A Foodie in France

As anyone who knows me can attest, I am a self-proclaimed and proud foodie. What exactly is a foodie, you ask? My best definition is that a foodie is someone who loves high-quality food (both preparing it and eating), and who is generally aware of new food trends and restaurants around them. For me, whenever I'm not working in a biochemistry lab or studying, I'm at my apartment cooking up something new - and I love my food gadgets more than may be socially acceptable. But seriously, without an immersion blender, kitchen blowtorch, or stand mixer are you really living?

My new toy - can you guess what I was doing on my last day off?

Anyway, going to France for three months was an absolute dream - especially being in the Loire Valley, where the most sumptuous chêvre and delectable wine are produced. Let's start with breakfast: just a short walk up the street was the boulangerie, where 1 Euro pastries were always a good idea for breakfast - I can still almost taste my favorite pastry, the chouette, which was apricot and cream on top of a croissant dough (and it is the BEST in Pontlevoy).

The chouettte!

One of the fabulous Easter pastries.

Every day for lunch, Julien at Le Commerce prepared some fantastic meals, some of which are below - and of course, as with any French meal, they came with several loaves of way too addictive bread - but I think we walked to the boulangerie enough to burn those calories off, right?

I think I speak for everyone when I say this was one of our all-time favorite meals.

I'm actually salivating at the memory of this food. No, it is not pretty.

For dinner, we were on our own - which always led to some interesting creations in the kitchen, depending on who was cooking that night. I got a taste of some fantastic Southern cooking some nights, while other nights I would ask François, the owner of the Coccimarket (the only grocery store in Pontlevoy), what foods were good and what spice combinations went together - and I learned a TON of food vocabulary there. Truthfully, I think the majority of any of the languages I know revolves around food, so you know where my priorities are. Other nights still, I would join my amazing host family for totally unforgettable meals like raclette, a Swiss dish that's sort of like fondue, but individual: everyone melts cheese in their own little pans and pours it over potatoes, meats, bread, and/or vegetables. I got so hooked on it that I bought one with A.V. while I was in Europe (thanks A.V. and Dad for schlepping it all over for me!) and then, realizing that the converter would be super expensive in the US, I bought an American raclette grill, which I've already used a few times, and can't wait to break out again this winter!
Anyway, that was just the food in France - I'm not even counting the other places I traveled, but if you look at my instagram, I literally ate my way through western Europe - and I can't wait to do it again!

For more, check out my cooking blog, dormfoodreview.blogspot.com.

Happy eating!

151 Days Later

It's July 1, which means that I'm headed back to the United States in exactly one week, and my 2013 European adventure will have officially come to an end (hopefully not for long, though!). It's hard to believe that I've been here for (only) 151 days now, but I've been so lucky to be able to do so much and to see so many different countries and meet so many wonderful people.

As a recap, the countries I visited were/are (in no particular order):
1. France
2. Switzerland
3. Luxembourg
4. Netherlands
5. Germany
6. Spain
7. Czech Republic
8. Italy
9. England (although the chance of me getting to leave the airport is slim, so I'm not compelled to count it)

I can now say that I speak at least enough French to hold a decent conversation, and I can speak Spanish enough to actually communicate with people, not just analyze literature. I can also say "Ich spreche kein Deutsch" when approached by German speakers.

 I had the chance to live in the Loire Valley for three months, where I lived in a sweet little town that is less than half the population of my high school. I got to see masterpieces that most people only dream of seeing with my art history class. I spent five weeks in Madrid with a wonderful host mother, and I got to see most of the major cities in Spain (where I've undoubtedly left some of my heart). I've spent over 70 hours on trains traveling between countries, have metro passes from three different countries, and have had the pleasure(?) of flying the infamously sketchy RyanAir.

I've been lucky enough to meet extended family members, run into old friends (J.Z. and N.S.), meet up with A.V. throughout Europe (and crash in Munich whenever I get down time), spend time with my dad in Paris and Valencia, and encounter new friends (all y'all southerners :P and J.K. from my night train to Munich!).

I can't wait for my last trip this weekend (tagging along on A.V.'s class trip to Prague) before I go back, and I'm crossing my fingers that the German weather will hold out for my last week here.

I'm coming home with a new suitcase after the tragic death of my old one on the train to Munich and so many new friends and experiences from all around the world, and I'm sad to be closing this chapter in my travels, but I can't wait until I find my next opportunity to go abroad.

España!

What a whirlwind week it's been! After a few days in Paris with my dad, we headed to Valencia, where we spent another few days, and then this morning I headed to Madrid! Needless to say, I'm exhausted, but I'm excited to start this program too. Here are a few pictures from Valencia and Madrid, both absolutely beautiful cities.

The flower bridge, or puente de las Flores, in Valencia is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

While walking in the Madrid city center today, Sol, we happened upon a huge football celebration. The Athletico team in Madrid beat Real Madrid in a tournament, and that was huge cause for celebration.

