After my stint in Germany, I had some business to take care of in France aaaaand then just vacationing in Italy, since I'm already on that side of the pond...
*4 Days in Paris & Fontainebleau*
Since I'm moving to Fontainebleau for school in the Fall, wanted to go check out my future living situations and take care of rental contracts and whatnot. After the 12 hour bus ride from Munich (14 hours, actually, with multiple stops and having to change buses in the middle of the night... whaaaat? That's what a 15 Euro bus ticket gets ya. Guess I can't complain), I met up with Kim & Guillaume in Paris. After the start of a romantic affair, Kim moved to Paris to be with her guy for a year. They live in an adorable apartment in the city where I had the honor of gracing their couch while I stayed with them :) After meeting up with some fellow INSEADers starting with me for lunch, we walked around and ate French pastries and sweets (the reasons I'll get fat while I'm studying there...). Didn't really do anything touristy this time around, but was more in the mood to hang out with friends anyway. Also met up with Frederic and went wine tasting on a boat in the canal with his friends before a nyummy Cambodian dinner!
Headed to the train station to catch a train to Fontainebleau, and after the ticket machines not accepting my money and the ticket office being closed, I was advised to "just go" because they were on a strike anyways and there wouldn't be any attendants. Hmm. Oh Europe and their strikes. Got into Fontainebleau late and after realizing there were NO buses or taxis available, I approached the only person there who gave me a ride to where I needed to be (after negotiating on a price for a bit). I show up at the house of INSEAD students where I would be staying and am greeted with friendly welcomes and wine -- it's "Italian Week" after all... i.e. more excuses to drink wine. In whatever state they were in, they gave me wonderful advice of the do's and don'ts at INSEAD ("DON'T go to THIS bootcamp, but DO go to that one", "DO try to take the class with THIS professor", "DO get a car", "DON'T sleep with the professors"). Ha. Either way, great sneak peak into the life I will be living in about 2 months time. I think I need to prep my liver...
The next morning I headed out to the INSEAD campus to check it out. A little drizzly of a day, but nothing a raincoat couldn't handle. I was impressed by the facilities and the openness of the place. Ran into a few students I had met the night before and felt comfortable roaming these halls -- good feeling :) Afterwards, I headed into the main part of town to go talk to my new bank. Passed the local bakery, butcher, pastry shop, cafes, and got excited about living my life in such an idyllic little French town for a while. After the bank, I strolled into the Palace of Fontainebleau, which was home to many French monarchs (including Napoleon) since the 1600s. Ridiculously impressive, including its gardens and lakes. Living here while going to INSEAD would have been suitable ;) However, I then went to see where I would ACTUALLY be residing -- cute little 2 bedroom apartment and met my lovely landlady, who knows NO English. The place comes furnished, but imagine me trying to ask whether I'd have to bring my own bedsheets (a lot of arm waving, drawing out a bed, enacting being asleep and pulling the covers...). I then waited 2.5 hours at the train station for the train back to Paris (damn strike...). All in all though, I'm glad I got to go see what Fontainebleau was like and cannot wait to move there!
Back in Paris, we got some Mexican food (legit, too!) and ate at the edge of a canal. Preetty sure this was the location of where Amelie was skipping stones, too (anyone?). Watched Marie Antoinette (how fitting) and called it a night. The next day I had a flight out of Beauvais (note: RyanAir, this is NOT in Paris...).
*5 Days in Cinque Terre (and Pisa)*
Cinque Terre had been on my bucket list since I first heard about it from Lynn and Jimmy. "Villages on cliff coasts", "no cars", "breathtaking", "hiking between towns" were all used in describing it to me and adding to its appeal. Flew into Pisa and spent the night there (had some amazing gigantic sized pizza) and caught the train to Corniglia, where our rented apartment was for the next few days. Corniglia is the third of the 5 villages and, in my mind, the perfect one to overnight in -- less touristy: it doesn't have easy access to beaches and isn't as picturesquely scenic as some of the other ones, therefore also quieter and cheaper. It's also located at, what feels like, a bajillion steps up from the train station, so always a nice hike up ;) Bought some pasta, pesto, and prosciutto and ate our dinner on the terrace overlooking the Mediterranean and 2 of the other villages.
