Céret is a small border town that sits just on the other side of the Pyrenees in southern France. A friend has a family friend with an apartment in this quaint ville and we were invited to stay for the weekend. Leaving Friday morning, we broke up the two hour train ride by stopping in Figueres to visit Salvador Dali’s museum. The museum, topped with a massive dome reminiscent of Epcot, houses many of Dali’s works and shows the evolution of Dali’s creative, signature style. After touring the surprisingly vast collection of paintings, sculptures, and other creations, I finally came to terms that I am indeed not a fan of modern art. While it is apparent that Dali had quite the imagination to dream up such perplexing works, they failed to instill a sense of wonder or appreciation for me. If you do enjoy the work of Dali and his contemporaries, then a trip to Figueres and the museum is required. Despite this initial setback, Dali did not completely disappoint; his jeweled creations were captivating and I was able to wonder at just how Dali was able to think of, and then bring to life, such radiant manifestations. One piece involved a jeweled heart that actually had a pulsating movement to it. Incredible.

Our host Carl picked us up in Figueres, about a twenty five minute drive to Céret, and when we pulled into town, we were inundated with the charm of the small French town. The narrow streets, miniscule even by European standards, barely fit our car and pedestrians sometimes had to slide into doorways in order to avoid the mirrors. Carl took us up to the apartment and introduced us to the beautiful view from the balcony, warmed by the Mediterranean sunshine. The most welcoming individual, Carl brought out some snacks and French beer and we basked in the heat while looking across the valley. A true French dinner, made by our host himself, ended with a tray of four cheeses and the epoisses stole the show. Filled to the brim, the comfort of a bed quickly became irresistible and we turned in.

The next morning we woke up in order to make it to the weekly Saturday market. It seems that the whole town of Céret is in attendance, either buying or selling fresh produce, homemade crafts, or delicious beignets. We picked up ingredients for dinner that night along with a dozen very, very fresh oysters (a personal favorite) to snack on that afternoon. I was again able to practice some French and was more than pleased at my ability to keep up with conversation. After a pitstop at the Café de Paris in the center of town for some café au laits, we went back to the apartment and could not escape the calling of the balcony drenched in sunlight. After an excellent respite, it was time to celebrate another Carnaval with the town of Céret. Carl’s friends, an elderly British couple Mavis and Bob, invited us to an apartment with a balcony above the parade route and we watched the raucous parade from the perfect vantage point. Evidently the parade goes through town twice, as if once was not enough, however we elected to leave after the first lap. My friends and I went exploring up a hillside and captured phenomenal views of the whole area before the sun finally set.

Dinner that night again followed the delicious French fashion, however, this time it was a demi-sec goat cheese that stole my fancy at the end of the night. After genial conversation and a quick check in on the NCAA tournament, we set for bed in order to rise early enough to take one last tour through town in the morning. We had a final café au lait at The Grand Café and walked the confetti-strewn streets one last time before Carl drove us back to Figueres to catch the train back to Barcelona. The weekend in Céret was relaxing and everything I needed to enjoy my time back in France. I also think I found the perfect retirement community for myself in 50 years or so.

March 20, 2012

Celebrate Me Home

It’s Tuesday and I am late in writing to you yet again…I think the European lax ideas of tardiness are starting to rub off on me.  All of my apologies, I am now caffeinated and ready to share!  So, to start where I left off…midterms ended (thank God) and break was upon us!  Spring break held the promise of so many enticing prospective destinations but I ultimately decided to venture out of Rome and visit the land of tapas, flamenco dancing, bull fighting, and where two of my best friends are currently studying.  Spain was the name of the game.

First stop: Madrid!  My friend Lauren and I flew into Madrid late (in American

terms) Thursday night and grabbed a taxi to our hostel.  Our Chicago roommate and best friend Emily was there waiting for us!  What a perfect start to our trip.  True to Spanish custom we did not go to bed upon late arrival but rather ate delicious tapas, drank copious amounts of sangria and stayed out as late as our bodies would let us.  In the following weekend we visited the Palacio Real, the Prado Museum, Plaza Mayor, and the St. Michael Market to name a few of our adventures.  We met up with another Loyola friend, Donais, who had studied in Madrid the year before.  She introduced us to some local friends and we hit the university nightlife scene.  It was a wonderful end to a spectacular weekend.  Luckily for me, it was just the beginning of my Spanish adventure.

