Getting to Dublin and my first day there.

MONDAY

Well getting to Dublin was an adventure. As is everything I guess. I left my hostel around 8am so I could get to the train station around 1/2 an hour before my train left at 9:10 (ish). I ate a quick breakfast, tried to get my overstuffed backpack zipped closed (always an interesting task) and quickly checked out. I just so happened to be using the Tube at morning 'rush hour' so it was packed. But thank the Lord, he allowed me to never have to wait for the next tube. Always managing to squeeze on, even with my stuffed backpack.

I got to the train station, and easily found my train, which hadn't even arrived yet. I found my car, took a seat, and got comfortable after the train did arrive. I sat in a 4 seater one (2 seats facing 2 seats with a table in betwen), and a 30 year old ish man joined me. He was British. and we had a nice chat for a bit before I fell asleep. The 3.5 hour train ride went quickly, and soon I was in Holyhead, Whales! I had no clue they had their own language (Welsh) and the signs sure did look funny. The train went directly to the ferry terminal, and I got off, got a muffin and coffee, and waited around 1/2 an hour before boarding the ferry! THERE WERE SO MANY IRISH PEOPLE. I LOVED IT. I love love love their accents, their family orientated culture, their lively attitudes, and friendly demeanors. I couldn't get the smile off my face. I probably looked like an odd foreigner.

I got on the ferry and got comfortable in these nice chairs with a table in the middle. There was no assigned seatining so I could sit anywhere. The 3.5 hour ferry was a tad boring, so I tried to nap. Soon, I was in Dublin! The ferry terminal is not quite in the city, and I hadn't planned yet how I was getting there. I looked outside, there was one bus, so I walked up, and asked where it was going and if I could get to the city center. An old irish man heard my question (and my accent probably) and chimed in asking where I was going. I explained and he said I was good to take th bus and then gave me more specific directions for after! I found the hostel easily, even though it was dark out..it gets dark here around 4:30 pm. crazy. hah

I checked in, met 2 australian girls I was sharing a room with, then got on my internet in the kitchen for a bit! Then I realized I was starving. Having only eaten a muffin since my toast at breakfast, and a cup of coffee, my stomach wanted real food. So I went to a local grocery store, got some pasta, sauce, and chicken. THen used the hostel's expansive kitchen to cook some delicious dinner! Mmm. then I waited for my friend Katrina to arrive later that night. Then sleep!

TUESDAY

Katrina and I woke up, wanting to just explore and get to know Dublin. Which is not a very big city. We just started walking around the city, and we did just that! We found some fun stores to go into, a few random irish looking monuments, and before we knew it a few hours had passed. We kept walking, then popped into a cafe/restuarant for some late lunch. It was delicious. We got a soup to start, then different sandwiches that came with fries for our main course. Yummmm. We ended up sitting and talking for 2 and a half hours because we never asked for our check, which apparantly you have to do if you want to get it hah. Then we finally did and he forgot for another 20 minutes or so hah. Needless to say we were there forever. Good thing we weren't in a hurry to go anywhere.

After, we went back to our hostel for a bit before wanting to go to an authentic Irish pub! We went to the touristy district, Temple Bar area, because it was close, and easiest, and went to one of the nearest pubs where we saw live music! It was so fun because they played very classic irish songs along with a lot of popular other songs with an irish twist. We enjoyed just sitting, people watching, and enjoying the friendly fun loving atmosphere. We left around 1:00am (we didn't get there until around 10:30pm) where we promptly crashed in our beds asleep hah.

London, Sunday, Church, Speaker's Corner. Win.

Well. Today was Sunday. My last full day in London. Already. And I say it again, time is moving too fast.

I had my usual breakfast, and every morning just about I've met people (yesterday an Italian guy and a guy from Virginia Tech) and today a guy from Portugal! Always interesting. After, I headed to church. Hillsong has a church plant here so I wanted to check it out! It was interesting. After, I wanted to go to Hyde Park because I wanted to go back to the 'Winter Wonderland' market, get some food, and then walk over to Speaker's Corner to hear some people on their soapboxes. Well the Wonderland was PACKED. But I managed to get some german type fried potatoes with a sauce and such, so I took it and ate it on a park bench and people watched for a bit. The I continued on to the Speakers Corner.

It was so interesting. The people that get up on soapboxes in the first place are a bit on the unique side, but that is an understatement even. There were 4 people who stood out the most to me. One guy was looking very 'Texan' actually, or just cowboy ish. Because he was definitely from Britain. He was preaching about Jesus and Christianity, a bit off maybe, but he had the main bit right haha. But he was just, interesting. I think that is my word for they day.

The next guy was someone who, for the majority of the time, I had no clue what point he was trying to make. He was trying to speak super articulatedly, and use big words, to express his opinion on evolution. I finally found out he was against evolution, but I never understood what his reasoning was, except that he was a Christian, but he never got around to an actual stance. Interesting fellow though.

The third most interesting (these are going in rank of intensity and interesting-ness), was a man, who I think was a Marxist, explaining what was going on with Wikileaks and Julian Assange right now, explaining how corrupt the British and American Governments are with all of the cover-ups. Expressing also how it was in-just to have Assange locked up right now. He was a very good speaker, good at expressing his point, dealing with people who interrupted, entertaining, and had good points. I took a bit of video to show Matthew (assuming he has been following with the Wikileaks stuff too) haha.

And, the last, and by far, most outspoken, insane, speaker I listened to (I walked by about 4 times and stopped to observe) was a woman, her name Diana I think, WHO WAS INSANE. The first time I walked up, she had stopped talking because some man had used a cuss word in her direction (Half of Speaker's Corner is the audience who is allowed to heckle, comment, insult, joke about, or ask questions, to the speaker) and she had just started staring at him, obviously insulted. She said a little something about God, and I figured she was trying to preach God to people and had gotten a bit flustered at people heckling her, so I thought I would watch to see what happened next, if she regained composure. Well BOY was I WRONG. I, like, can't even put into the right words her stance, on life.

Basically, she was using God, and her opinion in general, to state that Britain is for the British, and all the immigrants were going to pay for invading her country, and that they needed to leave because they were ruining her culture. That is a light version of what she was saying. And she was this small, white haired, white woman, talking to almost ALL middle easterners, insulting their faces, but it was such crazy talk that they weren't even insulted, they were just making jokes with each other and her at her. They were quite funny. I'm glad that they  didn't get angry. There is no point in trying to reason with a lunatic. She was just saying stuff like, british territory was her God given land, and not theirs, and that she had a right to be there, not them, even the people, like the younger generation that is born in Britain (who's parents immigrated over), she said do not belong, that the will never be British, etc etc. I can't even remember all she said, she would just yell and  call people out, saying that she could tell they were getting scared, and that God was going to judge them, that she didn't care about their sad lives and how they worked hard, and blah blah blah, oh my gosh. Some of the arab men started just throwing stereotypes at her to feed the fire hah, like saying they immigrated because they don't have to work now, where as in their country they did, or other things. And she said..well anyways, I could start going in circles with what she was saying.

She had no good points, you could not even find one single valid thing she said. Nothing about immigration at all hah. She was just racist. Plain racist.

I need to stop ranting about the ranter. I took some video's of her, but I need to watch them and see if you can understand them, and also which one I want to post, since I took so many.

After that experience, I was ready to warm up indoors. But first I needed to buy my train/ferry ticket for getting to Dublin tomorrow. So I went to the Victoria station, bought that, and then went in search of my comfort zone, Starbucks. Found one, easily hah. Got my coffee, and thankfully a seat opened up in perfect timing for me to get a cozy nook in the corner. I wanted to read, journal, and just sit for a while. And that I did. Then, due to the crowding, a guy came and asked to share the table with me. Why not! So he did, and immediately made a phone call, IN FRENCH. I could not ignore this person anymore. He was French! So I struck up a conversation with him, and he has virtually no french accent, all british, because he has been working in Britain for 3 years, as an Engineer, and is about to take a new job back in Paris. Anyhow, we just had a nice conversation before he had to go catch his Coach. I love random conversations with strangers. I have had quite a few of those here in London. Good conversations with people whom I will never see again.

