marseille was what kept me away from this blog last week, as hannah, kelley, and i trecked down to southern france for a week of 75 degree weather and smelly streets. it was great. a wonderful escape from the city [well the smelly streets are universal, but everything else was a nice change.]
we stayed in a hostel in marseille, on a tiny sketch street without a clear marking of the address nor the name of the hostel itself. fortunately we are college students and therefore had the intuition to look more closely next to each door, and were able trouver [*to find] the teensy-weensy name of the hostel written on a in-need-of-polishing plaque. is that right? plaque? or is that the french word? both? i dont even know anymore. but anyway, we thought we would be in the company of 9 others, as the website said it was a 12-bedroom space, but no, it was just us and julia, a spanish girl who was living there until she got a flat,
julia: she didnt speak french and barely understood english-always making this HEHHH??? sound when she didnt understand us and causing us to act out in detail everything we did- kelley making the mountain sign, me pretending to hike, and hannah almost yelling 'HIKING!!' [it really is easier to speak louder instead of just more clearly when someone understands you not AH ...when someone doesn't understand you. silly french phrasing.] and she smelled, like what i dont know.
but thats not really important, since we spent only the hours of sleeping and showering in the hostel- usually 9pm-730am. we wasted no time with late nights, it was all about the early mornings so we could spend the most time possible everywhere we went. it was great.
highlights:
monday: hiking the calanques. pictures describe it much better than words.
tuesday: aix-en-provence. farmer's market=adorable.
wednesday: cassis. nudist beach
thursday: avignon. hanging out in a town that is encircled completely by a very old wall could never be dull! pope's palace [palais des papes.]
friday: marseille. chateau d'if- where the count of monte cristo is based. so freakin sweet.
i have to give a shout out to mom and dad, for all the vacations we have ever been on. because this, as my first real vacation on my own in europe [or anywhere really], has shown me how freaking cher [expensive] it is. oh my. even when we went to grocery stores and i [the ultimate frugal shopper] would get 2euro rice things, inevitably, i would somehow manage to spend spend spend! if only we could just not eat for a week. that would have made my wallet a little happier.
so where to next? the travel bug has fully taken over my body. and europe is just hanging out waiting for me with open arms. italy and greece? poland and hungary? ireland, scotland, and england? morocco, spain, and portugal? the choice is hard. and takes forever. like that was my yesterday from after lunch until dinner. if anyone would like to plan my vacations for me, you know how to contact me.
halloween was nothing worth talking about. but ill mention it anyway. exhausted from traveling home the night before, i was not up for a wild night, especially because everyone in france had already celebrated- its all about oct 30th over here. so hannah and i shared some red wine while reflecting on our voyage and planning new ones. then i went to bed around midnight. SO WILD! oh well. i didnt have a costume anyway.
i have begun to hide my walls. in each city of southern france, i took as many colorful fliers at each tourist office as i could, and then spent a good couple hours putting the 'posters' on my wall. its a little crooked [character!] but its much better than white walls. however, it is annoying when the pictures fall down. i am using brown packaging tape, because thats all i have, and its just not the best in combination with the not-so-adhesive walls. oh well. [adds more character?] it will just be a never-ending project to maintain it. but what else have i got to focus on? with only 15 credits, a job, extra french groups, reading harry potter, seeing all of europe and taking a dance class, what else am i gonna do with my time? thats like half of the schedule im used to. [more on the dance class later- for now, lets just say its harder to learn weird dance moves in another language.]
oh! mashed potatoes here should be called 'salt with a side of creamed potato paste.' at least at the foyer. dont try it. you might finish the bottle of water after one bite, and then proceed to feel full, yet completely unsatisfied, for the next hour, when you realize that youre starving. im not going to form my opinion on french cuisine based on what is served at the dorm. or else i might just have to go home and eat at the COG. and we all know thats just out of the question.
plus tard,
stephanie
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