Bon Anniversaire!
As a result of my terrible blogging, I have decided to make one collective post about all of our great birthday celebrations we have had over the last few months. Birthdays are always special, and I know my friends were all a bit a bit worried about spending them away from their family and friends from home, but I think (or at least hope) it is safe to say that we at DomoFrance have become a family, so having a birthday in Bordeaux was, yes still very different, but was equally as special as being home.
Victoria Centeno: April 8
Vicky's birthday was on Friday, but we began our celebration on Thursday night, of course! Thinking we, Andy and I, had purchased tickets to see an orchestra at Grand Theatre, we put on our nice dresses and headed into town for what we thought would be an evening of elegance. Turns out that the performance was actually in Palais de Sports- a non-air conditioned arena (on one of the hottest days we have had). While the performance was beautiful, let's just say the atmosphere was not what we expected, so we left at intermission in favor of enjoying some wine with friends at Place de la Bourse. The night ended with Mary taking a tumble of a park bench, Vicky covered in wine, and all of us ready to continue celebrating Vicky's birthday. We woke up extremely early for our standards, 7:00, to cook her a birthday breakfast before class. As I dragged my groggy body out of bed, I could not help but be excited so see her face when she walked in. We had a really nice morning just sitting around talking, eating, and giving Vicky her present from all of us, thanks in most part to Jemma. Jemma drew a picture of all of us at the beach, and we each signed the frame for Vicky; I hope she liked it! Vicky is an incredible artist, as is Jemma, so they both truly appreciate and treasure the intricacy of drawing. The rest of the day Vicky relaxed and enjoyed the company of a visiting friend while we all ran our respective errands before meeting for a picnic dinner in Place de la Bourse. It was just so nice to be all together on a beautiful night, in a beautiful place. I had to leave early and was kind of missing in action for the rest of the weekend because we had a soccer tournament (finished last overall, but I had such a great time playing soccer again). However, I know the rest of the group made Vicky's weekend incredibly special. They had a birthday brunch with Annie's home made scones and infamous chocolate cake followed by a day at the pool. Now 23 years old, I hope this birthday was one our beautiful Vicky will remember fondly.
Megan Darcy: April 17
Megan's real birthday was over our Easter break, so we had to give her a proper celebration before that. Scheming as usual, we all decided to pitch in and treat her to the Adele concert in Madrid! As much as I would love to say it was purely selfless, Jemma and I were dying to go as well, so it was a win-win; a weekend in Spain with some of my best girls and the Adele concert. Megan was thrilled when we told her, about two weeks before we were set to leave, but I was even more thrilled to be able to do something like this for her. So, we all, Megan, Jemma, Jody, Mary, Annie, and I, packed our things for a quick weekend and headed off. Friday, due to several plane delays,we did not arrive in Madrid until late, so food and bed were the only things on our mind. In another twist of events, the hostel we booked online was full, so we were taken across the street to this sort of house/ home combination. We literally had to walk through these people's living room in order to get to our bedroom! We felt as if we were invading their privacy, but the rooms were clean and the location was perfect, so we could not complain. In the midst of dinner, I got a call from Cece, who was in Spain for the weekend with her family, so they came and met us! I just adore Cece and her parents, so it was so wonderful seeing them. Saturday morning we went our separate ways, Jody, Annie, Cece, and I went to the Prado while the others went sight seeing, and then we met in Retiro park for our traditional picnic lunch. I split away for the second half of the day in order to make it to the Reina Sofia while some of the girls went shopping and the others enjoyed muchas sangrias! We met back at the hostel/ home to get ready for the concert. All I can say is Adele is one of the most talented artists of our generation, and I was almost in tears listening to her effortlessly sing "Someone Like You." I had another one of those moments where it seems that time stands still and you have neared perfect happiness while hearing this live performance in the company of two of my best friends. After our emotional concert, we headed back to our hostel/home to gear up for our evening at Kapital- a seven story disco... enough said. 5:30 later, we hit our pillows to get in as much sleep as possible before our flight the next afternoon. The concert was more than we could have ever expected and listening to Adele perform her album 21 while bringing in Megan's 21st birthday was more than fitting.
