How long it has been since my last post! I am truly sorry for the delay for those of you on the edge of your seat :)
My trip to Spain started at the Barcelona airport in the early hours of the mroning. We bought bus tickets from Barcelona to Madrid and back (8 hours each way, and let me say, it is not worth however much you save by not flying), so without seeing any of Barcelona we first made our way inward Spain to visit the capital. One of my first experiences in Spain, while at a stop for food during the bus ride to Madrid, was pretty comical. I have very, very minimal knowledge of Spanish and knew that in this middle-of-nowhere-bus stop, they probably would not speak any English. I still figured I would try and asked if they spoke English but only got a confused look for a response. The only reason I needed to talk to them was to see if they took debit/credit cards because I didn’t have any cash. So, naturally, I proceeded to take out my credit card, made a swiping motion with it, and asked, “Si??” Luckily, she understood and said in Spanish I had to spend at least 5 and I was pretty proud of myself for understanding. I feel like my trip to Spain really pushed me the farthest out of my comfort zone because of the fact that there was very little to no English, French, or Italian spoken, so getting by on my own was very difficult, for once.
Madrid was really something. We had a good experience overall with our hostel and the food we ate, people we met, and places we went were all together phenomenal. Between all of us travelling together (three of my friends from Santa Clara and three others from Louisiana, Alabama, and Illinois) we knew some people either studying or travelling in Spain at the same time, so we were able to meet up with them and have them show us the best places to visit.
The first night we found a nice place to eat authentic Spanish food. There was a nice looking tapas place that we ended up trying and the food, although kind of expensive with smaller portions, was extremely tasty. Tapas, if you don’t know, are just little appetizer-like dishes that can range from bread with salami or coppa to an assortment of cheese. Everywhere you go, if you get glass of wine or a beer or a soda or anything, you will also be served tapas with your drink. It’s a pleasant surprise and was very well received by yours truly. The first night I had the best ‘maple-brazed’ chorizo I have ever tasted. After the first night we searched for more affordable places, though, and luckily found a very fun place that was always packed. They were called 100 Montanditos and served 100 different little tapas sandwhiches with a variety of things in it and each one was only one euro. A pint of Sangria, a very authentic Spanish drink, was only one euro as well. Needless to say, we returned to that place often for cheap but very good meals. We did do more than just eat in Madrid, though, as surprising as this may sound. There was definitely a lot to see. We took a free tour during the day we had there and learned a ton about the city. We started our tour in the central plaza which is in the dead center of the city. It is in that plaza where they hold their large celebrations and hold protests as well. We learned that the world’s largest protest was held in that plaza some years back and that the city itself is known for having many outspoken protestors. Also on our tour, we learned a lot about the royalty from many years ago and how the different government buildings came to be. It was an interesting history but I did question our tour guide’s knowledge at some points… she was a nice tour guide from Florida (originally Connecticut), surprisingly, but some of the things she said were somewhat questionable. The final straw was when she was describing a queen that married her cousin and described it as “modern day Alabama or Louisiana,” and of course, as I mentioned, I was with two friends from Louisiana and Alabama. She lost a bit of credibility there. It was still a fun tour and afterward we headed to an indoor market that we heard a lot of good things about. We were so glad we went because this place had everything; chocolate dipped churros, all sorts of meats and cheeses, tapas of all kinds, cheese croquettes and much, much more. The market was packed with locals enjoying lunch before siesta. We continued to ask each other why we didn’t have places like this at home! Everything you could buy was one or two euros so you could buy an assortment of things for five or six euros and be set. Afterward we went to a Renoir art museum followed by another trip to 100 Montanditos.
