. I’m not sure if it’s cuz it was off season, because the economy in Greece sucks right now, or just because they really are that nice. I’m not complaining though cuz we got a lot of bang for our buck. It was seriously 15 euro to rent an ATV for an entire day. We had them from 11am to 11pm. Plus Italy has been more expensive so far so hopefully the cheapness of Greece evens it out. I absolutely loved Greece and I definitely want to go back some day. Maybe Mykonos. 

Stay tuned on Spring Break pt. 2. lol. Including Naples, Sorrento, Rome and Florence!

Finally done with Midterms!

I’ve been busy studying and working on projects (well kind of not really. I like to think I’ve been busy doing that). Most of them went well except my history midterm. I will literally jump for joy if I get a 13/20 which translates as a B on a U.S grading scale. Don’t know if I’ll even get that though because I left two answers completely blank.

Erin was in Paris this weekend. We got fondue. It was delicious and sinful. I shouldn’t have eaten any of that since spring break is in 10 days! I can hardly contain my excitement. We’re planning all of our excursions later today. Like a boat trip to Capri. Wine tasting in Florence. It’s literally going to be two weeks of pure heaven. :)

Sorry this is a short post. But nothing too exciting has been happening. I’m so into a routine now that I forget what things I should write about!

things i take for granted back home

consistently working wifi
eggs
water
being able to stand up in the shower
being able to take a shower with out holding the shower head above you
social media
having a car
the gym
tv
a printer

okay so I know most of those are technology related, but you have no idea how frustrating it is not to have a printer in your house!

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all”

-Helen Keller

Back At It

Sorry I haven’t written in here forever. I probably wouldn’t have written in here anyway but I’m putting off homework and a much needed run. My body feels like it’s been run over by a bus from going out on Friday night. It’s sunday, so I should be feeling better by now but I guess not.

My family just left. They were here for two weeks. It was awesome having them here but it gets a little tiring having to play tourist for that long. They probably feel worse than I do visited Nice, Monco and Avingnon over eater weekend. So that was fun. All the coastal cities are beautiful I just wish it was warm enough to lay at the beach. Basically we walked around all the cities and ate. Like literally non stop. That’s all we did. Hence why I need to go running. We also did some gambling in Nice and in the Monte Carlo casino which was pretty cool. 

The weekend before, our program did a overnight trip to the Loire Valley. I was expecting it to be super lame and historical but it actually ended up being really fun and I had a great time. We saw three different châteaux. One in Blois, one in Aboise, and Château Clemenceau.  

Pretty much lately we’ve been going out a lot and trying our best to hang out with french people. It’s been an interesting experience. Some days are good some days are bad. Some times you realize how dumb, ignorant, and naive Americans are and it is frustrating how we do things. And other times there are things you really miss about home. I’ve learned that people are not as different as you think. Yes, there are definitely cultural differences that are really apparent. But at the same time, we have a lot more in common than you think. Boys are definitely the same. haha. Everyone acts like french man are so romantic but they’re really no different then Americans. And if they are being romantic usually it’s just to try to get in your pants. At least that’s the general consensus our group has come up with. Some of them are actually pretty creepy too. haha. 

I definitely miss hanging out with guys that’s for sure. Most people know that I basically act like a dude so it’s hard when you only have 4 guys in your program. haha. (Shout out to them though cuz they’re awesome). But I’m used to hanging out with guys friends all the time at home so that’s a weird adjustment. 

Today’s just one of those days that I really miss home. Mostly my friends. Everyone’s been posting pictures, statuses, vines, tweets about formals and sorority events so that kind of sucks. Major FOMO over here. Hahah. But I’m sure next time I post on here something else will have happened to make me feel bad for everyone who didn’t get to study abroad haha.

New Discoveries

Thursday Shazia and I went to the Saint Germain de Près area which is so cute. It’s very chic. We went to Ladurée and got the new flavor of macaroon and I bought perfume at the Fragonard shop. Then we got coffees at a café and people watched for a while which is always so much fun.

Thursday night we went out to a bar called The Mazet. It was like an anglophone bar so it was really fun. There was live music. We met a few people and decided to go with them to this other bar called Prescription. SUPER expensive, but really cool either way.

Friday night we went for tapas and drinks at a place called aux 3 escales. It was french tapas which was interesting but it didn’t really hit my craving for mexican haha so I’m going to be on a hunt for that this week.

Saturday Shazia and I went to le marais area. It’s the jewish quarter and we got famous french falafel. It was my first time having and I really enjoyed it! Then we walked around and found some cool vintage shops and then sat in a starbucks for the afternoon.

Saturday night Danielle convinced us to go out. Her friend was visiting who actually ended up having a french cousin, so we hung out with them. It was cool to meet some new people that are actually french. You learn a lot more about culture that way rather than just talking with english people in french. We ended up staying out til 7am again which is always a killer. I haven’t done much today which seems to be the case every time we go out for a big night haha.

It was definitely a fun weekend and I feel like it was really Parisien haha. It wasn’t your normal touristy stuff that we’ve been doing for the past month or so. I’m excited to find more stuff like that to do!