Spring Break: Nice, Genoa, Cinque Terre, Monaco, and Nice Again

Buckle up, this is gonna be a long one.  As I procrastinate on packing up my room, I'm going through all the pictures I took over spring break, already missing the shining water and warm sun.  Deciding against going up north to the Nordic countries for spring break was quite possibly the best decision I've made all year; I don't think I could've made it through two weeks of being cold after it just stopped being freezing in Paris.  Instead, I spent two weeks (minus the days with strep throat; see previous post) laying on beaches and wandering with a mindset of relaxation.

The Saturday spring break started, I hopped on an eight AM train from Paris to Nice: travel time a little under six hours, napping through much of it.  I stayed in Nice for three nights and immediately fell in love with the city; everyone was relaxed and friendly, and the weather was absolutely amazing.  The second day I was there, I actually walked two towns over to Villefrance-sur-Mer with a girl I met at my hostel, and the view from the beach was absolutely stunning and definitely worth the 2+ hours it took to walk there (we took a train back).

The beach-- covered in rocks

The view from the old tower (yes, it was an overcast morning)

Leaving the beautiful sun of Nice (though I know the pictures don't look like it), I hopped on a train to Genoa, Italy, where I stayed for two nights.  Things I appreciate about hostels: very cheap way to travel.  Things I don't appreciate about hostels: bunking in a room with people who snore like bears.  Anyway, I digress.  Genoa seems to have been built on a hill: you can't walk for more than ten feet without encountering an incline or decline unless you're walking right along the water, at the Old Port.  Still, with all the hills, at least I earned the gelato I ate-- because when in Italy, it's always gelato o'clock.

It says it's a street, but I don't believe it...

Apparently they like motorcycles in Italy

The Old Port

The old ship at the Old Port

Rolling out of bed bright and early to catch my train (well, trains plural, if you want to be specific) to Monterosso in the Cinque Terre, I noticed I felt under the weather, but thought nothing of it.  Oh how wrong I was.  My first day in Cinque Terre was absolutely beautiful: the sun was shining, there was a nice breeze, and the water was the bluest I had ever seen.  The next few days, however, I was out of commission with strep throat-- see previous post for details.  Luckily, I was cured by my last full day in Cinque Terre, which meant that I did in fact get to see all the towns, though I wasn't able to hike between them.

The conclusion I came to in my day wandering the Cinque Terre villages was that I absolutely have to return, ideally sometime in late June/early July so I can truly experience the beauty of what the towns have to offer.  The day I had to explore was mildly overcast, but the towns were still absolutely stunning, tiny streets packed with stalls filled with everything you could imagine.  I have just one complaint to file: according to the sign, there are 350 steps from the train station up to the town of Corniglia, the third Cinque Terre village.  After careful counting, however, I discovered that there are, in fact, 383.  Corniglia, you are a cruel taunt.  Fix your signage.  Apart from that, however, the villages were absolutely stunning.

Is this not the most beautiful view you've ever seen?

And then it was overcast

The main street in Vernazza

The town of Vernazza

The stormy seas

One of the many switchbacks on the stairs up to Corniglia

Look, I got someone to take a picture of me! (Yes, I am wearing an NYU shirt.  It was the only one I had that had been unaffected by my illness)

A church in Manarola

While waiting for my train to take me all the way from Cinque Terre back to Nice for the last few days of my break, I ran into a girl who also had a large duffel backpack on.  As it turned out, she was also going from Cinque Terre to Nice and staying there for a few nights; thus, a friendship was born.  We ended up taking a day trip to Monaco from Nice for one of the days, which was super fun though killed my feet, because, though you may not know this, Monaco is also built entirely on a hill.  And no, I did not gamble-- as it turns out, you have to pay fifteen euros just to be able to enter the casino, and I was not about to bet that I could earn back that fifteen euros on my mediocre poker skills.  Still, wandering around Monaco was an amazing time.

Is this sunset even real? (Spoiler: yes)

The seaside of Monaco

Large city; small country

The newfound friends I went exploring with

It's a good thing you can't see my sunburns

I still can't believe actual people live here

My last two days I just spent laying on the beach in Nice.  The sun was shining, the temperature was perfect, and I never wanted to leave, but alas, all good things must come to an end.  Saturday night, after my final beach day, I packed up and left my hostel and boarded the train back to Paris, much more relaxed and much more sunburned than two weeks prior.

Katrina

The Start of Spring Break

I've been in Nice for seven hours now, and I am already feeling the spring break relaxation setting in.  I took a long TGV ride from Paris to Nice-- just under six hours-- which left a bit before nine in the morning, meaning it was an early start for me.  I managed to sleep on the train for a while, though (I say "managed"; it was impossible to keep my eyes open), so I was wide awake when I stepped off the train into beautiful, sunny, seventy degree weather.  Sidenote: no pictures for today, I just wanted to wander and take everything in for myself before getting the camera out.

