Walking Picture

Next stop on the Italian Adventure: Florence

When I think of Florence, I think of yellows, oranges, browns, soft pinks, and dark greens.  I think of Tuscany and I long to go explore the deep green hillsides outside of the city for hidden Tuscan treasures.  I didn’t like Florence at first, because it is so different from Venice.  I quickly warmed up to the beautiful city though.  Florence is much more lived-in than Venice.  It also has much better food than Venice.  The best food I ate in Italy (food, not gelato mind you) was in Florence.  A friend of mine (Emily) is studying here, and another friend from Grove City was coming through at the same time I was.  My last night, we gathered all the Grovers who weren’t busy, and went out to this absolutely, indescribably delicious restaurant.  We had a cheese and honey entree (entree is the word for appetizer in Europe), and then I had pear ravioli, which is the restaurant’s specialty. I know it sounds strange but it was definitely not. Probably the best pasta I have ever had. It wasn’t heavy like American pasta and it was covered in a delicious cheese sauce. Yum.

In addition to the sites you’ll see in the pictures below, we also spent a lot of time looking at art.  As the birth place of the Italian Renaissance, you cannot come to Florence and not look at art. Between all three cities and Mr. Rick Steves, I feel like I’ve been a little inundated with art history, in a good way of course.  We went to the Academia of Florence, where Michelangelo’s  David is.  David is huge, but so human, its amazing. I’m fascinated with how Michelangelo captured the movement and the feeling of this one moment in time.  You should google a picture of the David, since I wasn’t allowed to take one to show you. We also went to the Uffizi, which has an incredible amount of paintings and sculptures from artists like Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Bellini, and Tintoretto.  I was a little fried when we finished but I learned a lot.

I wish I could have spent a little more time in Florence, but alas, Rome was calling.

After some technical difficulties, my bog posts are beginning again!  So, I begin where I left off – with our Italian Adventure.  First stop: Venice. There are a ton of pictures, but stay with me.  They’re worth it.

I loved Venice.  It is a beautiful city.  In its prime, Venice was filled with extravagance and luxury.  Palaces, now abandoned, line the Grand Canal, speaking to the wealth of the once thriving home of one of the most international ports of trade in Europe.  There is an air of old magic about Venice, one that draws you back in time to see the city as it was.  As you ride down the Grand Canal or view old Venice through the eyes of its painters in the Academia, you’ll long to know the sparkling, vivacious city they did.  The magic of Venice is very much still alive, spellbinding travelers with whispers of the past.  Fall under Venice’s enchantment with me, as you discover quiet canals, and bridges that lead to someone’s front door.  Watch the sun play on the flawless turquoise water, sometimes blue, sometimes green, and get lost in this magical city before the enchantment ends and the reality of the rising water sets in.

Dear blog readers,

I am sorry for my lack of posting recently.  My computer decided to break down, which has been a bit of a trial, and I just got access to another one which is adequate for posting.  Therefore, I will be posting again about my experiences in Italy and other assorted excitement in the near future.  Stay tuned!

Elizabeth

So one of my favorite things here that you’ll probably be seeing over and over again is the open-air markets.  Definitely one of my top 10 things I’ll miss in France.  The food is fresh and so good.  They don’t just sell food though.  You can find everything from flower to old books to every possibly scent of soap, depending on the day and location.

Another thing I absolutely love is the cafe culture.  In France it’s totally fine to spend the afternoon sitting at a cafe with your friends or just people watching, while drinking coffee or tea or your choice of beverage (wine is for dinner, not for afternoons).  I did both of these things on Saturday, rounding out the French-ness of my day with crepes for lunch, pastries for an afternoon snack, and wine tasting at my host family’s wine store later in the evening.  Oh, I should say that I had my first French coffee Saturday afternoon.  Granted, it was a Mocha Glace so it was sort of not hard-core coffee but I liked it a lot better than most of the coffee I’ve had in the U.S.  I tried my friend’s cafe au lait (or cafe creme) and I liked that pretty well too so maybe there is hope for me and French coffee.  It was sunny and perfect all day, which made the cafes and the markets that much more irresistible   It doesn’t get much more French than markets, crepes, pastries, cafes, and wine.  I sadly didn’t take pictures of all of these things but here’s what I’ve got. Enjoy!

