Nice/Monaco - winning the big money :)

I went to the French Riviera with my roommate, her boyfriend and my friend Kevin for a short two-day weekend that I had in April. The French Riviera is composed of small cities that border the coastline of South France. Nice (pronounced niece) and Monaco were two of the towns that I visited for the 48 hours that I was in the Riviera. The first night we went to Monaco, which is considered it’s own country and is ruled by Prince Albert II. Monaco is known for money, money & money, with a 0% unemployment rate. It has the Monte Carlo Casino, known as one of the richest casinos in the world – and some of the décor inside was literally made of gold. We spent the evening touring around the gardens of the casino and spending some time near the water. Cars like Ferraris & Bentleys were everywhere, as were really old people dressed like a million dollars. We had dinner near the Casino, and it was surprisingly not expensive and really good. France is close to Italy, so there is a lot of Italian influence in their cuisine. I had the best chocolate mousse that I have ever had for dessert. It wasn’t fluffy and yogurt tasting like it is in the States, but so rich and flavorful that I could barely finish my plate. Afterwards, Emily and I went into the Casino alone because the boys were not allowed inside with their shorts. I was excited to play at this world famous casino, but I knew I would just be walking out thirty euros poorer. I embarrassingly settled with my 5 euro chips to play roulette with old men that were betting with 100 euro chips. Somehow, I kept getting all the corner numbers right, and I walked out with 220 euros 45 minutes after being in the casino. That’s subtracting the cover I paid and the money I spent to buy the chips. It was pretty exciting…..but it lasted about thirty minutes. We missed our train ride back to the hotel, and I offered to pay the 90 euro cab ride back. Overall, a bitter sweet night.

The next day it was pouring outside, and none of us had the desire to go explore in the rain. So, we went and had lunch at our beachside hotel. We were indoors but had a good view of the sea, and I ordered an omelet and a honey crepe. I’ve decided that I do not really like crepes, there are far many tastier desserts in the world. Afterwards, we all went back into the hotel room and napped or read our books until it stopped raining later in the day. We took a train to Old Town Nice and walked along the beach and through a nice park. Nice was surrounded by flowers and gardens blossoming everywhere. We also watched the sunset from the middle of the town, as we searched for our fondue restaurant that was highly recommended in one of my books. Sadly, the restaurant was full for the night so we were left to find a new place to eat. We stumbled upon an Indian restaurant called Delhi Behli, and my friend Kevin experienced Indian food for the first time. Afterwards, we walked to a nearby casino because I really wanted to play my luck again. This time I lost 20 euros.

We had a 4pm flight out on Sunday, and we woke up around 10am to beautiful weather. We walked and sat along the beach right by our hotel, before going to the Beach Club for lunch. Not only did we have lunch outdoors on the beach, but all of us got our own chocolate fondue for dessert. It was really, really good, and it made up for the terrible pizza that I had as an entrée. It was not the most ideal weather for the French Riviera, but it was a relaxing and entertaining weekend. 

Switzerland - all about the chocolate

I planned on going to Switzerland when my parents came to Rome, so we went to Geneva and Interlaken for 5 days during the first week in April. My aunt and my cousin were also visiting at the same time. We flew into Geneva first, and spent the day driving around. Geneva is apparently the watch capital of the world, so we were surrounded by thousands of different watches. We went into a park where there was a clock designed with flowers, and you could tell the flowers had just started to blossom. We also went near the lake and saw the tallest water fountain in the world. It was situated in the middle of water, and went straight up. I didn’t think it was very pretty or anything, but it was interesting to see because it is one of Geneva’s tourist marks. We spent the afternoon shopping on Mont Blanc Street, which is the famous shopping street. My parents and my aunt bought really nice watches that originate from Switzerland. Afterwards, we drove around to find this Mexican restaurant because I really wanted Mexican food. Sadly, it was closed during the afternoon so we ended up eating falafel at a random place on that street. The falafel was not that good, but the red-hot chili sauce was delicious. Also, I quickly learned that Switzerland was the most expensive country that I have been to. Medium fries are around $7 at any given place, and even McDonald’s will cost you an average of $15-20 per meal. It’s a good thing I had Sammy paying for every thing…..I mean he always pays for everything, but it’s much easier to eat $7 fries when he is handing over the bills. Although, several times I got into arguments with him because he wanted to pay large amounts of money for things that were not worth it.

