back from spring break...

the past ten days have been a total blur! my crazy spring break began on friday with a 2am trip to the secret bakery since we were already awake to catch our 3am bus to the pisa airport. after an hour bus ride, we caught our 6am flight from pisa to eidenhoven where we took another hour bus ride to amsterdam. the whole reason we took that particular flight was to save money, but at the end of the experience, i think i would have rather paid the extra money to get a direct flight from florence to amsterdam! regardless of our lack of sleep, my roommate mairin and i were so happy to finally arrive in amsterdam around 11am on friday. it was so different that i had remembered it to be! while the city has its crazy parts, the residential areas are BEAUTIFUL!!! it reminded me very much of london. the first thing we did was find this restaurant that a couple of my other roommates had told us about called "wok to walk". everyone who has been to amsterdam says this place is amazing--and i couldn't agree more! you choose from different noodles, veggies and sauces. then, they mix it all up on these big iron bowls. yum! on our last day, we went to the anne frank house which was just as interesting as i had remembered it.

from amsterdam, we took a train to paris to meet up with the rest of our roommates. the three days we spent in that city were just so fabulous. the entire time i was there i couldn't stop thinking about my mom. every little thing there reminds me of her--it is such a magical place. we did all the typical sights along with some great restaurants and shopping. i told a couple of the girls that we needed to go to the trucadero where we could get an unbelievable view of the eiffel tower and take some great pictures. the minute we got there i had the most unreal flashback from my europe trip with my friends after highschool. on that trip, we took some of the most incredible pictures! i could close my eyes and imagine my highschool friends standing right next to me. as happy as i was to be there again with my new friends, i still wished i could be back in that moment from a few years ago. while in paris, we found the most delicious macaroons at this bakery called laduree--i have never tasted anything like them! 

after paris, we took another train to bordeaux. honestly, i had no idea what to expect! but once we got there, we had a blast. the tourist office told us about a wine and cheese tasting that was only 20 euro so we couldn't say no. the tasting ended up being just our friends and it lasted 3 hours. the best part was at the end when they told us it was time for the cheese tasting. they led us downstairs to this little room FULL OF CHEESE and said, "grab a plate and help yourself." we just about died!!!!! i had never seen that much cheese in one place and i didn't even know where to begin. every single bite was a bit of heaven!!! our favorites were the cheese rolled in apricots and the fabulous selection of brie. wow--even thinking about it now makes me smile! but the best part of bordeaux was yet to come. as i said, we had no idea what to do or eat while we were there so i went online and researched some places to eat. i came across a review for a restaurant called "cafe cassolette" that sounded great so we decided to go. it was probably the best decision we made while we were on spring break! the entire meal, start to finish, was totally and completely fantastic. we decided to order off of a section of the menu that allowed each person to select 5 different dishes--all of them were served in little casserole plates. our favorites included: chicken salad with pesto, salad topped with sauteed onions and cheese, chunks of potato with melted cheese and bacon, warm bree rolled in pepper, and warm apple topped with melted white cheese. i feel 20 pounds heavier just thinking about how much we ate. honestly, if anyone ever has a chance to go to bordeaux or is even in the area, it is worth it to go in to the town  JUST TO TRY THAT RESTAURANT!!!! we loved it so much that we went back both nights for dinner. i definitely left a part of my heart at that restaurant.

we took an overnight train from bordeaux to nice which was interesting. it made the most sense based on our limited amount of time to travel, but it wasn't the most comfortable choice! regardless, we got to nice early friday morning for the last part of our spring break. it was such a relaxing and fun town. by this point in the trip, only three of us were left (the rest had gone form paris to venice). it was the first time our bodies had seen bright sunlight in months! we were blissfully happy. as we sat on the beach drinking bottles of wine, we had to pinch ourselves to make sure it wasnt a dream. we agreed that we are, without a doubt, very very lucky girls. the rest of our time in nice was spent eating great food and visiting all the adorable local markets. we had read about a local speciality called "socca"--a thin chic-pea bread. while at one of the markets, we saw a woman cooking it so we immediately got in line to try it out. of course, it was delicious. i don't think we ate anything we didnt like! thats probably the reason some of my jeans don't fit anymore--good thing its springtime and i can wear dresses!

our last train from nice to florence was a long one but i was with great travel buddies so the whole experience was perfect! once we got back to florence, i was so excited to be "home". i just love italy! i had such a sense of calm when we all walked into the apartment after a crazy ten days of traveling. all in all, spring break was an absolute success. out of 7 girls noone lost their passport, missed a train, or had anything stolen--horray!

i have a bunch of pictures to post and will have that done tomorrow so i will post the link as soon as possible!

and now it's back to classes! 4 out the 7 girls  families are visiting this week so it is bound to be busy. i can't wait to continue exploring the city and preparing for my next trips to cinque-terre, budapest, the amalfi coast, capri, pompeii, sicily and possibly a day trip to naples just to taste the pizza. with only 6 weeks left i know i have to make the most of every moment!

i hope all is well with everyone! thank you for continuing to read about my adventures!!

lovelovelove