Bonjour, Paris!

Sunday I returned from a trip to Paris for Valentine’s Day weekend! It was a busy but exciting three days. We left on a bus to Pisa Thursday morning to catch our flight to Paris. After we arrived, we took our pre-booked transportation to our rented apartment on Rue de Fouberg Saint Martin. After finding the key, we settled in our small space. The flat was quaint, but smoky and cluttered with old clothes and strange art. That being said, we were thankful to not be stuck in a sketchy dorm-style hostel in the outskirts of town. After grabbing dinner, we met my French friend Adelaide for drinks at a local café called Syphex. I hadn’t seen her in about seven years after she moved away, but she was incredibly welcoming and nice! She was a great translator for us, and throughout the night helped us plan out our entire trip. She told us which metro lines to take, how much time we should allocate for each place, and how to avoid tourist traps. It was a fun night! The next morning, Valentine’s Day, we woke up early and started our day with crepes and coffee before heading to the Louvre. It was rainy and cold, but it didn’t stop us for waiting in the long line outside to get into the geometric enterence of the famous museum. Spent a couple of hours inside, but if we had wanted to see everything, we could have spent an entire day. My favorite work was the Mona Lisa, just because it was fun to see the famous painting in person.









After the Louvre we continued to the Pont de l'Archeveche, or the Love Lock Bridge. We all bought a simple lock on the side of the rode for 3 euros, and wrote all of our initials with the date. We found the perfect spot to place our lock, and each threw a key into the river with a wish.





Next, we walked down the rode to Notre Dame, where we walked around for a while before getting a bite to eat. From there, we took the metro to Laduree, the famous macroon store. It was amazing! There were so many unique flavors, and the displays were gorgeous. We each picked out three flavors. I chose rose petal, candy strawberry, and salted caramel. The salted caramel was awesome, but I think my favorite was the rose petal. It was sweet, light and refreshing.

Around 5:00 p.m., we took the metro to Adelaide’s neighborhood to meet up with her for the night. She lived in a very nice area of town, and she took us for a short tour of the garden and the area surrounding the government buildings. After that, we went to a few grocery stores to buy food and wine for the evening. Adelaide instructed us on how to purchase the best baguettes, foie gras, cheese, and other appetizers. She was an expert! We took everything back to her charming apartment, and prepared the food. For the next five hours, we sat around eating, catching up, and talking. She invited her friend from school over too, so it was fun to meet another French college student.

 


The next day was less eventful for me, since I hurt my knee the night before and couldn’t do much walking. However, I met up with the group mid-day, and went to see the Eiffel Tower. I had been there before, but it was fun to see the sight once again, especially when it lit up at night. That evening, we grabbed dinner at a small café, where I finally had French onion soup! The rest of the night we took it easy, since we had to wake up at 3:30 a.m. for our flight home.

 

Once again, it was a great weekend! Someday I hope to go back and see Versailles.

Switzy!

This past weekend I journied to Interlaken, Switzerland for a weekend in the alps! It was incredible. We were there for only three nights, but we definitely made the most of every second we were there. The town was beautiful, and is one of the first resort towns that ever existed. To this day, it still thrives on tourism. We stayed at Balmer’s Hostel, which is apparently a famous hostel in Europe! It was comfortable as far as hostels come, but of course that is relative. I roomed with 7 of my friends, and two other girls who we didn’t know until we arrived there. On Friday morning, we woke up and had breakfast which was provided by the hostel. I had some great Swiss cheese on my bread, but some pretty awful instant coffee. We took a walking tour of the town, which is situated between two beautiful lakes, hence the name “Interlaken”.  Unfortunately it was very rainy, but it was still beautiful! For the rest of the day we relaxed, warmed up, and explored. 

View of the street from our hostel

That night, we went night sledding down the Swiss Alps! We took a shuttle to the mountains, where we picked up sleds and took a gondola ride up the mountain. We received a short orientation on how to steer and stop the sleds, and then commenced our 7 mile journey down the trails. The views were absolutely breathtaking, and I was disappointed that the darkness didn’t allow for any good pictures.  I felt like I was in a mural of a winter wonderland, looking down on the white lights of a city below. The mountains were absolutely silent with the snow, except for the sound of  distant waterfall. It was a wonderful night!

The next day, I woke up at the crack of dawn with two of my friends for a day of skiing. The sun was still rising as we carried our skis to the bus stop. After the bus ride, we took two long trains to the top of a mountain that I still cannot pronounce. The trek was about an hour and a half. By the time we finally got there, we were ready to get going. The views were incredible, and the skiing was challenging and amazing. It had just snowed the day before, so there was a lot of powder, especially for the first half of the day. We used almost every second of our day pass, taking only one break at a TP on the mountain for lunch and to meet up with some other people on our program.  It was a challenging but rewarding day, and by 4:00 I was exhausted and ready to nap on the train home! After a shower and a quick recharge, I celebrated the day with real Swiss fondue!