We left for Interlaken mid-afternoon, and it was a very beautiful scenic car ride through the Swiss Alps. Interlaken is a small town by the Junfrau mountain located in the Bernese Alps. We drove around the small city and ate at an Indian restaurant – it was pretty good and it had a Michelin Star (highest rating for a good restaurant). The next day, we woke up and walked around Interlaken and it’s park. It was chilly outside but the mountains with the snow looked so beautiful and surreal. My cousin Ami and I decided that we needed to do something fun in Switzerland, since it is known to contain some of the best extreme and thrilling sports in the world. We decided to paraglide. We drove up to the mountains and choose random pilots to paraglide with when we got to the top. They told us that we had to pick the pilots because we had to “choose our destiny”, and then they told us that if anything happened to us our families would receive $150,000 in compensation. Not what I wanted to hear when I was about to jump off a mountain 4,000 feet high. Once we got to the top, I was clipped onto a large parachute and then attached to my pilot. He told me to sit far into his lap because we would basically be married for the next twenty minutes…..shady I know. Once we were all fastened onto the parachute and all, we had to run downhill on the mountain – as if we were going to jump from it. This was the scariest part, because I was the one leading. After about 10 seconds, we were floating in the air around the Swiss Alps. It was a really amazing experience, but not as thrilling as I expected. I think skydiving would be much much scarier. Still, it was the riskiest thing I have ever done, and I was very calm and excited for it.

After our little sporting event, Ami and I did a chocolate show at this famous chocolatier that has been around since 1818. We learned how cocoa beans are grown and how powder from the bean is used to make various types of chocolates. We were allowed to sample milk, dark and white chocolate chips – and I can honestly say it was the best milk chocolate I have ever had in my life. The dark chocolate was much more bitter than the States, but still tasty! We also got to dip strawberries into the milk and dark chocolate that was being melted in a machine to form into chocolates. I was in heaven. Lastly, we were shown how shaped chocolate was made (like the bunnies around Easter) and were allowed to sample other chocolates. We also received a voucher to buy chocolates from their chocolate shop, and Ami and I each got a pastry and a chocolate shoe. Afterwards, we shopped around for postcards and went to dinner. Ami and I went to fondue while my parents and my aunt went to search for “American style pizza”. – Apparently Italian style pizza did not have enough flavoring for them. We choose a place called the Chateu, and it smelled like dirty, wet dog when we stepped in. I was so desperate for cheese fondue, I decided the smell would not bother me. I was wrong, in between dipping my bread into the cheese, I had to sniff my hair so that I would not pass out. Ami felt the same way, so I was NOT exaggerating. When we left the restaurant, we met up with my family and let them smell us. They were not pleased. That night, my parents went to a nearby casino while Ami and I had a drink in the lounge and went to bed early. It was a good thing that we left Interlaken the next morning, because it was raining hardcore and the sky was really cloudy. We spent the day driving through Bern & Laussane, and stopped in Montreux for the afternoon. Montreux is on the Swiss Riviera, and it has a really pretty scenery because it surrounded by water with the Swiss Alps in the background. We went to the Chateau de Chillon which was first constructed in 1160 and was located right on Lake Geneva. It was really cool to walk through the various rooms and see the artifacts, and my parents enjoyed it because they haven’t been to a museum like thing in ages. We finally made it back to Geneva in the late evening and went to the Mexican restaurant for dinner. The nachos were really good, but only because I hadn’t had Mexican food in SO long. The next day was Easter, so most things in Geneva were closed. We slept in and drove around during the afternoon. We visited the United Nation headquarters and the world trade building and took pictures around it. Many of the UN conventions take place in Geneva, so that was interesting to see. For lunch, Dominos was one of the only places open so I settled for my own small sized $25 pizza made with processed cheese. I’m going to have a hard time eating “processed cheese” pizza in the States after 4 months of fresh mozzerella in the US. In the evening, we went to a nearby casino where I played roulette and loss. I really had fun playing that though, and was winning for a little bit of the time. There was also free chocolate all around the Casino, so I stuffed about 50 pieces into my purse and pockets. Swiss chocolate is really really good and really really expensive, so this was totally worth it. I forgot to mention that chocolates are always on the reception desks at all hotels in Switzerland, and I had to have eaten at least seventy pieces of free chocolate during my 5 -day trip. Overall, the Swiss Alps were absolutely beautiful, and the chocolate was the best chocolate in the whole world. 

