la diii da

Short week in Florence! There were no classes on Wednesday for some Italian holiday but I stayed for the day and met with a group for a project. We went to this really cool place called Volume which is in the Piazza Santo Spirito. It was very relaxing and had great music and delicious crepes. After we finished I spent the day running errands.  I feel like I have so many things to catch up on and do these last 2 weeks in Florence and there just doesn’t seem to be enough time!

Wednesday night a bunch of people from Muhlenberg got together and went out to dinner.  I’m not great friends with a lot of the people so it was fun to just chat with a different group that I don’t normally hang out with.  After we headed to TwentyOne to celebrate Brandi and Becca’s birthday.  They do this thing where if it’s your birthday they give you a free table and bottle of champagne. And since it was both of theirs we got 2! We ended up at a table next to these super tacky Italians but they were loving us and kept ordering bottles that they then use to make us drinks. Needless to say it ended up being a crazy night, especially since the club was packed. 

I’m off to Munich for Springfest tonight! I’m super excited and have been waiting all semester for this weekend.  Some claim it’s the Disney World for adults! I’ll just have to see for myself...

Coast to Coast

Thursday night Jaclyn and I set off on our adventure to the Amalfi Coast. We were very nervous about the weather because it was supposed to rain so on our way there we pretty much prayed that mother nature would be on our side this weekend. 

We woke up Friday morning and got read to go to Capri for the day. We took a very rocky ferry from Sorrento to Capri early in the morning giving us plenty of time to explore the city.  The first thing we did was a boat ride around the island where we were able to see the gorgeous blue water but unfortunately, the blue grotto was closed due to the high waves, which we were all very upset about. After the tour, we had free time to explore Capri. I never would have thought that Capri would have such amazing shopping! It was more like window shopping for us though because every store was designer or just super expensive.  A girl can dream though, can’t she?  We also had the opportunity to do a limoncello tasting, which allowed me to realize that I, in fact, do not like limoncello. At all. But it was still cool.  After walking around some more we headed back to Sorrento.  Capri was such a gorgeous island and I would love to take my family back there... and then have a summer house high in the mountains with a spectacular view. If it’s good enough for Armani, it’s good enough for me.  

We were planning on going our Friday night and meeting up with some of our other friends who were also staying in Sorrento but we decided that we were in desperate need of naps.  Jaclyn set the alarm for 10:15 but when it went off I told her I was too tired so she snoozed for another 5 minutes in which I grunted and turned over, clearly not wanting to budge.  She then snoozed again for another 5 minutes but this time I didn’t budge.  I woke up at about 11:30 asking Jaclyn if she was getting ready to go out and she looked at me with a very confused look. I had no recollection of what had happened! She had to explain to me what I said and did because I was clueless but she thought I was really talking to her when in fact I was sleep talking (something I NEVER do which is why it was so weird). So needless to say we didn’t make it out and ended up just going back to sleep so we could be on our game on Saturday. 

Saturday was a day of relaxation at the beach in Positano. We had time to lay on the beach, have lunch, shop, do whatever we wanted. Jaclyn and I chose to sit and have a few drinks while we tanned, chatted, and enjoyed the gorgeous view, while making friends with our waiter in the process.  We had lunch at a place called Vini Panini that made these huge cold cut sandwiches which reminded me of home.

That night, we went to a bar called the English Inn in Sorrento (where all the tourists go) and met up with our other friends studying in Florence and had a great time.

Sunday we went to Pompeii for the day. There was a tour provided for us to see all of the ruins that make up the city.  It was so fascinating and crazy too think that a city existed and then was just completely wiped out. After, we went to grab lunch and were off to climb Mount Vesuvius. Unfortunately, the weather was super foggy and we could barely see 20 feet in front of us so we weren’t able to catch that many snapshots but I managed to snag a few on our way back down.  Although to be honest, climbing the volcano was an amazing experience in itself.  We were literally in the middle of the clouds.  It also happened to be quite the workout. I was out of breath by the time I got to the top, and could already tell I would be sore this week. 

