an escape to sunshine

The weather has been so weird here lately. We've had a bunch of thunderstorms that'll make the sky get really dark and it'll rain for five minutes, and then the sun will come out. So it was nice escaping this crazy weather for a bit of sunshine and blue sky in Florence. I left Thursday afternoon and got back Monday night. But I can't even adequately describe how weird it was going back. It was really weird getting over the fact that I was no longer living there, but I was a visitor...I kind of compared it to going back to Indiana last spring after transferring and seeing everyone again, but this time I didn't regret my decision to leave (but that moment of regret only lasted a day, until I got a fabulous phone call from my amazing roommates back in New York) and I didn't leave anyone behind. Only Florence. It hasn't really changed that much. Some scaffolding has come off and there are less cars, but otherwise the Duomo was right where I had left it. Nina had a field trip all day Friday so after meeting her for lunch I wandered around the city, but not before: buying a whole chunk of dried mango naturale (from the same guy!) at mercato centrale, getting the same "ciao, bella" from the sweater-vest-wearing old man who always stands outside his gelato store on Via Ghibellina, passing the wedding dress store and looking at their new displays for the season, smelling the pizza dough through il Gato e la Volpe's open kitchen door, and walking down Via Della Burella, recognizing the window ledge we used to put our computers on in order to steal internet. After I had finished the route I took every day, noticing a few new stores open here and the same graffiti there, I sat myself down in Piazza Signoria next to one of the statues under the arches and an older man in a suit reading the morning newspaper. It was at that moment that it had hit me: I was in Florence.

I wish I had kept a blog while studying there--I didn't try very hard to even keep a journal. I left Florence in December yearning for Christmas and wanting to get rid of the Italian nuisances that I couldn't deal with while living there: the fact that everything shuts down for a few hours in the afternoon, having to take the unreliable 25 bus every day to class, constantly getting stuck in Pisa in the middle of the night with no way to get back to Florence, the creepy Italian men that would surround you in the clubs, the strikes, the lack of salted bread. By the time I left I was sick of seeing small Italian towns that ended up looking the same in my mind and traveling to so many other countries only showed me what Italy didn't have. Of course my experience was amazing and I wouldn't take it back whatsoever, but I'll be the first one to admit that I came back to Westborough a little jaded. So going back rejuvenated me and made me realize how much I missed everything there, even little old Pisa (we always toasted it as theworstcityintheworld, so you can you imagine me missing the airport?). And I realized how many amazing adventures we had there, stories that I still vividly remember and sometimes wish I could relive (although sleeping in the Malpensa airport on Thanksgiving night not so much). This program and my time in Paris couldn't be any more different than my semester in Florence--I'm both grateful and sad about that.

But I should probably describe some more about what I actually did in Florence, instead of reminiscing about it. Instead of giving a minute by minute, day by day (I just got the Step by Step theme song stuck in my head), I'll describe it like this: we bought pesto and cheese and bread and dried strawberries at mercato centrale, ate gelato, picnicked amidst (and climbed) the ruins in Fiesole, had penne gato e la volpe, rode the carousel in Piazza della Repubblica, sat on the bridge, made sangria, went into the Baptistry and tried to recount all the Biblical stories on the ceiling, ate pastries from the Secret Bakery at two in the morning (although it wasn't as adventurous as last year, as we just went to the same secret bakery we found then), walked around the Duomo a few times, listened to a woman sing beautiful opera in the archway of Piazza della Repubblica, hiked up to San Miniato al Monte for a beautiful view of Florence, walked behind a Palm Sunday procession up to said church, ate even more gelato, listened to Gregorian chants in San Miniato al Monte, walked through a recycle-themed crafts market, traversed pretty much the entire Oltrarno, walked through a park I never knew existed, lounged on the banks of the Arno in the sunshine, and tried desperately to say "Si" instead of "Oui," but it never caught on until I was back in Paris.


I miss it. I want to go back. But at the same time, seeing the light show on the Eiffel Tower just as the bus was pulling into Porte Maillot, listening to every 90s tv show theme song we could think of on youtube in the salon between classes, getting quiche at "the yellow place" for lunch, and eating dinner with Beatrice and her grandkids tonight made me happy to be back (as well as the fact that she made her glorious brownie cake again...).

A list of sorts

This past week I:
1. Had dinner with Beatrice, her daughter, and her grandchildren.
2. Attended an indoor picnic/dinner party.
3. Got fauned over and pampered at MaxMara.
4. Saw gorgeous doll clothes.
5. Ate L'As falafel for like the fifth Sunday in a row.
6. Finished all of my midterms--thank god.
7. Had a conversation with Martin (for the first time, even though he spends every weekend here).
8. Picked up and played with Wheelie Baby.
9. Took advantage of Parisian cafés.
10. Went to the opera.

