Days 77 & 78

Both of these days I got up and did my normal routines: class and then gym. Wednesday I had to stay around Franklin for a while and finish up my midterm paper. Tuesday night, we had lasagna night which was amazing as it was last time, but we had this really awful desert that looked like cheese cake but was the texture of rubber and the taste of... nothing I've ever had before. Rachel unfortunately lost "what are the odds" and had to finish the dessert, but I think she was the only one in the room who took more than a bite. Wednesday night's dinner was the chicken patty things with carrots and potatoes, and the really yummy berry sorbet for desert. Both nights I did my normal after dinner homework and Wednesday night I packed to leave for Rome the next day!

Day 76: Wait... is it Sunday or Monday...?

Today I woke up... OH WAIT... I never went to sleep. After getting to the Montarina around 7:30, I unpacked some so I could take my laundry to get done for the week. I then tried taking a nap but never fully fell asleep before having to go to class. Class was a struggle to stay awake to say the least, but after I studied some for our Italian mock quiz and then headed to the gym because I missed it so much. After Italian, I came back, went to grocery store, and did some homework and took maybe a twenty minute nap before dinner. But on the bright side... it was PIZZA NIGHT! Ate my weight again in pizza and then came back and did a little bit of work before passing out pretty early.

Day 75: Barcelona was great... train station sleep was not

Today we got up, checked out of the hostel, put our stuff in storage, and then headed to the sister place of the restaurant we went to yesterday called the traveling cake. Because we were a tad earlier, this place wasn't too busy and we all got to eat there together. There I got a bagel with mango, avacado and chicken, with yummy potatoes on the side.
After breakfast we took a taxi to Park Guell to see the mosaic art and then saw La Sagrada Familia church. After so, we headed the beach for a bit and then grabbed lunch at Surf House, another recommendation from our fellow travelers. There I got shrimp tacos which were very tasty. After lunch, we walked around the beach area more and then headed back to the hostel to get our things and head to the airport.
We took a taxi to the airport and then took our flight into Turin. From there, we had to bus to the Turin train station, which then took us to Milan Centrale... that we had to sleep in for the night. While I've been sketched out during the day in a train station, there's nothing quite like them in the wee hours of the night.
After hanging out with the homeless for way longer than I would ever have liked, we took a taxi to a different train station around 5 am which took us to Chiasso, which we then took to Lugano. We got back around 8:30 and now I guess it's time to move into Monday's blog post... even though I still haven't slept...

Day 74: Barcelona is BEAUTIFUL... and windy

Today we got up and first grabbed breakfast at a place Sofia had heard of. (My group for this trip is Me, Amy, Amanda, Michael, Leighton, Kellsie, Sofia, and Candace... Rachel had to stay back because she was sick.) When we arrived, the place was too busy for all 9 of us, so we split into two groups based on what everyone wanted to do. Candace, Sofia, Amy, Amanda and I ate breakfast at the place and I had a delicious bagel with guacamole and veggies, with eggs and smoothie.
After breakfast, we walked around the big shopping area and then headed to St. Josep Market. After the market, we did some more window shopping and then headed towards the beach. After spending some time there and checking out some dinner possibilities, we headed back to the hostel to meet with the other group for dinner.
At the hostel, we concluded everyone was wanting to eat at different places so my same group as before asked the hostel for a recommendation for a place that serves real Spanish food, so we all tried paella. It was very good, but Sofia and I were a little disappointed at the portions we were served compared to the other girls, so we all decided to get churros afterwards to make it better.
Unfortunately, the churros were a bit of a mess too, but they were very tasty. We then finished getting ready to go out and headed to a place people referred to as the pregame bar to meet up with the other group. Sadly, the bar was too full and I wasn't feeling well, so I went back with Jess, Leighton, and Kellsie while the others went to Dow Jones bar. Once we got back, I found out Sofia wasn't feeling well either, so we were even more unhappy with our paella, but we felt better after a while and just went to bed.

