Well this is it kids. Looks like the semester of my life that I have been planning for since high school is officially over. Would anyone like to like to help me figure out where the time went?!
As sad as I am that it is all over, I had a great ending. Starting with the Alps and then all the way through this past weekend/week when I did my last country-hopping. After the Alps it was all down to business for a couple of days while I studied for my 4 exams in 2 days. They all went well though (two 100s!) so that was a great relief. After the exams ended I spent most of my free time wrapping up everything in Parma and packing. It was surreal taking down the pictures and decorations that it seemed I had just put up. Two of my roommates left early on Thursday morning and that made reality hit quickly when their room was completely deserted! We still had a day of classes after exams were finished, but they were mostly filled by saying goodbyes and doing class evaluations so it wasn’t anything too extensive. Wednesday night we had our farewell dinner with everyone in the program and our two coordinators. It was great food, but we were all a little disappointed that there was no pasta dish. Although I could go without eating pasta for a very very long time, it would have been nice to try some fancy pasta one more time, haha. The night ended oddly though as the owners kind of rushed us out of the restaurant and we were unable to say many goodbyes. I ended up seeing most people again the next day, but there was still not a lot of closure because we were all unsure of when would exactly be the last time we would see each other.
Friday I left early in the morning to head to Paris with 3 girls from the Parma program. We took a 7 am train to Milan for our flight (I will NOT be missing those) and got to Paris around 2 pm. We quickly headed to the hostel to drop everything off and then hustled to the Eiffel Tower to see it before it got dark. We had a great location for our hostel, right off the subway, so it was easy to navigate all weekend. We took lots of pictures outside of the tower and then decided to head up. It was absolutely FREEZING, but worth it. There was a bit of haze over the city as there had been a chance of rain all day so the view wasn’t perfect, but we got to have a decent view from there. We actually hit our timing perfectly because we got to take our pictures beforehand when it was light, go up while it was light and then the sun was setting and then as we were descending on the elevators the lights came on to decorate the tower. We then ran across the street (trying to keep warm!) and took some group photos in front of the lit tower before heading to the Louvre. Upon entering the Louvre we saw a Starbucks and I was immediately in heaven. I can’t remember if I have shared my soy chai love with all of you, but despite the fact that I probably paid way too much for the soy chai latte, it was phenomenal. We had decided to go to the Louvre that night because after 6 pm it is free for people under 26. It wasn’t too crowded and we were able to see most of the things we wanted to (Mona Lisa, Napoleon’s Apartment, etc). We didn’t finish up in the Louvre until about 9:45 (since its HUGE) so we were starving and found a cute cheap place on the other side of the river. We had some good French bread and food which was nice. Afterwards we were all exhausted so we headed back to our hostel for the night.
Saturday we woke up and headed to Notre Dame. It was quite impressive although I was a little annoyed by the fact that the façade appears to be masked by a gigantic Christmas tree in all of my photos, but c’est la vie. The inside was gorgeous though and we spent some time in there checking it all out. Kristin and I wanted to climb the towers to get a better view of the city and the gargoyles, but they were closed because of ice (told you it was cold!). Afterwards Kristin and I went to Musee d’Orsay while the other girls did some shopping. The building itself is stunning. It used to be a train station and it is definitely still apparent although now decorated by some of the world’s most famous paintings and sculptures. We probably could have spent even more time in there, but we were feeling a little pressured to head out and see what else the city had to offer. We grabbed a quick lunch and then headed to the Arc de Triomphe at which point it started to rain. We got to walk down Champs Elysees though which was cute and they had a Christmas market running down the length of the street. Afterwards we thought it would be a good idea to head to one of the largest shopping malls (Galeries Lafayette). Boy was that a bad idea. They had cues to get into the stores and people were pushing and shoving every where you went. It was worse than anything I have ever seen in the U.S. I guess those Parisians were excited for Christmas in a week and a half. Despite the weather being bad we headed to Monte Matre and Sacre Coeur. Sacre Coeur is a cathedral and also the highest point in Paris with its position on top of a hill. It was really rainy and windy when we got to the top so we didn’t have a great view, but the cathedral itself was worth the hike up. Moulin Rouge was located nearby so we took a quick tram ride over there to snap a couple photos and then waited in a café until it was time for dinner. We ate at a fondue house with some of the most unique owners I have ever encountered. They had very quirky personalities and served us wine in baby bottles! It was quite the experience. Haha.
Sunday we had to wake up early to catch our flight back to Milan. Once we got to Milan I had to say goodbye to those 3 girls since they would be heading home within the next couple of days and I was headed to Prague to meet up with some other friends. I had to wait in the airport for about 4 hours to catch my next flight, but made it safe and sound to my Prague hostel around 4:30. However, I did meet an interesting character on the train. She sat diagonally behind me on the plane and decided it would be a good idea to have a life discussion for most of the flight despite my apparent desires to just listen to Christmas music on my iPod. After we had reached BFF status in her book we realized that we were on the same flight back to Milan on Wednesday so she insisted on getting my number so we could meet up on Tuesday night. This interaction will be more significant later, don’t worry. Anyway, I met up with Elena and Claire at the hostel and we made plans for the night. Two of my friends from Parma (Dave and Jeff) had just spent the past 3 days in Prague so I called them up to meet them for dinner before they headed back home. We met at the Christmas market in the Old Town square (so cute!!) and then wandered for a while to find dinner. The food in Prague was so good! Well, I actually don’t know if it was that good or I was just so excited about having meat and hearty food that I associated it all with being amazing. Nevertheless, we ate well all weekend.
Monday we woke up and went to see the Charles Bridge. It’s the most famous bridge in Prague and has many statues running along the perimeter (although as per everything in my life, half of it was under construction). We still got a good view though and then proceeded to hike up to the Prague Castle. It actually turned out not to be much of a castle, but rather a palace and basilica with other buildings surrounding it. The views were great though! The cathedral was interesting because of its very apparent gothic nature, and then almost mosaic-like stain glass windows with vibrant colors (including hot pink). It was an interesting mix, but another beautiful church. After we were finished touring that we headed back down and grabbed lunch in the Christmas market. They had all sorts of food being grilled and it was just too tempting to pass up. With the two main things we wanted to see in Prague already accomplished, we decided to have a relaxing afternoon and spent it window-shopping and resting back at the hostel. We headed back to the Old Town Square for dinner and ate a restaurant overlooking the market (if you can’t tell, we were obsessed).
On Tuesday we woke up a little later since we didn’t have a whole lot we needed to get accomplished that day and headed to the Jewish section of town. We went into the Old-New Synagogue and then walked across the city to the Spanish synagogue to see the differences. The Jewish community is only about 1,600 in Prague, but these synagogues are very popular in the city because of the history. It was interesting to be in synagogues after spending so much time learning about cathedrals this entire semester. The Spanish Synagogue was located in the New Town area so we spent some time walking through there and up the river until we made it back to the Christmas market for lunch (of course!). They always had these chicken kabobs and sausages tempting us so we finally gave in. We also loved these sugar coated nuts they offered and got packs to keep us content during the day while we walked around. After lunch we decided for another chill afternoon and went back to take a nap since I wasn’t planning on sleeping that night. We went back down when it was dark to see the bridge and castle lit up at night and then got dinner right next to the bridge. It was fun to just sit around and chat with these girls. We spent a lot of time reflecting on our semesters and the next 3 coming up which was cool. After dinner we headed back to the hostel despite my earlier plans to meet the girl from the plane in the Old Town Square. We were supposed to be meeting up to take a taxi together to the airport, but we finished dinner early and so we decided to head up assuming that she could figure out how to get to our hostel. Bad assumption. I spent many annoyed texts and phone calls trying to get her to my hostel and then she finally arrived about 5 minutes before the taxi came. She and I loaded up our things and then headed to the airport for the night. We had a flight at 6:50 meaning we would need to check in at 4:50 and it just didn’t seem necessary to pay for a hostel that night. It actually wasn’t that bad staying there, I just spent about 3 hours reading and then another hour listening to my iPod before we had to check in. Finally we got on the plane around 6:30 and I immediately passed out until we landed in Milan. Then we had to take a bus to the airport (for some odd reason it took an extra hour and a half, but at least we made it) and then I had to take a train back to Parma. I was very glad to be back in my apartment even though every one else from my program had left. I spent the night doing some last minute packing and just chilling out.
Today I had to do my last solo traveling!! I bought my ticket for the train yesterday so I wouldn’t have to worry about it when I arrived at the station with all of my things which was nice. I had planned to get a cab from my apartment at 11:30 to give me plenty of time, but of course things never work out like that. I tried and tried to get the cab company on the phone, but it wouldn’t work. After I had freaked myself out enough about missing my train I called one of the coordinators and got her to call for me. Luckily she was able to get me one and I made it to the station in time. There my tandem partner met me to help me get all of my things on the train which was so nice! Once I finally managed to get situated on the train the family sitting around me began to talk to me in Italian and we had a good 2 hour conversation for the duration of the trip. They were super cute and it made me feel very accomplished that I was leaving my program able to speak with natives for 2 hours. We discussed EVERYTHING (my classes in Parma, traveling, Paris, American culture, fast food, etc). They were also great to have when I had to get off the plane because the 3 of them helped me get all of my stuff off of the train before it pulled away. There is no way I could have done it on my own. I had decided it would just be easier to take a cab from that train station rather than trying to get my things on another commuter train that would take me to a more centrally located train station, but apparently there are no taxis in that area. I had a good chat with 2 old men and an old woman though and they helped me figure out how to get my things onto the commuter train. Although I did almost have to leave one bag behind as the train signaled it was ready to pull away as I watched my other suitcase sitting on the platform while I was on board with my other one. Not a good feeling. Another Italian man was nice enough to help me though so everything made it. Once I got to the central train station I took my time getting off the train and walking to the cab area since I no longer had deadlines I had to meet. I finally made it to the cab and then the hotel. I definitely had a sense of relief as I dropped my things off in my room and sat on the bed for a quick break. I ate a quick (and very late) lunch in the room and then headed out to walk around the city for a while. They also have a Christmas market here so I checked that out and then hit all of the highlights to see if there were any interesting changes since I was here last. Lots of Christmas lights up which is cute. After 3 hours of walking around I grabbed some food and then headed back to the hotel to chill for the night. I’m tired and sore after lugging myself around the country today so I think I am going to call it a night and watch a movie.
Its so exciting to be in the room that Alli and I will be sharing in just a few hours!! I am so excited to see all of them. Words can’t even begin to describe! I’m not sure how frequently I will be able to update while I travel with the family, but I will at least try and post to let you know that we are alive and doing well.
I hope you all have a very merry Christmas! I wish I could be home spending it with you all, but I will be home soon enough and able to share some of these amazing experiences with you in person. Can’t wait!!
Buon Natale. Ciao!
E
P.S. Longest post ever. I’m sorry!! Touché if you made it the entire way through. I don’t know that I would have.
No comments:
Post a Comment