We took a night bus back to Barcelona from Madrid and I will take this time to try and convince everyone and anyone who is reading this that an 8+ hour night bus is really, really not worth it even if it is free. I will never put myself through so much misery ever again. I was drooled on, I was awake the entire time, I was yelled at in Spanish because the seat in front of me would not lock in the reclined position (apparently it was my fault), and worst of all, I was stuck on a bus without any of my friends. Because of how we booked our tickets, all of my friends made it on the first bus whereas I was on the second (both buses were running from Madrid to Barcelona at the same time, though). Never, ever again.
Luckily, we made it to Barcelona and found our hostel first thing. We had quite the fun hostel with bunk beds that were probably 15 feet high so we had to climb large ladders to get to our ‘bungalows’, as we called them. We had a little bit of a hiccup when we got there because my friend’s folder with her passport and other information was left on the bus. She was very lucky to have been able to get a new passport that day but went through several, several hurdles to get it. We were told about the many pick-pocketers in Barcelona (and Spain in general) so we were very cautious, but even more so after that ordeal.
One of the first things we did was get food (naturally) and to my surprise, one of the first things I saw was a Viennetta ice cream cake! When I was very little my family used to visit my great grandma and other family in Florida, where my parents grew up, and we would always eat these vanilla and chocolate ice cream cakes. I loved them more than anything. I craved them many years after I had even had one and looked for them desperately on the web, including eBay. They were nowhere to be found in any store near where I live or even online and I figured the company no longer sold them. So when I saw that Viennetta cake, I grabbed it immediately and ate almost an entire cake to myself. Of course, after not having eaten for about 15 hours, it wasn’t my best idea… but it still tasted just like I remembered it. Anyway, Barcelona, right.
I wish I could have spent more time in Barcelona because there was even more to see there than in Madrid; incredible architecture, gorgeous coastline, and endless nightlife. One of the first places we visited was the Bacelona Cascada del Parque de la Ciudadela. I will have to let my pictures speak for themselves but will say that they, like all of my pictures everywhere I have been able to go, do not even do this place justice. It was gigantic. I loved this place. Before finding it, though, we walked along the coast and I was surprised by how many huge sailboats and yachts there were. It was definitely a change of scenery for me being on a beach that was surrounded by a very urban and populated city. We also went to a museum that was featuring Pablo Picasso’s very famous “Guernica” painting which was both bizarre and appealing at the same time. Sorry to say they would not allow us to take pictures. I actually liked a lot of the Picasso paintings that I saw at the museum. Plus it was free for students! There was too much for us to see before we had to go, but we still fit in a lot during the time we were there.
Barcelona was definitely a fun place to be for Halloween and I was so glad I was able to celebrate it there! Most of Europe sees Halloween as a very American celebration that they do not find entertaining. Some places will throw parties but trick-or-treating is pretty unheard of. If there was one city that went all out with costume and parties, however, it was Barcelona! People were dressed in costumes on the streets throughout the day and night. Unfortunately, the clubs did not play any fun Halloween music to dance to nor did any of them have nearly as scary decorations as the Diemer household back in Washington. Still, our night on Halloween was a blast and we all dressed in black with hats that we found that had bull horns, ears, and eyes, so that together we were all running of the bulls! One of our friends led us as the matador with a big flag of Spain. My night ended with good friends on a sandy beach before I had to leave to catch my plane back to Lille. I had a phenomenal time overall and really wish I would have had another couple days to see everything I wanted to see. Something tells me that I will definitely be going back to Spain, though.
Pictures will come soon!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Vacation Time!
The past week in France was a vacation week for my school and for most of the country, thus I took advantage of my week off of classes to go places I had never been! My itinerary looked like this: Dublin on October 23rd until the 26th, Madrid from the 26th until the 28th, and Barcelona for the remainder of my trip until the first of November. In a few words, this trip was epic.
