As we approach the last day of my time abroad, and what will be long journey home, I want to take some time to share with you a few 'take homes' I've had while living abroad these past eight months. Let me start by first saying that I am by no means this girl who has been changed for the better and is now a global citizen of the world. There was no revelation nor a turning point in my journey. I was however, greatly and deeply shaped by this entire opportunity, and I can say with certainty that I've learned to take a step back, reflect and open my mind to the world around me. The point of this post is not to 'brag' or 'boast' about my time here. I am beyond humbled by it all. Instead, I want to share what has resonated with me and what I plan to bring back to Canada in my day to day life. Reflection is a powerful tool, as I've learned. So, here goes nothing! Empathy Vs. Sympathy “Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” – Maya Angelou This first one has been a real eye opener for me while traveling and experiencing new cultures. As humans, it is far too easy for us to compare our own culture to another and to be sympathetic, especially if you are viewing another country as "third world" or "developing". (Not that I'm a fan of either of these titles, but let's roll with them for now). Now, I want to ask you a couple questions... What do you think of when you hear the word sympathy? For me, it's not always positive. Feeling sorry for someone, having pity on someone, or just plain old feeling bad for someone else because they've had a rough go. I have come to dislike this word and what it stands for. I don't believe we should ever feel sorry for anyone, or feel bad for them. Instead, should we not come to understand their trials and tribulations and give them a helping hand however we can? What good does feeling bad for them do? Now, what do you think of when you hear the word empathy? For me, it's much more active. When I was younger, I was always told that empathy was the ability to walk in someone else's shoes. Now, it's much deeper than that for me. I view it as the ability to come into another person's life and truly understand them. Understand who they are, what the believe, why they do/say/believe the things they do, and appreciate them for who they are. Nothing more and nothing less. I truly believe that empathy is a powerful way for us to be in relation with one another. If we have empathy, we have an open mind to not just hear, but listen to other people and let them share their stories with us, and then for us to do the same with them. In a way, it's a means for us to educate one another in our day to day life, and I strongly believe that education is our strongest tool against hate, ignorance, and the many other cruelties of the world. Defining what it means to be a "Global Citizen" “Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” ― Terry Pratchett Again, I have by no means exhausted the definition of "global citizen" after this exchange. I believe this takes an entire lifetime, and I may never come to a finite conclusion... But maybe that's the point? If we spend an entire lifetime actively communicating with, sharing among, and listening to the many beautiful people in the world around us, then I feel like we might come that much closer to fulfilling our life's purpose. To understand is to appreciate, in my opinion. It is to think openly and respectfully. It is to be empathetic. By putting yourself out there and taking the time to truly get to know someone else, you are exercising what it means to be a globally-minded individual. Just because I went on exchange does not mean I am a global citizen. Yet, I do feel that I have been afforded the opportunity to become a more globally-minded individual, and that is exactly what I want to bring back to Canada with me. Now, let me be clear. Actively being a "global citizen" doesn't mean traveling just to check countries off your list, or to feel like you've made a difference in someone else's life. I think that's egotistical and self-focused. White savior complex is real. I encourage everyone to be mindful of that. And don't worry... I'll explain what I mean by that later ;) I've come to understand that it's not just about you. It's about you AND the world around you, and how you can (and should) be in relation with it and make connections. It is also realizing what you can bring back home with you. It is understanding how you can help shape your own life and the lives of others that you surround yourself with. Knowledge has the potential to be powerful, and knowing what to do with said knowledge (such as these experiences I have had while on exchange) is wisdom, so long as you decide to actively practice it. Mindfulness“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” – James Michener The last one, in my opinion, is by far the most important. I want to describe what mindfulness means to me and what I've discovered it to be while living abroad. To start things off, I believe that mindfulness is being conscientious of your thoughts, words and actions. It is opening your mind to the world around you and taking it all in step by step. It is not simply being 'open-minded', although that, too, is important. It is allowing yourself to remain impartial and judgement free of every new person you meet. It is letting them tell you their story and you acknowledging it. One of my professors back home in Canada strongly encouraged all of us to learn how to say "thank you" in the language of the country we are traveling to and/or in the home language of the people we are interacting with. It is these small efforts that can make a world of difference and truly show your appreciation towards another human being. I've been trying to do this more and more, even though sometimes I have no clue how to pronounce it. That doesn't matter though. What does matter is that you are trying. You are being considerate, respectful and mindful of the culture you have been invited into, even if you are a tourist. It's demonstrating to others that you don't wish to take advantage of them nor their home. As tourists, we are all guests in someone else's home. It is important to remain mindful of that. Mindfulness is also living in the moment. This has been extremely important to me while traveling around. It is so easy for us to get ahead of ourselves, and that is something I personally struggle with. Sometimes, I feel like I am rushing through life just to check items of my list of things to do, and I forget to take a moment to appreciate everything going on around me. As we traveled through different cities, I found it incredibly important to take a minute every so often to just stop and appreciate the beauty and wonder of whatever place I was in. I also found that keeping an (almost) daily journal super helpful in my day to day reflections. It helped me remain mindful and present to my quickly passing experiences, and it is something I strongly encourage everyone else to try! I plan on reading my journal on my plane ride home tomorrow, and I am so excited to see where my journey began and how far I've come. So, even though that doesn't even begin to sum up my experiences, I hope it provides you with some food for thought, and maybe it will challenge you to come up with your own definitions of what these three things mean to you. All I know is that this exchange has encouraged me to think in ways I never thought possible. I see the importance, the need, to make connection with every new person I meet, despite how brief it may be. At the end of the day, we all live on this world together, so why not take the time to get to know your neighbours, however near or far they may be.
