Paris jour un!

I slept in longer than I anticipated.  Some friends of mine were checking in on me and I was messaging back pretty late.  Of course I missed most of the complimentary breakfast, but I settled on toast with jam.  I went back to my room and took my time getting ready.  Today on the agenda was the Picasso Museum.  I was bummed when I realized how far I was from there.  Another hour and a half commute!!  Where the hell am I again??
First I had to take a tram (my first in Paris) to get to the train station.  I have to admit, I loved the ride very much.   It runs through streets and neighborhoods and you get to see things you might miss on the train.  Then I had to ride the metro for 11 stops before transferring into another line and riding that for 10 more stops.  This was beginning to weigh me down.  I finally got to the museum around 3:30pm and it closes at 5pm.  I hate this.
Luckily inside it resembled more of a spacious gallery than a museum.  It was easy to navigate between the rooms.  I loved being able to examine each painting without a crowd surrounding me.  I felt very humbled seeing Picasso’s work throughout the years.  He was truly gifted.  You witness the changes in his art slowly progress into cubism.  I left the museum on cloud 9.

I had to go to the Supreme store (which was nearby) to pick up a cap for a co-worker.  He got very excited knowing I was traveling through Paris again and asked me if I could do that favor for him.  I didn’t mind, plus it gave me the chance to see this hyped brand myself.  I was very impressed.  I took pictures of the caps on display and messaged back to him which one did he want me to purchase for him.  When I left the store, I noticed a group of young boys mumbling as I walked by with the supreme shopping bag.  They whispered some more before finally yelling out to me, “Ay!!!  Where’s the store??”  They scared me when they did that and I told them they were heading to the right direction.  Geez this shopping bag surely grabs people’s attention.  I grew nervous knowing I had to commute all the way back to my hotel with such a noticeable known brand. 

I figured I still had some time to check out the Opera Granier before heading back.  I wanted to do an inside tour but of course, with no explanation whatsoever, there was a sign outside that said “No Tours Today.”  UGH!!!  Now what?  I realized I was near the Gallerie Layfette shopping center and decided to go inside.  What a gorgeous department store!!!  It was truly beautiful!

Unfortunately my friend could not meet me up for a cocktail again, so I figured I would go back to the hotel.  It was now nearing 7pm and I knew I had ways to go.  By the time I was at my hotel area, I went to a Japanese restaurant nearby and ordered takeout to take back to my room.  I absolutely devoured my dinner and had a glass of wine as well.  I was pooped.

A Plane, a train, and a bus ride to Paris

I woke up SUPER NERVOUS the day I flew out of Rome.  We had to get up early because we were driving back to Rome from Milan.  A five hour drive is NOT the ideal situation to catch a flight.  Of course anything can happen, and I thought of every scenario.  Luckily my bff knew I would be a mess, so we quickly checked out of our apartment and hit the road.

Our drive there was fine until we got closer to the airport.  That’s when it started to rain HARD.  I tried to remain calm but my friend kept talking to me to get my mind off of the weather.  Once I arrived at the airport, she helped me with my luggage and even waited in line with me for a bit at the ticket counter.  We hugged goodbye and then I was on my own.

I killed some time with a glass of wine at a restaurant and bought a souvenir for my mom.  I felt a sudden urge of guilt since I forgot to get something for her in Milan.  Hopefully she’ll understand…

I boarded my flight and off I went.  Luckily the rain wasn’t severe and I landed two hours later in Paris.  By now it was after 6:30pm and I wanted to reach out to my Parisan friends to see if they would put me up for the night.  Unfortunately, they were not available.  I found a spot at a café and tried booking a hotel at the airport.  After a frustrating 40 minutes I settled on a good price for a hotel but wasn’t quite sure where it was.  I knew I made a costly mistake.  My hotel was an hour and a half away from the airport!  I had to catch my train.

