Greetings from Cinque Terre! I visited Cinque Terre Friday October 4th and Saturday October 5th with my friend from Tulane Rachel Towe (hi Rachel thanks for reading lol). We spent all day Friday and Saturday in Cinque Terre and only stayed one night in a Hostel right outside of La Spezia. The weather was perfect for hiking around all five towns over the course of the two days and visiting outside of the touristy season meant that crowds were at a minimum. Thursday: Rachel arrived in Milan super late Thursday night, so after I picked her up at Milano Centrale, we went back to my apartment since our train to La Spezia was early Friday Morning. Friday: We took the train from Milano Centrale to La Spezia at 8:10. We almost (lowkey) missed the train. We were in line in Milano Centrale getting breakfast and coffee at 8:03. We managed to make it though AND we had delicious croissants filled with nutella and pistachio cream and large capuccinos for the 3 hour ride. When we got to La Spezia, we purchased the two day Cinque Terre pass which got us access to the train line, the bathrooms in the train stations, and the hiking trails between the towns. Our first stop was Corniglia. Corniglia is the only town out of the five that is not directly on the water, instead its up along the cliffs. The town was super adorable. There were even street portraits along the streets of famous figures with scuba gear. After we walked around the entire main area (it was pretty small), we got gelato at a place called Alberto Gelateria. I had a cona picola con crema portofino e miele de corniglia, which is a small cone with a scoop ricotta gelato with chocolate chips and pistachios and a scoop of local honey gelato. It was very refreshing and tasty. From Corniglia we took the train one stop to the town of Manarola. Manarola was even more beautiful than Corniglia. We explored the town again before climbing on the rocks in the marina for some of the best views and photos. After we got a late lunch / snack at an aperitivo place called Nessun Dorma. Nessun Dorma is insta famous for all the right reasons, its picture perfect and has delicious food and drinks. Rachel and I shared the Ligure Bruschetta (pesto bruschetta) and a Volastra Foccace (sandwich with mozzarella, arugula, and tomatoes). I also had the "alchemy" to drink which was basically the best vodka sour I will ever have in my entire life with passion fruit. If I could only have one cocktail for the rest of my life it would be this one. It was that good. After Nessun Dorma, we went to the last town of the day, Riomaggiore. Riomaggiore was much bigger than the other two towns and was just as beautiful, if not more. We climbed along the rocks in this marina as well. Riomaggiore's rocks were much harder to maneuver around than Manarola's, but that made it that much more worth it. We stayed on the rocks, hanging out until the sun was mostly set. Then we went back into town and got dinner at a place called La Lampara. I had green gnocchi with seabass, chickpeas, a little mozzarella, and bottarga. Rachel had a margherita pizza. Post dinner we walked up through Riomaggiore's main street to where the Hostel's shuttle was picking us up and went back for an earlier night. Saturday: On Saturday we got up early and had a walking breakfast in Riomaggiore, cappuccinos and little pastries. We took the train from Riomaggiore to Vernazza. In Vernazza we walked around, exploring the town. We also went up to the top of the old castle. Castle wise, it was fairly simple, but the views of the water and the rest of Vernazza were wonderful. We also got gelato at Gelateria Vernazza. I enjoyed the gelato in Corniglia, but this gelato was among some of the best I had ever had. I had a small cone with bacio (chocolate and nuts) and crema cinque terre (sciachetra - the sweet wine - cream). Once we finished our gelato, we hiked from Vernazza to Monterosso Al Mare. This hike gave us the best views of Vernazza and was incredibly challenging and rewarding. Rick Steve's calls it the most challenging hike of the bunch. Rachel and I did not do any of the other hikes, but this one was super difficult so I have to agree. There were a lot of stairs and narrow pathways up the cliffs. There were also points where hikers in the opposite direction tried to get past you and there just simply was not enough space on the path. Most of the hikes between the towns are now closed off because of safety reasons and the possibility of falling rocks. I honestly think that this hike will eventually be closed off also, so I am especially glad that Rachel and I were able to experience such a rewarding hike. After just under 2 hours, Rachel and I arrived in Monterosso Al Mare and went straight to the Hostel's recommended restaurant in the old town for a slice of a traditional dessert pie. The pie was DELICIOUS and such a perfect reward following the demanding hike. After our pie break, we walked over to the newer section of Monterosso Al Mare to lounge on the