Vernazza, one of the five towns that make up the Cinque Terre region is composed of beautiful colorful homes and a small marina. It's one of the most relaxing places I've ever visited. There are no cars, no pollution, no worries. A small population of only 1,000 people make up this village where many tourists come each year to enjoy a few relaxing days next to the marina or hiking from village to village. I visited Vernazza for a quick 2-day trip with some friends. The village is so small you can walk around the whole area in 5 minutes but it is still worth the visit. There more restaurants in Vernazza than there are any other types of businesses. We ate at two restaurants with similar price ranges. I spent about 15 and 25 euros at each restaurant. One where I only had spaghetti and water and the other where I had pizza, wine, and water. The food was delicious but the view of the Italian Riviera was by far the best part of the dinner!! While in Vernazza, my friends and I did a lot of relaxing but the best part was hiking to the village next door to it, Corniglia. Vernazza is in the middle of both Corniglia and Monterosso. One of my friends decided to go to Monterosso via train since she's not much of a hiker. Monterosso is mainly just a beach area, so that was more up her alley than hiking. I, on the other hand, was up for the challenge. So I headed on a 2 hour hike with my other friend. When we reached the start of the mountain there was a small cabin that charged hikers a small fee in order to cross over. We ended up paying the children's price of €4 to be able to start our journey. Why we paid the children’s price, I do not know but it saved us €3. As we were about to begin our hike, the man in the cabin said it should only take about an hour. We, however, are not hikers so it took us twice as long. After an hour of hiking up the most steep mountain I have ever seen in my life, I thought we had finally made it but I was wrong!! There was a big sign at the top of the last uphill stairway that read “You are 1/2 there.” This sign also happened to be the sign to a restaurant which said it sold smoothies so since I was only halfway through my hike, a smoothie sounded like a good idea! I ordered my smoothie and to my surprise it wasn’t really a smoothie but instead freshly squeezed orange juice! I was very disappointed! After I finished my “smoothie” we continued on our hike which got a lot easier since it was only downhill from there. Before we started marching downhill we stopped by a small balcony that had an amazing view of the villages we were between. One hour later, we finally had made it to Corniglia. Corniglia, to no surprise was also very small (maybe a tad bit bigger than Vernazza) but it had a few more restaurants and seemed as more of a residential area than did Vernazza. It was a very cute village which my friend and I finished exploring in about 15 minutes. We then decided to do a bit of souvenir shopping and ate some pizza before we went back to Vernazza. When we headed back to Vernazza, we did so via a bus that took you to the train station. I was too tired to hike my way back!! In Vernazza, we spent our last night eating great food, enjoying gelato, and admiring the beauty of the Italian Riviera. Vernazza was a beautiful experience that I hope to have again, but next time I’d like to hike between all five villages!! Hopefully I’ll be in better shape by then!!
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Reading Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, I always imagined Verona to be this beautiful small town with a romantic edge to it and it definitely exceeded my expectations! During spring break this year, I decided to take a quick day trip from Venice to Verona. I arrived to Verona on a Wednesday afternoon and walked about 20 minutes from the train station to my Airbnb. As I walked to my Airbnb, I passed by the center of Verona. I found myself in this huge plaza next to the Arena Amphitheater and many boutiques and restaurants. It was fairly clear that in this area there were not many tourists, which made it easier to get around unlike Venice. Once I arrived to my Airbnb, my host was there to great me. I stayed in a small studio complete with a kitchen, bathroom and small sitting area. It was perfect for someone stay there only one day! My Airbnb host was very kind and offered a few suggestions around the city that I should check out. After my host left, I first decided to take a small 30 minute rest and just cool down in the studio since it was about 85 degrees outside. Afterwards, I went to one of the places my host recommended, Ponte Pietra. Ponte Pietra is the oldest bridge in Verona and on the other side of the bridge there is a hill with a balcony at the very top that has the most magnificent view of Verona. It is truly an eye-opening area. The beauty of