Study Abroad Week 8- Stranded in Frankfurt

Yes, you read that right.  Stuck.  In Frankfurt.  Frankfurt Airport, to be precise.  For 18 hours- I calculated.

On the bright side, I saw this toward the end of the week

So, I left Antibes nice and early for Nice Airport to travel for my spring break.  Shortly before boarding, an announcement came on to say that there was a security strike in Frankfurt, but that passengers with connecting flights should not worry.  That was about 9:35am, and my flight landed at about 11:36am in Frankfurt.  I get there, just managed to make the terminal to my connection with multiple other passengers...gates just closed about 5 minutes ago.  20 minutes later, the airport closed down.  No one goes past security, and now I'm stranded overnight with thousands.  When I finally got an internet connection, it was just long enough to tell my friend I was stranded, then it blipped out for an hour.  I finally managed to get a somewhat stable connection, and I noticed a new e-mail, sent at 10:36am, while I was in the air between Nice and Frankfurt:  that there was a strike in Frankfurt and please expect delays.  My friend had also linked me an article he'd found to find out why I was stranded, and as it turned out, the airport and all airlines had been notified of the strike 3 days or so in advance, 'cause that's how the EU rolls, and it was supposed to have started at 2am.  The advance notification was so that airlines could have enough time to notify customers of delays.

ARE.  YOU.  $%^*!@& KIDDING ME? LIKE, FOR REAL?  MY AIRLINE HAD 3 DAYS AND SOME HOURS TO TELL ME, "Hey miss, there will be travel delays Friday in Frankfurt Airport, if you wish to reroute your flight, there may be an extra charge" AND THEY DIDN'T?  ARE.  YOU.  SERIOUS?  Of course, it just makes so much more sense to send an e-mail why your customers are in flight, as though you didn't know, that there is a strike and will be delays, but hey, your flight pattern will totes be okay.

Anyway, bitterness, anger, and frustration from sleeping in an airport's food court along with other stranded folks, I can say with 100% honesty that Frankfurt was certainly an adventure. They kept letting planes fly in, too (heaven knows why), so the field of view outside the food court windows was PACKED.
 
Angry blog post is angry.  Hopefully this'll be the only disappointment of my study abroad trip. :I  

Au. Revoir.

NOTE AS OF MAY 4TH, 2014:  So I just found out from a German friend that according to EU legal rights, any traveller, whether or not a citizen of the EU, stranded in this was was legally supposed to have their airline cover food and provide lodging and pay for it.  Thanks for nothing, US Airways.  Oh, and as of June 18th, 2014, US Airways has ignored phone calls, e-mails, and paperwork sent through both them and American Airlines regarding this, even though I have the tickets and all paperwork from the incident still with me.  

Study Abroad Week 7: Nice Carnaval!

 My favourite float.  I didn't get to record it the first time, when it actually breathed its hot, steamy fire breath at us, into our faces.  It was almost like a real dragon- I even just got to touch it! AWESOME
 

This is how I felt about being there

So yesterday we went to the Nice Carnaval with CEA.  Or at least, a rather small subset of us did.  It's been raining all week, and it was raining most of yesterday, too.  Bit of a bummer for our main objective in being there in the first place- to attend the Nice Flower Parade on the Promenade des Anglais along the shoreline.  Luckily, it stopped raining RIGHT as we got to our seats in the bleachers, and recommenced only after all of us had descended the bleachers.  Fortune much?  But I digress.

Gorgeous floats and costumes in this parade, don't you think?
  

But wait, there's more!

We'd passed through Nice briefly before by bus about a month ago during our excursion to Grasse, Eze, and Monaco, but we didn't really see much besides the market.  Now we actually got down and explored a bit.  We took the train to the Nice Ville train station, and walked along the main shopping avenue in front of it and to the Nice town centre, where we were to meet in about two hours to get our tickets for admission to our seats for the parade from Silvija (in case you've been wondering, that's actually pronounced Sylvie).  Our group hung out with Silvija and grabbed some food from a cafe due to the rain, then we went to a couple shops along the shopping street, though we only darted into two small shops and then worldwide chain stores like Zara, Sephora, and H&M.