beach and eat lunch until it was time to head back to La Spezia for our train back to Milan. Cinque Terre is known for its fried anchovies and fish, so I braved a slightly ridiculous line at a beach shack for fried fish as my lunch. I was hesitant to only get fried anchovies in case I did not like them, but they were definitely my favorite item out of the cone. The cone also had calamari, shrimp, salmon, and mussels. Delicious and so beachy! Rachel and I relaxed on the beach in our bathing suits even though it was not quite the right weather and enjoyed our last few hours of "summer" weather. I can only imagine how wonderful the beach is over the summer and how absolutely overcrowded it is with tourists. Before we left Monterosso Al Mare, we got one last pesto pasta to eat on the train ride home as our dinner. Our train was at 6:38 and even though we were sad to be leaving Cinque Terre, the past two days were extremely exhausting so we welcomed the rest. Best Moments:
I greatly enjoyed visiting Cinque Terre in the "off-season" even though it was not super warm at the beach. There were SO many less tourists running around which definitely helped us see all 5 towns within 2 days. I also can not imagine doing that same hike in warmer weather. My favorite town was either Manarola (it was beautiful but also Nessun Dorma and my cocktail ugh) or Vernazza (equally as beautiful and exactly what I pictured before doing any research on Cinque Terre). I am so glad Rachel and I managed to fit this action packed trip in to a two days, one night!!
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Greetings from Oktoberfest held in Munich, Germany! I visited Munich for Oktoberfest from September 26th through 29th. I had a wonderful time at the festival and seeing all my Tulane friends. We decided that Oktoberfest is a cross between Mardi Gras and Disney World, so I hope you can understand why all college students flock to Munich while abroad. Thursday: I left Milan for Munich early on Thursday, arriving around 2 and checking in to the airbnb around 3. Rachel and Tyler were not arriving till later that night, so I ventured into the city center myself to explore, eat, and buy myself a dirndl. I started in Marienplatz at the town hall, Neues Rathaus and walked around, stumbling upon an outdoor food market. I chose one of the many spots for a quick, extremely late lunch, having a delicious sandwich "Ochs'n-Semmel mit Zwiebeln'." I had asked the people behind the counter what they're favorite was which is how I ended up eating the above sandwich, ox with onions. It was absolutely delicious. After I ate, it was around 5'oclock so I went back to Neues Rathaus to see the Glockenspiel. I'm not really sure what I was expecting from the Glockenspiel, but it was both cool to see and underwhelming. The figures moving around reminded me slightly of the scene in the first Shrek movie where Shrek and Donkey listen to the Far Far away puppet song. Post Glockenspiel, I walked to Angermair to buy a dirndl to wear at Oktoberfest. Angermair was packed and overwhelming to shop at alone especially since I had absolutely no clue what I should be looking for size wise. I ended up spending 3 hours (till closing) in the store trying on different options. Most of the time was spent waiting in line for the dressing rooms which was frustrating but understandable since my hands cramped trying to do all the buttons on each different dirndl by myself. By the time I was done with dirndl shopping, I was hungry again so at my Cousin Vicky and her boyfriend Thomas' suggestion I went for dinner at Augustiner Stammhaus for more authentic Bavarian food. I ate schnitzel and a beer. Friday: Our day started early on Friday so we could experience as much of Oktoberfest before the festival became insanely crowded on Saturday. Oktoberfest takes place in Theresienwiese where there are 14 tents each with their own traditions and character. We started in Hofbrau Festzelt, one of the most famous tents associated with Oktoberfest. The tent has standing room only in front of where the band plays which is probably why exchange students spend most of their time here because other tents require reserved tables. Upon entering the tent, we ran into so many exchange students also in Munich for the weekend. I even saw some friends from home who are also in Europe studying abroad. We spent an hour or so in the tent enjoying our beer and the tent's atmosphere before leaving to find food and explore other tents. The good thing about Friday at Oktoberfest was that it wasn't too crowded so we were able to enter and exit the different tents as we pleased since they weren't filled to capacity. Rachel, Tyler, and I shared cheesy bread, a bratwurst, and pretzels. We also popped in to the Hacker Festzelt tents and the Ochsenbraterel tents which felt much more local and calm than Hofbrau, but since we couldn't get seats inside the tent to be served beer we kept on moving. Oktoberfest is also a full blown carnival