Sunday, July 27, 2014

first week in geneve


{a first few days at work}


{concerts and truffle cheese and birthdays}


{a chinese lunch at our supervisor's maison}


{girlfriend saleve hike overlooking geneva}

i went on my first run of the entire summer on saturday and walked to the market this morning to meet a friend, and with these two trips, i had already walked half of geneva.  the tiny size of this city was again emphasized when we hiked the saleve, or the "balcony of geneva," that is actually located in france.  it was a wonderful weekend of destroying my thighs scaling boulders, celebrating birthdays, wandering through the market, and watching my supervisor chase the chickens in his backyard. casual.

"don't stop when you're tired. stop when you're done."
- unknown 

Saturday, July 26, 2014

art knows how to swim.


if you read my post on florence, you'll remember one picture that looked similar to the ones above.  the project is known as 'l'arte sa nuotare,' or 'art knows how to swim,' and is by an artist who has yet to reveal his or her identity.  i found these on one of my favorite instagram accounts and am obsessed with his unique use of such famous works of art. 

"start where you are.
use what you have.
do what you can."
- arthur ashe

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

a weekend in florence


{vending machine pasta. did you hear me? VENDING MACHINE PASTA. and that pizza was pretty life changing, too.}


{some florentine details that caught my eye}


{the galleria dell'accademia: went in thinking sculpture wasn't my thing, came out a changed woman}


{the light that makes any city pretty}


{inside the cupola of brunellesci's duomo}


{why they're known for their food}


 {ponte vecchio // i'm now wishing for a villa in the italian countryside...}


{uffizi gallery}


{insane views from boboli gardens}

not until i left paris did i realize how fondly i had grown of the french language.  never did i ever think i would ever want to merci beaucoup the crap out of everything until i got to italy.

while i traveled to other places on the weekends while living in paris, i always knew that i would be back; italy was different in this way.  it made learning basic italian phrases that much more complicated, as i way toying inside with the fact that i would never again make the trek across to ile de la cite every 9 am for work.  despite my separation anxiety from the first foreign city i have come to love, i finally felt like i fit in in italy! they pronounced my name "lawn-zah," the correct way, and it was music to my ears! florence was beautiful. i ate penne and ravioli and risotto, fell in love with gravitas and semifreddo and crema caffe. compared to paris' cold rain, florence was steaming hot, and it got to the point where i just accepted that i would have multiple layers of sweat on my sun beaten body until the shower at night. we saw art up the wazzooh and i drank it all in.

----

after florence, i took the train to milan, where i ate corn chips and salsa and a steak salad at a restaurant called roadhouse grille and loved every lip-smacking-american moment. it's been a while since i've had such a basic meal.  on the train to geneva, i watched the italian countryside pass me by outside while two little french boys ran up and down the aisles and excitedly played a game on their game boys, screaming ALLEZ ALLEZ at every opportune moment (aka every time i lay my head against the window to sleep). 

i've been thinking a lot about the age  and time in my life in which i'm here, abroad, experiencing something completely out of my comfort zone.  i think if I had studied abroad, say, sophomore year in college, i wouldn't have gotten half as much as i've gotten out of this summer.  that's not to say that others don't benefit from experiencing other countries and continents early, but i grew and changed so much in college that i can truly appreciate where i am right now. it's a whole other world here in geneva compared to paris but i think i'm gonna like it. 

(also, i recently checked itunes for the top american hits to update my running playlist - my knowledge of music parallels that of a 5 year old's - and one of the top songs is called wiggle, with snoop dog. i think i'll stay in europe a while longer.) 

"have you ever had that feeling - that you'd like to go to a whole different place and become a whole different self?"
- haruki murakami 

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