Day 73: Off to Barcelona!

Today I woke up and got all my stuff together to leave for Barcelona right after class. Class was a little interesting because Harvey and Duffey went on a rant about us "taking advantage" of them, which we all were taken back by because we didn't quite understand what was going on, but we all got through it and it was over before we knew it. After class, we headed to the train station and took the train to Milan. Once we got to Milan, we had to take a shuttle to the airport and once we got to the airport we had a bit of a struggle of one of the employees trying to make us check our bags because they were "too big," but after some perseverance, we all made it fine and got on the plane.
The plane ride was smooth and from there we took at taxi to our hostel. This time we stayed at St. Jordi's Rock Hostel, which was really nice and a chill atmosphere. After settling in, we headed to Rosa Negro, a place recommended to us by a lot of people. We had to wait over an hour to be seated so we headed to a bar up the street to kill time. Once we got to Rosa Negro, we were all starving but they gave us free nachos for having to wait, so that was cool. For dinner, I had the chicken and guacamole tacos with a side of rice beans, as well as a couple really yummy mojitos. After dinner, Candace, Michael and I went to Chapitos, a shots bar also recommended to us. It was a pretty small bar, but they offered over 200 different shots, which was really fun to experience. We made friends with the bartender after a while and tried a couple things. One shot was a the boy-scout shot, where they literally lit the bar on fire and had use roast marsh mellows as part of it. After spending some time there and trying out some random shots, we decided to head back and go to sleep to get ready for the next day.

Day 72: No title or picture today... too lazy

Today was a normal day in class, followed by Italian. For Italian, we had to give presentations about our 10-day trips, but luckily we ran out of time before I had to go. After Italian, I came home and got my things ready to pack for the weekend and then went to dinner. After dinner I packed and went to bed pretty early to prepare for the weekend.

Day 71: Wednesday already??

Today I woke up and went to class, as I do every other day in the week. After class, I ate lunch with Sheley on her balcony while she started opening her birthday care package from her mom. I then did some homework and cleaned up my room, and then Amanda convinced me to go on a run with her, and I'm so glad I did! It was an absolutely beautiful day and it was nice to see different parts of Lugano. After my run, I saw the rest of Sheley's care package and she invited me to dinner with her dad and family who are visiting for the week, so I showered and got ready and then we went to Anna Capri (the restaurant just by the train station). We had yummy appetizers and I had a white pizza with apples and all kinds of good cheeses that was to die for. After dinner, I said by to her family, facetimed mom for a while, finished up some homework, and then went to bed.

Day 70: Happy St. Patty's Day!

Today I got up normal time and went to class. In class, we got back in our groups assigned from the last class and did some work. After class, I came back and did our homework and then worked on my schedule for course request for next semester. Before I knew it, it was time for dinner, which was the spinach pesto pasta with the cookies and cream mousse. After dinner, Amanda, Loran, Amy and I headed to the Irish Pub and met up with Sheley and her family. We hung out for a bit and then Amy and Amanda were ready to go home, so we left with them. We hadn't been walking a minute before we passed Lindsey T, both Taylors, Annie, Alex and Kaitlyn coming to the Irish Pub, so Loren and I went back with them. We all hung out and had a great time, and I had my first Irish Car Bomb, which was very yummy. A little after midnight, Loren and I headed home and then I went on to bed.

Day 69: Class #3

Today I woke up, but got to sleep in some because due to some technical difficulties with our professors, we didn't start until 10, so that was very nice right after the 10-day trip. In class, we met the new professors and did you typical things you do in a new class. After class, we found out the gym was closed all week, so while I was excited to not have Italian today, that was a huge bummer. Once I got back to the Montarina, I hung out with Sheley a bit, did some homework and then it was time for dinner. Dinner was some kind of bun-less cheeseburger, which was strange but tasted fine with green beans and potatoes, with the weird chocolate pudding thing for desert. After dinner, I met Sheley's step brother and sister because her Dad finally got in from their delayed flight. They had gone out to eat and brought me the leftovers, which was super nice. And then after doing some more homework, I headed to bed.

