Hello Readers,
Even though we are in the south of France, this week was the first week of actual nice weather in Aix. We spent this week in class and exploring the many parks in and around Aix. We found two that we really liked: Parc Jordan and Pavillon de Vendôme.
This weekend, Katherine's roommate from home was visiting! Friday night, we went out and had fondu for dinner. It was delicious! Saturday, we went with them to Cassis where we spent the day at the beach. It was windy and a bit cool but beautiful. Carly and Jeff went in the water but the others did not want to. After a nice day at the beach we went back to Aix and got dinner together. Easter Sunday was spent relaxing, doing homework and preparing for our next adventure.
Link to Pictures from This Week: http://imgur.com/a/4kTEQ
That's all for now!
Carly and Jeff
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Week Nine: Barcelona, Sunshine and Poor Planning
Hola Amigos,
This week wasn't very exciting and you don't want to hear about post-midterm classes do you? Well we will tell you a little just in case. We had a project due in our Environmental Politics class and we rocked it. We knew the answers to all the questions people asked and even had a nice back and forth conversation with the class at the end of our presentation.
This weekend we took a group trip planned by a local travel company in Aix. It was very affordable and it included a bus to and from Barcelona, housing while in Barcelona and a bus tour of Barcelona. We would later come to find out why this was so affordable.
On Friday, we awoke early to catch a 6:00 AM but to Barcelona. The bus ride was long and uneventful. We stopped at a small bus station to get a snack and continued on our way; all the while wondering what the accommodations were to be and what was included in the cost of our trip. We arrived in Barcelona around 1:00 PM still with no clue as to where we would be staying. We got off the bus and walked with our group of about 50 people to a small youth hostel. We were given keys to our room and we were told to meet tomorrow at 10 AM for a bus tour of the city. We got to our room and met our three roommates Alex, Lan and Sandra. We were eager to explore Barcelona and immediately took off. We left the hostel into beautiful sunshine. We saw an ice cream stand and, of course, got some. Jeff suggested that we go to the beach so we began in that direction. It took about twenty minutes to get there and when we arrived we couldn't have been happier. We sat for about an hour at the beach until our hunger overtook our joy of the sun. We got some lunch at a restaurant near the beach; the food was delicious! After our meal, we headed back to the hostel where we met up with our roommates. After chatting with them in the room for a while, we discovered that they were all students studying abroad in Aix too! Alex was from Italy, Sandra from Montreal and Lan from the Netherlands. They were very nice and we quickly became friends. Lan then told us that she had a friend from home who was studying in Barcelona for the seamster and she invited us to go meet up with him and tour Barcelona a little more. We wandered around a little bit with them and afterwards, got pizza for dinner.
The next day we awoke in time to get our breakfast which, in the end, left a lot to be desired. Our breakfast turned out to be two pieces of hard-as-a-rock bread, with some jam. After we forced down our breakfast we headed towards the bus. We boarded the bus five minutes before 10, like we were told. However, the second-in-command, Thomas, was no where to be found and we "could not leave without him". So, we waited for about 30 minutes before he finally showed up and our bus tour could commence. On our bus tour, we saw Plaza de España, Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, La Font, the Olympic Stadium and La Sagrada Família. We were also supposed to see Gaudi's houses and Parc Güell but the bus driver could not figure out how to get there and so the tour guide decided that we didn't need to see those and ended the tour there. So, our group of five went back to the hostel to relax for a while. After, we went to the fountain again to see the fountain show. We stayed for a couple hours and decided it was time for dinner. We went back to the main street where we sat outside and ate our dinner. Carly had a chicken paella and Jeff had pizza. Once we finished dinner, we found out that Sandra and Carly had never had churros before. Jeff thought that to be unacceptable since we were in Barcelona so we set out in search of good churros...and we found them! We walked into the small restaurant and ordered churros for all five of us. They were delicious!! They had just been cut and cooked and the chocolate that we had with them was so good. After our delicious meal and dessert, we headed back to the hostel to go to sleep.
Sunday, we awoke early with Sandra to go to Parc Güell since we didn't get to see it on our bus tour. We took the metro and arrived at the Parc. We enjoyed the beginning of our day there wandering around and admiring the architecture. When we had seen all we could at the parc, we decided it was time to leave. We found out that Sandra had never been to the beach in Barcelona before so we spent the rest of our day relaxing in the sand and sun. Around 4:00 PM we went back to the hostel, got our bags and boarded the bus to go back to Aix.
Link to pictures from Barcelona: http://imgur.com/a/Iv4Yo
Adios,
Carly and Jeff
On Friday, we awoke early to catch a 6:00 AM but to Barcelona. The bus ride was long and uneventful. We stopped at a small bus station to get a snack and continued on our way; all the while wondering what the accommodations were to be and what was included in the cost of our trip. We arrived in Barcelona around 1:00 PM still with no clue as to where we would be staying. We got off the bus and walked with our group of about 50 people to a small youth hostel. We were given keys to our room and we were told to meet tomorrow at 10 AM for a bus tour of the city. We got to our room and met our three roommates Alex, Lan and Sandra. We were eager to explore Barcelona and immediately took off. We left the hostel into beautiful sunshine. We saw an ice cream stand and, of course, got some. Jeff suggested that we go to the beach so we began in that direction. It took about twenty minutes to get there and when we arrived we couldn't have been happier. We sat for about an hour at the beach until our hunger overtook our joy of the sun. We got some lunch at a restaurant near the beach; the food was delicious! After our meal, we headed back to the hostel where we met up with our roommates. After chatting with them in the room for a while, we discovered that they were all students studying abroad in Aix too! Alex was from Italy, Sandra from Montreal and Lan from the Netherlands. They were very nice and we quickly became friends. Lan then told us that she had a friend from home who was studying in Barcelona for the seamster and she invited us to go meet up with him and tour Barcelona a little more. We wandered around a little bit with them and afterwards, got pizza for dinner.
The next day we awoke in time to get our breakfast which, in the end, left a lot to be desired. Our breakfast turned out to be two pieces of hard-as-a-rock bread, with some jam. After we forced down our breakfast we headed towards the bus. We boarded the bus five minutes before 10, like we were told. However, the second-in-command, Thomas, was no where to be found and we "could not leave without him". So, we waited for about 30 minutes before he finally showed up and our bus tour could commence. On our bus tour, we saw Plaza de España, Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, La Font, the Olympic Stadium and La Sagrada Família. We were also supposed to see Gaudi's houses and Parc Güell but the bus driver could not figure out how to get there and so the tour guide decided that we didn't need to see those and ended the tour there. So, our group of five went back to the hostel to relax for a while. After, we went to the fountain again to see the fountain show. We stayed for a couple hours and decided it was time for dinner. We went back to the main street where we sat outside and ate our dinner. Carly had a chicken paella and Jeff had pizza. Once we finished dinner, we found out that Sandra and Carly had never had churros before. Jeff thought that to be unacceptable since we were in Barcelona so we set out in search of good churros...and we found them! We walked into the small restaurant and ordered churros for all five of us. They were delicious!! They had just been cut and cooked and the chocolate that we had with them was so good. After our delicious meal and dessert, we headed back to the hostel to go to sleep.
Sunday, we awoke early with Sandra to go to Parc Güell since we didn't get to see it on our bus tour. We took the metro and arrived at the Parc. We enjoyed the beginning of our day there wandering around and admiring the architecture. When we had seen all we could at the parc, we decided it was time to leave. We found out that Sandra had never been to the beach in Barcelona before so we spent the rest of our day relaxing in the sand and sun. Around 4:00 PM we went back to the hostel, got our bags and boarded the bus to go back to Aix.
Link to pictures from Barcelona: http://imgur.com/a/Iv4Yo
Adios,
Carly and Jeff
Friday, April 10, 2015
Week Eight: Green Birds and Roller-Coasters
Hello Readers,
We had our hardest midterms this week and one of the midterms was for our Economic Globalization class. This class has been the least organized mess of a class either of us have ever taken. We started the class with a teacher who was unfamiliar with teaching english students and was from Eastern Europe and had a very thick accent that was difficult to understand. This teacher would always start the class with a plan for the class. Telling us her plan would take half the class and then we wouldn't have time to cover all of the material she had outlined so we were consistently behind. This teacher was replaced a quarter of the way of the semester and the new teacher came into the class thinking we had covered all the information we were supposed to when we had really covered about half of it. Everyone in the class was very stressed about the midterm because none of us had learned the information we were supposed to. The second teacher is the polar opposite of the first. She goes way too quickly and doesn't really go into enough depth for anyone to get a real feel for the information. We would really just like a happy medium. The positive of all of this is we have good professors for our other classes and we will probably never have to take another class with these teachers.