And that concluded our trip to the Amalfi Coast! It was soo beautiful and I can’t wait to come back with my family one day because it’s one of the most relaxing places I’ve been to. 

Do as the Romans do

Raining in Rome is an understatement in terms of what would describe the weekend.  We got to our hotel, the Hotel Panda, which was in an awesome location about a block from the Spanish Steps and headed out in the rain to see Rome.  Had the weather been nice I would have loved to walk, but as Fainerz and I made our way to the Borghese museum, we were drenched and opted for a taxi– story of our weekend. Our taxi drive Paolo was super nice and dropped us off quickly although as soon as we walked in the ticket man told us we needed a reservation and that there were none left for that day.  We were a bit annoyed but didn’t want it to ruin our day so we headed to some sights that didn’t require waiting outside in the rain which included the Santa Maria Church and the Pantheon.  Both were super cool but very quick although by the time we were done, we were soaked so we went back to our hotel to dry off and lay down. 

Hannah and Megan recommended a great restaurant for us although I do have to say, I enjoyed the pizza in Florence more.  After dinner we wandered the streets of Rome trying to find the place we had chosen to meet Megan and Hannah. After asking about 15 people how to get there we finally found them and were SO happy.  We went to a shot bar where the shots were 1e and spent a while chatting and catching up.  It was so great to be able to gossip and update each other on what had been going on.  From the bar we went to a club called Gilda which was SO MUCH FUN! We danced for hours and  the club was super cool. We ended the night taking pictures on the Spanish Steps which was awesome because no one was around so we had them all to ourselves!

Saturday I woke up suuuper early to go on my tour of Vatican City.  Fainerz had already been to Rome so she didn’t want to wake up aka I was all on my own. Lord knows how I made it back alive but it happened.  I ended up going on a tour that let me cut the ridiculous line which was great because I learned a lot and didn’t have to wait in the, once again, pouring rain.  The sistine chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica were absolutely amazing.  I couldn’t believe I was actually staring at the real thing!

When I finished my tour it was still really gross out and my feel felt like they were about to fall off so I hopped in another taxi and met Fainerz at the hotel.  Although I didn’t have much time to lay down because we were meeting Hannah for lunch at Bucca di Repetti where I had delicious and much needed pasta to help me get through the rest of the day.  I left lunch early and finally got to see the Borghese followed by a rewarding nap.  

We got a late start to dinner but went to a restaurant called Gusto that was also really good, but let’s get real, it’s pretty hard to find bad food in Italy. After Gusto we went to Babel with Hannah and her friends which was this cool club that is in an old metro station. The club was awesome and I could see it being a blast when you’re headed toward blackout city but that wasn’t happening.  

Sunday was short and consisted of the Colosseum, ruins of rome, Trevi Fountain, gelato with megan, and shopping.  There aren’t that many crazy stories to report simply because Fainerz and I didn’t get to do too much wild exploring because of the rain.  Nevertheless it was still an amazing weekend and made me realize how much I love being with the people I love.  Rome is an awesome city and I definitely took it for granted which made me enjoy it that much more! I can't wait to go back.

The ruins of Rome

from inside the Colosseum

good thing I forgot to make a wish

Trevi!

However, with little time left in Florence I returned home and spent the following week seeing and doing as much as I could...that is before Thursday when I was off to the Amalfi Coast for the weekend.

Lifestyle of the Fabulous. 

Fainerz in Florence

Monday morning I got back from Amsterdam around noon and headed back to my apartment to prep for the arrival of Fainerz! She had been on spring break and was ending her journey in Florence and then heading to Rome where we’d meet up with Hannah and Megan.

I was so excited when she got here and we spent all afternoon catching up and chatting. Time flew by and before we knew it, it was time for dinner.  We went someplace local and then headed to lion’s for a few drinks.  It was Hailey’s birthday at midnight so we met up with Hailey and her roommates and pretty much shut the place down.  