Now that school is officially done with for the year, I decided to stay in Europe for another month to travel before heading back to Canada. Summer vacation got off on the right foot with a two and a half week trip across six countries that border the Adriatic Sea: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania and Greece. I guess you could also call it a bit of a Balkan trip, as we hit up a good chunk of the Balkan geographical regions. Some people include Greece's mainland as part of the Balkans, while others do not. So, you can have your pick. Nevertheless, my roommate, cousin, and I were nothing but excited to embark on this final adventure together. La Mer Adriatique - le 22 avril au 9 mai 2018 Slovénie First stop was Ljubljana (Lyooblyana), Slovenia. We survived the 13 hour bus ride and happy to report that there were hardly any hiccups along the way and minimal motion sickness! A great way to start off the trip. We spent our first couple days in the country's capital. It reminded me of a medieval village with all of its mythological dragons situated across the city, including on the famous Dragon Bridge. Legend has it that Jason and his argonauts defeated the first dragon in Ljubljana and became the first citizens of the city, which is why the dragon has become an important symbol for them. We also walked up to the castle which had some great views, but nothing like watching the sunset across the city from the skyscraper tower. Wow. Breathtaking! Since the city isn't overwhelmingly large, we took a day trip out to Lake Bled, and we were so glad that we did. It was very picturesque with beautiful walking and hiking trails. Although our original intention wasn't to go hiking for the day, that's what it soon turned into as we climbed a 500+ m ascent to the most stunning lookout point I have seen yet! Good thing we packed some Bureks (traditional Slovenian pastry) and Radlers ;) What I loved most about Lake Bled was how connected with nature it was. It's great to see all of these metropolitan cities, and it's also lovely to escape and be surrounded by nature once in a while. Slovenia has provided the perfect mix for that! Later that night, we went to look at some old abandoned buildings filled with graffiti and abstract art. I have no words to describe it - the pictures say it all. Then we went out for supper, which consisted of potatoes and sausage along with sour red wine (Cvićek) and layered poppyseed, apple, raisin and walnut pastry (Prekmurska Gibanica). The perfect way to wrap up our first country! CroatieOur first day in Croatia mostly consisted of us settling into our hostel and becoming familiar with the area we were staying in. Our hostel was right next to the world's shortest funicular (a 62 second ride), which meant we were in between Old Town and the newer part of the city. Zagreb has a very metropolitan feel to it in the new area. It kind of reminded me of Toronto. Old Town had a much more medieval feel to it - think Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. We had some fun that evening, as we decided to try some local craft beer. Although I'm not a huge beer drinker myself, the one Zmajska Pivovara wasn't so bad. It even had two dragons on its label, making it that much more authentic ;) The next day, we went on a walking tour of the city so we could learn a bit more about the major areas. Fun fact: they shoot a canon every day at noon, like they do in Nice, but for a different reason. Croatia used to be divided by two different time zones, so a canon was shot to signify the common local time. One of my favourite buildings along the tour was St. Mark's Church. I absolutely loved the roof! It is made out of the most expensive ceramic tiles that com from Hungary, and they are weather proof. It had a picture of the country and the city's coat of arms on, which made it quite the colourful sight. We also went on our own walking tour later of a park on our way to see the art pavilion. The pavilion was a colour of yellow I had never before seen in architecture. We also went up to the Zagreb 360 viewpoint tower that evening, but we couldn't see the sunset because of the clouds unfortunately. Still quite the view, despite the crazy wind! We concluded the night off with a ride up the funicular to see the Old Town lanterns lit up at night. Bosnie-HerzégovineAfter a nine hour bus ride that was supposed to be six, we had arrived in Mostar. We were dropped off at the wrong bus stop, but at least we had made it! By this time, it was the late evening, so after meeting our lovely hostel host and getting settled in, we made our way to the restaurant Tima Irma for a traditional Bosnian meat platter, and I was instantly in love - talk about garlic! The owner was delightful as well, and a friend of the hostel owner, so she gave us some Mostar beers to take back with us. If you ever travel to Mostar, I would seriously recommend Taso Guest House. Taso grew up in Mostar and lived through much of the war before it ended in 1995, so he was able to share so much of its history with us. The following day, Taso took us out on a tour of the surrounding Herzegovina region, which makes up around 30% of the entire country. We started off in Blagej to see a natural spring along the river Buna. We also saw the medieval village of Pocitelj, and also the largest waterfalls in the country at Kravica. We even had the chance to take a dip in the water, and it was by no means warm - refreshing is a good way to describe it ;) Something else unique we saw was Tito's bunker, which was a secret airplane hideout during the Yugoslavian wars. We drove through the bunker in the mountains, and that was something else! We also drove up to a lookout point where they recently hung their flag in honour of their independence. The evening was concluded with a BBQ at the hostel with all of the new friends we made, and followed by some drinks at a local bar. We are definitely going to miss the hospitality we experienced! We spent the morning of April 29th in Mostar before leaving for Kotor at noon - another road trip for us! During the morning, we went to try Bosnian coffee at Cafe Del Alma and have the brewing process explained to us, as well as given suggestions on how to consume coffee as the locals do. Mostar really provided us with a personal experience of Bosnian life and culture. Monténégro Once we arrived in Kotor, courtesy of our private driver arranged through the hostel in Mostar, we were instantly in love with the medieval feel of Old Town, which is surrounded by stone walls like a fortress. The hostel we stayed at here used to be a palace! It didn't take us long to walk around Old Town - you can walk from one end to the other in six minutes. Such a charming vibe to it, and again so different than all the other cities we had seen. Supper was at Scala Santa, where we treated ourselves to a lovely meal and some wine. I ordered Adriatic Sea bass with vegetables. It was the first time I had Mediterranean food while on this trip, and it was delicious! The next day, we woke up early, but were rather disappointed to learn that the hiking trails are only free before 7am - we got there just after. Our original plan was to hike up to the top of a couple lookout points while it was still cool enough in the morning to capture some views of the town. Instead, we walked down to the port to enjoy the crisp morning air long the water. Later on, we took a day trip to Budva, situated just up the coastline, to explore (since Kotor is quite small itself). We had a pizza lunch there at a local pub where we tried lemonade made from Montenegrin lemons. More tart than I was expecting, but quite refreshing on such a hot day. We had to cool off once we got to Kotor, so we hit up a small beach where we snagged a cabana and some cold drinks for a lovely afternoon along the water. We are truly in paradise! AlbanieWe survived another bus ride. This time to Tirana, Albania, with minimal problems crossing the border thankfully. Our passports are quickly filling up with stamps! Along the way, we met some fellow exchange students from the US and Finland. They were all studying in Strasbourg for the semester, and we ended up spending the evening with them in Tirana walking around and seeing the surprisingly small city centre. It consisted of mostly a centre square with a few museums, statues and churches. We actually saw an Orthodox Church; I found it incredibly stunning with all of its mosaic art incorporated into the architecture. We also saw a "pyramid" from the former communist regime and enjoyed some of the parks. The evening continued with some very affordable Albanian cuisine, local wine, and some social time on a rooftop terrace of a neighbouring hostel. We took our second day in Albania very easy. Walked around Tirana, went to a BunkArt museum to learn about the fairly recent communist gendarmes, found a cafe to try an Albanian drink at (think warm pudding with cinnamon - I can't seem to remember the name), and then by 1pm we were off to Gjirokastra! Getting to our bus was a new experience; the bus station