Le Premier Voyage

I know I haven't posted anything recently, but life has been quite the adventure lately. March 8th my two roommates and I left on a whirlwind trip around southern Europe. Our first stop was Pisa, where naturally we did the touristy picture holding up the tower. We only spent a few hours in Pisa before we took the train to Florence. This was the beginning of possibly the most rainy week I've every experienced. Thankfully our hotel was extremely close to the train station so we were only mostly drenched. I knew very little about Florence and I can't say that I learned a lot about the history of the city, but the visit was incredibly unique and opened my eyes a bit. Our first outing was to the leather market and we went back about three separate times. We found some incredible souvenirs and attempted to barter for the first time. Carley and I decided to  buy a leather bracelet from each city that we visit, but we both ended up buying a couple from Florence . . .I mean when in a leather market . . . you buy leather.  Seeing the statue of David by Michelangelo was really important to me. It is quite possibly one, if not the most famous statue in the world and let's be honest it is a huge statue of a man with beautiful muscles. We went to the wrong museum to begin with, but I have learned that sometimes getting a bit lost is what you need in order to find the adventures and stories worth talking about. While in the "wrong museum" (Museo Nationale del Bargello), we saw some amazing artwork and ran into a Professor from the University of Rochester. He was ditching the Alzheimer's conference he was there for, to visit the museum with his wife. Eventually we did make it to see David, but we walked around the rest of the museum first to build the suspense. I'd say I was speechless, but as many of you know I typically have a lot to say even when I am completely astounded. Plazza de Pitti was almost like a fairytale. It is a bridge lined with old shops with windows of "I'd have to sell a limb" jewelry.  In an effort to save a bit of money, Carley and I went to a grocery store near our hotel to buy a bit of food for dinner one night. While we were looking at salad, we met a girl from Alberta, Canada who invited us to go see a band at a local bar. We agreed to go with her and Dave came along too. It was incredible to hear her story. She took a year off in the middle of her bachelor's degree to travel through Europe by herself. She explained how it had already changed her and told us some of the most inspiring stories about the people she has met along the way. We had a great night and she gave us suggestions on where we ought to go once we got to Barcelona. On our last day in Florence we went up the hill to Ponte Vecchio where you can see the entire city and a replica of our best bud David. Of course it started to rain, but , sometimes a view is worth getting caught in the rain. Our next stop was Rome. I had already been to Rome, but there is no other city like it and no less amazing than the first time. We saw the Colosseum at night, climbed the Spanish steps, drank from the fountain in front of them, gawked at the Roman forum, threw a coin into the Trevi Fountain, ate gelato after visiting the Pantheon, ate at a neighborhood restaurant full of locals and prayed at St. Peter's Basilica minutes after the cardinals left for the conclave. We did it all, rain or shine, we conquered Rome. As we were waiting in the airport in Rome, the new pope was elected. Then we were off to Barcelona.                                                                          

I truly fell in love with Barcelona. Despite how tired we were, the cold I had gotten from travelling in the rain and our longing to sleep in our own beds, the city was unforgettable. We saw the Arc de Triomf (yeah I know not the one in Paris) and  were bewildered by Gaudi's imaginative architecture  We went to a chocolate museum, visited two incredible markets, ate at an amazing vegetarian restaurant named Teresa Carles (that Hailey the Canadian suggested) and went on a walking tour that might have been the most informative and fascinating part of the entire trip. I mean, we were able to see the steps that Ferdinand and Isabella waited on when Columbus returned from the New World! Dave and I did have quite the adventure in Barcelona. We went to meet up with some of the Russians, who were also visiting Barcelona and when we left to head back to our hostel, we discovered that the metro does not run passed 12 a.m. speaking liberality no Spanish I found some people who spoke English at a bus stop. After about 20 minutes of trying to figure out what bus we would have to take, they told us that our best bet would be to take a taxi. One of the helpful bus riders, was kind enough to tell the taxi driver where we needed to go. Twelve dollars later the taxi dropped us off and the man told us that we just had to go down the steps and we would be where we wanted to go . . . . . . That wasn't exactly true. We ended up wandering around until I found some city workers who were cleaning the street. Neither spoke English, but with a few hand gestures and the name of the street we needed to get to, they were able to point us in the right direction. We made it back at 3 a.m. and I will never be so happy to see a hostel again. I literally thought we may have to sleep on the streets. I will return to Barcelona one day. It contains one of the most beautifully rich cultures in the world. That pretty much sums up our adventures during our first break from school. Since then we have been back to the usual here in Nice with a few midterms thrown into the mix. We are about halfway through our time here and it's going way too fast! Sorry for the long post. Until next time, bonne journee!