Bologna

My train rides from Cinque Terre to Bologna were quite stressful. Each one of them was late, forcing me to run from one to the next. There was a massive crowd trying to get on the train from Parma to Bologna, and I literally pushed myself onto it seconds before the doors shut and many people were left waiting. I ended up having to stand awkwardly in the aisle for about 20 minutes before people got off at the next stop. I hadn’t printed my ticket because on my train from Milan, someone had shown their electronic ticket on their iPhone and it was fine, but apparently that doesn’t fly on the less classy trains. The ticket collector told me it wasn’t okay and I got very scared that he would fine me a ton, but he got distracted with some craziness right behind me so I thought I might have gotten out of it. Unfortunately, he came back to me later and said I would have to pay the ticket price, but then he only made me pay him an arbitrary 5 euros. I’m pretty sure he just pocketed it, but I was glad to not have to pay a 50+ euro fine. I think it was 20% negative karma for having kept the 20 euros that the machine spit out at me at the Florence train station.

In Bologna, I stayed with a woman who was renting a bed. There were absolutely no hostels in the city center and I didn’t want to pay a lot for a single room in a bed and breakfast, so this seemed like a good option. It turned out to be quite nice, as the lady I was staying with was very sweet and helpful. I basically had a double bed that was surrounded by a bamboo fence in the corner of the living room. It was in a very good location and pretty cheap, so it was a fine accommodation for two nights.

On Tuesday, I went exploring around the city. It is quite small and extremely walkable, and I mostly just walked around all day looking at the various monuments and piazzas. I started in Piazza Maggiore, which is the main square. Almost all of the sidewalks are covered by porticos, and it is said that you don’t need an umbrella in Bologna. The city is really pretty and charming and infinitely less touristy than the other places I visited. It is called “Bologna the Red” because most of the buildings are painted some tint of red. Some parts of it reminded me a little bit of Cambridge, MA, because it is very much a university city, as it houses the oldest university in Europe. I went to the Museum of European Students, where I read about and saw artifacts of student life. It definitely made me miss college. For lunch, I had a yummy lasagna Bolognese. Bologna is famous for its good food, and it satisfied my non-picky palate. I basically just walked all over the city and into some churches (I have decided that I am on the church tour of Europe) and watched children shooting pigeons with a fake machine gun. I went to dinner with my host, where I learned about her life and enjoyed a delicious crostini covered with cheese, honey, and walnuts. Naturally, I finished off my last night in Italy with a serving of gelato. They certainly do their food right.

I got up at about 3:30 am this morning, nervous that my taxi wouldn’t come for me at 5:00. It did come, and I attempted to sleep on my entire flight home. Now I am back in Sevilla, catching up with Rebecca and laundry. It is nice to be home, but I had an amazing adventure over the past few days and am proud that I did an entire trip “ridin’ solo.”

Cinque Terre!

Cinque Terre is pretty much paradise! I arrived in Manarola, one of the five towns, on Saturday evening. My hostel was located on the top of a very steep hill, so people laughed at me as I struggled up it with my rolling suitcase trying to pull me back down. I eventually made it to what was a very nice hostel but by far the strictest one I have ever stayed in. They had an extensive list of rules and a very strict lockout time and curfew, but besides that, it was quite friendly and homey. It was definitely not a youth hostel, as there were people of all ages staying there. After dropping off my stuff, I went for what the receptionist said would be a nice walk through the vineyards above our hostel. I’m not sure where I went wrong but it ended up being a very difficult climb with no clear path and no one around. Eventually, I gave up and found some way down, going through fences and climbing down ladders. After a brief stop at the hostel, I went out to explore the town I was staying in. It was very cute with tons of different colored houses on different levels. I walked to the other end of the tiny town to see the ocean crashing against the rocks. It was fun watching some boys jumping off these dangerous looking rocks while everyone screamed until we knew they were safe. I ate a solo dinner of focaccia pizza, but as I was walking back to my hostel, I ran into two ladies from New Zealand who invited me out for a drink with them. We went to a restaurant and I tried the famous white dessert wine from Cinque Terre. It was quite yummy and served with biscotti so I wasn’t complaining. The ladies had been in the hostel for a few days so they informed me of the various hostel rules and the church bells that would chime loudly at 7 am. Oh, great! We went back to the hostel and went to sleep fairly early because I had a big day of hiking ahead of me.

