This past week-end I went to Rome. The flight was one hour, so it was very convenient. One tip about hotels in Rome: they only accept cash. Or at least mine did. In a tour, I walked around the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and the Coliseum. There was a small protest was going on to the point one guy climbed into the second set of arches to yell at the police. Security is very interesting if a guy can do that. The tour guide talked about the history and the temples and that in the beginning there was a sewer that is still in use. For lunch, I had pizza with bacon. Don't order bacon; it's not cooked to American standards: crispy. Bacon looks raw, but it is edible. A nice family let me eat with them since I was on the tour alone and everyone else had family to eat with. After the Coliseum, I walked to the Trevi Fountain, which was not under reconstruction as of a few weeks ago. Some of my friends here said they have to go back because they visited during the reconstruction. I walked back to my hotel after that; it took me an hour. My feet were killing me afterwards.
This past Thursday, I flew to Naples. This is the land of my birth, so it was an important city for me to go to while I'm abroad. My mother, of coarse, gave me a rather long list of places that I have to go to; I went to about two or three places from that list. The flight there had a layover in Rome. At the gate, a bus took us to the plane; that is normal here, but to me it was weird. I arrived in Naples around 10:30 at night and some long time friends allowed me to stay with them. They took me to the Christmas market, which just opened up that week-end. While there, we saw a protest. Evidently, the teachers from Milan and the teachers from Naples are being swapped. The students didn't take well to that, so they decided to protest that day just outside the Christmas Market. We just sat on a step and watched them walk with the flags and fireworks (Italians love their fireworks at really random times of the day for no apparent reason). That night, they took me out for dinner at a place called The Gratto. We took a car to the bus (it was a group dinner provided by the military), the bus to pick up more people in a different area and to a gas station where a taxi would take us to the restaurant. After we got in the taxi, we realized why we couldn't take the bus: the street was tiny with a few inches of room on either side of the taxi. We had a big Italian dinner that lasted three hours. I tried Lemoncello (liked the flavor but not the after taste) and we got home around mid-night. The next day, they took me to the hospital where I was born. We also went down to the port to get a picture of Castel Nuovo and volcano Vesuvio. If you ever go to Naples, you have to eat a pizza. It was born there. The pizza we had for lunch was delicious and I don't normally eat pizza. For dinner, it was a Thanksgiving feast. I know Thanksgiving was a week and a half away, but they had family in town then that wasn't going to be there at Thanksgiving, so we ate the turkey with stuffing. Naples is a beautiful city with colorful buildings and an interesting history. If you can get past the trash problems that the city has, it would be a great adventure.
P.S.: If you ever get on a plane in Rome, expect it be have a delayed departure. Both of mine did thanks to inadequate boarding methods. This Saturday, the CEA group went to the city of Grasse. There, we went on a tour of the perfume factory Fragonard. The tour guide told us about the mixing of essences to get the scent of the perfume. She also told us the differences between Cologne, Eau de Toilette, Eau de Perfume, and Perfume. Cologne has 5% of essence and the rest is alcohol and water. Eau de Toilette has 10% of essence with alcohol and water. Eau de Perfume has 15% of essence with alcohol and water. Perfume has 25% of essence with alcohol, but no water. The tour guide showed us the old ways of getting the essence out of the plants, like how they used to use animal fat until the issue of Mad Cow Disease about twenty years ago. What I found interesting was that one bottle of perfume has about 250 different essences in it. The tour guide also showed us where they make soap, which is only sold at their boutique. She had us smell six different types of eau de perfume, which we bought on discount.