Jemma Schilling: May 6
How do you repay or truly show your appreciation for someone who constantly gives and gives and never asks for anything in return? This is the question we were all struggling to answer as we began planning Jemma's birthday surprise. After weeks of thought and sneaking around, we settled on a home made cookbook and coffee cup. The cookbook was a compilation of a all the recipes we have concocted while being here, one from each resident of DomoFrance, and was decorated with pictures of some of our best memories. Jemma is our master chef here at Domo, so we figured she would appreciate it. In true Australian fashion, Jemma's only demand was that we have a barbecue on Friday, her birthday, and sit outside and drink beer all day- none of us were complaining. So, that is exactly what we did. Megan brought her couch outside, we heated up the barbecue, drank some beers, listened to music, and celebrated our amazing friend Jemma. We kept it low key that evening because we had to be up at 8:30 to catch the bus outside BEM for San Sebastian, Spain. The Melting Potes organized one last hoorah trip for us to the beautiful beaches of northern Spain. Saturday was very rainy, cold day, so we had no choice but to hang out inside and take in the Spanish culture via Sangria! It is Jemma's favorite, so we can just say we all did it for Jemma! That evening we had dinner with everyone from BEM at a restaurant and followed that with a visit to a night club, which I did not make it to (it was too late for me, back to the hostel I went). The girls, however, had some pretty interesting storied for me in the morning- most notably was Sarah's sprint back to our hostel after she had made Annie crazy all night searching for a bag and shoes she did not even bring out, oh and we must not forget that she ran home in Annie's shoes which she stole off of her feet! Annie walked home barefoot to a game of cards and coffee with the bell man while Sarah went straight to bed after her exhausting work out! I seriously adore my friends! The weather on Sunday would not have been more perfect, so we lounged on the beach all morning until it was time to hop back on the bus to Bordeaux. I only hope that we were able to reciprocate an inkling of the love and kindness that Jemma has shown us over these past five months, and I hope that we made her day as memorable as she has made every day for us.
Victoria Centeno: April 8
Vicky's birthday was on Friday, but we began our celebration on Thursday night, of course! Thinking we, Andy and I, had purchased tickets to see an orchestra at Grand Theatre, we put on our nice dresses and headed into town for what we thought would be an evening of elegance. Turns out that the performance was actually in Palais de Sports- a non-air conditioned arena (on one of the hottest days we have had). While the performance was beautiful, let's just say the atmosphere was not what we expected, so we left at intermission in favor of enjoying some wine with friends at Place de la Bourse. The night ended with Mary taking a tumble of a park bench, Vicky covered in wine, and all of us ready to continue celebrating Vicky's birthday. We woke up extremely early for our standards, 7:00, to cook her a birthday breakfast before class. As I dragged my groggy body out of bed, I could not help but be excited so see her face when she walked in. We had a really nice morning just sitting around talking, eating, and giving Vicky her present from all of us, thanks in most part to Jemma. Jemma drew a picture of all of us at the beach, and we each signed the frame for Vicky; I hope she liked it! Vicky is an incredible artist, as is Jemma, so they both truly appreciate and treasure the intricacy of drawing. The rest of the day Vicky relaxed and enjoyed the company of a visiting friend while we all ran our respective errands before meeting for a picnic dinner in Place de la Bourse. It was just so nice to be all together on a beautiful night, in a beautiful place. I had to leave early and was kind of missing in action for the rest of the weekend because we had a soccer tournament (finished last overall, but I had such a great time playing soccer again). However, I know the rest of the group made Vicky's weekend incredibly special. They had a birthday brunch with Annie's home made scones and infamous chocolate cake followed by a day at the pool. Now 23 years old, I hope this birthday was one our beautiful Vicky will remember fondly.
