"a great frenchy-french time"

Paris was pretty rad.

I ventured outside of the bubble of Italia for the weekend to go see some of my favorite people ever up in France.

Highlights included:

Kelsey and I got carded (is that even a thing in Europe? Apparently.)
I got to see so much Dante related art! Which I was not expecting - this was supposed to be a Dante free weekend but, alas, I can't seem to escape him. Not that I mind. We're basically dating.
We got into the Louvre for free which was terribly exciting.
Bread. Italy has amazing bread but, God, it's so good in Paris. Along with foie gras and champagne on a park next to Notre Dame. This category includes croissants (side note, always book a hostel next to a bakery)

Paris is so different from Rome. Besides the physical differences, the foremost being that Paris is just so damn beautiful, your eyes almost hurt from all the beauty, it's a totally different city. But the green - everything is so wonderful and green. I couldn't believe how green it was, parks everywhere. Rome has it's fair share of Piazzas but Paris is almost more green than brick. It's just such a different place. Plus it's metro is efficient and actually goes places.

But it's good to be back in Roma. This week is midterms week so that's hellish but the four I've had so far, with the exception of Finance, have been fine.

Thursday is Unification Day which is this contested issue in Italy. There is still this huge divide here about what it means to be Italian and there is still tension that stems from the Savoy invasion 150 years ago. I was walking to class on Monday and I was struck by all these Italian flag, freshly opened from bags and most still with deep creases, that were suddenly flying all up and down Marconi. It's not quite as festive as early July at home but you can tell something is happening. On Wednesday night there are several large celebrations planned in the bigger piazzas and up in old Rome with fireworks and such so that should be fun.

It feels like spring has finally arrived, it was almost 70 out today and the sun was shining. This is, of course, a tease as it is supposed to pour for the next two weeks. I took extra time walking along the Tiber today on my way to my exam, some of the trees on my block are in full bloom and the pink blossoms are beautiful against the concrete and graffiti.

The title of this post comes from my Mother via Mad TV (which is scary, I know). It was, indeed, a lovely frenchy-french time.