6.28.2011

2 words, 3 letters

CINQUE TERRE.
O.M.G.

{we finally got here}

"Cinque Terre" {Italy}
literally means "5 cities"
There are 5 cities all on the oceans shoreline.
Some on cliffs,
others inside a secret cove. 
We were only here one night, 
{unfortunately, because it was so beautiful}
It was quite the adventure getting down our city of Vernazza.
We kept driving and driving down this winding road
The road literally looked like a child's drawing.
You can't drive directly into the city,
so we parked our car slighty outside/above the city 
and walked 30 minutes down this tiny road our hotel.

We finally got to our hotel 
rated #1 best hotel in Vernazza.
It was beautiful,
but you definitely had to work for it.
There were stairs after winding stairs,
then some more stairs.
But it was so worth it.
{our building}
{our hotel room}

We had a view from our bathroom window
And a view from our bedroom window
both were stunning.

After our big long day of driving and hiking to our room
we were starving.
We remembered that Rick Steve's
{best travel assistant for anywhere you go- click here to see}
that he said The Trattoria 
{which was our hotel's restaurant} 
was the best one.
So we thought, we better try this out.
I got a homemade italian pasta, with local pesto.
SOOO good.
It was so good that i even found the pasta and pesto 
around the corner, and bought it for later.
Spencer had an local anchovy dish 
that is very popular.
Then dessert- my favorite part.
Best dessert so far.
it was a mixture of homemade ice creams 
and syrups..... YUM.

After dinner we saw that there was a big light
 and a crowd gathered around the beach.
{like 50 ft away from us}
We headed over to see what the commotion was all about.
There was a local soccer tournament
they had matching t-shirts
and were all barefoot because
they played on the sand.
And their sideline markers was 
red and white caution tape.
They even had legit refs.
We stayed there and watched for the rest of the night
before crashing.
We woke up early, got breakfast,
and just chilled on the patio, one floor down from our room.
the view was breathtaking.
reminded me of the hawaiian island of Kauai.
{walkway to the patio area}
{view to the left}
{from my seat}
{to the right}
{straight out- loved this tree}
{view to the right}
{stairs that led to this patio}

We walked around Vernazza a bit more,
got some gelato, people watched {1st picture below}
climbed out on the rocks where the waves were crashing
and just relaxed until about 1:00pm. 





 {haha my legs got indented from the rocks}
{my SEXY husband} 

{facing vernazza from the rocks}
 
{sunset as we were leaving}
 {another of the Cinque Terre cities we passed}
 {and another one}
{and another one}

we LOVED it here.
it was so quaint
and so beautiful.
it was just what we needed!

♥ ♥ ♥

First day away from Annecy

We left Annecy at 9:30 am.
Took a train to Torino,
and then rented a car,
and drove to the Cinque Terre.

Psh.... who am i kidding?
it was NOT that easy.
So our train was originally going to Milan
But we just got off in Torino 
and rented a car.
{to save time}
So when we were on the train 
a couple next to us told us that 
there were 2 stops in Torino.
After they got off....
the girl in front of the them turned to us 
and said no there aren't....
the next stop is Milan.

So we thought we would be safe and get off here.
We walked up and outside from the train station
and ended up in the middle of a random local street.
We thought we would just stop at a store to ask for directions....
well, it was a holiday so EVERYTHING was closed.
We wandered for a while and found a random newspaper stand
We stopped to get directions and 
the lady had no idea what we were talking about
{we were looking for Hertz}
Then 2 ladies walk up to buy something
and ask what we were looking for
Turns out there were 2 exits out of the train station
{not 2 stops}
and we got off the wrong one.

They were soo nice,
they walked us for about a half hour to where we needed to go
and then send us on the metro.
We get off the metro and then ask a girl where our road was 
{we got the address for Hertz}
She was like, 
Oh its just right around this corner,
then the road ends and its right there.
Turns out it wasnt as close as she said.
We walked for 1 hour and 1/2 
{we were going the right way the whole time}
in the BLAZING heat, with all our luggage
until we ran into it.
turns out the road that "ended" was soooo long.

We finally found Hertz.
BUT then they wouldnt let us rent the car because 
Spencer left his license in Logan,
so they couldnt give it to us.
I had mine. 
But the minimum age is 23 to rent a car.
We didnt know what to do.
They were on and off the phone for a while
Until finally, they decided they would let me drive
{for an extra fee of course}
We also paid extra for whats called a "Never Lost"
{its a garmin GPS system}

We finally get on our way {hours later}
We thought we would save time getting off
in Torino.... haha. that didnt work

So we are driving to the Cinque Terre 
about 20 min into our drive,
the Never Lost dies.
no battery.
no charger.
we are just S.O.L.
So we have to find an exit, drive into town
buy a map and get on our way.
Then we really get on our way.
But most of our day we were supposed to spend
in Cinque Terre was wasted wandering around in Torino.

what a day.
{to say the least}
so frustrating.

until next time.....

♥♥♥

6.23.2011

gonna miss it

So i am going to show you a day in the life.... 
of yours truly.