On top of our scary midterm, this Wednesday Carly's phone was stolen. Which just added a whole lot more stress to an already poop of a day. Carly and I spent the day teaching ourselves the information and doing our best to understand it. We took the midterm that night and we both felt okay about it. We still haven't received the midterms back so we do not know yet, but that is very indicative of how this course has been run.
Friday: After a tough week, we hoped to be able to relax when the weekend arrived and we were not disappointed. We took a slow train to Toulouse. It took us about 4 hours to get there and on the way we saw many great things. During the ride we past a cool castle in the town Beiezers, we watched two episodes from the most recent season of Top-Gear, and we passed Narbonne and Carcassonne (a cool, old, fortified city). We arrived at the station and walked from there to our hotel. We were both starving so we went in search of food. We found a local thai food place and we decided that is what we wanted. The owner was very unfriendly and slightly unkind but the food was phenomenal. We were very happy to finally have some good thai food in France. After food we were full and tired so it was time for bed.
Saturday: We woke up and ate free hotel breakfast. The food was not nearly as good as the free breakfast we had had previously but hey, it was free. It was raining so we donned our raincoats and umbrellas and headed out to explore. We saw a few very cool sights that you can view in the pictures (we did better picture labels this time). We had local pizza hand made in front of us. It was delicious. We took a rainy day nap and watched one more Top-Gear before heading out and seeing a play at the Toulouse National Theater. We stopped before getting to the theater and had a quick meal at an American restaurant. The food again was really good. We got to the theater and got our tickets and some coffee and headed into the play. The play was L'Oiseau Vert. It was captivating. It was completely in French which was a little tough but we both understood most of it. It was a great experience and the play was really well done. After the play we headed back to the hotel and went to bed.
Sunday: We woke up and ate hotel breakfast again. We went and saw more sights and we walked along and across the river. Everything was closed on this day (because Europe closes Sunday and Monday). We walked around a little more then we went to the only open place we could find Haagen Dazs where we ordered a chocolate fondue. This came with a bunch of balls of ice cream, some fruit, some cookies and brownies and toppings for all of this. It was super yummy and terrible for us. We had a great time eating it and after we headed to the train station and headed home. On the train we finished the third season of Sherlock.
It was a wonderful trip and we both really needed a reset after the week we had.
Pictures from Toulouse: http://imgur.com/a/okZ46
Until next time,
Carly Ward & Jeff Popek
Monday, March 16, 2015
Week Seven: The Beginning of Midterms
Hello Readers,
This is going to be a very short blog because this week was spent almost entirely studying for our midterms this week and next week. Jeff went out with Isaac to the Wohoo to watch Wohoos Got Talent after his French midterm.
Friday night it was raining so we got dinner and watched the whole first season of Sherlock a BBC series and Saturday it was raining again so we studied all morning then in the afternoon we watched the second season of Sherlock and ate candy and Oreos. Carly is very on edge about what is going to happen in season 3 and is eagerly awaiting the next installment.
We are planning on going to Toulouse this Friday and we are taking a train so we will attempt to finish season 3 then. We have heard that Toulouse is an enchanting little city and we are sure it will be a great time. We will tell you about it in the next blog!
Tootles,
Carly Ward & Jeff Popek
Week Six: The Return
Bonjour Readers,
We are back in France and thus back in school. Everything has been fairly normal but we both have a small case of post-vacation blues. We both loved Italy and the people were so very friendly so coming back to France has taken some adjustment. Nothing we couldn't handle though.
Thursday was a beautifully sunny day and we went to a park sat in the sun and drank some wine with our friends Isaac and Katherine. It was relaxing and a very nice afternoon. We have decided that wine and sunshine are a very nice combination.
Saturday night we met up with Katherine and Isaac at a local Indian food restaurant and we all got big plates and shared. The food was really bland and spiceless which surprised all of us because Indian food is usually the opposite of that. We left there and started walking to a tea cave called Coco Boheme where Katherine had to meet some friends to work on a project for school. We got to the street of the tea place when Isaac realized he had forgotten his phone. Carly and Katherine went into the tea place and Isaac and Jeff ran back to get Isaac's phone. Luckily the server had recognized that Isaac left his phone on the table and it was a non-issue. Isaac and Jeff met up with Carly and Katherine at the tea place and we all lounged and had a great few hours relaxing and drinking tea. After the tea place we went to The PTT to have drinks. Isaac and Jeff both had pastis (a local favorite) which tastes exactly like black licorice; it was not Jeff's favorite. Katherine and Carly shared a gin spritz which was lemonade with a little gin in it (it was delicious). We sat and relaxed for a while until Isaac looked down and informed us all it was 3 am. We were all very surprised because we had no idea it had gotten to be that late. We decided it was time to go home and go to bed.
Sunday was spent doing homework and catching up on things that needed doing. A lazy but productive day.
That is all for this week,
Carly & Jeff
We are back in France and thus back in school. Everything has been fairly normal but we both have a small case of post-vacation blues. We both loved Italy and the people were so very friendly so coming back to France has taken some adjustment. Nothing we couldn't handle though.
Thursday was a beautifully sunny day and we went to a park sat in the sun and drank some wine with our friends Isaac and Katherine. It was relaxing and a very nice afternoon. We have decided that wine and sunshine are a very nice combination.
Saturday night we met up with Katherine and Isaac at a local Indian food restaurant and we all got big plates and shared. The food was really bland and spiceless which surprised all of us because Indian food is usually the opposite of that. We left there and started walking to a tea cave called Coco Boheme where Katherine had to meet some friends to work on a project for school. We got to the street of the tea place when Isaac realized he had forgotten his phone. Carly and Katherine went into the tea place and Isaac and Jeff ran back to get Isaac's phone. Luckily the server had recognized that Isaac left his phone on the table and it was a non-issue. Isaac and Jeff met up with Carly and Katherine at the tea place and we all lounged and had a great few hours relaxing and drinking tea. After the tea place we went to The PTT to have drinks. Isaac and Jeff both had pastis (a local favorite) which tastes exactly like black licorice; it was not Jeff's favorite. Katherine and Carly shared a gin spritz which was lemonade with a little gin in it (it was delicious). We sat and relaxed for a while until Isaac looked down and informed us all it was 3 am. We were all very surprised because we had no idea it had gotten to be that late. We decided it was time to go home and go to bed.
Sunday was spent doing homework and catching up on things that needed doing. A lazy but productive day.
That is all for this week,
Carly & Jeff
Week Five: Venice
Hello Readers,
We boarded our train in Rome and in a comfortable 3 and some hours we were in Venice. Immediately off the train we were immersed in Venice. We crossed the Grand Canal carrying all our luggage. It was the best walk to a hotel we have ever had. We got semi-lost going to the hotel but we found it and the hotel was in the beautiful Campo Margherita. Venice is a crazy mash of twisty alleys and beautiful canals and it makes finding your way very difficult. There are no straight roads and absolutely no easy directions. Anyway, we found our hotel and it was also wonderful. The owner was there and extremely helpful and friendly and he said that the very best way to see Venice is to just walk. Just wander around and experience it. He said getting lost is part of the experience and after a while you stop thinking of it as being lost and start thinking of it as being in Venice. We found that this was a very true statement. We were famished as we had been on a train for 3+ hours so we headed out to eat. We wandered like we were told and we found a bunch of great little shops and the main, touristy area. We wandered away from there in search of a meal but most places were not open yet. Only the tourists eat meals before 8pm in Venice and we didn't know this so we went to the touristy place right across from our hotel. The food was wonderful and the people were very friendly but we were the only ones there. We ate our meals and had an early night as we were both exhausted from the day.
The next two days we spent just exploring and experiencing Venice. We saw a lot of what it had to offer and did our best to experience it all and we did a good job for just 3 full days but it wasn't enough. You could spend your whole life exploring that town and still find incredible little things you didn't know were there. We saw incredible monuments, beautiful alleys, Carnival inspired masks and clothing, handmade Italian leather goods, gondolas, blown glass, and lit buildings at night shining on the canals. Venice at night is such an experience. The bars and restaurants overflow in to the streets and the people are so jovial and kind. Its the kind of place that is horribly hard to leave. We spent only four days there and truly believe that we left calmer and kinder people. It has an incredible effect.