London - Love

If I could leave Chicago and move to any other city in the world, hands down it would be London. That should tell you how much I loved it, because I always claim I would never leave Chicago. Yes, everything in London was more expensive than Chicago, but the shopping, food, and Indian men were incomparable.

I had been saving the big three cities for Spring Break, because I knew I wanted to spend the most time there. I started in London, went to Paris and ended in Barcelona.

I got into London late on a Thursday night, and we stayed at a Holiday Inn ten minutes away from center of everything.  On Friday morning, we did a free walking tour where we saw the changing of the guards for the royal palace, Buckingham palace, royal gardens, Trafalgar square, Big Ben, the Parliament, and Westminster Abbey Church. Our tour guide was really good, and told us many interesting stories about all these places. We did not go inside the Parliament because it is closed when in session, and we didn’t go into the palace because it is only open to the public in the summer.  After the tour ended, we went to a traditional English pub where most people got “fish and chips” I always thought that would be some kind of fish dip with chips, but it’s fried fish on French fries. I got a veggie burger, which was homemade and different from the veggie burgers at home! Afterwards, we went by the water to the London Eye (big ferris wheel that gives you a view of London), and took pictures there. Then we went near the Big Ben clock and did the same. At 5pm we went to an evening song event at Westminister Abbey, because that is the only time that you can get into the church without paying a $20 entrance fee. The choir was really peaceful and the church was beautiful. I saw the alter where Prince Williams and Kate Middleton got married. Westminister Abbey is the official church for nearly all of the royal events, so it was pretty exciting to see the inside of it!

Afterwards, we went to the shopping street where one of the world’s most famous department store resides – Harrod’s. This department store was one of the most beautiful things I have ever been in. It had about 10 different floors full of everything imaginable. The bottom floor held all the designer purses, with each corner of it representing a different designer. There was a floor for just diamonds. Even a floor where there were puppies and every toy possible for your pet. In addition, there was a whole sector of Harrod’s just for CHOCOLATE. Chocolate that you could buy by the pound, in a package, as a candy bar, as hot chocolate, just about anything you can imagine. There was also a tea room, restaurant and café. Sadly, the only purchases I made from this store were fruit teas and chocolates. Nordstrom, Von Maur and Macy’s cannot even compare to how amazing and enormous this department store was.

Next, we went to Platform 9 ¾  which was underground in between the platforms for the underground railway system. I don’t know a thing about Harry Potter, but it was cool to take a picture here. We headed to Leicester Square for dinner, because we knew it had London’s only Chipotle there. This square is home to the entertainment and social world of London, and it was brightly lit up with fountains, theaters, restaurants and other entertainment venues everywhere. We walked around the area for a while, and saw street performers dancing and doing magic tricks. It took us about an hour to find Chipotle because very few people in London knew what it was, but we were all satisfied once we did. We ended the night by shopping around for postcards and stamps before heading back to the hotel.