As part of the application process for my internship this summer, I am required to be fingerprinted in a specific way.  The only place in France, apparently, that acceptably does such fingerprinting is the U.S. Embassy in Paris.  The fingerprints were preferably due today, Saturday the 16th, but will be accepted later at the risk that their processing would not be finished in time to start the internship on time.  I found this all out on Monday.   *FREAK OUT*  This was a trust exercise.  The only day  I could go to Paris without missing class, and then, consequently get the finger prints in remotely close to on time was Friday, yesterday.  Next week wasn’t really a convenient option because it’s our winter break and we’d already booked our morning flight to Venice. Problem.

Disclaimer: I’m not sure that I handled this situation in the wisest way possible. Oh well.  I immediately booked train tickets to and from Paris for Friday.  Side note: booking train tickets less than a week in advance is a VERY expensive affair.  Don’t do it.  Why not stay the whole weekend you ask?  Too last minute and not enough friends going with me for it to be safe and fun.  Anywho, after some extensive emailing, I was able to get in contact with the “fingerprint person” at the embassy, and arrange an appointment.  Everything was set. I had google mapped all my routes to and from the train station, the embassy, and a FedEx (to send off my fingerprints).  I was a little not-excited about navigating Paris by myself but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.  All of my friends had class or prior commitments so by myself it was.

Place de la Concord, which happens to be right near the embassy.

My week got better when I got sick on Wednesday (do you hear the sarcasm in my voice?).  I texted my parents Wednesday night re-informing them of my Paris plans, and well, everything went sort of bananas.  When I got up the next day I had 400 billion text messages and emails and calls and everything else you can imagine telling me not to go to Paris by myself.  Apparently I freaked my parents out. Oops, independent traveler streak coming through.

What is that I see? The Eifle Tower?

My parents were rather insistent that I find someone else to go with me, so I spent a sick, stressful Thursday trying to find someone to accompany me to Paris for half a day, or some way to change my train tickets or go next week, on the way to Venice. One friend, who I know was trying to help, suggested that it might be easier if I just lied to my parents about a friend going with me, and then went just alone.  She was right.  It would have been easier, but it also would’ve been wrong.  I’m pretty sure lying doesn’t fall under the whole “honor your father and mother” thing, a verse that was swirling through my head all day Thursday as I dealt with my frustration.  As tempting as it was in this situation, I really hate lying to my parents about anything.  I know that’s a little weird in our day and age, but I don’t care.  I love my parents and I want them to know what I tell them is true. I’m not saying I never smudge to truth, but I don’t like to and I try not to.

As Thursday drew to a close, it was decided that I would go to Paris by myself Friday, after spending hours looking into every other solution.  My dad, sort of as a last resort, contacted my French teacher from high school.  The first time we went to France, we met some missionaries in Paris who were family friends of my French teacher’s and who were sent from her church.  My dad’s hope was that perhaps they would have some free time to help guide me from point A to point B.  They did.  Rob met me at the train station, and got me safely to the embassy, and then from the embassy to the FedEx (which was rather extremely expensive), and then back to the train station.  It would’ve been a significantly more stressful day if God hadn’t provided Rob.

