Coffee & Honeycomb: europe

Showing posts with label europe. Show all posts

THE THANKFUL PROJECT DAY 4 : AN EXPERIENCE

Monday, November 4, 2013

I'm linking up with Kenzie @ Chasing Happy this month to participate in THE THANKFUL PROJECT.

Never heard of it? Taken from Kenzie:

"The Thankful Project will be 28 days of intentional gratitude and community. Each day, we'll write a post in response to a gratitude prompt (see the list of prompts by date below)... The motivation behind The Thankful Project is this: an attitude of thankfulness can help us push through and overcome just about anything..."

Isn't that great? I love that Kenzie thought of this and is sharing it with the rest of blogland. I missed the first three days, but I am just going to jump right in to day four. Today's prompt is an experience.

One experience that I am thankful for is living in Verona, Italy for four months.

I studied abroad in Italy in the spring semester of my junior year (January 2013 - May 2013.) It's been less than a year since it happened, but it feels like such a long time ago. Once in awhile I'll come across an old photo or even a scenery in a movie, and I'll immediately recognize the location and feel a wave of nostalgia. The memories will suddenly resurface and feel so vivid, taking me back to the different conversations, smells, emotions, and feelings. Wow, it is still so surreal.

Studying abroad in Italy was probably one of the best decisions I made in college and that semester will always hold a special place in my heart. :) It was a time I learned a lot about myself, about this world, about God, and building relationships with people different from you. I feel so fortunate that I had the chance to go and that my parents were supportive and helpful to make that happen.

Rather than try to condense the greatness of Europe with a few words, you can find photos of all the places I went here! They're all directed from my wordpress so it takes awhile to load, but I think I'm planning on making a "city guide" for Europe sometime soon.

But yes, if you are in college and have the opportunity and means to study abroad, do it. Please do yourself a favor and do it — even if it's only for a break and not a full semester. You'll see so much beauty, taste and smell such different flavors, and witness cultures and lifestyles you didn't know existed. And you will fall in love with all of it.

*Find my European adventures here.
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* Share what you're thankful for and link up your posts here.

vacation leftovers | liberation break

Friday, July 12, 2013

In italy, all schools are let out for a week in the month of April for something called, "liberation break," which is basically a national holiday celebrating their independence as a country! (Yes, they get a whole week to do that.)

My roommate's boyfriend, along with his brother and best friend, came during that time to backpack Europe, so we spent the break together touring Rome and Cinque Terre, Italy. Here's a little video I made of the trip. :) The quality is very low budget, and I had no understanding of how to manually focus or use the zoom, but its still fun to look at. If anything, the music is pretty catchy!

GODERE! (:

liberation break from jenny kim on Vimeo.

Photo Look Book : Barcelona

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Polka Dots in the Water

Friday, March 29, 2013

When we arrived to Barcelona, we were greeted with brisk wind and abundant sunshine. After all the rain and fog Italy had been receiving, it was a nice change of pace. We embraced Barcelona's sun with open arms and decided to capitalize on its perfect weather by staying outdoors. We walked along the main streets, took a short boat ride gaining an incredible view of Barcelona gems, and then relaxed with cold cider on the beach.

To dress for the occasion, I wore bright, bold colors and paired them with equally bold prints — a polka dot collard tank and a cheetah print belt. Take a look:

XO.

Churros con Chocolate

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Spain's most popular dessert is churros with a side of hot chocolate. Walk through the main streets and you'll be able to find it offered at almost every dessertery. It is, however, more of a day treat, so when we were looking for the cure to our dessert fix after dinner (which was around 11 pm because Spaniards eat late,) no one was serving it anymore. We made just fine with waffles and cream, though. We're easy.

We ate churros three times throughout the duration of our stay in Spain, but my favorites were the ones in Madrid from Chocolateria San Gines. The venue was recommended to us by a friend (and TripAdvisor), so we set time out of our day (before Taco Bell and after Starbucks -- I know, the culture just oozes out of us,) to pay a visit. We ordered our own individual churros, but shared the hot chocolate. Hot chocolate in Europe is not like American's winter favorite. It's thick, with the consistency similar to rich fondu; and I've noticed most people use it for dipping, not drinking.

The chocolateria was beautiful - walls lined with b&w photos of past celebrities, deep green, rustic seating, rich, gold accents, vintage-inspired decor, and simple table setting.

XO.

