Week 5: Spring Break
Welcome back! I am finally sitting down to tackle the daunting task that is spring break. After spending over six hours sitting down to coordinate and book every flight, hostel, and activity, Lauren, Liv, and I finally had our itinerary set. On Friday, February 16 we set off for our flight at 5:30 AM. We trekked it to the train station wearing knee high boots and two coats (leather jacket and trench coat) only to not be able to find the tram to take, forcing us to call a taxi to the airport. We flew out of Florence with the beautiful sunrise bidding us adieu and landed around 8:30 AM in Paris! Immediately we realized that Paris was a whole other animal than Florence. The uber ride to our hostel wasn’t quite the welcoming we were hoping for, as traffic and jerky driving movements had us all gasping for fresh air the second our hour long ride finished. We seamlessly checked into our hostel (where we also met up with Natalie!) and then immediately hit the road for some breakfast. Our hostel was clean and cute, though Natalie did discover a dead tick on her bed… Of course we are extremely frightened by bed bugs but ever since my family welcomed Rio and Gunner in, I have become VERY skilled on identifying ticks. I never thought I would be relieved to see a tick, but I’m glad we have yet to run into any bed bugs. The staff was super kind and changed the sheets out right away. (For anyone visiting Paris, we stayed in The People’s Hostel Belleville.)
Liv and I at Moulin Rouge.
I was immediately surprised by how entranced I was with the city. The elegant, feminine architecture was right up my alley, even though it was a gloomy day. We hit up Cafe Mericourt for brunch and noticed right away that the restaurant was nearly silent… People abroad speak much quieter than Americans! We all promised each other that if one of us was starting to get a little rowdy by talking too loud we would bring them back down to French-inside voices. From there, we started our first day! We decided to try walking pretty much everywhere so that we could see the city along the way. We headed towards L’Officine Universelle Buly but window shopped and admired the city along the way. I have to admit, Paris takes the cake over Florence for shopping :)
Once we arrived at L’Officine Universelle Buly, we all got to design lip balms at the little perfumery and beauty store. You pick out a plastic case color, leather lid pattern and color, and a velvet sleeve to put the lip balm in to protect it. They then stamp your initials on the leather in gold! My lip balm has a cream plastic case, brown circle-patterned leather, and forest green slip. It’s a super cute and unique souvenir. We walked over to the Notre Dame from here, which is still under construction. I will admit, I thought it was a little underwhelming. You can’t enter the building quite yet so we admired from the outside, but I wasn’t really blown away. Still cool though! The next stop was one of my favorites… macarons! I have loved macarons ever since my sophomore year of high school when my history teacher brought them in during a class on french history. I have been so excited to try an authentic one ever since and let me tell you, Laduree did not disappoint. I tried the chocolate, vanilla bean, raspberry, and lemon. I think vanilla bean was my favorite, but the chocolate was a close second. I was also excited to see Nat enjoy them for the first time!
Sitting outside the Louvre.
Of course we tried croissants and coffee during our walking as well and eventually made it back to the hostel. After resting for a little bit, we got ready, enjoyed some wine on the rooftop of our hostel during sunset, and set out for dinner. Because it was a Friday in Lent, we decided on sushi at Kintaro. It had been a while since I’ve had sushi, so that was super refreshing and delicious. We ended out the night at the main event: Moulin Rogue! I really had no idea what to expect with this but it was a really cool and fun experience. The costumes, stage sets, and dancing were all very bright and playful. Somehow we were led to front row, which was a really cool coincidence. We were brought two bottles of champagne and just enjoyed the show. I think the cast enjoyed having us as front row because we loved cheering them on. Since it was their last show at 11:30 PM, they must’ve been exhausted! There were some really cool acts though, one of them including two cast members spinning around in essentially a giant hula hoop. My jaw was on the floor the entire time as I tried to figure out how someone even begins to learn how to do that. There was also one point where the floor was transformed into an entire tank of water and a dancer performed underwater! Apparently there used to be a snake involved in the act but it became too dangerous… Overall, I enjoyed the show and would recommend it.