Megan Darcy: April 17
Megan's real birthday was over our Easter break, so we had to give her a proper celebration before that. Scheming as usual, we all decided to pitch in and treat her to the Adele concert in Madrid! As much as I would love to say it was purely selfless, Jemma and I were dying to go as well, so it was a win-win; a weekend in Spain with some of my best girls and the Adele concert. Megan was thrilled when we told her, about two weeks before we were set to leave, but I was even more thrilled to be able to do something like this for her. So, we all, Megan, Jemma, Jody, Mary, Annie, and I, packed our things for a quick weekend and headed off. Friday, due to several plane delays,we did not arrive in Madrid until late, so food and bed were the only things on our mind. In another twist of events, the hostel we booked online was full, so we were taken across the street to this sort of house/ home combination. We literally had to walk through these people's living room in order to get to our bedroom! We felt as if we were invading their privacy, but the rooms were clean and the location was perfect, so we could not complain. In the midst of dinner, I got a call from Cece, who was in Spain for the weekend with her family, so they came and met us! I just adore Cece and her parents, so it was so wonderful seeing them. Saturday morning we went our separate ways, Jody, Annie, Cece, and I went to the Prado while the others went sight seeing, and then we met in Retiro park for our traditional picnic lunch. I split away for the second half of the day in order to make it to the Reina Sofia while some of the girls went shopping and the others enjoyed muchas sangrias! We met back at the hostel/ home to get ready for the concert. All I can say is Adele is one of the most talented artists of our generation, and I was almost in tears listening to her effortlessly sing "Someone Like You." I had another one of those moments where it seems that time stands still and you have neared perfect happiness while hearing this live performance in the company of two of my best friends. After our emotional concert, we headed back to our hostel/home to gear up for our evening at Kapital- a seven story disco... enough said. 5:30 later, we hit our pillows to get in as much sleep as possible before our flight the next afternoon. The concert was more than we could have ever expected and listening to Adele perform her album 21 while bringing in Megan's 21st birthday was more than fitting.
Jemma Schilling: May 6
How do you repay or truly show your appreciation for someone who constantly gives and gives and never asks for anything in return? This is the question we were all struggling to answer as we began planning Jemma's birthday surprise. After weeks of thought and sneaking around, we settled on a home made cookbook and coffee cup. The cookbook was a compilation of a all the recipes we have concocted while being here, one from each resident of DomoFrance, and was decorated with pictures of some of our best memories. Jemma is our master chef here at Domo, so we figured she would appreciate it. In true Australian fashion, Jemma's only demand was that we have a barbecue on Friday, her birthday, and sit outside and drink beer all day- none of us were complaining. So, that is exactly what we did. Megan brought her couch outside, we heated up the barbecue, drank some beers, listened to music, and celebrated our amazing friend Jemma. We kept it low key that evening because we had to be up at 8:30 to catch the bus outside BEM for San Sebastian, Spain. The Melting Potes organized one last hoorah trip for us to the beautiful beaches of northern Spain. Saturday was very rainy, cold day, so we had no choice but to hang out inside and take in the Spanish culture via Sangria! It is Jemma's favorite, so we can just say we all did it for Jemma! That evening we had dinner with everyone from BEM at a restaurant and followed that with a visit to a night club, which I did not make it to (it was too late for me, back to the hostel I went). The girls, however, had some pretty interesting storied for me in the morning- most notably was Sarah's sprint back to our hostel after she had made Annie crazy all night searching for a bag and shoes she did not even bring out, oh and we must not forget that she ran home in Annie's shoes which she stole off of her feet! Annie walked home barefoot to a game of cards and coffee with the bell man while Sarah went straight to bed after her exhausting work out! I seriously adore my friends! The weather on Sunday would not have been more perfect, so we lounged on the beach all morning until it was time to hop back on the bus to Bordeaux. I only hope that we were able to reciprocate an inkling of the love and kindness that Jemma has shown us over these past five months, and I hope that we made her day as memorable as she has made every day for us.
Italia
There is simply no way to do this post justice, so I am just going to give a little summary of each city and do my best to capture the incredibility that was my entire Easter vacation week.
Stop #1: Paris
Andy and I were early to rise on Friday morning to catch our first train of the trip from Bordeaux to Paris. We got in to the city by 10:00, found our hostel which was less than desirable (we couldn't even get into our room until after 4:00), and then set out to give Andy a whirlwind tour of the city of lights. We climbed the Arc de Triumph, went up to the top of the Eiffel Tower in true couple fashion, and even did some shopping on the Champs Elysees. The day was packed full, and we finished it off with a spaghetti dinner with our friend from Bordeaux. The next morning Andy and I were up before the sun because we had to catch a bus to the Beauvais airport (word to the wise, pay the extra money and fly Air France- the savings is not worth the headache!).