Sweet Treats in Spain

Thursday, March 28, 2013

I love my American chained goodness, I do. But I adore how European cafes and restaurants all possess strong, unique branding. Or in Korean, "con-cept." Little quirks - wallpaper, color combinations, type, presentation - when integrated to create one theme, have the ability to transport you to a new world.

My friend is currently studying abroad in Barcelona and was able to free up some of her time to show us around her city. (: Knowing my weakness for cute cafes and desserts, she led my roommate and I to a magical little dessertery called Pudding.

The entrance to a walk-in storybook. (:

I wasn't joking when I called this place magical. The strung lights on red/white really made the entire room glow and charming wall decor added to the surrealism. Artificial trees completed the storybook theme - I was just waiting for a trail of gumdrops to fall from the sky and singing blue birds to start sewing my clothes.
We decided to sit in the sun room so we could have more natural light and also people-watch through the window. Exhibit A:
PS. Do you see how much CAKE those people left on their table?! Unfortunately, the people escaped before we made our entrance so I didn't get to see exactly what kind of people in their right mind would deliberately leave behind perfectly good cake. Lucky them, because some dirty, dirty looks would have been sent straight their way. Whoever can't finish their slice of cake is weird in my book, AND SHOULD NOT BE TRUSTED! Maybe even more so than people who don't like dessert at all, because these people know better... (We were THIS close to scooting over and rescuing the left over pieces. Spoiler alert: We didn't. Yeah, that was kind of a low point.)

White chocolate mousse pie.

Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

How did the cakes taste? Oh, even better than they LOOK. Each bite proceeded with a loud, dramatic "MMM," because it is impossible to enjoy your dessert without an expressive, "MMM." Ya just can't. Cake was not meant to be consumed in silence.

And the three of us together before we curtsied to the dog posters and said farewell.

Thanks so much for showing us around, Kristen! You were a lovely host. (: Check out Kristen's blog here to follow her Spanish adventures. Her photos on food and landscape are reason enough to check it out. And the hot dog on the left? My roommate! You can read hers here, where you will find ample posts on humorous vignettes, honest rants, and even more odd, disoriented photos... I know she's kind of socially retarded and weird, but she's my friend. So, just promise me you wont make fun of her! ("Mean Girls," anyone?)

Enjoy! XO.

LESS ISN'T SO BAD AFTERALL

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

The crust is my favorite part of the pizza. I'm a firm believer in the idea that "the best should be saved for last," which is why the inventors of pizza placed the dangerously delicious doughness we now call "crust" around the END of the pizza. (Because it's the best.)

This belief might be due to the fact that I'm from Chicago, home of the incredible deep dish pizza. (Miss you, Lou's. I'll be back one day.) The deep dish pizza -- one slice's width, length, depth all bigger than the palm of my hand, requiring silverware in order to enjoy it. My need for a fork and knife is probably a good thing so I don't step over the barbaric line in public and just inhale the whole thing. The past three years while I was on campus in Champaign, deep dish (done well) was always difficult to find, so I would religiously make a trip to Lou Malnatis, my favorite pizza joint, every time I visited home. One deep dish pizza, Lou's salad, and a side of pepperoncinis always did just the trick.

So once my bags were packed and we said our good-byes, (Me and Lou Malnatis, that is), and made the difficult decision to go live in Italy for a semester, you can imagine my disbelief when I found out that Italians enjoyed their pizza THIN-CRUST!!!!

"Wait a minute. You mean to tell me, there's LESS crust? LESS?! I just don't understand... What's the point?"

Simply put, I was pretty upset.

Anyway, trying to be the open-minded and not-typical- ethnocentric-American individual I am, I gave it a try.

Confession: I actually liked it.

My roommate from sophomore year and oldest friend came to visit Italy for her spring break. For her first night, a few of us from the same hometown decided to all go out to dinner and celebrate. We chose San Matteo as the venue because it was highly recommended across the board to be THE best pizza in town. Plus, apparently news had broken out that one of the employees was a former model, so not only was it famous for its pizza, but also for the adolescent girls flocking for some eye candy. Both reasons were enough for us to make a visit. Dinner and entertainment? Done.

The menu was long and extensive with pages after pages of different pizzas. The four of us are very indecisive individually, so collectively, it took that much longer to order a dish. We each perused the menu carefully reading each description under pizza name, and finally settled on three that we decided to share family-style.