Adios Madrid! Buenos dias Alicante!  Alicante is a small, southern beach town where the sun shines with promise and the people are some of the kindest I’ve met! Emily is studying at a university there and living with a host mom, which differs

greatly from my dorm style living in Rome.  We walked the town soaking up the sun, sipping on café con leche and hearing all about Emily’s adventures in this gorgeous town.  The beach overlooking the Mediterranean Sea was flawless and locals and international students alike were taking full advantage of it.   We met some of Emily’s amazing friends and even had a true Spanish lunch with her house mom, Salome.  Despite about 4 years of Spanish language experience I am nowhere near fluent in the quick paced language.  Regardless, Salome spoke slowly and beautifully in a pace that I could understand and I felt like I was getting the kind of experience I could only dream of.  She made typical Spanish dishes and we spoke of politics and women’s rights for a delicious and leisurely 2-hour meal.  The next few days were characterized by climbing.  We climbed to the top of the Alicante castle and up the hill of a neighboring town to its gorgeous main plaza.  The views of the sea at sunset are some I will never forget.

Sad to say goodbye to Emily but excited about continuing our adventure, we headed up the coast to Barcelona.  Wow!  I have never experienced a cooler city in my life.

The nightlife rages until morning, the food is spectacular, the shopping is divine, the people are beautiful, and the architecture is some of the most interesting I have ever seen!  I felt like a grown up kid walking around CandyLand in Parc Guell with the sandcastle-like creations of Gaudi.  We decided the city was too big to explore on own so I did something I thought I would never stoop to.  Yes, I took the infamous red tourist bus.  Sunglasses and scarves allowed us to feel incognito while boarding the bus stamped with “we aren’t cool enough to be from here” on the side.  The English speaking tour was actually thorough and helpful and I decided ultimately being cool was overrated anyway.  I shed my sunglasses and really took in the city from the roof of the bus…it was perfect!  Our other Chicago roommate and great friend, Thomas is studying in Barcelona this semester as well.  We grabbed dinner with him and got the honor to meet a bunch of his international and amazing new friends.  We played a traditional game with Germans, listened to Parisians talk about home, and played American beer pong with friends from the Netherlands.  It was the most internationally enlightening 21^st birthday party I have ever been to.  As the week came to a close I was sad to say goodbye to Spain and to my old friends, but alas the time had come to pack up our messy hotel room and fly back to Rome.

The next week occurred without too many stories to share.  Midterms have slowed to a halt and I had time to take a cooking class and learn how to make homemade pasta with pesto sauce…yum!  The weather has been wonderful and we passed most of the week sitting in the courtyard soaking up the Italian sun.  The whole sunny week led up to one of my favorite holidays…St. Patrick’s Day. I was jealous of my friends’ Facebook and Twitter posts about the bright green river and two-day citywide celebration happening back in Chicago and it caused me to miss home quite a bit.  Who celebrates an Irish holiday in Italian Rome? A group of about 10 of my JFRC friends and I hit the town in our green shirts searching for any type of measly festivity.  We found it, but it wasn’t so measly after all.  The Irish pubs, the Italian restaurants, and the streets alike were alive with celebration.  We met new people, drank great beer, and celebrated until morning.  I found a comfort in Rome that day.  We really aren’t all so different after all.  After my week in Spain and my holiday in Rome, I have realized we are all just people looking for reasons to celebrate and to laugh.  I feel at home in this sentiment.

“May the road rise to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face;

The rain fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of his hand.”

Cheers!

Christine

If I could  describe Spring Break 2012 in one word: whirlwind. It was seriously a crazy week of planes, trains and automobiles. The first day, I was in three countries. Three countries in one day. What is this craziness? That’s what I was asking myself as I reached my hostel that night. However, despite the insanity, it was the most amazing trip of my life. I learned and saw so much; I’ll never forget it.