After figuring everything out at the hostel I'm staying at for the next three nights, I headed out to the beach.  There were a few rows of beach chairs, I found a free one, and laid there for about an hour and a half, soaking in the sun and the ocean breeze.  It feels very nice to not have anything to do for a while-- nothing looming over me that I have to work on, just some books on my Kindle I've been meaning to read.  After a sufficient amount of sun, I wandered down to Vieux Nice-- the Old City.

Vieux Nice is one of the best places to wander.  The streets are mostly blocked off to cars and are all cobblestones, lined with restaurants, cafes, and antique shops, not to mention the amount of ice cream to be found.  I decided to treat myself-- what is vacation without five o'clock ice cream, anyway?-- and sat and listened to one of the street musicians while eating Swiss chocolate ice cream.  Yes, it was delicious.

After wandering for a good while through the labyrinth of Vieux Nice, I decided to attempt to make my way back to the main square, where I could reorient myself.  It took much longer than anticipated, though I didn't have anywhere to be, so I just grabbed a kabab and fries from one of the stands and ate dinner on the beach.  When the sun finally started to fade, I headed back to the hostel, where I now sit, writing this post.  I am very tired, even though I didn't do much today-- travel always takes it out of me, despite the fact that all I do is sleep en route.

Tomorrow, more beach time and probably more wandering through Vieux Nice-- this time with my camera!

Katrina

A Visit to Brussels

At the end of February, I went to Brussels for the weekend.  I've been thinking for a long time about how to write this blog post, with the attack that happened recently.  I didn't know if I could not address it at all-- bombings affect almost every part of a city's life, and I'm sure that Brussels has changed because of it.  But I also didn't want it to become the subject of the post; I visited Brussels before everything happened, and I felt like it was somehow wrong to write about the bombing when the Brussels I visited hadn't been affected yet.  I think this introduction is the middle ground.

My time in Brussels was mostly spent wandering around from cafe to cafe, exploring the city by its coffee.  Cafe hopping is one of my favorite ways to see a city, as it turns out-- you never have to rush to get anywhere and you can wander as for as long or as little as you like.  Wandering with a waffle that's been smothered in Nutella is just an upside of wandering in Brussels.

After a harried night of attempting to take the tram to my hostel (which was very confusing and poorly labelled, though I managed to get there eventually), I woke up the next morning refreshed and ready to explore this new city.  I had amazing weather when I was there-- the whole weekend was sunny and shockingly warm for late-February.  Heading out, I grabbed a one euro waffle and managed to stumble across the Mannekin Pis-- the Pissing Boy of Brussels.  Around the actual statue, all of the shops had larger marble versions of it outside their entrances, advertising for them.

The Mannekin Pis-- much smaller than I had anticipated

A one euro waffle stand with a larger Mannekin Pis

After the Mannekin Pis, I proceeded to wander down some cobblestone alleyways until I found the Grand Place, also known as the Grote Markt.  It was, as you might imagine, quite grand.  The buildings surrounding it were huge and covered in gold leaf.  The second time I visited the Grand Place, slightly later the next day, there was a wedding that had either started or just finished.  It fit in very well with the atmosphere of the Grand Place-- huge and dramatic.

The Grand Place, or Grote Markt

A golden building in the Grand Place

Alleyways that enter into the Grand Place

In my wanderings, I came across a beautiful park somewhere in the center of the city.  It reminded me a bit of the Jardin du Luxembourg, though with less flowers and more wild trees that had been allowed to grow.  I sat on a bench in the park for a while, reading a book and watching runners or birds as they flew by.

Some of the cobblestones I came across

Quite literally off the beaten path

I did a lot of reading while I was in Brussels.  I would find a cafe, plop myself down, order an espresso, and read and watch the world go by for hours at a time.  It was quite a chill way to travel, and I found myself more relaxed than I had been in a while, all the time still seeing parts of the city that I stumbled across in my wandering.

I won't lie to you-- I've forgotten what this is.  Possibly a government building, maybe a museum, maybe both?

The view from outside one of the cafes

Brussels is a strange city.  It's beautiful, but it's also a weird amalgamation of the old and the new.  The streets are lined with old stone buildings, yet in the background there are massive glass office buildings with Coca-Cola logos on them.  Brussels mixes the antique with the cutting edge, and somehow manages to make it work in a way another city might struggle.  It was an amazing city to get to spend a weekend in, and I hope one day I can return and see what else Belgium has to offer-- or at the very least, I need to return for some waffles!

Until next time (which I swear will be soon-- I leave tomorrow for a two week spring break on the southern coast of France and Italy)!

Katrina

A Visit to Grenoble

You know those little fairy tale villages surrounded by mountains that you think only exist in postcards?  Yeah, I visited one a few weekends ago.

