Last weekend, I headed to the land of the rich and famous: The French Riviera! In a nutshell, it was absolutely amazing... The architecture was breathtaking and the beaches were some of the most amazing I've ever seen. For this trip, I met up with Alyssa and Courtney in Nice, France, for the duration of the weekend. I flew in Thursday night (September 12) around 6:30pm and met up with Alyssa, who flew in right when I did from London! From the airport, we caught a bus at the airport that took us directly to the beach, where we then had to figure out how to get to our hostel from the water. After getting to our hostel, checking in, and putting our luggage away, we wandered around the old town of Nice for a the rest of the night. It was so great to see her and catch up, she's been having a blast in London! We got some awesome gelato after eating a delicious dinner and we were able to get some really cool pictures of the beach and other parts of the city throughout the night, which are all included in my Facebook album! The next day, we ate breakfast at the hostel and then ventured off on a tour of the city of Nice and even other parts of the Riviera, which was so awesome because our tour guide was an Englishman who moved to France and he was really funny! The weather was beyond perfect and we went to the beach after the tour was over. It took us about 15 minutes by bus to get to the beach and we had a very relaxing day and even met some cool new people! A few girls hung out with us by the beach and some of them even go to school relatively close to me in New York. After a great day at the beach, we went back to the hostel to freshen up and get ready for dinner and eventually, to head out to the bar! After we finished getting ready, Courtney met us at the hostel. She had to fly in Friday because she couldn't miss her classes that day, but she got in just in time to join us for dinner and an amazing night out at Wayne's Bar in Nice. There was a live band there and everyone was dancing on top of the tables, so it was a ton of fun! Once we got home, we pretty much clocked out and went to bed since we had a super long day ahead of us the next day! The next day, we headed into the medieval village of Eze, France, and explored the area for a good chunk of the day after getting a tour of one of the most popular perfumeries in the Riviera! The town was gorgeous, and we got to see some amazing views of the city! After that, we headed back to Nice to grab some dinner before we ventured off to Monaco and Monte Carlo for the night! I was so excited for this part of the trip, it was just fantastic. Apparently, Monaco is its own country, which I didn't know until my tour guide told me. Otherwise, we headed into the area and went straight to the Casino, which was as amazing as you could imagine. The architecture was immaculate and everything was so pristine. Earlier in the day, we headed to a palace and took an audio tour of the entire place, it was (and still is) the home of Princess Grace Kelly! Take a look at my pictures below, it was one of the most amazing places I've ever been in my life and I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking to travel!! Next weekend, I'll be traveling to Munich, Germany for Oktoberfest. Stay tuned for more, goodbye from Barcelona!

I've officially been here for 4 days!! It's crazy how quickly those 4 days have went, and I can't wait to see what else I'll be up to throughout my time here. So far, I'm loving this city! It's gorgeous and everything I've heard about it has been true. It's sunny, there's palm trees everywhere, and the people are so friendly! I've been warned countless times about pickpocketing and stuff along those lines, but I honestly feel safe here. Navigating around the city has been seamless with the help of the city's metro line, it's so easy to figure out. I live 4 blocks away from the famous Sagrada Familia church, and there's a metro line right there, so I haven't gotten seriously lost or anything like that yet. I've seen a good amount of the city, considering how short my time here has been! I've been down to the beach, around the Sagrada Familia, around Parc Güell, and even through the gothic quarter a little! It's such a beautiful place with so much to offer! Things have been great in my apartment, too. The guys I'm living with have been great and they're really nice, and I've met some other nice people, too! Shopping around in supermarkets has been a challenge, not knowing the language. While I have dealt with the language barrier (quite well, might I add), the food here is ridiculously cheap! What would've cost $30 in NJ only costs me 18 euro here, which is so nice. I have a kitchen in my apartment, which was stocked with utilities by my program, CEA. I can cook and my washing machine is also in there, which apparently takes 2 hours to wash clothes fully.... That was kind of shocking, but I guess they'll be sparkling when they come out, right?! Aside from the minor things, the culture shock hasn't been too bad so far, locals really try to help me if they notice I'm making an effort to practice some Spanish (which I have been), so they appreciate that for sure! Aside from all this, I participated in some orientation activities this week, which were all pretty cool! I was shown my academic building, which is conveniently located 2 metro stops away from the beach. I was also given the chance to "Map my Barrio" or figure out where in God's name anything was around my apartment complex! I met some cool people that way, and I've gotten the chance to go out with them and enjoy the Catalonian nightlife here, which is awesome! So many people come from all over to enjoy the clubs and places along the beach at night, and everything is really clean and well-kept! I'm really enjoying myself, check for more posts soon, as I have my first trip coming up to the French Riviera this Thursday!!

All packed!! Today is the big day, and I'll be leaving for the airport in about 6 hours! My room at home has been in shambles for 2 days as I've been tearing apart my closet looking for things to throw (and eventually shove) into my luggage. My checked baggage ended up being 43 pounds, so I hope the scale isn't wrong! I can't believe my European journeys begin today! I'm SO excited to be able to explore Barcelona and eventually travel to other countries with friends from Marist. I'll miss everyone from home so much, but I'll be having the time of my life over there. I'll be home for Christmas, but until then, I'll be writing about and posting pictures of all the places I visit and all the things I'm doing!

Only 2 weeks left to go! I was just told today by my advisor in Spain that I don't have any Friday classes, which works perfectly since I already have 2 trips booked! I couldn't be happier about this :)

T-minus 15 days until the adventure of a lifetime begins! I'll be studying abroad this upcoming semester in Barcelona, and I'm going to be blogging about all my adventures in all the different countries I visit. Stay tuned for any upcoming posts!