I rode the train for a while.  It was now dark and I had no idea where I was going.  Once I got off a stop I had to catch a bus.  I have never done this before in Paris.  According to google maps I had to ride through 17 stops before I get off!  Oh my goodness.  Traveling with a suitcase didn’t help either.  I felt so exposed.  I couldn’t hide the fact that I was a tourist.

To make matters worse, my stop was at the end of the line for this bus route.  I finally got off on a nearly empty bus and saw a Holiday Inn.  I did not know where my hotel was, but I knew I was near.  I went inside and asked the concierge if they had an idea.  Luckily my hotel was right behind the Holiday Inn.  I felt relieved.

I checked in and got to my room.  It was now 10pm.  I still had no idea what part of Paris I was at.  I asked the front desk man if I was still in Paris and he looked at me strangely.  “You are in the Business district of Paris”, he replied.  My hotel was a French version of an extended stay.  It had a small fridge and stovetop.  I actually was impressed because it was very roomy and wide.  I decided to venture out in the morning and call it a night.  I was exhausted. 

Milano giorno due!

I’m recapping my trip in Milano!  Believe it or not, I will be going back shortly to Italy again, and I am very excited!!!  This time I will be meeting up with some friends in Rome.  This will be a different trip for me, since the last few times I’ve traveled I’ve been on my own.  I am already jotting down new restaurants and shops to look into.  I can’t wait!

Back to day two in Milano.  Me and my friend woke up and got ready.  We had an appointment to go to, and luckily it was moved up to an earlier time.  We decided to get that out of the way first.  Once we were finished, we made our way back to Milano.  My friend wanted to go back to the Chanel counter to exchange some makeup she bought the night before, so we went to Rinascente again.  We shopped around some more at the Galleria Vittoro Emanuele, and I found my souvenir T-shirt of Milan.  I am getting in the habit of looking for souvenirs more often because I love to see what cities have to offer. 

I had a craving of gelato and finally got the chance to have some, but I didn’t want to spoil my appetite.  We had dinner plans again.  This time my friend suggested sushi and I was down for it.  Once we finished shopping around we decided to go to a nearby shopping mall to look at some jewelry.  A side note:  Italians prefer 18K gold than 14K.

We went back home to get ready.  I bought a cute button down blouse from Other Stories and wore my black skinny jeans with studded ankle boots.  My friend wore her new black suede ankle boots and a white silk tunic with black leggings.  I wish I would master the-art-of-walking-in-heels in Italy, but it’s impossible for me. 

We went to the Navigli neighborhood and looked for sushi restaurants.  We decided to have a cocktail beforehand and found a cute bar to kill some time.  This bar had a menu of cocktails based on your horoscope sign! 
We settled on Temakinho sushi restaurant and it was delish.  We were seated by the chefs and got the chance to see how they prepared the food.  It was very entertaining!

Afterwards we took a brisk walk over to Gin 012 and had more cocktails.  Considering it was a Monday night, the usually lively neighborhood was pretty quiet that night.  We also assumed the weather had a factor in it as well.  It was cold that night!

Milano giorno uno!

Me and my friend woke up later than anticipated from our long day before.  Luckily we didn’t stay out too late, but we were both tired from traveling.  Me on 3 flights and her driving to Rome.  We showered up and made some coffee in our room and slowly got ready.  We didn’t want to drive out too late and get caught in traffic.  We met up with the owner’s mom to return the keys.  Off we went on a 5 hour drive!

We stopped halfway to grab some lunch and fill up on gas.  Only in Italy will you find a market at a gas station that serves food buffet style!  Lol.  Our 30 minute stop also brought on the rain, and unfortunately, never left us the rest of the time I was there.  Oh well.  What can you do?

We booked another apartment this time in the vicinity of Milan.  Since my friend had her car, we could drive into the city within 15 minutes.  For the most part, the prices for hotels are pretty high and we wanted to use the savings for our trip.  Again, meeting up with the owner was another ordeal, along with the fact that we couldn’t find the place.  These are things that come into play when planning a trip.  Some situations are time consuming, and packing too much into one full day isn’t reasonable.