Tuileries Gardens, a public park in Paris

On the train back, I was reflecting on the day and the week and I realized something really cool.  As easy as it would’ve been to lie to my parents about going to Paris alone, I chose to honor them instead.  God works so sweetly in my life in that often I don’t ask him for something explicitly but he provides it anyways.  He answers the unspoken prayers of my heart (and I’m sure the spoken prayers of my parents in this case).  He honored my obedience by providing someone to help me.  Now, I suppose I shouldn’t be too quick to draw this conclusion as I don’t always know how God chooses to work and he certainly doesn’t have a sort of  do-good-things-get-good-things wealth gospel going.  I think, though, in this situation, my conclusion isn’t totally heathenistic.

I didn’t realize this until after I took the picture, but how do you know you’re at a train station in Paris (Gare de Lyon)? When everyone around you is wearing black, the color that never goes out of style.

I tell you this not to put myself on a pedistool or flaunt my “example” or some other silliness. I tell you this because I find God’s work incredible. I tell you this because I don’t want to keep his goodness and his grace in this situation to myself.  I want God to be honored for how he provided for me and for this internship. What internship, you ask, could possibly be worth $400?  An internship that I think God is calling me to and one he has opened doors for every step of the way thus far.

Last weekend I got to  visit one of my good friends from Grove City, Rachel, who is studying abroad in Berlin, along with another wonderful friend, Emily (who is studying in Florence). If I write everything out, it will take an eternity, so read the captions on the photos in the gallery below if you want to actually know what you’re looking at.  Berlin is a city filled to the brim with history and very recent memories of suffering.  Yet, I was struck by how time moves on and can so easily erase the visual scars of the past.  Berlin has made a very commendable effort to keep visual reminders of its history. 

One of the most sobering places that I visited was what is left of the Berlin wall. As Rachel, and especially Emily and I, processed what we had seen and read about East Berlin and the harshness of the communist regime, Emily very astutely pointed out that the people of North Korea are living in a similar Hell.  The world has seen a number of communist regimes that have totally ruined their country’s economy, starved, tortured, and killed their people, and shattered their social norms and values, all for the sake of power.  I’ll get off my soap box with this challenge: why is the world standing by when we know what is happening to the people of North Korea?  Why are we doing nothing?  

Start praying for the North Korean people and leaders.  Prayer changes things.  

If you want to read more about communism, check out Communism: A History by Richard Pipes.  Also, Emily wrote a very thoughtful blog post on our time in Berlin: http://primavera2013.wordpress.com/2013/02/15/berlin-a-much-needed-education/

Although I have had many little adventures here so far, I noticed that I’ve had one particularly new or exciting or  in some way noteworthy experience everyday since last Friday, some of which are documented by pictures below.

Friday: We tried out a new pizza place for lunch and then had a picnic in a beautiful little square. In the evening I went to my host parent’s wine store to taste some wine, and then Pierre, my host dad, let us look around the rest of the store. You can find pictures below.  Before I move on, let me just say that the wine cellar of Nicolas’ is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. It felt like a place untouched by time and it is a sixteenth century wine cellar, so in a way it is.  Oh and check out this link to hear the organ in the Cathedral here – http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151414619614803

Saturday/Sunday: You’ve already seen the Nice/Monaco/Monte Carlo pictures

Monday: I went running Monday afternoon north of our apartment, nearly straight up a hill.  Although this is admittedly not the most exciting adventure of the week, I explored a couple neighborhoods of Aix including a very sketchy looking apartment complex that made me feel like I had just entered inner-city-somewhere-I-didn’t-want-to-be.  I will probably not be running there again.

Tuesday: #1 – seeing gypsy street performers dressed in outrageously cool gypsy clothing and playing folk music – http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151414765264803

