When my parents left on Sunday I was going to leave and go to MARBELLA for Spring Break. However, as it goes here in Europe I seem to have a bit of a problem with transportation. I have also always had a bit of an issue with waking up early. My flight was at 6:30 so I had to get to the airport at about 5 and it is an hour cab ride to CDG from my airport. I woke up at 5 and then called my Dad and Andrew freaking out and had both of them looking for flights to get me to Marbella on that day. Thankfully after an hour of searching I found a flight that went from Paris to Barcelona and Barcelona to Malaga. Then when I finally got there and had to take a cab to our apartment. Luckily Kate, Daniella, Olivia, and Kelsey were already there. Even then it took me and BOB (not sure his real name he didn’t speak any English) a good extra 30 min to find the place. We had to go to the Marriot and ask the guy at the front gate how to get to the apartment and then he had to talk to Kate on the phone. But we made it there. So I just lost a few hundred euros and a day at the beach. I was a little more upset about the latter.

Our apartment was amazing!!!!

My first day in Marbella was a little over cast but still nice. Kate and I walked the million miles to the grocery store across the highway and all. But when we got back we went to the port and had lunch at TGI Friday’s. Then we walked along the marina and went window shopping. That night we went to a nice little dinner at a restaurant a short walk from our apartment.

On the second day I laid out by the pool all day and then went for a walk on the beach. We went to dinner at a Lebanese restaurant and then Kate and I went to a little lounge called Cocamo with white couches outside.

The next day was our last day in the apartment. Kelsey, Olivia, and Daniella went to Sevilla and Kate and I moved to our hotel/apartment. With a great view. On the way there we stopped at the Hard Rock Caf� and got the usual margaritas and nachos. Then we walked along the beach and stopped in a little caf� and watched the sunset.. very romantic. We went to a little Italian place on the water for dinner. Then we went to a casino/ arcade and played games until around midnight.

The next day was Kate’s last day. We walked around the old town part of Marbella in the morning and then when Kate left to go catch her plane I went to the beach for the rest of the day. I got a pretty sweet tan. Then for dinner I went to a little restaurant right on the beach it was absolutely gorgeous.

On Friday I went for my birthday massage and facial at the spa. Then I spent the rest of the day lying on the beach. I went to another restaurant on the beach and tried paella for the first time. It was huge but really delicious.

Saturday was my last day so I checked out and had the hotel hold my bags and went to walk around and buy souvenirs. Then I took a taxi to the bus station and a bus to the airport and this time I made it everywhere on time. I had a wonderful Spring Break I didn’t really want to come back to Paris.

Location: Marbella, Spain

The Sunday after I went to London my family came to visit! My mom, dad, brother, aunt, and cousin all came to stay for a week.

I first met them at breakfast, and then we headed over to the Cluny Museum (since it is free on Sunday). On the way we ate macaroons, also known as little hamburgers. Then we went to Notre Dame in the rain because that is the only time I go there. Sadly the fighting irish didn’t have a game that day. For dinner on Sunday we went to my favorite restaurant in Paris. It just happens to be Italian and it is called Casanova. It is about 2 blocks from my house.

On Monday after class…. I took my family to the little creperie by my school and we had lunch. Then we went to get their metro navigo passes, which is much cheaper than buying tickets every day. We had to take everyone’s pictures for their passes in the metro photo booth which was quite an adventure. Next we had to go off to my apartment to play arts and crafts and put them together. Afterwards we went to L’orangerie in the Tuilleries Gardens to see Monet’s water lilies. Then we went over to Montmartre to see Sacre Couer. We walked to the top rather than taking the tram. When we went inside though and Blair tried to take a picture he got yelled at by a not so happy church man. Apparently you are not supposed to take pictures but when I saw a Sainte Margarite Marie sign I had to. We climbed down and ate dinner at this adorable little family place called le bon boc. The food was amazing and no one stared at us for being loud. The metro ride home though they stared.. a lot.

Tuesday I went to class and had a break from 1-4 when I met my family at the Eiffel Tower. This was my first time up to the top Eiffel Tower since I have been here and my first time to the 3^rd floor ever. Blair and I split a glass of champagne at the top. Then we walked the entire way down. That night my mom finally got her seine boat dinner. I guess 3^rd time’s the charm. It was a very nice trip and we had a great dinner and the even took portraits of all of us sitting before dinner was served. Blair won for best picture. Closely followed by my mom and dad doing their kissing picture. I guess it is customary for all couples on boat cruises to have the photographer take their picture kissing. Afterwards we went to the Shannon Pub next to my parent’s hotel to celebrate my 21^st birthday at midnight.