Luckily, my handy earplugs helped me sleep through the church bells and I got up around 8:00 am. It was Easter and I was afraid things would be closed, so I had breakfast at the hostel. I spotted two girls and asked if I could join them, which turned out to be a great decision because it meant I wouldn’t be alone for the next two whole days. They were two sisters, Mia and Georgia, from Australia who were traveling around Italy with their mom for six weeks. We had a nice breakfast together and I asked if I could join them for the steep part of the hike from our town to the next. I ended up never really separating from them and we had a lovely two days together. The normal path between Manarola and Corniglia was closed, so we had to take an alternate route, which apparently was the difficult hiking path but I didn’t know this when I agreed to do it. We went pretty much straight up a mountain for a few kilometers, and it was quite a workout. I was so glad I was not alone for this hike, especially going downhill. I’m not sure what I was thinking about hiking alone. I’m sure I would have freaked out because there was almost no one else on this path because it was the difficult one. We passed some gorgeous views of the water and our town, but I spent most of the hike looking at my feet and trying to not fall to my death, which was a real possibility. After about two hours of hiking and luckily finding a perfectly sized walking stick out of the mud, we arrived in Corniglia. It was another cute town, the only one of the five that is on a hill and not along the coast. We walked around the shops and got some food for a picnic overlooking the water. We definitely deserved a rest.

After the requisite gelato serving (I’m convinced it is part of the food pyramid in Italy), we continued on to the next town, Vernazza. This hike was not as difficult as the first one, but it was no walk in the park. This path was much more crowded but had equally amazing views. My left leg got quite tired by the end because my right knee is too weak to step down on uneven surfaces. It seemed like forever, but we eventually got to a bar overlooking the water where I had a much needed Coca-Cola Light. It was only a short walk after that to the town. Unfortunately, I lost my beloved walking stick as it fell to its demise after I rested it against a fence. It is slightly ironic that it fell because it prevented me from doing so many times. We walked around the town, which is probably my favorite, for a bit and sat on a concrete pier overlooking the water. It was time for a shower, so we took the train back to our town. I frantically scrubbed my mud-covered limbs in my allotted 5-minute shower. Then I relaxed for a bit and figured out my plans for heading to Bologna the next day. I decided to take a later train than planned because I loved Cinque Terre so much. I met up with the Australian family for an incredible “Easter dinner” in the town. We feasted on local cuisine. We started off with bruschetta with anchovies and fresh anchovies in lemon juice. Both were amazing and very much unlike canned anchovies. For my main dish, I had spaghetti with seafood. And for dessert, we shared a lemon meringue pie and a delicious pudding. I was so grateful to be sharing a meal with these girls and the food was incredible.

