I'm going to have to split up my posts about spring break, since I travelled so many places, did so many things, and took literally 1,000 pictures. It is going to take me FOREVER to upload my pictures, blog about everything, and catch up on my journal about everything. There is not enough time in the day! Not only that, but I have plans almost every weekend from here out! Can't believe how fast this semester is going by. Today is my 2nd full day of school since April 5th! (I went to one full day last week, skipped Monday this week & we had yesterday off). So, it's really hard getting back into the swing of things!
First off, literally everywhere we went it rained at least one day for a little bit. My boots are pretty much destroyed by now, but oh well. Getting back to Greece was awesome because we came back to literally 80 degree sunny, beautiful weather!
My first stop was Paris Sunday morning. I was really worried about finding the public bus to the airport, but I figured it out alright. It only leaves 2 times every hour, and they don't tell you when, so you kind of just have to chance it. Luckily, I only had to wait a couple minutes before it came. The check-in for my bag wasn't too bad. It was overweight, but the lady told me to just put on an extra sweater & I would be fine. They are so laid back here! Three girls from my program ended up being on my flight, so weird!
I got into Paris around 10:30, and I checked my facebook on my ipod and saw that I had a message from Natashya telling me to meet her somewhere around midnight (the bus from the airport to the city was about an hour and a half). So, I went there to meet her and midnight, and she wasn't there! I knew if I didn't message back right away this would happen. So, I was lost in Paris right away. Luckily, there was this kid that was waiting by the metro & I got up the guts to ask to use his phone. How lucky am I that he spoke fluent English too?! (He happened to be half American). Thank God. He waited with me there for a bit, until his friend met up with him. Natashya got there about half an hour later. It wasn't scary or anything, just freaking cold out!! We went to my hostel and I checked in. Then we went to walk around the city til like 4 am. She came to sleep with me for a bit until the metro re-opened for her at 5:45 am. She came to meet me the next day (she said) around noon. I got kicked out of my hostel around 12 (they have to do cleaning and crap), so I waited outside. She didn't get there until 1:30. I sat waiting outside my hostel by myself & this creepy, old man came up to me. He started speaking french & I just kinda laughed it off, saying I didn't speak French. Then he leaned in (I was thinking he was going to try to whisper to me or something?) & he tried to freaking kiss me!!!! I flipped out. He literally walked by like 3 more times until Natashya came. He would not leave me alone! But, I didn't wanna try to move otherwise I'd miss Natashya somehow. It was so hard to try to contact Natashya with no phone, no internet, etc...became a pain!
We finally met up around 1, and went to The Louvre. The line for it was so long just to get a ticket! But, some guy came up to me & asked if I wanted his since he was leaving and it was an all day pass. Lucky me! We walked around and saw all the art. I liked the Greek art...of course ;) The place was huge, so easy to get lost in. Of course we went to go see the Mona Lisa. Literally everyone was crowded in there taking pictures. And, like I had heard, it was a letdown. It's so small compared to everything else they have in there! But, I mean whatever. I saw it. We went to Notre Dame afterwards. It was raining and gloomy, so unfortunately the stained glass wasn't lighting up the church! But, it was beautiful inside. Afterward, we went to the Galleries Lafayette, aka the fancy mall. It was beautiful, it shouldn't be a mall! All of the designer brands, it hurt to look at the price tags.
The next day we went to Versaille. It was King Louis decided to have the biggest, most extravagant kingdom. It is..everything is gold! It was beyond amazing. I wish I lived there...It was huge! You had to either get a golf-cart or bike or walk to get from one section to the other. Natashya and I decided to rent a tandum bike because we were in a hurry. Ps, I am now in LOVE with tandum bikes! It was hard at first to get going, but I love it now!
The next day we went to Arc de Triomph and climbed to the top. Such a long walk, but little did I know it was going to be the shortest of all the walks on this trip! First off, we were idiots and tried to walk across the street (it's a big roundabout that connects 12 streets! Like we were going to get across without being honked at...) instead of using the underground tunnel that you're supposed to use. Oh well, we weren't alone, other tourists did it! From the top, you could see the Eiffel Tower, and all the streets that connect to the center. Later on, we went to, of course the Eiffel Tower! We climbed to the 2nd level, until there were no more stairs (669 I think it was?!). That was my workout for the trip....! The sun was setting and it was beautiufl up there. I was just waiting for someone to propose up there! So perfect! When we got back down, we watched the light show. It sounds so lame, but the Eiffel Tower is so much better at night! The light show is just a bunch of sparkling, but it's literally enchanting. Probably one of my favorite parts of Paris.
