A quick weekend away

It seemed like a perfectly normal day- I was hanging out with a friend while she was looking up plane tickets for spring break, when all of the sudden she says something along the lines of "woah look how cheap tickets are to Portugal". I peeked over her shoulder, she wasn't kidding: 17 euros, round trip. We looked at each other, I'm pretty sure we had a small dialogue about how we should do it and five minutes later, there we we were, looking at a confirmation page letting us know we were going to Porto for a short weekend trip! And within the next couple days we had coerced (not that it took much convincing) some of our other buddies to join us.
I really loved Porto. If the beautiful views in the city weren't enough, the warm weather made the trip just perfect. In fact I was able to go most of the day in just a sweater- which is a big deal coming from the freezing cold Bordeaux.
The trip was just the right amount of time to relax and enjoy the old city.

The crew

We wandered around a really cool market that was set inside a really old building

Snow Day

It snowed! In Bordeaux!
I was told by many a french person that either 1. It wouldn't happen, or 2. If it happens it won't stay long- and boy were they wrong.




Early one morning I awoke to a white wonderland; the city had changed overnight into a magical (and beautiful) new world.

My California friends and I couldn't get enough of it, we made snow angels and had snowball fights and took wayyy too many photos. We figured this novelty wouldn't last, that all too soon the snow would melt away. But it didn't- oh it didn't. Instead, I was lucky (?) enough to experience a real winter, for a week in Bordeaux. Let me just start by saying: I never want to live in a place that snows.








Why, you may ask? Well because after the novelty has worn off (and people have begun to walk all over it), snow becomes hard packed ice with ugly black marks that stops all sorts of necessary daily activity- like making it to class without slipping everywhere.

Proof of lame snow action: the trams were not working

 

I will, however against snow I am, admit that it was incredibly beautiful

A Very Cold New Year

After Paris, I quickly flew off to Copenhagen for the second half of my Christmas break adventure. I would be meeting up and spending the New Year with a friend who would be studying abroad there.
I arrived a day before my friend, which gave me a nice opportunity to explore the city (and to look incredibly smart when I would know where everything is the next day). Though the weather was quite chilly, I thought Copenhagen was a beautiful city- and one that was actually very different than most other places I had visited.

The New Years celebrations were unbelievable, I was literally surrounded by fireworks from 11:30pm to  after 1am. I have never experienced something so unreal. Apparently, anyone can purchase fireworks and set them off- I assume that as long as no one gets hurt, it's legal.

Paris in Pictures

The remainder of my time in Paris went by too quickly, but it was still a blast. Here are some highlights:

 Spending an entire day at the Louvre definitely wasn't enough, I'm going to have to make a trip back soon.

 

The Rodin Museum was also quite incredible

My new favorite painting, by Van Gogh

Visited the Catacombs deep under Paris- so cool!

 And, a necessity during the cold winter months, a delicious cup of hot cocoa made by pouring steaming hot milk into a cup filled with melted chocolate. 

Christmas in Paris

(I realize it's way past Christmas, but I'm just trying to catch up!)
On Christmas day, while most families were hiding away in their homes staying warm, my mom, my brother and I decided to take a walk out into the Jewish Quarter of Paris, le Marais. It was probably the liveliest street for miles, complete with musicians and huge groups of people eating and wandering about.

 

And, of course, the best part of Christmas came after dinner when my family and I celebrated the holiday in a traditional french way: avec une bûche de Noël!

The Holidays Continue

For Christmas this year I absolutely refused to return home. It's not often you get the chance to live abroad for the year, and there was no way I'd ruin the experience by spending my break speaking English and buying not-as-good croissants. Lucky for me my family didn't seem to mind the idea of coming to France for the holidays. Even luckier for me, my mom thought Paris for Christmas wasn't such a shabby idea- I completely agreed.

Okay so I am absolutely in love with Paris,
Maybe it's just because I was a tourist with not a care in the world, or maybe it was the Christmas spirit- either way I picked out about a thousand perfect apartments I plan on living in someday.