asides from the beer tents, so we explored the rides and games area, deciding to spend the euros on the swings. The view from the swings of the entire festival from above made the ticket price worth it (there was also no line which was a plus). After we explored, we sat down in the (Hofbrau?) beer garden, enjoying another beer and talking with an older local couple who lived in Munich and were going to Oktoberfest for 30+ years! We then met up with some of our other friends from Tulane who had been touring Munich earlier in the day for some more beer. We ended up all heading back to our air bnb post Oktoberfest on the earlier side since we wanted to get to Oktoberfest super early for Saturday Morning. Saturday: Oktoberfest does not open till 9 am on Saturday's but the line to get in is insane. Its recommended to get there super early so you can run in and get a table at the tent of your choice. We knew a lot of people were going on Saturday so we ended up sleeping in past our early alarms and arriving at 9am. The line was absolutely as crazy as everyone said it would be but it moved quick and we were in the festival by 945. We went straight to Hofbrau to find all our friends that were also in Munich that weekend. Surprisingly, we found them right away and got to enjoy the table that they waited in line to run to. We spent all morning in Hofbrau drinking, dancing, and taking pictures. It was so much fun to see everyone and experience Oktoberfest with them. At one point, the band played "New York, New York," "Country Roads," and "Sweet Caroline" in a row and the entire tent (or atleast the entire contingent of American exchange students) scream singed along standing on the benches. Such a fun and crazy experience! We also sang along to the "prost" song which was stuck in my head at the time, but I honestly don't remember any of the words now. All in all a really great time in Hofbrau. Around 230 we vacated our table to explore the festival and eat again. It was so much more crowded on Saturday so exploring was a much different experience but it was a lot of fun people watching and running into people from Tulane all over the festival. I became Oktoberfested out by 5 and went back to my airbnb where everyone I had been with on Friday were already passed out and making dinner. Since I had an early flight on Sunday I did not end up going back out to Oktoberfest but I think the amount of time I spent on Friday and Saturday were sufficient. If I were to go again I would honestly rather go during the week when the tents aren't super crowded since you become stuck in one place once the tents hit capacity on the weekends. Sunday: My flight back to Milan was at 10 am so I woke up and went directly to the airport. I flew Lufthansa round trip (and somehow my cheapest ticket option when I booked put me in Business Class on the way back?) and the flights were wonderful. My favorite thing is flying into or out of Milan heading north because you have to fly over the Alps and Switzerland and the views are out of this world. Best Moments and Final Thoughts:
By far my favorite moment in Munich was on Saturday during the festival when the band started playing the three songs and everyone in the tent sang along. It reminded me so much of home and was a lot of fun. I would go back to Oktoberfest in the future (I need to wear my dirndl again!), but I would definitely dedicate more time to exploring more of Munich. It was my first time in Germany and Munich and the city's history was not lost on me. The cab took me past the Olympic park on the way to the airbnb from the airport. Its important to me to experience and see Jewish history while abroad, but this hit a little differently. Honoring the Israeli athletes during the Maccabi games and knowing Shep Messing (a Soccer Olympian who lives in Port Washington and was down the hall from the Israeli athletes in Munich) made me more sentimental than usual. There was a plaque about the athletes in Neues Rathaus also that I never translated from German, but thinking about all these aspects definitely made me that much more appreciative of the fact that I could enjoy and experience Oktoberfest that weekend. Greetings from Paris! I was in Paris from September 19th through September 22nd with my mom. We had a wonderful weekend together and I am so happy I got to see her and spend her birthday together in Paris. Thursday: My flight from Milan to Paris was around 1, but it was my first time trying to get to the airport from my apartment in Milan (which is not close), so I woke up early. Getting to the airport was not that difficult and I was surprised by how empty the terminal was. Once arriving in Paris, I took a cab to the hotel to meet my mom. When we went up to the room, there were still suitcases and a backpack inside in addition to a bouquet of flowers and roses and hearts strewn over the bed. We thought it was very odd, so we went back down to the desk to explain the situation. The hotel ended up switching