Once we got ourselves situated in our new apartment, we decided to get ready then and there for a night out.  Shops in Milan close later than most cities in Italy, and we wanted to do that first.

I was hesitant in wearing my suede ankle boots because it wouldn’t stop raining.  I wore my leather sneakers and graphic tee since it was Sunday.  I didn’t think we would go anywhere fancy.  Sunday is very slow in Italy, like anywhere else, and I was curious if we would be able to shop more comfortably with not so many people around.  Yeah right.

Again, trying to find legit parking in Milano proved to be another time consuming task.  We settled on parking in a garage once we found one available.  Despite the rain, I was surprised how many tourists there were!  The Duomo plaza was filled with people everywhere.  We took some pics and made our way to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele right away.  It was cold and we needed some shopping shelter.  My friend needed new makeup, so Rinascente was the place to be.  This high end department store that had everything imaginable.  We went upstairs to check out the market to grab a light bite but ended up at Terrazza Aperol instead.  I completely fell in love of the rooftop view of the Duomo Cathedral!  Despite the bad weather, it looked beautiful at night!

I forgot the tradition of the aperitivo coming with a cocktail, so we made sure we didn’t eat too much since we still had dinner to go to.  We made reservations at 9pm to be on the safe side.

We lucked out with our night so far, so of course we would have trouble with something.  We couldn’t find the uber we ordered.  It seemed that the driver cancelled on us.  At this point, we were worried we might lose our reservation, so we ran all the way back to the garage and got the car.  Off we went!

Luckily my friend called the restaurant and told them we were running late.  23 Risotti was super sweet to us!  We were seated right away once we got there.  The restaurant was pretty quiet to my standards, but again, we were in Italy, and Italians take their dining experience VERY SERIOUSLY.  23 Risotti is known for their different variations of risotto, but because it was just the two of us, we had to order the same thing.  We settled on the risotto Milanese.  IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!  THE BEST RISOTTO I’VE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE- HANDS DOWN!  After a cold and rainy day, this is just what the doctor ordered.  Me and my friend finished our bowls completely and decided to call it a night.  What a great meal…

Three flights later...

I have been back from my trip and feel I am finally adjusted to my life again.  Last week was tough one for me.  I was in a bad mood all week and it wasn’t going away.  I always get this way after a trip.  I know in my heart I will make some changes for myself in the future because I cannot keep putting myself through this over and over again.  I just don’t want to be in Chicago anymore.

Where do I want to go???  Well that’s a good question.  For the most part, most of my friends have moved out of the city, whether it’s to another city or deep in the suburbs.  I miss my friend a lot in Italy, but cannot figure out if I could live there.

Since I’m currently not involved with anyone, the thought of taking two years off and traveling the world on my own REALLY EXCITES ME!!!  I would love to do long term travel, but again, haven’t figured out the logistics to making it happen.  I know there are vagabonders out there who do this type of thing all the time, but I can’t help but question if I could live the gypsy lifestyle.  I like to think of myself as living a simple life here in Chicago but let’s face it, I would have to make some major adjustments living on the road.  I don’t know if I could handle it.

One of the things that surprises me the most is how much I enjoy my time alone when I do travel.  But the maximum time I have done this is 7 days alone.  I have always met up with my friends somewhere along the way.  To be a vagabonder, I probably would be friend-less much longer than that, and again, question myself if I could be away from the people I care about.

So that’s where I’m at!  Lol.  I have been thinking about this all week and have settled my into my life again.  NOW I am ready to recap my trip to Europe, AGAIN!