After Starbucks, I went in search of Westminster Abbey, there was a free organ recital, and that way I could go to a recital, AND get into the Abbey for free instead of normally paying around 10 pounds I think?

The abbey was beautiful, of course, and the organ music was pretty, but I just don't just don't understand a lot of organ music. It sounds offbeat to me! Like they are playing organized nonsense. Pretty notes, just at an awkward rhythm I guess. That is just me. After, I went back to the hostel, which is where I am now!

Dublin tomorrow!

Also, failed to take even one picture of myself here..

A Saturday in London

Well today was super chill and hectic all at the same time.

I started of my day, around 11 by the time I ate breakfast and got ready and all that, heading to the British Library. Now this was probably the place I had been looking forward to the most so far, because it was free, and had a lot of original manuscripts from dozens of brilliant composers, authors, and the like. So finally I was getting to go! When I got off the Tube, which was also right near a massive train station, I did not know exactly where to go, so I just kind of wandered around until I began to see signs for it hah. This became a theme of my day.

I found it in no time, and soon, I was admiring original manuscripts from the Bronte sisters, of Canterberry (spelling?) Tales, early prints of Shakespeare, scribbles by the Beatles, sprawlings of the 'Wedding March" piano music, early printings of the Bible in various languages, and one of their gems, one of original copies of the Magna Carta! So I spent quite a while just wandering around, attempting to read old handwritings, and getting my fill of literature :)

They also had, right in a different room, an exhibit of the language English.There were interactive displays, and the person that made the massive display, was looking into accents, and different dialects around the world and how they were created. Super interesting! I didn't want to leave the library after the display, so I went to the cafe and got a cappuccino (my new favorite at the moment) and read my book some/planned where to go next.

I decided the next place to go was to walk to the Soho district of London. Supposedly super trendy and good food and whatnot, so I started walking, little did I realize, it was a Saturday, and Christmas shopping time, basically it was PACKED on the streets. This helped because I really had no clue where I was going, so I just followed the masses. But honestly I started to get a bit stressed out. I love big cities, busy streets, lots of people, I don't know what got to me, but I had to take a breather in a 'Body Shop' because the pace of the streets was just a bit intense for some reason. After that, I was back out. And then I became very happy. Why? I saw first, American Apparel, then URBAN OUTFITTERS, then GAP! ack ack ack. Only pretty much my favorite stores ever. So I popped in all three. I want to shop SO BAD. I am in a clothes buying mood. But, I can't. I don't have money to, and I don't have space in my bags to. Sad. I love the European style. Londoner's style is different from Parisians style, and yet they are similar? And I love both of them. I need a new wardrobe haha. That is a lie. But I want one. I will transform it slowly.

After that, I wandered a bit more, found a Tube station, and headed to the Science Museum. I love interactive things haha, and it's free, so I chilled there until it closed. Then I walked up a main shopping street and looked at the wonderfully decorated Harrods! Super pretty. After that I went and got a Starbucks and a muffin, intending to sit down, but there was no space, so I headed back to the hostel. It was only around 7pm? maybe 8. But I ate my muffin and then promptly fell asleep for 3 ish hours. Then awoke, and could not sleep until around 2 am. Bad news to take a 'nap' so early haha. But shmeh. Life goes on

London Day 2!

Ah, have I mentioned that I love London? I do.

So I woke up, after a long restful 10 hours of sleep (I needed it), and went to get some free continental breakfast from my Hostel. I had some delicious breads, cereals, coffee, juice, etc. I took my fill so it would last me the day haha. Then I headed out to my first destination. The National Gallery. It is right at Trafalgar Square, free, and warm inside. So I used my transportation friend, the Tube, and got there easily. I walked around the entire thing and it slightly resembles the Louvre, so sadly, I did not appreciate the art as much as I should have. But I got to see plenty of Monet (one of his Water Liles paintings), Manet, Van Gogh, Renoir, etc. It was packed. After that, I walked across the street to St.-Martin-in-the-fields church because they were having a free lunchtime concert at 1pm! But I was about 30 minutes early, so I went down to their cafe in the crypt and they had delicious, decently priced, lunches! I got this sandwich that had turkey and cranberry sauce! I felt like I was eating Christmas on a bun. Mmmm. Then I looked at my watch and it was 1:05 pm! I had been planning my day, and lost track of time, so I ran upstairs..but it was too late. They weren't letting people in anymore and I could hear the beautiful 8 person "Cellophony" group. :(

Well on to the next thing! I walked through the streets on London and found my way to Covent Gardens. It was packed. I knew I was in tourist land. I walked through the markets they had up, which honestly weren't that good, walked through a 'Lush' shop, then headed to Starbucks. Don't judge. I planned where to go next, and started reading "Forgotten God" by Francis Chan. I definitely recommend it, even though I'm not even half way through.

Also, I love being able to understand the conversations around me. In France, it was a (good) exercise to understand the people around me. Here, although I still sometimes have to decipher accents, I can understand easier haha. Yayy.

So, next place I decided to go was Tate Modern. It is a fairly new museum for modern art in the south of London and so I made my way there. I had gotten a bit tired of art and the like from the National Gallery, but I needed not have worried, modern art is a whole new field. There is no way you can be bored or get tired of art in a modern art museum because it is so random. I did not know if I would super enjoy a museum like this, but I had to give it a try (and it was free), and I came to realized that I LOVE it! It is so interesting, and I am not the best 'art interpreter' but it was interesting to read little tidbits about what the artists were thinking and such. And the people that are visiting the museum are just as interesting to observe haha, trendy, artsy, sometimes a bit odd, people. I spent a few hours there, wishing the whole time Matthew (the bro) could have been there with me because I know he would have enjoyed it with me. Sigh, next time?

By the time I finished at the museum, it was dark out, and I didn't really know what to do next. It was near 6pm, and so many things were closing. I figured I would just start walking and see where I ended up ( in an smart direction of course). I started walking, saw the river, and Millennium Bridge. So I walked across it! It was awesome, and I looked down the river to see a lit up London Bridge heh. Cliche? Maybe. Beautiful and awesome? Yes.

I kept walking, following where the majority of the people in front of me went, and soon I was at a capitol building of sorts with a big christmas tree. Not sure exactly what it was. But then I kept walking and found my self at St. Paul's Cathedral. There was a massive line outside of it for some reason, so I observed, there was a Christmas tree up on the top ledge of it, and then popped in yet another Starbucks to think of what to do next.

I sat down on a comfy chair and commented to the guy sitting across from me how I had attempted reading the book he was reading "The Selfish Gene" but had failed. We chatted for a minute before we left eachother to our own business. After looking at my list of things I wanted to do here, not many could be done that late, so I got comfortable, planned Saturday and Sunday, read, talked to the guy a bit more (he's Dutch, living in Paris, never been to Texas, was waiting on his Friend, had his suitcases with him, and SO winked at me).

I decided then, it was nearing 8pm, to just head back to the Hostel, and grab some food on the way back, if I saw something quick. Which I did not, except for MacDo or Subway, which I respectfully declined.

I have taken a total of 3 pictures here. None of which are good. I really need to work harder at documenting this trip with pictures. I am not a picture taker. I love being in pictures, and taking pictures of other people, but when it comes to taking pictures of just things or just of myself, yeah...does not happen very often.

Anyhow. Today was not stressful, nicely paced, wonderful, and I can't wait for tomorrow!

London, the beginning :D

I feel like it has been forever already since I left to come to London today. It most definitely has been a journey. And it is only 8:15pm right now and I am only awake because of a latte I forced myself to drink.