Wednesday after class I met my parents and we went on the covered passage ways tours of Paris that my architecture teacher took out class on. Then we headed over to the Madeline church and got something to eat and got on the metro and headed to our respective homes to get ready for my birthday dinner. We all went to dinner at l’orenoc and had an amazing dinner. Then half of us went to Charlie Birdy on the Champs Elysees followed by the Shannon pub where a quite drunk French man sang me happy birthday.

On Thursday during my 1-4 break we went to the catacombs of Paris which are right by my school. After that the girls went to lunch near my school and the guys went off to eat snails. After class I headed over to their hotel and we wandered around looking for a place to eat. Matt picked this really cool restaurant with seafood. The kind where you pick your lobster out of the tank. Me and matt split the biggest lobster I have ever seen. At one point the waited picked a fish out of the tank and was carrying it on a plate and it flopped off. I was sure that it was going to hit my mom in the head. Then they tried to make me kiss it. After that I was scared the entire time that they were going to sneak up behing me with some kind of fish.

On Friday we went to Reims (pronounced REEEENS) we got to ride the train there which was Blair’s favorite part. When we got there we saw l’hotel de ville and the cathedrale and the TAU palace. Next we went to lunch and then had an afternoon of champagne tasting. First we went to Martel. Then Veuve Cliquot (my dad’s favorite). Here we had the whole tour and all that jazz. Then we headed back towards the train station and had some beverages. Then we rode the train back and had Chinese food for dinner. My first attempt at Chinese food in Europe.

Saturday I slept in and met my parents at their hotel around 12 30. We went to a little street market near their and bought some souvenirs. Then we headed over to the printemps shopping center and window shopped. We had lunch in the restaurant under the dome. After we went to Place de Vendome, walking past the Opera house on the way. Then we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our last dinner together in Paris. We went to Le Sensing and had a very French meal. Tip: don’t eat the plate decoration… sometime it’s a pile of salt. We finished with my 21^st birthday present from my dad which was my bottle of 1990 Chateau D’yquem.

It was a great visit and Aunt Kris was never actually lost for more than 10 minutes. Therefore, a very successful trip.

Location: Paris, France

So… it has been awhile and I last left you with my trip to Strasbourg and a lot has happened since then.

The next weekend, aka the weekend before midterms, my roommate Dayna and I went to Seville, Spain to visit her friend from Lehigh. We left Friday morning and took the metro to the bus that takes you to Beauvais.. the really nice airport in Paris. Of course we flew Ryan Air and of course I love Ryan Air so much so it obviously went smoothly. We got through security smoothly and boarded our plane to Seville.

We landed in Seville around 2 o’clock and got to a cab. This is about when me and Dayna came to the realization that neither of us knew and Spanish other the Hola and Gracias. So Dayna handed her blackberry to the cab driver so he could read the address of our hostel. We stayed at the backpacker’s hotel near the Cathedral (because every city in Europe has one) and because it was near Dayna’s friends host family’s house. I would describe it as cozy.

We then met up with two of Dayna’s friends on studying in Seville and the other visiting from Madrid. This gave us our very own personal tour guide. The first place we walked by was, of course, the Cathedral. Then we went over to the Plaza de Espagne which was absolutely gorgeous and there was a wedding going on.

Then since the sun was setting we headed over to walk along the river (also a common theme in European cities) Dayna and I were starving so before dinner we went to a churros stand.

For dinner we asked our hostel where to go for good tapas and he gave us a really authentic Spanish restaurant so authentic no one spoke English and me and Dayna were on our own since her other two friends had reservations with their parents for their last night in Seville. We didn’t realize how much cheaper things were in Spain so for size portions we went by price. We were sooooo wrong and we ordered way too much food, but now we know why the waiters were looking at us funny. I got an antelope burger, fries with bravo sauce, and roasted peppers and onions. But note to self Spain is way cheaper than Paris.

