Spring Break - Part 2: London

The second part of my spring break trip was a good deal shorter and less packed than the first part, but I still have a few good stories (and quite a few photos) to share. To pick up from last post, I took the Chunnel train from Paris to London on Monday afternoon with Lauren and Jamie. It was a good experience, however the one caveat was that we bought our tickets the day of our trip and they were horrendously expensive. Buying even one day early makes a huge difference, so be sure to do that (or even book weeks ahead) if you’re making the trip in the future. Lauren, Nicole, and Amanda actually booked a flight to London instead when they arrived at the train station. Regardless, we arrived safely in London to find people speaking English! I took the directions given to me by my friend Meghan and took the Tube to Hammersmith, and then jumped on the 72 bus to Roehampton University. The campus is very nice, and I stayed with Meghan, who was a cinema studies and journalism major with me at NYU before she graduated last year. She’s spent the year in graduate school at Roehampton. Since it’s fairly far from central London, I spent the next day, my twenty-first birthday, relaxing on the peaceful campus. Meghan and I went out for a nice dinner at a restaurant called Il Mascalzone. I ordered a rack of lamb, which was quite good, and the dessert wine, the Veneto, which contains smooth and subtle apricot, honey, and pear flavours (British), according to the menu description. It was a nice fun meal, and while it’s not how I might have imagined celebrating my twenty-first birthday, it was still quite pleasant. That night was very cold but Roehampton really is quite a nice place, and it’s an interesting glimpse of a campus.

A shot of Roehampton University at night

Me and my dessert wine

Meghan and me

Wednesday I had an extremely packed day as my only sightseeing/touring day in London. I got up early and took the bus and the train to near Buckingham Palace. I walked around and saw Big Ben and other major sights in London as I headed toward Buckingham Palace. I met up with all my NYU in Florence friends there, though we were disappointed to find that the changing of the guard ceremony wasn't happening that morning. Instead, we walked to Trafalgar Square and then over to the London Eye. We got our own private orb to go up the London Eye, which was quite cool. After seeing London from up high, we ran into three of the bros (my suitemates) from BC and I got a quick photo of them looking really excited. Amanda’s friend Skylar, who’s studying abroad in London, joined us at this point, and it turns out she’s actually a cinema studies major and we recognized each other so that was fun! We searched for a nice restaurant where we could get fish and chips. My dish was incredibly good, though it’s quite strange because they come with mushy peas, which aren’t that bad, they’re just a bit strange as a food item. After lunch, we walked around some more and saw the Millennium Bridge (cool) and the London Bridge (not cool). Our final attraction of the afternoon was Madame Tussaud’s wax museum, which is apparently the original and predates the one in New York. I’ve uploaded a few fun photos below.

"Hello?"

Big Ben

Buckingham Palace

The guards weren't changing, but they're certainly moving

Guards marching as we left Buckingham Palace

Winston Churchill

Gardens along the walk

Lions in Trafalgar Square

Amanda, Nicole, Lauren, and a lion

London from the London Eye

Another shot of London from the London Eye

A third shot of London from the London Eye

Standing in front of London

Matt, Nick, and Jack (a.k.a. the bros)

Lunch! Fish and chips!

Amanda and Skylar at lunch

Me and Lauren at lunch

Relaxing with Steven Spielberg

Hulk smash?

Telling Jim Carrey a joke

Answering the call for Obama

My last night in London granted me the opportunity to do something I haven’t done all semester, and haven’t even done much in New York: a play. Lauren and I went to go see Three Days of Rain, starring James McAvoy (Atonement, The Last King of Scotland). We got our tickets only an hour before for twenty-six pounds. The play was terrific, and it was really a fun experience. I headed back to Meghan’s school after that and we had a quick brunch the next morning before I went to Gatwick Airport for my flight to Florence. It was a good break, but it was also nice to be back and just relax in Florence. The next morning, Lara arrived – but that’s an entirely different story for the next blog post, coming soon.

Three Days of Rain

Spring Break - Part 1: Paris

I had a very exciting time over spring break traveling outside of Italy, and here’s a recap of the first half of my trip, spent in the wonderful city of Paris, France. I’ve been to Paris once before, eight years ago in the summer of 2001, traveling with my French Immersion class. This trip was an altogether different experience, because, in addition to being considerably older and theoretically more world-savvy and mature, I was traveling with friends and by myself instead of a big group. I traveled with new friends I made on the program – Lauren, Lauren, Nicole, Amanda, and Jamie, all girls as usual since there are so few males on this program. We were, however, joined by a male in Paris, a friend of some of my fellow travelers from home, Ryan, who’s studying abroad in Madrid for the semester. You’ll find a photo of all of us by the Seine below.

