Antibes and everything else!

If you are looking for a real taste of life on the Cote d’Azur, you HAVE to go to Antibes! Palm trees along the sandy beach front, quaint French markets alongside a glamorous yacht filled marina, fabulous clear blue skies and sunshine, yummy seafood restaurants… I loved Antibes!

There was nothing more relaxing than sitting out on the sun terrace of the French school where I was taking a course, and basking in the sunshine after classes, enjoying a tasty lunch from the school cafeteria, and taking in the amazing view of the Mediterranean. After that, I would have the difficult task of deciding what to do in the afternoon… whether to head down to the beautiful sandy beach, or take a refreshing dip in the swimming pool at my residence. Or whether to be energetic and take part in a school activity such as the volleyball tournament, or head into the beautiful countryside to take part in rafting or mountain biking, or go sailing down at the marina. Or maybe I should indulge my cultural side and visit the famous Picasso museum, or one of the lovely hillside villages famous for their artisan works. You see, in Antibes, you have the best of everything!

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Suntan and Spanish in Malaga!

I arrived in Malaga in September, full of expectation, a bit unsure of my high school Spanish but with an eagerness to learn much more… and within just a month of my arrival, I truly felt like a resident of Malaga, part of the scenery, one of the locals… even though I’d only been there for a few weeks!

My apartment was lovely, and just a minute’s walk from both beach and school! I chose a shared apartment, and was happy to find out that I was living with girls from Italy, and Sweden, who also happened to be in my class.

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Want to experience the ‘real’ Italy? It’s a Pisa cake!

Do you want to experience a real slice of contemporary Italian life? Do you want to party like a Pisano, take time out like a Tuscan, and lounge along the river Arno like a local? If so, Pisa is THE place to visit!

I had an utterly awesome time in Pisa. I really recommend it to anyone wanting to spend time in a beautiful Italian city, but yearning to get beyond feeling like just one of a zillion swarming tourists! There is no question that the city is gorgeous, historic, and has one of the most famous and instantly recognizable landmarks in the entire world (the mighty Leaning Tower of Pisa of course!), but Pisa is also nicely compacted.

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Wine and Spanish in Mendoza!

As part of my attempt to learn Spanish, I decided to come to Mendoza, Argentina, in order to have some classes and learn more about Argentinean people and their culture. Getting in contact with the people whose mother tongue is the language you are learning is something I consider to be of high importance since you see how things work in practice and become more sensitive to their way of living.

The Spanish School in Mendoza, where I’m studying is very good in putting language and culture together and as part of our culture enrichment programme, we were taken to Bodega Escorihuela to learn something about the culture and production of wine, which happens to be the most important industry in the region, exporting wine all throughout the year countries all over the world.

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Chilling out in Paris

Victor Hugo wrote…

“To err is human. To loaf is Parisian”

I heard this quote a long time ago back in school when we spoke about France. As a matter of course I forgot about it until I came to Paris and spent my first weekend in the famous city and suddenly realized how accurate this quote is. There are so many places you can enjoy by just loafing along or you choose sitting down in a nice little café and savour watching the other people loafing around.

I spent 2 weeks in December in Paris and the Christmas lightning was unforgettable, especially on the Champs-Élysées! The strollers on the 1970m long Avenue are separated from the traffic by golden shining trees. And after a long walk along all the fancy stores like Luis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel, Hermes, et al. you get rewarded with an incredible view on the wonderful lighted ‘Arc de Triomphe’.

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Traffic and Trinkets in Cairo

‘Don’t cross the road unless you have life insurance’ – that was my sister’s piece of advice before I went to Cairo, and I soon realised that she wasn’t kidding!

When I arrived, my airport transfer driver pulled out of the car-park and set off the wrong way down a one-way street. Amazingly, the locals are apparently unaware of their mortality and step out in front of the cars, inching their way ‘lane by lane’ across the road (the roads are far too busy for you to ever get all the way across in one go). That said, lane markings seem to be considered merely decorative – coming off the ring-road there were two lanes marked but there were five rows of cars trying to squeeze onto the slip road!

The traffic in Cairo means that it is impossible to estimate how long it will take you to get somewhere. It is ‘rush hour’ all day long, with traffic jams everywhere. To get to the pyramids from the school, it can take you half an hour or it can take you over an hour – you have to adopt the Egyptian mentality and not worry about schedules!

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Two essentials for a trip to Annecy: your camera, and your ID!

If you choose to attend a course in Annecy, be sure take a good camera as this is a particularly photogenic town!

The crisp mornings are my favourite time of day with the sun just rising, the mist swirling low over the lake and all around, the beautiful snow-capped mountains covered with evergreen trees.

The town itself is also a joy to explore with a mediaeval centre in the shadow of Annecy castle which took 4 centuries to complete.

Of particular interest is the Palais de l’Ile. This is a 12th Century building in the middle of one of the town’s main canals and with a triangular shape which resembles the bow of a stone ship heading out on to the lake. This is said to be one of the most photographed buildings in France!

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Don’t Panic in Barcelona!

I think it is about time that I tell you my genteel readers and loyal audience (yes I am talking to those two people actually reading this 🙂 ) about my living arrangements here in Barcelona. I, like many others here, am sharing a flat. We are four of us at the moment with two Spanish girls who work, a French girl who is currently learning Spanish and wants to soon start a semester at a university in Barcelona and myself.

Luckily the French girl speaks very good German, so that makes my life easier. One of the Spanish girls does not speak any English, the French girl is only a beginner in Spanish and my reading is much better than my understanding, but with six languages between the four of us (Spanish, English, Bask, Catalan, French, German and a few words of Arabic and Italian thrown in) and a bit of arm waving and miming we manage to communicate surprisingly well! I might not start discussing astrophysics with the girls anytime soon, but then when does this ever come up in casual conversation with native German speakers?

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Sausages and so much more in Munich!

My short visit to Munich is rapidly coming to an end and so I reflect on my fortnights experiences in this big yet small city. I did not have many expectations before I came… well except that I would probably eat sausages and drink beer!

Of course it did not disappoint in this respect. I sampled many different beers and tried an assortment of sausages (and I fear my sausage count is close to 100 in a fortnight). The renowned Munich ‘weiss wurst’ with ‘suess senf’ is a must for any visitor. If possible, this first experience should be shared with a local so that they can demonstrate the eating ritual. Definitely worth a try!

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A single woman in Sorrento!

As a single woman traveling alone, I can honestly tell you that it is normally quite difficult to go to restaurants and sit alone, walk along the beach without having men come up to you thinking you are available, and have to endure the endless questions like “Where is your partner?” and so on…

So, I decided to do something different this time and book myself on a ‘cultural’ holiday as opposed to just a bog-standard holiday. I decided Italy was definitely the destination as a bit of romance wouldn’t go amiss either, but I was also determined to learn and experience something new this time round.

Then I came across this great school on the internet in Sorrento, in the heart of the town near the Amalfi Coast. I had seen a romantic film ‘Only You’ about one woman’s destiny to meet her future husband in Italy and in this film there was the beautiful Amalfi Coast, Positano etc. so I decided that this was the right place to be.

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