Roma!

Only a few more posts and I'll finally be caught up -- just in time for my program in Madrid to start!

Rome was definitely one of my favorite cities: partly because I was finally recovering from that frustrating upper respiratory infection, partly because it was warm and beautiful there, partly because of the amazing food, and partly because we had one of the best teachers leading us through the city to look at some of the most amazing pieces of art.
 Another exciting aspect of our trip to Rome was that we visited not more than two weeks after Pope Francis was chosen, so it was really amazing to see how fast vendors started selling things with his face on them (Easter, at that point, was only a week away, so everyone was gearing up for that too), and it was unreal to visit the Sistine Chapel so soon after the conclave had taken place. Even without our historic timing, Rome would have still been amazing.

One of the most interesting aspects of Rome was the number of street vendors and beggars/performers. You couldn't walk more than 500 feet before you ran into someone dressed as King Tut, a headless man, or, my personal favorite, the guy "holding" up his friend on a pole:

 

I also loved all of the art vendors on the streets: I bought so much artwork while we were in Rome, and I can't wait to get back and put all of it up. The Spanish Steps were amazing, and Piazza Navona was nothing less than gorgeous. It was so interesting to see the artists work while we were there: most of the art is done with a similar style, but if you talk to the artists, they'll show you some of their other works, and they were all pretty forthcoming about whether the pieces I was looking at were prints or originals, which was really nice.

 

In front of the Spanish Steps!

The beautiful fountain at Piazza Navona

 Linguistically, I struggled a bit lot. Our first night there, we searched for an Italian place close to our hostel, which was more difficult than you might think, and when we finally found it, the owners spoke zero English. I was starving, and if you know me, when I'm hungry I'm basically useless to society. However, I tried to communicate with the few phrases that Dr. Blondin had taught us earlier, and ended up unintentionally speaking a lot of French, then trying to compensate by explaining in Spanish (because it's close to Italian) why exactly I was speaking French. Our poor server was possibly more confused than I was, but in the end we ended up with food, so overall it was a victorious night.

I'll also be the first to admit that I got overzealous with the food Instagramming, so I apologize for that (mostly), but if you're interested in seeing basically everything I ate while in Rome, it's all on there. The rumors of Italian food never being bad? True. I was raised on pizza and pasta, so I had high expectations in Rome, and they were all either met or exceeded by the amazing food we had there (except for the tiramisu -- mom, you still win for that). I was especially fond of our frequent gelato breaks: nothing compliments gorgeous weather quite like walking around this incredible city eating a cone (or three) of gelato.

Speaking of the gorgeous city, here are a few of my favorite places that we saw:

Some ruins in the city... I thought it was so cool to see modern buildings among these archaeological dig sites. It was really interesting to see the old and new right next to each other. Plus, some of the ruins were home to a very large cat population, which obviously makes Rome in my top ten cities list by default.

The Pantheon! On the day we went to see it, it was downpouring rain, and seeing the rain come through the open ceiling was so beautiful.

What trip to Rome is complete without visiting the Trevi fountain? I think I made enough wishes and threw enough money in there to ensure a return to Rome, and I definitely felt a bit like Lizzie McGuire when we were there. This is what dreams are made of.

The Bernini-designed baldacchino in St. Peter's Basilica -- absolutely amazing.

The "typewriter" building: one of the more recent Roman constructions, and the building that was my main point of reference whenever we were trying to go somewhere in the city. Apparently most Italians hate it, but I thought it was quite nice.

The St. Theresa of Avila, another Bernini creation. This was the piece of art I was most excited to see -- I'd read a lot about this controversial piece in Spanish literature, and to see it in person was so cool.

During our visit inside the Colosseum, we were lucky enough to catch a once-a-year Easter mass that's held inside.

Inside the Colosseum!

We also stopped by the "Mouth of Truth", a concrete piece that "bites" your hand off if you tell a lie with your hand in the mouth or if you're a generally immoral person. Luckily, I was safe.

Our last day in Rome: our hostel was out of the city and right by the beach, so we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and went to visit the Mediterranean, which was still a bit too cold to swim in, but we dipped our hands in and then went to get gelato :)

Catching Up (Still!): Amsterdam

After Normandy, we headed to Amsterdam -- as much as I love French, it was really nice to be in a country where basically everyone spoke perfect English. Amsterdam is also a really diverse city: everyone seems super active and fit, and there were many occasions during our three days there that I nearly got run over by a bike, bus, or tram -- all common modes of transportation in the city aside from cars. I loved all of the canals throughout the city, and it was so nice to go on a few river cruises too. What I didn't love so much about Amsterdam was that, much like Paris, it was cold and rainy most of the time, and I ended up with an upper respiratory infection while I was there. If you've never been sick in a foreign country, I do not recommend it at all. In a city where marijuana is easily accessible on nearly every street corner in a "coffee shop," I had to argue with a travel doctor for no less than half an hour (including a few dramatic coughs and a lot of medical jargon) to get a prescription for antibiotics -- and believe me, they are not cheap. Other than that minor travel snag, I did get to see a lot in Amsterdam: Anne Frank's house, the Rijks museum (the day before it closed for renovations!), and Rembrandt's house, just to name a few.