I really think all of this is out of order, I don't even remember what days we did what, etc. But, that's the gist of it (I don't know how to spell gist? I don't think it's even a word. Oh well, this is MY blog, I can do what I want). So, throughout the whole break, I would get really excited to talk to other Americans. And, me, being my friendly self always say hi! This guy was in the souvenir shop head-to-toe in Michigan attire. I said hi to him & that my boyfriend lives in Michigan. Then I said that I was from Minnesota. He goes, "The friends I'm travelling with are from Minnesota actually!" So, of course I had to go meet them to see if they lived by me or anything! It just so happens, two of them are really good friends with my friend Craig from high school. I told them we were actually meeting up with Craig in Barcelona on Thursday, and he goes "I'll be in Barcelona Thursday too!" Small, small world. We ended up seeing him again in Barcelona!
We left for Barcelona around 6 pm Thursday, the 12th. We didn't figure out the bus situation on how to get there and everything until later, Natashya literally had an hour to pack everything and to get going. We were running late, and we literally ran to the metro, from the metro to the bus stop, from the bus stop to the terminal. I think we literally had about 5 minutes to spare before the gates closed. All of this, and Natashya had to pee for like 2 hours straight. I don't know how she held it....!!! But, we were finally on the plane, ready to go.
My overall experience in Paris was good. I was expecting a lot more out of this "romantic city", but I just found the metro and the whole city really dirty and icky (maybe it didn't help that it was rainy?). Yes, girls were always dressed up and such, but I still think that Greek girls are prettier, French girls may just dress nicer. The French are kind of stand-offish and don't really care to talk to Americans, which was what I was expecting. It was different being in a city that was literally all tourists, and such diversity. There were many races, all speaking French still. It's not the same here in Thessaloniki where everyone is Greek and speaks Greek. People literally stare at me in Thess because I'm obviously not Greek, but in France I was just another face in the crowd. It was a plus, and a con. I kind of like standing out sometimes...
First off, literally everywhere we went it rained at least one day for a little bit. My boots are pretty much destroyed by now, but oh well. Getting back to Greece was awesome because we came back to literally 80 degree sunny, beautiful weather!
My first stop was Paris Sunday morning. I was really worried about finding the public bus to the airport, but I figured it out alright. It only leaves 2 times every hour, and they don't tell you when, so you kind of just have to chance it. Luckily, I only had to wait a couple minutes before it came. The check-in for my bag wasn't too bad. It was overweight, but the lady told me to just put on an extra sweater & I would be fine. They are so laid back here! Three girls from my program ended up being on my flight, so weird!
I got into Paris around 10:30, and I checked my facebook on my ipod and saw that I had a message from Natashya telling me to meet her somewhere around midnight (the bus from the airport to the city was about an hour and a half). So, I went there to meet her and midnight, and she wasn't there! I knew if I didn't message back right away this would happen. So, I was lost in Paris right away. Luckily, there was this kid that was waiting by the metro & I got up the guts to ask to use his phone. How lucky am I that he spoke fluent English too?! (He happened to be half American). Thank God. He waited with me there for a bit, until his friend met up with him. Natashya got there about half an hour later. It wasn't scary or anything, just freaking cold out!! We went to my hostel and I checked in. Then we went to walk around the city til like 4 am. She came to sleep with me for a bit until the metro re-opened for her at 5:45 am. She came to meet me the next day (she said) around noon. I got kicked out of my hostel around 12 (they have to do cleaning and crap), so I waited outside. She didn't get there until 1:30. I sat waiting outside my hostel by myself & this creepy, old man came up to me. He started speaking french & I just kinda laughed it off, saying I didn't speak French. Then he leaned in (I was thinking he was going to try to whisper to me or something?) & he tried to freaking kiss me!!!! I flipped out. He literally walked by like 3 more times until Natashya came. He would not leave me alone! But, I didn't wanna try to move otherwise I'd miss Natashya somehow. It was so hard to try to contact Natashya with no phone, no internet, etc...became a pain!