So last night, I took an overnight ferry from the port outside of Caen (a 25 minute bus ride out) to Portsmouth, England. I got to the ferry terminal ouside of Caen 2 hours early because I had to take the bus and the last bus of the night was still pretty early. So I sat in the terminal, got a Cappuccino, and journaled. At first it was just truckers in the terminal, a little unsettling thinking that was who I was going to be travelling for almost 8 hours with on a ferry, but slowely, older couples and families trickled in and I felt more comfortable. Before long, we boarded! I got a stamp in my passport, put my bags through and x-ray, then followed more knowledgable travellers onto the MASSIVE ferry. I know it is not even close, but I felt like I was entering the Titanic. Never having been on a cruise ship or the like, it was insanely big to me. They have elevators on the ferry. So I followed a couple and we entered this big room that slightly resembled a movie theater combined with an airplane. There were probably 10 people total in a room that sat 150, so we got to spread out. I then made myself comfortable in order to sleep.

Worst sleep of my life. The chair would not stay leaned back, and it was just cold enough where my jacket and scarf would not keep me warm (as my body slowed down in sleep mode). So I tried to sleep in the fetal position, in a chair, which gave me random pains in my body. Therefore, every 30 minutes to hour I was shifting, for the whole ride. But it was an experience and now I know what to expect when I take the 19ish hour ferry back to France from Ireland.

Finally we arrived in England! I followed people (a very useful thing to do when by yourself in unknown territory) and found myself sipping a coffee in the terminal waiting for my coach (greyhound ish bus) to take me 2 hours to London. Got on the bus! Read a newspaper in English, tried reading some Rick Steves London chapter, then got a bit carsick and promptly fell asleep.

The next time I opened my eyes I was looking at the streets of London through my window! It looked so...well so British haha. I loved it. Just like Paris, I was in love with London. How cliche.

We got to the station and I quickly got going to find the Tube station to get to my hostel and drop off my (ever increasing in weight) backpack. Found the station. Victoria Train Station which connected to the Tube. I found out later that it is famous? I got in line to get my Oyster Card (a refillable metro pass that is refillable). THen I was off to find my hostel. I was so excited to be able to wander around this new place by myself, such a new adventure.

With a bit of extra wandering, I found my hostel and dropped my bag off, brushed my teeth, etc.

Now I had heard from other friends that this company, 'New Europe Tours' gives free tours around the major cities in Europe. They accept tips at the end, and are supposed to be super interesting. I had done some research, and found a meeting point for one of the tours at 1pm. I found the meeting point, The Arc of Wellington, but I was half an hour early, so I wandered to Hyde Park which was across the street, and explored a 'Winter Wonderland' Christmas market that was set up! It was oddly familiar to the one that was going on in Caen when I left...just bigger, more food, and more expensive.

Soon it was tour time, and I went over to the group of people huddled. 5 minutes or so later, our interesting tour guide led us off on our 2.5 hour tour! I met a New Yorker, and 2 Australians in the course of the tour, all very nice, and our tour guide grew up in Calgary! Fun connections :)

I honestly could not even list all the places we went. It was a 'New London Tour' so we saw government buildings, squares, Palaces, etc. Super interesting because our guide was not only knowledgeable, he was funny. Loved loved it. Definitely look up the tours if you are in any major european city! As we were ending our tour around Trafalgar (spelling is prob wrong) square, guess what we ran into!? STUDENT PROTESTS. The biggest out of the three or four they have had in the past few months over the government wanting to almost triple their tuition costs. I can understand their anger. So we were right in the thick of it. I LOVED IT. It was the early stages of the protest so it hadn't officially 'started' yet. So we just got to walk around the masses of students collecting, and then we got to walk past the police baracades forming because we had our handy dandy tour guide who flashed a pass and talked to them to explain how we were not involved. Oh yeahh. Right as we ended our tour, a few yards away from the main protest point, the riot broke out, we heard tons of cheering and yelling, people running, smoke coming from who knows where, ack, so exciting! We were not close enough to be harmed or involved but we got to watch all of it happening. Legit.

After the tour, I went to officially check into my hostel. I showered, rested, and then forced myself to go get some food and coffee so that I would not fall aslep too early. I walked down a main road and found a mini mall with a, ironically enough, french boulangerie, where I got a sandwich and latte. Mmmm. Food.

Now i'm back at the hostel, in the common room. They are having movie night and "Body of Lies" with Leonardo DiCaprio is playing. And they gave us popcorn. :)

Go London! I am so excited for the next few days!

OH. It is super cold here. The entire tour I was cold, and by the end, my wrists had gone numb. And my hands, but my wrists too! It was super weird because when I would try to bend my wrists they felt super weak and would move in slow motion, and when I tried to enter a number in my phone, my thumbs literallywould not move a the speed I wanted them to, it was super trippy.

Random Video

I thought I would just do a thoughts video. Aka my thoughts right now. I was a bit tired recording it, and a bit sad haha, still am a tad sad when I think about leaving in a few days. But thought I would just reflect some and show where I am right now.   :)

The rest of my weekend in Switzerland ( a few weeks delay I know..)

Friday was our tour around Lausanne. We woke up, and after getting ready went upstairs to their kitchen where the family was enjoying a peaceful breakfast. They were SO wonderful giving us free breakfast! We had a very traditional breakfast of bread and jam (called tartines). Isabelle has to go to one class, so we headed to her campus and she showed us around some first. IT is literally located right beside this massive lake that is facing the mountains. It was beyond beautiful. They get to see this incredible view inbetween classes! Or while eating their lunch in the cafeteria! Wow. Her sister, Marianne came along, and after Isa parted for her class, Marianne began to give us a tour. We took a nice walk along the water looking at the swans and ducks that gather in various groups along the shore. And walked out on a few small piers to soak up even more, the immensity of the lake and mountain view. After that, we went to town! Lausanne is not massive, but it has the perfect mix of history and modernity. Very very technologically advanced stuff (transportation, buildings) and yet some of the roads, a massive cathedral, and other buildings, kept intact the original Swiss vibe. So we met Isa a few hours later and went and got some Chinese food for lunch. 

Now pause.  Everything in Switzerland is expensive. The exchange rate right now is on par with the dollar pretty much (and they have the coolest 5 swiss franc coins) but their prices are insane. A ‘cheap’ meal is 13 swiss francs. That is not cheap! Most places you pay on average around 20 swiss francs or more. However they get paid more and their minimum wage is higher too so it balances out, but still, crazy.

After lunch we wandered around town some more then went to a different part of the lake. It had a massive pier and a small port where there were some ferries. And we just soaked in the view even more. And as it was getting dark by that point, we wandered through the Olympic museum’s park (with a lot of famous statues by famous artists) then stopped in a local cafe for the most delicious cappuccino i’ve ever had. Oh my gosh. SO good. Then, back to their home.

Their mom, the sweetest woman ever, had prepared the most delicious dinner EVER. She had made this meat dish with one meat, wrapped in another meat, wrapped with these onions and mushrooms, then finally wrapped in a pie crust and cooked. Then it was cut into slices, mmmmmmmm. Along with that was rice, salad, and for dessert, a homemade meringue with this strawberry cream sauce. Holy cow, Chelsea and I were eating heaven.

That evening we just relaxed, and I read some classic French children’s books/comics that Isa showed me. Still on the difficult side to understand even though they were children’s books! Haha. Then Sleepy Time.