That night, I had multiple pre-sleep dreams about slipping off mountains. At one point, I had actually slipped and these were very similar to that feeling. I woke up around 8:00 again and got ready to check out. I had breakfast at the hostel again and, although I didn’t think I had met too many people there, I was chatting with everyone and saying goodbye to a bunch of people. Hostels really are my social niche. I met up with my “adoptive family” and we headed out on the train to Monterosso, the least adorable but most beachy of the five towns. We found a spot on the sand and relaxed for a few hours. I took a dip in the freezing cold ocean water, but I didn’t last very long. The hostel wouldn’t let me keep my towel for the day so I dried off with a little hand towel and the sun. After we’d had enough sun, we went to Riomaggiore, the remaining town. It was very quaint and had nice shops and a lovely marina. The mom loved shopping so we went into just about every store. We ate some focaccia pizza on a bench and wandered around for a while. Then we did the famous Via dell’Amore back to Manarola. This is the easiest of the walks, all on paved ground. It winds around the mountainside and overlooks the beautiful water. It was incredibly calm and relaxing with many great views and picture spots. We were joking about how we needed to find an Italian guy to walk along it with us, but that dream did not come true. Luckily, though, I did not have to do it alone. We arrived back at our town after the short stroll and enjoyed some of the best gelato I have had so far in Italy. I said a sad goodbye to the incredible family that had taken me in over the past two days and got some sustenance for the train ride. I retrieved my stuff from the hostel, said goodbye to the ocean, and headed to the train station. I am now on my way to Bologna, which I will explore tomorrow. I think I could have stayed a few more days…or years…in Cinque Terre and been quite content. I only have one day left in Italy, which is sad, but I am realizing how much I love Sevilla and all my friends there. I am excited to share stories from this vacation week and enjoy one last month in the city of sunshine.

That Leaning Tower

I stopped off at Pisa Centrale station to spend a couple of hours wandering around that famous tower with a tilt. I walked through the city, which is really nothing special, but it had a good crafts market along the way. As I turned the corner and was approaching the Leaning Tower and the Duomo, I thought, “Wow, that really is quite a lean.” Most of my pictures don’t depict how much the tower is leaning, but it’s certainly true to its name. The area around it is beautiful with lots of green grass that you’re not supposed to walk on and a pretty church and baptistry. I walked through the endless souvenir markets but didn’t get anything. When someone saw me attempting to take a picture of myself holding up the tower, they offered to take a picture of me. I gladly accepted. It is not a good place to visit alone if you actually want a well-crafted picture of yourself supporting the tower. There was not a whole lot to do there unless you wanted to go in the various buildings and museums, but I just chilled on the grass for a while and headed back to the train station. Now I’m on my way to Cinque Terre, the part of my trip that I am most excited about!

Florence and Siena

I had a wonderful time in Florence. It is a very approachable and walkable city with incredible sites. Unfortunately, it was very crowded this week before Easter so I think it lost some of its charm. I got into my hostel on Tuesday night and met some really nice people in my room. The hostel itself was very big and quite nice. I ended up spending almost no time in it over the next few days, but it had a pool, sauna, and terrace that I missed out on.

I went out exploring the city on Wednesday. I went in search of the Duomo but found San Lorenzo first. When I was standing outside of San Lorenzo, I thought, “This just can’t be it.” When I turned the corner to the Duomo, I literally said out loud, “Oh.” The Duomo has perhaps the best façade of a church that I have ever seen. It is breathtaking and so intricate. I don’t understand how they constructed that so many years ago when I couldn’t do it with a forklift today. I went to a secret ticket booth, and after a huge internal conflict about whether or not I wanted to spend 14 euros to see a museum, I bought a ticket to the Uffizi. I literally avoided over 2.5 hours of lines by reading about this secret hole-in-the-wall ticket booth online. I walked around Ponte Vecchio by the river and sat on the sloping ground outside of Pitti Palace. I loved looking at the hills over the river – the river area is usually my favorite part of cities and it was beautiful here. After several scoops of gelato and bouts of people watching, I went to the Uffizi Museum. It was filled with great Renaissance art, including Birth of Venus. I enjoyed walking around it, but almost all of the exhibitions on the first floor were closed, which was disappointing. Afterwards, I headed back to the hostel and met up with an English girl, Maria, whom I had met and two other people she had met in her hostel. We ran up to Piazzale Michelangelo to watch the sun set over the city. It was definitely worth the climb. The view was incredible. I think Florence is even more beautiful from above than on street level. Then we went out to a delicious dinner at a place someone had recommended to me called The Cat and the Wolf in Italian. We shared some pasta and pizza and each other’s company, as we were all solo travelers. We got a bit lost on the way back but I eventually made it home and passed out after a very long day.

