GAAAH

Ok, quick disclaimer. I have been writing for about 2 hours now since it took me so long to post since the last time... this has created a few realizations.

1. I really like to write.
2. I have a lot to say about what is going on right now.
3. I really need to take some time to edit and split up what I have to say about this program, villa life, and school.

Therefore, I am splitting this next entry up into a few installments so it's not all over the place. I am going to give you the story of this weekend's trip to France and Monaco.... which was amazing!

Before Friday night, I should have 2-3 more entries on my impressions of the city of Genoa, as well as life in general, and a few words on the upcoming extended study travel in the south of Italy!

I, once again, don't have pictures on the computer to go with this post, but since studio is kind of at a standstill right now (we had a review yesterday after working hard Sunday-Wednesday morning) and we are leaving Saturday, Friday will be a very chill afternoon and evening and I PROMISE I will edit all the posts to have lots of pictures, and maybe I'll even put up an album or two on facebook.

So, here it goes...

This past weekend we went on a trip to Nice, France, and a brief afternoon in Monaco. We had an amazing time, despite having an uncomfortably large group. I prefer to travel with fewer people, but some of my classmates ended up in the same hotel and tagged along, which was fine, just more difficult to plan and find places for everyone to eat.

We left on Friday straight out of the Rationalism lecture and basically had to run to the Principe station to make our 1 pm train (class lets out at 12:30). The train ride was about 3 hours to Ventimiglia station, and then another 45 minutes to Nice-Ville station. Our hotel was right outside the station, and we arrived around sunset.

We then set out to find some dinner off of the main shopping street in Nice. The culture in France is much different from that in Italy, and I was definitely frustrated with the language barrier for the first time (since I can at least read Italian), but Sam, the French minor, drug us around the city, speaking to the waiters at restaurants and helping with hotels and trains, etc. The first night we had a very French meal- baguette, coq au vin, creme caramel (some had mousse du chocolat, but they only had 3 and I was interested to try the caramel, which was basically a flan), and some really amazing red wine from Provence. After a long, delicious home-cooked meal, we went back to the hotel and planned the next day.

The next morning we ate breakfast in the hotel (included, I recommend going to Nice in the offseason just because it's so cheap! And honestly it isn't that cold-- I wore a light sweater underneath a light jacket with a scarf all weekend and I felt just fine). First, we headed to a famous sculpture garden (per request of our LArch friend, Nate), which was very nice. There is a building in the garden that is a set of shoulders with a cube for a head (offices are inside). We stayed for awhile and sketched, and while we were there, I found a station for the bike share program that is in Nice. Last semester we designed a hub for a bike share program in Clemson, so I was naturally interested... just not as interested as I looked when I face-planted into the bike rack.... oops.

We then walked through the ancient part of the city (medieval, not Greek or Roman, there were some settlements in the city during those times, but most of the evidence was built over or destroyed, except for a section of ruins at the top of the Chateau hill). We went to a huge outdoor market and bought bread and fruit (my bread had cheese and ham on it), and headed to a wall on the beach to watch the waves and eat some cheap lunch. It was beautiful. A small disclaimer... the following conversation from Home Alone isn't true.
Buzz: "Do French babes shave their pits?"
Peter: "Some don't"
Buzz: "But they have nude beaches"
Peter: "Not in the winter"
In my opinion, January is generally considered winter... needless to say, there were a few awkward moments during lunch.

We then began the long climb to the top of the Chateau Hill (sorry, no Chateau at the top... it was destroyed). From there, you can see the entire city of Nice. It was a nice, clear day to take pictures, which we took a lot of, then we explored the beautiful gardens at the top of the hill, the Roman ruins, and a waterfall on the hill (it is either man made or man has intervened with the falls, but is nevertheless beautiful. There was a medieval fort at the top of the hill as well, which a lot of the park has been designed to fit within. It was so nice.

We walked to the bottom of the hill (not before walking through an old graveyard with some beautiful family monuments) and through the city, then back to the room before dinner. It was our friend Stephen's 21st birthday, so we found a restaurant (I ordered french steak and french fries) and helped Stephen through his first glass of wine (he wanted to wait till his 21st to try it). We then found an amazing crepe place (Stephen's favorite food). The owner was hilarious-- joking the entire time, loud, silly-- when he brought the food out(I shared a cinnamon and sugar crepe with a friend, and a Bailey's and Nutella milkshake--AMAZING-- the restaurant focuses on crepes and nutella) he brought Stephen's out with candles and a giant birthday hat, turned out the lights, and the entire restaurant sung to him. It was fantastic!

France was interesting. Nice is a very diverse city, and since it was once part of the same province as Genoa, I was expecting a bit of the Italian culture to rub off on the city. However, the only thing I really found out to be Italian was the availability of pizza and pasta at the restaurants. The French like being French, and aren't very accommodating to people who don't speak the language, even in a tourist town. In Italy, even if they don't know English, they try to speak slowly or help people, or at least are friendly to foreigners. It's kind of like the difference between visiting a city in the South of the US (Hey y'all) to the North (pushed around on the subway). I didn't exactly feel uncomfortable, just that they were annoyed with us sometimes. Aside from the cultural difference, I loved Nice. The city was beautiful, the food was amazing, the friends were fun.

The next morning, we got on the train early and hopped off the train in Monaco (the train from Nice to Ventimiglia stops in Monaco). We climbed (again) to the top of the Rock of Monaco, where the palace is, and watched the changing of the guard. We then walked through some gardens, grabbed a quick sandwich in the port, and walked to the Monte Carlo just to say we had seen it. (Beautiful, amazing, L'art Nouveau designs.... oh my godddd)

Monaco was the first time I truly felt like I was in a different culture and country. In Italy and France, there is of course the language barrier and my inability to imitate the Italian fashion, or not enjoying the French culture... but Monaco was just unnaturally weird. I was expecting it to be basically a rich French seeming city, considering how close the country is to France (both geographically and politically, I mean, they use the Euro because of their trade deals with France, even though they're not part of the EU). This was not the case.
First of all, the city is LOADED. I'm talking little crystal chandeliers lining the road up to the Rock of Monaco, beautiful gardens, amazing architecture, Aston Martins driving all over the city... designer stores (I saw a 2000 euro pair of shoes in the window of the Prada store)... beautiful.
Second of all, it is, literally, the cleanest place I have ever been in my life. I would eat a sandwich off of the street. Well, maybe that's a little overboard... but I am not exaggerating. There are some public elevators in the city from the train station at the top of the hill to the city at the bottom, and the hallways from the elevators to the streets smell freshly cleaned... Pine sol, shiny, clean, freshly waxed, just beautiful. I didn't see a single cigarette in the road, even a spare leaf, a blade of grass too much taller than the others. We walked by construction sites that didn't have dust on the outside (in fact, art installations covered the machinery from view).
And third, people are polite and the city is silent. I was standing at the edge of the road waiting to cross the street and a car driving 40 mph (at least) slowed down and stopped for me. The loudest thing I heard the whole time I was there was an advertisement for the circus. You can barely even hear the cars. If I had yelled from the top of the hill, you could probably hear it in the port.

We then hopped on the train and went back to Genoa, ready to start the week.