Stop #2: Venice
Our flight landed in Venice Saturday afternoon, and we were thrilled to find Leah in the airport! We got our bearings and headed over to the island of Venice via bus. The first day, Saturday, we explored Venice and San Marco square and ran into a friendly high school face, Josh Weiss (life is just too funny sometimes). Sunday we started off the day with an unexpected Palm Sunday Mass in San Marco Basilica; it was beautiful Then we day tripped to the glass making island of Murano for a glass blowing display followed by a short stop over to the colorful Burano. Venice was unassumingly in its beauty, and it was the ideal start to our adventure. Monday we were, once again, up early after a bit of a train scare to catch our next train!
Stop #3: Florence (Cinque Terre and Pisa)
We passed the train ride with some quick power naps and then were ready to take on another city. It was absolutely perfect seeing Casey- it just further solidified our unspoken bond and mutual understanding of one another-, and it was just what I needed at the time. She was the perfect tour guide, and she showed us around her gorgeous city like a lifelong resident. She has just truly blossomed there, and it was lovely to witness. One of the highlights of the trip was running into so many friends from home- Cece, Annalise, Emily, and Mary Taylor were all in Florence when we were! We spent some time catching up with them over gelato and apperativo (the greatest Italian invention- you order a drink, any drink, for 5-8 Euros ad then you get a buffet dinner!) My favorite sight has to be Piazelle Michelangelo- we climbed it twice, and there is something so moving about feeling like you are on top of the entire city. Casey and I had a mind clearing run up here one night, and it is a moment I absolutely treasure. We also went inside the Duomo, saw the David at Academia, and crossed the Ponte Vecchio. I honestly fell in love with Florence, and I cannot wait to return. It has so much history and is a sort of little, big city. On Tuesday of our stay, we trained in to the Cinque Terre- a series of five Italian cities carved into the coast-, and the beauty we saw while walking Lovers Lane cannot be explained. Next it was a quick stop in Pisa to take the infamous "leaning tower" pictures before returning back to Florence. We left Casey on Thursday morning as she headed to Greece and we boarded the train to Sorrento (well kind of).
Stop #4: Sorrento
We arrived on the coast lying city of Sorrento in the middle of the afternoon on Thursday after taking the train from Florence to Naples and the transferring to a local train to get to the city of Sorrento. The first day we just stayed in the city after braving the street from our camp ground “hut” into the city. The next day, we went to the port in the morning for our boat ride to Capri. Once on the island, we took a boat tour around and then went to explore the blue grotto- a sort of cave that appears to be blue because of the way the sun strikes the entrance. It was a sight to see, and I am glad we all did it together. After the boat tour, we spent some time in the town of Capri and, while walking, Leah and I ran into Amanda Oates from UT and her friends! We spent the afternoon catching up before heading back to Sorrento to get our train to Naples (where a necessary stop was made for the infamous pizza) and then to Rome.
Stop #5: Rome
Late Friday evening, around 11:30, we set foot in Rome. It was so unreal being back in the city that I visited almost three years ago with my family on my first visit to Europe. After getting off the train, we had some difficulty navigating to our hotel, and we didn’t make it there until almost 1:00 in the morning. Wrecked from the day, we slept soundly in our oasis of a hotel to rest up for the days ahead of us. Saturday we hit the ground running, starting the day at the Vatican, getting lunch at Rosciolli’s near the Pantheon, and concluding the day with a tour of the Coliseum and a coffee across the street. It was all as beautiful as I remembered, and I just wanted to make it as special for Leah and Andy as it was for me. Sunday, Easter, we made our way to St. Peters for Easter Mass said by the Pope. These few hours were some of the most surreal of my life. I felt so blessed to be there and to be in the company of such incredible friends. After our religious experience, we did some necessary exploration of the city, popping into stores and picking up souvenirs like Andy’s Italian cookbooks. Following lunch, we made our way to the Trevi Fountain where we met Ben from UT! We caught up very quickly and then he walked us to the Roman Forum where we walked through the ancient Roman ruins of Nero. As the sun was setting, we found ourselves atop the Spanish Steps- things couldn’t have been better. We ended our stay in Rome with some Italian pasta and gelato for Leah.