On Thursday, I took a day trip to Siena, a hill town about an hour outside of Florence. Siena has a beautiful main square called Il Campo that is a sloping semi-circle surrounded by various cafes and gelato shops. It also has a gorgeous Duomo whose outside is kind of like a miniature version of the Florence Duomo. It was very cute and intricately decorated. The inside, however, was incredible! It was one of the coolest insides of a church I have ever seen. It reminded me a little bit of Candy Land. It was very colorful and the ceiling was gorgeous. There was just so much to look at. As I was sitting outside the church after walking through it, my friend Andrea from Sevilla spotted me. I knew she was in Florence at the same time but we randomly found each other in Siena. After a few hours of reading and people watching on Il Campo, we met up again for some relaxation and pastry eating. Andrea and her friend had found this adorable pastry shop, which we went to…twice. As we were leaving the second time, the adorable girl who worked there said, “See you later.” Siena was very nice to walk around and a nice contrast to Florence because all of the buildings are made of brick. After we took the bus back to Florence, I met up with Maria again for a light dinner and to catch up on the day.

On Friday, I had a few more sites in Florence to hit up. I waited in line to see the inside of the Duomo. I’m sad to say it was very underwhelming. It was huge but very barren, really nothing special, especially compared to its outside. Then I went to the inside of San Lorenzo which was nice and free because it was Good Friday. As I went to get in line for the Medici Chapel, I spotted Maria so we walked through it together. It was pretty good – it had one very grand and unique room. Before she had to leave for her train, we got lunch at a place called Za-Za which had pictures of all the famous people who had eaten there lining the walls so it might have been something special. The food was certainly good. I had the classic fetuccini alfredo. No complaints here. After saying goodbye, I headed to Santa Croce, yet another church. I just saw the outside of it which was beautiful. I spent about half an hour wandering around trying to find this famous gelato place called Vivoli. I had been there before with friends of Wednesday but could not for the life of me find it again without asking about four different people. Eventually, I followed the scent of delicious gelato to the store and got three great flavors – egg nog, hazelnut, and rice. Rice was amazing – it was basically like a rice pudding flavor. After a bit more wandering the streets, I spent a while sitting on the steps of the Duomo and people watching. Randomly, two girls in my hostel room sat next to me and I ended up spending the next 20 hours with them. They were twins who were traveling with two other girls. We wandered around the city for a while and through San Lorenzo market, where many guys tried to sell us leather products. I resisted buying a beautiful purse but got a few watercolor prints of Florence to hang on my wall. We chilled at the hostel for a little while before heading back up to Piazzale Michelangelo to watch the sun set again. It was still gorgeous the second time, but it was cloudier so there wasn’t really a sunset. We had a lot of fun there, though, and I was so glad to have company all evening. On my way to dinner with the twins, we strolled through Florence at night. It was infinitely better in the evening with fewer people. I think if the feeling and ambiance at night penetrated to during the day, I would have fell in love with the city. It was just gorgeous walking around the Duomo at night and the city felt more alive even though there were much fewer people. We ate dinner at a friendly restaurant and I had ravioli in walnut sauce. It was delicious and the sauce had a unique nutty aftertaste. We packed up at the hostel and hung out before bed.

The next morning, we got all ready to leave and the five of us went out for bagels at an adorable café. It was not an authentic bagel, but it did the trick for my bagel craving. I said goodbye to all the girls and headed to the train station. I had the best thing happen to me there. When I put my 10 euro bill in the ticket machine, it rejected it and also spit out a 20 euro note! I was so excited – my lucky day! I ran to catch the train and had trouble figuring out how to activate my ticket but made it just in time. Now I’m on my way to Pisa, pretty much just to see the Leaning Tower.

Milano

I am officially in Italia! This morning, I woke up several hours before the Spanish sun and took a Ryanair flight to Milan. Luckily, I slept for most of the flight so it wasn’t too bad. Then I took a shuttle to the train station in Milan and got a bit lost there because the signs were confusing but eventually checked my luggage and got a map of the city.