our room and putting us into their best suite, "the dreamcatcher." The room was huge and had a weird dreamcatcher like piece of art in the middle of the room and a giant bathtub in the same room as the bed. Very strange. The amount of space we had was very nice though. While we were in the room, the front desk person brought up the flowers, which is when we realized that the original room with all the flowers was supposed to be for us. We lucked out though! Around 5 o'clock we headed over to the Eiffel tower and relaxed in the Champ de Mars. We bought a really cheap bottle of rose and enjoyed as the sun set. Since it was my mom's birthday, I treated her to a very nice dinner right off the Champ de Mars at a place called Arnaud Nicolas. It was absolutely delicious. After dinner, we watched the Eiffel tower sparkle before heading back to the hotel. Friday: We woke up bright and early on Friday for a full day of touring Paris. Our day started on the Ile de la Cite at the Sainte-Chapelle Church. The stained glass was absolutely beautiful and stood up to our expectations. After Sainte-Chapelle, we walked around the island and got as close as possible to Notre Dame. Staring at the front of the Cathedral its hard to realize that anything happened only a few months ago, but then when you switch angles you can already see the progress they've made on restoring it. If only they made that quick progress on everything. After we tried to go to this cute cafe called Au Vieux Paris, but it was surprisingly closed. We ended up getting crepes at a little side street cafe and they were so tasty. We had a savory one with ham, cheese, and a sunny side up egg and a sweet dulce de leche one. Post breakfast/lunch, we walked over to Shakespeare and Company, the famous book store. Friday happened to be the global climate strike and the bookstore was closing for the afternoon as we got there to participate in the march. We did not get to go in, but it was very nice to see the bookstore care about the march. The juxtaposition of the store underneath the looming Notre Dame on this day was not lost on me either. We left the Ile de la Cite and walked over to the Musee d'Orsay and spent time wandering around the whole impressionist upstairs. I'm not a huge huge art person but impressionism is definitely my favorite. We continued our impressionism afternoon down the road at the Musee de l'Orangerie. The Musee de l'Orangerie houses Monet's famous water lillies and was the most tranquil retreat after walking around the rest of the day. You can't help but feel at peace inside the space admiring these works. Once we soaked in the water lillies enough, we took a cruise around the Seine River. We went on the water taxi because we did not really care about having a tour guide. The set up worked perfectly for us and we got to cruise around the whole River in about an hour and a half. Our day ended up in Montmartre district, watching the sunset on the steps of the Sacre Coeur. The view was breathtaking! We also met up with my friend from Tulane, Dani, who is studying abroad in Paris. It was so nice catching up with her over dinner! Saturday: Our day once again started early as we headed to the Louvre to admire its architecture. The view of the modern pyramid against the historical palace could never get old. After, we walked over to Angelina for breakfast. I finally got to try their famous hot chocolate which definitely held up to expectations! It was like I was drinking melted chocolate and I loved it. We had planned on walking from Angelina up the Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe but they had blocked up the Champ because of protests. Instead, we walked around what was not blocked off, including seeing the Hotel Ritz. For the afternoon, we switched neighborhoods and explored Le Marais. We totally forgot that it was Saturday so most of the stores were closed for Shabbat, but we still loved exploring all the different streets. We rested in a hidden park for a bit also that had a French memorial for all the children from the area that died during the Holocaust. We stopped for a small Falafel snack after exploring Le Marais to hold us over before a late dinner. At this point in the weekend we were super exhausted so we returned to our hotel to nap before dinner. For dinner we went to Le Relais de L'Entrecote for steak frites. It was a very lovely nice dinner in Paris. Sunday: Our last day in Paris started at the Arc de Triomphe. It was still fairly closed off because of the protests and since we did not want to go up to the top we were limited in what we could do. We walked down the Champ-Elysees which was a very different experience than normal since most of the street was still blocked off by the police. After wondering around for a while, going in to some of the luxury stores, and stumbling upon the flame of liberty and infamous tunnel, we went back towards the hotel in Montparnasse for a last lunch before our car came to take us to the airport. We got crepes again at a cute local Creperie. Best Moments:
