Asian Celebrity?

After my trip to Monaco, I have learned many things: the cost of coffee is comparable to a dinner out in America; Gucci is to Monaco as Target is to Seekonk; and most importantly, unbeknownst to me, I am quite the celebrity in Asia. I know, you might be a little confused...so am I! Here's how the story unfolded: Some friends and I were wandering around the Prince's Palace in Monaco and snapping some great photos by the water, when it all happened. This older asian woman approached me with a big smile and motioned the universal "we-don't-understand-each-other-but-can-you-take-my-photo" hand gesture. As I agreed and looked for a camera in sight, she puts her arm around me, flashes a smile and 10-15 cameras start going off-apparently is was not a photo of her that she wanted, but rather a photo with me-Allison Garlick-Asian SUPERSTAR. Check it out!

Trying to hold back my tears of laughter, I gave my camera to a friend to snap some photos of the craziness that was the asian paparazzi. This will give you a glimpse:

After taking several more photos with others in the group-like this one below..my 5 minutes of fame were up. I'll never really know why they did this-so I'd rather just create these crazy stories in my head. I AM basically Angelina Jolie's twin sister :)

Riviera Hopping

So I’m going to try my hardest now NOT to skip right ahead to Oktoberfest(I just got back from Munich this Sunday!...yes, I made it out ALIVE!)

My trip to the French Riviera is my first order of business…procrastination is really one of my strongest qualities so I’ve got to work on the whole “blogging about a trip RIGHT after I go on it” thing. I've got some catching up to do!

France was absolutely gorgeous. I had seen Paris several years ago on a trip that I took over the summer and although I loved every second of that Parisian adventure, I knew that if I ever made it back to France I would want to see a completely different side of the country-the French Riviera was just that!

There were no planes involved is this weekend getaway, just a lengthy 10 HOUR bus trip followed by a rainy 20 minutes waiting for a 5 minute shuttle bus ride up a steep hill to our hostel-oh did I mention this was at 3:45am?!?! After a TEN hour bus ride?!? Yes, this girl was tired, wet and ready to sleep horizontally. I had never been so happy to see a hostel bed before…I doubt this will be a common occurrence while I’m traveling.

The following morning everyone grabbed a quick breakfast at the hostel(15 different cereals…I was in HEAVEN!) and we were off. The Bus2alps agenda for the day was to first stop off at the small hilltop town of Eze, followed by Monaco. Carved into the mountain where Eze lies are small, cobblestone streets with picturesque shops and authentic French restaurants. At the top of Eze is the most beautiful botanical garden with views of all the neighboring coastal towns.

After some time to browse around the adorable shops we jetted off to Monaco. If you weren’t dressed to the nines and ready to shell over 10 euro just to enter the Monte Carlo casino, you weren’t even getting a glimpse. A few girls and I opted instead to scour the area for a decent cappuccino under 7 euro…yes 7 euro seems to be the base price for a cappuccino in this ritzy area!!! To put it all in perspective-that’s about 10 US dollars for a coffee!! After some searching and finally finding the gold, an AMAZING and CHEAP cappuccino in France, we stopped back to the front entrance of the Monte Carlo and enjoyed some serious "car-watching". People get valet in front of the casino to be seen-red ferraris, Bentleys, Rolls Royce, and anything else that screams millions. It was definitely an interesting crowd.

That night we went out to Wayne's Bar, a bar in Nice that our Bus2Alps tour guides recommended and led a group there. In the description online, Waynes mentions that it is a "table dancing bar"-something I never fully comprehended until I stepped foot inside. This is not a drunken, "I'm going to get up on this table and dance to Keisha" moment, but more like the dance floor is made up of a series of tables...No joke. It was insane. All fun and games until a lovely French man decided to grab my behind which just happened to be level with his face and follow that action with a thumbs up...I'm really thinking of starting a short tutorial for European men on "Attempting to Flirt with American Women 101"-I'll make millions :)

The following day we headed to Antibes, a small town known for its authentic sailboats and super SUPER yachts. This babies look like cruise ships. Antibes was a beautiful place to visit and I had a wonderful time just wandering around the streets and snapping some photos.

After Antibes, we headed over to Cannes-home of the Cannes Film Festival. Unfortunately we were not there during the festival, so no George Clooney love affair for me :( Although it was a rainy afternoon, the visit started out perfectly with a nutella and banana crepe and I was ready to goooo! Although I am a fan of gelato, my love for crepes is much stronger-I could eat a crepe every day for the rest of my life and be happy...and very fat. I hope you all love me INSIDE and out :) yummmm

That night, my friend Amanda and I set out to treat ourselves to an authentic French dinner in Nice. The area is not the cheapest and definitely not an ideal hotspot for backpackers, but we wanted to indulge for a night. We headed to the promenade and stumbled upon this adorable square where we found a great outdoor restaurant where we treated ourselves to great wine, great food(3 courses!!) and great people watching.

The following morning we had a free day in Nice to explore until our bus left for Italy at 3pm. Amanda and I fit in a great deal that morning-climbed up this great hill with insane views of the city (check out below!), hit up an outdoor market for lunch, stopped in the beach and even fit in some shopping! Nice was truly beautiful during the day and I was so happy that I have some free time to see it all on Sunday.

The drive home actually went by a lot quicker, but I must say I need some time away from coach buses and long drives. The French Riviera was a wonderful weekend trip and a great opportunity to venture into a variety of small towns and cities in such a short span of time.

Ciao!