Saturday was perhaps my favorite day, as it included more mountains, a chocolate factory, and fondue! So we left their house the next morning with Isa, her brother, her friend, Chelsea, and I. We were driving now (the brother drove) and we drove for about 45 minutes into the mountains! There we stopped at the Cailler chocolate factory. You could literally smell the chocolate as we walked up to the doors. Yes. Smell the chocolate. We got student discounts and headed in for our tour. Which mostly consisted of the history, then we got to see some of the production lines! And after, a tasting J. I thought it was just going to be like one piece. But no, they had a line of all of their major chocolates, milk, dark, white, filled, etc. And we could try as many as we wanted! I just tried little bites of each one and I could not even make it all the way around before I was feeling completely stuffed. So good though. It was perfect because after tasting all of them, we headed to the store where we could buy our favorites! SO MUCH CHOCOLATE.

After that we headed even further into the mountains to this small town where we parked and went on a hike! Now this was a bit impromptu as we did not really dress accordingly. But we wanted to see the mountains. So we walked. Up and up and up, trying to reach the snow. We failed. But got an amazing view by the end! 

After we headed into a different town to get lunch. It was packed in the town. They were having a massive marathon and the entire town was outdoors. SO fun! We got to get the feel for a warm Swiss town as there were bake sales, bands playing, signs everywhere. Then we popped into a restaurant and got some delicious traditional fondue. MMM. It was cheese fondue and we dipped bread and potatoes in. We all 5 shared it and it was a perfect amount! Then it was time to head home. Such a fun day! We were not hungry when we got back, and the mom was getting ready to go to a play, so she left dinner on the stove for us when we got hungry. So Isa, Chelsea and I watched a french film that is super famous over here “L’auberge Espagnol” which is about a French guy who goes to study abroad in Spain and encounters a wide mix of cultures and people there. A while later, dinner, which was a rice and meat dish, and after, sadly it was time for bed.

The next morning we woke up, had this delicious homemade bread the mom makes every Sunday, and then she graciously took us in her car to the train station! SO sweet of her considering we could have taken a different train to get to the main station and saved her a trip. We could not thank the family enough for their hospitality, and as we took our 4 hour train ride back to Paris, Chelsea and I often commented in amazement at the weekend we had just had. Probably the best so far.

THe Beginning of my Swiss Weekend. Getting There.

Yes this is going to be massively long This is what I wrote the night we arrived in Lausanne. :)

What a whirlwind of a day. Insane. So today was the day that Chelsea and I were leaving for Switzerland! We had talked with Isa, a girl I met through Paula this summer, and she was super nice and said we could stay with her and she would show us Lausanne, her town! So of course we agreed and said we would come for a weekend :)

So skip to today, Thursday, and our train is leaving Caen at 11:58am. I got out of class at 10:30 and we left campus by 11:00. Just enough time to run to the bank to switch out and get some swiss francs! However, the man at the counter after wandering around for 5 minutes, let us know they only had a few large bills, so we exchanged just a little bit, then had to rush out to catch the tram to take us to the train. Speed walk to the tram station. It is approximately 11:35? All of a sudden an announcement comes on from the tram station, due to technical difficulties, the tram is down and they suggest we take a bus to our destination. Well, Chelsea and I have pretty much never used the bus system and didn't even know where the nearest stop was in the direction we needed to go, OR which bus to even take! We run to the nearest map. Ok, we know the lines that take us there. We run to the nearest one we see, ask someone, realize we need to go to another station a block away.

By now, i'm looking at my watch, and we have 13 minutes before our TRAIN leaves for Paris. Thankfully the bus pulled up in a minute. We piled on, and all there was to do now was wait. This WOULD be the time that every single stop someone needed to get off, and there was bad traffic because of construction, and the trams not working, so we were sitting still a lot of the bus time. Ack. I knew there was nothing I could do at this moment. Chelsea and I were both silently praying. Our train was leaving in 5 minutes and we were not even at the station yet. And the trains Caen to Paris are at the station for like 2 minutes or less before departing. I said "God, if we make this train it is all you, because there is NO way that we can make it in time. Please supernaturally poof this bus there, or stall the train to Paris. If you want me to get there, I trust you will some how make it possible." And with that. I was calm. It was out of my hands, if I was supposed to be on tha train I would be.

The bus pulls around the corner and I see the train station. Then we get stopped. Again. We were SO CLOSE, yet so far away! We just waited, until the bus moved forward and opened its doors for us. At which point Chelsea and I waited for the old lady in front of us to get off, then got off, and sprinted past her and everyone else. I just took off in a run, knowing that CHelsea would be right behind me. I turn, see her running awkwardly in order to keep her boots on haha, and we  ran up to this little machine we had to scan our tickets into. I ran off before it was finished and my ticket caught in the machine! I jolted backwards and grabbed the ticket then ran to catch up with Chelsea who had sprinted down the stairs. We ran through a tunnel and then up the stairs to the platform where our train was. Laughing the whole way, we pop out of the stairs to see everyone waiting, and now watching us, as the train was delayed! Praise Jesus! We just stopped on the stairs and burst out laughing more, to the amusement of the crowd i'm sure. We regained our composure, some, and went to sit down and catch our breath, slash get away from the stares. And for the next few minutes just talked about how we could not believe we were going to make this train. Holy cow. The train came, we got on, and we got to Paris! It does not seem as dramatic typing it out, but it was the most insane thing ever. There was no way we should have made our train, Jesus so delayed that train for us.

So we get to Paris and had around an hour and a half to burn before needing to be at our second train station, a few metro stops away. So we went and grabbed a sandwich, then popped into starbucks for a bit so chelsea could work on some homework..and so I could get a coffee. :)

Then we got to the next train station and hopped on our train going to Lausanne! At this point I was finally 100% relieved. We were going to make it to Lausanne in one piece. So I bunkered down, put in my heaphones and dozed for a while. I had been texting Isa some, and she was meeting us at the train station!

We get there, wander around for like 4 minutes, then run across her sitting, waiting for us. Perfect! She told us her mom was waiting with a car to take us to their home. HOW nice! I did not know they were going to go to such lengths to help us out! So we drove around 15 minutes to a suburb village town of Lausanne where her family lives. They have an entire mini studio room seperate from the main house that they are letting us stay in! 

There is a bed/palatte, bathroom, covers, towels, a shower, all things I never take for granted now, and they were providing them for us so willingly! Wow. We were both in a daze of happiness as Isa showed us around there beautiful Swiss home. After, they had some food they had saved from dinner for us! Homemade pumpkin soup, some bread, and this homemade pastry dessert (which we asked and got the recipe for hehe). After we talked in their living room for a bit. Her family is wonderful and so nice. We got to meet her parents, her brother and her sister! Isa is wonderful. And now it is sleep time because we get to explore Lausanne tomorrow. 

Parents and Paris

Yes this is out of order. Yes this is incredibly late and delayed. But it is finally here. 

So quite a few weeks ago now my parents came to visit! They arrived on a wednesday and were set to fly out the following monday! Well I was ready and waiting for them at the Train station in Caen, and when they walked  around the corner guess who they brought along to surprise me! Matthew!! Yayy big brother. I was so excited because of course I wanted him to come (Will too :( ...) but they did a good job hiding it from me so I never figured it out. They had just flown an overnight flight and were looking a bit on the exhausted side, so we dropped their bags off at my dorm room and headed to get lunch and espresso! Now even though I have been here for nearly 4 months, I hardly ever eat at restaurants in Caen, so finding a sit down place was going to be an adventure for them AND me hah. But we managed to to wander a bit and find this nice cafe. We went upstairs to the cozy salon area and got a delicious lunch and some waker uper espresso drinks to give the boys a boost for the day.

After that? I became the tour guide! I showed them the famous sites of Caen, the Chateau, some churches, and soon after that, it was bed time for them haha. It took us a while to find their super cute bed and breakfast, and when we did, their bodies began to shut down haha. So I left them to sleep for the night!