I started off my Friday morning with a plane ride to Brussels, Belgium. It wasn’t spectacular weather, but it was still cool to experience the city. I discovered that I essentially forgot most of my French in favor of Italian. When ordering a coffee, I thanked the guy with a “grazie” instead of “merci”. The amount of times that happened on the entire trip was slightly embarrassing, but I guess that means I’ve fully embraced the Italian life, right?

To be honest, Brussels would have been cooler if I’d actually stayed there longer, but my hostel for the night was in Amsterdam. Visiting Brussels was sort of a trip of convenience (meaning I got an extremely cheap flight there). It was still nice, nonetheless, but I was excited to get my butt up to Amsterdam. So, I hopped on a three hour train ride and made it up to the city in time to curl up in bed. Needless to say, it was an exhausting day.

At least I got a Belgian Waffle.

I didn’t care much what my hostel looked like. I was just happy for a bed and a place to put all of my crap. The next morning was better though. I sort of overslept and rushed to get down to the free tour, barely missing it. So, I was determined to walk around and explore when I ran into the tour! Or so I thought. It wasn’t until halfway through that I realized I had joined a school group. Oh well. I still learned things and nobody said anything to me. After some unauthorized learning, I snuck away from the tour and headed back to the flower mart. It is one of the largest floating markets in Europe, but the Netherlands’ famous tulips are actually an import from India (thanks tour guide). They sell some pretty nice things for pretty cheap, so I took advantage, of course.

Ze flower mart.

The afternoon found me visiting the Anne Frank House, which was really amazing. What the family went through was unimaginable. I couldn’t believe how little room they actually had and how quiet they had to be. The rest of my time was spent eating and exploring. Overall, Amsterdam was pretty great, but definitely not my favorite place of the trip.

That came next: Berlin. Hopped on a quick flight from Amsterdam to Berlin on Sunday morning and was in the city by the afternoon. Words cannot describe how much I loved Berlin. It was definitely a different city from what I’ve experienced in Europe so far. It was far more modern and didn’t have that old world feel. It was largely destroyed in WWII and was not rebuilt for various political reasons. Actually, it was destroyed even more after the war. All of the old Nazi buildings were destroyed in a process called de-nazification. This was done for obvious (and right) reasons, but removed a huge part of the already destroyed Berlin.

Look! I’m in two different countries at once!

To be honest, I could have a whole separate post about Berlin’s history (I might; who knows?). I’ll just say I sufficiently nerded out over everything there was there. The city is essentially a living museum. However, it’s also a rapidly changing city. Most parts of the city that is there today was rebuilt in the last 60 years. There are remnants from WWII and then the occupation of Berlin. It’s so interesting to see the two sides of the city. The Communist half is completely different to the Allied half. Even to this day, it’s still black and white. But they’re rebuilding and expanding. If I went back to the city in a few years, it would probably be a completely different city than what I experienced last week. I find it fascinating and would go back just to see everything.

Me and the Berliner Dom.

I’ll give you a quick rundown on what happened since this post is already getting pretty long and I’m only halfway through. Free tour (with a pretty cute guide, I might say), visit to Reichstag (the government building), burrito for lunch (yes, it’s that important), German history museum (loooove), Berliner Dom (this epic cathedral), trip to concentration camp (I know; uplifting), fabulous food (and beer) and new friends.

Just chilling by the Berlin Wall. No big deal.

I just had the greatest time in Berlin. The people I met were fabulous and that’s very nice when you’re travelling by yourself. It’s fun to see what other people are doing and to learn about them. I was the only American in my hostel room for all four nights, so it was really interesting to meet Germans and learn about them and how they see the world. I also met a wonderful lady from the States on my concentration camp tour. We spent the day together and she was so kind!

I was a bit sad to leave, but also excited to meet up with friends again. I hopped on a train to Prague early Thursday morning and met my friends Nora and Emily. It was so cool to get back to that “Old Europe” feel and Prague certainly delivered. Wandering around the city was the best. It was just awesome to take in the sights. The next day we visited Prague Castle and did some shopping. I could say a lot more about Prague as well, but I’m sure you’re getting just as sick of reading this epic post as I am writing it.