was full of drivers trying to persuade us to get on their bus, even if it wasn't our intended destination. Luckily, we managed to find the right bus and make it to Gjirokaster. Then, we walked up the steepest hill to get to Old Town, where we found our hostel - the cutest one yet! Stone City Hostel truly felt like home the moment we walked in. We had supper at Taverna Kuka and tried fried rice balls (qifqi) and milk/fig pudding (oshaf), both of which are very traditional dishes. The sunset was beautiful on the outdoor patio, and we had the sweetest waiter which made for a great first evening. The second day at Gjirokastra was a little cooler temperature wise, and the afternoon and evening brought us some rain. We did get to do a couple of things in the Old Town before we got caught in the rain. First, we toured a traditional house: the Skënduli house. The owner is an elderly man who lived here with his family before it was taken over by the communist regime. It's been in his family for 9 generations, so there was quite an extensive history behind it. We also toured the castle and a couple museums on the inside, which included the old prison cells. I'm not going to lie... it was a powerful experience. On the flip side, the views from the top and the exterior of the castle were both gorgeous. It truly is the city of stone. Grèce We arrived in Athens in the early evening just in time to meet up with some friends to watch the sunset next to the Acropolis. Crazy enough, the same exchange group from Strasbourg was also in Athens at the same time as us, plus one addition, so we took this as a good excuse to meet up and take in the breathtaking sights of Athens. Sunsets had become a theme of their trip, and we were more than happy to join in! ;) We ran into some rain the next day, which didn't stop us from having a good time. The morning was spent at the Acropolis museum (free for students), and that was unfortunately all the dry time we had. I've really come to appreciate how much the Ancient Greeks worshiped their gods through temples and sculptures. The Parthenon only took fifteen years to build, and some European Cathedrals took hundreds! I'm not as big of a history buff as the rest of them, and I still find that all so fascinating. In the afternoon, we hit up a small and local craft beer festival and spent the afternoon playing cards, chatting and enjoying some down time together. I tried Baklava, a Greek pastry dessert, and no complaints here. We kept on the traditional Greek food theme at a local restaurant where I had Zucchini Fritters, which contained onion, egg, herbs and obviously zucchini inside a crispy fried batter. It was a night of delicious food with even better company. Meeting like-minded individuals while traveling, who have also shared the experience of studying abroad, is ridiculously refreshing. We had some of the best conversations I have had in a while. I know it may be hard to believe, but you can form meaningful relationships faster than you think while traveling, and that's what I love about it all! It was refreshing to hear the phrase "it's all a mindset" from this group because, when it comes down to it, you have the choice to determine your outlook on any given situation. This is extremely important while traveling, because it is so easy to be pessimistic and let things get the best of you. Thanks for the reminder, guys! :) The next day, we hit up two major tourist spots: the Acropolis itself and the Olympic Stadium. They were both nearly unbelievable to see. To think that how many years ago, dating back to nearly 500 BC, these buildings were fully functional and fully standing. Yet, much of them still remain today. Mind boggling really! They have truly stood the test of time and war. My favourite part had to be Athena's temple. It was a simplistic design, but there was nothing simple about its detail. Seeing as Athens was named after her, and Athena being the daughter of Zeus, she was a highly worshiped god of the Ancient Greek times, and this temple was built in her honour. Talk about girl power! Our fourth day in Athens was spent on a small cruise ship touring three close by islands: Hydra, Poros and Aegina. It was my first time on a cruise, even though it was only for one day. I think I could get used to the cruise life though ;) We only spent a couple hours at each island, seeing as they were smaller and we were hitting up three in one day. Thankfully, we never felt rushed, and they kept a very tight schedule. The only downside to cruises is the price while you're on board. We managed to see some beautiful sights and even saw some dolphins swimming alongside the boat for a brief moment. It's the little moments like that one that truly make you stop and appreciate the beauty and wonder of the world we live in. To sum up what we learned while on the islands, the colours of the Greek flag (white and blue) represent the sky and water, and the one island, Hydra, translates to water. Hydra is the island of almonds and no motorized vehicles (they use donkeys and horses), Poros is a small and quaint island, and Aegina is the island of pistachios. We enjoyed some tasty pistachio ice cream, and I bought some nuts to take home and "share". Lol. It was an enjoyable day learning more and more about the Greek culture and coming to appreciate the pride they have in even the smallest of communities. The final day of our trip was nothing overly exciting. We stopped by the University, the Academy, Parliament and the National Gardens on our way to some tourist shops where we spent the majority of our afternoon. I also bought myself some new summer clothes, and my roomy got some unreal wedge sandals for 10 euros. What can we say... once a shopper, always a shopper. ;) We also treated our feet to some pedicures after seventeen days of walking around the Balkan countries and Greece. I also got a fish treatment, where you stick your feet into a fish tank and they nibble away all your dead skin. I highly recommend it, as freaky as it sounds! Aside from that, our two and a half week trip and come to an end, and the next day it was back to Nice So, after 18 days of traveling and a minor, shall we say, "hiccup" on our return, we finally made it back to Nice! My cousin and I are staying here until next Wednesday when we return to Canada, while my roommate gets to enjoy the beauty of Nice for another month yet - kinda jealous! I am still in shock about how quickly this entire study abroad has passed by! I'm sure we will be able to fill our time with the list of things I have yet to do before returning to my life back home. Hopefully we can squeeze in some time to be "typical tourists" and soak up some final rays on the beach. :)
And just like that... school's out for summer! This past Wednesday, our exchange group wrote our last exam together, and now we are free to either return back to Canada or stay in Nice to travel around for a bit more before we head back to reality. All in all, it was a great year at our faculty, even though we had some bumps along the way. It was an entirely new experience, and we had no idea what to expect coming into it all. I can say that I've learned that the marking system is much different than it is in Canada (an 8/20 is a pass), there is a lot more expected of you individually in all of your classes, and because tuition prices are much lower than they are in Canada, the French students have a more relaxed mentality when it comes to school. I can also say that my French has greatly improved, and that I feel far more comfortable conversing in my day to day life en français. Part of me wishes I could stay here for longer to further immerse myself, but I am also ready to go back home for the summer. One piece of advice for anyone thinking of going on exchange: keep an open mind and be perspective - not perceptive. What I mean by that is to empathize with others. Allow yourself to come to understand their culture. Even though it may be different than your own, and you may think some of the things they do are crazy, bizarre, weird, etc, just remember that they probably think us Canadians are just as weird for some of the things we do. That has been a huge take home for me. Of course, after all of our exams were wrapped up, and we could officially call it the end of the school year, our prof invited us over to his place with his wife for a final soirée - just like we did at Christmas and the beginning of the school year! It was a lovely evening of celebrating over some food and wine. I have been so fortunate to have spent such an incredible eight months abroad with such an inspiring group of young minds. I am so happy to have met each and every single one of them, and also for our professor and his wife for being so welcoming and opening up their home to us. I think it's safe to say that I am going to miss seeing all of these beautiful faces every day at school... Best of luck to everyone as we move forward in the future, whether near or far from one another! Ma Famille me rende visite - Le 18 avril au 22 avril 2018 After my exams were all