The next morning we went back to Buckingham Palace to watch the official changing of the guards ceremony that happens at 11am each day. This is when the queen’s guards come on horseback and change their positions. Unfortunately, it was raining so the ceremony was canceled. We decided to go to the British Library next, which ended up being one of my favorite things to visit. It held the original magna Carta for London, handwritten lyrics on envelopes, paper, etc by the Beatles, original scripts by Shakespeare, the script of Alice in Wonderland, and so many other original pieces that were historically significant or famous in the entertainment industry. Best of all, it was a free entrance to see all of this! After the library we went to a nearby English pub for lunch since it was Saint Patrick’s day and we wanted to get some beer. We took a train to see Saint Paul’s Cathedral, which is where many royal funerals have taken place. (Including Princess Diana’s). The church was really pretty, but not one of the best that I have seen in Europe. My friend Emily and I decided to get tea and a pastry by near the cathedral, because “tea time” is a very English thing to do. I got a vanilla based tea with a lemon cake, and the lemon cake is the best lemon flavored thing that I have ever had.

Most of the other people that I came to London with decided to go to a musical that evening, because London is suppose to be as good as the broadway shows in New York. Emily and I were not very interested in this, instead we went to London’s main shopping street known as Oxford Circus. I had a lot of fun going into the different stores, including TopShop which is known to be London’s forever 21. (Pricier and trendier though). I bought a gold and metallic shirt that I really have been wanting for a while, as well as a scarf to go with my new coat! Afterwards we decided to go see the Kensington Palace (where William and Kate live), but it was a  bad idea because apparently the palace is not lit up at all during the night. We could barely make the outline of the palace, and it was disappointing after all the metro changing we had to do to get there. We ended the night by going to a well-known Indian restaurant named Dishoom. This is where I people watched the Indian community, and noticed how Indians are so much more attractive in London. The food was also good, but Emily saw a little rat running around just as we were leaving the restaurant……don’t really know what to say to that.

Sunday was the last full day we had in London. I began the morning by taking the train to Tower of London. It was a beautiful day outside, so I got to take a lot of good pictures of the tower that was once a castle. We toured around the inside and I saw a wing of the castle where many traitors were kept and tortured. We got a chance to see some of the original methods and tools they used for torture, and it was really shocking to see inscriptions on the walls left by the traitors during their time there. My favorite part of the tower was visiting the crown jewels. This is Where many of the diamond crowns and rings of Queens and Kings are located. Also, the world's biggest diamond - 530 carats lives here…..I wish I had that in my drawer.

In the afternoon, I headed to Leyton to meet some of my friends to do an Olympic tour of Leyton, London – where the 2012 Summer Olympics are going to be held! The tour took 2.5 hours, but it was not what we expected. Our tour guide was really boring and old, and there was not as much prepared and accessible to see as we had anticipated. Instead, this old woman decided to tell us about the town, the river, the streets, and other things that I had no care for. However, we did get to see practice indoor swimming pools that are going to be used for the swimmer athletes, the pringle stadium for the basketball Olympics, and most interesting of all – the Olympic walkway for the athletes!  We ended by seeing the ArcelorMittal Orbit designed by Anish Kapoor – worth 20 million pounds, and it will offer panoramic views of the olympics. I am really curious to see how this all looks on television when the Olympics come about this fall.

As much as I wanted to explore more of London because I loved it so much, I was too tired to do anything else Sunday evening. I walked around with some of my friends as we searched for a good place to eat, but a lot of things were closed. Europe in general closes a lot of its shops on Sundays, but I expected London to be more like home. Instead, I ended up eating McDonald’s as my last meal…..but unlike Chicago, they have a veggie burger wrap which was pretty ridiculous.

I spent my three days in London thinking how much I loved it and how sad I would be to leave…..even though I was moving on to Paris. I almost did not leave when I was suppose to, because I barely made my flight the next morning to Paris. Let’s just say that I underestimated how long it would  take me to get through security.