We departed Florence for the airport in Pisa last Thursday night. Our EasyJet flight was rather pleasant despite a fifty-minute delay before we boarded the plane. Other NYU students Drew, Nicole, Alicia, and Christina were also on our flight, and we arrived in at around 11:15pm. The bus system in Paris stops running at 11:30pm, so after a fruitless search, I hopped in a cab to Rue de la Butte Aux Cailles, where my friend Jesse lives. He’s studying abroad with NYU and lives in a single apartment with a bedroom lined with books and a washing machine right next to his dishwasher! He was kind enough to let me stay for the duration of my time in Paris. His apartment is located far from tourist areas but close to a Metro station and it was nice to get a glimpse of real Paris life.

On Friday morning, I got up early to meet my fellow travelers at the Louvre for our 9am reservation. It was a cold morning and complications with their hotel led to my friends being quite delayed, but I got to shoot a few pictures of some large groups and just take in the exterior of the Louvre in all its grandeur. I walked through some of the streets around the Louvre while I was waiting, and it was cool to take in Paris at around 9:30am on a Friday morning. Once my friends arrived, we journeyed through the halls of the Louvre and I took countless pictures of paintings and sculptures. I was prepared for the lackluster nature of the Mona Lisa but not prepared for the overjoyed reaction my friends had to the existence of a Starbucks. We exited the Louvre after a few hours and took a quick look at the gardens on the way to our next destination.

The Louvre!

Becoming one with the art


The day was warming up, so we walked outside for a while past the beautiful Seine, and made it to Notre-Dame. We went inside only minutes before a mass so we didn’t stay for long, but it was still quite impressive. Our travels that afternoon brought us to a gyro place for lunch (my first ever! Pretty good, I say) and the Luxembourg Gardens for some relaxation and sun intake. That evening, I met up with Jesse, who brought me to a local restaurant called Chez Les Filles where I met some other NYU in Paris students. My dinner of lamb ribs was not the gourmet highlight of my trip, but it was still filling and I was positively overwhelmed by the good-tasting bread that’s thrown at diners, since that’s one thing that doesn’t really exist in Florence. A few photos from that afternoon:

Sitting on the Seine

The Seine

Lauren, Nicole, Ryan, Amanda, me, and Lauren

Notre-Dame

Saturday morning I didn’t meet up with my NYU friends but instead saw two friends of mine from Holliston, dating back to before high school, Alison and Katie. Alison is studying abroad the year in Paris, and Katie was visiting her for her spring break. Katie’s roommate Teja from BU is abroad in Madrid and stopped by for the weekend as well. I met up in the morning with Katie and Teja at Place d’Italie, a shopping center very close to where Jesse lives, and where I picked up the Metro each time I traveled around Paris. We walked around Paris and picked up some fruit on the way to Notre-Dame. Since I had already been there the day before, I was glad to have the opportunity to go see the Mémorial de la Deportation, the Holocaust memorial for the 200,000 French people deported. Unfortunately, I only got to see the outside since it was closed, but it was still an interesting experience. We met up with Alison outside Notre-Dame and walked through Paris for a while. I had my first crepe of the trip (with butter and banana) and we sat down for a bit in the Luxembourg Gardens. That afternoon marked one of the most worthwhile parts of my trip – the Catacombs. We waited in line for a short while and then headed down a lot of steps to walk through the underground tunnels. It was really cool, and there were quite a lot of skulls and bones. When we came out (far from where started), we stopped at a stand on the street and I got a gaufre (waffle) with sugar, one of the things I remembered loving about my trip to France in seventh grade. Our last stop of the day was at Sacre-Coeur, the church at the top of Paris where you can look down and see the whole city. Unfortunately it doesn’t come out as well in a picture, so I’ll just have to recommend you go see it for yourself! The inside of the church was very nice and I left Katie, Alison, and Teja as they were exploring the villages near the church. I returned via Metro to Rue de la Butte Aux Cailles, and Jesse took me to one of his favorite restaurants, Chez Gladines, where I ordered the confit de canard (duck) which was delicious and accompanied by some terrific potatoes. A highly recommend dish!

Walking through the Catacombs

Skulls!