finished, my family came to visit me in Nice for a few days. My parents had been on a bus tour of Italy and Paris since the beginning of April, and then made their way down to the sunny south. I think it's safe to say that we all stayed out of trouble, but we sure had a lot of fun together. Dad showed up in his Hawaiian t-shirt, they bought an obnoxious florescent pink shirt for me in Capri, and we all had matching Canadian gear for a family photo along the sea. Wouldn't have it any other way though! They also bought me some new sunglasses from Italy, because apparently I have a tendency to lose mine... We spent Thursday walking along Jean Médecin and doing some "light" shopping, and then we picked up my cousin at the train station later that afternoon! She had been traveling around France since the beginning of April, so of course it made sense for us to all meet up and do some traveling together. Best part is, she has the same return flight to Canada as me - so she's stuck with me for quite some time now ;) The second day we went on a choo-choo train ride around Nice, as mom called it. Basically, it consisted of these small trains that drove us around the main areas in Nice: Masséna, Old Town, the Port, and the Château where we stopped for 15 minutes for pictures. For lunch, we went to Old Town for some Niçois food, which then meant that Dad needed some gelato once he saw that was an option! We spent the afternoon relaxing, and then had supper at the Hard Rock Cafe. It was my family's first time there, so buying souvenirs was a must! Our train ride tickets had coupons for free ice cream at the Hard Rock on the back, which was really the main reason we decided to go there in the first place. That, and everyone was craving burgers! On our last day together, we spent some time at the beach soaking up the sun and relaxing in the (chilly but refreshing) water. We also had a final supper together at one of our favourite go-to restaurants here in Nice, La Pizza Cresci. We all had our fair share of pasta (and wine!). It was a really lovely way to end off our past few days together. I am so happy and fortunate to have spent this time with my family while on exchange :) L'Université de NiceWe also spent one evening visiting my University, Campus Carlone Faculté des Lettres. It was a short visit, as the campus is quite small, but it was a great chance for me to get a few final pics in my uni swag! Hard to believe that evening was likely the last time I will have visited the faculty... L'AppartementShowing my family around Nice these past few days also made me realize that I hadn't shared any photos of my apartment yet, so... Bienvenue chez moi et ma coloc! It's a simple two bedroom apartment, with a kitchen and living room and a balcony. My roommate found it by accident on Appartager, but we are both so happy that she stumbled across it! La Vue We live right on La Promenade des Anglais, which is the main road here in Nice right along the water. So, we are quite lucky that we get to wake up to this view from our balcony every morning! It's a great place to enjoy breakfast while you mentally prepare yourself for the day ahead. So that wraps up my time spent with my family here in Nice! Just like these past eight months, my time with them has flown by. The last thing we have planned before I return back to Canada is our two and a half week trip to the Adriatic Sea, where we are passing through five countries on our way down to Greece. We just confirmed our travel plans, and I cannot wait to embark on this last adventure tonight!
Bon voyage à nous! It is finally starting to warm up here in Nice, with lots of sunshine filled days! It's feeling more and more like the tropical city it was when I first arrived here in September. Crazy how time is flying! It truly feels like we just started our second semester, but it's been seven months since we arrived here in August/September. Seven incredible, action-packed months, to say the least! Last week, since it was Easter, our exchange group decided to get together to have a small potluck dinner. There was lasagna, pasta salad, quiche and even crêpes! (As if I haven't eaten enough of those already...) It is sad to think that this could have been one of our last soirées together. Side note... it was really hard for us to get a nice photo together... My roommate and I took one night to go for a little walk along the promenade as the sun was setting. The sky was breathtaking! It was a great moment for us to really take it all in. This has been our home for seven months. We have had to privilege of waking up to this amazing view every day. It is something we tend to look past and take for granted, but I know we are going to miss it once we leave. Since the beach weather returned last weekend, we took some time to soak up the sun with everyone. Some time on the beach, some time on our friend's roof... ;) It was an excuse for me to whip out my shades and sun hat. I was a happy camper! Saint-Tropez et La Corniche D'Or - le 7 avril 2018 Our day trip to Saint-Tropez was the last one organized by UNIA at the University, and it was one to remember. The weather was beautiful, the scenery was astonishing, and la corniche was simply stunning. We started off in Saint-Maxine where we took a boat over to Saint-Tropez, and it was a bit of a wavy ride at first. Good thing I don't get motion sick on boats and could enjoy the ride, because it was gorgeous! We were able to see the coast lines and all of le beau paysage along the way. For the remainder of the morning and early afternoon, we enjoyed a nice walk around the city. It was small and quaint, but a busy little hot spot. The outdoor market we went to was packed! Glad we got to go, because I got a killer deal on sandals and some swim wear. Once a shopper, always a shopper. I swear it wasn't my intention to spend money, but c'est la vie! We also go the chance to go to the Musée de l'Annonciade. It featured collections of art work from 1890 and 1950 from painters such as Cross, Matisse, Derain, and Marquet. Some of the pieces of art were of the pointillist movement, meaning they were made up of tiny dots that created a beautiful picture when you stand back and look at it from a distance. Before we left, we had time for a quick photo shoot down at the port. Four of us were wearing black jackets, so that obviously meant that we had to get photo evidence of that. Not to mention, we had a couple tricks up our sleeves that we wanted to document ;) pun intended! The ride home was probably the most stunning part of the day. We traveled along La Corniche d'Or during golden hour and stopped twice for some photos. One stop was just outside of Saint-Raphaël and the second at Forêt Domaniale de l'Estérel Saint-Raphaël. It was exquisite! Biot et Haut-de-Cagnes - Le 9 avril 2018 On Monday, we embarked on a day trip to the West Coast, organized by our Canadian Prof. Monday's outing was likely the last of them all, since this is our last full week of classes and next week are exams. I can hardly believe that it is the end of the semester already! It was a great way to wrap things up though - we all had a hoot! We took the bus to Biot, where we spent the morning doing a walking tour of the village and then visited a glass museum, La Verrerie. We even got to watch them blowing glass, which was such a neat experience and something I had never seen before. I could have watched them do it all day long! Biot is a post medieval village, very similar to Èze, but on the other side of Nice. I loved its simplicity. To me, that is sometimes more beautiful than the gaudy architecture we have seen in other European cities. The afternoon was spent at Cagnes-sur-Mer, but more precisely the Haut de Cagnes, the more elevated part of Cagnes. It was stunning nonetheless! We ate at the cutest little restaurant here, Le Village, where I had moules frites (mussels and fries) for the first time. I could definitely eat it again. We also visited the Château Grimaldi. At the top of the castle, there was a breathtaking panoramic view of Cagnes-sur-Mer. We could see the Nice airport and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat to the East from up there. It was lovely! Later on, before we concluded the day with a quick walk down the village, we took some time to play la pétanque with the group. Unfortunately, our team lost, but it was definitely beginner's luck for the other team ;) Regardless of the score, we all had a really enjoyable time in two very local, quaint villages. What I loved most was that these small villages are not made for tourists. Yes, they are still occupied by tourists like us, but they are intended mostly for the people who live there. So authentic and picturesque! All in all, it was a great weekend! Two wonderful sorties with even more wonderful company. This week, we have an exam in our translation course, and then next week two more final exams until we are officially finished our academic year here in Nice. Not sure if I should be excited or sad that we are approaching the end this quickly... it feels like we just got here!