On our last full day in Venice we took a vaporetto to two of the other islands in the Venetian Marsh. The first island we saw was Murano. Murano is known for the quality and craftsmanship of its blown glass. We walked in and out of hundreds of blown glass studios and stores until we had our fill and hopped onto the next vaporetto to Burano. Burano is an incredibly colorful and relaxed little town. It is historically known for its lace weaving and some of the best woven silks and lace still come from there. It has a deep history of hand crafts and that is still very much alive there. It was one of the most calm and lovely places we have been. The people really make these places what they are. Everyone we met and encountered were wonderful and would go well out of their way to make you feel welcome and comfortable. We took a vaporetto back to the main island of Venice while the sun set and it was a gorgeous, picturesque ending to a beautiful experience. We both look forward to going back before it is gone.
Ciao,
Jeff & Carly
Pictures of Venice: http://imgur.com/a/AFr1D
We boarded our train in Rome and in a comfortable 3 and some hours we were in Venice. Immediately off the train we were immersed in Venice. We crossed the Grand Canal carrying all our luggage. It was the best walk to a hotel we have ever had. We got semi-lost going to the hotel but we found it and the hotel was in the beautiful Campo Margherita. Venice is a crazy mash of twisty alleys and beautiful canals and it makes finding your way very difficult. There are no straight roads and absolutely no easy directions. Anyway, we found our hotel and it was also wonderful. The owner was there and extremely helpful and friendly and he said that the very best way to see Venice is to just walk. Just wander around and experience it. He said getting lost is part of the experience and after a while you stop thinking of it as being lost and start thinking of it as being in Venice. We found that this was a very true statement. We were famished as we had been on a train for 3+ hours so we headed out to eat. We wandered like we were told and we found a bunch of great little shops and the main, touristy area. We wandered away from there in search of a meal but most places were not open yet. Only the tourists eat meals before 8pm in Venice and we didn't know this so we went to the touristy place right across from our hotel. The food was wonderful and the people were very friendly but we were the only ones there. We ate our meals and had an early night as we were both exhausted from the day.
The next two days we spent just exploring and experiencing Venice. We saw a lot of what it had to offer and did our best to experience it all and we did a good job for just 3 full days but it wasn't enough. You could spend your whole life exploring that town and still find incredible little things you didn't know were there. We saw incredible monuments, beautiful alleys, Carnival inspired masks and clothing, handmade Italian leather goods, gondolas, blown glass, and lit buildings at night shining on the canals. Venice at night is such an experience. The bars and restaurants overflow in to the streets and the people are so jovial and kind. Its the kind of place that is horribly hard to leave. We spent only four days there and truly believe that we left calmer and kinder people. It has an incredible effect.
On our last full day in Venice we took a vaporetto to two of the other islands in the Venetian Marsh. The first island we saw was Murano. Murano is known for the quality and craftsmanship of its blown glass. We walked in and out of hundreds of blown glass studios and stores until we had our fill and hopped onto the next vaporetto to Burano. Burano is an incredibly colorful and relaxed little town. It is historically known for its lace weaving and some of the best woven silks and lace still come from there. It has a deep history of hand crafts and that is still very much alive there. It was one of the most calm and lovely places we have been. The people really make these places what they are. Everyone we met and encountered were wonderful and would go well out of their way to make you feel welcome and comfortable. We took a vaporetto back to the main island of Venice while the sun set and it was a gorgeous, picturesque ending to a beautiful experience. We both look forward to going back before it is gone.
Ciao,
Jeff & Carly
Pictures of Venice: http://imgur.com/a/AFr1D
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Week Five: Rome
Ciao Readers,
We landed in Rome at approximately 1:25 pm and looked for a way to get to our hotel. We had three options. We could take a cab, take a shuttle, or take public transportation. They all cost about the same so we opted for the shuttle. We got to our hotel and were informed that our room had been upgrade for free to an executive suite. This was a pleasant surprise and made for a very good start to Rome. We unpacked, relaxed a little, and then headed out into Rome. We were both starved and ready for a proper meal so we headed down the street to a little restaurant that looked fairly busy. On the way there we saw an incredibly pink Fiat that Carly thought was adorable. As soon as we got inside we felt underdressed. Everyone inside was in their Sunday best and we were wearing plane clothes, but it was too late, we had committed and we were going to eat lunch there no matter what! Carly ordered pasta carbonara and Jeff ordered a parmesan and black pepper pasta. They were by far the best pastas either of us had ever had. They were spiced and cooked to perfection and there was no possible way to make them any better. We decided that with the amount of daylight we had left we shouldn't waste it and we should go see some cool stuff. So we did! We headed out of the restaurant and went towards the Palace of Justice. It was a huge builing that was built in the late 1800s and contains the Judicial Public Library of Rome. The building had very nice fountains out front and many children were playing in its park. We continued onward and saw the Castel Sant'Angelo. This was originally the tallest building in Rome and was built for the Roman Emperor Hadrian to be used as a mausoleum in the year 123 AD. We kept walking along the Tiber River and crossed the Vittorio Emanuele II bridge, heading towards the Pantheon. On our way there we passed Piazza Pasquale Paoli, the Campo de Fiori, and the Area Sacra Largo di Torre Argentina, which was the home to the Republican Roman Temples from fourth century BC to 80 AD. Now it is home to hundreds of kitties! We finally made it to the Pantheon (one of Jeff's life goals) and there we bumped into our friend Matt from school in France. It was really odd running into him in such a large city like Rome; what are the chances! The Pantheon was built in 14 AD and to this day is still the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world. It was incredible to see and to marvel at the building of such a grand place over 2000 years ago. We stayed for a while and when we left there was a Ukrainian protest going on that was meant to raise awareness for their cause. We watched that for a while until our need for gelato out weighed our need for social justice. We found a great little gelato place and Jeff had banana and Carly had mango and lemon. They were all delicious and Jeff is still trying to find an equal to that banana gelato. We left the gelato place in search of the Trevi Fountain. We passed an open church that we toured and passed many other incredible monuments. We viewed the Trevi Fountain which, unfortunately, was under construction. We were so disappointed! After seeing the fountain, we headed back towards the hotel. We walked along the main street, Corso, back towards our hotel. We went through Piazza del Popolo. It was a lively place that late at night. We heard a very loud exhaust note and Jeff was excited because he said he thought it was a v12, probably a Lamborghini and as we turned the corner there it was speeding past. Once through the Piazza we had a gentle stroll back to the hotel. We got there and went to sleep.
The next morning we woke early and got our free hotel breakfast which was much better than the previous hotel. Our plan for the day was to see the Colosseum and the surrounding monuments. We headed out and walked down Corso towards the Colosseum and stopped in the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj. We didn't want to pay to tour the entire place so we just viewed the beautiful courtyard of citrus trees. We continued towards the Colosseum and stopped at the Altare dela Patria (Alter of the Father Land). This was an incredible monument built for Victor Emmanuel, the king who united Italy. We toured that for about two hours. The building is incredible and houses the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. There are many great stories about the monument. We looked all around it and saw as much of it as we could see before buying tickets and taking an elevator ride to the very top of it. You could see all of Rome from the top. It was a very awe inspiring experience and we highly suggest you do it if you ever get the chance to visit Rome. From there we passed the Forums of Augustus and Triano. We went to get lunch at a small pizza place and hung out there for some time before it got really really busy. We left trying to find our way through the crowd that had amassed only to realize we had forgotten to pay. So we walked back to the restaurant and paid. Then we headed to The Colosseum. We got to the Colosseum and took a guided tour that allowed us to skip all the lines and get a more in-depth history of the building. We learned a lot more than we would have if we didn't take the tour and we were really glad that we did. From the Colosseum we toured the Ancient Roman City ruins. They were probably the most impressive part of the trip and the history of them was incredible. We spent nearly three hours wandering around learning about ancient Rome. Jeff now has a fascination with the Emperor Nero. He was an interesting fellow to say the least. It was now dark and we were famished so we headed to dinner. We had more pizza and pasta (when in Rome!). We ate our dinners and headed back to the hotel.
Pictures from Rome: http://imgur.com/a/M3KRK
The next day we took a four hour guided tour of the Vatican. It was appalling how much wealth that nation has acquired over its existence. The Vatican museums were incredibly decadent and impressive. There were many stories of Popes doing incredible things with their power and wealth. The history of Rome is stored in those buildings. It is said that it would take over four years to view all of the art in the Vatican if you only view each piece for a minute. So our experience was only puddle deep but we had a good time and learned a lot of history. Carly's favorite parts were the Sistine Chapel and Saint Peters Basilica and its catacombs and Jeff's were seeing all the statues depicting the Roman Emperors and seeing Nero's bathtub that he liked to fill with wine and ladies.
