The Journey Continues

        As I mention in my last post, I decided last minute to go to Pisa after my parents left. The city is very pretty and seems like a popular place for college students and universities. Seeing the leaning tower of Pisa really was spectacular. Photos don’t quite do it justice because it was intriguing to see it at every angle and to look at the tower’s grossly shifted base. However, as far as I know this was about the only thing to do there. In that area there was also a cathedral, a museum, and a handful of other things, but I decided against paying to visit them. I instead relaxed some after my tiring two weeks with my parents as well as doing some more last minute planning because I still didn’t know what would be next!

A Vacation from a Vacation Part II

So finally, here it is: Part II of my wonderful trip with my family. Enjoy!

A preview of Rome at the Trevi Fountain

A Vacation from a Vacation: Part I

        I realize that I’m about a month behind in my blog, but it’s always hard to find a chance to sit down and get any work done! This post now will be all about my two week trip with my parents and aunt from May 31^st to June 12^th, but I'm posting it in two parts. 

My aunt, parents and I hiking in Cinque Terre, between Monterosso al Mare and Vernazza (behind us)

Annecy and Zurich

I am currently traveling with my parents and aunt and right now we're in Cinque Terre (Monterosso) and have already been to Lucerne, Mürren, and Venice. It has been a great time, but for now I'd like to talk about Annecy and Zurich, the two cities I saw just before meeting my family. I mainly want to talk about my couchsurfing experiences, so I dedicate this post to my hosts, Elisabeth from Annecy and  Sulalit from Zurich.

I'll start off by introducing Elisabeth, my couchsurfing host in Annecy. I don't know how to thank her enough, she truly went above and beyond. I now have a new idea of "best case scenario" for a couchsurfing host! This is a picture of with Lake Annecy behind us. The actual city is on the far end of this picture, she drove me all the way up the mountain for this amazing view!

My 10 Commandments of Travel

My friend asked me today " how on earth are you doing things last second but spending next to nothing? please, tell me your trick", so that inspired me to write my 10 commandments of travel (actually it was just by chance that it was 10...). These are off the top of my head so I'm sure there's plenty of room for editing, especially as I go on.

(A picture I took today in Annecy)

My trip through Spain!

I am now on the TGV heading back to France after spending thus far the best month of my life exploring the country of Spain. It’s hard to give an overall impression of Spain because each place is so unique, whether it be because of the landscape, architecture, people, or language (due to different accents, and of course the Catalan language in all of Catalonia).

Montserrat (thanks to Rosana!)

The Journey Begins!

On my way to Barcelona, I stopped by Montpellier for a 2.5 hour layover so I got to see a few of the main sights. Of course I didn't get to see much, but here are a few pics anyway!

Last days of Grenoble

I'm going to start this post off by saying that traveling is very time consuming!! So now it's time to catch up with my blog posts... There are a lot of things to cover so I hope my posts aren't too long or anything. I prepared this first one on my first train to start my trip, it's just talking about my last days in Grenoble.
I'm on a horse.

My preferred mode of transportation (a preview of Zaragoza, Spain)

The Bastille

I'm finally doing a full post about the Bastille, which I've mentioned once or twice before. It's basically the fortification on the hill just north of Grenoble. It's one of the landmarks of the city and is a great place to hike, especially since the view is great! It was finished in 1847 after 23 years of construction, but it was soon rendered obsolete and never saw any actual combat.

A closeup of the Bastille! There's part of the Italien quarter at the bottom, which is basically the quarter between the river and hill.  

Nice, Orange, and Eze Excursion

This past weekend was our final excursion, but it was a big one and lasted 3 days. We left early Friday morning (which meant I had to skip class, yay!) and visited Orange in the afternoon. With a population of only 30,000 Orange is a pretty typical French town, but it is famous for its huge Roman theatre, which is in extremely good condition considering that it's around 2,000 years old. After wandering around the theatre for about an hour we ate a nice long lunch outside a restaurant, but unfortunately I didn't see anything too bizarre on the menu so I settled for a delicious 3 cheese pasta. We were very fortunate that the weather was warm and sunny (in Nice and Eze as well) because it had been rainy in Grenoble for at least a week (and it's still cold and rainy here now that I'm back!). We slowly drove by the Triumphal Arc of Orange, also a beautiful site, as we left to continue our trip to Nice.