Our second day of Paris was a beautiful, sunny day that made our long walks that much more enjoyable. We set off in the morning to get crepes at Breizh, where I tried a lemon honey crepe and it was fabulous. Natalie and Lauren got savory crepes with eggs and ham in them, which were also amazing. Unfortunately, I woke up pretty sick this day and my voice was pretty much gone. Those who know me well know my immune system is super sensitive and doesn’t work well in Europe for whatever reason. However, it was a sunny day in Paris and I was with my best friends so the sickness would just have to wait :)
We first tackled Sainte-Chapelle, this gorgeous chapel that is filled with stained glass windows. It was extra awesome because we got free entry with our student IDs ;) This chapel was so different from anything else I had ever seen due to the absence of paintings or sculptures and the complete reliance on stained glass. We learned that around 70% of the windows are original and date back to the 13th century! Throughout the entire chapel there are 1,113 scenes from the Bible depicted in the stained glass. There was even a specific way to “read” the windows, starting left to right and from the bottom to the top. We stood there for quite some time trying to figure out everything we could understand.
The Louvre was next on our list, although we ultimately decided to not go in. Because we were only in Paris for two days, we didn’t want to stand in the crowds and opted instead to enjoy the sunshine and outdoor courtyard, munching on one of the best cookies I’ve ever had from a nearby caffe. From there, we started the long haul to the Eiffel Tower. We quickly learned that almost nothing in Paris is close together and came to the decision to get our steps in and see more of the city along the way. Even though the walk took us over an hour, it was nice getting to walk along the river and just chat with the girls. Once we finally made it, we stopped at a nearby market to grab a baguette, jam, fruit, and cheese. Unfortunately most of the park by the Eiffel is blocked off, apparently for Olympics preparation, but we found a little back patch of grass to sit down and eat our snacks. Several people have warned me that the Eiffel Tower is underwhelming, but I didn’t feel that way at all! It was one of those moments where I thought “Damn. I’m really sitting here looking at the Eiffel Tower. I’m so incredibly lucky!”
Little rat dessert
After our picnic we made our way over to the metro because we were over a two hour walk away from our hostel at this point! Unfortunately we witnessed a group of young girls trying to pick-pocket an older couple… Thankfully a French couple caught it and stopped them. That was really an eye opener since I don’t normally take public transportation like that in Florence. We went to dinner at Ferdi, which apparently is Kim Kardashian’s “favorite burger.” The burger was insanely good… but better than Kopps? Debatable. The day had also come where I tried a dessert I didn’t like… this little chocolate rat! We decided to be adventurous and try it since the menu described it as “for chocolate lovers”, even though we had no idea what it was. When it came out, it was chocolate… in the shape of a rat?The flavors were chocolate, olive oil, and rosemary! I wasn’t a fan personally.
We finished out the night by trying a few different bars, the first being a jazz club called Caveau de la Huchette. I had never been to a jazz club before and it was awesome! This one was super cool because it was underground and they had a student discount. The music was lively and fun; I definitely have to improve my dancing skills… I’ve never tried with jazz music before lol. We then visited George’s Cafe across the street for a drink and the music was LOUD and bumping. Our final destination was Mermaids and Divers to meet up with some college friends, but at this point my voice was completely lost and I was just observing. My friends are angels for putting up with my illness and they came home with me even though it was our last night. Paris is a city I hope to see again in the future and spend more time exploring and enjoying!
The Nice harbor.
The next day we left Paris and arrived in Nice on February 18th. We ran into our first travel bump at the Paris airport… Our carryon that Liv, Lauren and I were sharing got pulled aside and opened up due to having too many liquids. All of our liquids were in TSA approved bottles and bags, but apparently it’s a rule that there can only be one bag of liquids per person. Seemed a little sus to me but there was nothing we could do except pick which of our products was the most important and part from the non-essentials. This led to saying goodbye to my makeup remover, body wash, curl cream, and deodorant. Lauren and Liv also had things taken so we had to share pretty much all of our toiletries for the rest of the trip which wasn’t that big of a deal. At first they held up my makeup bag and my heart stopped for a second! Luckily they decided that makeup doesn’t count as a liquid (but deodorant does?). We landed in Nice and I was immediately obsessed with the ocean stretching out in front of us! Checking into our Airbnb was super easy and I finally got some much needed rest to try to accelerate the healing process.