After we bought a few things, we went to rival perfume factory near-by (literally walking distance of 1 minute) to make our own individual perfumes. We had to start with the base notes, which is five essences that reveal themselves after a few hours, and mix them in certain quantities. After that, we had five heart notes, which were another set of essences. Then we added the peak notes, which is the scent you smell first. I didn't realize it at first, but I added cinnamon to mine. I didn't think I would add cinnamon. So we each had out own bottle of perfume special made by us. We could also reorder if we wanted to; they keep the recipe. They told us we made eau de perfume, and we received a perfume-maker certificate. After the perfume factories, we went to the villages of Gourdon and St. Paul de Vence. Here, we checked out the amazing views. We were one hour away from Antibes, but we could still see it from the mountain since we were up so high. This past weekend, I went to Venice. It started with trouble. It takes three trains to get to Venice and there was an accident on the railway during my second train ride. there was a nice older lady who tried to help me. She couldn't speak English and she wanted me to understand what was going on, so she found a man who could speak English and he told me everything. The accident caused me to be late for the third train, so I had to buy another ticket. I arrived at Venezia Mestre, the train station just outside of Venice, around 8 pm. Then I got lost trying to follow the instructions the website provided me on the way to the hostel I stayed at. A man helped me find the bus I needed to get and the bus driver took me to the street I needed to get off at. After a ten minute walk, following the instructions, I arrived at my hostel. I slept in a nice, comfy little bungalow. The next morning, I ate a delicious breakfast at the hostel and a shuttle bus took me to Venice. I only did some walking around in the near-by area, mostly because it's about a ten minute walk from the bus stop to the Grand Canal where all the shops are. First thing on my list was buying souvenirs, so I found a shop and bought a venetian mask and some Murano glass and I returned to the hostel. I went back to Venice that night to get the night-time feel and I'm glad I did. I found some more glass pieces that I loved and some warm ponchos that are great for this time of year. I returned to the hostel after three hours of walking around. The next morning I packed up to returned to Antibes. At the bus stop, I didn't know which side of the street to stand on, but an older lady and two older gentlemen helped me. They are really nice in Italy. Found my way back to the train station and hoped on my train. I'm starting to think that the term "train station" in Italy can be replaced by "shopping mall." The one in Milan was three floors with about as many shops as there are in a mall back home. I got back to my apartment around 11 at night.
Yesterday was my 21st birthday. This means I can buy and drink alcohol legally in the United States, but I get to celebrate in France. My friends and I want to two bars and I got a little tipsy. I enjoyed myself. I dance and sang (it was a karaoke bar) and got sung to by my friends over the microphone. I made sure someone walked me home, so I got home and went to bed safely. Celebrating is fun, but just make sure you have someone to take care of you if you go to far. I had around 10 people watching over me.
We were suppose to go on another hike after the Fountain Vancluse, but it started raining pretty good, so we had a change of plans. Instead, we went to a lavender museum (not kidding, they have a museum for this). It smelled amazing the moment we entered the building. They taught us the difference between Lavender and Lavendine: lavender grows in the mountains only and the other can grow everywhere below the mountain elevation. Lavendine is found in larger quantities and has a stronger scent, so it is put in detergents and other strong smelly stuff like soap. They showed us a video of how the scent from the lavender is extracted. Large bails of lavender is placed in this giant metal boiler and steam goes through it and a connecting pipe that condenses the steam back to water and the natural oils from the lavender is separated from the steam. The lady took us on a history lesson about the beginning of the lavender extraction: the progression of the boilers they used and the clothes that were worn and how the whole family would help pick the lavender. After the tour of the museum, we were in a boutique and can buy any of the lavender infused items is we wanted to. There was a %25 discount for us. We weren't allowed to take any pictures of the museum (the French love to refuse pictures in museum-like places), so I don't have any for the blog. After the museum, we went home to Antibes and that was our trip through Provence.
After the Pope's Palace, we went to this famous spring called the Fountain Vancluse. It was a bit of a hike (Mom, remind you of anything?) but the view was amazing. One boy almost fell in and another one decided he wanted to go for a swim. We took a lot of pictures of the water from the spring and the river it created flowing right in the middle of the city.
The next morning, we went to the Pope's Palace. It was where the Pope stayed when he visited or when the papacy had the Great Schism. We were told about the architecture and the history of the palace, but we were not allow to take pictures of the frescos. They wanted to preserve that for only the Pope's Palace and no place else can have it. The guide told us all the stories and the history, but we found other things more fascinating sometimes than the story. I liked how some of the statues were headless (picture to the bottom left) and that only one part of the courtroom was painted. After the tour, there was a boutique and I have created a habit of buying figurines. They will decorate the entertainment system back home, and later, my desk.
After the castle, we went on a hike to see the Pont du Gard, a 2000 year old aqueduct that stays on place thanks to gravity. The Romans didn't have mortar. That was a sight you have to be there to see. You can see it in a picture, but you have to see it in person if you ever go to the Provence region. After this, we went to eat in Avignon. It was delicious but everyone was so sleepy. The coordinator thought we might go out to a bar, but no one could stay awake for much longer. We had double rooms, so with slept in the same room as our roommates. What was strange was that a lot a people thought my roommate and I had the nicer room; I though the queen size bed was in everyone's rooms.
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Nicole JohnsonI am a college student studying abroad in France. This is my journal of all that I see and experience on my journey. Archives
December 2015
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