Córdoba

One weekend, my group took an excursion to Córdoba. I'd read a bit about its famous Mezquita in art history classes, and I know I had definitely seen countless photos of it in other history classes, so I was really excited to go see everything for myself. 

Los Baños Árabes

One of our cultural activities in Sevilla, and one of my favorites, was a trip to Los Baños Árabes, or the baths that have been around since the Moorish occupation of Spain (they are old). 

The baths are tucked away on Calle Aire, a remote street sandwiched between the Cathedral and the Reales Alcázares. Still used today, they're somewhat of a luxury for los Sevillanos. My host mom told me that she only gets gift certificates to the baños for her daughter on her birthday. 

Plaza de España

After coming back to Sevilla from Cádiz, we walked home from where the bus dropped us off. On the way to my house (the long way), there's this amazing park called Parque de María Luisa. Just by the park is Plaza de España.

Cádiz

The MCP group took a day trip to Cádiz a while ago. As my host mom told me, it was preciosa.

First days of school difficulties

I think that upon my arrival in Europe, I had underestimated heavily the difficulty of being instructed in a language that isn't my maternal language. I had only studied in groups that were specifically tailored for international (english speaking) students, and somehow I came to assume that all classes would be similar.

Madrid (Round 2 with MCP)

Our group took a weekend trip to Madrid. It was fun because we had more time to explore. Everyone in Madrid was preparing to hear the news of the Olympics. Unfortunately, Madrid lost. :(

Reales Alcázares en Sevilla

 I had went to Los Reales Alcázares with my mom the day she left, so I knew to expect their awesomeness when I went with the MCP group for a second time. They were just as fantastic the second time.

Madrid with my Mom and first days in Sevilla

My mom and I flew to Madrid from Rome early in the morning. We got to our hotel, took out the Rick Steves, and then hunted down dinner on Calle Cava Baja, a street lined with incredible restaurants. We were super drained from Rome, though, so we turned in early for the night.

Villa d'Este in Tivoli and the best Roman gelato shop

 My mom and I went to see the Borghese Gallery, one of my favorite museums of all time, earlier in the morning in Rome. (I have no pictures because they are strictly forbidden (you can't even take a camera or phone in). Just a note if you go there, you need to make an appointment on their website and prepay. After the museum, we ran into Aurora, an incredibly talented artist my age that happened to sit next to my mom on her plane over to Rome, for the second time (the first being before going to the Vatican). We decided that it was fate that we met again (because who just runs into the same person more than once in a city as big as Rome?), and since Aurora didn't have anything else planned, we all hopped a bus to Tivoli, a city just an hour outside of Rome by bus. We visited Villa D'Este. The actual villa wasn't this fantastic sight to see or anything, as the house was almost completely empty aside from the beautiful ceilings and frescos and a couple rooms of paintings, but the views from the Villa and the gardens were absolutely breathtaking.

Roma with my mom!

After doing some random things in Florence, we went to Pisa, Sienna, San Gimignano, and then had a day in Rome before we parted and my mom came. However, my port to upload those pictures from my camera isn't working, so I'll post those photos later and give you some Rome pictures I took with my mom. :)

Florence

We got to Florence and settled down in our hostel, Hotel Duca D'Aosta. I was really happy with where we were staying. It was really close to the train station and to downtown. My room was a single with a private bathroom, and everything was really nice. There was 3 euro breakfast in the morning, which was cool, because we were all broke.

Monterosso and last day of Riomaggiore

The hike from Vernazza to Monterosso was really pretty. We were bookin' it though because the sun was setting, and we wanted to make it there before we had to hike in the dark. You can see the sun and the moon!

Corniglia and Vernazza

We then took a train from Manarola to Corniglia, the "terre" Rick Steves calls the Ringo of the Cinque Terre (still great, but no one actually cares). We climbed over 300 stairs to get to the top where the city was (and then many more to get to and from the beach part). I actually really liked Corniglia. It was really quiet and not touristy at all. They had some really cool stores and gelato places, too. Just don't get a hostel here (you probably can't anyway...) because you'll literally die carrying any luggage up and down stairs. 

Manarola

One day the four of us hiked the five lands. Ours, Riomaggiore, was the last one, and that hike to Manarola (my favorite "terre"), Lover's Walk, was closed. So we took the train there. This is basically the first thing we saw.

Cinque Terre: Riomaggiore

Next stop on the journey was Riomaggiore, one of the lands of Cinque Terre. My train arrived a bit after one o'clock, and I got settled into probably one of the sketchiest hostels ever at two thirty. I then managed to find the people I was traveling with (who had an earlier train), get some amazing pesto focaccia (pesto and focaccia are Cinque's specialties), and then chill at the port for a while. 

Nice

It was then time to leave my home in Grenoble, I packed up my backpack (really surprised almost everything fit) and set off for Nice. I used a site called blablacar.fr to use a covoiturage instead of a train. It's a carpool site, so people list where they're going, you reserve a seat in the car, and you can just pay them online. Then you get a code from the site, give that to the driver after they've gotten you where you need to be, and you're all good. It's legit.
The people I drove with were really cool, and it was a cheap trip. They dropped me off in the main plaza in Nice, then I walked to my hostel. The hostel was pretty decent. I got kind of a average room, but for twenty dollars a night, it wasn't horrible. There were towels, places to lock stuff up, and a bathroom that six of us could share. The other kids in my group got really nice rooms that were like hotel rooms, so they'd probably recommend that hostel even more highly.
My first hostel experience was pretty good, I'd say. There were cool people to meet, the hostel offered free or cheap food, and it was right by the train station, which is always nice when moving on to your next destination. 

Last bits of Grenoble

Our last weekend in Grenoble was pretty chill. The group of us that was left decided to hike the mountains surrounding the city. We took a bus out there with some food and started.

Lyon, Annecy, Chammonix

The CUEF (where we were taking language classes) had an excursion to Lyon for a day. Lyon is the second biggest city in France, although it does switch between Marseilles depending where the students are. Since it was such a huge city, it was really hard to see everything there was to see. So Alexis and I just walked around doing non-touristy things instead because we knew there was no way to do all of the tourist stuff anyway.

Le Petit Prince

Avignon

From Marseilles, Alexis and I took a train to Avignon. However, we woke up a bit late and missed our first train. We were able to get another one free of charge still and get to Avignon for breakfast. Right when we got off the train, we stumbled upon a cool used book market and this awesome telephone booth. 

Marseille

We had multiple excursions while in France. One weekend we went to Marseille and Avignon. We spent the day in Marseille, and although some people went back to Grenoble that night, some of us got a cheap hostel and stayed the night then went to meet everyone in Avignon the day later.

Free time in Grenoble

Although we had to study a lot, when we weren't at the University we had a lot of downtime. There's a ton of things to do in Grenoble.

Vizille

We took an excursion to Vizille. We saw how liquor was made. Yes, there was a tasting. I bought Limoncello, thought I'd save it for a gift, but I and the group of people I traveled with drank it on the beach in Nice six weeks later. Delicious.

First days in Grenoble

So these are some pretty old photos, but better late than never, right..?