The cathedral inside Prague Castle.

Quickly: The last two days were spent in Vienna. I wish I’d had more time there/had gone there at the beginning of the trip. It was honestly one of the most beautiful cities and just a lot of fun. We saw a ballet (which I may or may not have fallen asleep during) and went to the Royal Viennese Palace. It was really great. We had gorgeous weather the first day and just spent time outside enjoying it. Vienna is really an amazing city. If I could speak German, I would actually considering going there to study. That would be unbelievable.

We love palaces!

As great as spring break was, I will say that it was extremely nice to get back to Rome. It was definitely like coming home and I was even excited when I could see Italian (a language that I can actually understand now (what?!?)). I did and saw so much in just a week that it’s almost unbelievable. Exhausting, but so so great. It will definitely be a break I’ll never forget. /endextremelylongpost.

Transportation is one of the most confusing aspects of life in Rome. Here’s a bit of a breakdown for anyone planning to travel to or from Rome soon:

Planes:

There are two airports in Rome, Fiumicino (FCO) and Ciampino (CIA).From the JFRC, both will take about 45 minutes to 1 hour in a cab. There are ways to get there by public transportation, but if you have more than three companions, it tends to be about the same price to take a cab. The JFRC actually has a deal where the porter can order a cab for a 45 euro flat fee. This holds up to four passengers. They can also call larger cabs, which tend to work out to be about the same price when divided amongst passengers. Both airports are great and security is usually pretty quick. ALWAYS have your passport out to speed up the process and be sure to take your liquids out of your bag. Don’t be that guy in line.

Trains:

The metro consists of just two lines. Orange and blue lines run through the area surrounding downtown. The closest stop to the JFRC is Cipro. From here, the metro stops at a lot of major sites, as well as connecting passengers to Termini. Termini is the central transportation hub of Rome. In addition to the metro lines, regional trains and buses also run from Termini. Cabs are always available in front of the building. The regional trains run further out into the suburbs, as well as some great day trip locations. The closest place to catch a regional train is the Balduina Station.

Buses:

Never count on a bus to get you anywhere on time. It’s a great system that takes passengers to the best locations in the city, however, the schedule is arbitrary at best. Still, the buses tend to be the most used transportation by students at the JFRC. The 990 and 913 stop nearby and take students into the heart of downtown Rome. Buses only cost a euro per ride and tickets are good for any transfers for 75 minutes after you validate the ticket. There is also a night bus that runs after midnight, with an extended range. It’s always easy to find the N6 on a late night and it stops just a couple blocks from the JFRC.

Cars:

In Italy, traffic rules are optional. Be wary of cars, scooters and other motorbikes.

Strikes:

They happen all the time, so keep an eye on what’s happening locally. The strikes usually only last a few hours, a day at most. They usually don’t hinder travel too much, but they can delay a trip or leave you waiting at a bus stop for hours confused. Just something to keep in mind.

But the best, most reliable for of transportation is…your FEET:

The best way to see the city is to get out there on foot and explore it. Once downtown, walking around Rome is no big deal at all. Maps tend to make distances look much larger than they are in real life. The roads are mostly short, narrow and easy to navigate. Also, people are friendly. Stop in a store and ask for directions, you’ll always find someone who can help you.

So go out and explore! It’s fascinating to see what you can find just by getting lost on all that transportation! Good luck!

So, even though this happened like a million years ago, I feel obliged to update you on my trip to Sicily because of how awesome it was. I went the weekend before spring break and then the week before break was midterms (which are actually taken pretty seriously here), so there wasn’t much time for writing. However, here we are: back from break; rested (kind of); cappuccino next to me and ready to write.

To be honest, I was a little nervous about going on the Sicily trip at first. It was a study trip with the school, so I would be going with 45 of my classmates. None of my friends were going with me, so it was all about meeting new people and hoping that they didn’t mind a neKw buddy infringing on their group. However, it worked out perfectly as there were several of us who didn’t come with a group of friends and we all banded together.

