This is where I live. Apparently we are the number one soccer team in France right now. This is the final game that helped determine our number one status. They played it on a big screen at Place de la Comedie last night. I didn’t go, I was dead tired as you can read about in my previous post, but it’s pretty cool.
There is this really cute little bird with a long pointy beak that keeps sitting on my balcony railing and singing to me. I’ve decided to name him Peter and we are best friends.
I feel like death. I haven’t had a normal nights sleep in a couple days. I’ve been pretty busy actually. Goodbye parties, exams, goodbye sleepovers, free ice skating shows, the Sunday morning Arabic market with more exams and goodbyes to come.
I’ve only got about 10 days left in Montpellier and I’m so confused by so many things. I’m excited to go home but I’m also hesitant, I’m excited to leave but I am going to miss a lot about France. blah blah study abroad.
I’m tired, I’m going to eat hash browns with ketchup and then go lay on Laurie’s bed while she packs.
Oh and the elections are over! Sarkozy is out Hollande is in. That means I’ve seen the French President in person, from feet away. I think that’s pretty cool.
The Swiss Alps. Oh my god. Too much.
First my trip started with a train ride along the French southern coast. We passed through Nice, Cannes, Monaco etc. Those views were amazing. The train literally ran right next to the water. Then we continued down the Italian western coast a bit to reach Cinque Terre after a night in the border city of Genova (a weird and a little sketchy. But it had a cool port with lots of FANCY yachts to look at). Then we were in Cinque Terre…you’ve seen the pictures… Then we went from there up to Geneva, Switzerland and the Italian and Swiss cities and towns we passed through, as well as the landscape were amazingly beautiful. Too much beauty. I can’t see it all in my life. I passed so much of those sights by on the about 20 total hours I spent on trains this week.
The Swiss Alps were exactly what I thought they would look like, but more. We passed at least 3 very large beautiful and clear blue lakes with snow capped mountains on all sides. Then Swiss architecture is what I pictured too. Modern mixed with that cool, cabiny, woodsy, dramatic fancy woodwork. I was on the train so much this week and I didn’t sleep for much of it. I was TOO busy looking at every sight I could see and soaking it up as much as I could.
A bit of Charlotte in Milan. It is the same artist. He’s an Italian sculptor named Arnaldo Pomodoro and it turns out he’s based in Milan.
I loved Milan. It was modern but had the traditional European feel as well. It had a diverse population with all different styles of dress, attitude and life as well as lots of greenery and a friendly sense of community (none of these things exist much in Montpellier if I haven’t told you already).
Moving on to Milan (I have more of the Cinque Terre, but I’m sure you get the point).
This is the Duomo di Milano. It’s up there on one of my favorite cathedrals I’ve seen here in Europe. I’d say it’s my 3rd or 4th favorite. (1st St. Chapelle-Paris, 2nd is tied between Sagradi Famalia-Barcelona and St Jean Baptiste Catherdal in Vieux Lyon (I never posted a picture because I didn’t take any, it was raining a lot that day), 4th Duomo di Milano) Also, I’m sure most of those are misspelled…woops.
There was a soccer game later this same night. Italy won and they had a huge celebration in this square. It was so much fun to see.
This is Vernazza. It got hit the hardest by the flash-floods and, as you can see is still in recovery, still very beautiful though.
Usually you are able to hike through all 5 villages. Some of the paths were still closed due to heavy damage from flash-floods in October. This is one trail we were able to take.
Laurie and Danny (from Texas) drinkin’ some limoncello from the area where it’s made. The Cinque Terre make their own wine and grow lots of lemons and other citrus. I loved the wine and had to get one limoncello during the trip too.
We had to climb 392 steps to get to our village. I gotta work on getting my mountain legs back after living in flat ole Montpellier for 9 months; no better way than climbing and descending about 400 steps multiple times for a couple days.