If I remember correctly, Monday was Paris and my three month anniversary. Compare that list with my first posts and I guess you could say I've come a long way. After reading Abe's blog, I'm feeling a little boring not having an African adventure on that list, but I'd say I'm pretty happy with it anyways.

As to the dinner party. It was pretty epic and incredibly fun, but it feels so long ago that I don't really feel like describing it in detail (sorry Amara!). Let me just say that it was a potluck, so the menu consisted of: mac and cheese, wine, meatballs, salad with candied almonds, wine, zucchini, moussaka, wine, mashed potatoes, DL's compost cookies, ice cream, and more wine.

Meaghan and I made the moussaka, which I'd say was kind of a success--I'm only saying "kind of" now because I went home with a huge container of leftovers and now I'm kind of resenting the boeuf and aubergines that have been my dinner for the past few days. I don't think I can eat moussaka for a really long time. The bechamel sauce wasn't that great (I'll have to find a better recipe for it)--it looked like eggs and didn't have the anticipated texture. And also, let me just say that I got the idea to make it because I've been buying ino's homemade moussaka which is delicious, and even if I did something different or found a new recipe, I wouldn't have been able to recreate it. The compost cookies were amazing, might I add, and I'm definitely going to have to make them in the states. They did add some entertainment, though, because when we put them in the oven to cook after we'd eaten our 209343 course meal, Alena accidentally put the setting on "clean." So we're sitting there, in the makeshift picnic room, and Emily comes in asking, "Is your oven supposed to lock?" We couldn't open the door and it wouldn't unlock when we changed the setting. It had only been a few minutes since we put them in, but we could already smell them burning. Then when we finally were able to open the oven door, a huge cloud of smoke came out and we saw that the cookies were unrecognizably burnt. Thankfully it was only one batch, but it was still hilarious nonetheless.

Last night I went to the opera with Ashley, my philosophy professor, and a few other NYU staff/students. It was Zémire et Azor, which was based on the fairytale la Belle et la Bête--the original Beauty and the Beast before Disney came along and stole it. It was in the Opera Comique, the smaller and less grand opera, and there was little set and a tiny orchestra. All in all it was really good, but you could definitely tell it was a low-cost production. My class last semester came in handy (shout-out to Pat) because we read the versions of Beauty and the Beast, so I already knew the story. That definitely helped when I was trying to translate the French. It was interesting seeing how they adapted the story, but one thing that I really didn't like was that they used a lot of video in it, which just made it appear all the more low-cost. It was kind of clever using it as the mirror that Zémire looks into to see her father and sisters back at home, but they also used it for these weird, unintelligible artistic scenes that even confused my professor; as well as at the end, instead of having Azor onstage change into a prince, there's this weird, bad-quality video showing him walking down the street as a man. And then it suddenly ends. The first act, once I figured out that it was Beauty and the Beast, was good, but the second act was laughable. That's when they had the majority of the videos and even Zémire slow-motion running. But hey, it was free and an experience. Plus, that's one of my favorite stories. What was also interesting was that they all had accents. I didn't get a chance to ask, but it sounded as though they had Italian accents. I guess my two week stint in phonetics paid off after all. But it was a nice exercise to practice my French, and I'm glad I went.

So all in all, I'd say it was a good week.

Oh and PS: I'm staying in Paris until May 28th now! Thanks to my dad (thank you!) for staying on the phone with the airlines for two hours changing my flight. Now I'm going to be here a whole two weeks after finals end to enjoy the Parisian sunshine without having any class!

A Promise of Sunshine

Things are good. Things are in motion.

This weekend I went with my philosophy class to Versailles and our professor took us around the gardens--when I had been there before we didn't get a chance (or really, we just didn't know) how big the grounds were, especially concerning Marie Antoinette's Petit Trianon. Sophia Coppola's movie hadn't yet been made, so we didn't know her area of the garden even existed (totally my favorite part of the place).

But it was nice walking around with our professor, who really did know every single part of the garden--every single sculpture had a metaphor and political story behind it, every single tree was carefully placed to follow the plan. And what was so interesting was that almost every one of them had to do with Ovid's Metamorphoses, and he used those stories to convey some political agenda that, when the story was told, seemed so blatant that Louis XIV was practically shoving his warnings and ideas down your throat. My favorite fountain is the Encelade Fountain, which depicts the myth of the fall of the giants who were buried because they threw rocks at Mount Olympus, trying to dethrone Jupiter. These rocks were similar to France's Fronde (the word in French means slingshot), which was the upheaval of the nobles when Louis XIV was young. This caused Louis XIV to distrust the nobles and basically had them shut up in court, distracted, useless, and spending all their money on gambling. The message: If you try and overthrow the king, this is what happens.

