So I spent my last weekend in one of the wine capitals of the world with one of my best friends from high school, Katyrose. Such an amazingly good time.
I spent the day of my flight comically trekking around Berlin (with all of my luggage) trying to kill 3 hours. Because brilliant Stanford student that I am, I thought I was flying out of the wrong Berlin airport at the wrong time. Luckily that meant I had a ridiculous amount of time and not that I missed my flight haha. Way to go me : ) . It actually ended up working out though because I left Pat-Pat at home : ( . This stuffed dog I've had since I was born has survived cross-country moves, break-ups, going to Stanford, being terrorized by my real dogs, and even going to Africa. I have only been on camping trips without him. So yeah, I trekked back 45 minutes to go get him. Can't see Bordeaux without Pat Pat.
Flew KLM from Berlin to Amsterdam then connected in the Netherlands to Bordeaux. KLM is my new favorite airline. I've decided that they fly magical planes. It was snowing, storming, blizzarding, insert your choice of bad weather here and it probably happened over the last few days in Berlin. I was prepared for a really rough takeoff and lots of turbulence since it was just as cold and snowy in Amsterdam. But the flight was remarkably smoooth. And the stewardess spoke fluent English and just like Turkish airlines, the flight did not charge extra for alcohol. She actually looked surprised when I asked her if it cost extra. And then with a pitying oh silly American look she handed me my beverage of choice. It was a lovely flight : ) . That was my first time in the Netherlands and first time hearing Dutch, which honestly to me (WARNING: politically incorrect statement ahead) sounded a lot less like a language and a lot more like a series of awkward mating calls. But hey, German's not always easy on the ears either so who I am to judge?
Katyrose picked me up from the cute little Bordeaux airport at around 10 pm that night. She said that I gave her the loudest reception she had ever heard at a French airport haha. We just hung around that night, catching up while eating lots of German chocolate and drinking lots of French wine. Katyrose's landlord is a really sweet, slightly eccentric French artist with 6 cats. I named one of them Miszka (pronounced Meeshka). Miszka liked to get lots of cat hair on my leg warmers and jump on my face while I was sleeping. But she helped me get rid of my irrational cat fear so I am eternally indebted haha.
I remember my initial impression of Bordeaux again being how PRETTYY everything was. Seriously everything. The tram, the buildings, the St. Andre Cathedral (BEAUTIFULLLL!), the markets, the bridges, the indigo-blue doors with brass handles, the lace curtains, the delicious croissants. I could go on and on haha.
We finally rolled out of bed around 10 and walked around the city for the day. Bordeaux apparently used to be a wealthy port city that made some of the world's best wine. Bordeaux proper itself is really tiny but the suburbs stretch out pretty far. It's got a small-town feel (not in the country American sense haha) but also has the benefits of being a European city. Like amazing shopping, great food, and tons of culture. Clubbing is not as big over there as it is in Berlin; it seemed like more of a cafe, bar, and soiree kind of city. But it was an amazingly calming change of pace. We walked down the main shopping street which stretches on forrreevverr and mingled among the haughty French mannequins, all of the buttery leather boots, and the soft vibrant sweaters. I noticed a lot more people wore leather everything there. Leather boots, leather jackets, even leather pants. Yes, even leather pants haha. Sometimes leather pants with leather boots and leather jackets. Lots and lots of leather haha. Sidenote: I am also a much bigger fan of the smaller, cuter, more petite dogs with woolen sweater vests I tended to see in Bordeaux vs. the angry-looking German shephards that are more commonplace in Berlin haha.
We meandered a bit more and then saw my favorite place in Bordeaux: the St. Andre's Cathedral. It was so indescribably beautiful. It is a really old Gothic church complete with the dramatic pointed arches, the shimmering jeweled stained-glass, the beautiful sculptures all over the church, I could really go on and on. We spent a ton of time in there that first day and kept visiting again whenever we passed it; I was kind of obsessed. But pictures just do not do those kind of places justice. I have studied so much art history in high school and college and am just now getting to see all of the places that I stuffed my brain with facts about. Having that knowledge base and then just getting to soak in the beauty and feel the emotional component of the place is so indescribably fulfilling for me. The whole it being a Catholic cathedral thing and me really missing Catholic-ness over in Protestant Germany was also a huge plus. I felt so at home that that cathedral.
The food was so unbelievable. French cheese, French salt, French fig jam, French wine - all of it somehow got stuffed into my suitcase and smuggled back to Berlin with me haha. I was so spoiled on Nutella crepes, buttery flakey croissants, and creamy French sauces in my 3 days there. Katyrose is also the world's most ridiculous cooking 21 year old. We had a we-miss-Mexican-food-and-margaritas fiesta on Saturday night with some of her friends from the program. She had brought back some black beans and tortillas from Ireland and everything else was found in random places. But somehow we managed to find the ingredients for homemade guacamole, salsa, fajitas, frozen yogurt and margaritas. Yep, Katyrose made homemade frozen yogurt. I told you haha. Great night.
The next day we walked around the city some more, visited the market by the river, and then hung around a cute little cafe for a while before going out for crepes. Crepes are the most brilliant invention ever. They double-function as dinner and dessert and both are equally delicious. I miss them dearly back in Berlin haha.
Katyrose saw me off the next day, but not without a proper French cafe meal first haha. It was really, really, really, really great to see someone from home out here - I love my high school friends a lot and always feel supported and re-centered after spending time with them. It was a good feeling to accompany me back to Berlin.
Going to Spain in two weeks and then Poland for spring break in a month! I will keep you posted!!!!
Guten Nacht!
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