Nous avons presque fini! We are quickly approaching the end of the semester and an unforgettable year abroad, with only 3 weeks to go until final exams. With an essay, presentation, and a composition just around the corner, it has been a full past couple of weeks. I did, however, manage to get to spend some time with someone very special to me! It was a lovely break between the hectic hustle and bustle of school. Snowboarding - le 20 Mars 2018
Paris - le 22 mars au 25 mars 2018 For the weekend, we headed off for a short getaway to Paris! It was my second time visiting the city, and we still found things to do that I hadn't gotten to do or see. Paris is never a dull moment! It's true when they say that you have to leave something to come back to when traveling, because it is impossible to see and do everything the first time around. I am certain that this will be the second of many trips to Paris to come! Jeudi/Thursday - le 22 mars 2018 Day one - we arrived in Paris and found our hotel for the weekend, the Ibis Paris Eiffel Tower Hotel. It was a lovely place located in the 15th arrondissement, the same neighbourhood as La Tour Eiffel, the Eiffel Tower. Our hotel room even had a view of the Eiffel Tower (the last picture in the slideshow!). The city is divided into 20 of these arrondissements, and they start at 1 in the middle and spiral their way to the outskirts of the city. It makes traveling on their metro system extremely simple and easy. We used it on the daily! We spent the afternoon exploring the 15th arrondissement and walking over to the Eiffel Tower. Still as incredible as I remember it! We also saw Les Invalides. Les Invalides, or more commonly known as Hôtel national des Invalides (The National Residence of the Invalids), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement containing museums and monuments all relating to the military history of France. In the evening, we went to the Catacombs - a spooky but must do experience when in Paris! We were very lucky to have gone when we did... we were among the last 15 people to get it! We hadn't realized that they close their doors an hour early to allow for the last visit of the night. The Catacombs are under ground ossuaries holding the remains of more than six million people. It was established in 1820, but preparation work began not long after a 1774 series of gruesome Saint Innocents-cemetery-quarter basement wall collapses, which added a sense of urgency to the creation of these ossuaries. Vendredi/Friday - le 23 mars 2018 Day two was Disneyland Paris and the Louvre! The last time I had visited a Disney resort was when I was a little girl, so I figured it was time to go back again! Seeing as we were already in Paris, it was only a quick hour metro/train ride to the outer region of Paris where their Disneyland Paris resort is, the only one in Europe! Please don't judge me for wanting to feel like a princess for a day, because I totally did and regret none of it ;) The evening was spent at the Louvre, and this is where being a student had its perks. I had free entry to the museum, because I've been studying in Europe for the past year! No complaints there. You could honestly spend an entire week going through the Louvre Museum. I saw paintings, sculptures, or simply just noticed different things the second time that I hadn't even noticed the first time I was there. Time truly flies. Before we knew it, it was half hour from closing, and they were practically kicking us out. Fun fact, the Louvre was originally a palace for Roi Philippe-Auguste, but was later taken back by the people during the revolution and turned into the museum it is today. Samedi/Saturday - le 24 mars 2018 Our last day in Paris consisted of a day trip out to Versailles, a first for me! The Palace of Versailles is a royal château in Versailles (Île-de-France region of France). It is now open as a museum, but was originally built as a hunting cottage for the King. It then became the seat of political power in the Kingdom of France from 1682, when King Louis XIV moved the royal court from Paris. It was a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime and has now become a popular tourist attraction. We got tickets to go inside Marie Antoinette's corridors and the palace itself, and my student perks worked their magic for the second time here - free entry! Marie Antoinette was married to Louis XVI and was the last Queen of France before the revolution. The King presented her with her own living corridors as a gift, Le Petit Trianon, which housed a kitchen, bedroom, dressing room and antichambre. It was quite simple and charming. The palace on the other hand, was quite the opposite. It was anything but petit and was filled with ornate decoration from floor to ceiling. I can see why Marie Antoinette preferred the quaintness of Le Petit Trianon. I'd be scared of getting lost... In the late afternoon/evening, we took a visit to Notre Dame and La Seine. We were quite fortunate to have gone at the same time as Mass at the cathedral, and I was very excited that I got to hear the church organ during the service. Talk about resonance! I'm not sure a bad sound could emerge from that building. The acoustics carried the sound like nothing I had ever heard before. Afterwards, we took a stroll along the river and watched some street performers on Le Pont des Arts bridge. And just like that, our week together was nearly over! On Sunday, we returned back to Nice where we had a picnic snack at the top of the château next to the waterfall, walked around Vieille Ville, and enjoyed a lovely Niçois dinner at Le Bistro Jennifer. I am so grateful and lucky to have spent a week with someone I care very deeply about :)
Now, it's back to the reality of finishing up my semester of school and seeing what other adventures this exchange has in store before it comes to an end! What a busy past two weeks it has been! From having completed a midterm one day to departing on a 10 day adventure across Italy the next, I have to say it has been a bit go-go-go for me lately. I am definitely ready for some time to myself this week. Last week, it was our pause pédagogique (reading week), so seeing as our school week ends on Thursday afternoons, we were off to Rome as of Thursday evening for a 10 day in Italy! We had a slight flight delay due to the "winter weather" Nice has been experiencing lately... as a Canadian, I'm not sure it really classified as winter, but Nice definitely experienced some wet, cold snow at the end of February. Rome, Italie - le 1 mars au 3 mars 2018 We arrived at our hostel late Thursday night, so we settled in with some beer and pizza at a local pizzeria. After that, we had two full days to explore Rome, which was enough to touch the surface but hardly enough to see everything the city had to offer. Our first full day, Saturday, was a day full of walking and exploring the city on our way to Vatican City. We quickly became friends with a couple of guys in our hostel who had the same itinerary as us, and we also met up with a friend I made in Genoa the previous weekend. One of the perks of traveling! We stopped to see Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, and the Tiber River. Apparently the night before, there was a proposal at Trevi Fountain - and she said yes! I'm guessing that would have been pretty awkward if she had said no... Vatican City was more than I could have every imagined. We were hustled on our way in to buy tour passes to enter in the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basilica, but luckily we stuck to our guns and bought our tickets online to see the Museums - a much cheaper, student friendly option. There were also hardly any lines and wait times, which was a great plus. I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to see the Sistine Chapel in my lifetime. Seeing the work of Michelangelo in person was unlike anything else I have experienced. I knew he was talented, but seeing his biblical depictions covering this church from floor to ceiling was unbelievable. There are truly no words. I had also studied Raphael's School of Athens painting in my first