Day 68: Is this train over yet?

This morning we woke up early to catch the train back to Lugano. We tried grabbing snacks at the supermarket near our hostel, but it hasn't opened yet, so we just had to get what we could from the train station. Our train left at 8:05 taking us to Basel at 2:45 and then a 3:10 train from Basel to Lugano. Because the train didn't require a reservation, we had a bit of trouble finding open seats, but I got lucky and found one I was able to stay in the whole way back. A lot of the other girls had to move around, and some even had to stand a while, but I pretty much napped the whole way :) Once we got back to Lugano, I grabbed dinner at Pico Bello, unpacked and got ready to start our new class tomorrow.

Day 67: HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHELEY!

Today was a slower morning for all of us after celebrating for Sheley's birthday. Ari got up early to catch her flight back to the U.S. and the rest of us just kinda slowly got ready and hung out and then headed out around noon. We (Sheley, Amanda, Leighton, Rachel, Amy and I) headed to a recommended place for Dutch pancakes recommended by Lauren, but it was unfortunately full by the time we got there, so we stopped in a place close by that appeared to be pretty good and I think all our expectations were exceeded. A couple of the girls tried the pancakes, but I went with what was called the Farmer's omlet with bacon, potatoes, and other veggies and it was amazing.
After lunch, we headed to the iAmsterdam sign and then headed to a bigger market Leighton told us about that they had visited the day before. After the market, we wanted to go to a place Loren recommended really good nachos at, but there was a rugby game going on and no room for us to sit. Instead, we headed back to the hostel where Amy googled "best nachos in Amsterdam" so we headed to a place called Harlem Soul Food, which was a small bar that appeared to be mostly locals and a great find for us. We all got amazing nachos and beer, and sheley was very content with ending her birthday that way. Sheley and I hung out a little longer than the other girls, and then we headed back to the hostel to pack up to be ready to leave the next morning.

Day 66: Am.ster.dam.

This morning we got up early to try and beat the lines for the Anne Frank House, which was an absolutely mind changing experience. We did not have to wait in line for very long and every aspect of the museum was done very well. It had enough information for those who do not know much about the background of Anne Frank's story, but enough detail to add for those who already had knowledge.
After the museum, we grabbed lunch at our beloved Wok to Walk, which Sheley found that Amsterdam was the first ever place to have one, so that was pretty cool. After lunch we headed  back to the hostel for a few and then went to a market Amy had researched before taking our walking tour. The market was like a flee market on steroids and had some really cool things in it, including stroopwaffle, which became a necessity on the trip. Five of us sampled it, and five of us bought some. It was amazing, just two simple crunchy waffle-type cookes with a syrup-like carmel inside. To die for.
We then headed to do our Sandeman's walking tour, where we got to see The Old Church, the Red Light District, and many other important Amsterdam things. Following the tour, we grabbed food at a Dutch Restaurant suggested by our tour guide, where I got a traditional Dutch dish of sausage, potatoes, vegetables and gravy. We then went to the grocery store to get some snacks and headed back to the hostel to get ready to celebrate Sheley's birthday.
We did Amsterdam's Ultimate Pub Crawl through the Red Light District and it was a blast. There were over 100 people on the crawl with us, including a bachelor party and lots of fun people from all over the world that we got to meet. Everyone in the group seemed to have a good time, including Sheley which was what mattered most!

Day 65: Brussels to Amsterdam... already missing the fries

Later.

Day 64: HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEIGHTON!