Katie and I enjoying our cannoli.

My weekend started out with a bang at the airport. Due to flight issues, I spent the entire night in the Palermo airport. Don’t worry, I was prepared! I had my blankets and pillow, so I was all set for the uncomfortable benches. It wasn’t too bad and the fact that I was actually in Sicily was worth it. It was just a relief to see the rest of our group the next morning. Needless to say, I was ready to get going.

First, let me just take a brief moment to mention the weather. It was perfect. Beyond perfect. We couldn’t have asked for any better and it just made the entire weekend amazing. Also, I was basically in history nerd heaven because of all the ancient sites we visited. The first two days were filled with ancient Greek ruins (yes, Greek. In Italy). I had the best time just wandering around and getting my fill of history. I know, I’m a nerd.

See, this is how much I love ruins. =P

The last day was by far my favorite. There wasn’t much on my itinerary, but that was the beauty of it. We started off the morning in an ancient Greco-Roman theater where we were treated to the most glorious view of Mt. Etna. I have seen a lot of mountains and I can’t say I’ve seen one like that before. It was breathtaking. Then, we were given the day to wander the small town of Taormina. It was the most perfect day. The sun was shining, the volcano was overlooking the town and I had great company. Two of my new friends and I just wandered about, having the laziest of days. It was the perfect ending to a great trip! Given the chance, I would go back to Sicily in a heartbeat.

During this time around spring break, it is common for family members of students to come for a visit.  Since I am going on the school’s study trip to Tunisia for spring break, my parents came to visit me during this past week.  It’s an odd feeling having someone so familiar appear in the location where I’ve felt most out of my element.  I have been showing my parents around Rome, and yesterday we took a day trip to Pompeii.

We took a train to Naples and then continued on through a separate metro system to Pompeii.  The train station in Pompeii is right next to the archaeological site, making the journey rather convenient.  After entering the site itself, I realized that I had no idea how big this ancient city really was.  It was huge and filled with all sorts of temples, public spaces, and even brothels!  It was also neat to learn more about the city’s history and how the volcano nearby, Mount Vesuvius, erupted in 79 AD, killing off the citizens and animals.  I had always imagined lava pouring down from the volcano and taking the city within a couple of minutes.  However, the majority of the people died due to the smoke and ash in the air.  They simply suffocated to death.  There were also a couple of casts of bodies displayed throughout the site.  It was really creepy to see because it made the experience so much more real. 

After spending a few hours at the site, we took the train back to return to Rome.  Pompeii made for a really awesome day trip, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone!

I came across one of the best quotes that I’ve seen in a long time, and I decided that I really want to try and make it theme of this journey for me.

It goes a little something like this-

“The best thing for being sad is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies. You may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins. You may miss your only love. You may see the world around you devastated by evil lunatics or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it, then: To learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing, which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the thing for you. ”

~The Once and Future King~

I actually think this quote should totally be the moto for my life and hopeful future career as a foreign correspondent or photojournalist. I’ve been listening to NPR and BBC a lot lately trying to stay connected and there was an interview with a french photojournalist who just recently escaped from Syria, and all of the atrocities he filmed and witnessed for the rest of the world to see.. and how he lives with what he saw, makes me realize what I am in for, and how learning and turning these horrible, immoral acts into motivation for change is a huge part of what I want to do as a journalist.

Relating that back to my travels here in Chile, I really want to take this opportunity of me being so incredibly far from my comfortable, happy place back home to take these occasional feelings of sadness, loneliness, foreign-ness or just being blatantly lost- into something bigger. I know that nothing worth having comes easy, and as my host mom roughly told me the other day at dinner-  ” You already have the hardest part over with, you had the courage to come to a foreign country where no one speaks your language and to start over for half of a year, it takes a different kind of girl to do that, and I’m proud to call you my host daughter, you are more brave than a lot of people.”

Every time I feel sad or weak, that is just more of an opportunity for growth! One of the girls here from Chicago, Teresa who I’ve grown really close to, is kinda in the same boat as me when it comes to struggling with the language barrier.