I had such a wonderful weekend exploring Paris with my Mom! My second time in Paris did not disappoint and I am so grateful I got to be with my Mom on her birthday and during her first trip to Paris. If I had to choose my favorite places, I would probably say that my favorite view was the sunset at Sacre Coeur, my favorite meal was at Arnaud Nicolas, and my favorite neighborhood to walk around was Le Marais. Greetings from Naples! I spent the weekend of September 13th through 15th with Naples as a homebase, exploring Naples, Capri, and Pompeii with my new abroad friend Dylan. I thought Lake Como was an absolute dream and somehow the Amalfi Coast exceeded that high bar. Friday: Our day started early on Friday, traveling from Milano Centrale to Napoli Centrale at 9:35. The train ride there was nice since we traveled through all the major cities on the way to southern Italy (Bologna, Florence, Rome, and other stops along the way). We arrived in Naples at 2:30. We stayed in a nice Airbnb right off of Via Toledo across from Galleria Umberto I. After checking in, we walked around the city, taking in all the sights. We stumbled upon churches and got lost among the old city center. As a snack we got gelato at a lovely, possible chain, called Casa Infante. My first gelato was a cono piccolo (small cone) with a scoop of nutella and a scoop of caramel gelato. Easily the best gelato I have had thus far, but I hope that distinction continues to change:) After gelato, we continued walking around and headed towards the Castel Nuovo and the water. For dinner, we walked to one of the most famous pizzerias in Naples, L'Antica Pizzeria Da Michele. The pizzeria has been around since 1870, is recognized by Michelin, and was featured as the pizzeria where Julia Roberts eats in Eat, Pray, Love. The place was packed when we walked up and we waited around 20 minutes for our number to be called to sit. The experience and pizza was definitely worth the wait since we were sitting right next to where the pizza oven was so we got watch the chefs turn out no exaggeration 100+ pizzas while we were there. Dylan and I both had margherita pizzas and I could barely finish mine by the end. I don't know if I would go as far as to say it was the best pizza that I have ever eaten in my life (I'm honestly not the largest pizza person) but it was extremely good and the experience of watching the pizza oven was amazing. After pizza, we walked back over to via Toledo and had wine and dessert at Caffe Gambrinus. The interior was beautiful and the place had a super rich history. A nice atmosphere to sit and enjoy our glasses of wine. Our night ended on the earlier side since we wanted to be up early Saturday for a full day in Capri. Saturday: Our day started early with coffee and sfogliatella for a walking breakfast. Sfogliatella is the pastry that Naples is known for. I chose a classic with pistachio filling. After we walked down to the marina and caught the hydrofoil to Capri. The boat was enclosed and stuffy so I got slightly nauseous on the way over, but as soon as I smelt the fresh air I was completely fine. Once on Capri, we immediately found a tour service that offered a private 2 hour boat tour around the entire island. Taking the private tour was important to us because we wanted to be able to swim and jump off the boat into the water. We also got to buy a bottle of wine and drink it on the boat. Our tour was with an older Italian couple and a wonderful guide who split his time between talking in English and Italian about all the sights. Lounging on the boat, sailing and swimming was one of the most wonderful experiences ever. Capri is so unbelievably beautiful. I could have spent the entire day on the boat. Once the boat ride was over, we took the funincular (a tram sort of public transport) from the marina to the main town of Capri. The town was small with a luxurious vibe and designer stores on every street. Unfortunately, my college budget did not allow for more than window shopping. We stopped for lunch in Capri at a wonderful little restaurant called Michel'angelo. I found the restaurant through google and cross checked with trip adviser. Honestly, it stood out online because it had a mozzarella bar. The restaurant was adorable and felt like we were sitting in an Italian garden even though it was indoors. It was also the first time a restaurant played only Italian music while we ate which I loved. I find it so crazy that the rest of the world listens to American music, but I never get exposed to music from other countries. For lunch, Dylan and I shared a charcuterie board from the mozzarella board and fried calamari. Both were delicious. After lunch, we experienced a few hiccups since we planned on seeing the blue grotto and taking a chairlift ride in Anacapri and both were no longer options by the time we managed to maneuver around the island. Guess I will just have to go back to Capri and spend more