Today we got up and it was Leighton's birthdayyy! So we headed to a nice brunch place to get our belgium waffles we had all been dying to have. I ordered hot chocolate and then just a plain waffle with powdered sugar and it was everything I dreamed of and more. After brunch, we seperated to the rest of the group could do the walking tour they missed from the day before and Sheley and I just walked around.
After checking out some of the cartoon walls and going in some of the different souveneir shops, we decided we should get fries... for the 3rd time... with absolultely no shame. This time, I got my cocktail and curry ketchup combo of sauce that definitely topped everything I had so far. After fries and a little more shopping and walking around, we headed back to the hostel to meet with the other girls to figure out dinner and what Leighton wanted to do for the rest of the evening.
For dinner, we ended up going to a Michilin's list restaurant just by our hosted where I got the sea shrimp salad which was to die for, as expected. We then all headed to Delirium again where we met some more Americans, but they weren't the nicest people ever, so we kinda just stuck to our group. We then met up with Loren and her two friends from home who were in Brussels too, which was really exciting to see them. Then everyone was ready to head back so... shockingly enough... we stopped at Fritland on the way back!!
We then found Rachel who was headed back to Delirium so Sheley and I decided to join her and hang out for a bit before the two of us came home to find Leighton all cuddled up in her bed, birthday girl style ;)

Day 63: Senna and Delerium

Today Sheley and I got up and bought the hostel breakfast to start the day. Although it was more expensive than most other places, it wasn't really up to par so we just stuffed our faces with what we could to make it worth it and then headed to the lobby to meet for the walking tour. As we were waiting, the rest of our group arrived from traveling from Paris, but they decided to nap rather than try and join us for the walking tour. We waited and waited and then finally the hostel people gave us directions to try and meet with the rest of the tour because apparently there was a mix up with who was supposed to come walk us to our hostel.
Unfortunately, because we were behind schedule and didn't know exactly where we were going, well missed it so Sheley and I decided to explore with the map she got from the front desk until the next walking tour in the afternoon. We first explored the different streets of Brussels and then decided to try and find Delirium. Delirium is a bar/club that everyone we told that we were going to Bruseels raved about how we HAVE to go there. When we finally found it, we saw that it was like a little side street neighborhood called Delirium cafe where the main bar was, a cafe, and then two other bars as well. Delirium currently holds the world record for variety of beers with over 3,000 beers and counting on their menu.
After checking out Delirium, we walked around some more and then headed back to get a snack before our tour began. We stumbled upon this place called Fritland that obviously served fries, which the map kept going on and on about how good they were... we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. These fries knocked every other fry I've ever had out of the park with no questions whatsoever. Sheley and I split this round and knew they were going to be a reoccuring thing during our time in Brussels.
We then started the walking tour, which was done by a guy originally from Brussels named Senna. He took us around all different parts of Brussels like the main square, their peeing man statue, a park, gardens, etc. After the tour, we decided to head back to the hostel to meet with the rest of the group and see what they wanted to do for the evening. We came back and they were all napping so we waited a while for them to wake up and then we decided we would go to this Chinese place called Chow City for dinner as mentioned on Sheley's map. There I got the special of sweet and sour chicken and it was some of the best I've ever had.
After dinner, we headed to Delirium where we met some Americans from Florida, Texas, etc. who were all traveling as well. We hung out with them for most of the night and they were lots of fun. We heard about all the places they had been and towards the end of the night one of the guys decided he wanted to buy the Delirium hats, which we of course stole and took pictures with. We then all decided it was time to go home... and may or may not have made a pit stop at Fritland on the way home :)

Day 62: Paris to Brussels

Today we got up very early to go to the Louvre and get in line before it opened so we wouldn't have to wait hours to get in. We checked out of the hostel, out our things in storage, and then took the metro there. We stood in line for about forty-five minutes and then spent about two and a half hours in the Museum. While I'm definitely glad I went and saw some of the more famous works of art there, it was a very overwhelming experience to say the least. The museum has so many different rooms and each room has so many different things to look at inside, it's hard to really appreciate what is around you without spending literally days there.
After the Louvre, we headed to Monte Martre and Sheley and I separated from the group because they were spending more time in Paris than we were. We walked around Monte Martre, visited the church there, relaxed by the beautiful view, and then headed back to the hostel to get our things. We stopped at the grocery store before heading to the train station and got our baguettes we wanted from the night before.
We made it to the train station and tried to reserve our trains, but the one we wanted wasn't available
to be reserved that day so we had to train to Lilly, France and then to Brussels. Once we got to Brussels, we took the metro to our hostel and then checked in. In Brussels we stayed in Menninger, which was probably the nicest one we've stayed in so far. We had a large room with our own bathroom, a table, and it was amazing. We showered and then headed out to a place for dinner that we saw a flyer for at check-in. Just before heading out, though, we got a message from the other group saying they were stuck in Paris for another night due to a train strike, so we were pretty worried about them, but they assured us they were fine. We then took our walk through not the greatest part of Brussels at a failed attempt at dinner, so we just came back to the hostel, got beer and nachos at the bar and then headed to bed.