Sacre-Coeur

Alison, me, and Katie


Sunday morning I reunited with the NYU girls at their Best Western hotel. Before jumping on the Metro to meet them, I went into a boulangerie and purchased a person-sized baguette for a mere 87 cents. It was entirely delicious and I like its on-the-go nature. Our itinerary for the day was to head to Versailles. While the weather in the morning was overcast and it rained for a bit, it got much nicer by the afternoon. We purchased tickets for the Chateau de Versailles right near the train station and got to skip the line to get in. We walked through the palace for a while and it was quite an incredible experience. After seeing the castle, we hopped abroad the shuttle that goes through the surrounding area and got off at the house of Marie-Antoinette. Purely by chance, I ran into Kaitlin, an NYU student abroad in London who I had class with during freshmen year, waiting in line behind me. It’s really fun to see all of the paintings and rooms in Versailles and I have tons and tons of pictures that I’ll hold on to but aren’t quite worth uploading or sharing here. On our way out, we couldn’t resist stopping at a crepe stand and I got one this time just with sugar (simple, but sweet!). When we got back into Paris, we split up and I went with Lauren and Ryan to the Arc de Triomphe. We walked down the Champs-Elysées, which was great, and to really ensure that I tasted all the great French food, I got another gaufre. From there, we headed towards the Eiffel Tower. We got there at a perfect time, just as it was getting dark, so we got to see in the day and then when it got lit up at night. I opted not to go up the Eiffel Tower since I got a headache just looking up at it, but I did go up last time I was in Paris so at least I did it then! The Eiffel Tower was our designated meeting point so I hung out with Mitch, Jamie’s friend, as we waited for everyone else to arrive. Kim, a friend from Holliston who used to go to NYU, now goes to BC, and is currently studying abroad in Paris, met up with us as well. While we were waiting, I even ran into fellow NYU-in-Florence student Alana Weber! It got pretty cold and started raining a bit, so we headed to find a restaurant as soon as our large group of eight was together. We dined at a fairly touristy restaurant, and Lauren sampled escargot. I was satisfied with my decent steak and fries. I took the Metro back with Kim most of the way and turned in for the evening to get some sleep before my last day in Paris.

The Chateau de Versailles

L'Arc de Triomphe

The Eiffel Tower!

The Eiffel Tower, lit up at night

Kim!


I parted ways with my gracious host Jesse (who I sadly never got a picture with) on Sunday evening since he had to get up early Monday morning for class. I left Jesse’s apartment in the morning and purchased not one but two baguettes for the day and for our impending train to London. I had instructions to take the 6 Metro line to get to Mitch’s favorite restaurant where we would have our last meal in Paris. I got on the train as planned, but was promptly kicked off because the line was shutting down indefinitely. Fortunately, I was able to re-chart my route and reach my destination as planned. Everyone except Ryan, who had left already to return to Madrid, met up at Tribeca, an Italian restaurant walking distance from the Eiffel Tower. I decided that in light of my ability to have Italian food every day this semester, I should go for something else, and ordered the confit de canard once again. It was just as delicious this time. I ended my time in Paris with a fourth and final crepe. Lauren, Jamie, and I took a cab to the Gare du Nord to take the Chunnel to London, where further adventures would continue! Check back soon for exciting stories!

Confit de canard!

A parting shot of Rue de la Butte Aux Cailles

A Brief Teaser

I have plenty of stories and pictures to post from my spring break trip, but here's a quick fun bit in the meantime!

What Exactly Have I Been Up To Lately?

Clearly, not writing on this blog, which is unfortunate. Luckily, I've been doing a number of exciting things with my time. I'm in the midst of midterms now, but spring break is a mere two days away and I'm jetting off to Paris only a few hours after my last exam. I'll try my best to recount all the exciting things I've done lately. I haven't taken many pictures lately, but I do have a few good ones.

I used my student museum card to get into the Uffizi for free, and walked through the entire gallery with Leora. It was really nice outside, so we walked along the Ponte Vecchio over the Arno and explored some of the pleasant-looking shops and sites along the bridge and over the other side. I sampled a number of different gelato places, favoring tiramisu, banana, and my new choice of cantaloupe. I certainly plan to go back and see more of that area, especially when it's warm.

I participated in a far rarer opportunity through NYU to tour the Vasari Corridor, a secret passageway built by the Medici family in the 1500s. It's lined with portraits of dozens of renowned artists and extends for more than a kilometer. It was certainly cool and it's amazing to walk over the whole city of Florence and hear about how it's easy to see out but near impossible to see in. The weather is getting warmer, and with the exception of nonstop rain forecasted for the next five days, the lowest the temperature gets now is 45 degrees at night, so after spring break I'll be doing a whole lot of walking around and exploring Florence on foot. I stil have a lot to see here, including the David and the inside of the Duomo, so I'll be prepared to do all that on my weekends in Florence during March and April.

