A Niece in Nice

I went to Nice this past weekend and saw my Uncle George and Aunt Sheryl.  It was great to see them and spend some one on one time that I don't always get to have with my Aunts and Uncles! They've traveled all over France for the month and told me about their favorite sites and activities.  We went to two Art museums, the beach, and walked around the old part of town.  The ocean was extremely blue, and the beach was covered with rocks.  Not exactly what I was expecting, but still very serene.  It was very European and it was funny talking to them about their observations on the French and other customs.

We also got to go to Monaco for the day, and see how the other half lives.  Monaco is a principality located where the mountains meet the Mediterranean on the coast of France.  The location is beautiful and I can see why it would attract the rich and famous (the low taxes might have something to do with it as well).  I don’t think I’ve ever seen more expensive cars or boats in my life.  Every other car was an Audi, Porsche or Ferrari and the yachts were enormous!  We visited the famous casino the “Monte-Carlo” which I had only seen in movies and it was neat to see in person.  The palace where the Prince and his family live was also a cool site to check out.  We only got to see one wing of it, but there was a lot of history and ornate decorations.      

It was a lovely excuse to visit France again and see family who hadn’t been to Europe since they were visiting me and my family 20 years ago.  What a coincidence that I would be the person to see them again on their second European excursion… 

Back at it...

Here I am in the JFK airport again getting ready to start my second year in Madrid.  After a long goodbye with the family, I am starting to get excited again, and remember why I gave myself this much stress and craziness in the first place. 

This go-around is way different.  I have an apartment to go to immediately upon arrival and friends there waiting for me.  I suppose having my boyfriend waiting for me there is a plus as well  :D  I enjoyed my time at home, but now I've got the travel bug back, and I’m ready to go to my next destination! 

Which I already have planned.  My Uncle George and Aunt Sheryl are traveling around France for their anniversary.  They kindly invited me to tag along for a little bit and I’ll be meeting then in Nice for a few days.  I’m looking forward to it!  I didn't get the chance to see them during the summer so I look forward to catching up with them. 

Before I came home, I got to go to England and visit London for a few days.  My boyfriend’s brother got married this past June and I got to go to the wedding outside of Manchester.  It was beautiful and the ceremony and reception was in a gorgeous English Manor.  Very pretty.  Very excited that I got to take part in the celebration and see how other families do weddings.  It was very similar to an American one.   So I’ll include a few pictures of that. 

Once I got home I spent the summer visiting my family, spending time with my friends, and working at my lifeguard job.  It was my last summer working at the Cameron Woods pool, which I worked at every summer all through college.  It was bittersweet to end my time there, but like everything else, it’s time to move forward and we’ll see what I end up doing next summer…

I am all moved into my new apartment and have enjoyed being back and getting to know my new roommates!  One girl is Megan, who I went to Rome with and reached out over the summer to see if I wanted to live together near the same place as last year.  She found a great 3 bedroom apartment with an awesome kitchen (THERE'S A DISHWASHER!!!!), 1.5 bathroom, and a great living room!  My other roommate is Laura, and she is from Germany.  Something we have in common is my brother was born in Germany, and her brother was born in America.  We both lived in each other’s countries around the same age for about the same length of time.  She’s very nice and I’m sure we’ll get along just fine!  Tomorrow we’re heading to Ikea, so we’ll bond over shopping…