We finally met up around 1, and went to The Louvre. The line for it was so long just to get a ticket! But, some guy came up to me & asked if I wanted his since he was leaving and it was an all day pass. Lucky me! We walked around and saw all the art. I liked the Greek art...of course ;) The place was huge, so easy to get lost in. Of course we went to go see the Mona Lisa. Literally everyone was crowded in there taking pictures. And, like I had heard, it was a letdown. It's so small compared to everything else they have in there! But, I mean whatever. I saw it. We went to Notre Dame afterwards. It was raining and gloomy, so unfortunately the stained glass wasn't lighting up the church! But, it was beautiful inside. Afterward, we went to the Galleries Lafayette, aka the fancy mall. It was beautiful, it shouldn't be a mall! All of the designer brands, it hurt to look at the price tags.
The next day we went to Versaille. It was King Louis decided to have the biggest, most extravagant kingdom. It is..everything is gold! It was beyond amazing. I wish I lived there...It was huge! You had to either get a golf-cart or bike or walk to get from one section to the other. Natashya and I decided to rent a tandum bike because we were in a hurry. Ps, I am now in LOVE with tandum bikes! It was hard at first to get going, but I love it now!
The next day we went to Arc de Triomph and climbed to the top. Such a long walk, but little did I know it was going to be the shortest of all the walks on this trip! First off, we were idiots and tried to walk across the street (it's a big roundabout that connects 12 streets! Like we were going to get across without being honked at...) instead of using the underground tunnel that you're supposed to use. Oh well, we weren't alone, other tourists did it! From the top, you could see the Eiffel Tower, and all the streets that connect to the center. Later on, we went to, of course the Eiffel Tower! We climbed to the 2nd level, until there were no more stairs (669 I think it was?!). That was my workout for the trip....! The sun was setting and it was beautiufl up there. I was just waiting for someone to propose up there! So perfect! When we got back down, we watched the light show. It sounds so lame, but the Eiffel Tower is so much better at night! The light show is just a bunch of sparkling, but it's literally enchanting. Probably one of my favorite parts of Paris.
I really think all of this is out of order, I don't even remember what days we did what, etc. But, that's the gist of it (I don't know how to spell gist? I don't think it's even a word. Oh well, this is MY blog, I can do what I want). So, throughout the whole break, I would get really excited to talk to other Americans. And, me, being my friendly self always say hi! This guy was in the souvenir shop head-to-toe in Michigan attire. I said hi to him & that my boyfriend lives in Michigan. Then I said that I was from Minnesota. He goes, "The friends I'm travelling with are from Minnesota actually!" So, of course I had to go meet them to see if they lived by me or anything! It just so happens, two of them are really good friends with my friend Craig from high school. I told them we were actually meeting up with Craig in Barcelona on Thursday, and he goes "I'll be in Barcelona Thursday too!" Small, small world. We ended up seeing him again in Barcelona!
We left for Barcelona around 6 pm Thursday, the 12th. We didn't figure out the bus situation on how to get there and everything until later, Natashya literally had an hour to pack everything and to get going. We were running late, and we literally ran to the metro, from the metro to the bus stop, from the bus stop to the terminal. I think we literally had about 5 minutes to spare before the gates closed. All of this, and Natashya had to pee for like 2 hours straight. I don't know how she held it....!!! But, we were finally on the plane, ready to go.
My overall experience in Paris was good. I was expecting a lot more out of this "romantic city", but I just found the metro and the whole city really dirty and icky (maybe it didn't help that it was rainy?). Yes, girls were always dressed up and such, but I still think that Greek girls are prettier, French girls may just dress nicer. The French are kind of stand-offish and don't really care to talk to Americans, which was what I was expecting. It was different being in a city that was literally all tourists, and such diversity. There were many races, all speaking French still. It's not the same here in Thessaloniki where everyone is Greek and speaks Greek. People literally stare at me in Thess because I'm obviously not Greek, but in France I was just another face in the crowd. It was a plus, and a con. I kind of like standing out sometimes...
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