Bon Soir! I don’t think we ever believed we would make it to this day, but today is our last day in Antibes, France. We leave for home tomorrow, bright and early! We spent the whole day today packing and trying to squeeze everything into our suitcases. We wish Mom would have been here to help; she did a great job helping us fit everything in coming over here! At one point we decided we would not be able to fit everything and went looking for another suitcase, but everything was closed because today is a holiday in France. We decided to leave some stuff here in our apartment, threw out some stuff, ate the rest of our food and somehow managed to get everything packed. We have a few extra carry-ons and we two of our suite cases may be overweight but at least it will all make it back to Pennsylvania! Our next-door neighbor, Grandmom, came over to say goodbye and our CEA advisor Kristin also came over to check our apartment before we left so we got to say goodbye to her as well!
We have had a great last week here with lots of beautiful weather and tried out a few different beaches before we left. We spent one day in Nice and went shopping and had Panini’s on the beach for lunch. We went to two beaches in Antibes and one day took a boat to St. Marguerite Island that left from Cannes. The water was the bluest we have ever seen and extremely clear, we had fun exploring the island for part of the day. Our favorite beach was in Juan les Pins, the next town over. They have beautiful beaches there with tons and tons of restaurants and cafes right on the beach. Yesterday we rented lounge chairs from one of the restaurants and spent the day relaxing right along the water. (The best part was that there were no topless women or old men in either their underwear or Speedos in front of us!) It was a great week, the perfect ending to our semester in France! We are SO excited to come home and see everyone even though we will miss being here! Our ride to the airport leaves at 5:00am tomorrow morning and our flight takes off at 7:05am. We have a layover in Germany and in Denmark and then arrive in New Jersey around 2:45pm in the afternoon. We are glad that we will be home just in time for Mother’s day! Hope everyone is doing great and things are going well at home! We will see you very soon! Have a great day!
Love, Jen and Em
Friday, May 8, 2009
Always an Adventure!
Hi everyone! We are so close to being done, only a few more days! We can’t wait to come home, we will definitely miss France but we are so excited to see everyone! We wanted to just quickly update you on our trip back to Antibes from Venice. We wrote our last blog on the train headed back to France and soon after we finished writing it we once again ran into trouble! Traveling to and from France always seems to be an adventure for us for some reason! We had just gotten on our last train in Ventimiliga around 9:30, we made it with only a minute to spare, and a few minutes after leaving the station the train came to a stop. An announcement came over the loud speaker and once again the only thing we could understand was that they were experiencing technical difficulties. The power then went out in the entire train and after waiting a few more minutes another announcement was made. Even though we couldn’t understand what was said we decided to follow the others on the train and headed a few cars down. (We weren’t going to make the same mistake again of not following the crowd when an announcement was made on the train!) Everyone on the ten car train crowded into one car and we all sat together in complete darkness waiting for another announcement to be made.
A few minutes later a train attendant came and told that we had to get out of the car we were currently in because it was too dangerous. There were no stairs leading out of the car, but thankfully two nice French guys took our luggage for us and caught us as we jumped out of the train and onto the side of a cliff with the ocean far below. We then had to walk two cars down and get into a different car. Thankfully the same two French guys helped pull us into the car since there were once again no stairs. (Walking alongside a cliff on train tracks at 10:30 at night seemed more dangerous to us than sitting in the original car they told us to go to!) We all crowded into the car with only one flashlight for about forty of us and we waited about an hour before we were told we had to move a third time. This time we were told to leave the train completely. With our luggage we all had to climb a hill alongside the train tracks up to a highway above the cliff.
Once we finally all made it to the road we then had to wait for taxis to arrive to drive us all to our destinations. We were told that all power from Italy to France was out and no trains were able to move. The problem then was that they only have four taxis to drive everyone who was stuck on all of the trains, and they were starting with the people in France first. Since we were still in Italy we were the last ones to be picked up so we ended up waiting almost four hours on the side of the road in the dark and cold. Thankfully we met two very nice guys from Australia who took good care of us! They kept us entertained and gave us their jackets to wear and their sleeping bags to sit on and made sure we got in the first taxis available. Thank goodness we met them because Italy and the people still awake at 3:00 in the morning can be very scary!
After taking a taxi to Nice and then another taxi from Nice to Antibes we finally arrived back at our apartment around 3:30 in the morning. It was quite an entertaining evening to say the least, but it was still fun and we were able to meet a lot of nice people and we even got reimbursed ten Euros each from the train station! Hopefully our flight home won’t have any delays or problems! We are looking forward to seeing everyone; we will be home very soon! Hope everything is going well at home! We love and miss you!