#2 – I have found a friend here who also does ballroom back in the states, which is an answer to prayer. 🙂 At our little org fair last Friday we discovered a French student organization that offers ballroom lessons. I emailed the contact in my broken French and we decided to give it a try.  However, the beginner lessons started at 7, I got out of class at 6:55, and the class was like a half hour walk South of where we would be starting out from. We decided to give the public bus system a whirl and consulted the IAU staff about which bus to take. It was of course dark by the time I got out of class and we began our adventure. We successfully made it to the bus station and got onto the right bus. We had some troubles figuring out where we were on our map while we were on the bus because French street signs are very small and are on the side of the first building on a street…sometimes…and thus we had some trouble knowing where to get off. I finally asked the lady in front of us for help and then it became a group effort among the passengers on the bus to help us get off at the right stop 🙂 French people love helping with directions. We got off at the right stop and wondered around a dark and seemingly deserted complex of college buildings for about 15 minutes before we realized the gym we were suppose to be in was across the street.  Oops. We made it 5 minutes before the lesson ended and found out that we were both advanced enough to have come to the not-beginner lesson. Again, oops. My host mom had graciously agreed to pick me up but because of my lack of French skills, I missed the fact that she really had NO room for anyone else. Nonetheless, she took my friend home too and while we were talking in the car, she informed me that there was a studio 5 minutes from our house that had ballroom lessons so we’ll be trying that out tomorrow. I would, though, consider our first try a success because we at least found the right place 😀

Wednesday:  I explored my school’s library and then later saw the brightest, biggest rainbow I think I have ever seen.

Thursday: Thursday held two adventures. My first adventure involved another trip to one of the markets.   A scarf (surprise) caught my eye and in France when you stop to look at something, you’re sort of expected to have a good idea of what you’re looking for. I didn’t and the vendor heard my American accent and started telling me in English all about how he would give me a good deal on the scarves because it was his last day in the market due to his upcoming trip to the the U.S.  to visit friends for a month. He has very nice and ended up giving me almost a 50 percent discount. I still, however, spent much too much money but oh well, I’m in France.  My second adventure ended up being my first official evening “out.”  Some friends and I pursued the Aix night scene to get an idea of French nightlife. I came back early since I had to fly solo to Berlin the next day.

Friday-Sunday:  So Emily and Rachel and I hung out in Berlin this weekend…no big deal…But I think that’s enough for now. I’ll save Berlin for next time.

Note: to avoid confusion, I will just say now that you click on the pictures below to make them big, which you should definitely do or else you’ll miss out.

This weekend we had a program trip down to the Riviera.  I have already been to the Riviera twice, but you won’t hear me complaining about going again. One can never have too much quality time with the Mediterranean.  We started the weekend with a 2 hour bus ride to Nice, during which we made a quick bathroom and snack stop and saw a truck full of smart cars. Check out the picture.

Once we arrived in Nice we were free to do as we pleased for most of the day. My traveling buddies, Catherine, Maddie, and Elizabeth, and bee-lined it straight for the huge open air market to take pictures and sample the fresh produce. You’ll see some of our finds in the pictures. One other thing I tried was Niecoise olives, which are a regional specialty. They, like everything else, were superb. After scouring the market, we walked through a little bit of Old Nice to get to the pebble-covered beach. We ate on the beach and I stuck my toes in the Mediterranean Sea, for the second time.  There is photographic evidence. After lunch, we did some sighting seeing of, and around Nice, of which you’ll also find pictures below.  I noticed at least 1 Cambodian and 1 Thai restaurant. The Thai restaurant was called Aroy Thai, which is the English spelling of the Thai word for delicious, so the restaurant is called Delicious Thai. Toward the end of our time in Nice, our tour guide took us to a cafe operated by, in his words, “the only French redneck.”  He played country music just for us and is probably the only Frenchman who actually likes it and wants to visit Nashville.