The parade was wonderful.  As I mentioned already, it had been raining the entire day, but it stopped exactly for the duration of the parade.  There were so many beautiful floats, and everything was so festive! ...even if the music STILL wasn't French.  Latin American, but nope.  No French music.  Unless you count a French-Spanish cover of Frankie J's "Obsesión."  I guess it's something at this point.  The rest of the music, if lyrical, was either in Spanish or Brazilian Portuguese.  The people on the floats kept throwing mimosa flowers and shooting streamers into the bleachers.  I nearly caught some a few times, but each time the old man in front of me jumped up and grabbed them, in two cases quite literally from my grasp.  Sometime during the middle of the parade another old gentleman saw me nearly catch a shoot and miss (as in, my fingers touched it and as I grabbed the stem I knocked it down to rows below us), so he broke his catch and handed it to me and to the two girls sitting beside me.  It was adorable and touching, and the language barrier was completely transcended.

Left: Offering the others the blossoms.  Right: The three of us smiling.  I am in the centre.

The entire experience was great, plus it's a good thing we went to Nice then and there, since after spring break I have to go to Nice every day for a week for my genetics lab.  That's right folks, the labs at SKEMA Business School don't actually happen on campus because....actually good question.  I'm guessing they're poorly equipped or lacking or something.  But anyway, I have to go every day for a week right after spring break ends, for my genetics lab.  Nine to five each day is the schedule.  It shall be oh so fun to go right from the airport to Nice University, where I've never been before.  With my carry-ons, no less. Yay.

More floats, and the dreaded dragon

Au revoir!

Study Abroad Week 6: Aix-en-Provence and Sainte Roseline's body

So-called Atlanteans supporting the balcony of a house with a beautiful façade

Well.  I remember reading about incorruptible saints, and how common relics of saints were in Europe during the middle and dark ages.  The e-mail for this particular CEA excursion just said that we would be going to Aix-en-Provence, then to a vineyard and seeing the Chapelle Sainte-Roseline next to it, where Saint Roseline's bones were kept as relics.  It wasn't until we were leaving Aix to head to the vineyard that the program coordinator, Kristin, told us that we would be seeing her body, and that the reliquary held her eyes.

As French a meal as you can ask for, except for ordering a croque monsieur/madame

I've read a lot about the history of the Catholic church, so I tried to recall this saint as they gave her story. I could not until they mentioned that a miracle where bread held in her apron turned into rose, then I remembered her from my bulky encyclopedia of saints.  I remember thinking her body had been found preserved from the heavy organic material in the soil, but then thought I was mixing her up with Saint Bernadette or someone else, until Kristin mentioned that her body had been exhumed and found preserved some centuries after her death.  But then she mentioned the eyes.  When Rosaline was exhumed, her eyes were wide open and glassy, almost lifelike.  I do not know how much of that to believe, as whenever I read about incorruptible saints, it always says that their bodies are perfectly preserved and do not decay, looking almost asleep, leading you to envision a body as though freshly dead. But when I was older and had access to the internet I googled these incorruptible saints and they all look like Rosaline- merely mummified, much like the Iceman, bog bodies, or Ginger.  Their bodies are all quite well preserved, but always they are never "as though sleeping."  The most beautiful examples of incorruptible saints- Bernadette and Silvan- are all covered in wax to appear as though asleep, or their body parts are made of wax.  This is, again, much like preserved bodies in museums- they are either treated to remain in appearance the way they were with found, or represented in a way meant to show them as they appeared when alive.  Some books I read as a child do mention that the bodies are only very well-mummified, as the book I had on Saint Bernadette contained a lengthy section on how her body was found a mummy, and the lengthy process of keeping it routinely preserved and making the wax mask that covers her face and creates her hands.  It was fascinating, and a souvenir my aunt had brought me back from the site at Lourdes.  As far as I know, "incorruptibility" is just not used anymore, and Roseline wasn't on any list of so-called incorruptible saints, although she was on lists of preserved and/or naturally mummified saints (as were any "incorruptible" saints).