 It was impossible to capture the whole thing, but it's pretty big. I'm not even standing on the last row here

French Things...

Well this is just going to be a quick post about some of my observations of, well, french things. This will mostly be about stuff in our house, but I'm sure it's all very different based on the French family.

I'll start off with this chocolate easter chicken that my french mom gave me! In France chocolate eggs, chickens, bunnies, and fish are all popular. Like in the U.S., Monday is a holiday, but students also get 1-2 weeks off school after easter. In Germany, they get both Monday and Friday off for a 4 day weekend.

Grottes de Choranche

I went on a day trip with my program two days ago to Les Grottes de Choranche (the caves of Choranche), so I can talk about that for now. Choranche is a very small town just over an hour drive from Grenoble, but we didn't get to spend any time in the actual town. The cave entrance is only a small, just over 1 meter, opening where a creek flows out, but the inside is spectacular. Unfortunately it was hard to get many good pictures because of the dim lighting, but it was quite an experience. We only saw the main areas of the cave, but it still hasn't be completely explored. The cave was saturated with stalactites and was practically filled with shallow pools of water.

Lyon

So this past Saturday I found myself in Lyon, the third biggest city in France behind Marseille (or 2nd biggest in urban population). I was also surprised to learn that it's considered the capital of gastronomy in France, which meant that I ate very well. Unfortunately we only spent a day there but I plan to return this summer, especially since it's only an hour from Grenoble. We arrived Saturday morning and the weather couldn't have been better! The first thing we did was take a tour of the old section of the city and afterwards we ate (for about 2 hours) and then went up the hill that overlooks the city, right next to the old quarter, where I explored the Roman ruins and the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière. As always there is simply too much to describe in detail, but I'll give some highlights.

In a large square in the heart of the city. You can see the Basilica of Notre-Dame atop the Fourvière hill. To the right of the Basilica is would appeared to me a radio tower inspired by the Eiffel Tower

Dijon and Beaune

This past weekend was our excursion to Dijon and Beaune, two beautiful, historical cities in the mid-east region of France. Of course everybody knows Dijon because of it's mustard (and yes, it was some of the best mustard I've had). Beaune is quite small with a population of just over 20,000 (while Dijon is the 18th largest in France) but it is famous worldwide for it's wine.

Ski Weekend at Courchevel!

I finally got a photo of my family! Christine (left) and Pauline (right).

 There's a photo of Pierre below. 

Well I just got back from skiing and Courchevel was awesome! I'm very lucky because my host mom's parents had bought an apartment there when she was 8, otherwise it would've been pricey. I've only skied two times back in middle school (which was mostly bunny slopes anyway) so I pretty much knew nothing once I got there. There wasn't a single cloud on Saturday and it was beautiful. Huge mountains surrounded the place and they were dotted with small towns. I rented skies and shoes there for 45 euro and bought a half day mini ski pass (meaning for only a section of Courchevel) for about 19 euro. Pierre taught me the basics and I picked it up pretty quickly, despite a few good falls. That night some of my family's friends treated us to dinner at a nice restaurant called La Fromagerie. It was very good and was basically a delicious salad, some other small appetizers, potatoes, and this amazing melted cheese that the waiter just kept serving us. I'll put a photo of it below. The restaurant was also in the expensive village/area of Courchevel where Porches and BMWs literally lined the streets. All the stores there had designer's goods and our waiter said that the hotel in the area costs upwards of $4,000 per night!

Hiking the Bastille almost a week ago

Tomorrow I'm going with my host family to a ski resort called Courchevel, part of les trois vallées which apparently is the largest linked ski area in the world. I'll ski tomorrow and Sunday and I'll be sure to get some good pictures. As for Grenoble, it has been very cold (between -5 and -10 degrees Celsius/14 to 23 degrees Fahrenheit) but it has warmed up the past couple of days. For now I'm just going to talk about the weekend before last when I went to the Bastille and Grenoble's art museum. I did both on Sunday (February 5th) and started off with the museum with my host mom. The museum was free that day and pretty impressive when considering the size of Grenoble. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it (I think admission is usually only 2 euros). Afterwards I met up with some other API students to hike up the Bastille, which is basically an old fortification for the city just on the other side of the river. It is perched on the mountainside and it's about a 40 minute hike, but the view is stunning, well at least for someone who isn't used to mountains/castles. And well, here's some photos. Oh yeah and I forgot to take a picture of the Bastille from the ground... Sorry! I'll get a shot of it next week

 Taken right next to Musée de Grenoble, also right by the river

Beautiful Day Today!

