I love my life. It is so perfect in its unexpectedness! One of the biggest things I am learning through my experiences is to just… take it easy.
I say that because I spent the craziest, most unconventional traveling experience of my life during my spring break in Italy about a month ago, but I kept a positive attitude, seeing everything as an adventure. Things started when I missed the one-hour bus to the airport and ended when I fled Italy by train. My passport was stolen five hours prior to flying (right when the UNC v. Duke game was about to start!), and with that, my money, my documents, my camera and my new Italian leather gloves. Oh well. I couldn’t fly without my passport, so the police advised me to “take the train because they do not check for documents.” Ironic, much? Luckily I had printed a copy of my passport because they did, in fact, check to see if I could travel. But other entertaining things happened during the week such as the time I took the wrong train to a little town in the middle of nowhere in Italy.
“So what are you going to do here?” asked the taxi driver as he took me up a mountain to where I thought would be my hostel. “See as much of Florence as I can!” I said in my broken Italian. “Well, you won’t find that here. We are two hours away from Florence.” Oops! Or the time we left the “hostel” in the middle of the night after the police came because a woman had reported it wasn’t a real hostel. Or, the time we almost took a train to the south of Italy because we didn’t have a place to sleep. But above all, Italy was excellent. I met my Italian family for the first time, walked around a country (Vatican City), improved my Italian, got a beautiful mask at the carnival in Venice, ate the most delicious gelato…everyday, saw Michelangelo’s David in Florence and then the most incredible and perfect architecture in Rome, got lost in little Italian streets and made three wishes in the Trevi fountain.
I was confronted with unexpected situations in Italy, but things worked out. They always do! Just make sure you have friends by your side and family you can call at any time. Want to know the most impressive thing of all? After I got back to Paris at 11:30 a.m. from the 10-hour train ride from Rome after not having slept for about 50 hours, I made it to my 12:30 p.m. class! Trooper, if I do say so myself. Sorry for not showering before class.
After the Italian adventure, all I wanted to do was relax and enjoy Paris. And that I’ve been doing! These past 3 weeks have been perfect in their simpleness. Staying in the city during the weekends and walking everywhere during the week has opened the door to many secrets that the little cobble-stoned streets hold, and I’ve been living the Parisian life without the clichés or tourist norms.
Last week I went to a book reading outside of the library Shakespeare & Company. I also stumbled upon a vernissage, or “first night” for an art exhibition which included cheese from various regions of France, good wine and interesting artists — brilliant. I also got my fix of Parisian sophistication when I went to the ballet to see Coppélia. Fancy!
And the best thing of all is that after a long and expensive search – I FOUND IT! My spot. My coffee shop. Name: Caféothèque. Location: Rue de l’hôtel de Ville, right across from the river Seine. My drink: A café glace — a sort of iced/cold coffee with no ice cubes. It’s thick, but not a frappuccino. Delicious! The small, cozy café resembles distinctive Carrboro spots. They grind their own coffee from all over the world, which makes the delicious smell linger in the air. Books staggered on the shelves, comfortable vintage couches and black and white photographs that adorn the walls give the café a unique, relaxed and worldly ambiance. I’m so lucky to have found IT. (Though I must admit, a friend from UNC recommended it to me.) They already know my order by heart!
I have been so happy lately! Paris is like the most beautiful poem that has manifested itself before my eyes, perfect and charming in its own picturesque way. It takes my breath away. I find myself smiling the biggest smile at the little things, like seeing lovers kiss by the Pont des Arts, a bridge crossing the Seine, where couples lock a lock and throw away the key on the river as a sign of their love or when the sun sets behind the Eiffel Tower, reflecting gold perfection in the Seine, blinding me in sunshine. Or, when I eat strawberry and chocolate gelato, only wearing a cardigan because the days are now sunny and warm. And time tick-tocks and I get lost in the streets, finding loveliness at every corner. I now live in the most beautiful city in the world. I fall in love with it a little more every day, and I realize I am living my dream.