year philosophy class, so I was excited to see that in person as well. Both such incredible High Renaissance artists. We finished off the evening at the Spanish Steps and Villa Borghese Gardens to watch the sunset. The best view in Rome by far! The next day, we made breakfast at our hostel and headed out, umbrellas in hand, to go inside St. Peter's Basilica. The wait time in line was an hour long, but it was completely worth it! I have never seen a church as exquisite, detailed, and innate as this one... and I'm sure you know by now how I feel about churches. Breathtaking! Michelangelo's sculpture of Mary and Jesus (The Pieta) is located inside. Fun fact, he sculpted it out of Carrara marble it at the mere age of 25! There was also an entire tomb dedicated to the first pope of Rome, Saint Peter, who the basilica was named after. Peter was one lucky guy! His tomb was decorated in gold from head to toe. Although, I suppose it didn't really matter to him, as he was dead nonetheless... Later on, we grabbed lunch and were off to see the Roman Forum, Colosseum, and the Altare della Patria also known as the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II or Il Vittoriano, which was built in honor of Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy. We didn't have the chance to walk in the Forum as it closed by the time we got there, but we still had the chance to watch the sun set at the Colosseum. It was very interesting to see the various layers of the Colosseum, from what it originally looked like to the remodeled version. After seeing the Altare, we headed back to the hostel to pack for our bus ride to Pisa the next morning! Pise, Italie - le 4 mars au 5 mars 2018 We spent one evening and one day at Pisa before we headed to Florence that evening, and I am so glad we did. I have been eager to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa since I was a little girl! The Piazza dei Miracoli features the Duomo of Pisa (the bell tower, baptistery, and cathedral), and that is where our time in Pisa started. We spent the majority of the evening getting some classic tourist pics before the sun went down... and so did everyone else. There was an entire line up of tourists posing in front of the tower. That was entertainment within itself lol! The next morning, we walked around Pisa for the day. We walked along the river, saw a few churches (including the ever so tiny Santa Maria della Spina right along the water), the Citadel, aqua-ducts, and several other small Piazzas (plazas). A day was more than enough time to hit the highlights of Pisa. Then, later in the afternoon on the 5th, it was off to Florence! Florence, italie - le 6 mars au 7 mars 2018 Arrived in Florence in the evening, and the receptionist pointed out a local library cafe that we later learned was a very up and coming hipster place to be. Lots of writers, painters and musicians were there, and they even had some live music - such a calming atmosphere to be in. We also had two full days in Florence, and on the first day we covered a bunch of ground. We were able to see Florence all by foot, and we started off by going to see the statue of the potbelly pig, Porcellino - I rubbed his nose for good luck! Then we headed over to the Piazza della Signoria where the Accademia is. Outside is where the replica statue of David is, so instead of paying to go inside the museum, we opted for the cheaper option and took some pictures outside with our pal David. Close by was the Piazza Santa Croce - the burial place of many illustrious Italians, such as Michelangelo and Galileo. We stopped for crêpes at a little cafe on our way over to the Synagogue and then made our way back to Vecchio Bridge. The Ponte Vecchio is a medieval stone arch bridge over the Arno River, which features shops built along it. The shops were beautiful! (And expensive!) After a short break, we walked by Pitti Palace where the Italian Boboli Gardens are located. We decided to walk over to the Fortress on our way to the Piazzale Michelangelo instead of heading into the gardens. It was a bit of a let down when we realized our half hour uphill climb was for nothing... the museums were closed, entrance to the fortress gardens wasn't free, and there was no view of the city from up there. The views from the Piazzale Michelangelo made up for it though! It was stunning to see the sun setting over the city. We concluded the evening at the Piazza Santa Spirito with steak Florentine and red wine! Clearly my priority of the day was saving up my money for some delicious Florentine cuisine ;) Day two mostly consisted of visiting the Piazza del Duomo. I bought my ticket online and got to see all 5 of the attractions: the baptistery, the bell tower, the dome, the Cathedral and the crypt below it. It was money well spent, even though I climbed over 2000 steps that morning. The view from the top of the dome was the height of my day - pun intended! Later that afternoon we went to see the Piazza di San Lorenzo and the market area close by, as well as the Piazza Republica. I think I'm almost Piazza'd out... Venise, Italie - le 8 mars au 10 mars 2018 Last on the journey was Venice! We arrived in the afternoon at our airbnb outside of Venice in a small neighbourhood called Preganziol. We were greeted with flowers from our hosts in honour of International Women's Day - how lovely! Apparently that's the tradition in Italy each year on March 8th. That afternoon and evening we trained across the water to Venice, and spent our time walking around and getting to know the area more. We had hand made pasta at a restaurant that just recently opened up a branch in Toronto! I will definitely be making a stop there once I'm back in Canada. We also got to meet up with some friends for the last time in Venice, so we all grabbed a drink together to say our final goodbyes. Fun fact: Bellinis originate from Venice, so of course we had to order a round of those ;) Most of our evenings were spent in Venice trying not to get too lost, but wandering around with no real agenda. At night and in the early mornings, the town is filled with a heavy fog. Simply beautiful to watch as the sun was going down and rising each day. Burano - le 9 mars 2018 On Friday, we decided to take our friends up on their suggestion and went to see the island Burano, situated north of Venice. It was about a 45 minute ferry ride to reach Burano - the boat ride on the way back was so soothing that it put me to sleep! Burano was a beautiful little town filled with exuberance! All of the buildings were painted bright, vibrant colours which reflected along the rivers that flowed through the town, much like they do in Venice. It made for a lovely afternoon of strolling and taking it all in... and of course snapping a few pictures! Murano - le 10 mars 2018 Murano was a little less colourful than Burano but equally enjoyable. We took a much shorter ferry ride over on Saturday, but this time we were caught in some on and off rain. We had been told before heading to Murano that their specialty was glass, and once we arrived we soon saw that every store was filled with glass creations: plates, cups, decor, jewelry, you name it! We also soon learned that Murano is where Pandora's Murano glass charms come from. We found lots of shops with similar glass charms, but for a much more reasonable price. So of course I had to buy one... or three... To finish off my time in Venice, I decided to go to a music performance at the Sculoa Grande dei Carmini Saturday night. I found tickets to an Opera Balletto which featured dance and opera music, such as Rossini's Barber of Seville and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker. It was such a unique performance, as the artists all wore Venetian masks as they played/sung. There was even a ballerina who performed during the dance pieces. Overall, it was a lovely hour of classical music and dance in the heart of Venice. After a long but exciting 10 days, we made our way home Sunday morning by bus from Venice. Surprisingly the 8 hours went by fairly quickly, and I didn't get motion sickness once. I would definitely call that a success!