the city can all be captured in this small balcony and it is breath-taking! I spent about an hour on the balcony just admiring the view before I decided it was too hot for me to stay there any longer. Next, I headed to the only place that drew me to Verona, Juliet’s House. Ever since I saw the movie, Letters to Juliet, I have always wanted to visit Verona just to see this house. This was by far the most touristic area of all of Verona, with hundreds of people from all over the world, wanting to see the same thing. I can say that visiting Juliet’s House was a great experience but, I would not go back to see it again. As a student I received a reduced price of 4 euros to enter the house but there was not very much to see inside. There were a few paintings here and there of various artists that painted different scenes from the story. There was Juliet’s bed, which also housed a gown and a tradition costume for Romeo. Other than that, the best part of the whole place was the famous balcony and her statue downstairs by the entrance. I did not have high expectations of the house but I was looking forward to see the wall full of letters that women wrote to Juliet. Now you can no longer write a letter and leave it on the wall, instead you can write Juliet an email inside or you can bring your hand written letter and place it in her mailbox inside. Even though Juliet’s House was not exactly what I expected, it was still worth seeing. After visiting her home, I was in an area that had many souvenir shops (mostly dedicated to the star-crossed lovers) and many shopping stores. I entered a few of the clothes stores around the area and did a bit of shopping. I think Italian fashion was by far my favorite in all of the cities I have visited so far! Once I finished shopping, I headed back to the huge plaza I first encountered when I arrived to Verona. There I decided I should see the Arena Amphitheater. Seven euros later, I entered the Arena which was partially under construction but I was still able to access the seating area which was once able to hold about 30,000 people. Now, most of it looks to be in the process of being restored. Even though I was not able to see much of Verona during my short visit, I still feel like it is a charming city with much more to offer. I hope to be able to go back one day and see what else the beautiful city of Verona holds! Spring break in Europe is 100 times better than in the States! For starters I had a two-week long spring break!! I can't remember the last time one of my school breaks was that long, but nonetheless it's amazing to have the opportunity to do whatever you want for two-weeks! I started my break in the beautiful city of Venice. I would say Venice is the epitome of what I thought Italy would be like! You have all these homes and restaurants floating on the water, colorful buildings, flowers that smell fresh and make you feel welcomed, and of course pizza, pasta, gelato and gondolas everywhere!!! I only spent two days in Venice but I enjoyed every bit of it! My first day exploring Venice consisted of starting off my morning at a local cafe and drinking coffee and a chocolate croissant with my friends! After having a nice breakfast, my friends and I walked around town for a bit to see the island a bit better. Then we went to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. I am not much of an art fan but I found her collection to be interesting. I enjoyed the exhibit over ocean pollution that was composed of clear empty soda bottles with letters and colorings from local elementary school children. I thought that exhibit did a great job trying to make people aware of all the damage being caused to the ocean as the exhibit used all the bottles to create sea animals such as whales and jelly fish. I interpreted the writing and pictures created by elementary school children, as a form of showing what we as adults are creating for future generations, the damages and effects of our actions will affect these children if we don't try to change it! I think this exhibit brings a powerful message to those that see it. After visiting the exhibit we continued on with our day and went on a gondola ride around the small rivers of the town and the Grand Canal. I have to say this was my favorite part of Venice, you don't truly experience Italy if you don't go on a gondola ride!! I have to admit they are not the cheapest thing to do in Venice but the price is not terrible for a once in a life experience. Gondolas in Venice are 80€ for 30 minutes for a max of 5 people so if you can find at least 4 people that's 20€ a piece, which can be affordable. Our gondolier, was a man around his early 30s who was born and raised in Venice. He had never lived anywhere else and he shared with us that he had no plans of ever leaving the town either. I was amazed to hear this because when we