Day 61: All the different views of Paris

Today we all got up to head to go see the Palace of Versailles. We were all a little slower moving because of our fun night out on the bar crawl, but Ari was feeling especially under the weather, so she didn't join us for our morning adventures. The rest of us took the metro to Versailles and Sheley, Amanda, and myself broke one of my big rules and ate at McDonalds before going in. I swore I wouldn't eat American fast food here, but it was way too cheap and convenient to pass up. Once we finished, we headed to the Palace which was absolutely breathtaking. Out of all the things we have done so far in Paris, this had topped them all. Just the outside was absolutely stunning, and then when we got inside, it became even better. We each got a free audio guide and made our way through, and then headed to the gardens to relax for a bit.
 While there, we found the rest of the group and left with them to go get macaroons at Laduree and eat them after climbing to the top of the Arc de Trioumph. I had heard good things about the view from the Arc, however I had not intended to be so blown away. We've seen so many amazing views of the cities we have visited, but it was almost unreal to see the city of Paris with the Eiffel Tower and so many other things all at once. It was definitely one of "those moments" for me. We also met up with Ari at the Arc and then headed back to the street near Notre Dame from the day before to grab food. This time I got a chicken, mushroom, egg and cheese crepe which was aaaamazing. Sheley and I took our food and sat by the river near Notre Dame, while the other group headed towards the Eiffel Tower because they had tickets to go up it.
Sheley and I had planned to get a baguette and bottle of wine and head to the Eiffel Tower once it got dark, but unfortunately most stores were closed and so we just hung out at the hostel for a bit, and then headed there to see it twinkle. On the way, though, we experienced some interesting things on the metro. At one stop, a man was stumbling around with blood gushing from his face and later I witnessed what I'm almost positive was a pickpocket situation. But aside from all those things, going and seeing the Eiffel Tower twinkle and then to just be lit up was absolutely magnificent. Once we got back, we packed up some of our stuff to get ready to leave the next day and headed to bed.

Day 60: Paris Day 1!

Today we woke up and first went to Musee D'orsay. Amanda and Amy went to meet Arianna (Amanda's best friend) at the airport but ended up getting the stops confused so they just came back to the hostel and Amanda waited for her while Sheley, Amy and I went to the museum. We met up with the other two after grabbing some breakfast, split up during the museum and then met all back together when we were finished. 
After the museum, we met up with Rachel and then headed to the Eiffel Tower, which was a completely unrealistic feeling to see. It almost felt like we were all in a dream or just looking at a picture, rather than really living it. We had planned to meet up with Kellsie and Leighton while we were there, but were unable to find them so after getting some pictures, we walked around a bit to try and find some lunch. We decided being right around the Eiffel Tower during that probably wasn't our best choice for affordable food, so we headed towards Notre Dame because we would be visiting that next. 
After arriving to that area, we found a small street with different street food options and we ended up getting some really good greek food. After the quick lunch, we went into Notre Dame. While I've seen some beautiful churches on this trip so far, I would definitely put this towards the top of my list. 
After spending some time in Notre Dame, we headed to see the Arc de Triumph and then headed back to the hostel to get ready for that evening. We wanted to do another Sandman's pub crawl, but weren't ready in time, so we tried out just a Paris Pub Crawl instead, which was a ton of fun as well. At the first bar, we met a group of guys from Australia who we then hung out with for the rest of the night too. 
We also met some people from Germany and everyone had a really goodnight. We all left at different times, so Sheley and I left together, grabbed some questionable snacks from a place called Golden Food across from our hostel and then headed to bed.