After our adventures in Nice, we went to the Centre Méditerrané where we were spending the night. However, before bedtime we had a super important visit to make. We went to the Monte Carlo Casino,  which is probably the classiest place I have ever been, and will probably be in my top 10 experiences in France. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside but it was absolutely gorgeous.  Everything was very ornate, but not overly so. It was like stepping back in time to an age of glittering, elegant evening gowns, and the meaning of the word sophistication.  Everything was trimmed with gold and the walls were covered in old paintings.  The gambling rooms were sort of red themed and then there was a blue lounge filled with old, but still beautiful chairs and tables.  Absolutely nothing was gaudy.  Needles to say, we were dressed up, though in my opinion, not nearly enough.  I played a game because I was in the Monte Carlo casino, and actually won 15 euro, with a little help, on Lucky Luigis’s Pizzeria.  After the casino, we went back to the center and had a disco, or a little dance party with a few people who didn’t feel like going to bed just yet.  The next day we woke up to a glorious view of the sun painting pastels in the morning sky over the rich, blue sea.

Sunday consisted of a visit to the palace of Monaco with a couple free hours to wonder the old part of the city. We ended the day with a tour of a famous perfumery that I have now been to twice but can’t remember the name of, where I wore out my sense of smell trying to differentiate perfumes.  Right before we left, I ran up to Eze, the village almost right above the factory, where, last time I got lost coming back to our tour bus. I turned right instead of left and 5 minutes later realized that I had headed the wrong direction. Nothing serious but it was still a  little scary as an eighth grader.  I found where I think I got lost last time and documented it with photographic evidence.

A French university down the street from where I go to school.

The door to the main building of IAU (Institute for American Universities) is the first door on the right after the blue sign.  IAU is in what use to be a chapel and is one of the oldest buildings in Aix.

Apparently one of the best pubs for international students – I took its picture because I thought the name was funny. I have yet to venture inside.

I saw this sign and got really excited because this means that there is a Cambodian restaurant in Aix.

Part of the Place de St. Mary, on of the many squares in Aix

Another part of the Place de St. Mary – on the left is the town hall and the arch to the right of the town hall, under the clock tower, is where the U.S. soldiers came into Aix to liberate it during WWII

I get to walk by a cathedral every day on my way to class. This is a somewhat hasty shot of the front. Hopefully there’ll be some better ones to come.

One of the many little bulangeries here in Aix where delicious sandwiches and pastries all sorts can be found

This is the famous Cours Mirabeau, otherwise known as the mini Champs Elysee (the most famous street in Paris that radiates out from L’Arc de Triomphe). This is the ritzy, expensive street.  The trees are all wrapped in this funny red polka-doted paper because Aix has been nominated as the cultural capitol of Europe.

This is the elevator door in our apartment building. You must open this door when the elevator arrives, then open it again to get out. The elevator itself is absolutely tiny with room for absolutely no more than 4 closely packed people.

I had a little adventure and bought hot chocolate by myself in French. I buy a lot of things in French but I’m usually with other people. It was soooooo good, with a very rich, chocolatey, creamy taste. This was my to-go cup that I photographed to commemorate my adventure.

Every week day there is a flower market and a produce market 3 minutes from where I go to school. Here’s the flower market.

I was so excited about all the fresh French produce that I conquered my fear of unknown things and bought an apple and something that tasted like an apple but looked like a small pear. Food in the market is delicious and super cheap. I paid like 70 cents in euros for my fruit.

This is also a famous site in Aix – the Rotonde Fountain. It’s at one end of the Cours Mirabeau.

God is good and he’s already brought some really awesome new people into my life. This is Maddie. Maddie and Catherine (another new friend you’ll meet in a moment) had our first French cafe experience, followed by a trip to a patisserie for macaroons.

There is a flea market on the Cours Mirabeau on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, but only in the mornings.

Our first cafe adventure – Maddie got rosee (pronounced rosae) wine and I got a chai lattee and we shared. I must say that I don’t recommend combining chai and wine though…Catherine got coffee. Both the chai and the wine were delicious.

This is Catherine (and me of course)

Catherine and I investigated the inside of a the cathedral which has 3 different architectural styles inside.

It’s a tad blurry but here’s a panoramic of the main hall of the Cathedral. It’s pretty awesome. Fun fact: only one of the organs works, the other is just for show and symmetry.