From left to right: Sainte Roseline's body, a plaque honouring Sainte Roseline's miracle of the flowers, and the eyes of St. Roseline within the mask in the reliquary 

For Rosaline, a doctor, wanting to keep her body preserved while it was on display, embalmed her body and coated her in a thin layer of beeswax- very thin, so her body could appear is it had when in the earth, nothing as extreme as the much later Saint Bernadette's. He removed her famous eyes and placed them in a reliquary, which, although I did peer into it, I could not bring myself to look at it for longer than a glance, and it was poorly lit, so I do not know how well-preserved her eyes actually are.  I'm going to assume they're something like the Gebelein man's ("Ginger," as linked above) "perfectly preserved" skin- dessicated but clearly retaining their owner's living appearance.  For Sainte Roseline, there is a prayer bench for the faithful, so you can pray while gazing into her long-dead eyes.  Nothing like gazing into mummified eyes to inspire spirituality, right?

From left to right: Barrels of wine, a figure swimming in the rain, and bottles of the Château Sainte-Roseline

After that we went back into the winery next to the chapel and walked around for a bit, had a lovely little wine tasting session (a follow-up of sorts to the CEA "Introduction to Wine Tasting" session we'd had previously), and I bought my parents a rosé wine as a souvenir, in the vineyard's characteristic lampe de méduse bottle. There's just something Provençal wines, particularly the rosés.

Au revoir!

Study Abroad Week 5: Sanremo and the Oddest Childhood Nostalgia Ever

Yesterday I heard this song in its original Italian.  I had not heard it since the cassette album of their greatest hits was last played on a trip to my grandma's house when I was 5.

Well, I am officially in love with Sanremo,  Italy- I knew the place by name, but I just discovered (or rather, noticed) it was home to the Sanremo Music Festival, where many childhood idols or childhood songs of mine first rose to fame, such as Laura Pausini.  Yesterday we went to Sanremo with CEA.  They played some Italian music on the bus ride their, all of which I knew the Spanish versions of because far too much Spanish music, especially from the 70s, 80s, and 90s, are either the singers taking an Italian song, the Italian singer singing it in Spanish, or a Spanish singer who also sang in Italian.  I heard many beloved childhood songs on the bus and in the Sanremo mercado: Laura Pausini, Albano & Romina Power, Que Sera Sera, Ricchi e Poveri, Umberto Tozzi, Eros Ramazzotti (no still hate him), Miguel Bose (I had no idea he sang in Italian and English as well until yesterday), and so on.  These singers will likely be familiar to anyone who grew up un a Spanish-speaking household.  I haven't been able to identify one song because I can't remember anything of the Spanish beyond "y seras mi luz" and the Italian sounds to me like "y seas mi luce" but I can't seem to find how to spell that correctly.  Oh well, I'll stumble on it, I'm sure.

    

"Sharazan" is a beautiful song, and I heard it in its original Italian yesterday.  It is a beautiful, beautiful song,  "Siempre Siempre" I last heard in kindergarten, I believe.  "Sharazan" before that, as the tape got lost or destroyed. 

Albano & Romina I'd completely forgotten about until yesterday.  I haven't heard any of their songs in about 15 years, but when I started clicking related links to their song I heard so many I recall from a beloved childhood tape.  It was the oddest form of nostalgia for me and another person on the program: beloved childhood songs in a different (their original) language.  So weird, but still.  I got so happy especially with Ricchi e Poveri...and discovered I'd been mispronouncing Ricchi all along.

This is where we had lunch.

Nostalgia and musical spam aside, Sanremo was FANTASTIC.  Prices are comparable to those in the USA in the mercado, and they have some fantastic stuff there.  I got leather gloves for my mom, a leather wallet for my little brother, and a sweater and dress for myself, along with some CDs because too lazy to look for particular Italian music myself- I know I'll only look for songs I already know in Spanish or look for Spanish versions of songs, as opposed to what I do with Korean or Japanese music.  Now all I have left for souvenirs is my dad or brother, because if I find a nice watch it'll be for my brother and the wallet will be for my dad. Jeje.

Left: Mysterious pastas and bread of the highest heavens.  Right: pana cotta of deliciousness.