Seriously.  Look at this.

Grenoble is one of the most amazing cities-- towns-- villages-- who knows how to classify it-- that I've ever visited.  Part of that could be my ongoing love affair with mountains, but it was just such an amazing place to walk through.  My friend Grace came with me, and we left Paris around 10, after our train was delayed for unknown reasons (probably the rain) for about an hour.  We made it to Grenoble towards the end of lunchtime-- 1:30 or so-- and checked into the hotel before beginning our quest for food.

One thing I love about France is that you can never quite tell when it's going to rain and when it's going to shine.  Sure, you have your weather reports-- which are about as accurate as my sister's cat trying to catch the red dot.  Things weren't looking so hot on the weather report for Grenoble, with rain scheduled pretty much all day every day.  Despite that, I rarely used my umbrella; France prefers to rain in little sprits and then stop for a while before raining again.

Our first day in Grenoble, we headed out to see the Cathedral of Grenoble, also known as the Notre Dame de Grenoble (yes, every town has a Notre Dame-- no, none are as impressive as the one in Paris).  We wandered down from our hotel though the old part of the city, stopping for lunch and then stopping for coffee.  It was a very chill start, and ended with a wonderful fondue date-- did you know I've never had actual fondue?  I've only ever had chocolate fondue.  Yes, I know that doesn't shock you, be quiet.

An overcast day

The square next to the cathedral

Chez Marius-- because I'm a musical nerd

Inside the cathedral

Shakesbeer pub-- because I'm also a Shakespeare nerd

Day two at Grenoble saw us spending a really large amount of time up at the top of the Bastille.  We grabbed pastries on our way to the cable car up to the top of one of the mountains, and once there, we settled in for the long haul.  We must've spent one or two hours wandering around the top and gawking at the view, and then another one or two hours having lunch at the restaurant up at the top (sidenote: eating while looking out at the Alps?  Phenomenal.  Try it if you ever have the chance).

The sun began to appear, finally

Wow I'm actually in one of the pictures

I would like it noted that I took 37 pictures of the mountains while at the top.  Be glad I figured out how to cut them down.

We decided we wanted to chill after a very filling lunch, so we headed back to the hotel.  Grace napped and I managed to get some homework done before we went to get dinner.  We were shockingly exhausted, so we fell into bed almost immediately after eating.  Combination of altitude, travel, and the wonder of mountains?

Our last day in Grenoble was spent wandering through museums.  We visited the Musee de Grenoble, which was full of art from the medieval period through today, which was super interesting to walk through.  There were paintings, sculptures, and tapestries scattered throughout the museum, as well as (shockingly) amazing views of the mountains.  We also saw the Musee Dauphinois, which had various histories of Grenoble, from the mountain men who lived there to the history of skiing (which I was particularly interested it).

A fun jokester statue

Painted during one of the Grenoble snows?

Joan of Arc portrayal

La comedie portraying la tragedie

And, finally, we headed home.  I was sad to say goodbye to the mountains, but it was a wonderful break from the hectic-ness that a student living in Paris can experience.  We got back to the apartment around 1 AM, after which I fell into bed and went straight to sleep, still dreaming of snow-topped mountains.

Katrina

Pictures: September

Whew, the workload has picked up some over here!  Luckily, I've gotten a head start on the work for next week, since I'm heading down to Marseille tomorrow with NYU.  Expect a full post after that trip-- in the meantime, here are some pictures from the last month, as per request.  Enjoy!

Versailles

The span of the gardens at Versailles

One of the many (many, many, many) fountains

A statue in the middle of one of the garden labyrinths

Another one of the hidden fountains

The dancing fountains in a lake at the edge of the gardens

The square in front of the palace

A shockingly empty hallway in the palace of Versailles

One of the many sculptures

The top of an organ

The ceiling and chandeliers in the Hall of Mirrors

I see you

One of the views of the gardens from inside the palace

Chantilly

NYU took all the freshmen on a retreat to Chantilly for a weekend in order to better orient us; lucky for us, the site was beautiful!

The hotel where the retreat was held

The ceiling of one of the rooms at the museum of the Chateau de la Tour

The largest room of the museum, covered in paintings

Black and white stained glass

Another ceiling in the museum-- sensing a theme yet?

The gardens of the museum

Two tiny puppies wandering the stables

Pepito is watching.  Always watching.

Grace, Rachel, and me

Wandering Paris

We were taken on a boat tour of Paris; this was the start of it

The Musee d'Orsay

The Eiffel Tower

The Notre Dame

Rachel and me with Jimmy Buffet at the American Library in Paris

The Eiffel Tower again-- but this time, at night!

Since the train to Marseille is three hours plus change each way, I should have a good amount of time to write, so don't worry, you'll get the stories behind all these pictures, I promise.  For now, au revoir!

Katrina