Tuesday we snoozed in a bit and then headed to the leather market for some much needed shopping.  Lunch was at Pino’s (of course) and then we headed back to my apartment to register for our classes at Muhlenberg. It’s absolutely unreal that I’m going to be a senior in the fall.

Since it was Hailey’s birthday we went to Dante’s.  Dante’s is across the river and about 2 bridges past the Ponte Vecchio and gives free wine to students. Enough said.  Dinner and a pregame in 1 was the perfect was to start off the night.  Our next stop for the big celebration was Red Garter where we ended up staying for a ridiculous amount of time.  Details about our time there cannot be disclosed here but trust me when I say it was a crazy night.

Wednesday was filled with touring for Fainerz and class for me ending with dinner at Gusta Pizza which Fainz was dyyying over. We were too tired from the previous night to go out so we stayed in and watched the Lizzie McGuire movie to get us pumped for Rome (which it did).  

Thursday was our day dedicated to shopping and eating– aka the only 2 things I know how to do.  Shopping everywhere in Florence (where we did some serious damage) and eating pizza at Vesuvius (where they worked in the Jersey Shore) and all around amazing food at Aqua al 2. We didn’t finish dinner until about 12:30 so we headed back to my apartment to pack for ROMA! 

It was an amazing week in Florence with Fainerz and I was so happy to have her here with me but we were both anxious to get to Rome where AXO was about to take over.

Scared? You should be. 

DAM good weekend

Since I’m really behind on my blog posts, I’ve decided to skip all the unnecessary details and just list the things we did...with my commentary on the big things. makes life easier for me and less to read for you. 

We got to Amsterdam Thursday night and were exhausted so we got dinner near our hostel, the Amsterdan Hostel Centre. We booked out hostel pretty last minute and ended up in an 8 person mixed room which ended up being quite the experience. 

Friday morning our first stop was Starbucks.  Being that Italy doesn’t have Starbucks, I like to take advantage of it whenever possible. From there we made our way to the Anne Frank house.  It was a crisp morning but the sun was shining which made the walk pretty pleasant.  I had no idea how cute Amsterdam was. Usually when people think of Amsterdam, they think of weed or sex (red light district). But the city itself is beautiful. The Anne Frank house was a great experience and very touching. Most of it was kept in tact making it a very touching experience, especially having relatives that were holocaust survivors and victims. 

From there we went to the Pancake Factory.  It was down the street and had been recommended by some friends. I now know why..the pancakes were amazing! They’re more like crepes but still absolutely delicious!  From there we headed to the red light district (you need to go during the day cause at night it’s super sketchy) although not without doing some shopping at H&M (i love seeing the different things they have in each city).  

The red light district was a bit disturbing. There are all these different sex shops and sex shows you can go see but to get people to come in they have women in the windows in their underwear.  Not exactly what we were expecting but it was quite an experience. On our walk back we stopped off at Chipsy King which is a french fry place where you can get any topping you want and they are SO GOOD! I’m still dreaming about them. 

Dinner we went to Wok to walk which is chinese and was so good. you get to choose what kind of pasta and meat and toppings you want and they make it for you right then and there. It started to rain while we were eating which put a damper on our night  so we decided to grab some Ben and Jerry's and head back for an early night.  We were then introduced to our newest roommate, a girl from Austria who was SO WEIRD and drunk and high.  It was pretty uncomfortable and only got worse when she went into the bathroom and was throwing up for a good 20 minutes. None of us knew what to do so we all just put in our headphones and went to bed hoping she wouldn’t wake any of us to chat. 

Saturday:

We started our morning at the Pancake Corner, another pancake place that was phenomenal and down the street from our hostel. 

Van Gogh museum: We got there at the worst time and ended up waiting about an hour and a half in the freezing cold.  By the time we got in we could barely feel our bodies but the museum itself was an awesome museum with tonsss of paintings by him and other artists that inspired his works. 