For lunch, CEA took us to an Italian restaurant specializing in handmade pasta- the tour guide told us that 3 ladies in the kitchen are the only cooks, plus the man we saw preparing our desserts.  We had coffees as well- loved my little cappuccino!  After Lunch we left the restaurant to go to Dolce Acqua, another Italian town (first recorded existence 1165 AD and dating back to Roman times, according to what I remember the tour guide saying), and then to Menton once back in France before we headed back to Antibes.  Dolce Acqua is appropriately named.  The water there is so beautiful it looks almost fake.

Dolce Acqua.

We went to two more churches (they are SO beautiful here!)- one in Dolce Acqua and one in Menton, but no photos of the one in Dolce Acqua because it was a more "normal" church.  The basilica in Menton was a baroque basilica, and beautiful.

St. Michael the Archangel, the patron of the Basilique Saint-Michel-Archange in Menton.  Left is the figurehead above the entrance, right is him inside the church.

The theme of the Menton basilica was the most stunning I have seen.  Not because it was the most beautiful, most detailed, most spectacular, or most splendid I've seen in a church, but because the theme was so uniformly executed, and cleanly so.  Yes, there were details, but not overly intricate ones as in Lyon or Los Angeles, but clean ones flowing with the Saint Michael theme.  The stained glass windows in the back had subtle pastel earth colours, the walls adorned with more of Michael.  The altar was indeed overly intricate, but the clean execution of the rest of the church and keeping of the theme made this one my favourite so far. 

Left: View of the basilica as we entered the square.   Right: Even the door "knobs" are themed!  I love this church!

Au revoir!

Study Abroad Week 3: Lyon!

Fontaine Bartholdi in the Place des Terreaux.

Last week I went on a weekend trip to Lyon, France with the Interculture club at SKEMA business school.  We left from campus Friday afternoon and returned from Lyon Sunday afternoon to arrive back in Antibes at about 8 or 9pm.  The trip was fun and picturesque, especially since Lyon is a city and not a town like Antibes.  The trip went well overall despite some minor hitches, and the hostel was much nicer than anyone expected.

"Spicy" sausage in red wine sauce.  Not spicy, but quite good, although my veggies were rather overcooked.  Overall delicious though!

Friday night we had some traditional Lyonnais cuisine at a traditional French restaurant (included in the trip cost).  Some people did not like their food, some hated it, some loved it.  I loved mine, although my dessert- cervelle de canuts- seemed more of a snack or appetizer to me.  It was a dip with onion, garlic, and vinegar.  It was good, but not what I expected for dessert.  Luckily one of the girls heading the trip wanted that but not her own dessert, which was a fruit tart, so we traded.  Delicious! 

From left to right: A church in Lyon, the basilica from the front, and a miniature layout of old city.

From left to right again: A mighty manticore at the front center of the basilica, the interior of the basilica, and the ruins of the amphitheatre.

Saturday we went to see the amphitheatre ruins of Lyon (still used today), a basilica, then had a few hours of freetime during which we went to a cafe, went to the Museum of Miniatures and Cinema, and browsed around before dinner.  The museum was wonderful and much bigger than it looked, and had lots of interesting displays. 

Left to right: One of Harry Potter's prop wands, a Godzilla egg from the American film, and a Compy from Jurassic Park: The Lost World. 

From left to right: A miniature, zoomed in, then the same miniature a step back.  The black surrounding is the wall.  Last is a miniature natural history museum display, with all the dinosaurs just a bit smaller than a Barbie doll.

Finally we explore the plaza, where the fountain you see at the opening of the post was.  The moment I saw it I recognized it and rather stupidly said, "OH.  So THAT'S where we are!"

Left to right:  Approaching the fountain, a view of La Fresque des Lyonnais, and the sign for the fresco.

We intended to go to the art museum, but it was closing in 5 minutes so we just walked along some shops.  Around the plaza our friend, who has studied abroad in Lyon, showed us La Fresque des Lyonnais, a fresco of famous people who were from or lived in Lyon.  During shopping I finally found my hobby shop though- I spotted some fabrics in a window and once I registered what they were, I asked my friends to please stop so I could dart in and grab some yarn for a scarf and headwrap or hat to keep my ears and neck warm.  The next day, Sunday, we went to the zoo in Lyon's park, but my camera batteries had decided to die taking the photo of the fountain.  It was a lovely park though!

Good-bye to Lyon.

Au revoir!