I headed to the Duomo, which is right in the center. It was really impressive; both the inside and outside were incredibly detailed. The inside was filled with very intricate stained glass windows and massive arches. The piazza around the Duomo is a great place for people watching…and pigeon watching. I’m convinced that there is a 1 to 1 ratio of humans to pigeons there. It reminded me a lot of St. Mark’s Square in Venice, minus the water so not a good. I wandered the expensive gallery near the square but was too timid to go into the fancy stores carrying my backpack and wearing a t-shirt. I walked around the surrounding shopping streets, mostly looking for a place to eat. I ended up in a cute café and got focaccia pizza. It was pretty good but not amazing because you had to heat it up yourself in a microwave. I’ll splurge on a pre-heated pizza soon. Of course, lunch would not be complete with gelato, so I got a cone of pistachio and hazelnut. I was surprised by how many people were eating gelato, including the Italian businessmen in suits. I can’t say I blame them.

I people watched in the square for a while but got a little bored and went in search of a park. I found a giant castle full of museums that I didn’t go in with a massive park behind it. The park was filled with people sprawled out on the gorgeous grass so I joined them. For a long time. I think I might have even fallen asleep at one point because it was very relaxing soaking up the sun and watching people play very amateur volleyball.

I headed back towards the square a bit later and explored this really cool art exhibition that is in big white dome tents. They were all very modern or post-modern, including spray on fabrics and a 3D sound room. My favorite thing by far was these sculptures of people printed on a 3D printer. My brother had told me about this invention before but I had no idea how cool it is.

I people watched for a while longer because I had nothing else I really wanted to do. I watched some scams go down and saw women screaming as the pigeons flocked all over them. I was a bit lonely today because the entire extent of my personal interactions was talking about lack of toilet paper with a girl in the bathroom of McDonalds. She asked where I was from and I told her “New York” and she said, “New York, America? I’m from New Jersey.” Is there another New York that I don’t know about? I’m hoping once I settle in at my hostel and feel like I have a home base, I’ll meet people and feel less alone. I’m also more excited for Florence so hopefully it will keep me entertained for longer than Milan did.

I’m on the train to Florence now. I’ll get to the hostel quite late so I doubt I’ll do much more than go to sleep. Tuscany, here I come!

Semana Santa!

Just a few people at Encarnación

I'm going to attempt to describe my experience watching the Semana Santa processions on Domingo de Ramos, the first day of Semana Santa, but it is something that you really need to see, hear, and smell (there is a lot of incense) in order to understand. I had quite low expectations of Semana Santa because 1) it would be super crowded and 2) it's very religious and I'm not. As I left my apartment on Sunday to meet up with my friends, I encountered what might be the most densely packed crowd of my life. Of course, there was a paso going straight through my path, so I had to walk through crowds of very well dressed Spaniards and not so well dressed tourists to get around the procession. I wondered why I had even dared to leave my apartment. Eventually, with many detours, I arrived to my friends at Torre de Oro. My German friend Tina arranged for two of her Spanish friends to show us around. That turned out to be the best thing ever, because I would have had no idea where or how to watch the pasos without them.