First stop: Dublin. I had never been to Ireland before and did not really know what to expect. I must say now that Ireland was one of the most memorable trips I know I will have for a long while. The island is truly amazing. Dublin itself is an interesting city with a lot of pride. Everyone drinks Guinness with meals or at the pubs and so naturally, we chose to visit the Guinness factory right when we got there. The place was really big. We learned a lot about the process of how beer is made and got to taste Guinness beer, as well. Money well spent, I do recommend it if you find yourself in Dublin. The city was expensive and so the plan was to get off the beaten path to go to the countryside on the other side of the island, where we would find the wee town of Kilarney. Online, we found that train ticket should have been around 30 euros so we had our hostel booked in Kilarney and planned out our trip accordingly. When we got to the train station, however, we found that the tickets were 78 euros roundtrip! We were torn as a group but I knew that I did not want to spend over 100 US dollars if there was a way to avoid it. So in the end, three of my friends went to Kilarney and three of us stayed and made other plans. Honestly, it worked out way better than we could have ever planned. The hostel in Kilarney did not charge us for cancelling, thankfully, and my two friends and I were also able to find a hostel in Dublin that allowed us to stay in a full apartment for only 5 euros more per night than we were paying before! This place was phenomenal – full kitchen, fireplace, family room area, balcony, bedroom and full bathroom. For 20 euros a night! We knew that we didn’t want to stay in Dublin the entire time, though, so we bought day passes on the local rail to explore the nearby coast. 4 euros for unlimited rail pass the first day, and 8 euros the next – what a deal! First up was Howth, the gorgeous suburban, countryside city along the northwest coast of the island. Howth is amazing. At the docks you can buy fish to feed the seals which congregate near the edge and wait patiently. They are amazing animals! The city itself is very pretty and around every corner is a new photograph waiting to be shot. We first visited the weekend market which supplied fresh baked goods, farmer’s fruit, and other knickknacks for cheap. There, we bought our dinner for that night since we had a full kitchen to cook it in. Next, we hiked up a trail to the peak of the hill overlooking the city and there we had a ¾ view of the entire ocean. Breathtaking is the word to describe the moment when we reached the peak. Utterly breathtaking. Looking back on the pictures, I realize now that they do nothing to truly give an accurate visual of what we were seeing. The cold wind blowing at the top of the hill over the tall grass and stone cottages which lined the streets below, the warm sun shining over the bluest ocean I have ever seen with nothing but green landscape behind us – this was honestly a highlight of all my travels. We enjoyed Howth a lot and all recommend it to anyone making their way to Dublin or Ireland. The next day we went on the other side of the northwest coast below Howth to a city called Dun Leary. On this day we felt a little more adventurous and wanted to get the most out of our unlimited rail pass during the day (and that we did). We started in Dun Leary but walked through four different towns before we realized that there was no turning back, so we caught the train in Dalkey where we ended up. Between Dun Leary and Dalkey, we had a lot of photographic moment, as well. The coast was cold but we lucked out again with the sunny weather. At one point of the bay there is a small beach called 40 Point where every day of the year, even on Christmas, you will find people swimming. They had to be crazy! The water felt extremely cold and they were only wearing small bathing suits! I was impressed. Dalkey was a city a little farther inward from the coast but had a very cute town center with small restaurants and shops in cozy stone buildings. I found a restaurant that we planned to visit again for dinner but when we finally did, it had closed. Eager to finally try traditional (but cheap) Irish food, I convinced my friends to continue onward on the rail to find a place to eat dinner. I remember I had seen pretty postcards from a city named Killiney, so I figured hey, they must have cool places to eat. It was a couple stops over and so we went for it. My friends, tired and hungry had high expectations and it was all on me if we didn’t find anything. So when we got there, there was nothing. It was a very residential area that was hard to navigate at night. Some young teens passing by (they had to be 13 or 14) luckily helped us out a bit. We asked them where the ‘city center’ was and they said ‘well, there’s a wee village down there, just follow the lights’. When he said ‘wee village’, he meant it. Two pubs and a gas station. I wanted to be like a local and believe me, we were amongst only locals at the pub we chose. It was one of those situations where we walked in the pub and everyone looked toward the door (likely because they know everyone in the town), saw us and thought, hm, they aren’t from around here. The people, nonetheless, were friendly and we had some good food. I did forget to mention, though, about our first night in Dublin. The first night (after the Guinness factory) consisted of us making our way to the Temple Bar pub where there was amazing live music and tons of smiling faces having a jolly ole time. Really, it was like one big family in there all belching out the lyrics of the songs in unison for the whole night. Nothing beats great music with great company! So right off the bat, I knew I would love Ireland.
