Chill Week in France: Lyon, Roanne, and St. Etienne

I have spent the past week (May 20-26) based in Lyon (chilling at my friend Adam’s place), but I have taken a few day trips to other towns. 

On Thursday evening, Adam and I went to a bar/restaurant to meet up with our friend Alice, and she was with a group of internationals! It was really fun to meet new people and to practice french with them! (one of the girls got a group picture, so I will have to find it, lol). 

On Friday, I went to Roanne for the day. I had a delicious lunch (steak and pasta) at a teacher’s house. I took a walk, and saw the hospital for the first time, well I guess it is good to know where that is! I also went into town and ran some errands. I got a delicious pastry and sat outside and read a book that I bought recently (A Gift to Remember). It was nice to be in Roanne, but it wasn’t the same without the others (roomies, and other assistants)!

Pretty modern looking hospital

Raspberry-lemon dessert

Pretty day in Roanne!

On Sunday, I went to mass at Saint Jean in Lyon. It was cool to attend mass at a new church! There were a lot of people there for the service which was nice.

Sunday evening, Adam and I met up with a group of English people for trivia! It was fun to play and we got third place, which was pretty good! I even knew some of the answers to the questions, and I was quite proud of myself.

On Monday, I went to St. Etienne for the afternoon to visit Emilia and Karen! Emilia and I got lunch at this restaurant where we first got lunch together after the orientation last fall. This brought back so many nice memories, and I can't believe that 8 months passed by so fast! 

So much food!! Soooo good!!

After lunch, I hung out with Karen and Emilia and it was so nice to catch up! I really hope that we can all stay in touch! :)

Tomorrow, I am heading off to Paris for a few days! My cousin from Poland is flying in on Wednesday, and I can’t wait to explore Paris with her, and to meet up with my Paris friends!! :)

Excited to be back in the capital,

Magdalena

Back in England: Nottingham, Chatsworth House, and London

I took a trip to England from May 14-20.

On Wednesday, I got to the East Midlands Airport where Kathie and her nice friends came and picked me up! We had a chill evening, catching up, and Kathie made a delicious lasagna! 

On Thursday, we explored more of Nottingham. Kathie showed me her university (The University of Nottingham). It’s a very green campus.

Clocktower at Nottingham!

So much green!

Then, we headed off to Wollaton Park which is pretty close to the university. There, we had a picnic lunch and got to look out on the lake. We didn’t pick the best bench to sit on for lunch though… it was under a tree and had some old bird poo stains (that should have been a warning sign)… so unfortunately a little bird pooped on me…well luckily it was only a little that got on me… and someone told me that it’s good luck (right?) lol. 

Wollaton Park

After lunch, we headed up to Wollaton Hall, which is where some of the scenes for Batman: The Dark Knight Rises were filmed! This place is gorgeous! It’s a natural history museum as well know which is pretty cool!

Wollaton Hall

In the evening, we went out to dinner at Las Iguanas with some of Kathie’s classmates. They were so nice and we had a really awesome dinner together! I had a spicy chicken enchilada, and it was so good! Then, we went out for some drinks. Overall, it was a wonderful girls’ night and I am glad that I got to be there for it!

Kathie and I

We slept in Friday, and then had a delicious brunch of biscuits, eggs, and bacon! Kathie had brought back some bisquick from the US, so we made real biscuits! Mmmmmmm, they were so good!!! 

In the afternoon, we went shopping! I checked out some shops like Accessorize, Primark, Top Shop, Oasis, among others. I ended up with two new tops and some earrings. At Top Shop, we probably had the strangest experience… we were looking through the clothes, and then, this lady starts to insist that Kathie buy this romper that Kathie didn’t even like… The lady continues to try to persuade her to buy it for a good five minutes… and we didn’t really know how to escape the situation. She was saying how good it would look on Kathie, and how her parents would like it, and that she would buy it herself if only it was her size, and she was asking me what I thought…Eventually, we escaped, and put the romper back in another section of the store, far away from that lady, and then we got outta there! Now that I think about it, the situation must have looked weird to the other people in the store, haha. 

After shopping, we went to see the castle of Nottingham, and Robin Hood (he’s from here)! We also saw the oldest pub in England called: ye olde trip to jerusalem. It is built into the stone which is pretty cool!

Robin Hood!

So old but cool.

After that visit, we headed to Thea Caffea for some cream tea! I was so excited to have proper tea with scones and clotted cream and jam! mmmm! 

deliciousness! :)

Love the quote on the wall!

