NICE, FRANCE

LONDON

ROMA

GREECE

My Busy European Life is Not Conducive to Frequent Updates!

Bon Soir Mes Amis!

For a while I was set on blaming our faulty internet provider for my delay in posting, but now I see I am partially to blame since it has been almost two months since my last post! Where has the time gone? After my weekend in Prague, my program took us to to the Alsace region of France and to a neighboring German town (now I can say I have been to Germany twice). It was a lot of fun and we got to sample (and buy) some of my favorite white wine that is produced in Alsace. 

It will not be easy to sum up my amazing spring break in Greece, but I will do my best. After a rather frustrating experience at the airport in Paris, we finally got on a plane to Athens and then connected to Santorini. We got off the plane and immediately knew we were in paradise. We stayed at a wonderful hostel that was more like a beach guest house just a minute walk from a beautiful black sand beach. During our stay in Santorini we took a boat ride out to a nearby volcano which we hiked- don't worry it was not active! After the hike we got to cool off, more like freeze off, by jumping off the boat (which looked like a pirate ship) into the sea as we frantically tried to swim to the "hot springs," which were more like luke warm springs but it was still amazing. Once our boat arrived back at port, a few of my friends and I decided to take a donkey ride back up to the main town which was one of the most memorable parts of the trip. We spent a few nights in Santorini and then made our way over to Ios for a couple days, and then it was on to Mykonos! Mykonos was every bit as beautiful as my dad had described, if not more. The water was as crisp and blue as the roof tops, and like the other islands, the people were incredibly friendly and welcoming. My friends and I decided to rent ATVs one afternoon which was so much fun! We ended up getting lost on our way to "Paradise Beach" and found ourselves stuck in mud at "Super Paradise Beach" (yes those are the actual names). We managed to get out and over to the main beach where we enjoyed some quality time in the sun and some good beach food. During our second day in Mykonos we took a short boat ride over to the island of  Delos, which I had actually studied in my Ancient Greek Sculpture class at school because it is known for its ancient ruins. We hiked a few mini mountains and walked around old temples and "streets" from the past. After some good sun and good food in Mykonos it was back to Athens were we explored the famous temples and walked around some awesome street markets. It was an amazing spring break that I will never forget and I cannot wait to go back to Greece.

I made the executive decision that I deserved a longer spring break so after one night in Paris it was back to the airport to enjoy a few days in Rome with my friend Caroline. We had a great time eating our way around Rome, exploring the museums and famous ruins, and enjoying the Italian pace of life. 

I returned to Paris that Wednesday night, went to class Thursday morning, and then jumped on the plane to visit my friends in London! Ah the life of a jet setter! My friend Neili is studying in London, and our friend Jenna who is studying in Israel had planned a trip there so it was the perfect opportunity to reunite. We enjoyed high tea at the Orangery by Kensington Palace, got a great view from the London Eye, shopped at Portobello Market, had a delicious sundae at Harrod's, and saw Spring Awakening (my second time seeing it) for a great student discount! It was a fun filled weekend and I returned to Paris on the eve of my 21st birthday!

This past weekend my friend Caroline and I made a trip down south to Nice, which is better than nice, it's great (ok lame joke I know)! It felt like a mix of South Beach, and Florence with a hint of France. We were so lucky with the weather which enabled us to walk up and down the boardwalk during the day and at night- gelato cone in hand! On Saturday we visited the Chagall Museum which was incredible, and on Sunday we went to the Matisse Museum and Musee des Beaux Arts- both of which were great. At the Matisse Museum we literally stumbled upon a May Day festival happening right outside the museum. A lively crowd of all ages playing games, cooking food and enjoying the weather. We also went to an outdoor book fair where I spoke with one of the sellers in French about my love of art and art history- which in turn led him to give me (yes, a cadeau!) an old Manet book! I cant wait to add it to my future art library. Doing what many students on a budget do, Caroline and I opted for the overnight train back to Paris instead of flying in order to give us more time on Sunday and save a bit of money. While I did wake up with a stiff neck, it was certainly worth it since our weekend in sunny Nice was so amazing. 

Now that I am back in Paris, I have exactly 2 weeks to complete my Paris to-do list and truly live it up so to speak. I cannot believe how fast the semester has gone ,and while I am excited to see my friends and family, I am really going to miss Paris and my European life!

PRAGUE: Bohemia is Alive and Well!

Bonjour!

I know I am a little behind in my postings, but I finally have a minute to sit down and write about my amazing weekend in Prague. For starters, this was my first time flying internationally alone, which felt great. I arrived in Prague to be greeted with open arms and a big smile from my best friend Sarah Weiss, who is studying there for the semester. We took a bus and then metro to Old Town Square, which a beautiful historic area located just 2 minutes from her apartment! We had a delicious dinner - thanks in part to the fact that the Crown (their currency) is so much better than the euro I felt like I could dine like royalty there! It was so nice to catch up with a good friend over great food and wine.  

On Friday we walked around Old Town and went to an outdoor market filled with fruits, veggies, puppets (they have a thing for puppets oddly enough in Prague) and postcards - of course I got a few of those. Then Weiss took me on her usual walk to class which took us over the Charles Bridge where we had a beautiful view of the city and a castle off in the distance. We walked up some intense cobble stone streets to the top of the hill where the castle is and got an amazing panorama view. After findings an incredible place for lunch- equipped with a fish tank in the floor - we decided to check out the Kafka Museum since she had not been yet. Neither of us knew much about the writer/artists before the exhibit, but I am definitely interested in reading some of his works now! The exhibit provided a lot of information about his personal life, the history of Prague, as well as some Jewish history at the time. One of my favorite quotes from the exhibit was: "Nobody wants to introduce more reforms as children do." We headed down the hill to the Modern Art Museum, stopping along to the way to visit the Lennon Wall which is so colorful and happy! We signed the wall in various places and even made a little shout-out to Badger lacrosse! The Modern Art Museum was definitely worth a visit since I discovered some Czech artists I had never heard of, and we wandered from gallery to gallery taking it all in.  Feeling a little museumed-out, we headed back to her apartment to make some dinner plans with other Wisconsin friends studying in Prague. We had a great Thai dinner with our friend Alice who also plays on the UW lax team, and then met up with some of their friends for a fun night at a club that only plays 80s and 90s music from America! It was so funny hearing all these foreigners belting out the words to Spice Girls, Michael Jackson, Cindy Lauper and more. 

