I got back on Wednesday night from my trip to Paris, and although it wasn't the same as being home for Passover, I got to talk to my whole family on Skype for a few minutes before they started their Seder which was really nice. Kind of like a welcome home, but across the Atlantic. My trip was fantastic, I really had a great time seeing the cities and seeing a couple friends from high school and Brown and spending some time just wandering around without much of a schedule. I think a lot of us were just feeling a little stressed before vacation began, so it was really nice to just get a break. As much as I love Seville and living with my host mother, it was good to have some time away to be doing something different. So I got on a plane last Thursday morning and set out for Milan. It ended up working out really because another girl on my program, Alex, was visiting a friend in Milan and happened to be on my flight. I'm not really a fan of traveling by myself to places where I don't speak the languages, so that was a good thing. We were flying Ryanair, which is this really cheap European airline, and when we got on the plane we understood why we had only paid 45 euros for it haha. Let's just say there were no seatpockets and the seats didn't recline. Not to mention the fact that we had to be bussed to the plane and then walk up some stairs to get on it. And you know how you usually can't see exactly where the luggage comes from when you are claiming it? Well in the half-finished airport in Milan, you could see through the glass windows that it was just coming from the other side of the wall, outside. Good times. So Alex and I made it to Italy, and I hung out with her and her friend for the day because my friends (Rachel, my friend from school who is studying in Denmark, and Arielle, her friend from home who is also studying in Denmark) weren't getting there until later that night. We got some gelato (super nutella, amazing) and just relaxed for the afternoon because it was pretty rainy. Then we got dinner together and I left for my hotel. I got out of the metro and was a little confused, but luckily I was able to use a tiny map next to the bikes to help me figure it out. Good thing I was wearing my glasses and could barely see. So the trip was off to a pretty good start, I checked into my hostel where they barely spoke English or Spanish, took a shower, and went to sleep until Rachel and Arielle got there a little later.
The next morning, we were surprised to find some good weather! I was happy, but Rachel and Arielle were thrilled because they basically haven't had weather like that yet since they have been in Europe. We spent the day wandering around Milan, we tried to get tickets to see The Last Supper but we couldn't. So we went to the Duomo and climbed up to the roof, we went to get pizza for lunch, and we went to a castle and walked through the park. We did a little bit of shopping later on and then went to an auditorium to listen to a classical music concert which was really nice. We were exhausted after walking around all day. When we bought the concert tickets, we were told that it would last about an hour and a half so we didn't eat dinner before, thinking that we would just eat a lateish dinner (which isn't too bad for me, since I usually eat at 9 or 9:30 anyway). So at 10:15, we were all pretty hungry and decided to leave the concert, but on the way out literally everyone stared at us. oops. We went to get some dinner, walked back to the hotel, and collapsed.
The next morning, Rachel and Arielle left early to fly to Rome, and I got up a little later because my flight to Paris wasn't until 2:45. I gave myself a lot of time to get to the airport and ended up sitting around for a while, but I really didn't have anything else to do. I actually started reading The Da Vinci Code, fitting since I was about to go to Paris and see the Louvre. The flight to Paris wasn't long and then I had to take a bus from the airport to the city which was about an hour, but Emily (my friend from high school) was waiting for me when I got there! It was so good to see her, and her host family was nice enough to let me stay at her house. She lives about a 15/20 minute walk from the center of the city, so it was really awesome to be able to stay with her. After we dropped off my stuff at her house, we walked down the Champs-Elysees, which is the part of Paris that has a lot of the really expensive shopping. We went into Louis Vuitton for fun, and walked around a few other stores. Mostly we just wanted to catch up on what had been going on in our lives. We went out to get sushi for dinner with a bunch of Emily's friends from her program which was really nice, and then we just hung out outside and had some wine. I had forgotten that other food exists besides Spanish food because in Seville, when you go out for dinner, you get Spanish food. There really isn't much else, and to be honest, I had forgotten how much I love other kinds of food besides legumes and bread. Sounds strange, but it's true. Paris was so different because it is an international city, so people just assumed I spoke French whereas in Seville, people know that there is no way I live here. It's really interesting. It was tough to be in a country where I didn't speak the language, and even though French and Spanish are supposed to be fairly similar, they really aren't. To me, Italian sounded like Spanish that I didn't understand, whereas French sounded completely foreign.
Sunday morning I woke up early to go to the Louvre because on the first Sunday of the month, all national museums in Paris are free. Good thing I got there early because by the time I left at noon, the place was completely packed. I took this crazy audio tour which was actually a palm pilot. There were several pre-programmed tours, one of which was of the three masterpieces of the Louvre - Venus de Milos, the Mona Lisa, and the Goddess of Victory. This was the most ridiculous audioguide ever, it included descriptions of where to walk, how fast to walk, and instructions to make sure that you allowed other people time to view the art. One of the tours even had a warning that it was strenuous. Right. Anyway, after seeing the crazy crowd of people at the Mona Lisa, I met up with Emily to walk over to the Marais (the Jewish part of Paris) to get some lunch. We found a bunch of Jewish bakeries and I got a bagel with lox, tomato, and cucumber. Best thing ever. We ate in a park, shopped around a little bit, and then went back to Emily's house because the walk was about an hour. Hannah had invited us over to the apartment that she and her mom were renting for the week, so we walked over there for dinner and hung out with them for a while, eating bread, cheese, quiche, and lots of dessert. Yum. On the walk there, the sun was setting and Paris was absolutely gorgeous.