It’s getting late here and I need to make dinner! Thus keep posted for my blogs about my trip to Spain, where I visited both Madrid and Barcelona. The trip only got better as it went on!
First stop: Dublin. I had never been to Ireland before and did not really know what to expect. I must say now that Ireland was one of the most memorable trips I know I will have for a long while. The island is truly amazing. Dublin itself is an interesting city with a lot of pride. Everyone drinks Guinness with meals or at the pubs and so naturally, we chose to visit the Guinness factory right when we got there. The place was really big. We learned a lot about the process of how beer is made and got to taste Guinness beer, as well. Money well spent, I do recommend it if you find yourself in Dublin. The city was expensive and so the plan was to get off the beaten path to go to the countryside on the other side of the island, where we would find the wee town of Kilarney. Online, we found that train ticket should have been around 30 euros so we had our hostel booked in Kilarney and planned out our trip accordingly. When we got to the train station, however, we found that the tickets were 78 euros roundtrip! We were torn as a group but I knew that I did not want to spend over 100 US dollars if there was a way to avoid it. So in the end, three of my friends went to Kilarney and three of us stayed and made other plans. Honestly, it worked out way better than we could have ever planned. The hostel in Kilarney did not charge us for cancelling, thankfully, and my two friends and I were also able to find a hostel in Dublin that allowed us to stay in a full apartment for only 5 euros more per night than we were paying before! This place was phenomenal – full kitchen, fireplace, family room area, balcony, bedroom and full bathroom. For 20 euros a night! We knew that we didn’t want to stay in Dublin the entire time, though, so we bought day passes on the local rail to explore the nearby coast. 4 euros for unlimited rail pass the first day, and 8 euros the next – what a deal! First up was Howth, the gorgeous suburban, countryside city along the northwest coast of the island. Howth is amazing. At the docks you can buy fish to feed the seals which congregate near the edge and wait patiently. They are amazing animals! The city itself is very pretty and around every corner is a new photograph waiting to be shot. We first visited the weekend market which supplied fresh baked goods, farmer’s fruit, and other knickknacks for cheap. There, we bought our dinner for that night since we had a full kitchen to cook it in. Next, we hiked up a trail to the peak of the hill overlooking the city and there we had a ¾ view of the entire ocean. Breathtaking is the word to describe the moment when we reached the peak. Utterly breathtaking. Looking back on the pictures, I realize now that they do nothing to truly give an accurate visual of what we were seeing. The cold wind blowing at the top of the hill over the tall grass and stone cottages which lined the streets below, the warm sun shining over the bluest ocean I have ever seen with nothing but green landscape behind us – this was honestly a highlight of all my travels. We enjoyed Howth a lot and all recommend it to anyone making their way to Dublin or Ireland. The next day we went on the other side of the northwest coast below Howth to a city called Dun Leary. On this day we felt a little more adventurous and wanted to get the most out of our unlimited rail pass during the day (and that we did). We started in Dun Leary but walked through four different towns before we realized that there was no turning back, so we caught the train in Dalkey where we ended up. Between Dun Leary and Dalkey, we had a lot of photographic moment, as well. The coast was cold but we lucked out again with the sunny weather. At one point of the bay there is a small beach called 40 Point where every day of the year, even on Christmas, you will find people swimming. They had to be crazy! The water felt extremely cold and they were only wearing small bathing suits! I was impressed. Dalkey was a city a little farther inward from the coast but had a very cute town center with small restaurants and shops in cozy stone buildings. I found a restaurant that we planned to visit again for dinner but when we finally did, it had closed. Eager to finally