I took a day trip to Pisa with NYU in Florence to see that famed leaning tower. It turns out Pisa isn't all that exciting, and the tower looks sort of cool from certain angles. It's very expensive to go up the tower, so we didn't, and otherwise the city is rather bland and the street vendors with their sunglasses and flowers are devastatingly pushy. It's good that I went to go see it, and we did have some decent pizza. Unfortunately, our stop later that afternoon at a Vespa museum in between Pisa and Florence were derailed (quite literally) by missing not one but two trains, waiting at a sketchy train station in the middle of nowhere that looked as if it were taken right out of the Old West. It wasn't a big deal to skip it though, since we were tired and we got to see Pisa. Perhaps I'll go check it out sometime in the future. NYU is planning more trips for our last two months here, and I'm hope they're exciting, because after this and Lucca, I'm certainly in.

This past Friday, I went with friends Nicole and Drew to quite an interesting experience - Florence's own serial killer museum. We saw it one of the first days we were here and it looked intriguing. Nicole, a PA, wanted to plan an event but NYU thought it might perhaps be too violent. The sign outside, hanging above a wax statue of Hannibal Lecter, says it closes March 18th, so we wanted to take advantage of it now. It turns out it's an exhibit devoted to 10 different serial killers as well as a panel focused solely on Italian serial killers. For each famed murderer, the audio guide details an extensive history of their killings, and then moves on to a scientific method that was used to catch them. It's interesting, sure, but otherwise more than a bit long-winded. They even have chairs set up so that you can sit down while listening to the stories. I expected freaky wax serial killers to jump out and scare me, and instead I found it somewhat...lackluster. We also skipped the ending part which showcased different methods of execution, which just isn't something we needed to see. We got a parting shot of each of us with the wax statue of Hannibal, and we're content to declare it an exciting enough experience. If you are in or ever go to Florence, it's probably okay to skip it.

I must say that I've found some terrific restaurants here that I plan to return to several times during the remainder of my time here. La Ghiotta is a mere five minutes away and offers a choice of any pasta with any sauce for only 5 or 6 euro and no cover charge. I of course have ordered penne ai funghi porcini each time, and that is now my favorite dish over my initially preferred tagliatelle ai funghi porcini, since I am a fan of penne pasta over spaghetti. I went to dinner with several freshmen from my Italian class and Drew at a place called La Bussola, where I ordered an extremely delicious and delectable veal cutlet. Others ordered pizza with pecorino cheese, pear, walnuts, and honey. Some interesting food they have here in Italy. Walking home, we located a place with signs that screamed "milkshakes" outside. We went in and asked for milkshakes, and we were told they didn't have any by the clueless waiter. It turns out they do, they're only 3,90 euro, and the banana one is incredibly tasty. I've already been back once, and I plan to return several to many times throughout the semester.

The single greatest food find, however, has been Angels American Brunch. Originally scouted by Lara through some enterprising Internet research, it is, as advertised, an American brunch place. It looks quite fancy inside, and for an affordable 10 euro, you can get (and I did!) french toast, cereal, yogurt, muffins, milk, and fruit salad. It's simply scrumptious, and I plan to go back every Sunday I'm here. I've also heard great things about the Florence Diner, so I imagine I'll try that sometime soon as well.

Speaking of great food, the Chabad has started a weekly Tuesday night meal for Jewish students. It only costs 8 euro and I eat more there than I likely do the entire rest of the week. There's a pasta appetizer, meat entree, and delicious dessert, as well as wondrous bread rolls. A few weeks ago they gave me a whole bunch of rolls to take home, and last night I left with 8 or 10 pieces of cake (I ate maybe two or three and shared the rest with hungry Borgo Pinti residents). I've been attending Chabad Friday night dinner and Saturday lunch the weekends I've been here, and I've made a new Italian friend named Shimon who's there every week. We (the NYU students) have befriended several non-NYU people, including Valerie, who's a few years older and currently working in Florence, and two guys, Tamir and Andy, who go to Indiana and are here on a different program. This past weekend we had a special treat - Simcha, the owner of the Kosher restaurant, made us an excellent dinner which was held upstairs from the restaurant. There were about 20 or 25 attendees, and it was terrific food with some truly supreme potatoes and fruit salad as side dishes. It was a nice community event, and while it may not happen again, I enjoyed it thoroughly. A few quick photos:

Valerie and Jenn

Shayna, me, and Leora

The whole table

I have only an Italian written midterm coming up on Thursday, and before that I'll be watching Slumdog Millionaire in my Italian cinema class in lieu of a midterm. Pretty cool, right? On Thursday, I depart for Paris, and then I'm headed to London on Sunday night. Tuesday is my 21st birthday, which should be fun, and then I'll be back in Florence on Thursday night, with Lara arriving on Friday morning. I'm in the midst of attempting to organize trips to locations such as Cinqueterra, Venice, Naples, Pompei, Capri, and wherever else I find people are interested in traveling. I'll try to update more frequently in the future, but for the moment, I'm headed to France without my laptop but with my camera reading to take many, many pictures.