We cabbed it to the Heineken Experience because we were all waaaay to cold to walk and obviously didn’t do the best job packing. 

Heineken experience: super cool and tons of fun! We got to taste a beer and then 2 free beers at the end. I obviously bought a bunch of completely unnecessary souvenirs but I was so fascinated!  

Starbucks, again. I just can’t get enough of it over here!

Jamin: this awesome candy store that was near our hostel that had a great selection of delicious treats!

After our busy day we headed back to rest and await Julie’s arrival (she was in Prague and came to meet up with us). 

Dinner that night was at Sumo, a japanese restaurant where I FINALLY had sushi. At home I eat sushi at least once a week, so not having it for 2 and a half months had been a pretty big struggle. It was so good and hit the spot! 

After dinner we went to the Bulldog to hang out and then went for drinks and caught up with julie. 

Sunday: We started the morning at Royal Bagels. enough said. Anyone who’s anyone knows my love for bagels is a borderline obsession so I was on cloud 9 eating my beloved jew food. From there we went to the IAMsterdam sign and took the obligatory tourist photos for a bit.  

It was a lot nicer out and not as cold as it had been the past could days so we headed to Voldenpark, a gorgeous park also pretty close to our hostel.  We were all sitting in the park relaxing when these 2 guys came up to us, 1 with a camera. They started talking to us and one of them sat down and started applying athletes foot cream on the bottom of his feet. I seriously thought we were on punk’d or boiling points or something.  They were so weird and I was waiting for the rest of the cameras to come out, but that didn’t happen.  It was quite possibly one of the weirdest things that hands ever happened and after about 30 minutes they finally left us alone. Only in Amsterdam. We then went back to Chipsy king and Jamin because we loved it so much and ate dinner again at Wok to Walk.  We spent the rest of our night at Tops just chatting away before heading back to the hostel since we had an early flight the next day.

It was such a great weekend and Monday morning I was so sad to leave. I didn’t think I would like it as much as I did, and ended up being very pleasantly surprised with how pretty it was.  

Back in Florence I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of Fainerz, who would be staying with me all week followed by us going to Rome to visit 2 of our other friends.  I was absolutely exhausted but the excitement of the upcoming week kept me going...well almost. 

Gold Makes the Ugly Beautiful

I had class Monday morning so my parents did their own thing and then I met up with them and we headed to the leather market.  I have been looking for a leather jacket since I got here but wasn’t having much luck finding one so I decided to have them help.  We went to Massimo, where I instantly fell in love with one. That was easy. Next it was on to gifts for friends and family at home.  Pretty easy since the leather market has tons of stuff. We had some time to kill before dinner so we went to La Terrazza on top of La Reniscente and had some drinks as we watched the sun set.  It was so crazy that I was sitting in Florence with my parents but I couldn’t have been happier. 

Dinner was at La Giostra which I had been to before for Jaclyn’s 21st birthday.  It was delicious as usual and my parents were very pleased as well.  I was still really tired so I headed back to my apartment to relax and get some work done. 

Pause: Being that there is never a dull moment in my life some sort of odd/hilarious fiasco must have ensued (a week without it is just unheard of). When I got back to my apartment I put some deep conditioner in my hair since it had been feeling pretty dry but I’m too scared to get it cut here.  I was letting it sit while I did my homework and was planning on showering before hitting the hay.  However when I went to check the water, it was ice cold.  Knowing the water in Italy, I gave it a few minutes and checked back again.  This water wasn’t changing anytime soon and my regimen of checking continued every half hour until 2am! Thoroughly annoyed, I went to sleep with a towel on my pillow and had to shower at the wee hours of the morning. NOT a happy camper.

My parents arrived soon after my early morning shower and we went to the synagogue 3 blocks from my apartment...good thing I had no idea it existed. We went inside and it was huge!  High ceilings, intricate designs, really old.  There were also ruins from the original, which was bombed during WWII.  

