I took this photo this afternoon from the rooftop of one of the famous department stores, Galleries Lafayettes. I had been wanting to go up there for awhile, but Paris is like Seattle, sometimes the weather is just completely unpredictable. Today was perfect. It was cold but not too cold, and I didn’t even care for that matter. Here I was, standing on a roof of a giant department store (with not that many people, I might add. Guess the Chanel downstairs was more beautiful than this…?) and watching the sun set over “my” city. No, I didn’t get this picture off the internet. It looks fake, no? Someone pinch me, I can’t seriously be leaving.

Vienna took my breath away. Literally, it was that cold. The temperature all weekend averaged around 26 degrees and snow, but that didn’t stop me from being completely taken aback by the city’s navigability, food, and all-around beauty. From the Christmas markets on Friday, to hanging out in cafes and defrosting, or frolicking about the snow, Vienna definitely took the cake for favorite trip this semester.

We arrived late Thursday night after having an encountered a lost baggage situation with one of our travel companions, and settling into the hostel to snow already starting to fall. Friday we tackled the Christmas markets, which were few and UN far between. We visited a few churches around the city, and managed to spend an hour or two in a small cafe enjoying tea and apple strudel. We also went to the opera in Vienna’s famous opera house to see La Boheme. Only I did not know that by paying 3 euro for the performance meant we would be standing the entire time in the bloodiest of nose bleed seats. I found myself sitting on the floor most of the time listening to the music instead, since I couldn’t even see. The house was so ornate and beautiful. Definitely worth the 3 euro. While many of the attendees were dressed to the nines, I couldn’t even manage to change into something remotely opera-appropriate on account of the freezing temperature. After the opera (or intermission, I edit), we continued our high-class evening at a restaurant down the street for dinner.

Saturday we went over to the famous Schonbrunn palace, although forgetting it was a major tourist day, therefore zoo, and only managed to walk around the “garden” aka narnia. It was amazing. We walked up the top of the hill in the back of the garden where a cafe was situated and took in the stunning view of the city and a warm cup of hot chocolate. You can see from the photos but it was quite the spot! From there, we moved to our next eating location, the Hotel Saccher for the world-famous Saccher torte, a special chocolate cake that still has the secret recipe maintained by this restaurant to the day. We walked around the city as the sun went down (around 4:30pm), and went back in the direction of our hostel to find a traditional schnitzel restaurant for dinner. My pork (I’m so kosher!) schniztel didn’t exactly the-first-night-of-Chanukah-dinner-make, but it was quite delicious.

Being able to travel this semester was one of the best ways I could have spent my money. Or anyone could, for that matter. Even though they were very short weekends away, they were always condensed with many activities, friends, and food. I am so glad I got to see every place I visited. If I had more time, there definitely would have been a few other places I would have LOVED to visit. To sum up my travels: I started out the semester in the mid-east part of France, right next to Switzerland in a little town called Thonon, where I also went to Annecy, Montreux, Geneva, and Lyon. Then came Paris, Normandy, Munich, Giverny, Brussels, Rome, Barcelona, and Vienna. My wish list also included Prague and Berlin but I couldn’t fit them in. Oh well, next time! The list of places I want to visit keeps growing, and I am adamant that one day I will be able to visit them all. I have definitely been bit by the travel bug!

It’s amazing being in central Europe when I can travel to another country in less than 2 hours when it takes the same amount of time to get from Seattle to San Francisco. Yet as soon as you leave one place you enter an entirely different culture and language. Lucky for us English is universal, but it’s still bizarre to be in a place and not understand what anyone else is saying. It frustrates me that learning another language in school in America isn’t required, nor do we start early enough for it to make much of a dent. Learning French has been a fantastic challenge – but always that, a challenge. I am proud of myself for how far I have come and I can say I will never want to let it go.

I keep thinking “This is my last [fill in blank here]” of abroad. Last trip with my friends. Last weekend away. Profitez profitez profitez, keeps ringing in my head. I hate that they put finals at the end when we should be going out and get wasted checking things off our bucket list, but instead we have papers on papers and many tests to study for. I have five between Monday and Tuesday, not including oral tests this week and a large history paper to write. If you have any last-minute suggestions you can think of for me to squeeze in my final days, feel free to comment!

Happy Chanukah! L’chaim ya’ll.

Well, it’s official, I had my first breakdown last night. I was working on an assignment (a 20 page article analysis of a theater piece we’re reading) and I just couldn’t do it. Maybe it was my lack of sleep this past weekend, or my inability to switch over to French after a weekend away, but I felt as if I had hit a wall. I’m just really really tired. French for 3 months straight is not easy, and I’m getting to the point where all I want to hear and read and see is ENGLISH. It’s only 19 days away (yeah, that soon), and I’m ready for that. It’s frustrating not understanding everything all the time, and takes mostly all my concentration and brain-power to do so. I doubt that I will ever be fluent (as I would like to be), but that’s okay. I’m American, I speak English, and I do what I can with French. These past few months have taught me so much, but I know that my finals for classes here don’t matter in the long-run and I just want to take advantage of the time I have left here.

Speaking of time left in Paris, I went away last weekend and I’m going away this weekend! So much for absorbing the last bits of Paris while I still can! I went to Barcelona with 4 girlfriends this past weekend, and luckily we got to stay at one of their friend’s apartments who is also studying in IES. That saved us money on room and board (and left more money for alcohol…) The nightlife WAS a blast, and definitely a new experience. 2 all-nighters in a row is definitely not my thing, but it was fun for a weekend. I’m also not a big fan of starting our days off at 3pm, but we still managed to do a bit of sight-seeing. Barcelona was different than I had expected. First off, it was COLD. It was about 39-50 degrees all weekend (when the sun was directly hitting you). I imagined Barcelona a bit like summer all year long, which is ridiculous. But it was still beautiful seeing the water and a lot of greenery around the city. We ate very well – lots of sangria, wine, tapas one night, and Italian the next. I’m glad I went, but I definitely would rather go back in the warmer season next time. We were all very much lusting for Paris after being there for 1 day – the metro there makes zero sense, it’s expensive, and slightly inefficient. I didn’t feel as unsafe as other people had made the city out to be, but I will surely return to the United States as a complete pick-pocketer paranoiac.

Next weekend is Vienna, Austria, primarily for their legendary Christmas markets. A Jew spending her first weekend of Hannukah in Dutch country? No need to comment, I know I’m a disgrace.

We also had a re-entry meeting with the IES staff tonight and it just made me really sad… I feel old now that my study abroad is nearly over. For any of you reading this who have not gone abroad (yet), DO IT. It was the best decision I ever made. Even if you come home with $0 in your pocket, you will not regret it.

Thanks to everyone for keeping up with me this semester. I’ll definitely have 1 or 2 more posts before I go, but for now, enjoy some pictures from Barcelona and try to stay warm!