The next morning (Thursday) I met them at their bed and breakfast and we headed from their to the WW2 Memorial Museum in Caen, it is famous and very big/nice/informative, so we spent the afternoon soaking in as much WW2 information as we could. I was completely saturated with information by the time we were ready to go. The majority of things, sadly, were closed in Caen because it was a holiday, so we decided to split up (so I could go get my bags) and meet at the Train station to go ahead and head to Paris to begin our weekend there!

So off we went. To Paris! We got their, and walked about 30 minutes to our wonderful Hilton hotel! Hehe, we had 'fre' sugary sweets awaiting us, which we gobbled down. And then we watched the BBC news. This is not that significant, except for the fact that it was the first time I've seen the news, or tv for that matter since i'd been here, and so it was nice to update myself on world news hah, although it has been nice being away from all the craziness of news in the States. 

Then we wandered out to find some dinner. And what did we have? Chinese! Haha, the chinese food in Paris is actually delicious and so we had a nice relaxing dinner together just catching up, enjoying food, and planning what to do the next few days. 

The next morning we headed to Versailles Palace. It was monstrous and we took plenty of pictures! It was awesome because we aren't in the touristy season anymore and so, although there were still people there, it was relatively empty! So we went from room to room in the magnificent palace, admiring the artwork and decorations from the era. After, we explored some smaller properties in the garden area. Matthew and Dad had decided they were done looking around outside, so my mom and I explored the garden area a bit more and found the most beautiful old fashioned farm houses! The queen had built these areas to escape from the nobility and state affairs of the time, and they were just wonderful! 

That night, my mom, dad, and I dressed up (kind of haha) and went to eat at a nice french restaurant! We were the only ones there..awkward, but the food was delicious and the patron was extremely nice! mmmm. 

Saturday we went to the Louvre and wandered around for hours.Because of different art preferences, Matthew and I went one way and the parents went the other way, however by chance we ran into each other and finished off a part of the museum together! That was the 3rd time I've visited the Louvre since being here in France, and well, i am louvred out. After that we were exhausted so we headed back to the hotel room and after resting up, Matthew, Dad, and I went to the Eiffel Tower and to dinner. On the way I introduced them to a crepe, mmm, never fails to disappoint. We could not get to the top of the Eiffel tower because the wind was too strong (scary..), so we settled (hah) for the second level! After we grabbed some delicious Italian food! 

Now sidenote, there was a minibar in our hotel room, where one kitkat bar costs around 7 euro! That is almost 10 dollars. So as my dad, Matthew, and I were waiting at the tram station to go back that night, we decided that it would be funny to buy a kitkat bar at the station, and then Matthew would pretend he got it out of the minibar to eat and freak my mom out. Hahaha. It worked perfectly. We got back to the room, and after waiting around 10 minutes, Matthew casually walked to the minibar fridge and 'took out' the kitkat, commenting to my mom that he was hungry and really wanted some chocolate. Of course my mom was like "Matthew no! Those are so ridiculously expensive." But Matthew replied that it didn't matter, it would be fine. So he started eating it to the horror or my mom who adamantly refused to eat a piece of it haha. My dad and I both shared in the deliciousness of it, as a stifled my laughter with a pillow the whole time hahaha. She was visibly angry, so we broke the joke to her where she laughed and then finished the kitkat bar off haha. It was perfect. 

Sunday, we went to the Catacombs (I finally got there!) and although we had to wait an hour to get in, the creepy open tomb of bones underground was quite interesting. After that we went to "Les Deux Magots" where many famous thinkers, writers, and Artists in history have produced works of art. And after, "Le Cafe Procope" which was the first Cafe in Paris and where Voltaire drank 30 cups of coffee a day. We just popped in there for a minute because they were too crowded to sit people just wanting a small coffee. Moving along we stopped in a used bookstore, then went to Notre Dame! There was almost no line to get inside (compared to the last time I tried and it was packed) so we looked at the inside of this MASSIVE church for a bit before heading back, exhausted to the hotel! 

Now this was already our last night in Paris, we could not stay in for the night! But Matthew was tired, so the parents and I wandered to find food. Much was closed because it was a Sunday, but we found another delicious Chinese place (I think I liked it better than the first because they had clear glass floors with fish below!) where we dined for the evening. 

I had a blast exploring Paris (being the guide and translator) with my family (minus Will) and it felt so nice to spend time with familiar faces from the big ol' state of Texas. It was sad to part from them the next morning but I am going to see them in a few weeks so it is all excitement! Yayyyy parents' weekend :)

French Thanksgiving

Ok. I have skipped a few weeks of blogging, and I will go back and tell about them later, but I thought I would share about the Thanksgiving I had yesterday! This is what I wrote last night:

Well, I was a bit sad that I was not going to be able to enjoy a nice American Thanksgiving, complete with family, food, and football, but the Franco-American Association in Caen was putting on a Thanksgiving dinner and American's were invited to eat for free! So quite a few of us decided to go of course, the only option for celebrating Turkey Day. So Thursday rolls around and about half way through the day it starts SNOWING. Yes. SNOWING. At first it was hail, then compact snow globs, then just plain flakey snow. Initially it melted on the ground, but soon, enough built up that everything was white outside! How insane! What a thanksgiving it was starting out to be.

So the dinner started at 7:00pm and so we decided to leave at 6:30pm because we figured there could be some tram delays because of the snow. Well, that was an understatement, the trams had stopped running. And this dinner was not close. So we began walking through the slushy slippery icy snow. Needless to say it was slow, freezing (my toes were quickly soaked and numb), and a tad frustrating. There were no directions, and mapquest gave us conflicting places. SO we headed to the first place. Not thinking to write down the name of the building/restaurant. Well, we could not find it. Thanks to Noelle (This was Chelsea, Noelle, and I trying to find this place) and her phone call to Ed, we were able to make our way there, an hour later. So my feet after an hour of wandering around Caen were in a bit of pain, but the minute we walked inside I forgot completely about it.

First observation, we were 30 minutes late but no one was eating, or even seated yet! Second observation, the majority of the people there were on the older side, much older side. Third observation, I knew almost all of the Americans! We had assigned seating, and I was surrounded by French people. The majority of people were Elderly french people, with, I'm guessing, family ties in the United States, or with American organizations in France. For example, the lady I sat by is a tour guide at the American Cemetary near the Normandy beaches!

So we sat down. Speaking french, the conversation was lovely! I love love being able to practice my French, and I found that it was getting much easier! Yes I still get caught up all the time, pronounce things horribly, and fail grammatically, but I can formulate my thoughts a hundred times better than before, which makes for easier conversation. The older gentleman on the other side of me, began recounting how he helped with the D-Day landings! He was 17 and living close to the beaches, and he ran out and saw the ships, and through the next few days watched the battles and helped out with medical teams and such! What an amazing story he had.

Our meal started with the traditional Normandy Cider, sparkling, and delicious. And our appetizer was a tomato something with a fried crab thing. So not descriptive, but it was very chic and elegant looking. We were in for an amazing french dinner. After that, the main course. Turkey (with mini decorative cranberries on top), potatoes au gratin, and a stuffed cooked tomato. So delicous! It was definitly an attempt at thanksgiving, but honestly, how can you expect the French to produce anything less! THey had to make it their own, which included fancying it up quite a bit. Next course, a mini cheese platter of Normandy cheeses. Next. Dessert! It was a firm caramel pudding type dessert with hot soft apples covered in a sauce with a crunchy sweet pastry stick. SO delicious, their interpretation of apple pie perhaps? And after of course we ended with some espresso haha. The nice older man across from me gave me his mini chocolate that accompanied the cafe.

So at the point of the coffee the woman in charge stood up to give her thanks, and after another man did the same. I realized after he is just one spot under the Mayor of Caen! Very important and in charge of all of the international relations in Caen. Then, about 5 minutes after, the made all of the American students get up and introduce themselves! I went 3rd or 4th, there were around 15 of us? And as soon as I said my name, many of them expressed that it was my 'fete' aka party! Every name has a day of the year that it is celebrated, and my name party day is Nov. 25th! Celebrating St. Katherine I think, but Kaitlyn, Catherine, Katherine, all come from the same place, and they interpret them the same. So that was a pleasent surprise! November 25th, Kaitlyn day, and it is 2 days shy of my half birthday! Hehe. Just kidding, I don't celebrate my half birthday.

