steerike two!

Just another normal day in France. Hundreds and thousands take to the street to protest... what is it that we're protesting again? We do this so much I've lost track. It was apparently regarding the economic crisis, but by the looks of it, it was more like a random collection of marches. I'd say striking is France's second national sport next to soccer.

*****

The rest of our Italy trip was phenomenal. Venice was so cool. It freaked me out a bit, looking at the land from the boats, because you can never see any natural shoreline. It feels like floating docks and made me a little uneasy. But once we were on land, I didn't notice anymore. We wandered the streets of Venice and rode the boats as much as possible. Twas loverly.

The Essence of Venice

The island of Murano, known for its blown glass, is really only that. And while many of the islands look the same, they all have a different feel. We stayed on the island Lido, which reminded me a lot of the Côte d'Azure in France. It's a lot more of a beachy feel, and it's not much more than a kilometer wide. Our hotel sat right by the waterbus port and around the corner from a grocery store that sold wine in juice boxes ;) ... that was fun.

Our one night in Milan was interesting. Shady hotel off the main drag... fulllll of character! But we had the best sleep of the week in those beds. Thank god because we had 7 1/2 hours of train ride the next day.

firenze

Day 2 in Florence... well really we've only been here a day and we didn't do much. The last few days have caught up to us, so this morning we wandered around a bit for a few hours then both took naps for most of the afternoon.

We saw the Duomo today. What a crazy looking church. The outside is all green and red and white marble patterns and then you walk inside to beige walls and deep brown structural lines. I thought it looked like one of those biology pictures of a body without the skin. Actually, it reminded me of a body turned inside out. The flesh and minor decorative details on the inside, and all the veins and organs twisted and lining the building on the outside.


Gelati, gelati, gelati

We've definitely had our share here, almost a cone everyday. Sometimes two. It's delicious :)

spring break in italy

I am sitting in my hostel lobby in Florence after spending 3 days and nights in Rome, and this afternoon in Pisa. I'm kind of exhausted.

Rome was beautiful. So interesting! They call it the layered city for many reasons, and boy was it ever. Our first day there happened to be International Women's Day and all admission was free for women, woo. We walked through the Ancient City and the Colosseum.

I loved the Ancient City, and lectures from last year's Western Civ class were coming back to me in droves. We were almost done, when we stumbled upon a free tour being given by what seemed like the most knowledgeable man in Rome giving a free tour. His name was Jason Spiehler and he has a master's degree in Theology from Yale and gave the best tour ever. So much for the 6 euro we wasted on the silly audio guide.

We met up with him again the next day when he was giving a (not free) tour of the Vatican. Again, such a good tour. Lasted three hours and I feel like I should have written an exam after. The Sistine Chapel was incredible. I loved it. And St. Peter's Basilica was more enormous than I ever thought a church could be. I think that was the most shocking thing to see. You expect the Colosseum to be big, but I had never seen any pictures of the inside of St. Peter's (not like any would justly show you how huge it is).

We spent our third and last day in Rome hanging out on steps and around fountains. Sat on the Spanish Steps, saw the Pantheon, the Piazza Navona, and finally the very pretty Trevi Fountain.

Today, we checked off another stereotypical tourist activity by taking cheesy pictures ''leaning'' on the Tower of Pisa. It's so bizarre looking at it though... it just leans. It looks so funny and out of place. But it just nonchalantly sits there... leaning.

the mini paris

Bordeaux was beautiful. It reminded me a lot of Paris, but prettier in some ways. It was a lot calmer and less people. However, St. Catherine's Street got extremely packed late Saturday afternoon. It's really weird the hours that people come out on the streets. I never know what to be prepared for when we go out. I never know if it will be dead or packed because every city seems different.

They have an amazing bridge that crosses the river. It gives you a great view of the whole city. When you cross to the other side, you can see the immense stretch of connected buildings that line the river side. And in between the river and those buildings, there are plenty of pedestrian parks to walk through. It's beautiful.

Jardin des Plantes

City of Bordeaux

Sunset on the Bridge

We stayed with my friend Lucie, which was awesome. I loved her apartment. We spent the nights with her and few of her friends, which was nice. Then she sent us to a place that has an awesome Sunday brunch and it was great.

We had great weather Saturday, and then not so nice on Sunday, which is what Lucie said it's usually like. But Meghan and I did a wine tour on Sunday so we weren't outside a ton. We took a bus to a Château about 35 minutes away. Saw the vineyard, cellar, and such and then tasted a couple wines. Les vins moelleux are soft, sweet wines, but nothing like anything I've tasted before. Their wines can get very, very, very sweet. Too much for me.

The second château we saw made dry whites and reds. I liked this one better. They had these massive cuves (I don't know what the word is in English) that held the wine and were very impressive. And I enjoyed their white wine better. Still not big on the red, but it was good.

Château Gravas - (the first visit)

*****

Speaking of wine, last night our whole group went out for dinner for Niina (from Finland)'s birthday. We had delicious wine and probably the best meal I've had here so far. And deadly dessert, haha. It was good :)

Melissa comes down here Thursday, and then we're taking off for an Italian adventure starting Saturday! Ciao.