The train station in Amsterdam!

The portraits at the Rijksmuseum were so cool - just look at the expressions of everyone in this painting.

This portrait by Frans Hals is another that we focused on in class -- it's different from most of the works we saw in the Louvre. Aside from being a portrait (Protestant art is more portrait-focused, while Catholics painted more religious scenes), it also shows the man and woman as equals: they're painted about the same size, and they look like they might actually enjoy each others presence (somewhat uncommon in Catholic art apparently).

In front of one of the many canals!

I think this is a science center -- it looks like a huge ship, which I thought was really cool.

With my wonderful roommate on a canal cruise!

In this picture, 7 bridges in the canals line up!

Learning how Rembrandt made paint at the Rembrandt house - I didn't realize how labor-intensive a process it was! Not only do you have to carefully select your pigments, mixing the paint itself is actually really difficult to do!

An art installation at the Old Church in the Red Light District of Amsterdam. This was definitely not my favorite church, but it was interesting nonetheless.

Rembrandt's wife, Saskia, is buried at the Old Church -- it was really cool to see her grave!

Amsterdam by night!

Just a few Abbey-ites on our night canal cruise!

Catching Up: Paris Week

After a great few days in Normandy, we headed to Paris, where we started to break off into our Abbey ROADcourse groups: I was in the Renaissance art group, so I got to go to some relatively famous churches and art museums in Paris (perhaps you've heard of the Louvre and Musee D'Orsay? :P). Other students on the program chose either a Literature course or a History course, so they focused on other sites in Paris. Another exciting part of Paris Week was that Anthony got to come and tag along to the different sites we visited, and then I got to drag him along (literally, there was quite a lot of metro running to get to some of these places before closing, sorry Anthony) to some sites I'd always wanted to visit but had never had the chance before (Musée Dupuytren and the Catacombs, namely).
It was also much colder than anyone had expected, so I also spent a good part of the week searching for additional layers to add to my wardrobe and ultimately ended up getting sick by the end of the week, which led to a relatively stressful time in Amsterdam trying to find antibiotics (but I'm getting ahead of myself...).

I couldn't take pictures in Musée Dupuytren, which is only open Tuesday - Friday from something like 1 - 3 pm, and is actually on the campus of the University of Rene Descartes, so it's kind of hard to find, but it was really fantastic - it's a medical oddities museum, so it contains a bunch of preserved specimens from the medical school in years past. There's everything from conjoined twins to deformed skeletons to diseased organs to preserved brains here, although it is kind of difficult to go through if you don't have medical and/or French knowledge: everything is labeled in French. The curator of the museum also made sure to inform us that it is not a "freak show" kind of museum, it's definitely more anatomical, and that's important to remember. The other really fascinating part of the museum was that it stores some specimens studied by Paul Broca, the anatomist who discovered that different parts of the brain are responsible for different functions. He's famous primarily for the discovery of Broca's region, the part of the brain that controls speech, and the brain of the patient he studied to discover this region is found in Musée Dupuytren.

Here's some highlights from Paris:

Notre Dame!

More Notre Dame

Even more Notre Dame... notice the saint holding his own head.

Famous tapestry of "The Lady and the Unicorn" in the Cluny Museum

Some modern art in L'Orangerie, one of my favorite museums. We couldn't take pictures of the water lilies, but they were amazing. I think this painting is called "La viande" (the meat).

Renoir in L'Orangerie... one of my favorites.

It was so foggy one day that the top of the Eiffel Tower actually disappeared in the clouds!

Arc de Triumphe!

Sacre Coeur in the snow... who would've thought we'd get to see this?

Glass pyramid at the Louvre on one of our sunnier days.

One of many of Da Vinci's pieces in the Louvre that get overlooked for the Mona Lisa

Winged Victory! Apparently she used to stand at the front of a ship as a figure head.

Venus de Milo! As Dr. Blondin put it, "We've been waiting a thousand years for her drape to drop.":)

Familiar face at the Louvre...

The beautiful Musée D'Orsay, which used to be a train station in Paris and is now a museum with the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist works of art in the world.

Hotel de Ville

"The Thinker" at the Rodin museum/sculpture garden. I loved how this museum was set up: part of the sculptures were in a garden, and some other pieces were in Rodin's former house.

Rodin's "The Burghers of Calais"

Notre Dame again!

Catacombs... it was really eerie to know that 6 million people were transported here when the cemeteries in Paris got too full - the tunnels seemed to go on forever, and we only saw part of the catacombs.

And finally, the beautiful Saint-Chappelle with an incredible amount of stained glass.

And that wraps up Paris! Amsterdam's next :)