We left the Vatican that evening and got to see the changing of the Swiss Guards, purely by luck, as it only happens every 24 hours at 5pm. We did not know this and we were pleasantly surprised. From there we went to an incredible authentic Italian restaurant and had the experience of a life time. There was lots of yelling and happiness and wine and food; more food than you should ever eat in one sitting. We left the restaurant and tried to get on the main road, Corso, to get home but there were cops everywhere blocking the road. We heard a couple of crazy loud exhausts fly past and Jeff thought one might have been the new Aston Martin. Anyway we asked a nice police officer how to get back to our hotel using our incredibly broken Italian and he showed us on a map. We made it home and Carly googled what was going on in Rome and why the street was blocked and we found out that they were filming the new James Bond movie, Spectre! After that neat discovery, we both had begun complaining that our bellies hurt after that huge, giant, ridiculous meal and so we were just lounging about. Carly decided she was going to start throw up in the bedroom and then ran to the bathroom and threw up more. Jeff thought "hey that seems like a good plan" and he sprinted to the bathroom and pushed Carly out of the way to share in the vomiting fun. We both emptied our stomachs, much to our delight. We believe we had food poisoning because once the food was gone from our stomachs we felt much better but it also could have just been too much food. Regardless, we both felt much better afterwards and decided it was time to rest since we had a long day of travel ahead of us the next day.
Pictures from the Vatican: http://imgur.com/a/Iv8hS
We had an absolutely incredible time in Rome and we cannot wait to go back someday. We highly suggest you go if you can.
The third morning in Rome we headed to the train station and caught our train to Venice!
We landed in Rome at approximately 1:25 pm and looked for a way to get to our hotel. We had three options. We could take a cab, take a shuttle, or take public transportation. They all cost about the same so we opted for the shuttle. We got to our hotel and were informed that our room had been upgrade for free to an executive suite. This was a pleasant surprise and made for a very good start to Rome. We unpacked, relaxed a little, and then headed out into Rome. We were both starved and ready for a proper meal so we headed down the street to a little restaurant that looked fairly busy. On the way there we saw an incredibly pink Fiat that Carly thought was adorable. As soon as we got inside we felt underdressed. Everyone inside was in their Sunday best and we were wearing plane clothes, but it was too late, we had committed and we were going to eat lunch there no matter what! Carly ordered pasta carbonara and Jeff ordered a parmesan and black pepper pasta. They were by far the best pastas either of us had ever had. They were spiced and cooked to perfection and there was no possible way to make them any better. We decided that with the amount of daylight we had left we shouldn't waste it and we should go see some cool stuff. So we did! We headed out of the restaurant and went towards the Palace of Justice. It was a huge builing that was built in the late 1800s and contains the Judicial Public Library of Rome. The building had very nice fountains out front and many children were playing in its park. We continued onward and saw the Castel Sant'Angelo. This was originally the tallest building in Rome and was built for the Roman Emperor Hadrian to be used as a mausoleum in the year 123 AD. We kept walking along the Tiber River and crossed the Vittorio Emanuele II bridge, heading towards the Pantheon. On our way there we passed Piazza Pasquale Paoli, the Campo de Fiori, and the Area Sacra Largo di Torre Argentina, which was the home to the Republican Roman Temples from fourth century BC to 80 AD. Now it is home to hundreds of kitties! We finally made it to the Pantheon (one of Jeff's life goals) and there we bumped into our friend Matt from school in France. It was really odd running into him in such a large city like Rome; what are the chances! The Pantheon was built in 14 AD and to this day is still the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world. It was incredible to see and to marvel at the building of such a grand place over 2000 years ago. We stayed for a while and when we left there was a Ukrainian protest going on that was meant to raise awareness for their cause. We watched that for a while until our need for gelato out weighed our need for social justice. We found a great little gelato place and Jeff had banana and Carly had mango and lemon. They were all delicious and Jeff is still trying to find an equal to that banana gelato. We left the gelato place in search of the Trevi Fountain. We passed an open church that we toured and passed many other incredible monuments. We viewed the Trevi Fountain which, unfortunately, was under construction. We were so disappointed! After seeing the fountain, we headed back towards the hotel. We walked along the main street, Corso, back towards our hotel. We went through Piazza del Popolo. It was a lively place that late at night. We heard a very loud exhaust note and Jeff was excited because he said he thought it was a v12, probably a Lamborghini and as we turned the corner there it was speeding past. Once through the Piazza we had a gentle stroll back to the hotel. We got there and went to sleep.
The next morning we woke early and got our free hotel breakfast which was much better than the previous hotel. Our plan for the day was to see the Colosseum and the surrounding monuments. We headed out and walked down Corso towards the Colosseum and stopped in the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj. We didn't want to pay to tour the entire place so we just viewed the beautiful courtyard of citrus trees. We continued towards the Colosseum and stopped at the Altare dela Patria (Alter of the Father Land). This was an incredible monument built for Victor Emmanuel, the king who united Italy. We toured that for about two hours. The building is incredible and houses the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. There are many great stories about the monument. We looked all around it and saw as much of it as we could see before buying tickets and taking an elevator ride to the very top of it. You could see all of Rome from the top. It was a very awe inspiring experience and we highly suggest you do it if you ever get the chance to visit Rome. From there we passed the Forums of Augustus and Triano. We went to get lunch at a small pizza place and hung out there for some time before it got really really busy. We left trying to find our way through the crowd that had amassed only to realize we had forgotten to pay. So we walked back to the restaurant and paid. Then we headed to The Colosseum. We got to the Colosseum and took a guided tour that allowed us to skip all the lines and get a more in-depth history of the building. We learned a lot more than we would have if we didn't take the tour and we were really glad that we did. From the Colosseum we toured the Ancient Roman City ruins. They were probably the most impressive part of the trip and the history of them was incredible. We spent nearly three hours wandering around learning about ancient Rome. Jeff now has a fascination with the Emperor Nero. He was an interesting fellow to say the least. It was now dark and we were famished so we headed to dinner. We had more pizza and pasta (when in Rome!). We ate our dinners and headed back to the hotel.
Pictures from Rome: http://imgur.com/a/M3KRK
The next day we took a four hour guided tour of the Vatican. It was appalling how much wealth that nation has acquired over its existence. The Vatican museums were incredibly decadent and impressive. There were many stories of Popes doing incredible things with their power and wealth. The history of Rome is stored in those buildings. It is said that it would take over four years to view all of the art in the Vatican if you only view each piece for a minute. So our experience was only puddle deep but we had a good time and learned a lot of history. Carly's favorite parts were the Sistine Chapel and Saint Peters Basilica and its catacombs and Jeff's were seeing all the statues depicting the Roman Emperors and seeing Nero's bathtub that he liked to fill with wine and ladies.
We left the Vatican that evening and got to see the changing of the Swiss Guards, purely by luck, as it only happens every 24 hours at 5pm. We did not know this and we were pleasantly surprised. From there we went to an incredible authentic Italian restaurant and had the experience of a life time. There was lots of yelling and happiness and wine and food; more food than you should ever eat in one sitting. We left the restaurant and tried to get on the main road, Corso, to get home but there were cops everywhere blocking the road. We heard a couple of crazy loud exhausts fly past and Jeff thought one might have been the new Aston Martin. Anyway we asked a nice police officer how to get back to our hotel using our incredibly broken Italian and he showed us on a map. We made it home and Carly googled what was going on in Rome and why the street was blocked and we found out that they were filming the new James Bond movie, Spectre! After that neat discovery, we both had begun complaining that our bellies hurt after that huge, giant, ridiculous meal and so we were just lounging about. Carly decided she was going to start throw up in the bedroom and then ran to the bathroom and threw up more. Jeff thought "hey that seems like a good plan" and he sprinted to the bathroom and pushed Carly out of the way to share in the vomiting fun. We both emptied our stomachs, much to our delight. We believe we had food poisoning because once the food was gone from our stomachs we felt much better but it also could have just been too much food. Regardless, we both felt much better afterwards and decided it was time to rest since we had a long day of travel ahead of us the next day.
Pictures from the Vatican: http://imgur.com/a/Iv8hS
We had an absolutely incredible time in Rome and we cannot wait to go back someday. We highly suggest you go if you can.
The third morning in Rome we headed to the train station and caught our train to Venice!