Paso of Virgin Mary

Nazarenos

First, we watched some Virgin Marys pass us by coming over the bridge from Triana. The music was really great and powerful but I think I missed the point of worshipping the figures of Mary and Jesus. I think the cooler parts are the nazarenos who wear the KKK-esque hats (capirotes) and carry huge candles and the penitentes who carry big crosses behind the paso. They look quite scary but are not meant to be. But if you saw one of them walking around at night out of context, you would run the other way. The Spanish guys took us all over the city and taught us about what we were seeing as we watched more processions. The pasos are all put on by different brotherhoods. Both of the guys we were with are in brotherhoods but are not very involved. Semana Santa is not for the claustrophobic. At one point, I was literally sandwiched between two people with no hope of escape while a paso turned the corner right in front of us. It is amazing how well coordinated the procession is. There are about 30 bulky men (costaleros) under the pasos who carry the huge float on their necks. After some tapas and torrijas (basically French toast covered in honey), we watched pasos in the dark and were less than a foot away from the people and the floats. At one point, the costaleros switched in and out from under the float right where we were standing. I have never had so much sweaty, fatty, and hairy Spanish man meat pressing me into a garbage can. But after that, they did an amazing thing where they all jump up at the same time and raise the float. I feared for my life with the heavy float full of burning candles being thrust into the air one foot from my head. No big deal. Just kidding...it was truly incredible. Towards the end, I got tired and my feet got very tired so it was not as exciting anymore, but the first 6 hours were really cool. Semana Santa seriously exceeded my expectations. Now I'll go outside and see some more nazarenos...and babies dressed as nazarenos (by far the cutest outfit in the world)!

Penitentes

Costaleros Under the Paso

Tomorrow, I leave for 9 days in ITALY!! My trajectory: Milan--Florence--Pisa?--Cinque Terre--Bologna :)

Springtime in Sevilla

Me by the River

Sevilla is more beautiful than ever. The weather is perfect (maybe even a little too hot) so people are constantly out and about. It reminds me of when I came in September and fell in love with the city. Strolling by the river and sipping gazpacho is making my approaching return to the USA very bittersweet. For those of you who are wondering when I'll be back in America, my flight to Boston is on June 13th! I'm very excited to be working at Tufts again this summer as the Lead Residence Counselor for ESL students from China and Taiwan. I'm also super pumped to see all my friends and family...it has been way too long.

Ignacio, Tina, and Me at Boss

My past few weekends have been very relaxing and also productive. I've gone out a couple times with my lovely European friends, went to the beach and had a great time jumping in (and getting tossed around by) the waves, and did a fun photo shoot around Sevilla with Rebecca. I have also spent some afternoons at a cafe planning my upcoming trips. I will be going to Italy in a week and will be doing a bigger trip around Europe in early June. Because there are few things I love more than meeting people and hotels, I'm obsessed with hostels and have been perusing hostelworld.com like it's my job. Hostels are basically hotels where you can't get a good night's sleep but it's totally acceptable to talk to the other people there. Unfortunately, some cities seem to have countless great hostels (and I want to stay in them all but can't) while other cities barely have any or none. If only they dispersed the incredible ones more evenly, I could travel the world in my hostel heaven. Anyway, I am very excited for my upcoming trips and am loving being my own personal travel agent. I am traveling alone on these trips, so I get to do whatever I want. I am also a bit nervous about being alone for so long, but that's what good, social hostels are for.

Sevilla has a recently finished structural addition that I can see from my amazing roof terrace. In Plaza de la Encarnación, which is right near my house, they have built a very modern structure that people are calling "Las Cetas" (mushrooms). To me, it looks like the mothership in Men in Black. Every morning when I walk by the blue lit enormous thing, I hope to not be abducted by aliens. So far so good. There is a food market below it, which is great, and eventually I'll be able to walk up the structure for a view of Sevilla and go to a cafe there. I think everyone in Sevilla is glad they finally finished this project that has been going on for many years, even though I'm not sure it fits in at all with the old nature of the rest of Sevilla.

Plaza de la Encarnación

I'm excited and scared for the upcoming weekend which marks the start of Semana Santa. Sevilla is the hub of this holy week and is sure to be absolutely packed with people. More on that, if I don't get trampled...

Practice Procession of Jesus Outside My Window

Paris

Eiffel Tower

I had a whirlwind vacation in Paris this weekend! It was a fun-packed five days in the city of lights. My friend Kevin from Tufts met me there to explore this city that I hadn't been to since I was in a stroller. I think my experience was slightly different this time around, although my bad knee made me wish I was in a stroller again.