The next morning we set out in one direction and hiked to Vernazza and Monterosso. Beautiful hike. Granted, out-of-shape-me had to catch my breath a few times with all the upward hikes and steps, but worth it. Passed some amazing flora, creeks, waterfalls, vineyards. Made our way passed a couple of old time towers and down into the village that lies at a harbor: Vernazza. The colorful boats being docked at the little harbor with the bright painted buildings in the background just added to the magnificence of this picture. First things first, I had to get my gelato fix (not lying in my title...) and then got some delicious seafood prawn for lunch. Next town up was Monterosso, perhaps the busiest of the villages because of its pristine black sand beaches. Here we found ourselves some beach chairs and an umbrella and treated ourselves to some beach as reward for all the hiking. Then ate more gelato... and took the train back to Corniglia. Back there, got some mojitos at a bar where all the locals ended up to unwind.
The next day the plan was to hike the other way, to Manarola and Riomaggiore; however, our path soon got blocked by "no trespassing" signs... which we decided to ignore. And this is where it happened. Since our path was blocked, we went down to the beach area and climbed some boulders to get to the other side. Slippery boulders. And so I slipped and fell into the Mediterranean with my phone in my pocket. Any pictures here on out were taking with Gearoid's iphone... We then ran into a half hanging bridge, which we pulled ourselves across from and were more than halfway to the next town when we finally ran into a construction worker that was fixing up a landslide. A "tsk tsk" and a waving finger indicated we had reached our end and had to turn back around. So close. Went back to the train station and took the train there instead. Manarola is the 2nd smallest of the villages and dazzling as it hangs off the cliffs. Got our lunch and of course some gelato before heading to Riomaggiore, where we relaxed our muscles on the hot stone beach before heading back to Corniglia for the night.
Made our way back to Pisa (slowly) the next day because we had an early flight out of there to Catania in Sicily. On the train back, we passed some mountains with what looked like were covered in snow. That seemed weird... Oh. Salt mines. Makes more sense.
*4 Days in Sicily*
Rented a car in Catania and made our way to our hostel (I have excellent co-pilot skills ;)). Fun place, right next to the daily fish market and center of town. THIS is where the stereotypical hand-waving-yelling-burly Italians come from! The fish market was a scene to observe -- fish getting tossed around, early vendors bidding on the catch of the day, and every type of edible (and not so edible) fish you could think of. Catania itself was a surprise to me (granted, I'd done NO research on Sicily) -- big town, beautiful old buildings, amphitheaters, ...and excellent gelato. And arancinis! Delicious fried rice balls with different yummy matters inside (meat, or mushroom, or pistachio,...). Since we got in early and are typical tourists, we wanted to squeeze as much as possible into the day, so we headed south to Ragusa, Scicli, and Modica (all recommended by the hostel receptionist for being quaint cute towns... and Modica being famous for chocolate, so obvious stop for me). We arrived in Ragusa during siesta time (is it called 'siesta' in Italy too?) so the city seemed deserted. Good for people-less photo opps though as we wandered by churches, parks, cheese shop (wine infused cheese was delicious!), and ate gelato. Next stop: Scicli, the smallest of the three. Laid in between hills and valleys, there were dwellings IN THE HILLSIDE! BLEW my mind -- the most exciting thing I'd seen all day. I mean, how cool is that?!?! Last and most important stop was Modica... for the chocolate. Checked out L'Antica Dolceria Bonajuto, the oldest chocolatier in the area that has been using the same recipe since the 1800s! Had some of ALL the samples, then bought a bar of the orange peel infused chocolate. Nom.