Monday, March 9, 2015
Week Five: Palermo, Sicily
Buongiorno Readers,
We are in Italy! We were picked up by Carly's host mother, Amira, and brought to the airport in Marseille where we checked in without a problem. We got through security and waited for our plane. We had never flown out of Marseille or on Ryanair so we didn't know what to expect. There was only one gate in our section of the airport and when they called the airline people went and lined up nicely at the entrance, but when the Ryanair flight was called there was a mad dash to the gate. Ryanair flights are like Southwest Airlines if you remove all the rules and boarding sections. Carly and I calmly walked to the end of the line. We had previously reserved seats so we weren't going to be apart of the chicken run.
Our plane landed in Palermo at 6:30 and took about an hour to get into Palermo proper. It was 9 by the time we were all checked in and situated so we called it an early night and went to sleep. We were up early the next morning and headed out to see Palermo. We wandered for about half an hour until we found a beautiful, huge fountain in a square with two old churches. We toured one of the churches then continued on our walk. We saw some of the sights of Palermo but were amazed at the number of cheesy stores targeted at tourists. There were definitely some incredible sights to be seen in Palermo but you have to sift through the tourist targeted garbage before finding it. We saw an incredible cathedral where a huge funeral was taking place. The bells were ringing the entire time and it was quite the sight. We walked from the cathedral through a neat little park and ended up at the Sicilian Parliament buildings. We walked past those and ended up in another park where a large group of Italian men were playing chess and card games and were very animated. It was a very exciting sight and was exactly what we expected when we thought of stereotypical Italy. We continued our adventure in Palermo by walking through what looked like an open air-market. As we walked through the market it turned more into furniture stores and a flea market. There was a lot of nice handmade furniture but we didn't really have a need for it nor did we have a way to get it home so we moved on. We were famished after all of our exploring so we headed in search of food. We were really rather uninterested in tourist targeted food so we went off the beaten path to find somewhere the locals were eating. We came across a bread store, pastry store, and market combo where the locals were stopping in and getting food. We ordered two slices of pizza and a fresh squeezed lemonade. The lemonade was very sour but quenched our thirst nicely and the pizza was deep dish delicious! From there we went to get gelato and then sat in a park and watched a group of dogs playing. That night we went to dinner at a highly recommended restaurant that was known for its large selection of vegetarian dishes. We ordered from the special menu and got three courses. Carly had a couscous with ratatouille and Jeff had fried eggplant and cheese in balls soaked in tomato basil sauce for our first course. For our second course Carly had fried chicken dumplings and potatoes and Jeff had potatoes au gratin. For our third course, desert, Carly had apple pudding and Jeff had a chocolate amaretto pudding. All of the food was phenomenal and we were sad when it was gone. We left the restaurant and walked back to the hotel in the rain and went to bed.
The next day we woke up super early and headed to the airport, again in the rain. We boarded the plane on our way to Rome!
Pictures from Palermo: http://imgur.com/a/VdVRL
The next day we woke up super early and headed to the airport, again in the rain. We boarded the plane on our way to Rome!
Pictures from Palermo: http://imgur.com/a/VdVRL
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Week Four
Hello Readers!
We spent this week in class. So far we both really enjoy our classes with the exception of one: our economics class. It is, unfortunately, a long, usually boring, lecture class and since it is at the end of our longest day of classes, we both have a hard time staying awake. However, with a dose or two of café, we manage.
Friday, February 13, 2015
Tonight, we went out with our friend Isaac and got to meet his girlfriend, Katherine. They both attend the University of Alabama and are from Mississippi. They are both very nice and we get along very well with them and enjoy their company. We went out to dinner and got pizzas, pasta and drinks! We started dinner with a bottle of nice red wine to share amongst the four of us then after dinner the restaurant brought us about a quarter of a bottle of Limoncello, on the house which was very kind of them and will ensure that we go back there again! From dinner, we tried to get gelato but the place was closed so, instead, we ended up a place with ice cream. Carly got cookies n'cream and Katherine got chunky monkey. While the ladies were ordering their ice cream, the guys decided to get drinks. We found one that was called "The Big Love Machine". We decided we wanted to try it. It was two liters of orange juice, pineapple juice and an assortment of alcohols. It was delicious! The four of us enjoyed sitting outside, chatting and drinking our drink. We spent, in total, about five hours with Katherine and Isaac and we were both sad to part ways with them. We very much look forward to spending time with them again.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Today is Valentine's Day! It is our first Valentine's Day together and we went to an early dinner at a very cute Italian restaurant. Carly had gnocchi with tomato and basil sauce and Jeff had four cheese penne that was super creamy and delicious! After our meal, we went and saw The Imitation Game at a local movie theatre (in english). It was a great movie and we enjoyed it very much. When the movie was over, after having eaten lots of salty popcorn, Carly decided we needed something sweet! So we went to a frozen yogurt shop where Carly had a chocolate shake and Jeff had pistachio frozen yogurt. It was a very nice, low-key, holiday and we both had a great time enjoying each other's company.
Pictures from week four:http://imgur.com/a/gsMr6
Next Friday we are off to Italy!
We will keep you updated in a much more timely fashion from now on :)
Until next time,
Carly and Jeff
We spent this week in class. So far we both really enjoy our classes with the exception of one: our economics class. It is, unfortunately, a long, usually boring, lecture class and since it is at the end of our longest day of classes, we both have a hard time staying awake. However, with a dose or two of café, we manage.
Friday, February 13, 2015
Tonight, we went out with our friend Isaac and got to meet his girlfriend, Katherine. They both attend the University of Alabama and are from Mississippi. They are both very nice and we get along very well with them and enjoy their company. We went out to dinner and got pizzas, pasta and drinks! We started dinner with a bottle of nice red wine to share amongst the four of us then after dinner the restaurant brought us about a quarter of a bottle of Limoncello, on the house which was very kind of them and will ensure that we go back there again! From dinner, we tried to get gelato but the place was closed so, instead, we ended up a place with ice cream. Carly got cookies n'cream and Katherine got chunky monkey. While the ladies were ordering their ice cream, the guys decided to get drinks. We found one that was called "The Big Love Machine". We decided we wanted to try it. It was two liters of orange juice, pineapple juice and an assortment of alcohols. It was delicious! The four of us enjoyed sitting outside, chatting and drinking our drink. We spent, in total, about five hours with Katherine and Isaac and we were both sad to part ways with them. We very much look forward to spending time with them again.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Today is Valentine's Day! It is our first Valentine's Day together and we went to an early dinner at a very cute Italian restaurant. Carly had gnocchi with tomato and basil sauce and Jeff had four cheese penne that was super creamy and delicious! After our meal, we went and saw The Imitation Game at a local movie theatre (in english). It was a great movie and we enjoyed it very much. When the movie was over, after having eaten lots of salty popcorn, Carly decided we needed something sweet! So we went to a frozen yogurt shop where Carly had a chocolate shake and Jeff had pistachio frozen yogurt. It was a very nice, low-key, holiday and we both had a great time enjoying each other's company.
Pictures from week four:http://imgur.com/a/gsMr6
Next Friday we are off to Italy!
We will keep you updated in a much more timely fashion from now on :)
Until next time,
Carly and Jeff
Week Three
Bonjour Nos Amis,
Wednesday, February 4
Today, Jeff met Carly at her bus stop and from there we went and studied. Around 1:00 we went to lunch at Tomate et Basilic, a small pasta place in the heart of town. Carly ate gnocchi with four cheese sauce and Jeff had cheese tortellini with four cheese sauce as well. They were both delicious but very heavy. We studied for a while longer and then began to plan our spring break. We are going to Spain! The majority of our trip will be spent in Madrid and Jerez with small side trips to Toledo, Segovia, and Seville. The second half of the trip will be centered around pool-lounging and MotoGP. We have acquired two three-day passes to the Jerez MotoGP race! We are both very excited as this is a world sporting event.