time there (~how difficult~). We spent some more time walking around Capri and Anacapri before deciding that we wanted to stay on the island for dinner. Again, I googled and cross checked with trip advisor to find Giorgio al Cucciolo. The restaurant was in Anacapri along a cliff in a fully residential area and had the most wonderful views of the ocean and the sunset. Here, we split a caprese salad (because obviously), a bottle of red wine (a cheaper one, because obviously), and I ate green fettuccine with seafood. We took the last ferry from Capri back out to Naples at 10, which was honestly pretty nervewracking since we were both stressed we would miss it and would be stuck on Capri without lodging. We didn't miss it though and made it back to Naples for more gelato. I also facetimed my family who were at Thomas' birthday party celebrating his 50th. Sunday: Sunday was another early morning with coffee and sfogliatella for breakfast, checking out from the air bnb, and storing our luggage in the air bnb's storage space. After, we took the circonvesuviana (local train) to the Ruins of Pompeii. We took a 2 hour guided walking tour (in English!) of the ruins since there is very little description or directions within the site, making it hard to guide yourself. We had also heard of people's experiences getting lost in the ruins, which we did not want to potentially risk since we were taking the train back from Naples to Milan later that afternoon. The ruins were pretty cool to see and learn more about. Seeing the remains with Mt. Vesuvius standing in the background definitely makes the experience worth it. There's just something about the volcano overlooking the ruins still active that brings the ruins and the history to life. 15,000 steps around Pompeii later we took a different exit to see one of Pompeii's colosseums and the modern town center of Pompeii. We got Mcdonalds as a quick bite since we were starved and unsure when our next meal would be and took the circonvesuviana back to Naples. In Naples we picked up our luggage, bought dinner for the train, and took the train back to Milan. The ride back felt longer since after the sun set I could no longer watch the Italian countryside go by. Best Moments:
Capri is easily the most beautiful place that I have ever visited and I definitely want to go back again (and again!) someday. I highly recommend splurging on the private boat tour since its more personal, you can drink on the boat, AND you get to swim!! I also loved the sfogliatella, gelato, and pizza I ate in Naples. I truly wish I could have spent more time in the Amalfi Coast. Greetings from Lake Como! I spent Friday August 30th through Sunday August 1st in Lake Como with Rachel, Tyler, and Romas (all Tulane). Our Air BnB was in a small town called Mandello del Lario and was absolutely wonderful. The owner left us a binder full of recommendations for the whole region and even baked us cookies! Friday: We took the train from Milano Centrale at 6 on Friday straight to Mandello del Lario for just 6 euros! After checking in, we walked through the town and stopped at a restaurant for dinner. I had a pizza diavolo (margherita pizza with super spicy salami) and a local blend of red wine. After dinner, we walked over to the local festival that the Air BnB owners told us was going on down by the lake. I was expecting a cute town celebration. Instead, the town hosted a music festival called Sonica. It felt like every young adult within the town was dancing to Middle Eastern EDM Music. I am not sure who was performing, but apparently he is fairly famous. During the set, we walked along the lake and around the park. There was this zip line sort of thing that we also tried. As his set ended, the entire crowd started chanting this song that is kind of like encore. It was so cool to stand in the crowd with all these people chanting, dancing, and enjoying themselves as they tried to will the performer for more. We couldn't help but smile every time we realized that we were truly in Lake Como experiencing this small music festival. Saturday: Our day started bright and early at 8:30 for breakfast at a local pastry shop. After breakfast, we went back to the Air BnB to change to swim in the Lake. In the same park with the music festival, there was a public "beach" area called Lido. I put beach in quotes because it was entirely pebbles and rocks, but the views were beautiful, the lake was perfectly clear, and to enter was free. We swam the entire morning before two of our new friends (Dylan, Boston College and Merel, from Amsterdam) arrived from Milan. They swam while we changed and planned out the rest of our day. All 6 of us took the train to Varenna where we met Gaby and explored. Varenna was absolutely beautiful and was recommended to us by the Air BnB. We ate lunch right on the lake and walked around the town for a few hours, taking in the breathtaking views. From Varenna, we took a ferry to Bellagio. Bellagio is known as the "Pearl of Lake