To counter all the gelato and chocolate, we hiked Mt Etna the next day. I won't lie. I think I'm seriously out of shape with how pathetically exhausted I felt starting to climb that thing. I could blame it on the bad shoes (no traction, not hiking shoes), but in the end... 80% me. Worth it though. Got to the top to see the active crater with sulfur gas spewing out. Oh and on the way up, there were ladybugs EVERYWHERE! Millions! Burrowed in the black volcanic ash. Quite cool. Being covered in volcanic ash, sulfur, and dirt (and my shoes carrying half of the volcano in them), we headed to Taormina -- a popular tourist destination perched on a hill overlooking the ocean (picturesque, naturally). Walked the cobble stone streets lined with fancy retail shops and cafes and then headed back to Catania for the night.
Next day, drove to Palermo. While we hadn't received the best reviews about Palermo from friends and locals (a bigger, more industrious city), it definitely still has character too. While this may represent the tougher, "dirtier" side of Sicily, we got to experience some awesome street food prepared on grills out in the open (stuffed intestines, meat on a stick, etc.), and found out that the cheapest way of getting booze at all hours of the night is not by going to a grocery store, but knocking on an old lady's shutters and getting big bottles of beer for a euro (no tax). The city's got its fill of cultural establishments too: grandiose theaters, palaces, and archways. A fun city to walk around and eat in.
Off the western coast of Sicily, lie 3 small islands, called the Egadi islands. We drove to Trapani, then took a ferry to the biggest of the 3: Favignana. Beautiful coastlines and the limited use of cars made this a relaxing spot for a beach day. Waters were turquoise blue and clear. Afterwards, we made use of the 5 Euro happy hour drink specials that included free snack buffet (uh, free dinner!) and then took the ferry back.
The next morning was a scramble. RyanAir, you can suck it sometimes. And here's why. We both had early morning flights out of "Palermo", but after following airport signs that were taking us to an airport called Falcone-Borsellino, we decided to turn back around towards Palermo. After all, google maps was showing there WAS an airport right next to the city. Turns out it was a private airport. RyanAir, Falcone-Borsellio is NOT Palermo. So we went back that way. Gearoid was cutting it uber close, so he jumped out in time to catch his flight while I looked around for a gas station to fill up the tank for the rental car (my flight was an hour later). In the end, all worked out. But seriously, RyanAir. Stop pretending.
*2 days in Bergamo & Milan*
...On that topic of RyanAir, I flew to "Milan" because my flight back to the US would be from there 2 days later. Didn't fly into Milan. It was Bergamo. An hour north of Milan. However, for once, RyanAir redeemed itself in its surprise of airports-that-aren't-actually-where-they-say-they-are because I fell in love with Bergamo. A couchsurfer from there had invited me to stay (he was hosting 4 other people) and so instead of heading straight to Milan, I decided to stay a day and night. Best decision ever. Wandered into the old town, which was laid out with its cobblestone roads (I have a thing for cobblestone roads) and old buildings and castles with flowers in all colors flowing over its edges. The smell of jasmin was everywhere in that town. Cafes, parks, and the botanical garden were filled with meandering people enjoying the scenery. In the old town center with its churches and palaces, were two museums free and open to the public: the archaeological museum of Bergamo and the natural science museum. I checked out both. Wandered the streets some more, going in and out of various shops -- cheese, chocolate (duh), pizza, gelato (duh again). What a time not to have a camera on me... every 5 seconds I wanted to take a picture, but at least this forced me to breathe in the moment.
