More Of The Same – Journals from Abroad

You thought I was done with the trips at the end of the last blog? Well, you must really not know me then because I go above and beyond for everything 🙂

So, where did we last leave off? Oh, yes, we were on the train to Florence. Well guess what, we made it to Florence!

We arrived at the train station around 8am and stashed our luggage in a storage locker, and then set out to find some breakfast. We settled on Starbucks, because it was close to the walking tour where we had to be at 10, and let me tell you I have never seen a fancier Starbucks. It looked like some futuristic hotel/spa entrance. So, we decided to park ourselves there until it was time for the tour and just chat with each other for a little while.

Photo of a Starbucks order counter with lights coming out from the bottom of the counter and around the top of the walls, looking almost like an industrial spaceship — Fancy Starbucks

Then we set off on our walking tour. This was a tour by the same company as the one we went on in Rome, and it lasted about 2 hours. The tour was led by a native Florentine and she was very knowledgeable about all of the historical information she shared about Florence. We hit some important historical spots including the houses of the Medici family, the Duomo, medieval towers, and of course the David statue in the main square.

A large stone building with two domes sitting on top. One larger, in the foreground, one smaller, in the background — The side of the Duomo in the mid- morning sunlight

A very tall tower with extremely straight, square sides in a dark, shadowy alleyway in Florence’s medieval district — A tall medieval Florentine tower

After that, we ate at a great family owned and operated Italian sandwich shop for lunch and walked to a wonderful, small gelato shop on one of the farther edges of the main city. We took some time to just walk around, going along one of the bridges overlooking a river and heading into some small shops.

After that, Elizabeth had to register for classes, so we went back to our favorite Starbucks to do a little bit of work and recharge for a bit before heading back out and looking for a ring for me, and we found one right across the street from the Starbucks! We then went to dinner at this cute restaurant called Dante e Beatrice, and I can confidently say that getting risotto in Italy is so much better than risotto anywhere else.

It was a quick walk back to the train station from there where we boarded our train to rest for about 3 hours. It was a very short stay in Milan, (we only had about 2 hours of sleep in our hotel), and then headed to the airport. Elizabeth flew home to London and I went to Paris to meet up with my cousins who were vacationing there! All in all, Florence was amazing and I would definitely go back. The Duomo at dusk was one of the most beautiful sights to see.

An order counter at a Florentine sandwich shop with breads and meats in the foreground and cooktops behind the counter with lots of penents and framed photos lining the wall behind it — Florentine sandwich lunch stop

A very long, clear lake reflecting the midafternoon sun and lined with walkways and buildings on either side. A bridge sits far off in the background on top of the lake — Walking around Florence

Midafternoon gelato stop

A wide open field in the foreground with marble/stone buildings lining the outside of the field making a curved shape. The midafternoon sun is casting almost the entire field in the foreground in shadow — Beautiful Florentine square

Clara in the foreground, from shoulders up, standing on the street in front of the entrance to the Duomo. Lots of people are milling around behind her — Proof that I was actually at the Duomo

Clara’s hand, with a ring on her pointer and ring fingers. The ring on her pointer finger is 7 very thin rows of silver beads all in line with one another to make a very thick band. The ring on the ring finger is a gold band that gets wider at the top and sets a clear, fake diamond — 2 rings I got in Florence

An alleyway alongside the Duomo showing the main entrance as well as part of the side that shows the dome peeking out in the background. The photo was taken at sunset, so the sky is a bit darker blue and the warm streetlight gives the whole building a very warm, inviting glow — Duomo at dusk

After a relatively peaceful flight and a decently long Uber ride, I arrived at my hotel in Paris! I had a little bit of time to get settled, take a shower, and relax before I met my cousins and I cherished every second of it because I was running on 2 hours of sleep, a 4:15AM wake up time, and 20,000 steps the day before. But once I was a bit recharged, I was ready to meet my cousins outside my hotel. We took a short walk to a cute wine bar and sat outside to catch up over some wonderful champagne and orange wine.

We then headed off to our dinner reservation at this small bistro that my cousin had found. It seemed to be populated by a lot of French locals and we split 5 dishes, a bottle of red wine, and a crème brûlée among the 3 of us. That may have been the best meal I have ever had in my life… no – scratch that. That WAS the best meal I’ve ever had in my life. Everything was so simple, yet so perfected and well prepared that even things that I wouldn’t normally like (mushrooms for example) were so delicious that I wished the plate was bigger. We had such good conversation and I really felt like I bonded with my cousins that night.

Olin, Clara, and Shila sitting from left to right in a selfie. Olin is taking the selfie and Clara and Shila are holding wine glasses with champagne in them. The bottle of champagne sits on the table in front of them and the street lies behind them at dusk — Olin (left), Clara (middle), and Shila (right) enjoying champagne at a wine bar on the first night of the Paris trip

The next day was one of my only days to have a decent amount of sleep on this trip, so I made the most of that. But eventually I got up and headed out to explore Paris with my cousins for the day. We started with coffees and pan a chocolait at a cool coffee bar, and then made a few stops at places like the Notre Dame, the outside of the Louvre and Shakespeare & Co bookstore.

Overall, though, we avoided the main touristy attractions in favor of leisurely strolling along the Seine, having lunch in the gardens, and just stopping to take in the beauty of the architecture of Paris. We capped off the night with some delicious Greek food and I woke early the next morning to head back to Nottingham.

A wide open square with a few people standing in it in the foreground. In the background is the Notre Dame standing very tall in a partly cloudy sky — View of the Notre Dame

Leaves of a tree color the foreground, and through them you see the sunlight in midday Paris reflecting on the Seine — Sunlight reflecting on the Seine

A photo of Clara’s hand very close up showing a ring on her middle finger. A small square clear stone sits on top of the band of the ring — Ring collection, Paris edition

Olin on the left and Clara on the right, sitting in armchairs in a dimly lit bar, each holding a cocktail. Olin’s is in a shorter tumbler glass and Clara’s is a taller, skinnier cylindrical cocktail glass — Olin and Clara (and Shila not pictured), sharing cocktails at an experimental cocktail bar before dinner in Paris.

The day after I returned, I had the opportunity to participate in the Mahaffey speech and debate tournament hosted by Linfield online. It was a very late night for me and, though I didn’t end up as a finalist in anything, it was still a great experience.

Close up of Clara, slightly smiling with curly hair flowing around her shoulders and bright red lipstick. In her hand she holds a small black binder, and behind her are rows of red fabric seats and desks — Before I gave 6 speeches in the middle of the night for the Mahaffey speech and debate tournament

The next week was fairly tame. Not much happened. I attended my classes and caught up on work. This past Saturday, though, I went to see the new Hunger Games installment with my friend KEESHA. It was amazing and I’d definitely recommend it if you’re at all a fan of the Hunger Games universe.

An old historical looking building sits behind a large looming tree. A marquis reads “Hunger Games Prequel” — Movie theater where I watched The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes

The next few weeks will also be pretty academically focused, as I’m nearing the end of my semester here and have several essays coming up. But, I’ll be sure to keep any updates posted here so you can follow along with my journey.

That’s all for now!

Cheers!

-Clara