{ Italian thin crust is something entirely different from Chicago style. The crust is thin and chewy, crispy around the edges. The sauce is light and fresh as opposed to the usual thick and creamy tomato sauce. This one was topped with shredded cheese, pepperoni, and mushrooms. Despite the thinness, it was actually very filling! }

{ Fresh mozzarella and prosciutto shaped in a heart. I didn't fancy this one too much because the prosciutto made each bite a little too salty, but the other girls really liked this one. Despite the thinness of the pizza, it was surprisingly very filling and satisfying. Between the four of us, we were struggling to finish the last slices! }

{ Cooked spinach and fresh mozzarella This one was one of my favorites. Between the thinness and freshness of the ingredients, it really brought out the complex flavors of cheese, tomato, and buttery goodness. }

My lovely dinner dates.

I keep finding myself craving for thin-crust pizza now. My palate has expanded -- not that I'm abandoning my first love by any means -- there's enough [ food ] love to go around for this chick.

Home Sweet Home

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Words cannot express how sweet it feels to be home.

"Relaxing," comes to mind, and "peaceful" and "cozy" work okay, too. Still, they seem to fall short of the mark.

As incredible as spring break in Spain was, it was also a very long time to be away from reality. While the eleven days were, indeed, filled with sunshine, GNO's, and boat rides; it was also a week of living out of a suitcase, sharing shower stalls with complete strangers (and spiders), paying for clean water , sleeping in thin, itchy linens and cold airport floors, taking public transportation, and eating out for every single meal. Don't you want to take a shower just by reading that?! The little gestures we also had to pick up such as keeping our hands on our purse at all times, locking things up in lockers even if we were just going to the restroom, and distrusting strangers with cameras were just blatant reminders that we were not home.

So after one fun, but hectic, eleven-day trip, it was nice to be comfortable and safe -- things only your own home can provide.

So how am I spending today?

Catching up on television shows. I watched a few episodes of, "Revenge," and I plan on starting, "Dexter," with my roommate tonight. I remember it being popular in high school but I never got into it then. With the help of Netflix, it's never too late to get addicted to shows no longer running.

Reading blogs. I use Bloglovin' to keep track of all my favorite blogs based on read and unread posts. Since I was away from the computer for so long, I have hours and hours of un-open inspiration and stories published by my favorites to bury myself in. This can occupy me for HOURS.

Eating healthy. We leave for Greece in a week and the world is not ready to see this in a bathing suit. Like I said, I ate out for every meal for whole eleven days. That's too many churros con chocolate, sangrias, and carbs that were not needed for this belly. So today, I am forcing myself to eat vegetables and drink water.

Doing errands. I have an application to fill out and fall 2013 classes to plan. I also aim to respond to all my emails before I sleep tonight. There's something therapeutic and refreshing about a clean inbox. And these are all chores I can do from the comfort of my own bed and laptop. Isn't it the best when you can be productive and lazy at the same time?

None of today's tasks are remotely spectacular or impressive. Today is for small and simple. We can try big tomorrow (or at least start by putting on real pants.)

How do you like to unwind after a long, hectic week?

Lunch on the Seine

Monday, March 25, 2013

Susan, Lisa, and I went to Paris wanting to drink in the entire experience — just on a college budget.

There was this boat tour attraction allowing people to wine and dine while enjoying the beautiful sights of the Seine River. Unfortunately, that deal was +40 euros and a little to steep for our budget. Rather than dismissing the entire idea, we just made some adjustments. (:

Verdict? SUCCESS!

One morning we strolled into a grocery store and picked up some easy things we could eat with our hands. We got: baguettes, hummus, fruits, and a entire gallon of orange juice. We then purchased tix for a different boat tour that costed roughly 11 euros. It was a simple boat tour, lasting 45 minutes allowing passengers to relax and hear fun sightseeing facts. We brought our groceries onto the boat, and just enjoyed our meal there.

It was, basically, lunch on the Seine River for half the price! I would definitely recommend this if you're making a trip to Paris and want to save some monies. :) We were still able to get a great view of the Eiffel Tower and take pictures in front of it, too.

the curse of instagram (and how my phone was stolen)

Monday, March 25, 2013

Date: March 2, 2013 | London

I decided not to carry a purse that day because I didn't need much. Just my coin purse, cell phone, and lip balm. And my camera, but that usually hangs around my neck. I was wearing a green utilitarian jacket with button pockets, and so I figured it'd be safer to throw in the items and button the wallets, versus carrying an almost empty purse. (Mistake number one.)

And the plan worked, for majority of the day, at least.

We walked around London -- King's Cross, British Museum -- and while the sun was still up, we made our way over to Camden Market. Since it was a rather crowded area (pic) I was even extra cautious of my belongings and aware of how close I was standing with people. My phone would sometimes end up in my hands and out of my pocket just to snap a few pics or use the calculator app to convert pounds to dollars. We listened to live music, made googly eyes at Starbucks, snapped pics near the river front, and found ourselves at the food market. Our favesies. Stands on stands on stands PLUS free samples. And at that moment, is when I completely lost all reservations and awareness of the possibility that evil pick-pocketers could be lurking in my vicinity. It was just me, my camera, and the food.

Tunnel vision.

I went from stand to stand, both hands remained glued to my camera, determined to capture every bubble of jam and steam escaping the rice pot. I was at the fourth stand when I realized this was TOTALLY instagram-worthy and I just had to not only share it on Facebook, but to my fellow Instagram friends, as well. So I reached my hand into my left pocket to grab my iPhone, and all my hand came back with was a wrinkled sugar packet and lint. And after I checked every pocket and retraced my steps 30 times, I faced the fact that some evil man took advantage of my vulnerability and appreciation for food, and snuck his hand into my unbuttoned pocket, taking my iphone away with him forever.

And on that day, I vowed to never instagram or eat food as tribute to my kidnapped iphone.

Just kidding.

Another lesson learned: Find my iPhone SUCKS and Apple should really come up with a more genius way to resolve stolen phone issues.

Anyway, so then, my superhero of a mom persuaded AT&T to send us a new iPhone for only $99, as opposed to the original marketed price of $399. I got my phone two weeks later when a friend came to visit. I had my phone for EXACTLY four days before it was to be stolen again.

My second day in Spain, we were resting on the beach when this shady man came up to us with a green grocery bag asking to buy whatever shady foreign objects were in his green bag. We all curtly said no but he kind of lingered for a little bit, and finally when he got the message that we didn't want his foreign objects, he walked away. And I noticed my phone wasn't where I left it. We searched all our purses, dug through the sand, and came to the conclusion that that evil man must have taken it. We walked along the shore to find the same man, but noticed that the same green bag, the only indicator we could use to trace this man, had been tossed to the curb.

So that is the story how my iphone was stolen twice. My parents enrolled me for insurance after the first incident, so we were able to replace the stolen iphone for a much cheaper price. I just received that phone today! (: And I will never let it out of my sight again.

Currently...

Monday, March 25, 2013

Spring Break was this past week and I celebrated with some girlfriends in Spain! We started in Barcelona, stopped by Valencia to catch the end of the Las Fallas festival, and then made our way to our final destination, Madrid. It was nice to escape the rain in Italy and be surounded by the sun and palm trees of Spain. It wasn't quite hot enough to jump into our bikinis, but there were some days we dozed off on the beach. I guess I really shouldn't complain about weather though to friends back in the midwest. I heard there was a terrible snow storm last night?! Glad you were at least rewarded with a snow day though, right? (:

I have one week of "normalcy" AKA staying home in Verona, and then next week is Easter vacation. Starting Sunday, I'll be in Greece! Pretty much everyone from my program made reservations at the pink palace in Corfu. It's supposed to be this fun-loving resort that provides living accommodations, breakfasts/dinners, group activities like booze cruises, snorkeling, beach volleyball, and more IMPORTANTLY, one complementary pink toga for each guest. (: I know, that alone sold me.

I'll try to squeeze in posts of my adventures in Paris, London, and Spain before I head off!

* side note: I have exactly five weeks and five days left in europe, and then it's back to the states! man, how FAAAST did time fly! i also do have exciting plans for this summer. starting june, i'll be interning at the chicago office of HAVAS WORLDWIDE through the 4A's MAIP program. not only will I be in the office +40 hours a week, I will also fly to NYC twice this summer to attend ceremonial dinners, participate in weekly seminars, and be a new member of the MAIP network. i'll be trading easy italian gelato for starbucks coffee, walks on cobblestone streets for rides on the metra, and 4-hr lectures for 8-hr work days. as much as i want time to just slow down right now so i can milk each and every experience while here, i'm also ecstatic and ready to be in a regular workflow. ready to be consumed with conversations on consumer behavior and insights, brainstorm sessions with our feet up and take-out in hand, late nights before big pitches, preparing research decks and documents... i'm ready to be in my element. but again, italy, don't take it the wrong way and slip out of my hands quite yet. (;

i think this is what growing up starts to look like.