Every single time we have no clue what is going on because every one is speaking so fast we just have to remind ourselves, that this is just an opportunity for growth, and not to let it get us down.

Teresa’s mom back home told her something that really stuck with me the other day, to fully experience this trip you can’t live with one foot in the USA and one foot in Chile, you really have to give these few short months your all and immerse yourself in the language and culture.

I definitely took a step towards that this past weekend because I bought a bike! It is so great and convenient to have this thing. I rode my bike to and from school yesterday, it is a little far- about 8 Kilometers from my house, or almost 5 miles, so there and back is a 10 mile ride, lets just say my legs and butt are definitely feeling it today! I feel like such a local riding my bike around and I can just see so much more of the city on bike than on the metro crammed in between crowds and crowds of people rushing to work.

This past Saturday my host mom, Teresa and my friend Cassie went to the coast to escape from some the heat for a day. We took a bus to a beach called Agarrobo, but it turns out we picked a bad day to go because the whole beach was inside a cloud! It was so foggy! But it was still warm out, and we had fun walking around and relaxing on the beach! When we got back that night, the metro was closed off because a man had fallen onto the tracks during rush hour from all the people and died. It was scary to see all the crowds of hectic people and ambulances. So we had to take another bus home, and I saw my first storm in Santiago. It wasn’t exactly a storm because there wasn’t any rain, but there was a crazy amount of lightning in the mountains.

I am planning on riding my bike back to school today after lunch, and we are buying our bus tickets to go to a beach in the south about 3 hours from Santiago to take surfing lessons this weekend!!

So excited to give it a go, and I promise there will probably be pictures and embarrassing stories to go along with it.

Miss you all so much!

Besos c:

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard

Not many college students in the States can say that  they spent their spring break in Tunisia, Africa. I spent the past 10 days on a life changing experience that I will never forget. When signing up for this trip I didn’t really even know what to expect, I just thought to myself that this is an experience I could probably never imitate again for the rest of my life. So why not go for it?

During these 10 days away from Rome I learned so much about a completely different culture and in return learned a lot about myself. Our many adventures were fun and educational. Even in a country that had just over a year ago undergone a national revolution, we didn’t feel threatened once on the entire trip. One of the many highlights of the trip for me was the day we spent getting to know Tunisian students our age studying in Tunis. They told us about what they had to go through during the revolution. I cannot get over how much courage the youth of Tunisia have to fight for what they believe in. They value their education so much, most of them speak three languages and are just overall more focused on their studies compared to American students. I learned though this experience that knowledge is power, and education means so much more than we realize. This is not something we should take for granted for one minute.

We also participated in some rather rugged activities including visiting Star Wars sights, riding camels, dune diving, hiking through ancient sights, and last but not least our night camping out in the Sahara. Unfortunately, the weather was not exactly what we expected for the desert and it didn’t get above 60 the whole trip long. Another downfall occurred when half of the group got terrible food poisoning the day we were to be camping, and some were continually sick the rest of the trip.

Although as a reward for the sickness and non stop action, our last two days we were finally able to relax a bit and have some time to ourselves. All of our hotels were very nice but our last resort was extremely comfortable, with good food, nightly entertainment and a spa we were all set. Unfortunately, it was far too cold for the beach and pool but most everyone spent the whole day Saturday relaxing at the spa.

This trip has reassured my love for travel, especially to places I would have never expected to visit. Because in those trips is where you will learn the most. Coming back to Rome I now have a slightly different perspective of what life could be like in a completely different country. Although I missed all things American more than I ever have before, I will now appreciate everything so much more when returning home. We are so incredibly lucky and many of us don’t even acknowledge the smallest things from toilet paper to big things like democracy. I strongly recommend this trip to every Loyola student whether it be while at JFRC or during the summer trip. It is an experience very unique to Loyola, and upon graduation in two years I will think back upon this experience having shaped who I am and who I want to be.

So shukran Tunisia!

Ciao

Whenever I travel somewhere new, one of my favorite things to do is to take public transportation into the city, hit the streets and explore. I try to do this before I come up with any major conclusions about the place itself. I listen, smell, taste, see and breathe in everything the place has to offer.