were in Venice it was not high season for tourists but it seemed like the whole island was just tourists. I could not imagine living in a town were there aren't very many locals! During our gondola ride we got to know our gondolier a bit better. It was fascinating to find that most Italians (and our gondolier) speak more than one language, usually around 3 languages. I enjoyed being able to speak to the gondolier in Spanish as he told me that he loved Venice because of the history and culture behind the small island. He said he has always been proud of this and that Venice was once one of the most important cities in Europe. He enjoys the remains of the influence the city had on Europe when Venice was a top place for art at one point! It was nice to be able to have that experience and pick the brain of a local! Once our gondola ride came to an end, we visited the San Marco Plaza where we had gelato for the first time! It was great to be able to enjoy some gelato with a view of the sea next to us! The San Marco Plaza is also where I spent my whole day the second day in Venice. I enjoyed eating gelato and people watching in this Plaza. This is also a great area to do some souvenir shopping since there are so many street vendors all over the area. Venice is a beautiful town I enjoyed and would love to visit again but it is necessary to have at least 4-5 days there to truly enjoy it and see almost everything! It's such a cliche but honestly, Paris is always a good idea. To start off my spring break this past week I headed to Paris for the weekend! I have been to Paris a few times before and I have to say this was by far one of the better experiences I have had there! I started off my weekend in Paris on Friday afternoon around 6pm when I arrived to my Airbnb. I went and left my luggage there and then headed off to a concert with my friends. My favorite French artist, Frero Delavega, were playing at the Accorhotel arena that night and I was so excited to be able to see them live for the first time! The concert lasted for about an hour and a half, after the opening act went on and they were amazing! I have been listening to their music now for 2 years and I know most of the lyrics to the songs in their two albums! Being in a concert that was filled with only French people was pretty incredible. It was a different experience than the concerts I've gone to in the States. After the concert, my friends and I headed back to the Airbnb and we hit the hay. The next morning we went to the Louvre and spent most of the morning there. This was my first time inside the Louvre and I have to say I really enjoyed the Ancient Greek exhibit they had. Next, I went to grab lunch in a small hole in the wall restaurant close to Notre Dame where you can get a panini, crêpe, and a soda for €5. Then I headed off to Montemart and climb what felt like a million stairs to reach Sacre-Cœur. When we reached the top, we had an amazing view of Paris. That day in particular was also interesting because, we were able to see a photo shoot of a beautiful bride and her groom in front of the church! We also saw a man who did some amazing tricks with a soccer ball. He climbed up a lamp post and from there he managed to bounce the ball up and down with his feet. My friends and I were impressed!! As the day continued, we went to the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. This was my first time there and I have to say it is a beautiful place to spend a day! My friend and I sat there for a bit and enjoyed the beautiful day! That weekend in Paris was very relaxing and fun. I was able to enjoy Paris a bit more than the first time I was there. When the weekend was over, my friends and I head off to Italy to start the best spring break…! Brussels, Belgium is one of the coolest cities I have visited so far! While I was there I was reminded a lot of the States in some aspects! First of all, I would say it is as diverse or maybe even more diverse than the States, which is something I was missing a lot in France. I am used to being surrounded by different types of cultures and languages in my hometown but Angers is somewhat of the opposite. You only hear French and only see native French people in the streets. This is one of the reasons I chose Angers in the first place, but the diversity of the States is something that I was missing the most while abroad! While in Brussels, I loved hearing a different language as I turned through each street! I was constantly hearing English, French, German, and Spanish. I was most excited of being able to hear Spanish, since it is my native language, after months of the speaking it daily. Another great thing about Brussels in particular, is the lively and vibrant atmosphere that the city has 24/7. Brussels is a city filled with a young population and on every corner you turn to, you see something