After they took a few pictures, we mingled then the man who had given the story about his experience with D-Day offered me a ride home! They must have known we would have to walk a ways and so Noelle and I readily accepted. Chelsea left with other people so we left with the man and his wife who was most definitely under 4 feet tall, so tiny!

Basically, tonight is a Thanksgiving I will never forget. SO different than a normal one, but it was so French! And I was able to speak french the whole evening and just have a grand time. Wow, so fun, worth the hour trek in the freezing snow.

Mont Saint Michel and St. Malo!

This is 2 weeks late but I finally got to go to Mont St Michel and St. Malo got thrown in the weekend package too! Let me explain.

So after trying to get to this walled island city twice before, Chelsea and I finally decided to just go on the trip provided by our study aboad program! We left Sunday morning on a bus full of other study abroad students, the majority, surprisingly, were not even from our program, but from another program at the University, a lot more north american study abroad students (Germany, Sweden, etc) than in our program. So after a 2 hour bus ride we arrived at St. Malo. It is a seaside town that was completely surrounded and fortified with a wall. Perfectly intact still! So we walked all the way around this city (size of a small town) and got to enjoy the beautiful crisp weather and view of the ocean which was the most amazing color blue that day. After, we needed food and something warm to drink, so we popped into a Creperie (A crepe restaurant) and got some coffee, a galette (which is a salty crepe), and a chocolate crepe for dessert! SO delicious and warm and relaxing. After that we took a 20 min bus ride to Mont St. Michel. Finally we were there! We walked into the city, and guided by a lady in our group, made our way to the top of the mountain that makes up the town to go to the massive cathedral at the top! We took a tour of the cathedral which was magnificent and interesting. ANd every window you look out of you see the ocean and a beautiful day. So fun :) Also, there were some random people doing a photo shoot in the Cathedral, so that was funny, slash fun.

After that, we had pretty much seen it all. Mont St. Michel is just the big church and then tourist shops left, so we headed back to the bus! And after that we went back. I am so glad I finally got to see these wonderful structures and it is officially checked off my list haha. And now for some pictures!

Ocean!

The Seaside of St. Malo

I was not prepared. But that is St. Malo in the background (we walked over to a mini island house)

bad through the window picture. But that is Mont St. Michel!

Last day in Florence :) video.

For those confused last time :) this is a video, not a picture! I decided that it would be easier to just talk about the last few days rather than type it all out.

Rome, to Naples to Pompeii to Naples to Florence.

Rome, Napoli, Florence, All in one day, night?

Well, today was interesting, to say the least. And that is an understatement.

After our Hostel experience, which turned out to be not sketch and free, we also got an extra hour of sleep because of the moving back of the clocks one hour this weekend. However, when I adjusted my clock on my phone (not automatic), I changed the time from 1:18 to 12:18. Kaitlyn Fail. Should have said 00:18 because that is midnight here. Or 24:18. But not 12:18. Because I just put myself 12 hours ahead. Basically all this to say that our alarms did not go off at the allotted time. We got more sleep?

So we woke up and rushed to the Vatican. The only thing we had on our list to do before we headed to Pompeii for the afternoon. We get to the Vatican at around 10am and um. Wow. I can honestly say I have not seen lines that long in my entire life. It is kind of silly because on Sunday’s the Vatican is usually closed. Except the last Sunday of the month, this was today. Where not only is it open, but it is free, and only open until around 2:30 pm. The lines we saw could easily take 2-3 hours, making it almost useless for the people in the back to even wait! We quickly made the logical decision that we would not be seeing the Vatican Museum, Chapel, or St. Peter’s Basilica. Sad. But I mean, we’ll be back someday and will see it then! So we went, got some post cards, took some pictures, enjoyed watching the people waiting, and then ran off to catch our train to Naples!

Well…we were around 2 minutes too late. As we are trying to rush and buy our tickets at the train station, we realize we are not going to make it. So we settle, buy tickets for the next train (in 1 hour), and get some lunch in an Italian style Cafeteria upstairs. Delicious. Mmm Pasta and fresh veggie salad with Olive oil and vinegar. So we got on the next train and headed to Naples (Napoli in Italian, I use them interchangeably). I pass out on the train, and sleep fine except for the occasional head nod that wakes me up, and which Chelsea notices and giggles at me. There had been an Italian man sitting next to me and at the end he started talking to us about where we were going. Turns out he lives out in the same direction, so he said he would help us find the train we needed to take to get to Pompeii. Super niceJ. So we found our train! And 30 minutes or so later after getting in Naples, we were in Pompeii.

It was SO insane being there. The city was so well preserved. Definitely saw some well preserved human bodies, wall paintings, tiled floors, a bakery, a brothel, a theatre, a restaurant (ancient style) worn tire tracks in the stone paths, stray dogs (Pompeii welcomes them because in ancient days they were there too), not too many tourists, and Mount Vesuvius! We got to spend a couple hours there just wandering, following Rick Steve’s guide, and just enjoying the ruins of an ancient city. Wow.

So then, it was time to go. We had 1 hour before we had to catch our train to Florence! Perfect.  Half an hour back to Naples, then just enough time to buy our tickets. Well…so we thought. I think we have just underestimated how long it takes to get places, that and on the way back to Naples, the Train stopped at 3x as many stops as on the way out. So basically we were at the same thing. Buying our tickets with 2 minutes to spare, and then realizing we wouldn’t make it. Well, guess we will just take the next one! When is the next one though? Oh, not for two hours, and it is twice as long, and half the price. Basically saying that we are not going to get into Florence until 1:44 am…uh..Well we have no choice. So we bought our tickets, and went to find some authentic Italian pizza (it was invented in Naples), and some Wi-Fi to get the phone number for our hostel that we would be arriving at late.

Well directly across the street from the train station was a mini bar, restaurant, so we just popped inside. Kind of sketch. But honestly that is where you get good cheap pizza! Sure enough big pizzas were only 5 euro. So after some horrible communication with the waiters, we sat down in a corner, and tried to get tap water, then switched to café. I got Latte Macchiato, and the other two got Cappuccino. So, Chelsea went to the bathroom. While she was gone, mind you this is a small restaurant, and we were taking up a 6 person small table, a different waiter came and sat this older woman in the corner of our table. He actually moved Genesis’ backpack to make room haha.

 Anyway. This lady sits down. With a whole chicken to eat, that and half a baguette. And well, I’m going to honest, I am 90% sure she is a prostitute. She just attacked her chicken and devoured the whole thing like she hadn’t eaten for weeks. Using her bare hands.. HAHAH and also flung some chicken skin at Chelsea on..Well accident. And..Stole Chelsea’s cup of water. Awk haha. We just enjoyed our pizza and coffee and smiled at her, having no way at all to communicate. Our waiter was super nice and so we had an awkward but grand time. Side note, there were a few slot machines on the wall and this older man was playing some of them, and I honestly thought it would be entertaining if he won something! I mean I’ve never seen it happen. So I prayed “God, if you want to, you could make this man win some, it would be super fun to watch!” And lo and behold, 3 minutes or so later, he won! I’m guessing 50 to 100 euro. Hahaha. God has a sense of humor.

So we paid headed to the MacDo across the street to get some free unlimited wifi! And an ice cream cone. As I am trying to connect to the internet, it won’t let me! So Chelsea goes to ask someone downstairs if we need a password or something, and in the mean time I find the log in page, asking for my name, email, passport number and phone number. Chelsea returns and says it has to be an Italian number. So we use one of our Italian friend’s cell phones. Turns out they text you the password. Oops. I quickly text him explaining haha, and he texts back saying he deleted it! Dead end. I took drastic measures and texted some people explaining our situation and that we needed our hostel phone number to inform them of our tardiness. And graciously we got a quick text reply J.