The next day I headed to Milan and, besides the grand central train station and church in the center, I wasn't all too impressed. Big city, less character. Still a good way to wind down the trip though. Ate gelato ;)
The hostel I stayed in was a clusterfuck. They charged me 4 Euros extra for bed linens. When I said I could sleep in my sleeping bag, they said that wasn't an option. Mold in the bedrooms, paper-thin walls (yay for hearing the couple in the room next to us all night long), bathrooms were the epitome of disgusting, and since I didn't have a phone, I had to rely on the front desk guy to wake me up at 6am. That didn't happen. Thankfully I barely slept, so I got up at 5:30am and when I left at 6:05, he was still hard asleep and snoring at his desk. Ha. Oh well, we all need those experiences to tell good stories later ;)
When I got back home, I weighed myself. I weighed the exact same as when I had left. Either I hiked too much or I didn't eat enough gelato...
*4 Days in Paris & Fontainebleau*
Since I'm moving to Fontainebleau for school in the Fall, wanted to go check out my future living situations and take care of rental contracts and whatnot. After the 12 hour bus ride from Munich (14 hours, actually, with multiple stops and having to change buses in the middle of the night... whaaaat? That's what a 15 Euro bus ticket gets ya. Guess I can't complain), I met up with Kim & Guillaume in Paris. After the start of a romantic affair, Kim moved to Paris to be with her guy for a year. They live in an adorable apartment in the city where I had the honor of gracing their couch while I stayed with them :) After meeting up with some fellow INSEADers starting with me for lunch, we walked around and ate French pastries and sweets (the reasons I'll get fat while I'm studying there...). Didn't really do anything touristy this time around, but was more in the mood to hang out with friends anyway. Also met up with Frederic and went wine tasting on a boat in the canal with his friends before a nyummy Cambodian dinner!
Headed to the train station to catch a train to Fontainebleau, and after the ticket machines not accepting my money and the ticket office being closed, I was advised to "just go" because they were on a strike anyways and there wouldn't be any attendants. Hmm. Oh Europe and their strikes. Got into Fontainebleau late and after realizing there were NO buses or taxis available, I approached the only person there who gave me a ride to where I needed to be (after negotiating on a price for a bit). I show up at the house of INSEAD students where I would be staying and am greeted with friendly welcomes and wine -- it's "Italian Week" after all... i.e. more excuses to drink wine. In whatever state they were in, they gave me wonderful advice of the do's and don'ts at INSEAD ("DON'T go to THIS bootcamp, but DO go to that one", "DO try to take the class with THIS professor", "DO get a car", "DON'T sleep with the professors"). Ha. Either way, great sneak peak into the life I will be living in about 2 months time. I think I need to prep my liver...
The next morning I headed out to the INSEAD campus to check it out. A little drizzly of a day, but nothing a raincoat couldn't handle. I was impressed by the facilities and the openness of the place. Ran into a few students I had met the night before and felt comfortable roaming these halls -- good feeling :) Afterwards, I headed into the main part of town to go talk to my new bank. Passed the local bakery, butcher, pastry shop, cafes, and got excited about living my life in such an idyllic little French town for a while. After the bank, I strolled into the Palace of Fontainebleau, which was home to many French monarchs (including Napoleon) since the 1600s. Ridiculously impressive, including its gardens and lakes. Living here while going to INSEAD would have been suitable ;) However, I then went to see where I would ACTUALLY be residing -- cute little 2 bedroom apartment and met my lovely landlady, who knows NO English. The place comes furnished, but imagine me trying to ask whether I'd have to bring my own bedsheets (a lot of arm waving, drawing out a bed, enacting being asleep and pulling the covers...). I then waited 2.5 hours at the train station for the train back to Paris (damn strike...). All in all though, I'm glad I got to go see what Fontainebleau was like and cannot wait to move there!Back in Paris, we got some Mexican food (legit, too!) and ate at the edge of a canal. Preetty sure this was the location of where Amelie was skipping stones, too (anyone?). Watched Marie Antoinette (how fitting) and called it a night. The next day I had a flight out of Beauvais (note: RyanAir, this is NOT in Paris...).
