Day Trip to Florence

On Saturday morning, I caught a really early train to Florence with my roommate, Marielle. We both had been wanting to go for a while. The night before we had decided it would be a good idea to leave the house at 5:50 am, to make our 6:43 train. We didn't end up leaving the house until 6 and then the buses were NOT coming! We didn't think that we would make the train. We got to the train station with 5 minutes until our train was leaving and we sprinted to the FARTHEST track possible. A little exercise in the morning never hurt anyone, right?

When we got to Florence, our first stop was the outdoor market, which has everything from leather goods to scarves. We shopped around for souvenirs and Christmas presents for friends and family. Marielle even got a leather jacket! It was so funny trying to get the best price from the over eager vendors. I was not born to be a haggler, let's just say that much.

After spending more money than I intended, we walked over to the duomo. I had been in eighth grade the last time I was there and it was even more beautiful than I remembered. We walked around the inside and then climbed to the top of the duomo. We had a great view of Florence and got some exercise when climbing the 493 steps to the top. We took some pictures and then made our way back down.

View from the Duomo

After the duomo, we wandered around the streets, walked into the church of Dante, then to the Piazza della Signoria. In this piazza we saw a copy of Michelangelo’s David and other notable statues. Then we headed over to the Santa Croce, which is the burial place of Michelangelo and Galileo. It was also a really impressive building.

Copy of David

Santa Croce

Then we went to a bakery where I got the best pastry EVER. After this, we had to head back to the train back to Rome. It was such a fun day, and it was surprising how easy it was to do!

Paris for the Weekend!

This past weekend I went to Paris with my friends from Richmond. I left Thursday evening and arrived in Paris later on that night. We stayed at a youth hostel in the Latin Quarter, just minutes away from Notre Dame.

We woke up early on Friday morning and went on a free tour of the heart of the city. We saw the opera house, the Arc de Triumph, the Eiffel Tower and many of the wealthiest streets in Rome. Our tour guide was able to point out many significant places in Paris, such as where the guillotine stood during the French Revolution and the last place Princess Diana was before her death. I really enjoyed the tour and I'm glad we knew about it! After that, we walked over to the Eiffel Tower to take pictures and to just see it up close. It is really incredible to just look at. The line was really long to go to the top, so we skipped that. Then we walked to a little bakery for lunch. I got quiche. Delicious! Then we headed over to Notre Dame, walked through the church, and climbed to the top. The view was amazing and we were there just at sunset. Absolutely gorgeous!

One of my friend's Dad offered to pay for our dinner on his credit card and he recommended a really nice restaurant with a prix fixe. I ordered artichoke ravioli, steak tartar and frites, and profiteroles. One of my friends got escargot and I tried it! I'm not sure what I think about eating snails, but they weren't terrible. We walked around after dinner and then went to bed extremely exhausted.

We woke up the next day around the same time with a mission to go to the Louvre. That museum is the biggest thing I have ever seen. We spent nearly three and a half hours in there and I don't think we saw nearly half of what they had inside. Museums are tiring! I did get to see the Mona Lisa though. After that, we headed over to Montmartre to see Sacre Coeur. Before the church, we ate lunch. I got a croque madame, which was delicious! We walked up to the church and through the little shops. Very cute. I got a crepe there, too! Sooo good! Then we came back to around where our hostel was and saw the Pantheon. We rested for a bit after and went to get French onion soup and macarons. Those little cookies are so good!

I was only in Paris for two full days, but I really enjoyed it and can't wait to go back one day!

Greece

Last Tuesday, I left home to meet my mom at the airport to go to Greece! I met my mom at the gate and we flew to Athens and then caught a flight to Santorini. Greece has been a place I have dreamed of going to all my life, so this was truly amazing.

We arrived on Santorini around 6:30 and got to catch the end of a sunset. After we checked into our hotel room in Fira (which was on a cliff looking out onto the sea), we walked asked around the local shops trying to find a good, authentic Greek meal. We ended up going to a Nikolas Tavern. We got mousaka, eggplant dip, a greek salad, and chicken souvlaki. It was such a nice change from Italian food! After I stuffed my face, we walked back to our quaint hotel room and went to bed.

The next morning we woke up, ate breakfast at the hotel, and left to go on a 3 hour boat tour of the volcanic island and the hot springs. We got to walk to the top of the volcano where the view of the island was amazing. Then we had the option of jumping in the water and swimming to the hot springs. It probably would have been a good experience, but the water was freezing so I opted out of it. After the boat tour, I was forced into riding a donkey up 600 steps. I was not at all pleased with this experience. The donkey was not guided and it kept stopping and then to get lunch. We got a chicken gyro, stuffed grape leaves, and a greek salad. Delicious! Then we walked around Santorini. The shops there were so cute. There were a ton of fine jewelry shops, little bakeries, gelato, and souvenir shops. We went back to our room and rested for a little, and then we took a bus to Ia, a neighboring town, to watch the sunset. We walked around there for a little and then took a bus back to Fira for dinner. Dinner was delicious. I got this four cheese pasta, which was not very Greek, but it was absolutely amazing. Then we went back to our hotel and went to bed.

On Thursday morning, I slept in. Then got up and went on a quest for Greek yogurt. We found some in a supermarket just down the road. Then I had registration for classes at Richmond, so I sat on the hotel computer for a while getting all my classes ready for next semester. Then my mom and I went on a walk to the next town over. I took lots of pictures and saw a ton of cats along the way. We walked back to our room to pick up our luggage and then headed to the airport for our flight to Athens.

We arrived in Athens at around 9 and went to our room, watched some BBC news and went to bed. In the morning, we woke up, at the hotel breakfast, and headed out to a marathon day of sightseeing. We saw the Acropolis, the Roman Agora, various temples, and walked around the Plaka. After walking around, we went back to the hotel to get jackets (it got chilly!) and then we went to the new Acropolis museum! It was a holiday so all the museums were free that day. The Acropolis museum was really cool. Then we got gelato for dinner and went back to our hotel.

Our final day in Athens, we took a bus tour of the sights that we hadn't seen the previous day, walked around new neighborhoods, and finished up in the Plaka before heading to the airport for our flight to Rome. I got to show my mom around my neighborhood and all the major tourist attractions in Rome. We also got to see a ballet (La Bayadere) at the Teatro dell'Opera.

It was such a fun fall break! So glad my mom was able to come and visit!