On Saturday, Kathie and I took the train to Sheffield to meet up with Clare, who’s a friend of mine that I met in France. She was also an English teaching assistant this past year. 

Before Clare and her dad came to get us, Kathie and I enjoyed the beautiful weather outside of the Sheffield station. We were chatting and then, this strange guy that sat down near us even though there was tons of free space…. So, at first, we didn’t really think much of it, and continued to talk to each other. Then, he started trying to talk to us. He asked me to take a photo for him, and that was fine. But, he used that as an excuse to talk to us but, we weren’t really in the mood to chat and we were meeting up with Clare any minute… Usually I am really sociable and I can talk with anyone, but he just gave me a strange vibe… Luckily, he left to take a train somewhere (I think?), and Clare arrived pretty soon after.

We stopped by Clare’s house before heading for Chatsworth: a fancy house with a lot of history and cool gardens surrounding it! At Clare’s, I tried Elder Flower, which was really good! I am not sure exactly how to describe the taste of this drink but it was refreshing.

We had a nice drive down to Chatsworth where we played a cow spotting game. Then outside of the view of the house, we went to a little village were the servants of the house lived. In the village there is a graveyard, and Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy (sister of John F. Kennedy) is buried there. 

Kathleen Kennedy's Grave

First, we toured the house. We learned quite a lot of facts about the place! In one room, there was an old fashioned make up set which is quite valuable. The guide in that room told us that back in the day, people took so long getting ready, that they would keep sweets in the little cases (that looked like they were for makeup) and they would eat sweets while putting on their make-up. They would drink hot chocolate during the make-up process as well! Hmmm sounds like traditions we need to bring back :). There was also another room with a fancy bed with little tassels on it that were restored by volunteers! There are a thousand tassels on the bed canopy and each one took anywhere from 2-4 hours to make! There was also another room with two narwal tusks in it. Another fun fact: this house was in the movie: Pride and Prejudice!

pretty staircase

bed with a thousand little tassels that were redone recently!

The library-my favorite room!

After the informative visit, we went outside and has a picnic lunch in the garden. Then, we just laid there for a while and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Next we got some ice cream, and went around exploring the different parts of the gardens! There were some really nice flowers around as well! We even went through a maze, although it took us a bit longer to get through than we expected…haha.

Chatsworth House

Kathie, Clare, and I

Bluebell flowers- sign of spring in England!

Then, we took a break and sat down near the lake in front of the house. They also had some interesting sculptures around the grounds.

neat umbrella

Then we took a walk back to the village, and on the way, we saw a lot of sheep.

sheep!

We rewarded ourselves with a nice cool drink at the village! I had elder flower again, and it was nice!

Then, we rode back to the station, where Kathie and I decided to sit outside near the fountain again before catching our train back to Nottingham. You will not guess who walked by and sat next to us a few minutes after we got there…. the strange guy from the morning!! It was so weird.. he tried talking to us more, but luckily we had a train to catch. We left for the train a bit early, and once it got there, I found my seat (we got seats assigned to us when we bought them online) and Kathie sat next to me. So, first thing I do is turn to look at the people sitting across the aisle from us, and guess who is sitting there??!! That same strange guy from this morning and evening! What are the odds that he was going to take the same train as us and given an assigned seat right across from us… For a few seconds, I thought he might be following us or something, but I am pretty sure it was just all a very strange coincidence… Luckily, we had a change in Derby, and he stayed on the train. 

Once we got back, Kathie cooked up a delicious dinner (side note: sweet potato and hummus is quite good together).

Sunday morning, I took a coach to London. It was hard to leave Kathie, because we had such a good time together! I arrived in London in the afternoon, to the Victoria Coach Station, then friendly english people gave me directions to the tube. Unfortunately, some of the lines were not running, so I ended up taking two overground trains to get to Ollie’s place. I got there eventually, and Ollie and I spent the afternoon at Richmond park with some of his Uni friends. I tried Pimms (fancy english summer drink with Pimms, lemonade, mint, strawberries...) there for the first time, and it was so yummy!! :).

Richmond

On Monday, Ollie, Sara (another UGA exchange student), and I spent the day exploring London! We started off in the Camden Market, then lunch on some green near the London Eye, went by Big Ben, got a pic by my favorite phone booth in London, went to the science museum, chilled at Hyde Park, saw Peter Pan statue, cooled off at the Diana Memorial Fountain, and made toad in the hole. 

I couldn’t believe how nice the weather was during my entire stay!

Crazy Camden Market

Signs of Chick-fil-a in London!

London Eye!