After the temple we walked to the Academia so I could finally see The David.  The David is pretty much the only thing there is to see there because the rest of the artworks isn’t that exciting. I then took them to Pino’s which I had been raving about since we arrived and my parents quickly saw why I loved it so much (that is, after my dad insisted on becoming friends with Pino). The weather was a bit cloudy by the time we were done but The Bobboli Gardens were a must so we spent some time there and then ima and I went shopping while my dad went back and took a nap.  

We met him for dinner at Gusta Pizza, casual but delicious since my parents wanted something low key.  Needless to say they were very impressed and loved it.  I did a pretty good job at providing good food this vacation, if I do say so myself.  

Thursday I was in class all day but I met them for our last night together at Golden View Open Bar.  It’s a restaurant on the other side of the rive that gives great views of the Arno.  The dinner was delicious and after they dropped the rest of my stuff off at my apartment it was time to say goodbye (They were doing day trips to places I’d already been over the weekend so I was going to Amsterdam).  

It was a great week in Florence with them and I was really sad to see them go but kept in mind that I’d see them again in a month.  I couldn’t have asked for a better week with them and was so happy they came to visit and were able to see my second home and the life I have here.  

Oui, I mean si

All week after break I was stuck in my French state of mind and couldn’t seem to get back into the Italian lingo. That combined with the fact that my parents were arriving that Thursday made this week pretty distracting!

Thursday after my classes, Alexa and I went on a walk while my parents were getting settled. We had heard about a park but had yet to see it and since the weather was gorgeous, we figured why not. All we knew was that it was 4 bridges past the Ponte Vecchio, much farther down than we had ever gone.  As we walked, farther from the city center that we knew to be our home, we found an adorable residential area...and the US consulate (hopefully we won’t end up there!) We eventually found the park pretty much at the end of Florence but it was completely worth the long walk. It was gorgeous. Literally rows of trees with little walk ways and gardens with benches to sit. We weren’t sure how far down it went so we just kept walking until we realized that it was pretty much never ending. There was even a tram that went through it, something that is not seen in Florence considering how small it is. 

After our stroll we crossed over the bridge and headed back towards how, but this time on the other side of the Arno so we could see what was happening– not too much. Very residential with a few shops here and there.  Alexa also introduced me to a new supermarket that is SO much nicer than Billa. By the time I got home, 2 hours had flown by..not to mention my feet were killing me. I quickly hopped in the shower and when I got out my parents were waiting for me! There are no words to express how happy I was to see them.  While I’ve been having an amazing time in Florence, I’ve missed them a lot.

It was so great to see them and show them around my apartment (as well as get some of the things they had brought me from home).  I showed them around Florence a bit and then we went for an early dinner at Aqua Al 2–one of my favorites, and theirs too! After our delicious meal we decided that it would be best I stay at the hotel with them for the weekend since it is located past the train station aka a bit on the outskirts (near the park!) Considering that we were doing day trips all weekend it just made more sense. So I packed my bags and we cab-ed it to the hotel (where I took another shower just because it was huge and the water pressure was phenomenal.  We had a big day in Chianti ahead of us so it was an early night for the Golds.

Friday morning we went to pick up the rental car before heading off to Chianti. Yes, my parents rented a car since they planned on doing a few day trips throughout Tuscany. My dad rolled up to the hotel in a white, stick shift convertible and I knew right then and there it was going to be an interesting weekend. It took us a while to get the GPS set up and figure out how to get out of Florence, but soon enough we were well on our way. It was very unlike my parents not to have an exact plan of what we were going to do but they wanted to just roll with things and see where they took us. We drove through Chianti looking at the amazing views (that almost all Tuscan towns have) and stopping in different towns my parents had read up on. We saw Panzani (where we did a wine tasting), Radda (where my dad left his credit card after lunch so we had to go back), Gaiole (home to a monastery that was used from 1000-1810!) , Castello di Brolio (a castle built in 1007 and is still occupied by descendants of the family. Amazing views of Chianti AND a free wine tasting at the end), Panzoni (where we did another wine tasting) and Grieve (where we had a delicious dinner at Ristorante Il Portico). 

