Hello there! So, I finally made it back from my 10 day fall break adventure through Italia! The trip was a bit exhausting (due to all of the training, flying, and hostel switching), but absolutely worth it. Experiencing the people, food, and landscaping was incredible. Cathryn and I started off in Rome, trained 4 ½ hours to Florence, then to (the oh, so beautiful) Cinque Terre, and finally to our last destination; Pisa. All of the cities were quite different and had their own little styles and charm. Although Cathryn and I don’t know a lick of Italian, we made it through with hand gestures, translators (mostly Melissa while in Rome), and a lot of pointing (and smiling!). I tried my best to cut down my photos into a few collages so you can get a small glimpse of where I spent the past 10 days…

WARNING: these pictures do not even BEGIN to grasp the beauty that is apparent within these cities. 

Roma

       Every time you turned your head in Rome, there were some type of ruins surrounding you. It was definitely unlike any other city I have seen (…and I say Paris has a lot of history). Luckily, we stayed with Melissa (my friend from DePaul) and she acted as our translator & full-on tour guide. This was an easier transition than just being thrown to the lions as soon as we got there. On our last day, Cathryn and I spent the day ALL OVER the city. We went from the Roman Forum to the Coliseum to St. Peters Square and everywhere in between. Thankfully we had our Rick Steeve's tour guide book on hand to help us out while our former tour guide, Melissa, was in class. Even though Europe isn't TOO big on celebrating Halloween...our little American souls couldn't help but come up with a last minute costume (a cat was the easiest way to go) and head out in the city for a celebration.

Florence

       Florence was a nice change of pace. Even though it is just as popular as Rome (especially to study abroad students), it was much easier to navigate. We got around everywhere by foot, which I personally think is the best way to travel (you never miss a site!). Our hostel was a 5 minute walk to the biggest open air market filled with small gifts and a LOT of Italian leather (extremely tempting). I couldn't help but purchase a few small things to tuck away until Christmas! The river was gorgeous and we had enough gelato to last us the ENTIRE trip (complete accident). I got to meet up witch Chelsea Coppola (a family friend) the evening before I left- it's always nice to see a familiar face.
 

Cinque Terre

       This was (hands down) my favorite place we went to in Italy. This stunning place is made up of five small villages linked together by the coast and hiking trails. Even though we were only there for two nights...and half of the cities were closed (due to major floods and landslides the week prior)- we still had a great time. By the end of our stay, we created friendships with the locals and the only two tourist families traveling in the towns (there seem to be a total of 25 people there…and we met all of them). The warning I posted above (about the photographs not doing justice) was directed towards THESE photographs. I can honestly say this was one of the most astonishing places I have ever been and I would recommend it to anyone (and everyone). Even though all of the trails were closed the second day we were there and we got stuck in one of the cities for 4 extra hours (the train was delayed due to extreme weather conditions)...we made the best of it and had a GREAT time in Cinque Terre. 

Pisa

      If you can't tell by looking at the photos, there is not much to do in Pisa besides take touristy pictures in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa (which is EXACTLY what we did). We took photos holding the tower up, pushing it over, leaning WITH the tower, and I even have a few photos of tourists TAKING touristy photos (which I personally thought was hilarious). I was told that there was not much to do there besides the tower by a few friends in advance, so luckily- we only stayed there for one night and flew out of the Pisa airport the next morning. It was a very relaxing way to end our trip though Italy.

       ALL IN ALL our trip was absolutely wonderful. I'm sure when I get home I will have multiple stories and tons photographs for you to look though, but for now...this will have to do! Love and miss you all.

xox, mer.

       PS. If you're still keeping up with my travels, I really appreciate it! It means the world to me.
:)

Here are a few more pictures I put in a collage from Ireland that I just couldn't pass up! Mostly, it's because I find these photographs absolutely hilarious. Most of these pictures are of our hiking trip to Howth. If you aren't able to tell, hiking on the cliffs was gorgeous...but VERY cold & VERY windy. Just wanted to share a few more photographs! My update from my fall break will be up shortly! I'm working on the photo collages RIGHT NOW. See you soon! 

xox, mer.

more Ireland!

GOOD NEWS; I am back. BAD NEWS; I will not be back for long. I feel like once I start getting the hang of this thing- I get extremely busy. Yes, this busy-ness I am talking about is school work, traveling throughout Europe, or exploring the streets of Paris…but even if I’m not slaving away writing essays for an art history class, I can still call it “being busy”! Remember when I said I would probably be posting in my blog at wee hours of the morning? …Well, I was right. I am EXHAUSTED. My roommate and I got back last night from a 5-day adventure in Ireland. It was absolutely beautiful and everything I could’ve hoped for. We went hiking on the cliffs and ate seafood in Howth, experienced the beautiful people Dublin has to offer, and made some good friends from all over the world. This tripped marked the beginning of my traveling while I’m abroad. I am almost positive that I have “plans” for every single weekend until I leave this amazing city (which is only SEVEN more weekends). It is absolutely insane to me hearing that come out of my roommate’s mouth (I had to double check after I looked at my calendar because I didn’t believe it). I am definitely planning on making the best of these coming weeks and I cannot wait.