Back in my phone booth, and is that sunshine? ;)

Sara and I cooling off at the Diana Memorial Fountain

On Tuesday, I took a plane back to Lyon!

It was so nice to see some more of England and to catch up with friends! Thanks to Kathie, her awesome friends, Clare and her parents, Ollie, and Sara for making my stay in England so nice! :) And thank goodness the weather was as great as it was :). 

Back in France but not for long, 

Magdalena

Vamos a Valencia!

So, on Saturday morning, Kate and I almost missed our first bus from Mandelieu to Cannes… luckily we made it, and then took another bus from the center of Cannes to the Nice airport. The flight went well, and soon we were in Barcelona! From the Barcelona airport, we struggled to find the right bus to Valencia. We asked many of the workers, and they were not sure of where the bus was coming or if it even existed… this was not a good sign… After running around and checking all of the buses, we found a sign showing our ALSA (our bus) times on it! This was a good sign! After many buses came and went, just as we were losing a little hope, our bus arrived! It was late (like 15-20 minutes) but we were so happy that we caught it! It was supposed to leave at 12 45pm, but we ended up leaving after 1pm, which meant that we would arrive in Valencia at about 4 30pm. 

The bus was quite comfortable! We had leather reclinable seats, and little TV screens where we could watch some spanish programs. We did pay for this comfort though, even though we had no idea what the bus would be like before we chose it, lol. It cost us about 34 euros for this bus ride- kind of pricy, but cheaper and more comfortable than the train would have been I think! 

I practiced my spanish by watching some strange movie about a special little boy with leaves or eyes on his legs, who comes to foster parents and stays with them for a while… then I fell asleep… and when I woke up, the movie was still going… and the boy was now leaving the parents and they didn’t want him to go. At the very end, he disappears, and the foster parents get a new kid, this time a little girl to take care of. That is the best synopsis I can come up with with my limited spanish knowledge, haha. (I later realized that the movie was the odd life of Timothy Green). Then, some english music videos came on and then some bugs bunny! It was interesting to hear the characters speak spanish…lol. 

As we were driving, we pretty much passed through what seemed like deserted areas… no towns, or cities in sight, but it was the highway I suppose. 

first glimpse of Spanish countryside from the bus

Once we got to the Valencia bus station, we met up with my friend Paco, who came to meet us there. We took a taxi from the bus station to his place, and it was quite cheap! (about 2 euro a person). This was the first instance in which I realized that things here are not that expensive (relatively speaking to other countries where I have been like Austria, Switzerland, England…). 

Once we got to his place, we got settled, and then went out to see a bit of the city. With Paco as our guide, we ventured out to explore Valencia! We walked around the city and there was some event going on, because there were little kids all dressed up in traditional outfits.

Tours de Serrano

Kate and I in town!

Kids dressed in traditional outfits

Such a pretty city!

Saturday night, we hung out with some of Paco’s friends and ended up going out to a nice club! I had a really great time there dancing and hanging out, except for when someone stole my iphone at the club… :(. I was really upset and honestly do not even know when/how exactly it happened…it was in my purse and the next time I checked, it was gone. It comforted me a little that someone told me that this happens quite often here (so I wasn’t the first or last to get my phone stolen in Spain) but I wish someone warned me beforehand… but oh well, there is nothing I can do now. Luckily, I brought my camera with me as well as a backup for taking pictures, so I should be ok. I will miss the convenience of using my iphone in wifi zones and for it’s camera, and apps though…

We stayed out really late, and slept in Sunday. When we got up, Paco took Kate and I to this cool restaurant where everything was one euro on Sundays! It was a great deal! We had montaditos, and they were yummy!

Some of our montaditos!

Then, Kate and I went to the beach for a while and just laid in the sun :). Now, I have been to quite a few beaches, and I must say that the sand in Valencia was the best sand ever! It is super fine, and soft, and heavenly… (just thinking about it makes me want to be back there…)

beautiful sand of Valencia 

We even ended up napping a little on the beach, and later going in the ocean! The water was a bit cold, but definitely warmer than the water in France. I even overheard two polish girls in the ocean, and decided to say hi :). I talked to them for a little while and it was nice to hear polish!

On Monday, Kate and I got Paella. We tried two kinds, and it was interesting to order at a restaurant in Spanish…lol. Luckily, the waitress knew a little bit of english, so we made it work in the end. We tried two kinds of Paella: Paella Valenciana (it had chicken and veggies) and Paella Marisco (it had assorted seafood). 

Trying some Paella Marisco!