After dinner we were pretty tired from our wine filled day and wanted to make it back before it was too late/easy to get lost. Originally we were going to get gelato in Florence but that idea was knocked down instantly considering how tired we were (aka VERY tired since nothing comes between my family and food). It was another early night for us since CINQUE TERRE was the game plan for Saturday.

I didn’t know what Cinque Terre was until I came to Florence and read about it in my guides. It’s these 5 small villages (hence the name) that are all along the water and have paths to hike. All my guides raved about the amazing views and how great the trip was. However, it’s not something you need more than a day to do and since this was my last full weekend in Florence (weird!!!) I was quickly able to convince my parents it would be a good day trip.  We woke up early Saturday morning and headed to Cinque Terre. Driving through the mountains with the top down and sun shining, I couldn’t help but think to myself, how is this real life?! The views were unreal and I know I saw that in every post but every time I turn around I see a sight that’s more breathtaking!

We got to cinque terre, parked the car and began the hike. However, this past fall, 3 of the 5 villages suffered from a terrible mudslide, leaving the towns in completely devastation. We were only able to hike 1 of the villages and then took the train to the other 4 and walked around each of them.  The views were spectacular but you could clearly see the damage that was done and how hard the residents were working to restore what had been lost. 

Walking around the Villages didn’t take that long so we decided to head back to Florence and do dinner there so my dad wouldn’t have to drive back in the dark.

Dinner was at Trattoria 4 Leoni which was sooo good.  They have this amazing pear ravioli that I got although we were all sharing our dishes.  We ended up not getting back to our hotel until about 12:30 (which is pretty late for my parents) and were exhausted from the long day.

Sunday was the last of our day trips and luckily we were staying in Tuscany.  Every month Arezzo has a huge antique fair in it’s main Piazza with hundreds of vendors. And it just so happened to be taking place when my parents were here (some call it coincidence, I call it fate).  Needless to say my parents were LOVING it so we spent the morning walking around and drove to Cortona where we had the most amazing lunch at Osteria Del Teatro.  Its located on a little side street near the theater in Cortona and used to be a mansion.  The decor was gorgeous, wine was delicious, food scrumptious, and overall a wonderful meal.  There isn’t much to do in Cortona so we spent an hour or so wandering the streets (aka shopping) and then headed to my favorite place ever ‘The Mall.’  

The Mall is an outlet complex in the hills of Tuscany; outlet shopping and gorgeous views, doesn’t get much better than that. I had been waiting to go here with my parents since I got to Florence and had to use A LOT of self control once we got there.  While I was a little disappointed with the bag selection at Gucci (I had head they had a ton but that wasn’t the case by the time we got there), I obviously managed to do a bit of damage. A pair of gorgeous wedges and jacket later (not sorry about it) we were heading home (although my parents went back later in the week and cleaned up too).  The shopping gene runs in my family.  

It was a great weekend with my parents traveling Italy but I really couldn’t wait to take them around MY current home, Florence!

j'adore

I apologize for this taking so long for me to post. The past couple of weeks have been prettty crazy, if I do say so myself. Anyway this post is dedicated to my beloved, Pairs...