Love, Jen and Em
A few minutes later a train attendant came and told that we had to get out of the car we were currently in because it was too dangerous. There were no stairs leading out of the car, but thankfully two nice French guys took our luggage for us and caught us as we jumped out of the train and onto the side of a cliff with the ocean far below. We then had to walk two cars down and get into a different car. Thankfully the same two French guys helped pull us into the car since there were once again no stairs. (Walking alongside a cliff on train tracks at 10:30 at night seemed more dangerous to us than sitting in the original car they told us to go to!) We all crowded into the car with only one flashlight for about forty of us and we waited about an hour before we were told we had to move a third time. This time we were told to leave the train completely. With our luggage we all had to climb a hill alongside the train tracks up to a highway above the cliff.
Once we finally all made it to the road we then had to wait for taxis to arrive to drive us all to our destinations. We were told that all power from Italy to France was out and no trains were able to move. The problem then was that they only have four taxis to drive everyone who was stuck on all of the trains, and they were starting with the people in France first. Since we were still in Italy we were the last ones to be picked up so we ended up waiting almost four hours on the side of the road in the dark and cold. Thankfully we met two very nice guys from Australia who took good care of us! They kept us entertained and gave us their jackets to wear and their sleeping bags to sit on and made sure we got in the first taxis available. Thank goodness we met them because Italy and the people still awake at 3:00 in the morning can be very scary!
After taking a taxi to Nice and then another taxi from Nice to Antibes we finally arrived back at our apartment around 3:30 in the morning. It was quite an entertaining evening to say the least, but it was still fun and we were able to meet a lot of nice people and we even got reimbursed ten Euros each from the train station! Hopefully our flight home won’t have any delays or problems! We are looking forward to seeing everyone; we will be home very soon! Hope everything is going well at home! We love and miss you!
Love, Jen and Em
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Italia for Two!
Hi Everyone! How are you? We hope everyone is doing well! We are currently on the train on the way back from our last excursion in Europe! We finished our finals on Monday and are glad to be done! We left for Italy around 9:00am on Tuesday April 28 and after stopping in Nice and Genova we finally arrived in Rome around 8:30pm. We took the metro to our hotel from the train station and collapsed in bed after traveling for over eleven hours. On Wednesday we woke up bright and early and took the metro into the heart of Rome. We stepped out of the subway at our first stop, the Coliseum, and we were instantly overwhelmed at how large and magnificent it was. It literally took our breath away! From there we made our way to the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, Piazza Venezia, the Spanish Steps, and finally to Saint Peter’s Basilica and Saint Peter’s Square. Unfortunately we were not allowed into Vatican City, but we were able to have a tour of Saint Peter’s Basilica. We stopped at a cute outdoor café for pizza for lunch and finished the day off with some gelato and shopping before heading back to our hotel.
On Thursday we checked out of our hotel and walked around the area around the train station. The train station in Rome was one of the biggest ones we had seen; it was several floors and even had an airport in it! Our train to Venice left at 10:45am and arrived around 5:00pm. It was by far the most train ride of this entire experience. We ended up sitting next to two very nice guys, one from Argentina, and one from Italy. The one from Italy just happened to be the number one dancer in all of Italy and was even on Italy’s version of Dancing with the Stars last year! He is friends with all of the dancers on American’s Dancing with the Stars. We didn’t stop talking and laughing once for six hours straight which I’m sure was annoying for everyone around us who was trying to sleep! We weren’t sure what to expect when we arrived in Venice and were completely shocked when we stepped out of the train station and were surrounded by boats and water!
Our hotel was on the outskirts of Venice so we had to take a bus there. The driver told us to get off at the wrong stop and we ended up walking over one and a half kilometers with all of our luggage! We loved our hotel though and it had a nice breakfast for us so it was worth it in the end! We went to bed early and woke up early on Friday and spent the entire day sightseeing, crossing bridges and taking pictures of canals. We saw many interesting sights including Saint Mark’s Basilica, Saint Mark’s Square, Doge’s Palace, Santa Maria di Nazareth, San Simeone Piccolo, SS. Apostoli, and Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari and many others. Our favorite part was just walking around the tiny streets and exploring the town surrounded by water. It was crazy seeing police, ambulances, and taxis as boats. They could parallel park better than we can on land! The gondolas were very neat to watch but we were too hot and they were too expensive. We decided to put our money to better us and went shopping and got gelato! The weather in Italy is even hotter than it is in France and we were so hot we felt like we were going to pass out and yet the Italians and Europeans were still walking around in their winter coats. It blows our mind!
