Wandering Eats

After this weekend, I definitely agree with Audrey Hepburn on the matter of Paris. Paris is always a great idea, especially when you can get flights for $60 roundtrip(think about all of the things you’ve spent $60 on…). It was a quick two day trip but worth every minute in this amazing city!

We stayed in quite possibly the best part of Paris, an area named Le Marais, which is quaint yet full of local Parisians, great cafes and numerous shops. For those of you familiar with the book and movie Me Before You, Will Traynor says this about Le Marais, “It’s a little district in the center of Paris. It is full of cobbled streets and teetering apartment blocks and gay men and orthodox Jews and women of a certain age who once looked like Brigitte Bardot. It’s the only place to stay.” Whether we wanted gelato, baked goods, a great dinner and wine, or late night falafel, we could go right around the corner from where we were staying and find it all. If anyone ever makes it to the restaurant called Les Philosophes in this area, their Philosophes salad is a must have and honestly one of the greatest salads I’ve tasted!

We hopped on a tour bus Saturday morning and were able to see Paris in it’s entirety from day to night. We were staying only a 15 minute walk from Notre Dame, which made our location even more fantastic.

Also down the street from us and only about a 30 minute walk was the Louvre, which was extremely safe and full of policemen/army dudes/etc. despite the incident a few days ago!!

The Arc de Triomf, and down the long street full of high end shopping, we had to stop for macaroons at Laduree, where they were first created!

Last but definitely not least is the best part of Paris: the Eiffel Tower! We first visited during the day but had to return at night to see the sight all lit up. Safe to say that sitting in the grass, eating macaroons and watching the Eiffel Tower light up the sky will be a memory I will never forget.

After two VERY full weeks of classes, seminars, workshops and more at our school, we were able to take a couple day trips and one was to Verona this past Sunday! Verona is only an hour and a half from where I am living and going to school. The city is known as the setting for three major Shakespeare plays: Romeo and Juliet, The Two Gentlemen of Verona and The Taming of the Shrew. Additionally, Verona has been awarded a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for its Roman architecture and urban structure.

Castelvecchio(“Old Castle”):

Arena di Verona(not the colosseum lol):

Juliet’s tomb:

 Juliet’s House and Wall:

I also became a huge soccer fan in the matter of one night and by attending my first game ever: the Hellas Verona!!! This game was their biggest rivalry against Salernitana, and we quickly realized that these soccer rivalries in Italy were not a small matter. I’m not sure if it was the SWAT teams separating the fans, the police street barricades or the flares that each team had during the game, but safe to say it was an exciting night and Verona won 2-0!

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, and it is not only one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited but it’s also one of the eeriest cities I have visited. Edinburgh has been around since the early 1100s and it is easy to see through the architecture of the buildings, streets and especially the castles and churches dotted throughout the city.

The Edinburgh Castle is the pinnacle sight in the city and nearly impossible NOT to see as it is built on top of a large hill that actually used to be a volcano. The castle has been around and under royal rule since the 12th century at least, and in the 17th century began being used primarily as military barracks, along with a military prison. It is the most visited site in Edinburgh due to the amazing architecture of the castle, the history and museums on the hill, and the beautiful sites of the city from so high above.

Calton Hill was another hill with great views of the city and of Arthur’s Seat, another major landmark to see in Edinburgh. Calton Hill includes many monuments like the National Monument and Nelson’s Monument. The morning views from Calton Hill are amazing and it’s much smaller and easier to hike than Arthur’s Seat(although we are already wanting to go back and hike Arthur’s Seat sometime…it’s massive and used to be a volcano too!!)

Now, like I said previously, Edinburgh is one of the eeriest cities I’ve ever been to, no thanks to it’s very, very old history. A highly suggested thing to do in Edinburgh, and now something we would suggest to everyone too, is taking one of their guided ghost tours through Old Town. We did a 9pm, adult only ghost tour with Mercat Tours and had a wonderful tour guide. She told us of the bloody past of Edinburgh, including the tortures of criminals in the city center for the entire town’s entertainment. The eeriest part, which I have never heard of in any other city, was the stories from a part of town called Mary King’s Close. Mary’s King Close was a poor area of town at first, where many people were affected by the plague and left to die as a community by the rest of the town because it was so severely affected. This area of town is no longer easily visible as the city rebuilt on top of it long ago, and it is now many stories underneath the Royal Mile, aka the busiest street in Edinburgh. We went below this street where there exists the old stone vaults, and the tales of the past, like the criminals, illegal activity and body snatchers who lived in the vaults after they were built over, along with the current (and frequent!!) ghost sightings was enough to make your skin crawl. I was absolutely terrified listening to these stories in pitch black vaults, three stories under the street above, led by a tour guide with a single candle. (Below is a picture of part of the Royal Mile, where the vaults are located directly below).

Some other sites and beautiful architecture throughout the city:

Holyrood Palace, the queen’s home when she visits Scotland

St. Giles Cathedral

Scott Monument

A great Scottish man, in a kilt, playing bag pipes

And last but not least, some amazing food in Edinburgh that one must try when they visit this beautiful city! We randomly found a restaurant in New Town called The Boozy Cow and decided it was worth the visit. WE WERE RIGHT! This place serves amazing burgers, chicken sandwiches, fries(especially the chili cheese fries hehe) and their cocktails are hands down the best drinks I believe I’ve ever had. Must try: Boozy Milk Box, Taste the Rainbow, Boozy Tea Party, Boozy Back Cow and there are sooooo many more to try.