We arrived in Paris in the afternoon and headed straight to our hotel, the Hotel Kyriad Brancion (DO NOT STAY THERE, EVER). We were a bit surprised on how cheap the cab was, but we quickly found out why.  It was located completely on the outskirts of the city center! Needless to say that was not a good start (at least in terms of the hotel).  We went up to our room (walking through the incredibly musty lobby) to find it incredibly small. And dirty. I don’t mind a small room, but dirty is a whole different story. There were stains and crusty stuff dripping from the walls, hairs all over the place, and sheets that had a whole pallet of colored stains. NOT okay by any of us. Panic started to sink in so we all tried to keep our calm. I went down to the front desk and kindly asked the man working if we could be moved into a different room as the room we were currently in was dirty. He was nothing but nice and gave me the key to another room. I went and looked but found the same problem. The sheets were stained! When I got back up to the room to tell them, one of the cleaning women was in our room yelling at us. I don’t care where we were staying but to have a women screaming at me in French will only piss me off even more. I went down to the lobby and told the man that it was NOT okay.  He quickly moved us to a higher floor in a bit of a nicer room. That is after the cleaning woman followed us and yelled at us again for inspecting the sheets before telling him it was adequate. 

However we really did NOT want to have to stay there and after Bre read reviews about the cleaning staff stealing from the rooms and how many people were dissatisfied we searched for other options. There was NOTHING.  All the hostels were completely booked so we had to suck it up. 

We figured it would be best to spend as little time as possible in the hotel room given how dirty it was so we headed out for a walk, although not before locking up all of our stuff and taking a picture of the room incase the stupid bitch of a cleaning lady decided to come in.  

We wandered the streets for a while, not sure where we were going, but pretty sure we were incredibly far from everything.  I didn’t even feel like I was in Paris! It was an early night for us and we headed back to the hotel in hoped of being able to get a good night sleep.  Although we all agreed that we could practically feel bugs crawling on us all night. 

Friday morning we woke up bright and early to head to the Eiffel Tower.  Florence is so small on a map that even though things looks like a 45 min walk, they take about 10 in actuality.  We figured the same for Paris.  WRONG! I had no idea how huge it was, but we quickly figured it out when we walked to the Eiffel Tower from our hotel. About an hour and a half, 3 delicious pastries (I cannot remember the name of the place and it kills me because they were the best of the trip), and a free espresso from Starbucks later, we were at the Eiffel Tower. It’s gigantic, even bigger than I could have imagined!  We got in line and waited our turn to go up. The elevator was so scary, Bre and I both closed our eyes on the way up but by the time we got to the top I was speechless.  The views of Paris were incredible. You could see everything, even through the smog.  After snapping numerous pictures, we headed back down, took some more pictures in front of it and headed across the street in search of food.  

However, what we found was Trocadero, two half-U shaped buildings with gorgeous fountains.  I’m not really sure what the point of it was, but it was beautiful, and lined with restaurants in the back.  

For Lunch we opted for some good old american food and chowed down.  It was a quick lunch because we were still had a busy agenda.  The day was young.  

Luckily our lunch spot was only a couple blocks away from the Arc Di Triomph.  It was magnificent to see although we didn’t climb it because the line was extremely long and I’m not sure if it could have toped the Eiffel Tower so we wandered around it for a little bit and then headed to the notorious Champs Elysees.  While we didn’t buy much because most of the shops are extremely nice, but it was fun to window shop and see all the amazing displays.  We walked the whole Champs and more through gardens making our way to the Toulerie Gardens (which lead to the Louvre).  Had we been there longer, it would have been great to sit in the gardens and soak up some rays, but we were on a tight schedule.  We made our way through the gardens and finally caught sight of the Louvre.  This whole trip kind of felt like a deja vu. I’ve seen so many pictures of all these important monuments, and seeing them in real life almost felt surreal. It was so crazy!

Much to my surprise, there was almost no line to the Louvre, and with our Italian visa, we were able to cut the line AND get in fo freeeee.  We headed straight to the Mona Lisa, which I must say, was a bit overrated (and by a bit, I mean very). It was so small compared to the pictures I’ve seen of it.  After staring at it for a few minutes we made our way through the Louvre, making a point to see all the famous paintings.  However, the sun was starting to set and our feet felt like they were going to fall off so we headed out into the courtyard and sat by the fountains and IMP triangle.  Morgan’s friends from BC then came to meet us and we made plans to go out with them later that night. 