Friday, February 6
We are off to Lyon!!! After classes this morning we ate a quick lunch and headed to the bus station where we found our bus just before 4:00 PM. The very beginning of our trip was through a valley with towering mountains on either side. We passed a beautiful gothic-style monastery high on a peak followed shortly by ruins of what seemed to be walls of what used to be a very large building. We rode through many miles of nondescript fields filled with vineyards or horses, roaming rivers, towering mountain ranges, many villages seemingly built from the stone of the rivers they surround. We passed chateaus and castles build into the mountains. We passed industrial centers followed by old villages dominated by the central spires of their cathedrals. We passed a cement factory that disrupted our thoughts of ancient grandeur. We went around roundabout after roundabout. We passed shopping mall and city center. We rode past chain restaurants and through city traffic until we were back in the peace and beauty that is the French countryside. The untouched ancient beauty of these mountains and river valleys and the noble grandeur of the medieval architecture is what drove us to come here in the first place and seeing it in person has really solidified, in our minds, that we would be here for four months and be able to experience what this beautiful country and the surrounding areas really have to offer. We passed through the city of Avignon. Avignon is very old and surrounded by a towering ancient wall. We stopped at a bus stop in Avignon and pick up a few more passengers. A guy about our age sat diagonally in front of us. We left Avignon and were immediately stuck in traffic. It looked pretty dense and didn't look like we would get out soon. We passed a McDonalds which in France has a gold M with a green background instead of red. We finally cleared the traffic and were on a highway between two mountains. The sun was low and perched on the mountains to the west. There was not much daylight left. Carly slept sleeping soundly against the window. We passed a castle sitting on the bend of a river with miles and miles of vineyards up to its front. The river was deep and wide providing a good natural barrier for the castle. Carly woke up from her nap and enjoyed the landscape with Jeff as the sun faded behind the mountains. We passed a village nestled up to sheer cliffs and on top of the cliffs was an incredibly preserved castle. The entire village looked very old. We stopped at a bus stop for a while and we grabbed some snacks and some drinks. We got back on the bus and the bus driver proceeded to scream at the younger guy diagonal to us. He didn't want to put his bag underneath the bus but the bus driver was insisting. There were not a lot of people on the bus and the guy said he would like to just leave it in the seat as it had breakables in it but the bus driver wouldn't have it and threw a classic hissy fit about it. Finally the guy relented to the bus driver after the bus driver threatened to call the police. We were not sure what the police would do or if they would even care but the guys bag went under the bus. After we left the bus stop the guy seemed rather shaken so we talked to him for a while and tried to ease his nerves. He was from Alsace and was headed there now. He was coming from Avignon and had been to Marseille and Nice. He said that Avignon was the best and suggested we go there sometime. We got off the bus and got a taxi to the hotel and promptly fell asleep.
Saturday, February 7
We woke up and headed out first thing. We went to the metro and took the D line (just like Boston) to Vieux-Lyon. We exited the metro station and decided to just wander around and see what we find. Just outside of the metro station, on our right, we found a beautiful cathedral. We went inside and looked around the interior. Once we had seen the inside, we left in search of brunch. Lyon's street were largely cobbled and the city was very clean. We walked down an old street until we came to a small brunch restaurant. We both had savory crepes. Carly had a crepe Lorainne and Jeff had a Margherita crepe, which were both delicious and filled our bellies. We found an incredible number of stairs heading upwards and decided not to go up them, but instead turned down a small alley that led to another cathedral and a river. On the other side of the river were many pretty, old buildings. so We decided to cross the river. We went in search of a bridge and found a small foot bridge that walked us into the center of a gorgeous plaza with a large fountain and a towering hotel. We took some pictures and then went in search of gloves for Jeff as his hands were falling off from the cold. While we couldn't find him any gloves for less than 65 euros, we did have a great time going in and out of a bunch of shops. We passed two more cathedrals before we came to a giant square of red sand. There was a large statue, a ferris wheel and a tourist center in this square. We stopped in the tourist center then went to look at the statue up close. The statue was of Louis XIV and what looked to be a god sitting with a lion. Carly sat with the lion and the god and Jeff took her picture. We went from there back across the river and decided to try to hike to the top of the mountain that had a breathtaking castle-like structure on top. We had to take a break half way up since the road was incredibly steep, narrow, and long. It took us a long time to get to the top but when we finally did we found a Gallo-Roman ruin dating back to 55BC. The first recorded image of the site was found in 500 AD and they were ruins then! We found a giant mansion made of stone at the top of the ruins, clearly built many years after the ruins were found. Unfortunately, this building was privately owned and not open to the public. We left the ruins and headed for the castle at the top of the mountain. We finally got to the castle-like structure and found that it was a cathedral called Le Cathedrale de Fourvière. We entered the cathedral and were immediately struck by the beauty of its detail. The inside was covered with ornate carvings and all the walls seemed to be covered with incredible murals. On closer inspection, all of the paintings on the walls turned out to be mosaics. The entire cathedral was covered in mosaics! It was incredible and must have taken many decades to complete. We stayed and looked around Fourvière for about two hours and then took our leave. We went to a store and bought some food and wine along with an etched "Lyon" corkscrew. From there we took a neat, little cable car down the mountain that lowered us right down to the metro station. We wished we had known it was there before we hiked all the way up earlier in the day! We headed back to the hotel and when we arrived, we watched a show called "Long Way Round" about Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman's adventure riding motorcycles east from London to New York City. After an episode, we went to sleep.
The next day, Jeff made a breakfast of eggs and Emmental Rapé (French cheese) and after we went out and explored for a bit. We found the Jacobin Fountain and the square it was located in was pretty cool! It was Sunday and on Sundays in France NOTHING is EVER OPEN. We wandered around some more and found a building that looked like it belonged in Washington D.C.. We crossed a red suspension footbridge and found a medieval store that sold suits of armor, swords and medieval mead. We looked around until we had our fill and then we went to dinner at a pasta bar. Afterwards, we went into a pirate candy store and couldn't help but buy some. We headed to bed early that evening since we had to be up early, at 5AM, to check out and catch our bus. Lyon was a beautiful, exciting and clean city with lots of cute puppies! We both had a phenomenal time there and had a hard time leaving. We decided that Lyon is definitely a city we would like to go back to someday to stay for a longer visit.
Pictures from lyon: http://imgur.com/a/eZq3Q
The next day, Jeff made a breakfast of eggs and Emmental Rapé (French cheese) and after we went out and explored for a bit. We found the Jacobin Fountain and the square it was located in was pretty cool! It was Sunday and on Sundays in France NOTHING is EVER OPEN. We wandered around some more and found a building that looked like it belonged in Washington D.C.. We crossed a red suspension footbridge and found a medieval store that sold suits of armor, swords and medieval mead. We looked around until we had our fill and then we went to dinner at a pasta bar. Afterwards, we went into a pirate candy store and couldn't help but buy some. We headed to bed early that evening since we had to be up early, at 5AM, to check out and catch our bus. Lyon was a beautiful, exciting and clean city with lots of cute puppies! We both had a phenomenal time there and had a hard time leaving. We decided that Lyon is definitely a city we would like to go back to someday to stay for a longer visit.
Pictures from lyon: http://imgur.com/a/eZq3Q
Week Two
Hello everyone,
We are sorry it has taken so long for this blog post to happen. All the forces of the universe have been keeping us from you over the past three weeks so we are going to use this post and the next two in order to catch you up on everything that has been going on!
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Today, we took another bus tour! We met the bus at 8:45AM and headed north into vineyard country. We saw beautiful vineyard homes and chateaus. We both thought that these vineyard homes would make a nice summer retirement home. We got to our first stop which was an 11th century monastery, which we toured for about an hour. The architecture was beautiful and it had the most adorable little, wooden doors. It was interesting to see how the building had aged in such an immense amount of time. From there out buses headed to Cavaillon. It was a very cute, small village with a river running through the center of it and had many waterwheels powering local businesses. We had a delicious lunch at a small restaurant on the river. Carly had a prosciutto, parmesan and mushroom risotto and Jeff had mushroom and cheese raviolis. Both were absolutely delicious! We got dessert a local patisserie. Carly had a meringue and Jeff had a chocolate and a coffee eclair. From there we walked back towards to the bus through the market where Carly saw the hat she had been talking about since we had met. With a little encouragement from Jeff, Carly went and talked to the hat salesman and finally purchased her hat! While Carly was a purchasing her hat, Jeff saw a yellow lab puppy sitting on a german shepherd and was able to take their picture, which made his day. From there, we went to the town La Fontaine de Vaucluse. It is the source of the river in Cavaillon and is known for its hiking. We walked around but other than a near river and a castle ruin that we couldn't get to, there was not much to see or do. After wandering in a park near the river for about an hour, we got back on the buses and headed home.
Monday, February 2, 2015
Today was the unfortunate day that Jeff's phone broke. After the sad incident we quickly took his phone to be repaired. We spent the rest of the day doing homework and preparing for the week of classes ahead.
Pictures for Week two here: http://imgur.com/a/QgmBa
We are sorry it has taken so long for this blog post to happen. All the forces of the universe have been keeping us from you over the past three weeks so we are going to use this post and the next two in order to catch you up on everything that has been going on!