Another fun fact, this picture is taken from the bottom of the stairs where Louis XIV would come down and reveal himself to the public. From the bottom of the stairs it would look like he's basically coming down from the sky. And on August 25th, Louis's namesake day, the sun is positioned directly above the canal, which shines into the hall of mirrors. The planners positioned the building and the canal, etc, just for this. Basically, so he can show that he controlled the world, as well as the sun.
This tour lasted a good five hours--at least. I don't even want to know how many miles we walked, but we pretty much walked through the entire garden. It was un petit froid, but the sun was shining and the sky was epic for pictures. I'm hoping to go back with Natty when she comes to visit because they turn the fountains on in April and the trees will finally have leaves.

After that adventure in Versailles, David came to visit! It was nice seeing him and having him meet everyone, and it made me miss New York a little bit. Not exactly miss it in terms of homesickness, but just realize some qualities about the city that I love and can't wait to get back to in September. His visit also made me realize that I can't leave immediately after finals. I have to be able to enjoy the sunshine and perfect weather without having classes take up the time I should be lounging during a picnic on the canal. I'm currently working with Student Universe to change my flight without spending a fortune--cross your fingers! I'm planning on staying with Emily in her apartment for the final weeks of May and try and soak up as much Parisian sunshine as possible before being forced to board the plane back to Boston. I want to go back to the US, I do (sort of...but only to see family), but I'm realizing that I have no idea when I'm going to be back here. Last year, as I was leaving Florence (was that really only a year ago?), I must admit that I had a sneaking suspicion I was coming back again soon (although of course my parents didn't know about that). But who knows if I'll make it here after graduation. Let's hope I stick to my new plan.

While David and I were wandering around the Marais, waiting for time to pass until we could go to our dinner reservation (more on that in a bit), we heard music coming from the Place des Vosges. We ended up walking in, curious as to what was going on, and found ourselves in this courtyard where French college students dressed as hipsters were playing live polka music. So random! The courtyard appeared to be part of a dorm of some sort, and they were selling homemade food and hot wine (one euro). So we grabbed a glass of vin chaud and sat down on a doorstoop and listened to the music. You can't plan these things.

Something that we did plan, though, was dinner. I had read about this amazing place called Breizh Café that makes amazing buckwheat crêpes on all the Paris food blogs (especially our idol David Lebovitz) and realized I had to try it. The owner is from Bretagne (the birthplace of all things crêpe), so everything was legit. But I read that I had to make a reservation, something that requires the use of speaking in French on the telephone. I caved to cowardice and had Beatrice make us a reservation. The restaurant was tiny and there was only one other waiter--the owner and his wife were the main ones who served everyone. I got a buckwheat crêpe with egg, onions, gruyere, and some mystery meat that ended up being delicious. The photo isn't of my actual crêpe, but taken from D.L's site. Then the four of us (Emily and Meaghan joined) split a dessert crêpe, much to the confusion and surprise of the owner who couldn't believe we Americans were only going to eat one. But hey, we're cheap Americans. A nice conclusion to the meal was when we were leaving the restaurant and Meaghan said "I love you" to the owner behind the door. She thought he couldn't see her, but he was smiling when we passed by. So we'll definitely be invited back there...

One thing that I do miss, however, is cooking. Okay, well maybe not cooking per se, because we all know I'm not very good at it, but I sincerely miss the idea of cooking. As in dinner parties. And looking on food blogs for recipes, and planning. So I'm basically using Meaghan for her kitchen (I don't exactly want to catch Beatrice's on fire), and we're going to host a dinner party this weekend. So it's starting to feel a little bit like normal. Except, you know, we're in Paris.

month 3

It's a new month. That means a new Navigo mètro pass, more minutes on my phone, and more space on my Flickr account. Because Facebook always botches the quality of my pictures, I've created this Flickr account. But it only has a limited amount of space, which sucks, and isn't very different from a lot of the other photo sites. So try and look at it about once a month or so to see my pictures! You can find them here.

my mistake...

Haha I lied. Literally not an hour after I posted that did I buy my plane ticket to Florence. I know, I'm kind of feeling guilty for going back to a place I've already been to, least of all spent four months studying in, but after skyping with Nina I felt really nostalgic and couldn't help but take advantage of the really good deal RyanAir was giving me. Plus my mouth is watering just thinking about going back to il Gato e la Volpe (and going back to the Duomo, and the Leather Market, and nutella gelato...except the only Italian words I've managed to retain while learning French are quindi, allora, va bene, grazie, and ciao). I'm going the end of March. And then for the entire day I pretty much got the travel bug and decided there were just a few places in France that I'll regret not going to. So my game plan is to hit up Marseille, the Loire Valley (specifically Tours for some chateaux-hopping), and possibly Bretagne this semester (even though it's almost half-over!). I still feel kind of guilty having that limit my already limited amount of time for weekends in Paris, but I'll have the entire week that Natty's here to visit me during the second week of my spring break to take advantage of the (hopefully) beautiful spring weather and picnic, etc--all the things I've been craving to do here. I don't mean to post so many posts, it's just that I felt like a hypocrite after just posting that...