When I realized I had 5 whole days to go wherever for Easter Break, I went berserk trying to find a place to enjoy hopefully good weather. The easiest and cheapest vacation I was able to find in a short amount of time was to go to Nice, France and to Monaco/ Monte Carlo. The train ride is quite long (4.5 hours) with a few stops in between to change trains. I've become used to traveling by myself, although I definitely would not recommend it. It's boring and quite lonely with no one to share the experience with. Plus, I go through books like fiend, so I always have to pack several, which is slightly annoying when you're traveling with only a single backpack for 5 days. I got off the train in Nice and realized that there were some girls who were from my program getting off too. We ended up staying in the same hostel and they let me tag along with them. The first thing we did was grab some delicious Chinese food for lunch. There actually isn't that much Chinese food in Italy, so it was quite the treat, and cheap! Then, we headed to the beach. The beach in Nice is unlike any that I have ever seen in my life. It was completely rocks! Not little pebbles like some of the beaches in Oregon, but actual ROCKS. Granted, they were smooth rocks, not poky ones, but these babies were quite large and not comfortable to lay on. We gritted our teeth, determined that even though there was wind, we were going to get tan from the sun. After a few hours, we made our way back to the hostel, and changed for dinner. For dinner, we ate at an all you can eat tapas restaurant. It was the coolest thing ever! They bring out your dinner in a boat shaped tray. The first set is chosen by the chef, then, you're free to choose from the list. We got our ten euros worth, then headed to the movie theater. Earlier, we'd seen that they were showing a movie in English! It was Alice in Wonderland in 3D in English :) there were subtitles in French, but it was still worth it.
The next day, we went to a pastry shop for breakfast. This little shop was so cute! The ceilings had cloud decorations, and the pastries....unbelievable! I had ratatouille quiche, a chocolate eclair and a brioche (croissant) with Nutella inside. Next on our list to do: hike an old Celtic Medieval castle and get a panoramic view of the city. It began to rain as we made our way through a vibrant flower market, which dampened our hiking spirits. We finally made it to the top, got our pictures, and I skedaddled off towards the train station by myself to catch a train to Monaco/ Monte Carlo.
Monaco and Monte Carlo are only about 20 minutes away by train, and the ocean view is delightful to watch fly by. When I arrived in Monaco, the station opened up right onto the port. That, my friends, is where it finally hit me that this truly was a rich, rich town. The yachts towered over me and were completely decked out! They were from everywhere, and surrounded the entire port. The water was the prettiest blue, as it always is in the Mediterranean. I felt soooo under dressed compared to even the tourists in Monaco! Everyone seemed to be in nice shoes (compared to my Converse) and nice pants (compared to well worn jeans). All in all, I was terrified to even walk in the dress coded Casino. But I did take some pretty pictures of the outside! The buildings in Monaco were so crazy! They were built on odd angles, and the decoration was from an interesting time period. I heard a rumor that in order to live there, you have to have an income of at least 1,000,000 euro a year! After touring the city, walking through a few malls with a minimum item price of 100 euro, I took the train back to Nice. I grabbed a baguette for dinner then went out with some friends for a bit.
The next morning, I planned to have a long day ahead of me. 16 hours worth of trains, and I would be in Bern, Switzerland. I began my journey at 9:20 and ended up in Torino a little after 14:00. To make international transfers, you have to actually go into the ticket office instead of going to the self service kiosks. Also, the prices of tickets aren't listed on the trenitalia website, so initially I had no idea what the cost would be, but since it was only a few hours away, I was hoping for a cheap ride. Well, that was not the case. It was 70 euro one way! And I'd have to pay for the way back AND for skiing. There was no way I could afford that for a single day of fun. It would be about... $200 just for travel. Ouch!
So, instead of going to Switzerland, I went home on my lovely bus 35. We've become quite good friends over the past 3 months. It's crazy to realize that I've already lived here for 3 months! But, I'm ready to go home. I love it here and all, but I miss my friends and my family. It's one of those things that initially seems like you could live here your whole life and be fine, but then once you settle down, you see how much it isn't really in your future, how it feels more like a vacation than really living. The freedom is unbelievably scary too. Same with having to go grocery shopping. If you don't go, you don't eat, and that's your decision, up to you.
On a better note! I went out to Easter dinner (since it was Sunday) with my roommate at a local kebab shop. It was all that was open, but my kebab pizza was amazing. They should introduce more kebab shops in the States. Then yesterday, Monday, I spent the day with her and some of the Erasmus kids and a few of the other USAC kids playing football (soccer) in Parco Valentino. There were so many families out and it was like an amusement park. There were rides going and so many people were out!
I'm off to go grocery shopping :) we are in dire need of toilet paper. Never thought I would say this, but I'm glad that our break is over and the stores are open! No way am I using the bidet.
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