Today Catherine, Elizabeth, Maddie and I went to a place called Book and Bar to do some studying. I got a strawberry syrup which is like a concentrated sugar flavored French drink. It comes with a big pitcher of water to dilute it and it is suppose to be drank like flavored water.

After a week here I still really like it. This week hasn’t been the easiest of my life but my French is improving and I’m starting to settle into a routine of classes. I’m out of my comfort zone in a lot of ways, some having to do with French culture, and some not, but I’m trusting God in the moments when I feel overwhelmed. I’m so thankful for how easy going and wonderful my host family is and for the sunshine.  So far, so good. I’ll write more later, but for now, it’s bedtime.

Elizabeth Gleixner, a friend from Grove City, and I started out from the Columbus airport Friday afternoon.  The plane we took to Toronto from Columbus was probably the smallest I’ve ever been in. We had to walk outside (which I was not dressed for), through the snow to a tiny, maybe 40 seat-er plane.  Our flight had already been delayed when it was announced to the cabin that the Toronto airport only had one runway open because of snow. Our hopes of a quick take-off were dashed until 30 minutes later the little propeller outside my window began to turn. 

In Toronto, Elizabeth and I found a really cool sculpture and navigated finding cheap airport food which is not easy let me tell you. After a mostly uneventful red eye flight to Frankfurt, Germany, minus the snoring men in the seats around us, we landed in -3ºC Frankfurt.  Side note: I’m sitting in the Frankfurt Airport as I’m beginning to compose this post, and an announcement is being made for a flight to Bangkok. The announcement was made in English and then in Thai. It’s been a really long time since I’ve heard Thai, and I still understand some of it!!!!!! I kind of miss Thailand…

Ok, back to the flights.  Thankfully we did not have to go outside in Frankfurt, but we did have to navigate printing out our last boarding pass, getting our passports stamped, going through security, and finding our way to our gate, which is a lot when you’re sleepy.  I had the especially fun experience too, of not having one of my ears completely pop after landing.  That in itself wouldn’t be so bad except that the man who stamped my passport asked me if I knew French. I told him I knew “un peu” (a bit), and he promptly began to speak to me in French.  I could only hear half of what he said because of my ear, plus my French is still rusty so let’s just say I felt like a “stupide American.”  It was a rather unfortunate experience.  To make matters worse, I understand enough French to sort of get some of the basics without thinking about it too hard, so I didn’t even realize he had switched to French and I kept responding in English *embarrassed face.* 

Elizabeth and I decided to make an “Overheard while Traveling” list, inspired by Overheard at GCC.  We have 2 stories so far. The first quote is from an unassuming looking, very loud and industrious business man on our first flight.  He was on a call and he said something to the effect of “I would like to make them more bulletproof.”  The questions on both of our minds were “them? who will be using them, and why on earth do they need to be bullet proof?!?”  The second was courtesy of one of the stewardesses on our second flight.  As she and another stewardess were pushing the cart up the aisle past us she said, “It smells like stinky socks right here.”  We swear it wasn’t us.       

Our very last flight was by far the most beautiful since we flew over the German and French Alps, the Pont du Guard, and the Mediterranean right before we landed.  The sun was just setting and the horizon was littered with rainbow hues. I would’ve taken a picture but we had to put our electronics away. Our baggage arrived safe and sound in Marseille, and we were met and quickly loaded onto a bus to Aix en Provence by IAU staff. We made a new friend, Wendy, in our program on the bus ride, and then waited with a very nice older member of the IAU staff until our host mom, Mme Taulier could pick us up.  She whisked us home for a French dinner of a specialty Provence dish, and showed us our rooms. We met the rest of our wonderful host family (Monsieur Taulier, Marie-Lou, and Clara) over dinner, and spoke mostly French.  I can confidently say that the amount of French I remember has at least doubled over the past 24 hours.  So far I love it here.  Here’s my room and the view from my window right now: