Old Town Nice

I just got back from a fun day of sightseeing in Nice. We started our day by walking to the top of Colline Du Chàteau (this is where the Citadel used to be) and then finished up by leisurely walking around Old Town Nice. It's beautiful here, and it actually reminds me more of Italy than France with the big open squares, the fountains, and cuisine consisting mostly of pizza, pasta, and gelato. However, I fully intend on eating a Nicoise salad tomorrow! I took a lot more pictures than this today, but this should give you a good overview of my day:

Found my croissant and banana for breakfast!

There's no such thing as straight hair in Europe.

Tom's=my new best friend.

Let me just say that it's really hot in Nice. The waterfall gave off a nice misty breeze that felt amazing!

Naturally, an afternoon gelato break was had.

I can't remember the exact name, but it was basically vanilla gelato with almonds. Very refreshing!

We went back to Villa D'Este for dinner. We looked at other restaurants and really wanted to try them, but we just weren't sure anything could live up to the service and food we had last night. We did decide to switch it up a bit and order different entrées.

We got here early enough to beat the crowd and score the outdoor seating!

 

My dad ordered the Pizza Caprese.

Of which I had a small slice.

And my mom got the Lasagne al Forno.

I ordered the Spaghetti aux Fruits De Mar, which came with mussels, clams, shrimp, and octopus. I loved it!

I'm getting ready for bed now, because tomorrow we have a full day and guided tour going to Monaco, Cannes, and Antibbes!

Good night!

Villa D'este

Bon Soir!

 Nice is waiting on me, but first here are some pictures from last night:

Our hotel

Last night, we asked the concierge for a dinner recommendation. I'm always slightly skeptical of the concierge's suggestions, because they usually send you straight to an overpriced tourist trap. This was not the case last night. Best recommendation from a concierge ever! His directions were way off, but we eventually found it. 

It was actually an Italian restaurant (there is a huge Italian influence in Nice), but the menu was in French, so we couldn't really read a word. My parents and I decided to split a pizza and a pasta. When we ordered the most basic pasta on the menu, the waiter laughed and said "Is that what you really want"?  He helped us out by recommending the Rigatoni de la Villa D'este. He said it was one of the best things on the menu. We looked around the restaurant and noticed that everyone else seemed to be eating the rigatoni, so it seemed like a good call. We also ordered a Pizza Margherita to split as well. We don't get much more adventurous than that on pizza (salami and anchovies, no thanks). The restaurant was not any more expensive than a sidewalk café, and the quality and service were excellent. We liked it so much that we might be back tonight!

Pizza is just better over here.

Rigatoni with meat sauce and eggplant.

After dinner Cafe Americano

La Tarte aux Fraises split three ways. I'm sure the first of many!

Nice at night:

 

We all ended up oversleeping, because when we closed the shades on our window, our room got so dark that it essentially became a small cave. At least we are very well rested now!

It's actually closer to lunchtime, but I'm off to explore and find a croissant and a banana!

Bonjour from Nice!

Bonjour from Nice!

I originally had written this post yesterday morning and was going to post from the airport, but I was unable to get an internet connection.

It's been a long journey to get here! Our plane in Detroit ended up getting delayed 2 hours due to maintenance issues, a power outage, and two people getting sick and having to leave the plane. It was a nice flight once we finally got up in the air though. I sat by a very charming Brazilian man who lives in Germany but travels all over the world for his job. He gave me some pointers and good restaurant recommendations for Paris!

My parents tried to convince me that I would need an Ambien to fall asleep, but two glasses of Malbec and the smooth stylings of Amos Lee did the trick just fine. If you haven't heard the song Windows Are Rolled Down from his new album, then you should really make that happen. I slept so good that I slept straight through breakfast and missed a meal. I can't recall to my memory the last time I slept through a meal, much less breakfast! Well, technically it wasn't really breakfast. It was one of those "try to get you on the new time zone type meals." I had just eaten dinner like 3 hours earlier, so I wasn't hungry anyway.

Well since our flight was delayed in Detroit, the chances of us making our connector flight from Amsterdam to Nice were not looking so good. We were feeling optimistic, so we proceeded to run across the entire Amsterdam airport Home Alone style just in time to barely make our flight! The only reason we made it was because that plane was having maintenance issues as well and the flight had been delayed.

So the good news is: We made it to Nice!

But the bad news is: Our luggage did not make it with us.

It should be getting here tomorrow, and I have a few outfits and the necessities of life in my carry-on, so I'll think I'll be able to manage.

So anyway, back to yesterday's post:

Amidst all the drama on the Bachelorette Monday night, Ames said something that was very profound. He said that we'd all like our fairytales to be simple, but sometimes they're not-and that's what makes them beautiful. I really liked that!

I needed to use up the last of the Greek yogurt + a banana, so I had a bowl of 0% Fage, 1/4 C oats, sliced banana, Love Grown Foods Cocoa Goodness granola, and TJ's Sunflower Seed Butter for breakfast yesterday. Sunflower Seed Butter, I will miss you.

I added a spoonful of Pecan Pumpkin Butter after I took the picture.

I wanted to get in some physical activity before sitting on a plane all day, so I went for a 3.5 mile run around my neighborhood yesterday morning. It was a little cooler than usual, but I still came back looking like a sweaty beast. It's so funny that I used to could run 7 or 8 miles no problem, and now after running 3.5, I feel like I've conquered the world. It's been nice to have a little break from running this summer, but I hope to start training again in September for the Disney half!!!

We picked up lunch at Zoe's Kitchen on the way to the airport, and ate it once we got there.

One thing I don't love about Europe is the salad scene, so I made sure to get one last plate of leafy greens before I left. Favorite part of the salad? The caramelized onions, potato salad at the bottom of the salad, and pita bread!

I also added my mom's salsa that she didn't use with her roll ups.

We literally just got here, so I don't have any pictures yet. I'm a little delirious and haven't done any exploring yet, but France is beautiful from what I can tell so far (the car ride from the airport to the hotel)! 

I'm excited I have free wi-fi at our hotel, so I'll do my best to blog when I can. I'm still pretty tired from traveling, so I just plan on napping the rest of the day until dinner and then going back to sleep after dinner. Some people like to stay up all day to try to beat the jet lag, but this works for me. Tomorrow I'll be as good as new!

Birthday Pancakes

So, all I really wanted for my 22nd birthday was pancakes.

I really had my heart set on the oatmeal pancakes from Over Easy, so we drove all the way there only to find that they're closed on Mondays. We ended up downtown for the next best thing, The Original Pancake House.

Mmmm. Buckwheat pancakes!

I've been using my dad's Garmin, and I finally got my very own today. I would be "lost" without it! No pun intended.

I ran errands the rest of the day, tied up a few loose ends, and finally started packing. I wasn't really hungry for lunch, so I just ate some Greek yogurt and a pear with sunflower seed butter. 

I picked up sushi from Whole Foods for dinner to eat while watching the Bachelorette. I'm the only one in my family who likes it, so of course that's what I wanted for my birthday dinner/last American meal before I leave for France and England.

I went with the Brown Rice Shrimp California Roll + a little edamame succotash that I snagged off the salad bar. Perfect!

And, what's a birthday without cake and ice cream? 

We got a small black and white cake from Whole Foods, since we'll be going out of town and didn't want any leftovers. Don't worry-we somehow managed to finish it off. I had never had cake from Whole Foods before and per usual, they didn't let me down. It was beyond delish!

You can tell I put so much effort into my appearance today.

Paired with Mint Chocolate Chip

Summer birthdays are hard, because everyone's schedules are so different. I don't have any incredibly exciting birthday plans for tonight beyond watching the Bachelorette and finishing up packing. Can't really say I'm complaining though, considering I'm leaving for Nice, France tomorrow. It's been raining cats and dogs all day, so I'm kinda feeling a low key night at home anyway. I'll just have to plan something fun when I get back!