EUROTOUR pt. II: France, Monaco, and Italy

Before going further into EUROTOUR stuff, just a word about Jaanipäev (Midsummer):

Yesterday, the 23rd of June, was Jaanipäev, which is the Estonian midsummer celebration. The tradition is to gather with friends and family, then barbeque, sauna, and make a big bonfire. It is similar to the 4th of July in the US, but without the fireworks. Unfortunately, it rained all day yesterday, which sort of put a damper on the celebrations. Nonetheless, bonfires were made and lit, but it turns out that wet wood doesn't burn so well... So instead of a bonfire, we got the Smoke Monster from LOST.

Now with free smoke inhalation!

Aside from this small mishap, Jaanipäev was a nice day. There were patriotic songs playing on the radio and folk dances on TV... It was like Estonia's third Independence Day.

But now, on to the second half of EUROTOUR!

France
So after our long, yet scenic, drive through the French Alps, we stopped for lunch in Sisteron. Sisteron is a small town in southern France, with an old citadel perched on a high hill. It was a really cool place, because it was our first introduction to southern France -- i.e., hot weather and blue skies!

Citadel on the left, mountain on the right. Not bad.

One of the numerous back alleys of Sisteron.

After lunch we moved on to Nice, which was, for me, very strange. The scenery was really different from what I'm used to... There were palm trees and cacti all over the place, the water was a light blue, and outside it was actually hot! We had the opportunity to spend some time at the beach in Nice, but I was feeling a bit under the weather, so I decided to just relax on the beach and save the swimming for Italy.

Soon, we moved on to our next country...

Monaco
I can see why a lot of rich people live in Monaco and southern France. The climate and scenery is unbelievable... Monaco was especially cool because you could see the whole country just by standing in one place!

Lovely water, contrasted with a lovely seagull.

The famous Monte Carlo Casino.

Watchers of F1 may recognize part of the roads in this picture as some of the famous track in Monaco!

In Monaco we also visited the famous Monte Carlo Casino, which was naturally surrounded by fancy/expensive cars and finely dressed people... so we left as quickly as possible and drove to our next country: Italy.

Italy
Genova was the first stop on our Italian tour, but only for the night. Nonetheless, some of us decided to take a walk at night to the nice old town center... but, after seeing five prostitutes and a group of angry Italian men in under 20 minutes, we decided to just call it a night and head back to the hotel.

The next day we headed to Verona, where we saw the famous Romeo & Juliet balcony, ate pizzas, shopped, and luckily, did not encounter any prostitutes.

Venice was our next major destination, so we drove to Lido de Jesolo, where we stayed for three days to enjoy the beach and sun. On the first day we took a ferry to Venice, and in Venice we had a gondola ride, ate more pizza, and wandered around the backstreets. To Venice I only brought my small point and shoot... which apparently has a smudge on its lens... so the photos aren't exactly that great!

The day after Venice we were given a free beach day to spend in Lido de Jesolo. We sunbathed, swam, and played frisbee all day until nighttime, when I went with some friends to get delicious, tiramisu-flavored gelato... which we then ate on the beach. So I guess it's safe to say we spent the whole day on the beach!
Also, after spending a year up north in Estonia and Finland, the sun burn sets in pretty quickly. A lot of us found that out the hard way!


To keep this post at a reasonable length, I'll have to stop here. Look for the rest of Italy, Austria, and Germany in the next chapter of... EUROTOUR!

EUROTOUR pt. I: Sweden, Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium, and France

Yesterday, on the 20th of June, I sailed across the Baltic Sea from Finland for the last time in my exchange. This week I said goodbye to many of the exchange students I have gotten to know so well over the past year. It is unbelievable to think that ten months ago I was just meeting these people at the Karkku Language Camp, six months ago I was skiing with them in Lapland, three months ago I was crossing the border to Russia with them, and only two days ago touring Europe with them. It still feels surreal.

But, I'm now back in Tartu and it's not time to say goodbye just yet. So I now present to you... EUROTOUR (part one):

Sweden
Eurotour started on the 3rd of June in Turku, Finland, with an overnight cruise to Sweden. Highlights of the cruise include Swedish meatballs and tiramisu. The next day our two buses began the long drive to southern Sweden, and along the way we quickly stopped at a candy factory because, well, candy.