try traditional (but cheap) Irish food, I convinced my friends to continue onward on the rail to find a place to eat dinner. I remember I had seen pretty postcards from a city named Killiney, so I figured hey, they must have cool places to eat. It was a couple stops over and so we went for it. My friends, tired and hungry had high expectations and it was all on me if we didn’t find anything. So when we got there, there was nothing. It was a very residential area that was hard to navigate at night. Some young teens passing by (they had to be 13 or 14) luckily helped us out a bit. We asked them where the ‘city center’ was and they said ‘well, there’s a wee village down there, just follow the lights’. When he said ‘wee village’, he meant it. Two pubs and a gas station. I wanted to be like a local and believe me, we were amongst only locals at the pub we chose. It was one of those situations where we walked in the pub and everyone looked toward the door (likely because they know everyone in the town), saw us and thought, hm, they aren’t from around here. The people, nonetheless, were friendly and we had some good food. I did forget to mention, though, about our first night in Dublin. The first night (after the Guinness factory) consisted of us making our way to the Temple Bar pub where there was amazing live music and tons of smiling faces having a jolly ole time. Really, it was like one big family in there all belching out the lyrics of the songs in unison for the whole night. Nothing beats great music with great company! So right off the bat, I knew I would love Ireland.
It’s getting late here and I need to make dinner! Thus keep posted for my blogs about my trip to Spain, where I visited both Madrid and Barcelona. The trip only got better as it went on!
Pictures from Parent's Trip
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| Looking up the stairs from the Champagne Cave |
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| HUGE! |
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| Looking down the stairwell of the cave. Hi mom and dad! |
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| Very, Very old Champagne |
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| View of the side of Reims Cathedral |
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| Reims Cathedral |
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| Reims Cathedral |
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| Inside of Reims Cathedral |
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| Amazing. |
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| Escargot!!! |
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| Protest protest protest |
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| On the drive home to Lille. |
Parents Visit Lille, Reims, and Brussels!
Since last I have posted, much has happened. I’ll start from the beginning! First was the visit of both of my parents! I really hope that I can express to my fullest potential how happy I am that they were able to come. Not only were they both able to come out and stay with me in Lille, but they took me on an amazing trip to Reims in the Champagne region of France, as well.
My mom and dad arrived on the Monday just after I had trained in from Amsterdam the previous day. During their stay they were quite generous by taking me to great places for every meal and I could not be more thankful for it. While I cannot complain one bit about any of the meals I have had since I have arrived, there have undoubtedly been several restaurants that have caught my eye but remained a mystery to my taste buds because of my budget. Most of the restaurants in the area are not extremely expensive – we aren’t talking about 50 euros steaks and hundred euros bottles of wine, here – but what with the exchange rate, my inability to make any more money than I saved up while I am here because of my VISA, and my lack of super rich and overly generous friends, I have been sticking to the 2 euros baguette sandwiches for lunch and 3 euros dinners at the cafeteria on campus (again, not complaining, and to clarify our cafeteria has a lot of really good food). I have nonetheless been so grateful to try all of the amazing dishes that I have since their arrival. But I’ll talk more about meals later; I was, of course, happy to see my parents for reasons other than paid dinners.