interesting you have to check out. The city also does pretty well in the gastronomy area. You have not tasted a great French Fry until you go to Belgium and have a basket full of fries for €2!!! They also have the best waffles in the world! Any type of topping that you can image having on a waffle is possible in Belgium!! I enjoyed a tasty Nutella, strawberry, and kiwi waffle on one of the million waffle shops you find walking up and down any street. When it comes to drinking beer, (which I am personally not a big fan of) Belgium has a massive selection of beers! Delirium Cafe is one of the most known places in Brussels to enjoy a beer, since they have over 2,000 option for you to choose from. The bar itself has a great atmosphere earlier in the day before it gets extremely crowded at night. If you ever find yourself in Europe and are looking for a quick, fun weekend adventure Brussels is a magnificent city to visit. They have something for everyone!! One of the great things about being in France is the wine! I am fortunate enough to have two host parents who took me to a vineyard about 30 kilometers from Angers for the day. My host dad, Jean, loves wine and is always telling me about the different types of wine and what type of wine to pair with what food. For example, for seafood lovers a nice, Muscadet is what he normally suggests. Being able to go with him and my host mom to a vineyard was a great experience. When we arrived to the vineyard it was maybe 11:30am and it was somewhat busy. We entered the area where they held the wine tasting and we paid €2 to rent a glass. Then we proceeded inside and we did a lot of tasting! I was amazed at how much Jean knew about each wine and which wines he preferred over the others! I enjoy a nice rosé or any type of wine that is on the sweeter side. Jean knowing, this showed me to the rosé section where I tried some Cabernet d'Anjou, which was amazing. He also suggested I try Sauvignon, which I ended up really liking! After tasting a few different wines, Jean and Therese (my host mom) took us next door to a free picnic area where the people from the vineyard were serving sandwiches, fries, and veal. After all the wine we had had it seemed like a great lunch. Next, Jean and Therese took us to a second vineyard that was next to where their granddaughter will be getting married. There we were able to explore the vineyard a little and hear some of the history of the wine that was produced there. It was a beautiful area and the owners of the property were kind enough to open their closed wine cellar to let us try some of the wine produced. We did a small tasting there and I ended up buying two bottles of Coteaux du Layon, a very sweet wine that was perfect for me!! Around 4pm, we were all done with our wine tours and we headed back to Angers. All in all I am grateful to have such great host parents that take the time out of their day to take me somewhere I would not be able to go by myself! It was a great experience that I will never forget!! While being abroad, it's so easy to just hop on a train and go to a new city for the weekend. I was able to do just that and I had a great weekend in Bordeaux! Bordeaux is a beautiful city filled with a lot of young people, culture and wine! While I was there I had a glass of Bordeaux wine and it was definitely one of the best glasses of wine I've had in France thus far. During my weekend trip to Bordeaux with one of the girls from my program, we went to a modern art museum, rented bicycles and explored the city. Renting bicycles in Bordeaux was definitely an experience. We rented the bikes early Saturday morning and by mid-day one of the bicycles had been stolen from the place we locked it. That unfortunate event lead to phone calls to the bicycle company and eventually to a visit to the police station to file a report! Let's just say, that was an interesting dilemma! While in Bordeaux we also visited CAPC Musée d'Art Contemporain de Bordeaux, where we saw unique exhibitions. One of the featured exhibits was the history of architecture. Here you were able to see different types of building models from around the world and how they started from a simple idea to what they are today. After the museum, we went to a huge street fair in one of the plazas of Bordeaux! The fair was so lively and fun! Unfortunately, the price of each ride is between €5-8 so we only went on two rides! I would say overall, Bordeaux was a great city to visit! It is worth being there for more than a weekend since it is such a big city with many things to do! Yesterday Louis XIV welcomed me to his great golden palace, Versailles. I had seen many pictures of Versailles and in my French History class I had heard how beautiful and expensive Versailles was but until you step foot in the great château you can’t really image how someone lived in a place like this.