The next morning we woke up crazy early and got our free breakfast from out hostel, toast with jam and butter. Then we headed over to meet Dayna’s friend and tour the old castle of the Kings and it was huge and gorgeous and there were peacocks.

What was really cool about this castle was that Dayna’s friends host home was in the wall of it. Something to do with her host mom’s grandfather worked on the renovations for it when it first became a historical landmark so he got to live there and now they just pass it down through the generations. That was cool too. We got to go up on the roof which apparently usually gets the cops called because they see people onto of the castle but lucky for us they didn’t show up.

Then we went shopping. And I bought an amazing pair of red shoes. And we went to sit on a little floating caf� on the water and drank Tinto’s which is what the Spanish people drink. It is the same as Sangria but not touristy.

For dinner we went to the nicest restaurant in Seville and spent a total of 50 euro between the three of us for 2 course dinners and a bottle of wine. Definitely much cheaper than Paris.

The next morning we had to wake up at 7 am to make it to our flight to get home and of course no trip would be complete without me having an issue with Ryan Air. We waited in a 45 min long line to check in only to find out that this line was only for people with checked baggage and if all you need was a passport check point you waited in this other line that had maybe 3 people in it. However, there were no signs and even if there had been they probably wouldn’t have been in English so it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. But we made it home in the end. Just in time to take midterms! Which were horrible I want my PSU scantron tests with multiple choice, all essays all the time here.

Location: Seville, Spain

Last Thursday and Friday we went on a quick trip with our school to Strasbourg and the other half of our school went to Brussels. We had a 3 hour train ride to Strasbourg followed by a 3 hour presentation at the Council of Europe or the European Council. Very boring probably not recommended unless you want to work for them however, you have to be a citizen of one of the 27 member states. So that was fun.

Then we got an hour of free time from 6:30 to 7:30. So Caity, Kate, and I ran off to find food because we were starving and we hadn’t eaten since 11 am when we got on the train. We found a mini little carnival that happened to be all over Strasbourg. We got 2 waffles with Nutella, cotton candy, and churros. They were delicious.

Then we went to go look at the stores and saw that they all close at 7 so we had 30 min to kill of our “free time” so about 15 of us went and sat in this tiny little coffee shop. The shop was right outside this very beautiful Cathedral.

Next we all went to dinner that was completely paid for by IES. We had these really thin no tomato sauce pizzas that they call tartlets they were good. Each table got 4 different one for everyone to share. Then we had a white cake filled with chocolate mousse for dessert.

The next morning we had to wake up for breakfast at 8. Or 8:25 real quick get dressed and go down stairs grab half a baguette with jelly and meet in the lobby at 8:30 to check out.  Then we got to go on another 3 hour presentation of the European Parliament. It was equally as enjoyable as the first day. By the second half of the presentation at least 6 people of the 25 had fallen asleep. Hence the title of this post. 

Next we got to go to lunch which was fully paid for by IES once again. We had chicken and mushrooms and spatzel with flan for dessert. Then surprise we got another hour and a half of free time! Caity, Kate, and I went shopping and although the school part of the field trip was basically miserable I would say that the 3 of us made the best of it.

Location: Strasbourg, France

February 26^th

Caity went home to Paris and Dayna and I headed off for a night in Venice. When we got there we walked around for a solid hour trying to find the Hotel. Let’s just say who ever translated their directions from Italian to English either didn’t speak Italian or didn’t speak English because I know I am not that bad at reading a map. But we did finally find it and it was very nice. We had our cute little hotel room with chandelier and all.

After we put our stuff down we went out to go shopping and we found some really cool stores and masks I love the masks at Carnival. I wanted to buy all of them but Dayna wouldn’t let me, good thing to since Ryan Air probably would have thrown a hissy fit if my bag was a tad too big.

Then we went on a very romantic gondola ride at sunset around Venice. P.S. they don’t sing; but they do talk to themselves.

The Gondola man dropped us off near our hotel and we went back to get ready for dinner. The very nice concierge told us of this little hole in the wall restaurant around the corner. We went for the fixed price menu of 25 with 2 courses and a dessert and glass of wine, but we ended up going all out, spending a lot more that 25 euro and having a really great dinner minus dessert. The guy told us they had apple pie and chocolate cake, the apple pie was actually pound cake with caramel and whip cream and Dayna’s chocolate cake was actually chocolate flavored bread. Italian dessert is not really worth the calories unless its gelato. And Dayna did a survey (ate gelato everyday from a different stand) and decided that Venice had the best and Florence had the worst.