Como" and is also where the Clooney's vacation villa is located. We walked around for another few hours, exploring the different cobble stoned streets, hilled alleyways, shops, and views of the Lake before starting our trek back to Mandello del Lario. Once back in Mandello, we all took another dip in the Lake to cool off and relax before Dylan, Merel, and Gaby traveled back to Milan. Rachel, Tyler, Romas, and I went to dinner at another recommended spot, Galli & Gufi. We shared a white pizza and a burrata pizza for appetizers and each got our own main meals but tried everything. The main courses were Risotto (Mantecato di riso Carnaroli), a special Beef Tartare chopped right at the table, Pasta with squid (Calamarata con zucchine, calamaretti e pistacchio), and a traditional meat cooked on a long stick (Tzigoiner all valtellinese; manzo e pancetta (a piacere) avvolti su legno di acero e cotti alla griglia secondo tradizione valtellinese, accompagnato da patate saltate e verdure all griglia). I also enjoyed another two glasses of local house red wine. To end the night we had the chefs trio and tiramisu for dessert and a shot of limoncello. We had such a wonderful and delicious meal together, we will definitely remember it long past others. After dinner, we went back to the festival which was even more crowded the night before with a more normal performer (mixed in to the Italian songs was a rendition of "Get up, Stand up" so maybe not normal but more normal than the EDM). Sunday:
On Sunday, we slept in a little later before checking out of the Air BnB. We went back to the same breakfast place and walked around Mandello del Lario for a bit. It was so nice out that we decided to take one final dip in the lake. The lake was truly so spectacular, pictures and words can't do it justice. Best moments: This trip to Lake Como was the perfect start to a semester of weekend adventures. I would not be surprised if swimming in the lake remained one of my favorite experiences, nor if the meal Saturday night remained one of my favorites as well. Ranking the towns, I enjoyed staying in Mandello del Lario as a starting point, Varenna was the most beautiful, and Bellagio had the best views of the lake. Super excited for my next adventure! Thanks for reading:) Ciao! I've officially spent one full week in Milan and can truthfully say that each day has been better than the last. Here is a brief run down of everything I"ve done this week: I arrived from New York Sunday Morning into Malpensa airport. From the airport I took a bus to Milano Centrale (the main train station here) and a cab to my apartment. After moving in, unpacking a little, grocery shopping, and relaxing, I met up with my friends from Tulane studying in Milan as well for aperitivo in Navigli. Navigli is a young, vibrant part of Milan with canals running down the streets. On Monday, I slept in and made myself breakfast (sunny side up egg) before heading over to Bocconi for the first time. I have not explored all the buildings yet, but the building my Italian language crash course is in is pretty nice. After 4 hours of Italian (and 2 breaks!), I went to the Duomo with some people from my section and another Tulane student's section. The Duomo is right in the city center surrounded by the plaza, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, and the rest of modern Milan. The contrast between the Duomo and the rest of the modern buildings is so extreme and makes the Duomo that much more impressive. On Tuesday, I slept in again (it took a few days to get over my jet lag) and then went to Italian for 5 hours. Post Italian, I went for aperitivo with Rachel (Tulane), Tyler (Tulane), and Gabi (from my Italian class, Northwestern) at Fonderie Milanesi. This aperitivo was extremely nice at the cutest little restaurant / bar. We all definitely want to go again. After aperitivo, I went to Navigili with Rachel and Gabi where we shared a bottle of prosecco and walked around again. On Wednesday, after some more Italian, I went with a bunch of people to ESN Erasmus' welcome aperitivo. After aperitivo, there was a party at Old Fashioned. I felt feverish at Old Fashioned so I left early but everyone who stayed enjoyed themselves. Thursday was a chill day with more Italian class and relaxation since I was heading to Lake Como on Friday with some of my friends. I hope you enjoyed reading about my first week. I have not done as much sight seeing as I would have wanted within Milan so far, but I have the whole semester ahead of me. Not quite sure if I'll do a greetings from Milan every week, it depends how much I actually do once classes start and whether I have the time. I am so excited about spending the next four months here in the city! Ciao for now! Arles, France, was the second stop on my European vacation back in May so below is another delayed ~greetings from~ Greetings from Arles, France! After spending three days in Paris, we took a train to the Provence region to spend three days in Arles. Following