Day 59: Off to Paris!

This morning we got up super early to catch the 6am train to Zurich to then switch the train that would take us to Paris. My travel group for this second 10-day is myself, Sheley, Amy, Amanda, Rachel, Leighton and Kellsie. Amanda's best friend from home will also be traveling with us, but her flight won't get in to Paris until tomorrow. Leighton and Kellsie chose to get a night sleeper train to Paris so they left last night and we met with them once our train arrived. I tried to be helpful and look up direction to our hostel from the train station ahead of time, but accidentally chose the wrong train station, so we had a little trouble figuring things out at first. We tried taxiing, but a driver told us it was less than a 5 minute walk away, but he was obviously confused because we then figured out it was over a 10 minute metro ride away. But once we figured it out, the hostel was directly outside of the metro station, so that was a relief. 
We're staying at the Generator hostel like we did in Venice and got all checked in fine and met up with Leighton and Kellsie. They had done some things in the morning and had other plans for the afternoon, so we decided to head to a market Amy had heard about. Once we navigated to the market, we realized it wasn't what we were expecting so we didn't stay long. After that we wandered around for a bit and then found a sandwich shop to grab dinner. I got a sandwich with prosciutto, walnuts, and some of the best Brie I've ever had. Once we got dinner, we went back to the hostel and got changed to go out for the night. Sheley wasn't feeling well so she stayed in, but the rest of us headed to a bar recommended by one of the other girls that was randomly closing at 10pm, so we headed to one close by Amy had looked up called the Angry Violin (well, at least that was the english translation). We hung out there for a bit and then came home to get ready for our first real day in Paris the next day.

Day 58: Presentations, ending in Tiramisu

Today I had to wake up earlier than normal because we began presentations at 8am. My group was to present about midway through the class and while it was great to not to have to go first, sitting through lots of presentations made me somewhat anxious, but it was a relief when we made it through and we all felt it went well. After class, I went to the gym and then  had our Italian class. Apparently in the earlier class, the teacher had a freakout and was in a really bad mood, but did a complete 360 for our class and we had a decently enjoyable (as enjoyable as it can be) class. I got back my midterm and I'm still not sure how I pulled a good grade out of my ass, but no complaints whatsoever. After Italian I packed for the 10-day and then headed to dinner... which was phenomenal. We had my favorite pesto/spinach/whatever pasta with tiramisu for desert. After dinner I finished getting ready for the trip and then went to bed early to prepare for my early train ride tomorrow morning to PARIS!

Day 57: Group projecttttt

Today I got to sleep in more than usual because instead of having our normal scheduled class, we had group meetings and basically just a work day all day for our projects. Unfortunately, though, I woke up normal time and didn't really get any extra sleep... just my luck. But anyway, we had our meeting with Kim, got a majority of our project done, I went to the gym and then we met up again to finish up the project. We then went to dinner which was pork, green beans, potatoes and the yummy raspberry sorbet. After dinner, we all proofread our project, prepared for our presentation, and I booked my flight home from Croatia for the third 10-day break. I then went face-timed mom and went to sleep because we have to get up extra early tomorrow for presentations and we all know how horribly I function without sufficient sleep.

*disclaimer: image does not apply to my group project... I love them all ;)

Day 56: Such a beautiful day!