Showing my parents the city in which I have lived for the past two and a half months (even if they have seemed like a week and a half) has been a delight. Lille is a hidden gem and I feel like there are so many parallels between this city here and Seattle. Until you come, you cannot fully understand how amazing this rainy little city is. But once you have seen it, you are definitely going to want to come back or never even leave at all. It will most certainly be one of the other for me. I think that I have successfully led my parents to the same conclusion about the city, as well, as they have agreed that the people seem so much more welcoming and friendly than those they met from their previous experiences in France. Even among the French, les gens du Nord or ‘people of the North’ are known as friendly and welcoming people. I suppose it helps that Lille is not overrun with tourism and all the overpriced and imitation shops/restaurants that come with it. In addition to being witness to the kindness of les Lillois, my parents have also experienced the wonderful, once in a lifetime, personalized tour by yours truly in order to observe all the beauty and character this old city has to offer (I am open for future tours and accept tips, but my calendar is pretty booked so you will need to call ahead!). My parents are lucky to be right in the center of our city, known as Lille Centre. A mere fifty steps from their hotel is the nearest metro stop, two minutes walk and you are at the main train station, and ten minutes by metro is all it takes to reach my residence hall. So our tour started in Lille Centre and gradually reached my residence hall. Along the way, I was able to show them the main shopping areas, our main avenue where most of the students go out at night, the amazing Sacre Coeur cathedral nearest to my dorm, the city’s art museum, as well as my school and a few others of the University. Suffice to say, they reached the honeymoon phase with the city just as I did when I first arrived (and have honestly remained ever since). Perhaps I am exaggerating and they were not exactly as thrilled with the city as much as I was and still am, but they were both certainly amazed with Lille’s architecture and food, taking several pictures everywhere we went. This feeling, however, did not last too much longer…
One thing that put a major wrench in our plans is the recent protests over the increased retirement age here. In case you are not aware of the current situation, a law recently passed which increases the legal retirement age to 62 from 60. Naturally, as is custom when the French are in disagreement with the government, protests and riots have broken out and trains have been cancelled left and right. Thus our trips to Bruges and Brussels have been cancelled but luckily we were still able to rent a car to get to the beautiful champagne region of France in Reims.
Before I talk about our trip to Reims, I should say that the protests which broke out did stem from more than just an older retirement age. The French government has been making other laws lately which have forced the French to be more efficient and keep up with the global economy. The French who are protesting are not protesting against being efficient, but are protesting against the government changing their culture – work to live not live to work. That being said, I still know several French students (actually, almost all of the French students I have talked to) who disagree with the protests and agree that the government is making the right changes. It’s a touchy subject here and I think I can see both sides of it. My mom asked, “Well, do they not want to be efficient?” A valid question, perhaps, but the truth is that if I had lived the way the French had lived my entire life, I wouldn’t want my lifestyle to be changed by the government either. I suppose with the new global economy, though, they have little choice if they want to keep up with the rest of the developed countries.
Back to our trip to Reims! The champagne region was really, really gorgeous. The cathedral in Reims seemed to mimic the Notre Dame in Paris in many ways. Because it was in a smaller city with smaller buildings surrounding it, though, the cathedral seemed utterly massive. I was glad I was able to see it. The food in Reims was also phenomenal. When I say phenomenal, I am making a huge understatement, too. My parents had read about a little restaurant called Restaurant Anna where we ate not one but two of our meals while in Reims. The place had a great menu with traditional French dishes that we could not get enough of. We all tried escargot (I am proud to say that the first time I ever tried escargot was also the first time my mom had ever tried escargot) and ended up loving it. The snails were served in these small dishes with garlic butter and certain herbs, topped off with a piece of toast on the top which fit the dishes perfectly (see pictures). They could have put anything in there – snail, slug, dirt – it would not have mattered, the garlic butter concoction was incroyable! We used the bread to wipe the dishes clean of the garlic butter. Also on the table was veal medallions served with four mustards from the region, chicken rolled in cheese, beef skewers, and much, much more (see pictures, again). We were thoroughly satisfied. Of course, while in the Champagne region, eating was not the only thing we did. My parents and I also visited a few Champagneries. There was one where we took a tour of the caves – the pictures do not do them justice, but still better describe our experience than I could in words – and had a nice tasting of different types of Champagne. We learned that for Champagne, dry means sweet as opposed to not sweet as in wine. We also visited Veuve Cliquot, a very well known maker of Champagne and the maker of the champagne I actually sold when I was a waiter at Porcella Urban Market (Rest In Peace). Unfortunately, reservations for tastings at this place are necessary so we were unable to get a tasting. We still enjoyed our time at the Champagne maker next door to it where my mom found some great champagne bottles to take home with her.