Musée du Louvre

On Friday, I flew to the budget airline airport outside of Paris and made the trek to our hostel, St. Christopher's Paris. It is a really big and very nice and social hostel. After meeting some Scottish girls in my room and settling in for a minute, I rushed off to meet Kevin at the Louvre. We eventually found each other outside the enormous pyramid and sat on the gorgeous patio to make some plans and catch up. We continued catching up with our stroll through the Louvre. It is so ginormous that I have no idea what parts we actually covered but we saw the tiny Mona Lisa and had a great time traipsing through the museum. Then we went in search of food, and after finding that the falafel place we were seeking was closed, we settled on crepes in a nice cafe. I had a lovely ham, cheese, and egg crepe. This was my introduction to Parisian food and I approved. We headed back to the hostel and made some interesting friends. There was a huge group of students from the American south and I learned that their culture and views are even more different than mine are from many European cultures. I don't think I've had my jaw drop so much during a conversation in a long time. Luckily, the Scottish girl had a lot of interesting questions and such an interesting accent, so it was quite fun despite the shock.

Arc d'Triumph

Luxembourg Gardens

Pierre Hermé

We got up early on Saturday morning to hit the city. Our first stop was the Arc d'Triumph, which we climbed. It was beautiful from the outside but a bit hazy that morning at the top so the view wasn't spectacular. A man outside tried to scam us by pretending that we dropped a ring, but I saw it coming, gave him a firm "No," and we shared a smile because he knew that I knew. We walked down the huge shopping street, the Champs-Élysées, where I pretended that I could afford to shop there. It ends at the Tuileries Gardens where we had a nice baguette picnic and watched the ducks frolic in the fountain. We pressed onwards along the Seine to the Musée d'Orsay, which I found much more approachable than the Louvre. We had a long talk with an information guide because Van Gogh's "Starry Night" was displayed but it was not the painting we expected. Apparently there are two different paintings with the same title...who knew? After the museum, we walked around Saint Michael and collected food for a picnic in the Luxembourg Gardens. All we needed was a baguette, brie, goat cheese, and the gorgeous setting and we were good to go. We devoured way too much cheese and walked it off with a stroll around the gardens. As we were leaving, it started to rain so we headed off to get more food - macaroons at Pierre Hermé. We waiting in the pouring rain for the "best macaroons in all of France." They were also the most expensive cookies I've ever bought at 1.95 euros for a tiny cookie. But they were incredible and had wonderfully interesting flavors. It seems like all we did was eat, which is true, so we continued the trend but this time bought salads at a supermarket to take to the hostel. We made some more friends there by giving away our leftovers. It had been a long day so I was super tired and not looking forward to taking on the dreaded "spring forward" time change that night.

Palais of Versailles

Rowing on the Canal

Marie Antoinette's Hamlet

Sacre Coeur

Sunday was a day of royalty at the Palais of Versailles. The normal route to get there was closed, but we ended up meeting an awesome couple from England (Nick and Ria) while waiting for a different train so it was worth the slight delay. We ended up spending the train ride and the whole time there with them. Versailles was massive and very pretty, but the statues in the gardens were all covered and the fountains were off so we didn't get to see it in its true glory. We wandered through Louis' casa for a while and I pretended that all of his things were my own. Then we went out to the gardens and rented a row boat on the canal. We miraculously didn't capsize and I didn't crash us into anyone. We walked down a long road to Marie Antoinette's house, which wasn't too special, but her hamlet was incredible. It was a cute little village that reminded me of Hogsmeade. That was by far my favorite part of Versailles, even though it was just a tiny part off the beaten path. Eventually, we took the train back to Paris and made plans with our English friends to meet up for dinner at a French restaurant. Kevin and I went off to Sacre Coeur, an impressive white church on top of a hill. It had an amazing view of Paris, cool street performers, and adorable shops around the neighborhood. It was the most bustling part of Paris that I saw, although it was mainly filled with tourists. We met up with Nick and Ria at Chartier, a decently priced place with real French cuisine. I had amazing escargot right in their shell...yum yum. I also ordered a steak which was verrrrry fatty and tough and cooked rare even though I ordered medium well. Our waiter was also quite rude and rushed, but apparently that's the character of the place. He wrote our order on the paper tablecloth and tallied up our bill there. We were all afraid of him by the time we left but we had a good time during the meal. Kevin had a dessert that was a cake doused in rum. He enjoyed it but we all took bites and made ugly faces. Ria and I opted for a banana, Nutella, and whipped cream crepe off the street. Mine was massive and difficult to eat but all I had dreamed it would be! We went with our friends to the Eiffel Tower and sprinted out of the metro when we saw that it was sparkling. It was truly incredible. I wasn't sure what to expect because I had only seen it from far away but it was all it's cracked up to be. We said goodbye to Nick and Ria, and Kevin and I sprinted to catch a bus that went on a scenic route through the city. Then it was bed time once again.