I have been really intrigued by my French History course lately and we had just finished talking about the Monarchy, Louis XIV, Marie-Antoinette, and of course Versailles. I can now see why the French people who lived in poverty during the 17th century would be so angry at Louis XIV. Versailles is a massive castle for anyone and it is definitely a bit extravagant if you ask me. Louis did not hold back when he decided to built the great beauty that is Versailles. With its massive amount of gold covered accents and the Hall of Mirrors, this castle was fit for a king. As I made my way through Versailles, I noticed all the great detail that went into account with each and every room in the castle. I can’t image being one of the artists working with Louis XIV. All of the artwork in every room seemed like it took weeks or months to complete. The style of each room especially Louis XIV and Marie-Antoinette’s daughters’ rooms seemed to have been specifically chosen to fit their taste in décor or maybe even their personality. Regardless of all the attention to detail that went into the castle, Louis XIV did not fail when it came to the immense gardens outside of Versailles. The gardens and the lake outside reach for miles and miles. I tried to walk most of it but I don’t think I even made it half way! Not only are the gardens beautiful, but they are also so lively now that the warm weather has slowly started to begin. I enjoyed grabbing an ice cream and just sitting on the side of the lake watching all the people riding boats and seeing a beautiful swan two feet away from me. (Honestly, I was a bit scared the swan would try to steal my ice cream but luckily it didn’t!) The Versailles Gardens are a great place to just ride a bike, go for a jog, or just enjoy a picnic by the water. Overall, I enjoyed my visit to Versailles. It is an experience to remember in France and it is definitely worth the while as long as you come prepared with your best walking shoes! Last Sunday, I was able to visit two of France hidden gems. I had the opportunity to visit Mont Saint Michel and Saint Malo, two small towns in the northwest of France in the Normandy region. These two towns are not the first two towns you would think of visiting while in France but they are definitely worth your time if you ever find yourself near Normandy. I did a day long excursion to both of these towns so I did not spend much time in either, but whether you have a free weekend or a just a free day to visit you will not regret going to either one of these two towns. I began my Sunday excursion at Saint Malo along the beautiful beach that surrounds it. When I arrived with my friends to Saint Malo, we started by entering the fort that surrounds the small town and going to the top of the fort, where you can walk for a few miles and see beautiful views of both the sea and the town. Afterwards, we decided to explore the town a bit. Sundays in France are a bit different than in other countries since most places tend to be closed, expect for major cities and touristic areas. Luckily, Saint Malo is somewhat touristic and on Sundays there is a good amount of shops and restaurants open after 12pm. We began our exploration of the town by going to souvenir shops and looking at all the merchandise the Bretagne area is known for. In the gift shops there were a lot of crêpes and caramel candies that were specialties of that region. Afterward the gift shops we continued walking and we saw a small chocolate shop with many different flavored chocolate, such as lavender flavor. Next, we decided it would be a good idea to eat crêpes. The Bretagne area where Saint Malo is located is know for crêpes and the different combinations of crêpes you can find. My friends and I went to a restaurant and we each had different crêpes. I ordered the Ferrari Crêpe which was just a crêpe with Chantilly cream, ice cream, coconut shavings, bananas, and Nutella. It was a delicious crêpe!! After eating, we continued exploring the town for another hour and the town started to look more lively around this time. We walked around shops and saw many beautiful buildings, until we ran into a shop that specialized in French style donuts that you could fill with any type of filling such as chocolate or jelly. These donuts looked appetizing but after eating such a sugary crêpe my limit had been reached. By this time, it was also time to head to Mt. St. Michel. When we arrived at Mt. St. Michel, we had to take a bus from the parking lot to the abbey located in the town. Once the bus dropped us off we began our climb to the top! As we marched up the stairs, I felt like there was a million of them and I suddenly got a flashback of all the stairs in Montmartre to reach Sacré-Cœur. I thought that after being in France for a few weeks and walking on average 3-5 miles a day I would be in great conditions to make it to the top of the abbey…I was wrong! 20 minutes later and completely out of breath, I finally made it to the top and we began our tour of the abbey. The abbey is truly, a beautiful monument filled with history. As you slowly start your descend, through the monument you get beautiful views of the beach that surrounds it and the gardens within the abbey. The day we visited the tide was very low, so there wasn’t much water in the area but nonetheless the view was beautiful! Mt. St. Michel and St. Malo are both two beautiful towns that are great weekend trips or even day trips if you ever find yourself in France! Being in a new country with new people can be hard for anyone. I think that the best thing you can do is put yourself out there and try new things. Be open to new ideas!
For example my university in France hosted an international soirée for students to come and meet other students from other cultures as well as local French students. I was a bit hesitant to go because I am not the most social butterfly out there, but luckily one of the girls from my program wanted to go so we went together. It was a lot of fun and I am glad I was able to attend! The soirée was composed of 3-4 activities you could do such as musical chairs, an obstacle course, and karaoke. You were paired with one French student and another international student, and your team had to try to do as many activities as possible. This was a great way for me to step out of my comfort zone and make new friends, as well as learn what the local people my age usually do. If I would have never gone to the soirée I would not have met such great people that night! I think that in any type of environment you might be in, whether it’s in your hometown or whether you’re abroad, you should always try to step out of your comfort zone and experience new things because you never know what you could learn or who you could meet! |
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