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Today, we took another bus tour! We met the bus at 8:45AM and headed north into vineyard country. We saw beautiful vineyard homes and chateaus. We both thought that these vineyard homes would make a nice summer retirement home. We got to our first stop which was an 11th century monastery, which we toured for about an hour. The architecture was beautiful and it had the most adorable little, wooden doors. It was interesting to see how the building had aged in such an immense amount of time. From there out buses headed to Cavaillon. It was a very cute, small village with a river running through the center of it and had many waterwheels powering local businesses. We had a delicious lunch at a small restaurant on the river. Carly had a prosciutto, parmesan and mushroom risotto and Jeff had mushroom and cheese raviolis. Both were absolutely delicious! We got dessert a local patisserie. Carly had a meringue and Jeff had a chocolate and a coffee eclair. From there we walked back towards to the bus through the market where Carly saw the hat she had been talking about since we had met. With a little encouragement from Jeff, Carly went and talked to the hat salesman and finally purchased her hat! While Carly was a purchasing her hat, Jeff saw a yellow lab puppy sitting on a german shepherd and was able to take their picture, which made his day. From there, we went to the town La Fontaine de Vaucluse. It is the source of the river in Cavaillon and is known for its hiking. We walked around but other than a near river and a castle ruin that we couldn't get to, there was not much to see or do. After wandering in a park near the river for about an hour, we got back on the buses and headed home.
Monday, February 2, 2015
Today was the unfortunate day that Jeff's phone broke. After the sad incident we quickly took his phone to be repaired. We spent the rest of the day doing homework and preparing for the week of classes ahead.
Pictures for Week two here: http://imgur.com/a/QgmBa
Monday, February 9, 2015
Unfortunate Phone Incident
Hello Readers,
The blog for this Saturday will be later this week. Jeff's phone is currently undergoing some serious surgery after a fatal fall from a slippery unlevel table top. Once we get his phone back we will be able to update the blog and pictures.
We can't wait to update you,
Carly & Jeff
The blog for this Saturday will be later this week. Jeff's phone is currently undergoing some serious surgery after a fatal fall from a slippery unlevel table top. Once we get his phone back we will be able to update the blog and pictures.
We can't wait to update you,
Carly & Jeff
Saturday, January 31, 2015
Week One
Week One
Tuesday
Yesterday, we had orientation. It was uneventful as we simply spent the day locating our school buildings, sitting through information sessions on various topics concerning life in France, and meeting other students. Today, we met at La Rotonde and from there we walked to Hotel de Roi Rene where we boarded buses bound for La Ciotat. We sat in the very front of the bus so as to see as much as we could during the trip. When we arrived in La Ciotat it was sunny and seemed warm but when we got off the bus there turned out to be a bitterly cold wind. We walked to the open-air market where we perused until we purchased two clementines, a baguette and some goat cheese, all from local vendors. Buying from a French speaking market was nerve-wracking for Jeff since he had never done that before and his French is not that good. He was surprised at how much French he did know and how he was able to get by with it. After going to the market we walked to a tiny pier with a small park on it and waited until the other students returned to get back on the bus. The buses then took us to a park where we were to have a picnic. The park was beautiful and had wonderful views of cliffs, the Mediterranean, French flora, and small villages. We ate the food we purchased at the market while watching waves break on the cliffs below. We finished our food and sat and chatted for a while before setting off and exploring the park. Carly took many pictures. From the park we got back on the bus and went to the historical Eden Theatre. At the Eden Theatre, the first movie theatre in the world, we watched three short films. The first films was on the history of the theatre, the second was on the history of the Lumiere brothers (who invented the first video camera), and the third was a group of films that had been shown when the theatre was first built. It was very interesting information but when coupled with a dark room, jet lag, and a long day, many of the students were finding it hard to keep their eyes open. We left the theatre and got back on the buses. The buses took us up a beautiful, winding road, that seemed much too small for buses. It showed us many inlet villages along the Mediterranean. We stopped at the top of an incredibly high cliff face where we stayed for just long enough to take pictures. At this point the sun had set and it took the warmth with it. We boarded the buses and got on the highway headed back to Aix-en-Provence. Carly was exhausted and put her head on Jeff's shoulder and promptly fell asleep. Jeff figured he would close his eyes for a bit as well. Next thing he knew, the buses were back in Aix-en-Provence and almost to the drop off point. We got off the bus and headed to our favorite cafe where we enjoyed warm drinks after having been out in the cold all day. Jeff walked Carly to her bus stop and then walked home. We both had dinner and went to bed soon afterwards.
Wednesday
We are both sick! Carly is more sick than Jeff. We ate lunch at a cute, little restaurant where we sat on a couch in the sun. Carly had soup de legumes and Jeff ate Barrata et legumes grilles. Jeff really enjoyed the cheese but didn't enjoy the vegetables because they were cold and had a spice on them that he didn't like. Afterwards, we walked back to the school at our sick, slow pace. We went to "La Cave", a student lounge in the basement of the Manning Building. Carly took a nap while Jeff worked on the blog and researched possible trip locations. At 5 PM we had our first class, Economic Globalization! After class we went to our favorite cafe and had tea. We walked to the bus stop where Carly's host mom, Amira, picked her up.
Thursday
Today was our first full day of classes! We both have very busy Tuesdays and Thursdays and have one class on Wednesday. Carly has no classes Monday or Friday and Jeff only has one class on Friday and none on Monday. We both had doctor's appointments today at 11:30. Carly was given medicine for the flu and Jeff was diagnosed with bronchitis and was prescribed an antibiotic. We went from there to get tea from our favorite cafe. We had our tea and then went home.
Friday
We met at a small Italian Brasserie for lunch. Carly had spaghetti with olive oil, basil and cheese and Jeff had a pizza de trois frommage with gorgonzola, goat cheese and mozzarella with fresh tomatoes. Jeff ate the whole pizza by himself! Jeff started to feel a bit better today but Carly was still having a hard time so we found a nice seat in the sun and relaxed for a while. It was incredibly windy and the wind was very cold so being outside for long was very unpleasant. Eventually we ended up back at our favorite cafe where we talked and had tea until Jeff walked Carly to her bus stop, got her on her bus, and walked home. We both ate dinner and went to bed.
Saturday
Today we both slept in! Then we met at Carly's bus stop. It was very warm and sunny today with almost no wind so we took advantage of the nice weather and walked around town. We had dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant right across the street from our favorite cafe. Carly had french onion soup (In France:)) and Jeff had lasagna mediterrano. The food was delicious! We walked around for a while more then headed home.
To see pictures from our adventures this week, follow this link:
http://imgur.com/a/RDfJY
That is all for this week,
Carly Ward & Jeff Popek
Tuesday
Yesterday, we had orientation. It was uneventful as we simply spent the day locating our school buildings, sitting through information sessions on various topics concerning life in France, and meeting other students. Today, we met at La Rotonde and from there we walked to Hotel de Roi Rene where we boarded buses bound for La Ciotat. We sat in the very front of the bus so as to see as much as we could during the trip. When we arrived in La Ciotat it was sunny and seemed warm but when we got off the bus there turned out to be a bitterly cold wind. We walked to the open-air market where we perused until we purchased two clementines, a baguette and some goat cheese, all from local vendors. Buying from a French speaking market was nerve-wracking for Jeff since he had never done that before and his French is not that good. He was surprised at how much French he did know and how he was able to get by with it. After going to the market we walked to a tiny pier with a small park on it and waited until the other students returned to get back on the bus. The buses then took us to a park where we were to have a picnic. The park was beautiful and had wonderful views of cliffs, the Mediterranean, French flora, and small villages. We ate the food we purchased at the market while watching waves break on the cliffs below. We finished our food and sat and chatted for a while before setting off and exploring the park. Carly took many pictures. From the park we got back on the bus and went to the historical Eden Theatre. At the Eden Theatre, the first movie theatre in the world, we watched three short films. The first films was on the history of the theatre, the second was on the history of the Lumiere brothers (who invented the first video camera), and the third was a group of films that had been shown when the theatre was first built. It was very interesting information but when coupled with a dark room, jet lag, and a long day, many of the students were finding it hard to keep their eyes open. We left the theatre and got back on the buses. The buses took us up a beautiful, winding road, that seemed much too small for buses. It showed us many inlet villages along the Mediterranean. We stopped at the top of an incredibly high cliff face where we stayed for just long enough to take pictures. At this point the sun had set and it took the warmth with it. We boarded the buses and got on the highway headed back to Aix-en-Provence. Carly was exhausted and put her head on Jeff's shoulder and promptly fell asleep. Jeff figured he would close his eyes for a bit as well. Next thing he knew, the buses were back in Aix-en-Provence and almost to the drop off point. We got off the bus and headed to our favorite cafe where we enjoyed warm drinks after having been out in the cold all day. Jeff walked Carly to her bus stop and then walked home. We both had dinner and went to bed soon afterwards.