traveling all morning, lunch, and checking in to our hotel room, we walked around Arles to get acquainted to the city. Sights included the main town plaza and the Arles Arena which is a Roman Coliseum from when the city was part of the Roman Empire. Day two started with a traditional Provencal farmers market that Arles hosts one Sunday a month. We were very fortunate to be in town for the market. The produce, lavender, crafts, and art were all absolutely wonderful. After the market, we went to the Vincent Van Gogh foundation. Again, I'm not a huge art person but seeing these paintings in an area where they were created was cool. We ate at two AMAZING restaurants while in Arles. Both were classic French / Provencal spots and hands down some of the best food I ate while in Europe. The names were Le Criquet and La Pergula. Yelp again did not disappoint. For our third day in Provence, we took the train from Arles to Avignon. Avignon was a much larger Provencal city than Arles and had so much character. Both were wonderful cities but I think I liked the small town charm of Arles more. In Avignon we visited the Pope's Palace, walked around the Saint-Benezet Bridge, and explored a contemporary art museum. The Pope's Palace was fairly interesting. The museum had self guided tours through an ipad that acted as an audio guide and was location / AR based to show you what the palace looked like in each room while it was in use. Arles and Provence were so beautiful and full of character I definitely want to visit again in the future and explore other cities and maybe see the lavender fields in bloom. I visited Paris back in May with my Aunt, so here is a delayed ~greetings from~ Greetings from Paris! Day One: We arrived in Paris early on May 14th ready to explore. It was both of our first times visiting Paris (my first time in Europe!), so we knew we had to start at the Eiffel Tower. After a quick lunch at a cafe on Rue Cler, we took the elevator up to the top. I'm not usually one to get queasy, but this ride made my stomach drop. The views were totally worth it tho. Seriously. Post Eiffel Tower and photos, we spent an hour at the Musee d'Orsay. We definitely could have spent longer here if my feet were not killing me or if we weren't jet lagged, but an hour let us see some Monet's and the photogenic clock. Day one ended with an incredibly early dinner (I wish I wrote down all the names) on Rue du Bac. It was a cute little place with an adorable bar, filled with Parisians enjoying an after work drink as we fell asleep in our dinner. Day Two: For our second day in Paris, we took a day trip out to Versailles to see the Palace. Versailles was my favorite experience of our entire trip and I highly recommend venturing out of Paris to visit. We spent 2/3 of our day there, but time can definitely be shortened. We strolled through the gardens at a leisurely pace for reference. Everything about the palace is as extra as you expect and even more beautiful in person. I knew what the Hall of Mirrors would look like based on pictures, but seeing it in person took it to another level. Since we went during the week, the palace was filled with elementary aged field trips. Absolutely zero school trip I have ever been on can compare. I was genuinely jealous, and wished I remembered half of what I learned in AP Euro. Anyway, after the Palace we took the train back to Paris, recharged, and went out to dinner at a renowned steak frites restaurant called Le Relais de l'Entrecote. All they serve is steak, frites and different desserts. Day Three:
For our final full day in Paris, we started the day at the Louvre. Prepaid tickets and getting there early definitely made a difference since we were not inundated with crowds. We also went straight to the Mona Lisa to get it out of the way and give ourselves time to explore the rest of the museum without worrying we would miss it. I'm not a huge art person, but visiting the Louvre was a very cool experience. After the Louvre, we had lunch in the Jewish quarter at L'as Du Fallafel. It was important to me to stroll the streets of the Jewish Quarter since I did a program following my bat mitzvah where I adopted a Holocaust survivor and she was from France. This area of Paris was extremely lively and I loved seeing the Hebrew writing everywhere. The falafels were also huge and delicious. Our afternoon consisted of shopping/browsing at Galeries Lafayette, macaroons at Pierre Herme and recharging before dinner. Our final Paris dinner was at the restaurant Barack Obama took Michele while in Paris, La Fontaine De Mars, and it did not disappoint. It was also in walking distance of the Eiffel Tower, which let us find a perfect spot to see the light show. Seeing the tower sparkle and become all golden may be touristy, but was beautiful and extremely well done. A perfect way to end our time in Paris before moving on to Arles! |
AuthorStill me! Danielle!! Archives
October 2019
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