On the drive back, we stopped at one point so I could practice driving our manual rental car. I had only ever learned before on my aunt and uncle’s Nissan Pathfinder (which I stalled many times) but did retain some feel from those lessons. Still, I stalled the car a few times this go around and have a bit more learning to do.
Back in Lille, my parents and I hit up the movie theatre on a rainy day to see Social Network, the movie about how Facebook was started. Great movie, we all thought. Before I left for my next trip (and my parents for theirs back home), we made our way to Brussels for one more night together and I was able to show them a few places which I had been to before. Because they had a couple more nights to stay in Brussels and I had already experienced a lot of Belgian food, I was able to convince them to take me to this hole-in-the-wall Greek restaurant near our hotel. If you don’t know already, Greek food is one of my favorites and finding good Greek food here has been a feat. So we lucked out and had a great Greek meal while we were there. The next morning, I was off for my next trip… keep posted :)
My mom and dad arrived on the Monday just after I had trained in from Amsterdam the previous day. During their stay they were quite generous by taking me to great places for every meal and I could not be more thankful for it. While I cannot complain one bit about any of the meals I have had since I have arrived, there have undoubtedly been several restaurants that have caught my eye but remained a mystery to my taste buds because of my budget. Most of the restaurants in the area are not extremely expensive – we aren’t talking about 50 euros steaks and hundred euros bottles of wine, here – but what with the exchange rate, my inability to make any more money than I saved up while I am here because of my VISA, and my lack of super rich and overly generous friends, I have been sticking to the 2 euros baguette sandwiches for lunch and 3 euros dinners at the cafeteria on campus (again, not complaining, and to clarify our cafeteria has a lot of really good food). I have nonetheless been so grateful to try all of the amazing dishes that I have since their arrival. But I’ll talk more about meals later; I was, of course, happy to see my parents for reasons other than paid dinners.
Showing my parents the city in which I have lived for the past two and a half months (even if they have seemed like a week and a half) has been a delight. Lille is a hidden gem and I feel like there are so many parallels between this city here and Seattle. Until you come, you cannot fully understand how amazing this rainy little city is. But once you have seen it, you are definitely going to want to come back or never even leave at all. It will most certainly be one of the other for me. I think that I have successfully led my parents to the same conclusion about the city, as well, as they have agreed that the people seem so much more welcoming and friendly than those they met from their previous experiences in France. Even among the French, les gens du Nord or ‘people of the North’ are known as friendly and welcoming people. I suppose it helps that Lille is not overrun with tourism and all the overpriced and imitation shops/restaurants that come with it. In addition to being witness to the kindness of les Lillois, my parents have also experienced the wonderful, once in a lifetime, personalized tour by yours truly in order to observe all the beauty and character this old city has to offer (I am open for future tours and accept tips, but my calendar is pretty booked so you will need to call ahead!). My parents are lucky to be right in the center of our city, known as Lille Centre. A mere fifty steps from their hotel is the nearest metro stop, two minutes walk and you are at the main train station, and ten minutes by metro is all it takes to reach my residence hall. So our tour started in Lille Centre and gradually reached my residence hall. Along the way, I was able to show them the main shopping areas, our main avenue where most of the students go out at night, the amazing Sacre Coeur cathedral nearest to my dorm, the city’s art museum, as well as my school and a few others of the University. Suffice to say, they reached the honeymoon phase with the city just as I did when I first arrived (and have honestly remained ever since). Perhaps I am exaggerating and they were not exactly as thrilled with the city as much as I was and still am, but they were both certainly amazed with Lille’s architecture and food, taking several pictures everywhere we went. This feeling, however, did not last too much longer…
One thing that put a major wrench in our plans is the recent protests over the increased retirement age here. In case you are not aware of the current situation, a law recently passed which increases the legal retirement age to 62 from 60. Naturally, as is custom when the French are in disagreement with the government, protests and riots have broken out and trains have been cancelled left and right. Thus our trips to Bruges and Brussels have been cancelled but luckily we were still able to rent a car to get to the beautiful champagne region of France in Reims.