            But enough of my realization freak out, let me tell you what I have been doing since we last talked! I had an amazing time in Brussels with my mom, made a quick overnight trip to Strasbourg and Germany with my school, and I have sat in complete amazement in a room full of Monet and Picasso paintings. I have been to Versailles, the catacombs, and I have paddled (well, I attempted to paddle) in a rowboat on a beautiful lake. I have hiked the cliffs of Ireland, had Kir Royal at Les Deux Magots just as Hemmingway did, and have gotten very little sleep. There are so many other litter adventures I would love to fill you in on, but seeing that it’s now almost 2 in the morning…I should leave that for another time. Of course, I have a few picture collages for you to browse through. I hope you are enjoying Paris (more like Europe) through my eyes.

xox, mer

Brussels

Museum Adventures!

Catacombs and Rowboats

Strasbourg and Germany

Versailles

Ireland

Instead of having the “writers block” problem I self-diagnosed a few weeks ago…I’m begging to have an “excessive-blogging” problem. Hey, I guess I just switched from one extreme to the other (hopefully for the better). Ever since I downloaded Picasa (sorry, photoshop- you’ll still always be my first love) it’s been SO easy to make collages of my trip. All you have to do is select the photos…and then BAM- it’s placed in a visually pleasing order (which I love). Plus, Picasa has this cool “upload to blogger” button that saves an incredible about of time.

…okay, enough of my Picasa ranting. ANYWAY, if you do not know this already, my parents have been visiting me for the past two weeks here is Paris. In all honesty, it’s been like a breath of fresh air having them here. Being able to invest in those little things I usually take for granted (like napping while having TV on in the background, eating home cooked chicken noodle soup when I’m sick, or having someone to talk to about home) has been so incredible. It was wonderful being able to show them a little of Paris through my eyes & show them what I have grown to know and love in this city. Although I am sad about my dad’s depart (tomorrow), my mom is still here for another week! We have planned a trip to Brussels for Thursday and I can’t wait to see what Belgium has to offer (besides waffles and chocolate).

So I know this entry was a short one, but I just wanted to post two more picture collages (I’m hoping you’re not sick of them already). The first is just a FEW of the Eiffel Tower photographs I have taken since I have been here. Like I said, I could fill up an entire computer hard drive with these pictures. I guess that’s what happens when I have an obsession with Ruby (my camera) and Paris (that breathtaking city I live in-it’s still SO weird saying that). The second collection of photos is what I like to call “Patterns of Paris”. I’ve noticed that my eyes are always open (and constantly looking) for creativity in every form possible (I blame my artistic mother and father for that one). I tend to snap pictures every now and again of the patterns I see in ANY thing (bridges, broken down doors, old pillars, in a cemetery, or in a church)…and to my surprise, they kind of became a cool little collage. I’m sure there will be more patterns of Paris coming soon, so don’t you worry. I think it will be a nice project to look back on at the end of my trip and it helps exercise my creative mind each and every day. I hope you enjoy these photos, because I know I do.

Seeing how often I’ve been posting, I’m sure you will hear from me soon. Miss and love you all. Now, it’s time to explore!

Eiffel Tower Obsession

Patterns of Paris

 xox, mer.

Look at this! It’s only been one day since I posted my last entry- this is definitely a new record for me.  I’ve decided to post another entry to fill you guys in with more photographs…because who are we kidding, everyone loves photographs! Below are some pictures I have been taking in my Urban Social Photography class. I absolutely LOVE this class and it is by far my favorite. I hope you all appreciate the beauty of Paris just as much as I do! Thanks for looking. There will be more coming soon!

xox, mer :)

Hello all! Before you become angry at the fact that I haven’t been keeping up with the blog as I promised…let me tell you one thing; I FEEL REALLY GUILTY. I have this problem I will address as “writers block”. I will sit in front of my computer telling myself I NEED to write an entry, just one little entry…and my fingers won’t move. I’ve come to realize (after speaking to my roommate Shilpi about the problem we both share) that I just need to START typing…and the rest will just flow.

            So it’s officially been an entire month since I’ve arrived in Paris. Wait a second…ONE MONTH?! I genuinely tried to listen to everyone when they told me this would be over before I knew it…but honestly-where did the time go? I read over my previous blog posts before I started this one (in case I forgot what a blog was…) and it’s extremely humorous to me how much I’ve adjusted to living here. A month ago, I was a frightened little American in a city I barely knew, dying to get to know the world around me…and now look at me? I truly do believe I have become so comfortable here, and pushing myself into this situation (like I did) was the best route for me. I couldn’t be happier with my time already spent here in Paris.