Then we went home and put on our masks and headed off to San Marco Square. We were very lucky because the signs in the street all pointed to how to get to San Marco and how to get to Piazzale Roma (where out hotel was) which made it really easy to get around because Venice is a really easy city to get lost in. We went to the Hard Rock caf� for a little while and when it closed we headed on home.

 February 27th

The next morning we woke up and checked out of the Hotel at 11 am and gave the concierge our bags to hold until we had to catch our bus to the airport. We went back to San Marco Square because there was apparently this really cool parade type show going on at noon. The streets however were packed it was the most insane traffic jam ever. Way worse than trying to get into your seats at a Penn State Football Game.

When we finally got to the square there were way too many people to see or do anything but at least on the walk back to the Hotel which took an hour and a half (after only taking 30 min the night before) we got to see a lot of people dressed in really cool costumes.

We went to go get on our bus and first accidently bought tickets to the San Marco airport. WRONG! So there was a waste of 3 euro and we had to run across the street and buy a ticket to the Treviso airport. It’s the tiny not international airport that only has flights to places in Europe. We took  the bus 30 min to the airport and then once we got to the airport grabbed a quick snack and hopped into line to check my bag with good ole’ Ryan Air. We waited in line for approx. an hour and when I finally got to the desk I had the new girl and on the website it says that you can by checked luggage at the airport but not at the ticket desk a t a little office in the corner on the other side of the one room that is the airport. So I had to go buy this ticket that says I have luggage and then come back to the desk (thankfully I didn’t have to wait in line again) and get my boarding pass and then move on to security. Then you go to another line where you wait to get on the plane because the seats are first come first serve. Then we rode back on the plane which wasn’t that bad after the line waiting fiascos. However, it is a little unnerving that there aren’t really any customs when you fly in from another schengen space country but it does go a lot quicker. Then we get on a bus that is an hour and a half ride to the center of Paris and then a 45 min metro ride home. All in all it was a very good winter break possibly the best I have ever had, not that I have ever had a winter break before.

Location: Venice, Italy

February 24^th

Got to Florence and walked to our Hostel Archi Rossi. It was about 2 blocks away from the il dumo cathedral. We went and grabbed a late lunch and this little Italian restaurant where I had minestrone soup and a salad because in Europe no one eats anything but carbs all the time so that was a breath of fresh air.

Then we headed off the piazza Michelangelo which is on top of a hill to sit on the steps and watch the sunset. It was absolutely beautiful.

Then we went out to what the study abroad students consider the best restaurant in Florence Aqua Del 2. Dayna’s roommate from college who is studying there took us there and then out to see the night life of Florence. AKA Frat Party USA. There were a few too many sorority and fraternity people in Florence Nightlife for me. We joked that Florence is the Greek Life Headquarters of Europe.

February 25^th

Our Hostel came with free breakfast so we woke up early and went downstairs to get our free breakfast. Two sunny side up eggs, two pieces of bacon, toast, and orange juice not bad at all. Then Dayna and I went on the free tour that was offered from the Hostel and we saw the old historical part of the city.

We went to a torture museum that wasn’t actually a torture museum more like the life sucked in medieval times because they didn’t have hygiene and there was this thing called the plague museum. I wouldn’t recommend it.

Then we went home and got Caity and went to this little caf� where you got to make your own Panini or salad with either 5 or 8 ingredients. After our stop for some sustenance we climbed to the top of il dumo all 463 steps. The view was amazing and on the way down just like everyone else and as Andrew told me Graffiti is very Italian so we wrote our names on the wall.

Next we headed off to the Academie Gallery to see the David. It was absolutely amazing. We got yelled at for taking pictures of the statue because apparently taking pictures of statues will ruin the paintings in the other room.

Then we went shopping in the street markets and we bought a few little knick-knacks and then we headed back to our Hostel where they have free dinner too. We each got a pizza and a salad and for free it was a lot of food and pretty good.

February 26th

We had to check out at 10 am again so we decided to go wander around the city and see if we could do anymore great shopping. For lunch I got a hot dog in a panini probably one of the best hot dogs I have ever had.

Shout Out to Matt: Simpson’s Reference

Location: Florence, Italy