I had received a voucher from that airlines that had me stuck on Iceland for a day back in December.  My voucher is good for one year, so I decided to use it to see my friend in Italy.  But of course there was a catch.  The only flights coming into Italy from that airline was to Milan and there were blackout dates.  I couldn’t fly into Italy when I wanted to.  Me and my friend were trying to figure out how to make this work for us.  I told her that this airline had plenty of flights to Paris jokingly and that’s when the idea popped up.  My friend looked into domestic flights .  “There’s flights for $200 coming up from Paris to Rome and that’s when I booked it.

Now the hard part for me comes up.  That means I would have to fly into Iceland AGAIN, have a two hour layover before jumping on another plane to Paris.  As if that wasn’t enough, I had a three hour wait before jumping on ANOTHER flight from the ticket I purchased to head to Rome.  Everything had to line up perfectly and because of that, I was a hot mess.
My nerves were getting to me.  I couldn’t sleep prior and I had bad dreams about this plan.  I absolutely HATE flying but I knew it was coming up.  Luckily I had friends nearby who tried to keep me calm.

To my amazement, all 3 flights were on time!  WHEW!!  I was a little frustrated my 3^rd flight from Paris-> Rome had me check in my luggage because they claimed it was “too big” (although on my other 2 flights I threw it in the overhead).  Once I grabbed my luggage my friend was calling me to let me know she was outside.  I was relieved.

I had a cup of coffee right there in the airport because I had to adjust to my time in Rome.  Luckily I slept well on the 2^nd flight coming in, but it still wasn’t enough for me.  I needed a pick me up.

My friend informed me she booked a place not far from the Vatican so we could be close to all of the action.  The problem with this is trying to find parking.  Rome is a very busy metropolitan city.  Trying to find a legit parking space took us a while.  We drove around the block for over an hour.  This was getting frustrating again.
Not to mention, we still had to meet the owner so he could drop off the keys to us.  That alone took another 30 minutes.  At this point we were in the heart of rush hour and just wanted to get rid of our luggage.
I also had to break the news to my friend that I had to wash my hair.  Lol.  She usually gets ready very quickly but I’m a human turtle.  It takes me longer to get ready.  After an hour of showering up, getting dressed and doing my makeup, we wanted to hit up the town.  It was now 8pm.
We decided to call an uber to get us close to the Spanish steps.  My friend did not want to move the car and I understood.  Luckily a Mercedes came and picked us up in no time.  Off we went!

There were so many people on the streets.  As usual, Italians love to take their passeggiata after work, even in cold weather!  Temperatures were in the mid-40s that night, but that didn’t stop them.  It was Saturday night after all.

We found the Spanish steps and took a bunch of pictures and decided to look for the Trevi fountain.  I HAD NO IDEA HOW BIG IT WAS!!  Even in the movies, it never looked that big to me.  Lol

so many people!

At this point, we knew we wanted to eat.  My friend had some trouble remembering the location of a restaurant, so I had suggested grabbing a cocktail first so we could kill some time.  Unfortunately, due to the cold weather, some rooftops I looked into were still closed for the season. 

We walked around for a bit and found a boutique at a corner. People were walking in and out.  It grabbed our attention so we decided to check it out.  The party turned out to be an art showing.  We enjoyed the art work and even had some appetizers before we headed back out again.

We took a chance on another suggestion and went to a hotel bar.  Their rooftop was closed too, but we took the opportunity to look up other restaurants because we were hungry.  This hotel bar was super pricey (even for a drink).  We decided to leave right away.

Luckily, the restaurant we chose was a popular one that our new cabbie recognized.  He drove across Rome to get us there and we found it right away.  Of course, there was a wait, but the owner was very sweet and gave us a complimentary Prosecco while we waited.

Ba Ghetto was a delight!  It gave me and my friend a chance to catch up.  Once we were seated we enjoyed our night.  I miss her very much.  After dinner we decided to take a walk around to find a bar, but gave up shortly because we were just too tired.  Lol.  Oh well.  We knew we had a long day ahead of us in the morning, so we called it a night.