*5 Days in Cinque Terre (and Pisa)*
Cinque Terre had been on my bucket list since I first heard about it from Lynn and Jimmy. "Villages on cliff coasts", "no cars", "breathtaking", "hiking between towns" were all used in describing it to me and adding to its appeal. Flew into Pisa and spent the night there (had some amazing gigantic sized pizza) and caught the train to Corniglia, where our rented apartment was for the next few days. Corniglia is the third of the 5 villages and, in my mind, the perfect one to overnight in -- less touristy: it doesn't have easy access to beaches and isn't as picturesquely scenic as some of the other ones, therefore also quieter and cheaper. It's also located at, what feels like, a bajillion steps up from the train station, so always a nice hike up ;) Bought some pasta, pesto, and prosciutto and ate our dinner on the terrace overlooking the Mediterranean and 2 of the other villages.
The next day the plan was to hike the other way, to Manarola and Riomaggiore; however, our path soon got blocked by "no trespassing" signs... which we decided to ignore. And this is where it happened. Since our path was blocked, we went down to the beach area and climbed some boulders to get to the other side. Slippery boulders. And so I slipped and fell into the Mediterranean with my phone in my pocket. Any pictures here on out were taking with Gearoid's iphone... We then ran into a half hanging bridge, which we pulled ourselves across from and were more than halfway to the next town when we finally ran into a construction worker that was fixing up a landslide. A "tsk tsk" and a waving finger indicated we had reached our end and had to turn back around. So close. Went back to the train station and took the train there instead. Manarola is the 2nd smallest of the villages and dazzling as it hangs off the cliffs. Got our lunch and of course some gelato before heading to Riomaggiore, where we relaxed our muscles on the hot stone beach before heading back to Corniglia for the night.
Made our way back to Pisa (slowly) the next day because we had an early flight out of there to Catania in Sicily. On the train back, we passed some mountains with what looked like were covered in snow. That seemed weird... Oh. Salt mines. Makes more sense.
*4 Days in Sicily*
Rented a car in Catania and made our way to our hostel (I have excellent co-pilot skills ;)). Fun place, right next to the daily fish market and center of town. THIS is where the stereotypical hand-waving-yelling-burly Italians come from! The fish market was a scene to observe -- fish getting tossed around, early vendors bidding on the catch of the day, and every type of edible (and not so edible) fish you could think of. Catania itself was a surprise to me (granted, I'd done NO research on Sicily) -- big town, beautiful old buildings, amphitheaters, ...and excellent gelato. And arancinis! Delicious fried rice balls with different yummy matters inside (meat, or mushroom, or pistachio,...). Since we got in early and are typical tourists, we wanted to squeeze as much as possible into the day, so we headed south to Ragusa, Scicli, and Modica (all recommended by the hostel receptionist for being quaint cute towns... and Modica being famous for chocolate, so obvious stop for me). We arrived in Ragusa during siesta time (is it called 'siesta' in Italy too?) so the city seemed deserted. Good for people-less photo opps though as we wandered by churches, parks, cheese shop (wine infused cheese was delicious!), and ate gelato. Next stop: Scicli, the smallest of the three. Laid in between hills and valleys, there were dwellings IN THE HILLSIDE! BLEW my mind -- the most exciting thing I'd seen all day. I mean, how cool is that?!?! Last and most important stop was Modica... for the chocolate. Checked out L'Antica Dolceria Bonajuto, the oldest chocolatier in the area that has been using the same recipe since the 1800s! Had some of ALL the samples, then bought a bar of the orange peel infused chocolate. Nom.
To counter all the gelato and chocolate, we hiked Mt Etna the next day. I won't lie. I think I'm seriously out of shape with how pathetically exhausted I felt starting to climb that thing. I could blame it on the bad shoes (no traction, not hiking shoes), but in the end... 80% me. Worth it though. Got to the top to see the active crater with sulfur gas spewing out. Oh and on the way up, there were ladybugs EVERYWHERE! Millions! Burrowed in the black volcanic ash. Quite cool. Being covered in volcanic ash, sulfur, and dirt (and my shoes carrying half of the volcano in them), we headed to Taormina -- a popular tourist destination perched on a hill overlooking the ocean (picturesque, naturally). Walked the cobble stone streets lined with fancy retail shops and cafes and then headed back to Catania for the night.
