VENICE & ROME ("DOES THE VATICAN HAVE WIFI?")

I'm trying to pinpoint what made Venice so great, and what I think it really comes down to is that it was it was our first time in months being in a summer climate. The weather in England affected me more than I thought it would, and there is no feeling more freeing than stepping outside in sandals. I really recommend it.

We were pretty much all on the same page once we arrived: prosecco, pizza, pasta, repeat. In between, we visited museums and took strolls through all the winding streets, stopping for gelato every couple of feet.

I had heard that Venice was going to be unbearably touristy, but it ended up being probably one of the more relaxing cities we visited. Rome was a different story.

AMSTERDAM (LAMBSTERDAM, HAMSTERDAM, JAMSTERDAM ETC.)

 

Welcome to my new favorite place in the entire world. I can't put into words how I felt about this city (What do you want to be, Kate? A writer?) but I can only explain it as the feeling you get when you're visiting colleges and you know you've found the one for you. 

Back at La Souqueto we were having a conversation about whether or not we ever wanted to live abroad in the future. We all resolutely said yes, but I couldn't specify a place. I feel like after a childhood and a year of study, I can maybe cross England off the list (although I'll always come back for QI and Cadbury). At that point I hadn't really seen very many other countries to think about. But after just two days in Amsterdam, I was doing that thing you do when you're bored where you look at apartments on Craigslist (or maybe that's just a bad habit Carolyn's got me into). I can't say I found any in my $35-a-month budget (which I just spelled as "budjet" thank you all day paper writing) (have I done enough of these yet?) (let's move on)

Where were we? Oh right. I really like Amsterdam. We had frites and mayonnaise and GUYS I drank BEER and I think I drink BEER now. We did a lot of canal-strolling and bagel eating and went to Anne Frank's house and wouldn't let Jacob try to find Justin Bieber's note in the guestbook and we went to the Van Gogh museum and my ticket had the almond flower print on it and I was like that's MY print how did they know and ugh so many thoughts so little words actually functioning in my head. 

On our last full day it was really sunny and we were walking around and people were just leaning out the windows of their apartments and sitting on the stoops of their steps all overlooking the canals. It was a city with no pretension, no image it was trying to force on you. It's like all the people with functioning adult jobs who like to bike and wear really well put together outfits all fell into the most beautiful city in Europe and didn't even question it. AND I WANT TO BE ONE OF THEM, dangnabbit. 

LA SOUQUETO CHAMBRES D'HOTES (MIREPEISSET, FRANCE)

I will always feel forever lucky for these three days I got to spend with good friends in the south of France. La Souqueto, run by family friends from when I used to live in England, is a B&B situated just by the Canal du Midi in a Medieval French village. It was the first stop on our trip, and so absolutely beautiful and perfect that we kept joking about canceling the rest and just curling up here for the remainder of the month.

FROM A SMALL ISLAND // 9

ON TRAVELING

This has been the most insane, exhausting, frustrating, and completely amazing three weeks. I have more in-depth posts coming on all the different places, but I thought I'd write something to say hey, and to give me something to do in what seems like the longest next few weeks in the world. By the end of the trip, I wanted nothing more than to be in my bed on my laptop, watching Netflix. But now that I'm here, I'm feeling restless and anxious and have fallen back into the same state of mind I'm in any time I'm sitting in Exeter with nothing to do. I don't really like it in Exeter. I don't know how much that's come through on here. What I really wanted out of this year-long experience, I got in this past month. The stuff that surrounded it was stressful and hurtful and often made me question whether or not I made the right decision. But then I remember all the absolutely wonderful and crazy and beautiful things that this program has given me the chance to do, and I think I'm okay with all the not-so-fun stuff.

But all that's for another post. This is just a teaser for what's to come on this blog, as I grind through essays and prepare for the last few hurtles before I can get on the plane back home.