A glorious return

So I'm back from my 10 day whirlwind of vacances. I've got tons of beauty shots of Florence and Athens and will definitely share them with you all. At some point. I haven't the time to recap my entire vaycay but I just wanted to share something with you all.

I can't stop eating those English licorice candies. I eat them all day and then I want to vom. It's a vicious cycle but they are sooo delicious.

I give, I give.

I can't take it! After weeks of tactful avoidance, the nagging e-mails from my mother and the words of disappointment from Elena have finally wore me down. What can I say? I'm sorry? I've been washing my hair for the past 3 weeks? What do you people want??? LIES or the truth?!?! Well, the truth is I started recounting the details of my break, got bored and walked away. I wrote a nice review of Amsterdam and you can have it. I don't want it anymore. Tragically, Paris is no longer fresh in my mind so you will all have to be contented with photographical evidence. Personally, I'm a visual learner. I would love it if someone told me I didn't have to read about their life but simply SEE it with my own EYES. So here it is, just for you, my adoring public. February 28th through March 8th in pictures AND words.

Amsterdam

Break officially began when I forced myself awake at the ungodly hour of 3:30 on a Saturday to run to the gare routière and catch a bus to the Marseille Airport for my 6:25 am flight to Eindhoven. Once there, myself and my traveling mates(some friends from my program) got on another bus which, after and hour and 45 minutes, finally dropped us off in front of Central Station in the heart of Amsterdam. A few words about the city, it is one of the most beautiful and impressive places I have been to yet. The layout and general appearance of the buildings is really cool and they all border little canals that snake about Amsterdam. For being there only 4 days, I managed to see a lot. I visited such gems as the Tropenmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, and the Rijkmuseum. Lots of museums! I think the Van Gogh museum was my favorite because I got to see Starry Night which quite ironically was on loan from the Met. I think, however, that it was a lot more appropriate to see it in Amsterdam in a place dedicated to the works of Van Gogh. The piece was beautiful and I feel extremely lucky to have gotten to see it. In addition to gallery hopping, I took a pleasant canal ride, wandered the red light district, and visited the zoo!

And that, in a nutshell, was Amsterdam.

Paris

And there you have it.

I'm still here...

Hey guys, I apologize for the lack of updates but I promise they are coming! I'm working on two pretty epic posts right now so get ready.

Soyez patient!

Springtime for Hitler

So, I had a slight epic fail with my lunch today after horribly burning the garlic for my garlic and olive oil pasta. However, the need to escape the stench led me to open the kitchen window above the sink and breath in the delicious spring air. It is so beautiful outside today, I almost cried. I am actually looking forward to strolling down the hill towards my 3-6pm class this afternoon. Unfortunately, tomorrow I am headed north and back into nuclear winter. I'm not too worried though because a week from now, it will probably be so wonderful I won't know what to do with myself. C'est le printemps!

Side note: I would like to direct your eyes to the photograph posted below. I managed to fit 8 days of clothing including toiletries and 2 pairs of shoes into that bag. When I originally showed the empty version of it to my host mother and told her my intentions, she laughed at me and walked away. Who's laughing now, Hélène?

I love my host father dearly, but if I have to listen to him clear his throat mucous one more time, I will absolutely vomit. It resonates throughout the house which, while impressive, worries me slightly. Normal humans do not sound like that.

You know you are dressed inappropriately for class when someone honks at you at 8:45 in the morning.

Oops.

I just wanted to fit in and look like all of the beautiful French people!

Breakation Countdown

So some days, specifically Sundays, I wake up at 11:30 and sit in my room all day until I can eat dinner and go to bed. Maybe this also happens on Saturdays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays....ok I'm lying. That would be horrible. The point of this story is that today I did not do one single productive thing. And that is ok because it's Sunday.

Luckily for me, tomorrow marks the commencement of vacation week countdown! On Saturday, at the ungodly hour of 6:20 in the AM, I will be boarding flight 6505 to AMSTERDAM. Well, technically I'm flying to Eindhoven, it was cheaper, but a short bus ride from Amsterdam!!! I'll be blowing up the spot for 4 days before heading to Paris. Roommate reunion with my Elenkaaa. And also Nick, who counts because he will be my roommate for 4 days. In the month since I have been here, I have grown to love Aix dearly but I have underestimated the fabulosity of familiar faces. Basically, shits gonna get cray cray. In a good way, of course. What up Winter Break 2009?!

Now I must bide my time and attend class for the next 5 days. Impossible.