I had the trip of a lifetime in one week and the company of two of my favorite people. Grazie Italia.
The Perfect Sunday in Bordeaux
Yes, I have been incredibly slow on my blog updates, and I hope that I will eventually catch up, but I thought I would post about my Bordelais Sunday. Fun fact number one, May 1 is not just the birth date of one of the most incredible people I know, Mr. Quinten Busey, it is Labor Day here in France. Why, you may ask, is this relevant to my story? Well when you celebrate Labor Day, that means that those who normally work on Sundays, like the bus and tram drivers, are given the day off. For those of us whom live in Talence with access to an automobile, a small suburb about 45 minutes walking from Bordeaux, 20 minutes via tram, this slightly complicates the process of getting into Bordeaux. Considering we had great plans for yesterday morning- the Sunday market, coffee by the river, Bordeaux exploration- we had to find a way in!
Our thoughts immediately drifted to the multitude of public bicycles that are available for rent around the city through the public transit city, TBC. We thought the plan was full proof- we will just rent the bikes and ride them into town. In order for this to work, however, the credit card machines that allow you to rent the bicycles must be working- needless to say we set off on foot to hunt for one. About 45 minutes later... yes that means we actually walked all the way into Bordeaux... we found a credit card machine that worked! One small problem- there were four of us (Megan, Sarah, Andy, and me) and only three bikes, naturally. Megan and Sarah doubled up for a bit, and then I ran along side to get my exercise for the day. We made it to the markets about an hour and a half after our departure from Talence where we relaxed by the river for several hours over seafood kebabs, watermelon, and pizza. The weather was beautiful, until it wasn't,and then we were on the hunt for bicycles again in order to make it back to Talence before the sky opened.
Slight problem again... since no trams or buses were running everyone and their mother was using the public bikes! We were running all over the city looking for bikes, and we finally find them right as the rain began. Riding home in the rain, accompanied by some of the most lovely people I know, I was hit with an overwhelming sense of happiness and contentment- things do not get much better than this. The weather let up on our ride home, and we decided to "drive through" McDonalds for a much needed McFlurry. Turns out that bicycles are not considered cars and are therefore not allowed in the drive through lane, so we had to walk in like every other normal customer- the thought just never occurred to us!
The night concluded with a delicious chicken risotto courtesy of Megan and some much needed OC episodes. My final sequence began today, and it seems like only yesterday that I was sitting in my first class. It is weird to think it is coming a close, but I am cherishing every last moment I have here and relishing in the unforgettable ones, like the simplicity of a perfect Sunday.
Our thoughts immediately drifted to the multitude of public bicycles that are available for rent around the city through the public transit city, TBC. We thought the plan was full proof- we will just rent the bikes and ride them into town. In order for this to work, however, the credit card machines that allow you to rent the bicycles must be working- needless to say we set off on foot to hunt for one. About 45 minutes later... yes that means we actually walked all the way into Bordeaux... we found a credit card machine that worked! One small problem- there were four of us (Megan, Sarah, Andy, and me) and only three bikes, naturally. Megan and Sarah doubled up for a bit, and then I ran along side to get my exercise for the day. We made it to the markets about an hour and a half after our departure from Talence where we relaxed by the river for several hours over seafood kebabs, watermelon, and pizza. The weather was beautiful, until it wasn't,and then we were on the hunt for bicycles again in order to make it back to Talence before the sky opened.
Slight problem again... since no trams or buses were running everyone and their mother was using the public bikes! We were running all over the city looking for bikes, and we finally find them right as the rain began. Riding home in the rain, accompanied by some of the most lovely people I know, I was hit with an overwhelming sense of happiness and contentment- things do not get much better than this. The weather let up on our ride home, and we decided to "drive through" McDonalds for a much needed McFlurry. Turns out that bicycles are not considered cars and are therefore not allowed in the drive through lane, so we had to walk in like every other normal customer- the thought just never occurred to us!
The night concluded with a delicious chicken risotto courtesy of Megan and some much needed OC episodes. My final sequence began today, and it seems like only yesterday that I was sitting in my first class. It is weird to think it is coming a close, but I am cherishing every last moment I have here and relishing in the unforgettable ones, like the simplicity of a perfect Sunday.