The view from my bedroom! It's hard to see when it's cloudy though, compare it to the snow picture

Class!

Snow from the first week (just outside my bedroom window)

Last day of Paris/Arrival to Grenoble 1/26

I took this one the day before... but it's the Eiffel tower nonetheless!

We spent the last day in Paris going to the Eiffel tower. It is absolutely HUGE and I could see the whole city despite only being able to go to the 2nd level (we couldn't go to the top due to the rainy weather that week). Afterwards we had a free afternoon, which I spent by seeing the opera house (just the outside) and hanging out at the hotel before leaving for Grenoble. We took the train at about 3:30 PM with 1st class tickets (which I guess meant we had nicer seats, more space, and a little table). I slept most of the way, but we finally arrived at about 6:30 PM. All the host parents were there to greet us and were ready to take us to their homes. Just my host mom was there and we left soon after. Pierre, my little 14 year old brother, was waiting for us at home, a comfy suburban house located just outside of the city of Grenoble. Unfortunately it was already dark so I couldn't see anything on the way that night. I spent the next few days adjusting a learning my route to school, which consists of taking the bus and tram. The mountains are just incredible and the city is very nice. I still need to explore the city (which I plan to do this weekend) and get some more pictures of the mountains (it has been very cloudy). It has also been pretty cold, but the good news is we got a lot of snow this past Tuesday!

A Great Day in Paris!

Wednesday was a pretty big day because we saw Notre Dame (and when to the top of it), Sainte-Chapelle, the prison where Marie-Antoinette was held, the Louvre, and l'Arc de Triomphe. It's a lot to talk about, but they were all incredible. Notre Dame and the Louvre were definitely my two favorite places in France and I regret now having stayed longer at the Louvre. We were there for about 2 hours with a guided tour, but the museum is enormous. It would take me much more than a whole day to really see everything. I also did some exploring on my own, I'll post some of those photos on flickr and facebook.

Château de Versailles; Musée d'Orsay 1/24

On Tuesday 1/24 we went to Versailles after breakfast to see the Chateau de Versailles. I thought that it would just be a large mansion, but it was much more than that. Everything we saw was covered with paintings, gold, carvings, etc. We only saw a fraction of the Chateau because it's so big, and the same was true for the gardens. The gardens when on forever and were beautiful, even though there weren't any flowers or leaves due to the season. Afterwards we went to Musée d'Orsay and then our program treated us to a dinner at a restaurant and it was very good. I don't remember my appetizer, but I had dogfish and chocolate mousse.

El martes nos fuimos a Versailles después del desayuno para ver el Chateau de Versailles. Pensaba que iba a ser simplemente una mansion grande, pero fue mucho más que esto. Todo lo que vimos estaba cubierto de pinturas, oro, tallados en madera, etc. Vimos solamente una fracción del chateau porque es tan grande, y los jardines del chateau son todavia más grandes. Los jardines eran muy hermosos a pesar de que no tenían las flores o hojas de los arboles por culpa por la estación. Más tarde fuimos al Musée d'Orsay y después nuestro programa nos dio una cena en un restaurante muy extravagante. La comida estuvo muy bien y comí dogfish y mousse de chocolate.

A bit more from the first day

Here's a picture of the hotel and then one of my first dinner in Paris. I forgot to mention it in the other post, but the first night we went to a restaurant near our hotel and I wanted to order the weirdest thing possible. That left me with the beef tartare which is basically raw beef mixed with some spices and I think also raw egg. Apparently the French love to have fries with this and with other beef dishes. It was pretty good and finished my plate, but I think I'd prefer something cooked in the future. It definitely seemed like an American meal since it tasted just like a raw hamburger would, and of course there were french fries! Oh and also here they call french fries les frites and french toast le pan perdu (the lost bread). It would seem appropriate to address them as french here, but apparently not.