Today we took the bus into Venice early and spent the morning relaxing and walking around before catching our train at 1:50pm. We have stops in Milan and Ventimiligia and should arrive in Antibes around 10:45pm. Overall we loved everything about Italy! The sights were beautiful, the people were friendly, the food was delicious, and the accent was one of our favorites! We had a great time but felt bad that Mom and Dad couldn’t be here to enjoy it with us! At least now we can help them plan their own trip here and tell them the best places to stay and see! We are spending the week in Antibes relaxing, going to the beach, and seeing a last few minute things before heading home early Saturday morning. Only six more days and counting, we never thought we would make it this far! We are so excited to come home and see everyone! Hope everyone is doing well at home! We miss you and love you tons but we will see you SOON! Ciao!
Love,
Jen and Em
**1: Jen eating her last real Italian gelati! 2: Em standing in front of the main canal in Venice. 8: Standing in Saint Mark's square. 12: Jen standing in front of St. Peter's Basilica. 13: Spanish Steps. 14: Em throwing a penny over her left shoulder at the Trevi fountain. They say that if you do this you will have a quick return. 14. Em standing in front of one of three statues in the Piazza Novanna square. 15: Jen sitting at the cafe where we ate lunch in Rome. 16: Us inside the Pantheon. 17: Em in front of Piazza Venezia. 18: Jen in front of the Roman Forum. 19: Us in front of the Coliseum.
On Thursday we checked out of our hotel and walked around the area around the train station. The train station in Rome was one of the biggest ones we had seen; it was several floors and even had an airport in it! Our train to Venice left at 10:45am and arrived around 5:00pm. It was by far the most train ride of this entire experience. We ended up sitting next to two very nice guys, one from Argentina, and one from Italy. The one from Italy just happened to be the number one dancer in all of Italy and was even on Italy’s version of Dancing with the Stars last year! He is friends with all of the dancers on American’s Dancing with the Stars. We didn’t stop talking and laughing once for six hours straight which I’m sure was annoying for everyone around us who was trying to sleep! We weren’t sure what to expect when we arrived in Venice and were completely shocked when we stepped out of the train station and were surrounded by boats and water!
Our hotel was on the outskirts of Venice so we had to take a bus there. The driver told us to get off at the wrong stop and we ended up walking over one and a half kilometers with all of our luggage! We loved our hotel though and it had a nice breakfast for us so it was worth it in the end! We went to bed early and woke up early on Friday and spent the entire day sightseeing, crossing bridges and taking pictures of canals. We saw many interesting sights including Saint Mark’s Basilica, Saint Mark’s Square, Doge’s Palace, Santa Maria di Nazareth, San Simeone Piccolo, SS. Apostoli, and Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari and many others. Our favorite part was just walking around the tiny streets and exploring the town surrounded by water. It was crazy seeing police, ambulances, and taxis as boats. They could parallel park better than we can on land! The gondolas were very neat to watch but we were too hot and they were too expensive. We decided to put our money to better us and went shopping and got gelato! The weather in Italy is even hotter than it is in France and we were so hot we felt like we were going to pass out and yet the Italians and Europeans were still walking around in their winter coats. It blows our mind!
Today we took the bus into Venice early and spent the morning relaxing and walking around before catching our train at 1:50pm. We have stops in Milan and Ventimiligia and should arrive in Antibes around 10:45pm. Overall we loved everything about Italy! The sights were beautiful, the people were friendly, the food was delicious, and the accent was one of our favorites! We had a great time but felt bad that Mom and Dad couldn’t be here to enjoy it with us! At least now we can help them plan their own trip here and tell them the best places to stay and see! We are spending the week in Antibes relaxing, going to the beach, and seeing a last few minute things before heading home early Saturday morning. Only six more days and counting, we never thought we would make it this far! We are so excited to come home and see everyone! Hope everyone is doing well at home! We miss you and love you tons but we will see you SOON! Ciao!
Love,
Jen and Em
**1: Jen eating her last real Italian gelati! 2: Em standing in front of the main canal in Venice. 8: Standing in Saint Mark's square. 12: Jen standing in front of St. Peter's Basilica. 13: Spanish Steps. 14: Em throwing a penny over her left shoulder at the Trevi fountain. They say that if you do this you will have a quick return. 14. Em standing in front of one of three statues in the Piazza Novanna square. 15: Jen sitting at the cafe where we ate lunch in Rome. 16: Us inside the Pantheon. 17: Em in front of Piazza Venezia. 18: Jen in front of the Roman Forum. 19: Us in front of the Coliseum.
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