Holy Week Vacation in French Riviera and Florence: Family email turned blog

The past week has been quite a good time.  I started off my trip for Holy Week by going to the French Riviera and then a few days in Florence, Italy.  I left for my trip on Thursday, April 14th and my goodness it was quite the journey to get there. I had to take the metro into Sevilla, catch a bus to the airport, fly to Bergamo (Italy), take a bus to Milan, take a train to Ventimiglia (Italy), transfer trains and take another train to Nice, France.  And then find my hotel, which thankfully was not a problem because it was so close to the train station.  So I left my house in Sevilla at about 6:45 in the morning and then finally arrived to Nice at about 9:15 in the evening.  It was such a long day! But it was all worth it.  I met two of my sorority sisters from St. Norbert in Nice.  One is studying in France and the other is studying in Florence (I followed her home after the weekend in the French Riviera). The first day we took a short train ride to Monte Carlo and saw the beautiful coast there.  I have never seen so many fancy cars and yachts in my life! But the hills right next to the Mediterranean Sea were absolutely gorgeous. I also went to the Monte Carlo Casino there.  I had to pay 10 Euro to enter and they also scanned my US passport, they were not "messing around" there.  The Casino itself is gorgeous and its crazy to think how much money has been won and lost there.  Later that evening, while I was napping, my 2 sorority sisters ran into a friend of ours, Billy (a fellow Norbertine).  We had no idea Billy was staying at our hotel or that he was in Nice, so it was crazy and really fun to see him.  Also the hotel offered us free champagne hour, and we definitely enjoyed that. 

The next day (Saturday) we took the train to Cannes, where they hold the international film festival.  There, we decided to lay in the sun on the beach and relax.  I had forgotten to buy sunscreen before the trip so I went to a local vendor on the beach to buy some.  I went to pay for it and for this small bottle, the guy told me it was going to cost 29 Euro and I said no way and walked out.  So instead I wore a long sleeve tshirt all day long. Which turned out fine because that way I did not get burnt.  Later we went back to Nice and went out to dinner.  Oh and you would have thought since I was in France I would have gotten delicious French cuisine dinners? Nope, my friends and I got Chinese and then Thai food both nights, haha oh well. 

Our last day we walked around downtown Nice for a little bit.  Around 3:30 we left and took the bus back to Florence. It took us around 6.5 hours to get back.  Thankfully, like any good vans, we got to watch movies on the ride home. 

So I stayed with my sorority sister, Rachael at her apartment in Florence.  The apartment was pretty basic and I had a couch to sleep on, but it was free so I will not complain. Florence has many gorgeous things to see and I saw the Duomo, the beautiful church there, Ponte Vecchio, and I finally saw THE David by Michelangelo.  And I was very excited to see this because of Aunt Vicki's magnet of David on her fridge.  And when I was little I would always dress him up with clothes, so it was really great to see the real thing in person, and my was it a master piece. 

And by surprise, while I was in the Central Market I ran into Rick Steves, the travel guru who has books and websites and tv shows all about traveling. I was so excited to see him and I had my picture taken with him! So at that moment I knew I was visiting the right city.  Also, one day I went on a horseback riding tour through Tuscany! We rode horses for about 1.5 hours, had a delicious Italian lunch, and had a wine tasting.  It was absolutely one of my favorite days while traveling abroad. And I cannot tell you how delicious their pasta is there and I about died and went to heaven by eating all of the gelato haha.  Florence was great and I loved seeing where my friend was studying abroad, and finally have some time with some Norbertines. 

Yet, the best story part is for last.  Wednesday night I was supposed to catch the last train at 9:45 to Milan and then take an early bus to the Bergamo airport.  However, my friend Rachael called for a taxi, but the taxi couldn't reach us because there was a concert going on in a plaza near Rachael's apartment.  So we walked quickly until we found another taxi, but even then it was too late.  I had missed the last train and the next train left too late the next day for me to arrive in Milan in time for my flight. So I went back to my friend's apartment and we started looking into how I could get back to Sevilla. I ended up taking a train the next morning to Venice and then flying from Venice to Madrid and then Madrid to Sevilla. Everything worked out okay and I made it back to Sevilla, but it was still a stressful and frustrating time. 

So I came back last Thursday and then spent the weekend with Nick and Nate.  We had a great time touring Sevilla and celebrating his birthday Saturday. I was very happy to have at least 1 member of the family to celebrate Easter with.  Nick and I had a delicious Easter dinner at San Marco. It was hard to see Nick go, and strange because I know my time here is ending quick.  I have 3.5 more weeks here and then I'm back in the US! So crazy how time quickly goes. 

For my last trip I am headed to a Spanish island in the Mediterranean called Palma de Mallorca and then flying up to Berlin, Deutschland! Grandpa, I'm headed to the homeland! I'll have to pick up plenty of toothpicks!! or "Zahn picks", haha :)  I leave in a week from tomorrow and it is my last adventure here in Spain.  Hard to believe, but almost a relief considering my difficulty to get home last time. So if you have any suggestions on what to do in Berlin, I'd love to hear them. 

I miss and love you all very much and I can't wait to see you all!

Love,

Erica