One of the overlooks at Parc de la Colline du Chateau
Nice is the cutest little town on the coast of Southern France and is filled with charm. We were insanely lucky with weather and every day was sunny and (somewhat) warm in the 60s. We started our first full day with brunch at Clay where we finally got some iced coffee. We started to explore the town where we stumbled upon Parc de la Colline du Chateau. We walked up this path that led us up a hill with a beautiful overlook of Nice at the top. The lookout was incredible and one of my favorite things we did there. Families were there with their kids and the park was completely 360°, allowing for a viewpoint from anywhere in the park. We climbed down random paths and discovered some live music, where the performer even started playing The Weeknd (if you know me, you know). The moment was absolutely perfect, with sun beaming on us and sparkling blue water surrounding us. We honestly just wandered around the town until sunset where I experienced the most insane sunset I’ve ever seen. The colors were SO vibrant it didn’t look real. We sat and enjoyed the sunset on the beach for a while before heading to Bocca Nissa for dinner. Nat and Maddie had recommended this place to us from when they went, so we knew the meal was about to hit. It was tapa style food and pretty much everything we ate was amazing. The craziest part though was the bathrooms. Each room was themed? One stall had a disco ball in it while the other had bananas glued to the ceiling… The night was complete with gelato of course.
Nice sunset on the beach!
The thing I enjoyed the most about Nice was it really gave us a lot of time to relax and not rush around from one site to the next. We got a lot of sleep and allowed ourselves to move a little slower since we were staying in an Airbnb. The next day we rented bikes in the morning and biked all along the Promenade des Anglais, which has stunning views of the beach. Despite being a cycle instructor, I don’t remember the last time I rode an actual bike lol! It was so much fun to move through the city and take a break from walking. It even got a little competitive on the path as people were trying to pass each other due to all the different paces. I think we held our own though. The second it started to warm up we parked our bikes and spread our towels on the beach. It wasn’t necessarily tanning weather but after weeks of gloom in Florence we were desperate to bathe in the sun. Even though we were some of the few people in swimsuits, the sun felt soooo good and the beach wasn’t crowded at all. Somehow my extremely pale skin still managed to get a slight tan line and rosy cheeks. Besides kids trying to feed the seagulls next to us, it was another moment of pure relaxation. Liv and I decided that we couldn’t visit Nice and not swim so we dashed to the water and ran in… Honestly, it was cold but no worse than Lake Michigan in the summer. The rocky beaches made it slightly uncomfortable but we dunked and then ran out. Once it started to cool off we headed back home to shower and get ready for dinner. We ate at a little Mexican restaurant next door in the heart of Old Town Nice called La Lupita. The burritos were great and the sangria was a nice change from our usual aperol spritz. We ended the night by attending the opera. The opera we went to was “Guru” and wow… that was certainly an experience! First off, I was the annoying person in the crowd that couldn’t stop coughing. So sorry to the lady that was sitting next to me that was jolted awake every time I coughed. At least I kept her from sleeping through the whole show! Basically the plot was that these people moved to an island to follow the lifestyle of this guru, who essentially was leading a cult. They believed that only drinking seawater would allow them to reach the “great journey.” I won’t spoil what happens or go into too much detail. If you want to look it up (or not) know that it was based on real events in Jonestown, USA. Thankfully there were English captions on screens off to the side so we could keep up!
Our last day in Nice was spent taking a day trip to Montecarlo in Monaco. The train to get there was super quick and easy, but that thing is packed! You can pretty much count on standing shoulder to shoulder with other people. We didn’t do much besides walk around, look at the harbor filled with the biggest yachts I’ve ever seen, peak inside the casino, and chill on the beach. We headed back to Nice to enjoy one more sunset on the water while we talked for a while over some amazing aperols. The trip was complete with some Greek takeout and a movie night to prepare us for the final weekend of the trip.