The Italian Bug

Apologies for taking so long in between my posts. The late nights, jugs of sangria, pizza at 1am and early morning weekend flights have finally caught up with me-I am sick in italy. I am pretty sure that what I need more than anything (besides my parents of course!) is a nice little Italian grandmother to take care of me-I think that will do the trick. For now though I am living off hot tea, soup and the fact that I am leaving for Ocktoberfest tomorrow! I know-probably not the best cure of the common cold, but I'm going to make it work. I am ecstatic about this trip because I will finally be seeing a familiar face in my friend Steph who is working outside of Frankfurt and meeting me in Munich. I am traveling alone(ahhh!) to Germany(double ahhh!). Let's hope to GOD that someone in that airport will be able to guide me in the right direction...keep your fingers crossed! The plan is to have no plan and hope that everything works out. I have no doubt that Ocktoberfest will be something that I will remember forever, but I also know that this is not going to be a trip of nice dinners, fancy wine and 4-star accommodations-It will be more like sweatpants, spilled beer and sleeping bags...I cannot WAIT! I can't wait to let you know how it all works out!

I know that I haven't posted anything yet about the French Riviera, but it was absolutely amazing. I hope to post later tonight or tomorrow morning in detail. Lets just say that I now have a glimpse into how the other half lives and I don't hate it.

I just booked Ireland today with my friend Katie-pinch me please! Mom, Dad: I may find my husband there so don't be alarmed if I return Allison O'Leary-It is all part of my Study Abroad master plan. More details to come!

Miss everyone and I hope to post something tomorrow about my trip this past weekend to France!

Ciao!

Greetings from Roma

Ciao! I decided putting together this blog was probably the smartest way to not only keep everyone up to date on what I've been up to, but also great for keeping all my trips and stories in one place. I've officially been in Rome for close to two weeks and I must say that I am falling in love with this city! I can step outside of my apartment at any time on any given day and find something beautiful, ancient, funky, and unexpected to do or see. I am living in Trastevere, an area within Rome that has the historic character of the ancient city, the ease of a small town, and the breathtaking views and cobblestone streets you'd expect from Italy. No night out in heels for this girl-I'd rather be tortured than attempt to walk in anything other than sandals or sneakers on these streets! 

View from My Apartment in Trastevere

 A group of us took a trip to the coastal town, Sperlunga, to visit the beach last Sunday. It was about an hour and a half train ride and a half hour bus ride to reach the water. I felt like I was in Greece without having to pay for the pricey plane ticket! The water and views were gorgeous. I have to admit that I've never been one of those "jump-in-the-dirty-ocean-water-and-never-come-out" kind of people, but this beach was seaweed and rock-free and I spent almost the entire time floating around! While people watching at the beach, I noticed how carefree and confident both the Italian men and women are with their bodies-big, small, young, old-these Italians have NOO shame!! The trip was a great success minus the fact that we almost missed our train home, but we made it! Being stuck in gorgeous Sperlunga didn't actually seem all that bad :)

Sperlunga View

My first week of classes was wonderful. I am so lucky to have had the option to travel into my senior year of college because I can now take courses that interest me, rather than ones that are required for my degree. With my schedule, my classes are more of an extension of an Italian tour guide than academics.  I am taking an Italian language course, an international affairs course, a film photography course and a Cities, Towns and Villas course. The latter two courses are entirely on-site which means that I basically get to see and study Rome on the streets and at the sites, rather than in a classroom-I'm loving it!!

Eight friends and I planned a spontaneous adventure to Madrid, Spain this past weekend. We left Thursday morning at 3:45am. Waking up that early is something I would not recommend...EVER! With backpack, travel guide and map in hand(I was labeled Cartographer Garlick) we set out to see as much of Madrid in three days as we could. The first day we explored the Parque del Retiro which included a beautiful Rose Garden, Crystal Palace and botanical gardens galore. That night we set out to indulge in the most important cultural aspect of Spain...SANGRIA! Myself and a friend split paella which is an authentic spanish rice dice with prawns, meat and loads of flavor, but our main priority was making sure our jug of sangria never ran low. Meal and conversation were great and the fact that we sat for 3 hours without ever being approached by waitstaff was so refreshing. 

Dinner & Sangria in Plaza Mayor

Day 2 started off with a trip to to Royal Palace and Madrid Cathedral where we all got some wonderful photos and were even able to walk around inside. The search for food in Spain is somewhat of a challenge though. Walk around for 3 hours and chances are you may not find anywhere to eat-it's absurd. We finally landed on a small cobblestone street with an adorable little nook of a restaurant just waiting for 8 loud Americans to walk in and take up half of the tables! The food was wonderful and that is something I've come to understand about Spain from this past weekend-the food is either absolutely amazing or not good at all...it's all part of the adventure of eating out in Spain. After lunch we walked around some more and even fit in a siesta at the hostel so that we were ready to go for the night. We met someone's friend who is studying in Madrid and she took us to Dubliners, an Irish bar, in Puerta del Sol. Obviously we got the drink of choice for those living in Rome, out at an Irish bar in Spain-Sangria. We capped off our night with a trip to Chocolateria de San Gines-one of my favorite parts of the trip! Basically the menu of this famous caffe is focused on 2 things and 2 things only: Chocolate & Churros. Everyone gets a tea cup of hot, melted chocolate and a plate towered high with warm churros(mouth watering yet?)

Royal Palace

We spent our final day/night in Madrid exploring different plazas and shops in the center of the city. That night we had a reservation at Las Tablas where we were able to watch a live, intimate Flamenco show while sipping on......what else? Sangria! I think I'm noticing a pattern here with our trip, but we couldn't resist! The show was truly amazing and the performers were so genuinely passionate about the dance, it was as if you were watching them for the first time. 

Flamenco at Las Tablas

The flamenco and a night trip to La Kapital, a 7 floor dance club, were great ways to end an amazing Spanish adventure!