We made it to our next train, and well…I think that Naples is a great place, someone told us the culture is much more Mediterranean, but from what we saw at the train station and surrounding area, I was not impressed. And our train, well, smells a tad like public restroom, and does not have an overall clean feel. But I mean, what you going to do. The seating for our nice 6 hour train ride, was designed like the 6 seat rooms, except no fold out bunk beds, just seats. And a nice older Italian man joined our room! He spoke only like 2 words of English, and maybe 20 words of French, but we still had lots of fun with him, all through body language. He was very nice and we felt much more comfortable with him in our room, just the safe grandpa figure.

So we start getting comfortable on the train, and he slides his chair out to lean it back some! Whattt, they convert into semi beds! But before he props his feet up on the seat across, he motions to his bag and reaches for it. Oh, I whisper, he wants to eat a sandwich first. He had spoken some Italian, and by extrapolating, I was pretty sure that was what he said. Until he pulled his newspaper out. Ohhh he wants to read the newspaper first! Until he hands a sheet to me. Oh..He wants me to read the newspaper in Italian? Until he puts it on the chair where his feet are going to go. Ohhhhhhhh they are to protect the seat from our dirty shoes! Perfect.

So that was entertaining. I start blogging, Chelsea is journaling, and Genesis is doing homework. And our old man friend is sleeping. However, the light is on. He opens his eyes, rustles around, and we realize that in around 10 minutes (with Genesis’ awesome interpretations) he would like the lights to go out for sleep time! Um. It is 8:30 pm. But he is nice, and the eldest, and so, 10 minutes later, the lights are out. Pitch blackness except for any light that comes out the window. Or my laptop. And about 30 minutes after that, he motions to close the blinds too hahahaaha. SO funny. He was nice, and he wanted his few hours on the train to be as good of a sleep as possible.

But then, I mean, it got interesting. We were in a giggle mood. Now we were all whispers and silent giggles, but come on. It was like 9:30 pm and we weren’t even in a sleeper room, haha, but he most definitely shushed us by saying “ahh, parlo parlo parlo, no dormi dormi” which can easily be translated to “wow you talk a lot, why no sleeping” hahaha. What. So we got quiet. What else do you do.

Shortly after, we stopped at just another train stop, I think it had to be Rome though because there were A LOT of people getting on. Our old man got up to stretch his legs and when he came back in, motioned that his back was hurting from his chair bed. HAHA, then he motioned that Chelsea switch with him! Ok, that would put him in the middle of the three of us, in a dark room, sleeping. She didn’t move just laughed, but he was like insistent! Hahaha, so she moved. But like, 3 seconds later people opened our room to take the remaining seats, and our old man left because he knew he could not get any more sleep haha. We laughed for like 10 minutes after that. After thinking about it some, we realize that we got scooped by that old man. Yes he was nice and friendly, but he also knew we would be prey to him being able to convert a normal room into a sleep room. Haha, such an interesting train ride words cannot describe.

We get off in Florence in a deserted station. Realize quickly we will have to take a taxi, and a nice girl from Italy, needed to borrow my phone, and after helped us call a cab. He knew where our hostel was and bam, we got there with no skin off our backs. I cannot believe we made it here in one piece. It is now 3:30 am as I finish this, just got done showering in a very nice hostel, and am ready to get going tomorrow! This hostel gives wonderful breakfasts, free tours, and free dinner. Should be a good 2 days here J

Yes, this is long. I ramble; I think I’ve given up trying to write short ones because I’ve failed every time haha.

Vatican :)

Pompeii (I loved the grooved roads)

On the train, the old man went to the bathroom...

ITALIA! more specifically, Roma :)

Ok. Well. I am here. It was difficult knowing if we would make it here, aka if our trains would be running, but they were! So we got to Paris in one piece, then got on our first overnight train. We were in a couchette, which is a small room that converts into 2 triple bunk beds. I was super fortunate and got a top one, because although harder to get to, there is more room. There were 2 italians (a young couple), and an American girl in the room with us! We got to know the American girl right away and eventually started talking to the Italians. The girl had been learning French for a while so that is how we communicated haha. The boyfriend only spoke Italian, but he could throw in a French word every once in a while. So we talked for quite a few hours about Italian culture, and words, and the like. Then we converted the seating area into the bunk beds and promptly fell asleep. Well...

Let me tell you something about sleeping on a moving train. It is not easy. The bunk beds had reinforcing straps that were on the outside (2 of them), and they had dual purposes because well...the train made lots of stops, and with each stop and start, my body jolted. Now when you are sleeping, and suddenly the bed you are in moves, if you are on your side for example, your entire body flies in the according direction. So although it was not a sound sleep, I did sleep, haha, such an interesting experience. We slept through the night, and had about 2 hours of awake time before we got to Rome, so the long 13ish hour train ride was no big deal!

So we get to ROME! We connected with one of Chelsea's friends and he graciously said we could throw our bags at his place. So we got directions, and headed off with the bus system to find his apartment. I am not one to use buses. I love trams, and trains, and metros, but buses, for some reason are a different for me. It was crowded. Italian crowded. But the man squished up next to me was nice and informed us when we got to the correct stop!

After dropping our bags, we started! It was around 1:00pm by this time so we knew it would be a rush day. We headed straight to the Pantheon which was near by. It was beautiful . Massive, ancient, crazy.

After. We went to Capitol Building and saw the Victor's Monument, the Forum, and Colosseum! It is hard to describe in words how wonderful these were. Yes, even though it was off season, still packed with tourists, a lot of Italian tourists actually. But the enormity of the things in Rome is just overwhelming. Everything is just ancient, and monumental, and just, yes. We spent quite a while in the Colosseum just observing, listening to free Rick Steve's podcasts.

Time to check into our Hostel! We found it pretty easy and had to buzz them to open the door. A lady comes to the door, and after leading us inside, explains that her friend/co worker overbooked and the hostel is full, however she lives on the same floor and said we could sleep in her spare bedroom and pay nothing! And get to use a private bathroom (hers). She was nice, it was a bit fishy, just because the whole overbooking thing, being in Italy thing, but we really had no other choice. So we said thanks and we would be back later that night. And we prayed that we would not be like the movie Taken, her being an accomplice of course.

So we head to find dinner. We walk and get all the way to the Spanish steps, with more people crowded in one place than we had seen yet, holy cow, and we were at the top looking down. Then we walked back and stopped in this mini bar/restaurant. The waiter ushered us inside and sat us down. We ordered some pasta and drinks (Genesis-wine, me-expresso, Chel-Latte Macciato), and as we ate, he brought Chelsea and I out mini shot glasses of wine to test it haha. He was really nice and liked us. So we left there, eating some lovely Italian pasta, a bit overpriced though (but we were in a touristy area), so understandable.

Spanish Steps. Beautiful, and a great view of the HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of people. Holy cow. couples, and vendors, and just people. It was quite entertaining. So we just sat and ate some Gelato for around an hour or so, people watching. Super relaxing and entertaining. THen we window shopped, even though the stores were closed, and went and picked up our bags from the friend before heading to our free hostel night.

Well our room was massive for 3 people, and we got a free towel! (Not included at a lot of hostels unless you pay). She was so nice and even offered to let us use her computer. So we showered and got ready to sleep. And might I say we slept well. Minus being a bit chill chill. Shmeh.

Us modeling our free hostel room! Haha

Some of the masses at the base of the Spanish Steps

Colosseum!