The best thing after a long and fun night out is a great brunch- so a group of us headed to their favorite spot for some good food. I happened to run into a girl who used to  go to my camp who I have not seen since we were 13! Small world! With a new pep in our step we decided to head back to Old Town Square to see the  Mucha exhibit. I studied art nouveau at school, but we never really discussed this particular artist so it was really great to learn something new and see some beautiful and creative artwork. It was great to be able to read some of the postcards on the wall that he wrote in French, since he lived 

and worked in both Bohemia and Paris.

Our evening plans were a bit more low key on Saturday night- we met up with Alice again and one of her friends who was visiting from the states to go to a well-known Vegetarian restaurant which was amazing! Afterwards Weiss and I hung out at her apartment and got a good night's sleep for my final day of playing tourist.

Sunday morning we got up early and walked over to the Jewish Quarter. The Jewish Quarter contains the remains of Prague's former Jewish ghetto, the Old Cemetery, the Jewish Museum, 5 synagogues, and the old Jewish Town Hall. We bought our tour ticket and explored the Old Synagogue and Cemetery and then went to the museum and outdoor market. The cemetery was a very moving experience. It dates from 1478, and is Europe's oldest "surviving" Jewish cemetery. In Prague, Jewish people were not allowed to burry their dead outside of the ghetto, so they had to establish a way to build the tombs one on top of the other. During WWII, Hitler decided that he would not touch the Jewish Cemetery of Prague since he wanted to leave it as an example of all the killed Jews in Europe and one day make a museum out of it - how ironic. After a good talk about what we had seen, Weiss and I decided to lighten the mood and meet up with our friend Casey (who I went to high school with and goes to UW) for brunch at Bohemia Bagel- a favorite spot for American students and Prague 

residents alike. Parting ways with Casey, Weiss and I headed to the airport for my return to Paris. 

It was an absolutely amazing weekend filled with fun friends, great food, beautiful art and architecture and a newfound understanding and respect for Prague's history and culture! I recommend a trip

 over there to anyone- especially if you want to experience the feeling of holding a 2,000 Crown bill in your hand (equal to 100 US dollars)! 

Bises,

Lauren Jill

A Trip to Champagne and More of Life in Paris

Bonjour!

Due to our internet provider canceling our apartment service for a whole week (with no warning), it has been a rather long time since I updated this blog - so brace yourself, there is a lot to catch you up on! Life in Paris continues to get better and better. Today the sun came out in full force and it was nearly 60 degrees! 

On March 7 we went on a CEA trip to the Champagne region of France. We spent the morning at the Notre Dame in 

Reims. It is a beautiful cathedral that is the site of the baptism of the first king of France, and has since served as the place where every king of France was crowned. The church itself was damaged during the second world war, and one of the major windows was replaced with a stained glass design by Marc Chagall- it is beautiful. In keeping with the tradition and legacy of the region, one of the other stained glass panels shows the production of wine- we thought this was awesome and definitely not what you would expect to see in a formal cathedral. After a wonderful lunch in the town center of Reims, we spent the afternoon at the Cordon Rouge de Mumm museum. Cordon Rouge de Mumm is one of the most famous and largest producers of champagne. We watched a very informative video on the history of Cordon Rouge and the Mumm family, and then took a tour of the underground cellar space. There are 16 miles of cellar space, and we saw the "secret" room of rare and vintage bottles of champagne. We soon realized that the $5 bottles of Andre we buy back in the states can't legally be considered champagne since it is certainly not produced in the Champagne region of France. We were then taken to a taste test room where we sampled two varieties of champagne- one was a sweeter version of their original drink, the other was a more "brute" or dryer and stronger taste. It was a really neat experience.

That same weekend I had 4 visitors! One of my best friends from Wisconsin, Molly, who is studying in Israel came for the weekend. It was so amazing to spend some time with her and show her around le Marais. Three of my best camp friends also stayed with me that weekend- Liz came from Florence, Katie from Copenhagen, and Hank all the way from the states! It was a wonderful reunion of sorts. A jam packed weekend to say the least!

This past week my French class went to the movies to see a new film called Welcome. It was an incredible experience. Part of the dialogue was in broken English, spoken between a young boy from Iraq and a middle aged Parisian man (with subtitles in French), the rest of the film was in French (no subtitles). It was a challenging but extremely fun experience and I loved the movie- if it comes to the states I recommend it to everyone. The entire metro ride home I spoke only in French with my teacher who, I quickly found out, lives 2 min away from me! We talked about our neighborhood, the old man at the Picpus fruit stand and which streets we take to the metro. It felt so nice to be able to converse entirely in French with my teacher about something other than the class lesson. I really feel like I am getting better and better each day and doing more local activities like getting my shoes fixed at the shoe repair store- maybe now I won't feel like I am waking barefoot on the cobble stones!

I will make another post soon about my weekend in Prague, but for now I am off to cook dinner and then celebrate St. Patrick's Day at an Irish bar in the Odeon area of the city!

-Lauren Jill