We live on the 3rd floor
{technically 2nd here because the bottom is the 0 floor}

 {our bedroom is the 3rd window up,
its the left window of the pair of windows}

{our bikes house}

Next up...
Inside of our apartment:
 {entry way, im right by the front door}

{kitchen/dining area}

 {where Marie sleeps while we are here, she is so sweet}

{view from Marie's "room"...aka... family room}

{their toilettes are in separate rooms. note the pink toilet paper}

{bathroom}

{shower}

{its kind of dark but she gave me my own shelf in the middle}

 {Our bedroom! ....please ignore how messy it is...
i wanted to give you a real idea of our room}
no ones perfect! haha.
{our bedroom- she even got me a rack for some my clothes}

We live about 2 blocks from the Lake.
It doesn't take long at all (2 minutes maybe)
because we bike everywhere we go.
I love it.
Plus, its been nice weather for the most part
warm but not blazing hot.
and will rain almost once a day, 
{but it keeps it so green here}

Plus, we live by a Lake
It cant get much better.
Annecy is so cool that it is in the running
for Winter Olympics in 2018.
How exciting is that?
Very. 


Today is our last day here 
{we leave at 8 am tomorrow morning for Italy}
I cant believe it is almost over.
I feel like we have been away from America for a while
but at the same time- Annecy has just FLOWN by. 
I am just now getting used to everything.
I feel like a local 
{except i cant really talk to anyone} 
so i guess that makes it a little tough.
But....
my French is coming along pretty well 
for how long we have been here.
{I am far from fluent}
but i feel like i am strides from what i was 3 weeks ago.
I guess thats what 4 hours of class a day will do to you!
haha.

Speaking of the devil...
Here is my school life

{Entrance to my school- IFALPES}

{view from cafeteria window}

 {view from my chair in class}

{Group 1- From all over the world}

{my favorite of the 2 teachers i had- Malika}

{different view of our classroom}

{my darling Australian friend Susie}

{Cafeteria, where we would all gather}

{from a seat in the cafeteria}

I am definitely gonna miss living here in Annecy.
It has been such an amazing experience!
{sounds cliche, but its true}
I've had some of the best times,
as well as some of the hardest times.
But the best part of it was,
that I got to do it with my hubby.
He made it so much more enjoyable,
and easier
{he is fluent in French}

So i know this is a little random....
but how divine is this candy store?


{this is on our way home from school}

♥ ♥ ♥

6.22.2011

Today was quite the day


I just wanna say.....
Good thing i am super prepared,
and always bring way toooo much stuff on trips
i brought a little mini first aide kid
...and thank goodness i did

I had been sick to my stomach
the day before and all morning in class
we also have 4 hours of class
and it was the day before the test, and we were not ready.
Anyways, i wasnt feeling too well
and all i felt like after class was a crépe. 
So we go, and like all the places i like
are closed.
So we go to this random one.
I waited in line for 20 minutes.
Surrounded by little British 10 year olds 
that wouldnt stop talking 
and the guy burned my crépe.
It wasnt that big of a deal
because i was starving.

So we continue on home on our bikes
{my wrist is still killing at this point}
and they have their own bike lanes. 
and i was just cruisin along,
minding my own buisness....
and i went to turn left 
{making sure i yielded to oncoming bikers, of course}
then i begin my turn 
{im going very slow at this point}
and all the sudden....
.......BAM!!!!!
I get T-boned by some guy on his bike
that was going probably 20-30 MPH. 
We both went flying
{our bikes in a tangle}
and my crépe laying flat on the pavement.
The man starts yelling at me in French, 
Spencer was behind me so it took him a second to get up to us.
The man blames it on me.
I couldnt believe it.
He felt bad once he realized i wasn't just some bratty french girl
He began to apologize but it didnt make it any better
My basket was broken
{we are going to have to pay for it- we have rental bikes}
my crépe was ruined.
I landed straight on my wrist that got cut 
to catch my fall
and my leg got a massive bruise
{see below}

Not only was that enough
but everyone stopped to just watch
i was humiliated 
{even though i knew it was an accident}
i hate crying in public.....
so i picked up my bike and crépe and basket.
and biked away holding back my tears with everything i had.
This day was horrible.

I finally got home and bursted out in tears
I was starving and really hurting.
the adrenaline had worn off by now,
so i was feeling every little pain.
But i didnt even feel like eating anymore.
Spencer was so kind and comforting
he came and just tickled my back and held me 
until i felt better.
After, i got a really bad headache but took a quick nap
and was feeling a lot better.

Last night was the Music Festival.
It was just what i needed after my day.
The thing i love about Annecy
is that that have a party for everything!
The Music Festival was just a one day thing
All over town these stages would be set up alll over.
then people would just dance outside restaurants
it was such a fun atmosphere.
we got yummy ice cream and just walked around.
We even saw a hip-hop battle
{you know i had to stop and watch for a while}
then it started raining.
luckily it was already like 10:30 by now, 
so we called it a night.
we made it home in the sprinkling rain.
And right when we got home, 
man did it POUR! 

Had my test this morning and i'm pretty sure
I aced it! we will find out tomorrow
I am proud of how far i have come here!
It was my last day of class today.
It was bittersweet to be quite honest.
4 hours of class is a long time.
but i was just starting to get the hang out everything!

This is my before and after picture from being here:


♥ ♥ ♥