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!
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