Monday, Emily had class so I spent the day wandering around. The weather was beautiful and I was just happy to be outside exploring Paris. I went to Notre Dame, to the modern art museum (Pompidou), where I managed to get myself in for free, and then to get some lunch (a crepe!) and sit in a park that my Senora had recommended I go to. It was so beautiful, and there were chairs all over the park. It seemed like every Parisian was there, but it was just so peaceful and beautiful. After reading for a little while, I met up with Emily because she was done with class and we walked over to the Eiffel Tower. The line was really long to climb it, so we decided to sit in the park and just chat, get something cold to drink, and look at the scenery. Because it is Holy Week, lots of people have vacation so in general Paris was full of tourists and all the lines were really long. But it was nice to just sit and relax for a while. We headed back to her house and went out to eat - salads and a dessert crepe (bananas, chocolate sauce, and vanilla ice cream). I love the food in Paris, but I'm happy I don't live there - I'd probably gain 20 pounds between the crepes and the pastries.
Tuesday I woke up early to meet Hannah and her mom to go to Versailles. I was a little lost looking for the subway/train station, but luckily as soon as I got into the station and got in line to get my ticket, I saw Hannah and her mom right in front of me! A few minutes later, another friend from our program, Liz, joined us because she was in Paris for Semana Santa also, and she was with her friend from home so he came too. So we took the train to Versailles, only to find some of the most ridiculous lines ever. We had to wait in line to buy tickets (although we ended up getting in for free because we showed our University of Seville IDs and they thought we were citizens of the EU), then we had to wait in line to get our bags checked and get in, then to get audioguides, and then to go to the bathroom. By the time we got in, it was around 11:30 and we had left Seville around 9! We all decided that it was one of the most poorly organized entrances we had ever seen, and that there should be just one line for tickets, bag check, and audioguides all together. It was all worth it though, because Versailles was beautiful and incredible. We walked around the main palace and through all the apartments, then through the gardens, and then to part of Marie Antoinette's estate. We were pretty exhausted by the end of the day, and we finally left Versailles around 4:30, fell asleep on the train, and I went back to meet up with Emily.
That night, Emily's host family was having a birthday part for their daughter so I stayed in Hannah's apartment and went out to dinner with her and her mom. It was one of the coolest/strangest places I have ever been. First, the waiter came over and asked if we wanted to speak English, Spanish, French, or Italian, and then he explained to us how our meal was going to work. There was basically an edible arrangements type basket of vegetables on the table that we were allowed to have as much as we wanted of, then he told us there was a cold buffet of pasta/salami/olives/etc., then there was a choice of 4 hot meals, then there was a cheese platter, and then there was dessert. Also, he gave us a pitcher and told us the wine was on tap and that we could take not as much as we want but as much as we can. Haha. So much food, but it was all delicious. At one point, we took an entire pepper from the vegetable basket and we also took a piece of one of the cheeses to put in my purse...and when the two French guys next to us (who also spoke a little Spanish and a little English) started talking to us, they were like 'you know, you're not really supposed to take extra food...' and we just laughed. It was pretty funny. It was hard to communicate with them, but we had fun anyway. Then there was another table that started talking to us because they heard us speaking Spanish and they were from Brazil. We spoke pretty good Spanish with them, and they told us they were shocked we were American because our Spanish was so good. I'm not sure about that, but I'll take the compliment. Our night ended with some ice cream (as if we needed to eat more), and we went back and crashed.
Wednesday morning I went to the Musee d'Orsay with Kelly, another friend from high school. We got some coffee and waited in a slightly ridiculous line, but it was all worth it because that was probably my most favorite museum that I have ever been to. It is in an old train station and has pre-impressionist, impressionist, and post-impressionist art. Lots of Monet, my favorite. It was great to see Kelly and catch up, as I probably haven't seen her in about a year since we were both away last summer. It's always fun to reminisce about high school.
I met up with Emily around noon, we got some lunch, did some shopping, and went back to her house because I had an 8pm flight to Seville. I had to take a bunch of different trains to get to the airport, but when I finally got in line to check in, I was thrilled because everyone around me was speaking Spanish! Finally I could understand what was going on again. A lot of the people on my flight were coming back from Euro-Disney, which is just outside of Paris. The airport was slightly disorganized, and they didn't even announce my gate until 15 minutes before the flight was supposed to leave. It was like Penn Station over there, waiting for them to announce the LIRR tracks, all of the sudden everyone freaks out and runs to their gate. I got back to Seville around 11:15 and had to figure out how to walk home because it is the middle of Semana Santa and there were lots of streets blocked off because of all the Pasos (basically a long parade that ends in men carrying a huge statue of either Jesus or one of the Virgins). It took me a while to get there, but when I got back I got to talk to the whole family on Skype because everyone was home for Passover. Lots of fun to see everyone, but I was sad not to be there. But I can't even believe it, I'm going to be home in a little over a month - May 20th, just in time for commencement. Time has flown.
Pictures of Milan and Paris