Now to find the motivation to get back into school mode! Another week has come and gone, and we are another week closer to the end of February - not sure where the time has gone really! Carnaval is still very much alive here in Nice, and a few of us have ventured out to see what night life is all about. In other news, this past weekend I took a quick trip across the border to a local city in Italy, Genoa. This time, ridin' solo! I didn't have anything too crazy planned. Just a two night stay there with a day trip out to Cinque Terre, one of the most breathtaking day trips I have done to date. Pictured above: me sporting my new jacket that my parents were kind enough to mail me all the way from Canada. It even folds into a travel pillow! Corso Illuminé - le 20 février 2018 To start things off, last Tuesday night was one of the Carnaval's night parades, and it truly exceeded my expectations. It was around an hour and a half long and not at all like the parade I saw last Saturday afternoon. Although some of the themes were similar, most of the floats were filled with lights and colour displays instead of flowers, hence the title Corso Illuminé (Illuminated Parade). Things were also rather political at the parade, even though they made it clear in their info brochures that nothing political was allowed... you'll see what I mean as you flip through the pictures. Gênes (Genoa) - Le 23 février 2018 Friday morning, I hopped on a bus, drove two and a half hours, and landed in Genoa, Italy. I still find it astonishing that in a short amount of time, I can be in a whole new country. Perks of living in Europe! Some of the highlights in Genoa were the views from the top of the gardens I visited, Piazza di Ferrari, Palace Ducale, San Matteo Church, and Porta Soprana. The best part for me was the Genoa Cathedral, because apparently I have a thing for churches. What drew me to this church were the colours: pink/purple, green/blue and grey. I have never seen a church with that arrangement of colours, and I absolutely fell in love with it! I want it in my bedroom! Cinque Terre - Le 24 février 2018 On Saturday, I took the train from Genoa to Cinque Terre for a day out to these five exquisite, small villages. Cinque Terre is located in the province of La Spezia (region of Liguria) in Italy with a "string of five century old sea side villages". Each of the five towns has something different to offer but all are filled with colourful houses with terraces and harbours are filled with fishing boats. A bunch of my friends on the exchange had already made the trip here themselves and said it was well worth the journey. They were right, to say the least! I didn't know this until I returned back to Nice, but in 1997, Cinque Terre was recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Their main sour of revenue is tourism but, as a testimony to the strength of centuries-old tradition, fishing, wine and olive oil production still continue. MonterossoFirst stop was Monterosso al Mare, a quaint, beachy village along the shore line. I took it upon myself to climb up one of the rocks to profiter (take advatage and make the most of) the views from all directions. There are two parts to Monterosso: old town, and the newer part called Fegina. It's the northernmost and westernmost town in Cinque Terre. Fun fact: Monterosso al Mare is the most visited of the five villages, largely because it has the only sizable sand beach and the biggest hotels. VernazzaThe next village (heading towards the east) was Vernazza. I hit up Vernazza around lunch time, so the noon sun made for some great photo opportunities. I even got to see a boat sailing by in the not so far distance. Also a great spot for a gelato break! Fun fact: Vernazza's name comes from the Latin adjective verna, meaning "native". Their fittingly-named indigenous wine, vernaccia ("local" or "ours"), helped give birth to the village's name. Corniglia The third village I saw was Corniglia. From the train station, we could actually see the next village, Manarola, in the distance. A beautiful view! My favourite part about Corniglia was the walk down to the Marina. It was so peaceful being close to the water, that I stopped and had my picnic lunch there! Fun fact: Corniglia is located in the middle of the five towns and is the only village which is not built directly on the sea but on a cliff 100 metres above sea level. It's probably the most genuine town of the five, because it has the least amount of tourists. ManarolaManarola definitely had to be my favourite of the five towns. I loved it so much, that I lost track of time and missed my train to Riomaggiore and had to wait an hour for the next one (LOL). Oh well, that gave me more time to walk along the edge of the village and appreciate the phenomenal colours and landscape. Fun fact: Manarola is the second-smallest of the famous Cinque Terre towns, with Corniglia being the smallest. Riomaggiore The last village on my trip was Riomaggiore, which is considered to be one of the most peaceful and quite villages of the Cinque Terre. Riomaggiore is basically a cascade of multi-coloured houses in the typical Ligurian style, all tightly clustered around a tiny natural harbour carved out in between the rocks. Fun fact: Riomaggiore inspired paintings by Telemaco Signorini (1835–1901), one of the artists of the Macchiaioli group. So that's another adventure wrapped up and another week gone by. At first, I thought my second semester abroad was going to feel longer than my first, but it's beginning to feel shorter and shorter.