“It isn’t necessary to know exactly how your ideal life will look; you only have to know what feels better and what feels worse…Begin making choices based on what makes you feel freer and happier, rather than on how you think an ideal life should look. It’s the process of feeling our way toward happiness, not the realization of the Platonic ideal, that creates our best lives.”
Madrid
Trying to get back into the blogging world- I knew my delay in journaling was imminent. But, I do genuinely enjoy chronicling my experience and sharing it with all of you, so I am going to try my best to do Madrid justice with this post.
Since my last post, I am visited the stunning city of Madrid, Spain twice. The first time was during an unexpected break from school, Sunday, March 13- Wednesday, March 16. Jemma and I flew into Madrid on Sunday evening to meet Vicky and Andy, whom had been there for a few days prior to us (and had already visited once before). Jody and Megan met us there late on Monday evening; Mary stayed in Bordeaux to spend time with her friend from home Maddie who flew over to visit for her Spring Break.
The first trip was full of sightseeing, tapas eating, and sangria drinking, courtesy of our Spanish speakers Vicky, Andy, and the Madrid native Luis.
The first night Jemma and I ventured out on our for a bit and ended up finding a delicious tapas restaurant in La Latina- we had fish stuffed red peppers in a fish/cheese sauce, grilled shrimp in garlic sauce, tortilla española (my absolute favorite thing), and, of course, Sangria. After our first meal, we met Andy and Vicky for what a post-meal and drinks at what would be our second home during the trip- Cervezas Montaditos. It is a chain restaurant which offers 1 euro half liters of beer with the purchase of a mini sandwich, bocadillo, for 1 euro (yes, you read that correctly- a sandwich and a half liter of beer for 2 euros). The sangria is a bit more pricey, 2 euros for a half liter, hahah, so we sprung for the Sangria because we were, after all, in Spain! We went to bed fairly early that night to get ready for a full day of sightseeing.
We saw so many things the first day- we went with Jemma, Vicky and Andy to Plaza de España where there was a street fair, there we also saw the monument of Cervantes and the Torre de España. Afterward we walked to the temple of Debod where we had an amazing view of the Almudena Cathedral and the Royal Palace. There we met our Spanish friend Luis that led us to the Royal Palace and the Sabatini gardens. Next, we walked to a beautiful indoor market Mercado de San Miguel and then made our way to Plaza Mayor. The architecture inside this square was beautiful, and there is a section that has been preserved for centuries. After all the walking, food was a necessity, so we dropped into a bar that Luis recommended and ate the traditional bocadillo de calamares (fried squid on a roll), patatas bravas (potatoes with this tomato like sauce on them), tortilla española, and sangria. That one meal just wasn't enough, so we made our way back to Cervezas where we enjoyed the Spanish lifestyle over a few mugs of Sangria in mid-afternoon! After our fill of drinks, Luis took us to the other side of Madrid so we could see the Real Madrid stadium- incredible. We headed back to our apartment to wait for Megan and Jody to arrive, and we just had a home cooked meal courtesy of Jemma that evening in true family fashion.
Tuesday was another exploration day with Andy and Vicky as our tour guides. We walked through Sol, the main center of the city, down Gran Via, the major road that runs through the city, and into Retiro Parc where we stopped for a picnic. The park is huge, and it is a lovely, serene area in the middle of this huge metropolis of Madrid. There are paddle boats for rent, a beautiful stone amphitheatre type structure for sitting, and people everywhere. The city reminds me so much of New York- minus the skyscrapers- , so I instantly understood Lara’s love for the city and fell in love with it myself. We rounded out the day with a circle back to Cervezas, where we met some Finnish friends whom we ran into again later in the night and, unfortunately had to say our goodbyes to Andy and Vicky whom were heading to Portugal. The evening led us to an Irish pub right outside of Sol. We wanted to go to the infamous “Kapital,” the seven story discotheque which I will detail later, but seeing as how it was a Tuesday night, Kapital wasn’t open for business. We had a great night at the pub, mixing and mingling with other foreigners and reuniting with our Finnish friends from earlier in the day.
Wednesday we said our goodbyes to Madrid- or rather our see you soons- and headed back to Bordeaux. (I will make the second Madrid another entry seeing as how this one ended up a bit longer than expected.) Adios for now
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