The sunrise as we left to ski

Changing trains on our way to the mountain

A great end to the day

We left Sunday afternoon, but not before another adventure! At 11:00 a.m., I did the HANDS DOWN scariest activity of my life: Canyon jumping! I had been looking forward to it all weekend, although I knew I was about to be more terrified than I ever had been before. We took a shuttle to a mountain, where a group of us hiked uphill for about 15 minutes on an icy path. When we got a shed, a guide met us and led us up an even more treacherous path to a shed perched on the edge of a canyon. The paths were extremely slippery and lined by steep drop offs on either side. At many points, I had to give up walking and slid on all fours down the trail.

 

View of the canyon before the hike

After being weighed, harnessed, and signing my life away, it was time to jump. I was the fourth person to go, and I had already decided to not look down. I knew that if I caught a glimpse of the drop with my toes over the edge, I would lose my nerve. So, when my time came, I waved to the camera and literally took a leap of faith.

Looking down from the jumping point

Looking up safely from the bottom!

Click here to see a video of the jump!

I have never been more terrified and exhilierated in my life. For 4.7 seconds, I free fell 250 feet through the ice cold air. Free falling is unlike any sensation I have ever experienced. The came a point where I was so shocked, I couldn’t make a sound. For most of it, I thought, “this is what it is like to die”. Then, all the sudden, the rope caught up to me, and I was hurled in a swinging motion to the opposite corner of the massive canyon, where I continued to swing in awe until I caught a rope to climb the ladder to safety. Even days later, my heart still skips a beat when I relive the experience. As terrifying as it was, it was one of my favorite things I have ever done! If I ever go back, I would sign up again in an instant.

Overall, my weekend in Interlaken was unbelievable and full of adventure. I definitely pushed myself outside of my comfort zone , and I’m so glad that I did. I’m not usually one for snowy vacations, but this was well worth the cold! I hope to be back someday,

Now, on to Paris for Valentine’s Day weekend! I’m sure this weekend will have wonderful times in store as wel.

Pisa, Lucca and Fiesole

This past Saturday, we visited Pisa and Lucca! On Sunday, we took a shorter trip to Fiesole for brunch and a short tour of the town.

On our trip to Pisa, we spent a couple hours at the famous tower, taking pictures and wandering around. There's not a ton to do in Pisa besides look at the leaning structure, but it was great to go and see a famous structure that I've only seen in pictures.

After Pisa, we bused to Lucca to have lunch and take a tour of the city. It was beautiful! The streets were smaller and quieter, and like many other Italian cities, they had a beautiful church and quaint squares with shops and cafes. Lucca is interesting because it is surrounded by a wall that was originally built to keep the city safe from the Medici family when they were in power. Today, you can walk or ride bikes around the walls on a two mile path.

View of Lucca from the top of the tower

My favorite part of this weekend was our trip to Fiesole! The town is only about fifteen minutes outside of Florence, but it is up in the hills and far from the business of the city. The air was crisper and fresh, and everything was so lush and green from all the rain we've been having. Today, it's known as the East Hamptons of Florence. The villas there cost millions of dollars, and many wealthy families from Florence will spend the summer in homes there to escape the humidity and heavy air of the city. Many celebrities, such as Sting, own homes in the area.

We first went on a tour of a museum that displayed the remains of Etruscans, who lived in the area before the Romans conquered them in 3000 BC. They don't know much about the Etruscans, besides what they've uncovered about their burial ceremonies. Their language is almost impossible to decipher, and much of it still remains a mystery.

After the Roman empire fell, a group call the Longobards took over the region. They were barbaric, and Fiesole became a sort of "no mans land" for many years.

After learning a quick overview of the history, we saw an old Roman theatre that once was able to fit 3,000 people. Peasants and women sat at the top, while royalty and the rich sat near the bottom. The structure was built from the beginning decades of the first century, and finished in the second. Famous play writes such as Sophocles would have visited the theatre.

Next, we moved on to the ruins of the Roman's old temple and bathing grounds. Although the basic outline remains, much of it is covered in moss and is overgrown with grass. It was interesting to be able to walk around all of them though, and climb stairs that have been there for so many years.

After hiking up a steep hill, we came to an overlook that gave a wonderful view of Florence below us.

We continued up a hill to visit a monastery. It was amazing how small all of the rooms were!

The day concluded with a seven course brunch provided by our program in the basement of a great restaurant. We had everything from cheese plates, to lasagna, to egg dishes, and cheese cake. Needless to say, everyone was stuffed but happy!