By the time we got back to our hotel (30 min metro ride) we didn’t have much time so we quickly showered, grabbed food, and headed to her apartment.  The night ended up being a lot of fun; having an actual pregame is something we haven’t done in ages and then we headed to O’Sullivans.  It was a pub but had GREAT music and we danced the night away. By 2am I was exhausted and ready to go home and get sleep but we stayed out till 4 and then had to wander around Paris searching for a cab to take us back since the metro stops at 1ish.  Morgan’s friends kept trying to find us a cab but they were all full so I took the matters into my own hands and hailed a random cab on my own.  You can take the girl out of New York, but you can’t take the New York out of the girl.  

Waking up Saturday morning was rough but we managed and made our way into the city center.  Our first stop of the day was the Muse D’Orsay. MY FAVORITE!  I contacted my friend Nicole before I left asking for suggestions (she studied in France last semester) and she said if there was only time to go to one museum, it should be the Muse D’Orsay.  I was pretty confused by this because I always assumed people would say the Louvre. However, once I got there I completely understood why.  The Muse D’Orsay is an old train station that was turned into a museum and has the most amazing selection of impressionist art.  We started at the top which had a lot of Degas, Monet, and Van Gogh .  Growing up my mom was obsessed with Degas paintings (his ballerina collection to be specific) and sculptures and my house is filled with replicas so seeing them in real life was a very emotional experience.  I was seeing the real life work that I had grown up (and maybe even been inspired by) seeing every day. We spent a good 3 hours there and I could literally go on and on talking about how much I loved it but I’ll spare you all.  

After the Muse we went to the Muse D’Orangerie, house of Monet’s water lilie paintings.  It’s located near the gardens that lead to the Louvre, and you could easily miss it if you weren’t specifically in search of it.  The water lilies were gorgeous and probably another one of my favorites of the trip. 

After these two museums, it was time to do what we did best.  You can take a guess at what these activities included: shopping or eating.  We did both.  First it was to the Longchamp store. Following our phrase of the weekend “white girls in paris,” Bre and I each indulged a bit and bought a bag.  The offer was too good to turn don considering the price different at home. And I’ve fallen in love with my longchamp that I’ve been using here so I couldn’t resist.  

After grabbing a quick, but delicious, lunch, we headed back to our hotel to nap/shower/ get ready to meet up with Morgan’s friends again. It took us about 30 minutes on the metro to get to where we were meeting them but it was well worth the ride.  The Sacre Couer is a church in Paris but the walk up to it and the view it gives is astonishing.  In the evening people gather on the steps leading up to it, grab some beers, and just hang out while enjoying the exquisite view of all of Paris.  We did just that and watched numerous street performers (who we’re actually really good!).  Once the sun had set we got crepes (that were so good I could’ve eaten 5, but didn’t) and went on a boat tour in which we got to see all the big monuments lit up. 

Sunday was our last day in Paris and there were still a few things we didn’t get to see so we figured it would be best to squeeze them in.  Notre Dame was first on the list and it was stunning. We didn’t go in but gazed at it from the outside and marveled at all the detail.  

We hadn’t bought any souvenirs since being there so that and Starbucks were our next 2 stops along the way to the Luxembourg Gardens.  The gardens were so pretty and we lucked out with sunny weather so we were able to sit outside and enjoy it for a while.  

The rest of the day was dedicated to shopping, or so we thought.  Everything was closed! Many people had warned us about stores being closed on Sundays but in Florence it didn’t seem to be that way and I guess we figured the same for a major city like Paris.  It was a bit of a let down but we were so tired that it didn’t even phase us that much.  We headed back to the hotel, called a cab and were on our way back home to Florence.  

Paris was an amazing city and despite our horrible hotel situation, I absolutely loved it. Even though I was sad to leave, it was nice to be heading home after a week of traveling. Not to worry though, I’m sure my travels in the future will take me back!