Aquí está una foto del hotel y otra de mi primera cena en Paris. Olvidé de hablar de esta cena el otro día, pero la primera noche fuimos a un restaurant que estaba cerca del hotel y yo quería comer la comida lo más diferente posible. Por eso ordené el filete tártaro, que es carne cruda mezclada con algunas especias y huevos también crudos. Me enteré que a los franceses les gusta comer las papas fritas con este plato y a otros carne de vaca. Me gustó y me comí todo, pero en el futuro voy a comer comida que esté cocinada. Me pareció un plato americano porque el filete tártaro era como una hamburguesa cruda y venía con papas fritas.

Paris!

I apologize for not posting anything the past few days, but we were very busy in Paris and our hotel's internet proved to be very slow. But to catch you guys up I made it to Paris Monday morning at 9 am after a sleepless night on the plane. It was a long 11 hour day of travel with a few weather delays and an ocean to cross, but I pulled through and enjoyed meeting my group of 9 other students. We spent the first day getting to know each other and went on a nighttime boat tour of the Seine. We were all very tired from travel 2 so we went to bed early at about 8:30 PM (which is 2 PM back at home!). The hotel was very nice and unlike the U.S. every room was unique. The location was the best part because it was in the Latin Quarter on Rue des Écoles, which was a 5 minute walk away from Notre Dame. I slept very well and got up early at about 7:15, had the best breakfast I've ever had, and walked down by Notre Dame for some sunrise pictures of the Seine. This was just the first day/next morning, I'll talk about the other days tomorrow with more pictures. I've finally made it to Grenoble and could use some rest!

Lo siento mucho por no haber puesto nada hace mucho tiempo, pero he estado muy muy ocupado (y el internet no funcionó muy bien en el hotel en Paris). Pero para poner a ustedes al día, llegué a Paris el lunes a las 9 por la mañana después de un noche sin dormir en el avion. El viaje tomó más o menos 11 horas, pero sobreviví y tuve la oportunidad de conocer a mi grupo de 9 otros estudiantes cuando llegué a Paris. Esta noche fuimos a ver el río de Seine por barco, pero después nos acostamos muy temprano a las 8 30. El hotel era muy bien porque estaba situado en el Barrio Latino o Latin Quarter al centro de la ciudad. Tomó solamente 5 minutos para caminar a la iglesia de Notre Dame!! El día siguiente me despertí muy temprano a las 7 15, tuve el mejor desayuno de todo mi vida, y caminé hasta Notre Dame para algunas fotos.

Grenoble is in the South East, I had no idea where it was until I signed up for this trip!

Grenoble se ubica en el sureste. ¡Yo no sabía esto hasta que ingresé en este programa!

Hey everyone, this is my study abroad/Europe trip blog to keep you guys up to date. I am leaving January 22nd and will be back July 18th. I'll be studying in Grenoble, France until April 28th where I'll be taking intensive French courses and living with a local family. Afterwards I'll be traveling all over Europe by train (thanks to my Eurail pass), though I don't have a specific travel plan yet. However, I plan to visit Germany, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and possibly the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia. For the blog I hope to post something at least once a week and I'll also try my best to translate them into Spanish to make it easier for some of my friends (when time permits). For now I'm visiting everyone in Athens, but this is my last day here before going back to Roswell to finish getting ready. For the first few days I'll be exploring Paris with my group before making my way to Grenoble. So stay tuned and I'll try to post plenty of pictures!

Hola y bienvenidos a mi blog de mi viaje para estudiar fuera y viajar por todo Europa para que ustedes estén al día. Me voy el 22 de enero y regresaré a los EE UU el 18 de julio. Estudiaré en Grenoble, Francia hasta el 28 de abril donde tomaré clases intensivas de francés y viviré con una familia local. Después voy a viajar por Europa por tren (gracias a mi billete de Eurail), a pesar de que no tengo un plan muy detallado todavía. Quiero visitar Alemania, España, Italia, Suiza, Bélgica, y tal vez los Países Bajos, Hungría, Austria, y Eslovaquia. Quiero poner algo en mi blog una vez cada semana por lo menos y trataré de traducir mis comentarios del inglés a español cuando pueda para ustedes que no hablan bien inglés. Por ahora estoy en Athens visitando a mis amigos, pero hoy es mi último día aquí y voy mañana a mi casa en Roswell para prepararme para el viaje. Al principio estaré en Paris con mi grupo por algunos días antes de ir a Grenoble. Trataré de pegar muchas fotos aquí de mis aventuras, entonces ¡asegúrense visitar mi blog más tarde!