Planning Italy

Well, it has been a hectic past few days. I just finished packing to leave for Italy tomorrow, and surprisingly, my backpack is lighter than it was when we went to Paris the first time! My packing skills have improved (aka I have learned from the soreness of my back).  Needless to say, getting to Paris has been a bigger ordeal than I had originally imagined. We have been planning this trip for a few weeks, and apparently, the people of France were planning to strike at the exact same time. We found this out last week when the strikes started (then they took a break and started back up yesterday), but all you can do is wait and see if you will be affected, because you never know how big the manifestations will be. 

The plan has been to leave Thursday, come back the following Tuesday. We get Monday off from school, so we would only miss a few classes (Friday is an easy day). So this past Tuesday, we checked in online for our 2 flights (there and back), printed our boarding passes, and printed dozens of good maps of various things in Rome/Pompeii that Rick Steve’s (a wonderful travel helper) gave us for free online! He writes travel books, guides, gives classes on travelling, takes travel groups too, and is the most entertaining, useful, theoretical travel companion. I borrowed his book of Europe from a friend, and it is most enjoyable to read, and packed with useful information and shortcuts! He also has free podcasts for your iPod that are tours of various famous monuments and sites (we downloaded 12 different ones!).

Well I got going on Rick Steve's, but back to the day. After printing all that, Chelsea and I headed to town to find super compact umbrellas for our trip, and then headed back. My Volleyball was cancelled…again…sad face. For the sake of being a healthier person, I hope the strikes stop soon! The school was blockaded for a few days this week too, more vacation for French students!

So get back to my room after all this and suddenly get a text from Genesis “Our Flight has been cancelled”. WHAT. I text Chelsea, then look into it online. Sure enough, the Air Traffic Controllers at the Airport we were flying out of were going to be striking on Thursday and Ryan Air had to cancel our flight. We could choose 2 options from them. Get on the next available flight for free, or refund. We looked and the next flights were already booked, so refund was the only option. But we wanted to go to Italy! So the next option to get there? Train. How long does it take? 19 hours total. Did we want to do that? YES. We go from Caen to Paris. 2 hour wait. Paris to Rome. There was a train leaving Thursday afternoon so we decided that would do nicely. We planned to wake up and run over to the SNCF (train) office in town the next morning.

So we did just that. I explained to my teacher what was going on and she understood my urgency. So off we went. However, the train was full!! NOOOO. Next train out was on Friday afternoon. We said we would think and come back. After deliberating, we decided that we really had no choice! After all our planning and booking of hostels (and a return flight!), we decided that even though we would lose a full day, we had to get to Italy! We went back to the SNCF office and booked the train.

Now, just classes, packing, and waiting. And that brings us to now. I checked the status of our trains online, and from what I can tell they are running, but I won’t rest assured until we are actually on the 2^nd train from Paris to Rome, with it moving. Haha.

I don’t think I mentioned this in my last blog, but I got a package from my parents! After a big kafuffle with the shipping company wanting me to fax them this paperwork to Paris (where they held my package hostage), it finally arrived! I got peanut butter, Flintstones vitamins, my converse shoes (they are insanely popular over here), winter jacket, Laura Pennington’s French Dictionary, some make up I forgot, and a sweater! I don’t think I covered everything. It was so lovely to get, and I have been enjoying my peanut butter, among other things, all week. Well, next blog, I will either be in Italy, or sadly wishing I could have been.

Strikes

Well, what have I been up to the last few days? Lots!

In this past school week there have been so many strikes. Especially the young people, who like to join a cause and rebel just for the heck of it I think, the college students are more likely to be interested in WHY they are striking, but the high schoolers, just want to break stuff.

So, on Thursday, I ran a bunch of errands, went to class, felt productive, then Chelsea and I were going to try and get her some groceries, but the trams had stopped running coming to our stop because of a disturbance that had happened at the previous stop, the one in front of the main campus. So we walked down there to see what happened. CHAOS. High schoolers had come down and burned massive piles of trash and trash cans (meaning melted rubber) on the tracks making it impossible to bypass. The cops with their turtle armor and shields were there and a pane of glass on the tram stop had been shattered. I think we were about 15 minutes or 20 minutes too late to see the real action because no one was fighting or anything, just the police keeping a perimeter around the damage. So we just watched for like 10 minutes haha. We ran into our French friend and chatted with her for a while. (She said my French as greatly improved!) After, Chelsea and I were going to go to this Pop Rock Choir Concert thing, but it was cancelled because of the strikes :( So I watched some French films instead :) so relaxing.

Friday was a beautiful day and so after class, we decided to go shopping in town for a bit with Genesis! I actually only got a scarf and headband, but it was nice walking around. I was looking for Converse, who knows if I’ll ever find them, and did not succeed... After that, we went our own ways to chill for the evening, and I got back to my room ready to just relax, clean and the like. I don't know if I’ve talked about my neighbor yet, but she came by the other night and told me how she is learning English and is having a difficult time in her class! I told her I would love to help her whenever she wants, and so that was nice to be able to meet her. We see each other all the time in the kitchen, so now it isn't just an awkward "Bonjour” or "Bon Appétit" hah. She is from Guinea? Not sure, a country in Africa. Anyway, last night she came by my room to see if I had a skillet because she was frying fish, however the only one that Noelle and I have was in Noelle's room, and it did not work with the specialized burners in our Dorm. Later, I went in the kitchen to wash some things, and I commented how her cooking smelled good and she replied that she would let me try some when it was finished! I was excited and went back to my room to prepare my own dinner to cook. Well in like 1/2 an hour she came to my door with a complete plate of food! HOLY COW. It was beautiful. I was stunned, how generous and nice of her! I thanked her and pretty much just stared at it in my room because I was in such awe. Wow. IT was a piece of fried fish, caramelized onions, fresh onions, fresh tomato, fresh cucumber, and little bit of spicy mayonnaise beautifully arranged on a plate! (Pic at bottom). And it was so delicious. I don't think I've ever eaten a piece of fish completely to the bone before, but I did. Anyway. I watched Shawshank Redemption in French, and then slept wonderfully with the plan that Chelsea and I would go to Mont-Saint-Michel on Saturday!

Well, I awoke around 6:15, got ready, and Chelsea came over to check some stuff online before we headed out. It started POURING rain outside. Welp. No Mont-Saint-Michel. Again. This is the 2nd time we have tried and failed to go, so we are going to go with the CEFE program in 2 weeks because it is around the same price, and we will get to see St. Malo, another neighboring town too! So Saturday, which is today, has become a complete relax day. I have been in my room all day. Cleaning, Cooking, reading, relaxing, watching part of a French movie here and there, napping. The weather was nasty until around 5pm so there wasn't much else to do. I could have ventured out to find Converse, but that was not appealing to me in the least.

I love coffee. The 40 cent coffee machines here are so wonderful. You get just enough coffee to be enjoyed without risking too much caloric intake, a wonderful boost of energy, and yeah, I love it. However, I think they are confused with what a Cappuccino is. Here, it is basically hot chocolate mixed with espresso, which is what I would call more  a mochaccino..But either way, delicious. I have tried just the espresso plain, which I then add sugar too, but it is a bit too strong for me.

I love it here. I don't like thinking that I am half way through my time here already. I am not tired at all of learning French, of being surrounded by a foreign culture, or being in a tiny dorm room with 1/2 my normal possessions. Life is just good! I do miss my Church community however in Waco, and my friends and family of course, but I have actually never been overwhelmed by that. I think the fact that I know I'll be seeing them in 2 months and this time here is limited keeps my focused on enjoying every single second. People say you will have culture shock when you are here, and also reverse culture shock when you come back to the states. I know I will have reverse culture shock, but honestly I don't know that I had any actual culture shock here. Yes there are things here that I learn every day that are different, but nothing, even if shocking to me, remains with me or disturbs me to the point of emotional breakdown hah. I guess that is a good thing.

My wonderful plate of food!