Wednesday
We are both sick! Carly is more sick than Jeff. We ate lunch at a cute, little restaurant where we sat on a couch in the sun. Carly had soup de legumes and Jeff ate Barrata et legumes grilles. Jeff really enjoyed the cheese but didn't enjoy the vegetables because they were cold and had a spice on them that he didn't like. Afterwards, we walked back to the school at our sick, slow pace. We went to "La Cave", a student lounge in the basement of the Manning Building. Carly took a nap while Jeff worked on the blog and researched possible trip locations. At 5 PM we had our first class, Economic Globalization! After class we went to our favorite cafe and had tea. We walked to the bus stop where Carly's host mom, Amira, picked her up.
Thursday
Today was our first full day of classes! We both have very busy Tuesdays and Thursdays and have one class on Wednesday. Carly has no classes Monday or Friday and Jeff only has one class on Friday and none on Monday. We both had doctor's appointments today at 11:30. Carly was given medicine for the flu and Jeff was diagnosed with bronchitis and was prescribed an antibiotic. We went from there to get tea from our favorite cafe. We had our tea and then went home.
Friday
We met at a small Italian Brasserie for lunch. Carly had spaghetti with olive oil, basil and cheese and Jeff had a pizza de trois frommage with gorgonzola, goat cheese and mozzarella with fresh tomatoes. Jeff ate the whole pizza by himself! Jeff started to feel a bit better today but Carly was still having a hard time so we found a nice seat in the sun and relaxed for a while. It was incredibly windy and the wind was very cold so being outside for long was very unpleasant. Eventually we ended up back at our favorite cafe where we talked and had tea until Jeff walked Carly to her bus stop, got her on her bus, and walked home. We both ate dinner and went to bed.
Saturday
Today we both slept in! Then we met at Carly's bus stop. It was very warm and sunny today with almost no wind so we took advantage of the nice weather and walked around town. We had dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant right across the street from our favorite cafe. Carly had french onion soup (In France:)) and Jeff had lasagna mediterrano. The food was delicious! We walked around for a while more then headed home.
To see pictures from our adventures this week, follow this link:
http://imgur.com/a/RDfJY
That is all for this week,
Carly Ward & Jeff Popek
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Two Days In
Hello Readers,
We are in our homes in France, safe
and comfortable. The journey was an adventure to say the least. The first plane
ride was long and we arrived in Paris in about 6 hours and 45 minutes. Upon
landing neither of us could get our French phones to work. Jeff later got his
to work with calling and messaging but is still unable to use data and Carly's
phone does not work at all. We sat for a few minutes trying to discover the
phone problem but could not seem to figure it out. So, we continued on to our
next gate in the airport to fly to Marseille. We had to go through customs and
security again to get to our gate, then, when we finally got close to our gate,
there was a giant group of people standing in the way lining up to board their plane.
Carly and I trudge through this massive crowd only to find that Carly's neck
pillow had been lost in the crowd. Carly walked back to where the crowd once
was and luckily found the pillow without any fuss. We boarded our next plane
and headed to Marseille. Upon landing Carly and I again tried to fix our phones
with no luck. We headed out of our gate and were quickly ambushed by the host
families. My host family met me at the airport and met Carly. I left with my
host family and we headed out of the airport.
Jeff’s Host Family
My host family consists
of a Mother(Torya) and a son(Nassim). They both seem very kind and
accommodating. Torya does not speak much English at all but makes do with
gestures and showing what she is trying to say. Nassim's English is much better
and we can almost always understand each other. My host home is located about a
15-minute’s walk from the center of Aix-en-Provence and is a small flat. I have
my own bedroom and share a bathroom with the Nassim and Torya. So far everything
is going fine in the living situations. I have had some typical jet-lag
problems but other than that everything is great.
Carly’s Host Family
My host family consists of a mother,
named Amira, and a son who is 29 years old and a daughter who is 22. I am also
living with another student from Massachusetts! Her name is Danielle and she is
from Springfield, MA. She attends Western New England College in Springfield.
She is very nice and we get along very well. The daughter no longer lives at
home but the son recently moved back in. Amira speaks English very well and
also speaks Arabic! She is originally from Iraq and moved to France about
twenty years ago. So I will be able to practice both my French and Arabic with
her. My host family’s house is located about a 45-minute’s walk from the center
of Aix-en-Provence so I will be taking the bus. I have to walk about 5 minutes
to the bus stop. From there it is only a 5-minute bus ride and then another
ten-minute walk to school. I share a bathroom with her and my host brother.
Besides my phone not working, this has been a wonderful experience so far. My
host family is very nice and the town of Aix is just lovely.
Sunday: We woke up had breakfast with
our host families. Jeff had two bananas and Carly’s host mother made her toast
with peach jam. After breakfast with our families we met up near the school. We
spent the early afternoon walking the town, seeing the sights, and catching up
on what each other’s nights had been like. We shared with each other all the exciting
new things we had seen the night before and what each other’s host homes and
families were like. Carly had a crepe with Nutella and bananas for lunch and I
shared a few bites with her. We are both finding that we are much more thirsty
than we normally would be at home because of the difference in elevation. At 4
pm we had our first meet and greet at the school. There are only 250 students
at our school! Carly and I probably met and talked to only about 20 so far. One
group we talked to discussed traveling on weekends and long weekends together
and decided that we would look at possibly doing that together sometime soon.
After the meet and greet Carly and I wandered Aix for a little bit longer then
sat down and had some tea at a small café. We sat there and just chatted and
unwound after a hectic and stressful couple of days. We drank our tea and
headed out. Jeff walked Carly to the bus station where her host mother had said
she would pick her up at 7. From there Jeff walked home. It was a chilly ten-minute
walk and the lights that lined his street were not on, however, he made it home
safely and he ate dinner. Jeff’s dinner consisted of sliced potatoes, pan fried
with mushrooms and eggs, topped with pesto sauce. Then for dessert Jeff had
Apple tarts. Both meals were delicious. Carly had a delicious salad with
mushrooms, hard-boiled eggs, and tomatoes with sliced turkey and a baguette
with cream cheese to go with it. For dessert she had ice cream with a small
piece of chocolate and vanilla cake.
To see Pictures of this week follow
the link bellow.
http://imgur.com/a/Q0UgE
That’s for this week. We hope you all
are having a great time wherever you are and we hope you will continue to check
up on our most recent blog post every Saturday!
Until next time,
Jeff Popek and Carly Ward
Monday, January 19, 2015
We are off soon!
Hello Readers,
Carly and I will be writing this blog for friends and family who are interested in following our adventures and studies in France and throughout other parts of Europe. We will do our best to update it every Saturday morning with what we have done, what we are doing, and what we plan to do. We will try to keep the blog exciting and full of pictures!
Carly and I leave for Aix-en-Provence, in the south of France, this Friday, the 23rd of January where we will be studying at IAU College until May 17th. We are staying with host families and we have received their addresses but as of right now that is all the information we have about our hosts. We fly out of Boston at 8pm and land at Charles De Gaulle in Paris at 8:35am, we then fly from there to Marseille to then catch a shuttle to IAU College. There we will meet our host families and, after, go to our homes abroad for the first time. The following days will consist of familiarizing ourselves to our new environment. The Monday after we arrive we will attend orientation with other international students that are attending IAU College. The day after, Tuesday, we begin classes. We will update you with hopefully more exciting news once we are there.
Thats all for this week,
Carly Ward and Jeff Popek
Carly and I will be writing this blog for friends and family who are interested in following our adventures and studies in France and throughout other parts of Europe. We will do our best to update it every Saturday morning with what we have done, what we are doing, and what we plan to do. We will try to keep the blog exciting and full of pictures!
Carly and I leave for Aix-en-Provence, in the south of France, this Friday, the 23rd of January where we will be studying at IAU College until May 17th. We are staying with host families and we have received their addresses but as of right now that is all the information we have about our hosts. We fly out of Boston at 8pm and land at Charles De Gaulle in Paris at 8:35am, we then fly from there to Marseille to then catch a shuttle to IAU College. There we will meet our host families and, after, go to our homes abroad for the first time. The following days will consist of familiarizing ourselves to our new environment. The Monday after we arrive we will attend orientation with other international students that are attending IAU College. The day after, Tuesday, we begin classes. We will update you with hopefully more exciting news once we are there.
Thats all for this week,
Carly Ward and Jeff Popek
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