Although school has started, I have gone into the CBD (the central business district or downtown as I would call it back home in Chicago) frequently.  Due to my rocky start, I was not able to explore as much in the beginning because I was concerned with my living arrangements so now that I am settled I have been able to do what I truly love and that is exploring.

Let me first say that I am not the guidebook type of traveler. In fact, I surprised myself by doing something I never do. I actually did buy a guidebook for Australia but left it at home because it was inconvenient to pack. Yes, strange I know, but when it comes down to that last dress or a guidebook, I will always choose a dress.  While I respect those that are very prepared travelers, I prefer to learn on the fly. It is my style to learn about a place through word of mouth, asking strangers on the street (which in my experience has always led to amazing places), flyers around town and the occasional quick google search. I find that I am more flexible if I go in with no exact plans and just find things on my own. This works particularly well for me because I usually have extended periods of time that I am in places, so for most people who have a day limit on a vacation I see the appeal of having their time planned.  Thus, in typical fashion whenever I have gone into the city, I usually get off at a popular stop and simply explore that way.

Now to describe Melbourne’s streets is a bit tricky. The city is pretty well laid out located on Port Phillip Bay with its city centre hugging the Yarra River.  While the city centre has typical wide streets with bustling traffic in amongst skyscrapers, there are pockets of the city that look as unique as the stores that line the streets and the people that inhabit them. My favorite streets as of now in my early explorations are Chapel Street which is located a few kilometers north of the city centre, and Bourke Street which Melburnians  ( yes, I just used that word, I like the way it sounds despite the spelling that throws me off ) like to call the “second street” after the main Collins Street. Chapel street is  unconventional in the way that it is not strikingly pretty for a city street. The stores, pubs, and restaurants are just a bit too crowded and varied to give any semblance of smooth aesthetics. However, it is the quirkiness  and controlled chaos that hold the appeal for me. It very much reminds me of Belmont and the surrounding streets. If you know me at all, Belmont is perhaps my favorite street in the city so Chapel scored high marks for me.  Bourke St is similiar in that it is definitely varied; however, because it is downtown there is a cohesive identity to the buildings in a way that differs from Church St.  I have come to love Melbourne’s CBD and as is my usual reaction to most cities because I am the epitome of a city person, I am truly pleased and satisfied every time I visit the CBD. One of the things I truly appreciate about Melbourne is that like its people, the city is so varied as well. There is Chinatown, Little Italy, Docklands, City Centre and so on and so forth. It is a gentle blend of a very contemporary city with the feeling of an artistic culture mixed with individuals from all over the world. In a nutshell, this is my kind of city.

My school and house is located in the eastern suburb of Burwood so in order to get to the CBD I take the tram in. First let me just say that I have ridden a lot of trams; I took them everyday when I lived in Prague and everywhere all over Europe. I usually consider myself a train person alas due to my love/hate relationship with the infamous Chicago ‘L.’ However, Melbourne’s tram system is phenomenal and quite extensive. Melbourne is the proud owner of the largest tram network in the world and it runs smoothly every time. It almost puts the ‘L’ to shame, but I loyally love the rattling noises and persistent technical errors of Chicago’s elevated trains.  I simply take one tram, the number 75, in case anyone is planning to visit and voilà I am smack dab right outside Flinders Train Station and within walking distance of Federation Square (the main square in the city). Flinders Station, I might add, is a gorgeous cultural icon for Melbourne. Despite not being a local quite yet, I have found myself saying the popular phrase “I’ll meet you under the clocks” which refers to the multiple clocks that line the inside of the station by the main entranceway.  I am partial to the nighttime view of Flinders where the oddly colored yellow building glistens gold against the nighttime sky highlighted by the streetlights.

Nonetheless, I have found some fantastic spots in the city and have had some great fun venturing into the CBD. I have kowtowed to my weakness for clothing and found a few shops that catered to my budget and style.  A few friends and I are planning on visiting Parliament, Victoria Market, and anything else we can find later this week. I cannot wait.

Happy Reading!