I was super excited for Penn State’s spring break because one of my best friends Grace came to visit me! She had extra flight points from some finance programs she did over the school year, so it was the perfect excuse to fly out to Madrid. We also celebrated her signing an internship offer, so it was a completely stress-free week.
I gave her a short tour of Madrid starting in Sol and ending with the Royal Palace, and we got the iconic chocolate churros on the way. We took in all the sights and I got to explain some of the history of Madrid that I’ve learned as we passed historic sites. We went shopping on Gran Via because the stores in Madrid are too good, and for dinner had tapas at 100 Montaditos and really yummy sangria. After, we met up with my friends and got drinks at a cool potions bar. I love how Madrid turns anything into a bar and they are all so elaborately themed and decorated.
On Wednesday, we flew to Nice! Nice had been on the top of my bucket list, and I was so excited to plan our itinerary for the trip. We ate dinner next to the water and checked into such a cute Airbnb that was named the Orange Hotel because it had so many orange trees. The next day, we got up early and took the train to Monaco. I did not know Monaco and Nice were so close to each other, it takes less than an hour by train. We had to go because Grace is an avid F1 fan, and after going, I like to watch too.
We walked the Circuit de Monaco and flicked up at the famous Fairmont hairpin. There was a lot of walking and we had to climb a hill to get to the Prince’s Palace and watched the changing of the guards there. Afterwards, we went sightseeing through the Jardins Saint Martin and old town. After lunch, we continued to explore and walked to Monte Carlo and went inside the casino. We walked through the Japanese gardens and Larvotto beach and circled back to Monaco to end with the museums. The prince’s private cars collection showed a lot of F1 memorabilia and old cars, and the Oceanographic museum had an aquarium inside.
On Friday, we explored the rest of Nice. I had a delicious matcha croissant at Bakery by Michel Fiori. I don’t like croissants in America, but the croissants in Europe are actually good. I feel like the ones I get in America are rubbery and too heavy. We stopped by the Notre Dame Cathedral in Nice and went down Avenue Jean Médecin to get to Place Massena. We walked through Old Nice and the Marché Aux Fleurs flower market. I booked a lunch reservation at Le Plongeoir which was actually so fire. It was the second best steak I have ever had, and Grace got the sea bass which was also so good. We were really full but decided to hike along the water. We hiked all the way to Villefranche-sur-mer which took over 2 hours but was one of my favorite parts of the trip. We went up and down on rocks and saw so much greenery, and the water was unbelievably blue. It started raining, so we went to the Villa Ephrusi de Rothschild museum which was my favorite museum that I visited in Europe. All the rooms in the pink villa and the expansive gardens were beautiful, and we listened to audio about Béatrice de Rothschild’s very interesting life. We watched the sunset at Saint Jean Cap Ferrat and came back to Nice to have dinner at L’Antica.
On our last day, we took a day trip to Cannes. I also did not know Cannes and Nice were so close to each other. It took an hour by train, and we walked through the streets and immediately saw the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès which is the center for the Cannes Film Festival. We stopped at the Marché Forville which is the food market and bought the most delicious baguette, brie cheese, and mortadella to make sandwiches. We ate them on the pier as we waited for our boat to arrive. From there, we boated from Cannes to Île Sainte-Marguerite and explored the island. We came back to Cannes and walked around old town and had another baguette. We took the train and stopped at Antibes on the way back to Nice.
This was my favorite trip of my study abroad, and I was so grateful that I got to spend it with Grace! Going to all these sites and sending pictures to my family makes me want to come again with them so I can show them around. I really want to come back to the French Riviera in the summertime so I can swim in those crystal clear waters.
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