My friends and I on the booze cruise!
At last, we flew out of Nice and into Amsterdam on the 22nd around 9 AM. The first thing we did was hit up Maijard Smashburgers where we got some GAS burgers and potatoes. Our hostel situation was less than ideal, so I probably wouldn’t recommend where we stayed which was Tourist Inn. It was right next to a brothel which we did not know going into it so yeah… We went to bed pretty early that night due to being so tired from all the travel. The next day was an early start with brunch at Ted’s, where we met up with Kate, Maddy, and Natalie! The brunch was delish with more iced coffee (I tried to enjoy it as much as I could before returning to Italy). After brunch we walked around exploring Amsterdam and shopped around at cute jewelry shops. We almost met up with Lexi!!! The architecture was sooo interesting and cool to see because everything was super narrow and almost looked squished together. There were also so. many. bikes. We actually learned that there are 2 bikes per person in the city! We got street fries at Fabel Friet and delish cookies at Van Stapele. Even though it was cold and slightly rainy, we hopped on our booze cruise that took us through canals and provided lots of wine and beer for the group. It was really cool getting to see the city from a different perspective while learning some history along the way. Dinner was with a big group at Lolita, where the food was kinda iffy… serving beef tartare and some dish with beets? We finished the night at a couple bars just hanging out.
Gloomy weather over a canal.
The next day was Kate’s 21st birthday! Our morning started off bright and early with our wonderful stranger roommate in our hostel REFUSING to wake up to his alarm. We all could not stop laughing because the alarm was this twinkle tune that legitmately went on for 6-8 minutes straight. After a rough but hilarious start to the morning, we took a tour of the Anne Frank house; SUCH an amazing experience, and I totally recommend it to anyone that visits Amsterdam. We had a brief introduction to the history at the time before getting to walk through the museum and listen to an audio tour. We learned so much about Anne’s life and got to read and listen to excerpts from her diary. I was absolutely shocked by her eloquence in her writing… She was so well spoken and intelligent for only being 13 years old when she started it. My diary at 13 was certainly not so worldly nor written in such beautiful cursive! Walking around the actual annex was such a surreal moment… I mean actually seeing the wallpaper and pencil markings of their heights, along with the original sinks and bookcase, was so incredibly moving. In the museum we also saw the original diary and more of her writings.
After the museum we ate some brunch and started our walk to the Moco Museum, a modern and contemporary art museum. This was by far the coolest art museum I have ever been to in my life. The exhibits were set up in a big house; it was refreshing seeing art in a setting different from sterile walls. There were so many insane art pieces there, including Banksy and Andy Warhol. My favorite pieces were the interactive ones that had INSANE graphics. I couldn’t even fathom how the artists came up with those ideas and then brought those visions to life. As a visual person, this was such a big source of inspiration and made me excited about creativity again! Shoutout Kate for finding the museum :)
We made our way over to Tony’s Chocolonely to make custom chocolate bars! We designed the wrappers and chose the toppings to add into the chocolate. I did a mix of milk and dark chocolate with caramel, cinnamon sugar, and pretzels. The combination was the best decision ever and I’ll admit my bar didn’t last long. Plus my wrapper was pink and purple :)
The trip closed out by celebrating our wonderful new friend Kate at dinner for her birthday. We went to Nomi, an all-you-can-eat Korean barbecue restaurant. I think we tried pretty much every item on the menu and got to cook steak and shrimp on the mini personal grills at our tables! We had so many laughs and I think we impressed the servers with the amount of food we put down. (Never underestimate a Cesarz appetite) We headed over to Smokey’s bar for some drinks (the dancing was something else) and then finished the whole trip out at Escape, a club that was kinda of a rip off but still fun. We were all soooo tired that we had to head home.
The next morning we left for Florence! I know that was an insanely long read, but I didn’t want to leave out a lot of details so that I can go back and remember it all one day. Thanks for sticking around and I’ll see you next week!