After that, we took a ferry to the next country on our tour, Denmark...

Denmark
In Copenhagen we were given a free evening to spend at Tivoli Gardens, an amusement park packed into the middle of the city. On Tuesday, we had a bus tour of Copenhagen. Unfortunately the weather took a turn for the worst, so it was cloudy and rainy for a bit.

Despite the weather, I had a great time in Denmark. Soon we moved on to the next country, the Netherlands...

The Netherlands
Something about the scenery in the Netherlands really stuck with me. It was full of fields and pastures, but each house had its own yard with sheep and such, and some even had a moat surrounding their houses. We stopped at a cheese & clog factory and then had lunch at a small town on the coast before moving on to Amsterdam.

This town really reminded me of something you would see on Martha's Vineyard, MA.

In Amsterdam, we took a cruise of the canals and visited the Anne Frank house. I would have to say that Amsterdam was one of my favorite places of the whole trip, simply because of the interesting architecture and the overall vibe of the city.

Then, off to Belgium!

Belgium
We made a quick stop in Brussels to have a tour and some free time in the city. Fortunately I was able to meet up with one of my friends from NH on exchange in Belgium, so naturally we ate chocolate covered waffles.

Audrey's blog: http://audreyenbelgique.blogspot.com/

France
After our short stop in Brussels, we moved on to France. We went straight to Paris, where we stayed for a few nights. On Friday we had a tour of Paris by bus, roamed around Versailles, and took a cruise on the Seine, but on Saturday we were given a free day and night to explore Paris on our own... This was another highlight of the trip. During our free day we visited the Eiffel Tower (though the line was too long to go to the top), the Arc de Triomphe, and the Louvre. That night I went out with a small group of friends to a nice restaurant, where we ate escargot! (I actually wanted to try frog's legs too, but couldn't find anywhere that served it...) After that we roamed the Parisian streets (and metro) until finally getting back to the hotel.

On Sunday, June 10, we drove through France to Grenoble, where we got our first taste of the Alps... After an overnight in Grenoble, we continued through the French Alps, in the direction of Nice.

That's all for now... Coming soon: The rest of France, Monaco, Italy, Austria and Germany.

My Inexplicable Love of Mountains

The first week of the Eurotour has ended and now I find myself in Grenoble, France, staring at the great French Alps.

As we drove from Paris to Grenoble today, the landscape slowly turned from flat to hilly to slightly more hilly, until finally, we were surrounded by mountains. Ever since spending a few weeks in Salzburg, Austria, two years ago, I have loved the Alps and I am so happy to have them in front of me once again.

This year, while living in Estonia, I have missed mountains. Estonia is relatively flat in the north, and more hilly in the south, near Tartu. In fact, the highest point in the Baltics is located in Estonia (known as Suur Munamägi or "The Great Egg-Mountain"). But these small, rolling hills--however nice they may be--do not compare to the Alps. Even the mountains in my home state of New Hampshire do not compete.

Later this week we will be going for a hike in the Dolomites in Italy... Admittedly it is one of the things I have most looked forward to throughout this trip!

Springtime in Estonia pt. II

Tomorrow I am going to Tallinn with my host family, then on Sunday heading to Finland to start the Eurotour!
I probably won't have the opportunity to make a post until after I get back from Eurotour on the 20th of June, so, before I finish packing, here are just a few pictures from the Tartu University Botanical Gardens that I took last week when the weather was nice:

And relaxing on the Emajõgi afterwards...

See you in two weeks!

Evening Drive

This evening I went for a drive with my host dad and host brother to see Lake Peipus, which forms most of Estonia's eastern border with Russia. The lake is large enough to not be able to see across it, and it's the fifth largest lake in Europe. We drove along the coast a bit, making some pit stops, and reaching our destination of Mustvee before heading back through Jõgeva to watch a bit of the town's laulu- ja tantsupidu (singing and dancing festival). Then we got home and watched the finale of Eurovision, a Europe-wide song competition. Sweden came in first, but Estonia came in sixth (out of 26 finalists)! Here is Estonia's song: Kuula (Listen) - Ott Lepland

And here are some pictures from today:

One week until Eurotour!