Going away to these two locations in Italy was a nice preview to what I'll be venturing out to come Thursday. That's when our reading week begins, and it's off to Rome, Pisa, Florence and Venice! À bientôt, Italie! Things have been rather eventful here in France lately. Two local festivals started this weekend, one of which is here in our hometown. Nice is hosting their annual Carnaval, and Menton has their Lemon Festival running for the next two weeks, both of which we made an effort to go and explore... because pourquoi pas?! Carnaval de Nice - le 17 février 2018 Every winter, Nice hosts their annual Winter Carnival, so of course we added that to our list of things to do this weekend. It's hosted in Place Masséna and along the Promenade, which is right up the street from us. (No excuse not to go really!) It is running from February 17th until March 3rd, and the theme this year is Roi de l’Espace, Space King. Lots of stars, planets and extraterrestrial beings to be seen. It's definitely out of this world... pun intended ;) The highlights of the Carnaval's programs are the parades. They have a variety of different shows going on over these next couple of weeks. Night parades full of lumières (lights) and flower floats all tied into the space theme. We went to see the first parade of the Carvanval, Bataille des Fleurs. Unfortunately, the first day of the Carnaval was a little wet weather wise. Light showers occupied the majority of the day, except during the parade thankfully! The pictures do not do it justice! The floats were filled with flowers from nearly top to bottom, and they even threw out flowers to us. I snagged a bouquet of mimosas for myself, but unfortunately I didn't get any of the roses they were giving away. It was a thrilling atmosphere to be a part of, from the blasting music to the all-girl marching band, each group had something unique to showcase. My girlfriends and I were dancing along and making the best of the overcast weather! I later learned that if you dress up from head to toe in a costume (un déguisement), you get into the parades for free! And I thought the people at the café were kidding when they told me that... La 85e Fête du Citron à Menton - Le 18 février 2018 Next up on our weekend of celebrations was Menton's 85th annual Lemon Festival! This had to be the highlight of my weekend by far. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect as we were heading to Menton today, but I was absolutely blown away! I had no idea you could get this creative with oranges and lemons. Their theme this year is Bollywood, and we bought tickets to go in and see their Jardins (gardens) full of sculptures. From monkeys to elephants and even Bollywood dancers, it was a step into India's own Hollywood. We even got to taste some Limoncello (lemon liqueur) for free! Making the most of our 12 euro entrance fee ;) It was definitely money worth spent nonetheless. This weekend was a nice little break from our usual day to day endeavors. February is quickly coming to a close... we are approaching the last couple weeks, and I cannot believe it! Academically speaking, I've been working on an upcoming presentation for next week along with two exams and a small assignment coming up just around the corner.
Bonne continuation until our reading week!! It was finally time that we hit the road for some time away from France. This weekend's adventure? Lisbon, Portugal! A destination that has been on my list for quite some time now. One of my friends and her boyfriend traveled there last September, and they only had positive things to say about it. So, I decided it was about time I went and checked it out myself! My uncle got me a First-Time Europe travel guide this past Christmas, and it was super helpful in navigating some of the main attractions to see in Lisbon, seeing as we only had a weekend there. Before we left, we were able to learn a few things about Lisbon and the Portuguese culture. Thanks for thinking of me this Christmas, TW! ;) Lisbonne, Portgual - le 8 février au 12 février 2018 Summing Lisbon up in one word is easy: tiles. We immediately noticed that the city was covered in tiles when we were busing to our hostel Thursday night. From the buildings, to stair cases, and even the showers in our hostel, every corner of the city was filled with beautiful tiles; it was truly artwork! I also ate more than my fair share of Pastel de Nata (Portuguese egg tart pastry), and may have even tried some Port Wine while I was at it, but that's all part of the cultural experience, right?! Vendredi/Friday - le 9 février 2018 Aside from the minor setback in weather we experienced Friday morning, we had a full day of exploring and sight seeing. We checked out some nearby bakeries, where of course we saw Pastel de Nata by the dozens! Hard to resist them when they look that good. We also stopped inside a Sardine store, a specialty in Lisbon, called The Fantastic World Of Portuguese Sardines, where they had cans of sardines for every year dating back to 1916. The store proposes to revisit the last century of history in Portugal and in the World, therefore promoting also a reflection on the last centenary of canned fish in Portugal. How neat! Other exciting sights were the Tile Museum (a must see in Lisbon), the Pantheon, and three different churches, one of which being Notre Dame - see if you can figure out which one that is ;). The views from the top of the Pantheon were breathtaking! The sun finally decided to come out, which made it that much more of a beautiful moment to take everything in. It would have been the perfect spot to have a picnic lunch! Samedi/Saturday - le 10 février 2018 We had the best weather on Saturday: warm sun and minimal clouds! We hardly needed our jackets. Since we had seen most of the city center already, we ventured out to Belem for the day. It's a local neighborhood about a 20 minute tram ride over. While in Belem we saw the Monastery, the Monument of the Discoveries and Belem Tower. My favourite by far was the Jerónimos Monastery. I truly have no words that describe it well enough. To sum it up, the monastery is one of the most prominent examples of the Portuguese Late Gothic Manueline style of architecture in Lisbon. It was classified a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the nearby Tower of Belém, in 1983. With its grand architecture and exquisite detailing, it is definitely a historical beauty. Later on, we headed back into the core of Lisbon to see the The Praça do Comércio (Commerical Square). Lots of bright and cheery yellow to be seen here! We were beginning to notice that blue and yellow are both very popular colours in Lisbon, particularly in their tiling. I may have to look into that some more to see if there is any historical significance. Beautiful colours nonetheless! Ended off the day with a quick visit to the Pink Street: quite small and located in their former "red light district". A short but sweet walk. Sintra - le dimanche 11 février 2018 We definitely had an interesting day in Sintra, to say the least. The weather was not cooperating with us... mild with lots of fog, even though the weather report stated otherwise. Regardless, we made the best of it, hopped on the train, and within 30 minutes we were in Sintra, a resort town in the foothills of Portugal’s Sintra Mountains. Due to the weather, we didn't stay long, but it was long enough to hike up one of the mountains to see the Moorish Castle. We didn't end up going inside (tickets were a little pricey), but the 30 minute walk up and down was a nice way to see catch some stunning views of Sintra and engage with nature. It was a good reminder that it isn't always necessary to do the classic "touristy things" when visiting new places. Later on, we learned that buses take you up to the castle for five euros round trip... and they drop you right off in front of the castle... a "fun" after the fact surprise for us all! The walk was still worth it in my opinion. I slept like a baby that night! Lundi/Monday - le 12 février 2018Of course Monday, the day we were leaving, was a sunshine filled beautiful day. Our flight back to Nice wasn't until the afternoon, so we took a walk to a close by location with street art to snag some artsy photos. I have to say, this was one of my favourite streets in Lisbon. I am always blown away at how stunning graffiti can actually be when it is treated like an art form. We also walked to the Arc de Triomphe, which we learned is a part of the Commercial Square - talk about déjà vu ;) As much as I love traveling, exploring, and seeing the many wonders of the world, I always love coming back home. There's nothing quite like sleeping in your own bed at night, or curling up on the couch with a warm cup of tea (kind of like what I'm doing while writing this blog post lol). In the next couple weeks, it will mostly be school and preparing for some midterms before our reading week. It is also Carnaval here in Nice starting Saturday, so stay tuned for some of those upcoming adventures!
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