I notice it's been a while again. I had a plan to bring my computer to Italy with me, but I decided I didn't want to lug it around on my back through Europe and left it in Grenoble. So I'm sorry I didn't post last week. As for the week before... I forgot. Oh man, while I've been counting the days I've been here for, I've also been counting how many are left. As that number has been shrinking and shrinking I've had significantly more to do here. From exams to traveling, I've been rather busy, but I'll do my best to recount the past... 20 days. (Procrastination as a way of life is not always the best choice, if I may so so hypocritically.)
So Switzerland and Easter, yeah? Let's check the handy calendar, shall we?
I seem to have had a test for my techniques class on the 9th, which sounds exciting. That wednesday we went to a local museum in Grenoble instead of actually having my language and culture class. Went to the crypts of Saint-Laurent which were really cool. We got a guided tour from the city center to and through the museum by a man who works for the university I'm studying at. I learned a lot about the history of Grenoble, which has been around for ever. Going to William & Mary and being from Boston I feel as if I've got a large knowledge of old America, but Europe really takes the cake. This city has been around since the Romans were in power. I know I've been to Rome and I understand the history of this area, but to be reminded of how old this place I've been living in for the past 112 days is wicked old is sort of mind-blowing. The crypt has graves dating back to the origins of the city as well which is so crazy! Okay, enough on that.
So that weekend we went to Orange, Nice and Éze. More ancient Rome in Orange. They have this great ancient Roman theater that has been pretty well preserved considering it's been around since the 1st century AD.
We only stopped in Orange on the way to Nice for lunch. Nice was AMAZING. It was so refreshing to be warm, for the first time in forever. We went to see a monastery on one of the hills around Nice and the Matisse museum. We also walked around the Old city which looks strikingly like Italy. A nice warm up for the week to come. Pictures of course, I got it.
Ancient, look what our theme seems to be.
On the way back, we stopped at Éze, a medieval city in the south of France. Once again very cool. It's on the top of a mountain and it is so very cool. I don't know if you can tell that I'm already running out of synonyms, haha.
I can't describe to you how nice it was to be near the water. It truly felt like summer. I'm very ready for summer. But doesn't it always get this way at this time of the year?
Let's get back to the schedule then. Movie night, we went to see a French film with my study abroad program. Then Italy! Nicole, Claire, Aubrey, and I went to Venice and Cinque Terre. Mostly because we wanted to go to Italy and I hadn't been to those two places! Venice was amazing. We saw the Basilica of St. Mark and tons of other churches around the city, the Rialto bridge, several museums including the Guggenheim, we took a gondala ride, and I celebrated my 21st birthday in Venice. We walked all over the city and rented an apartment in the city as opposed to staying in a hostel or hotel. We were right next to St. Mark's Basilica which made visiting things really convenient and was awesome. Venice isn't as big though as say Rome, so we only spent 4 days there before leaving on Monday for Cinque Terre.
Cinque Terre was so cool. It's comprised of these 5 small villages on the coast. You can hike from village to village, which we did (Physical activity! Me!), and each village is different from the other. with its own identity. I totally suggest visiting! We rented a room in Vernazza and had some of my favorite gelato ever in Italy, which is saying a lot, because I'm now an expert. This is a point where I would like to apologize to everyone. I bought you all souvenirs of gelato, but I ate them all... although I'm not particularly sorry, they were delicious.
Oops. Over exuberant about these Cinque Terre pictures. It was just so incredibly beautiful.
So that you guys caught up. Mentally speaking I'm 50/50 about coming home. I'm excited to use a real shower and wear clothes that feel clean again, but I'm going to miss being able to walk 4 seconds to a café and fabulous pastries and speak French first. I know that's weird and I revel in the moments when I get to speak to native English speakers, but I do enjoy speaking French with people. It's definitely the best way to improve your language skills and I'm going to miss actively improving it without having to seek it out. Mostly I've been sad about leaving Europe, until last Monday and the marathon bombings in Boston. My dad was running the marathon and I had been following his progress all afternoon online. For some reason he had passed the 40k mark and for an hour it never showed that he finished. I had been watching a movie on my computer and went to check Facebook before starting a new one when I read my newsfeed saying different variations of "Pray for Boston". Pray for Boston? I mean it's an awesome city and I'm the first to admit that, but what are we praying for? It was people who I know that go to Boston universities and who were from the area, but I got concerned when a girl I know from Canada updated her status. So I did what we all do now-a-days, I googled it. Suddenly my computer screen was filled with these news articles about bombs at the finish line from an hour previously. I couldn't read fast enough. I went back to the BAA website to check my dad's time but he still hadn't crossed and I kept reading. I didn't know what to do. I was freaking out in my room all the way in France and all I wanted were my parents. I called my mom, but she didn't pick up. I took this 3 ways: 1, something bad happened; 2, everything's fine and she didn't pick up her phone; 3, she took up her usual post of super-mom and was at the medical tent helping out as she would. So I called my dad. Instead of actually hearing his voicemail box I heard some automated voice breaking up over the line. This did not help my mental breakdown. Suddenly I got a Skype call from my cousin who reported that my parents were fine. My dad was fine but lost in the city because they're closing down all of the streets and my mom is in the city trying to find him. When I finally got to talk to my dad two hours later, they are calling me on Skype from the car, that's how scared I sounded on the voicemail I left my mom, haha. My dad's biggest complaint about the whole issue, I'm sure to calm me down, was that he was running too slowly for his liking. I told him that was probably forgiven seeing as his foot hurt and bombs went off. For the rest of the week, I was sort of out of it, and I still kind of am. You see these things on the news happening elsewhere, and you visit Ground Zero in New York, but it still is jarring to me that it would happen in my city. I wasn't even there, but I was floored. I know people who were there, I'm related to them! The best part though, was the response. I know my city wouldn't have responded in any other way. Even shutting down the city to track the suspects down was not unexpected. And I'm so proud of the people that were there and responded right away. I miss Boston and I'm so happy to go back to such a wonderful city in 19 days. Boston Strong.
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