Next day, drove to Palermo. While we hadn't received the best reviews about Palermo from friends and locals (a bigger, more industrious city), it definitely still has character too. While this may represent the tougher, "dirtier" side of Sicily, we got to experience some awesome street food prepared on grills out in the open (stuffed intestines, meat on a stick, etc.), and found out that the cheapest way of getting booze at all hours of the night is not by going to a grocery store, but knocking on an old lady's shutters and getting big bottles of beer for a euro (no tax). The city's got its fill of cultural establishments too: grandiose theaters, palaces, and archways. A fun city to walk around and eat in.
Off the western coast of Sicily, lie 3 small islands, called the Egadi islands. We drove to Trapani, then took a ferry to the biggest of the 3: Favignana. Beautiful coastlines and the limited use of cars made this a relaxing spot for a beach day. Waters were turquoise blue and clear. Afterwards, we made use of the 5 Euro happy hour drink specials that included free snack buffet (uh, free dinner!) and then took the ferry back. The next morning was a scramble. RyanAir, you can suck it sometimes. And here's why. We both had early morning flights out of "Palermo", but after following airport signs that were taking us to an airport called Falcone-Borsellino, we decided to turn back around towards Palermo. After all, google maps was showing there WAS an airport right next to the city. Turns out it was a private airport. RyanAir, Falcone-Borsellio is NOT Palermo. So we went back that way. Gearoid was cutting it uber close, so he jumped out in time to catch his flight while I looked around for a gas station to fill up the tank for the rental car (my flight was an hour later). In the end, all worked out. But seriously, RyanAir. Stop pretending.
*2 days in Bergamo & Milan*
...On that topic of RyanAir, I flew to "Milan" because my flight back to the US would be from there 2 days later. Didn't fly into Milan. It was Bergamo. An hour north of Milan. However, for once, RyanAir redeemed itself in its surprise of airports-that-aren't-actually-where-they-say-they-are because I fell in love with Bergamo. A couchsurfer from there had invited me to stay (he was hosting 4 other people) and so instead of heading straight to Milan, I decided to stay a day and night. Best decision ever. Wandered into the old town, which was laid out with its cobblestone roads (I have a thing for cobblestone roads) and old buildings and castles with flowers in all colors flowing over its edges. The smell of jasmin was everywhere in that town. Cafes, parks, and the botanical garden were filled with meandering people enjoying the scenery. In the old town center with its churches and palaces, were two museums free and open to the public: the archaeological museum of Bergamo and the natural science museum. I checked out both. Wandered the streets some more, going in and out of various shops -- cheese, chocolate (duh), pizza, gelato (duh again). What a time not to have a camera on me... every 5 seconds I wanted to take a picture, but at least this forced me to breathe in the moment.
The next day I headed to Milan and, besides the grand central train station and church in the center, I wasn't all too impressed. Big city, less character. Still a good way to wind down the trip though. Ate gelato ;)
The hostel I stayed in was a clusterfuck. They charged me 4 Euros extra for bed linens. When I said I could sleep in my sleeping bag, they said that wasn't an option. Mold in the bedrooms, paper-thin walls (yay for hearing the couple in the room next to us all night long), bathrooms were the epitome of disgusting, and since I didn't have a phone, I had to rely on the front desk guy to wake me up at 6am. That didn't happen. Thankfully I barely slept, so I got up at 5:30am and when I left at 6:05, he was still hard asleep and snoring at his desk. Ha. Oh well, we all need those experiences to tell good stories later ;)
When I got back home, I weighed myself. I weighed the exact same as when I had left. Either I hiked too much or I didn't eat enough gelato...