Today was our last official class day for marketing research. We had our last quiz and last lecture and then got into group to continue finishing up our final projects. After class I had another long day at the gym and it wasn't busy at all, which was a really nice change. After the gym, I realized on the walk back what an absolutely beautiful day it was and did not want to go inside at all the rest of the day. I then reserved my train ticket to Paris this weekend for the 10-day with Sheley, Amanda, Rachel and Amy. I then went to dinner which was the chicken leg with mixed veggies and chocolate pudding... with a very interesting looking pear sauce on top. Not the most appealing looking or best combo, but I was starving so of course I still ate every bite. After dinner, I booked a hostel with my group for Barcelona the weekend after this coming up break which is going to be myself, Amanda, Michael, Rachel, Amy, Sofia, Candace, Jess, Kellsie and Leighton. Then I just had a fairly relaxing night because we don't have class tomorrow and our group project is well on its way to being finished.

Day 55: Italian Midterm...

Today was a normal Monday... exhausted from the weekend and never wanting to leave my bed, but I had a super busy day so that wasn't possible. It was normal in class with lecture and more group project work. We started analyzing the data from our research and found out that 180 some people took our survey so a big shoutout to everyone who did! After class I studied in the library for my italian midterm which, was ya know, not the greatest test I've ever taken but I guess we'll see how badly it actually went on Thursday when I get the grade back. After Italian, I went to the gym and then to the grocery store. Soon after that, I met with my group to work on stuff for our project and then went to dinner. Dinner was salad, pasta with vodka sauce, and the cake-batter like cream thing for dessert. After dinner I did the last bit of reading for our last quiz and then worked on some other things before heading to bed.

Day 54: Wait... but you mean I HAVE to leave Nice..? :(

Today we woke up, grabbed a little breakfast from the hostel again, checked out, stored our stuff, and headed back to the market from the day before. Sheley and I got our beloved strawberries again and some of us picked up some other souvenirs, as well. After the market, we all split up so everyone could do what they wanted. Amy and I decided we would just head back to the beach and then walk around the town some more before meeting everyone to catch the train. We stopped in a couple shops (including the bagel shop from the day before, of course) and then headed back to the hostel to meet the other group. We caught the noonish train to Ventimiglia, which then took us to Milan which then took us back to Lugano. After arriving around 8, I unpacked, did some school work, and then headed to bed fairly early.

Day 53: Never leaving Nice

Today I woke up in one one of the most beautiful places I've ever been and probably will ever be. Nice is absolutely stunning and I could not wait to take on the day. For breakfast, we just grabbed quick things from the hostel and then first headed to a market just across town. On the way, we stopped and looked at the beauty of the beach and fell in the love with the beautiful weather. At the market, Sheley and I split an amazing thing of fresh strawberries and then we all walked around looking at everything there.
After we spent a fair amount of time at the market, we headed to a highly recommended bagel place called Emilie's. I was beyond happy about this stop because I have been deprived of bagels since being in Europe and they're my favorite. After the delicious bagels, we walked around and then headed to the beach and relaxed for a while. We all were speechless at how amazing the scenery surrounding the beach was. We also were very surprised by the fact that the beach has smooth stones as a base instead of sand, which we found was very easy to get used to and not nearly as uncomfortable as you think.
After spending some time on the beach, we headed up a mountain to see one of the gorgeous waterfalls in Nice. We then headed back down and walked around the town some more. We grabbed some yummy sorbet and interesting risotto balls for an afternoon snack and then headed towards where the carnival was about to begin. Kate and Colleen stayed back to take a ride on the ferris wheel, while the rest of us headed back to the hostel to get ready for dinner.
Dinner we took a suggestion from the hostel receptionist because all our other recommendations were closed for the evening. We ended up going to a french restaurant called Lu Fran Calin. There the group split an appetizer spread with a variety of Nice's famous foods and then for dinner I had the special of a spinage-type veggie with ricotto cheese and other yummy ingredient which was excellent.
 After dinner we walked through town and stopped and watched some of the parade going on which was bizzare to say the least. The different floats and characters in the parade were very... just odd and we are still curious as to what kind of traditions led to it, but it was fun nonetheless. After getting back from the carnival, we all had planned to go back out to Wayne's again from the night before, but decided we were all a bit too tired so we just hung out and eventually headed to sleep.