            Since we last talked, I’ve had SO many experiences. Let me just list a few and try not to bore you; I’ve spent a day on the beaches of Normandy, I’ve climbed up (what felt like) a MILLION stairs of the Arc de Triomphe to witness a beautiful view of the city, I’ve had a picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower with wine, a few baguettes and close friends, I’ve visited the Lourve (for a homework assignment) and Notre Dame, I’ve attempted to make crepes with my roommates (and they weren’t too bad), I’ve taken a field trip to the biggest wine cellar in Europe (and touched a 22,000 euro bottle of wine), I’ve spent hours in Puces de Paris Saint-Ouen (the largest flea market in Paris), we’ve adopted a new roommate (actually, he is a tomato plant) that we named Henri, I’ve been at loss for words when I stepped into the Sainte-Chapelle church, and I have become closer than ever to the people in my program.

            I don’t want to make this blog post extremely long, but I have so much to say. My weekends are already looking really full here, which makes me SO happy. I have already booked my Fall break trip to Italy with my roommate, Cathryn (we will be heading to Rome, Naples, Florence, and then Pisa). We are still in the process of searching for cheap tickets to Dublin and Amsterdam for a few long weekends. I cannot wait until I get to see Emily (even if it’s just for a day) and have Sam be here for 10 days. Being able to show the people who I’m closest to where I’ve disappeared to is going to be absolutely incredible.

            There are still so many places I want to visit, so many things I want to do, and so many experiences that are waiting to be discovered here. I cannot wait to see how the next three months will be. I have put together a few photo collages for you to see, please enjoy! I SWEAR I will do my best at trying to keep blogging my little heart out. Even though I am having the time of my life in Paris, I do miss home at times. Sending love from the city of light!

Sainte-Chapelle

Puces de Paris Saint-Ouen

The Louvre

Eiffel Tower Picnic

Pere Lachaise Cemetery

Notre Dame

xox, mer :)

Hello everyone!

       I apologize for taking so long to write this third entry. The past week has been hectic, new, beautiful, tiring, shocking, interesting, and most of all, so incredible. The concept of “culture shock” never truly hit me until I was on the airplane, about an hour from touchdown. At that time, the only thing running through my head was, “what have I done?” While getting off the airplane and standing in the customs line, I quickly discovered a friend who was in my program. Despite our jetlag and nervous tendencies, we made it through and found our program leaders.

       As I sit here now (a week into my trip), my nerves have completely worn off and the culture shock has disappeared. Fully submerging yourself in a new culture is truly the best way to become accustomed to it. I have only been here for one week but I’m already noticing that this will be a trip of a lifetime. Although I have been to Europe before, it’s already completely different than what I remember. Then, I was able to use my English-speaking buffer and get away with ordering a “chocolate crepe” from a tourist attracted crêperie. Now, my roommates (thankfully) have pushed me into speaking French when I didn’t believe it was even possible. Every time we eat out for dinner, it’s officially MY job to say “l'addition s'il vous plait” at the end of the meal. I quickly caught on and learned that this useful phrase means, “the check, please”. Living with three roommates who all speak relatively great French (and aren’t afraid to push me) is actually very, very helpful.

        Today was the first time for many things. It was the first day of classes. The first day I had a conversation with an elderly French woman in the elevator. The first day I sat in a park, alone, eating a baguette and reading my French fashion textbook. The first time I encountered the glorious “crêpe au Nutella et bananes”. The first time I took the Metro alone (and didn’t get lost). The first time I realized that men in Paris truly do look like they just stepped off of the runway (thanks to my professor, Jean-Pierre, for that one). I’m starting to realize that everyday I spend in this extraordinary city will be a day of learning, growing, & living.

       Each day has been a day of exploration so far. Instead of being ultimate tourists, my roommates and I find our days filled with wandering around anywhere we see fit. Of course, we will be going to see the Eiffel Tower and Sacré-Cœur…but why go there immediately if we are able to see those famous structures from our own balcony? I have learned that the best way to discover new things is by getting completely lost…and believe me, we have. We have walked endless amounts of miles until our feet ached and backs hurt…but at the end of the trek; it’s completely worth it (and so is the warm, delicious, café au lait).

       I have truly been impressed with my bravery since I have been here. I no longer tense up when someone asks me what I would like to drink in French. I can travel the metro with confidence. I have made friends who I believe will stick with me for a long time after our study abroad program has finished. It’s amazing how much I have to say and I’ve only been here for one week. I can’t wait to see what lies ahead of me. Au revoir!

xox, mer