La Côte d'Azur

Bonjour!!! The other weekend I went to the French Riviera with a few of my friends. We went through a program called EuroAdventures, which I would highly recommend. They set up tours for the group, but you, by no means, have to go on them. We basically just used them for the transportation and the accommodations. We left Thursday night last week and came back Sunday night. My three friends and I ended up just spending a very relaxing weekend in Nice. The first day we were there, we took a short 15 minute train ride to Monte Carlo, Monaco, where we were able to see the Prince's palace, a Ferrari store, and the enormous casino! We also enjoyed a Monaco beverage at a cafe next to the station. We then met up with my friend's cousin in Nice and she took us around the city, bought us some chocolate, and then took us to her house to hang out with some of her friends.

The next day, we walked around Nice for most of the day, just enjoying the French culture and the beautiful city of Nice. Apparently Nice was first an ancient Greek city named Nike (meaning victory) for over a millennium. We were able to eat some absolutely delicious food that I think was the best food I've had in the last two months (sorry Italia). It was pretty sad when we had to leave the next day to go back to Firenze. Not one of us felt that the trip was nearly long enough, but we are already planning a trip to Paris in December, allowing us to once again immerse ourselves in the French culture!

It was probably one of the most fun weekends I've had yet in Europe and I'm so glad that I was able to practice my French and meet some really great people, while spending it with some really great people.

Now, as far as Firenze is concerned, I was able to spend a weekend here recently, which was extremely nice and relaxing considering I wasn't on a bus, train, plane, or boat travelling somewhere! I was able to go out to many of the local bars and of course practicing the Italian that I've been learning. Unfortunately, however, it is midterm week this week, which is stressing everyone out...quite a bit! Unlike "midterms" in the US, there is only ONE actual week of midterms and each class only has ONE midterm, which I am grateful for. Normally, I have a "midterm" almost every week starting from the third week of school up until the week before finals. On an extremely bright note, I will be leaving on a week long cruise to Croatia and Greece in approximately four days! I am going to be taking the train to Venice, where we leave, and our first stop is Split, Croatia. The next 6 days are spent "island hopping" every day on a different island in Greece and Crete. When I get back, I will then be taking a short three hour train to Interlaken, Switzerland, where I can, hopefully, enjoying some skiing and other activities as it is the adventure capital of Europe! I'm sure my next post will not be up until after I get back from Croatia/Greece/Crete/Switzerland, so until then! Ciao! 

P.S. I took a picture of this little boy playing in the rock fountain! He was so adorable!