After that, we sat on the beach for a little while, and I was in heaven!! Ahhh that sand! On the tram back to meet Paco, we met a guy who sat next to us on the tram, we practiced our spanish with him, and soon after starting the conversation, we found out he was polish! It was cool to chat with him in three languages!

Next, we met up with Paco, and we went up the Tours de Serrano to get a nice view of the city!

view of the city from Tours de Serrano

Paco, Kate, and I 

Then, we walked to this Gulliver’s playground, where we got in touch with our inner child, haha. But seriously, this playground was pretty awesome!

Part of the playground!

After that, we walked to the cool science museum!! The outside was just super cool! 

Science Museum

That evening, we had kebabs for dinner, and then played some pool.

On Tuesday, one of the guys we went out with Saturday night, Ivan, showed Kate and I around the city. We got some postcards, and tried these fried pumpkin beignets (Bunyols de carabassa) that were quite good! 

Next, we saw the water boat, and then we went to the beach!! :) I love the beach here and I am going to miss it so much!

Water boat

Kate and I

We even went into the water, and it wasn’t too cold, but the waves really pretty strong! I loved being in the ocean though! I had a lot of fun! :) 

Next, we just hung out on the beach, chatting, laughing, and just enjoying our time together on beach! It was a perfect end to the evening :). 

Ivan and I at the beach! :)

I am so happy that I got to go to Valencia and that I got to reconnect with yet another UGA friend! I am so grateful that he took time out to really make sure that Kate and I had a good time here! I am also thankful that he has such nice friends who also made our stay here wonderful and unforgettable :). I really hope to be back in Valencia sometime soon! I gotta keep up this tan that I’ve been working on ;)

On Wednesday morning, Paco and I headed to the airport because we both had flights to England! I also had to say goodbye to Kate :(. It was hard because we had pretty much spent every day together since September... but I am sure we will keep in touch, and I am so lucky that I had such an awesome roommate and travel buddy!! :D

I am going to visit my good friend Kathie (who I also met at UGA) in Nottingham for a few days, then going to London to catch up with yet another UGA friend, Ollie. 

Off to England,

Magdalena

City Hopping: Villefranche sur Mer, Eze, and Monte Carlo, Monaco!

Tuesday, we went a little wild and went to three different cities! We started off in Villefranche sur Mer, which is a really pretty little town. There we just explored for a few hours, then headed to our next stop: Eze!

Villefranche sur Mer

Once we got to the train station in Eze, we headed to the tourist office for a map. We wanted to explore the old town of Eze, but we had trouble finding it… we ended up climbing millions of stairs which seemed to be leading us further into the wilderness… after about 20mins of walking, we heard some english voices… we waited for them to come down, and they confirmed that the old city was indeed up these steps! They also told us that it would take about an hour to get there! We thanked them for this info, but we were sure we could get there faster… We continued the long climb up, and finally made it after about an hour (they were not kidding). If you ever want to go on a good hike I recommend going to Eze.

The climb to Eze...

Finally, we can see the city!

Once we finally made it, we explored the old city, and had a nice cold drink (we deserved it after that long walk) :).

Eze

After we explored for a little while, we headed to the bus stop so that we could get a bus back to the train station. At the bus stop, we met this Australian guy who was waiting for a bus to Monte Carlo. We didn’t know that we could take a bus directly to there from Eze, so we were going to take the train. We decided to wait for the bus to Monte Carlo instead, and it was a good decision! 

The bus dropped us off near the Casino, where we got to see a lot of really nice cars! :) I even took a picture with a Bugatti! Monte Carlo is definitely a rich city that’s for sure.

In font of the Monte Carlo casino!

There I am with a Bugatti

After staring at the cars, we walked around the city. We noticed that the city was getting ready for the Grand Prix that would take place in a few weeks! It was cool the be there before it!

The city prepping for the historic grand prix!

On Wednesday and Thursday we had some chill beach days in Cannes where we soaked up the sun! 

Made my own handprint in Cannes :)

On Friday, we went back to Monte Carlo to watch the first day of the historic grand prix. We got to watch two practice races, which were really cool! 

by the tracks! 

Winner of one of the races

Another race

Then, we quickly went up to see the palace, where we got a few pictures. The city is just so beautiful and hilly!

In front of the palace

Monte Carlo 

 After that, we quickly caught the train back to Cannes. 

On Saturday morning, we woke up really early to catch a flight to Valencia to visit a friend of mine, Paco, who I met at UGA three years ago! It will be really nice to catch up and explore an exciting, new place! Now, I gotta brush up on my spanish!

Last look of how the palace looks on May 10th before the festival starts on May 14th!

Hasta luego,

Magdalena