Crepe!

Notre Dame

Eiffel Tower

Monday was another busy day that began at the Notre Dame. The outside was really impressive and I sat outside for a while, people watching and looking at the building. The inside was good too, but a lot of cathedrals are starting to look similar inside. Kevin and I strolled around the area for a while and got crepes that we ate by the river. What more could we ask for? Well, a walking tour. We met a free walking tour that was full of people staying in all the hostels in Paris. It was led by a very dramatic and friendly Australian girl who was full of entertaining pop culture references and side comments. It was a great tour of 3.5 hours where I found out exactly what I had been seeing for the past few days and met a bunch of nice people. Paris is known as the "city of lights" but she called it the "city of stairs." This is a truth. After the tour, Kevin and I went to have dinner on the left bank. I had a delicious quiche and salad with creme brulée for dessert. I love to cook creme brulée and I think this one faired well to my creations. So good, so French. Then we headed off to our reservations to go up the Eiffel Tower. I was very excited! As we got off the metro, Kevin said, "This is us." A very interesting man sitting across from me who had been speaking in French the whole time looked me in the eye, and, in perfect English, quietly said, "This is us...this is us, indeed." It was hilarious and very unexpected. We took the requisite 500 pictures walking down to the Tower and got in line to take the elevator up. We ended up amongst two groups of American high school students on school trips, and we had fun chatting with them. It was certainly not a very romantic excursion, though, as I had imagined it would be. It was more like waiting in line for a Disney World attraction and being stuck on a crowded elevator. The views from the 2nd floor and top were truly amazing at night, and everything seemed so tiny. It was nice to go at the end of the trip so we could point out all the sites we had been to over the days. I went proposal hunting at the top but only saw the post-celebration of one proposal - they were crying, of course. I even used the bathroom at the top, a little bit because I had to go, but mostly to be able to say I used the bathroom at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Jealous? I know you are. After we were too cold at the top, it was time to go home and pack up for our last night in the hostel.

Gardens in Le Marais

On Tuesday morning, Kevin and I had our last breakfast and finished off the delicious macaroons. I'm sure I ate enough carbs on this trip to sustain someone on the Atkins' diet for a year. I wish I was kidding. Kevin's flight was earlier than mine so we took the metro together until we had to part ways. It was great having him on the trip and sad to say goodbye. Then I went to meet up with my dad's friend who lives for 3 months every year in the neighborhood of Le Marais. She made me lunch and took me on a very detailed tour of the neighborhood. It is a beautiful part of the city with amazing little shops. After the tour, I walked around by myself for a bit, avoiding the rain, and mostly popping in and out of the pastry shops. I indulged in a pistachio crumble that I had spotted our first night there. Heavenly. Inevitably, it was eventually time to say "au revoir" to Paris and take my flight back to Sevilla. I chatted with a Spanish couple for a bit on the plane, easing my transition from the land of incomprehensible yet sexy French back to good old Español. I arrived home after midnight and got a solid 5 hours of sleep before work the next morning. Paris was worth it!