Before I talk about our trip to Reims, I should say that the protests which broke out did stem from more than just an older retirement age. The French government has been making other laws lately which have forced the French to be more efficient and keep up with the global economy. The French who are protesting are not protesting against being efficient, but are protesting against the government changing their culture – work to live not live to work. That being said, I still know several French students (actually, almost all of the French students I have talked to) who disagree with the protests and agree that the government is making the right changes. It’s a touchy subject here and I think I can see both sides of it. My mom asked, “Well, do they not want to be efficient?” A valid question, perhaps, but the truth is that if I had lived the way the French had lived my entire life, I wouldn’t want my lifestyle to be changed by the government either. I suppose with the new global economy, though, they have little choice if they want to keep up with the rest of the developed countries.
Back to our trip to Reims! The champagne region was really, really gorgeous. The cathedral in Reims seemed to mimic the Notre Dame in Paris in many ways. Because it was in a smaller city with smaller buildings surrounding it, though, the cathedral seemed utterly massive. I was glad I was able to see it. The food in Reims was also phenomenal. When I say phenomenal, I am making a huge understatement, too. My parents had read about a little restaurant called Restaurant Anna where we ate not one but two of our meals while in Reims. The place had a great menu with traditional French dishes that we could not get enough of. We all tried escargot (I am proud to say that the first time I ever tried escargot was also the first time my mom had ever tried escargot) and ended up loving it. The snails were served in these small dishes with garlic butter and certain herbs, topped off with a piece of toast on the top which fit the dishes perfectly (see pictures). They could have put anything in there – snail, slug, dirt – it would not have mattered, the garlic butter concoction was incroyable! We used the bread to wipe the dishes clean of the garlic butter. Also on the table was veal medallions served with four mustards from the region, chicken rolled in cheese, beef skewers, and much, much more (see pictures, again). We were thoroughly satisfied. Of course, while in the Champagne region, eating was not the only thing we did. My parents and I also visited a few Champagneries. There was one where we took a tour of the caves – the pictures do not do them justice, but still better describe our experience than I could in words – and had a nice tasting of different types of Champagne. We learned that for Champagne, dry means sweet as opposed to not sweet as in wine. We also visited Veuve Cliquot, a very well known maker of Champagne and the maker of the champagne I actually sold when I was a waiter at Porcella Urban Market (Rest In Peace). Unfortunately, reservations for tastings at this place are necessary so we were unable to get a tasting. We still enjoyed our time at the Champagne maker next door to it where my mom found some great champagne bottles to take home with her.
On the drive back, we stopped at one point so I could practice driving our manual rental car. I had only ever learned before on my aunt and uncle’s Nissan Pathfinder (which I stalled many times) but did retain some feel from those lessons. Still, I stalled the car a few times this go around and have a bit more learning to do.
Back in Lille, my parents and I hit up the movie theatre on a rainy day to see Social Network, the movie about how Facebook was started. Great movie, we all thought. Before I left for my next trip (and my parents for theirs back home), we made our way to Brussels for one more night together and I was able to show them a few places which I had been to before. Because they had a couple more nights to stay in Brussels and I had already experienced a lot of Belgian food, I was able to convince them to take me to this hole-in-the-wall Greek restaurant near our hotel. If you don’t know already, Greek food is one of my favorites and finding good Greek food here has been a feat. So we lucked out and had a great Greek meal while we were there. The next morning, I was off for my next trip… keep posted :)
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