The dreaded day has come where I have to begin saying my goodbyes to my colleagues, friends, and the city I love. Words cannot express how thankful I feel to have received this opportunity to study abroad in Paris. A part of me feels as if it was only yesterday that I arrived in Paris, with my two suitcases in hand. Now, the suitcases are packed once again. But I’m bringing home something more special than Parisian clothes; memories.

I am about thirty days away from the end of my study abroad journey. Saying that just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. So let's not talk about it. I think this really sunk into me about a week ago when I realized I have been doing absolutely positively nothing during my free time. I built up a routine, which is only normal, but found myself watching Modern Family during my free days rather than exploring. You get tired traveling, studying, cooking, cleaning, and just plain living.

I'm currently taking a break from my Easter Break trip posts because I’m so excited about how my semester here is progressing that I really feel the need to share.

Two posts in one night? Hot Diggity! This one is about the IES day trip to Brighton. This was a required trip for those in the British Youth Culture module (course) and optional for everyone else. This one's a bit of a mixed bag for me. I found the history of Brighton interesting, especially the Royal Pavilion. The architecture was incredible; largely due to the fact that despite the Asian/Indian style the royals that commissioned it had never visited that region. It was truly an opulent building.

          Maybe it was in their eyes, there was a softness to them– Ahmed sat in the doorway, leaning against the wall where the light could sneak around the corner and hit his pupils in a way that made me want to look at the world as he did. I don’t have that softness, my eyes like brown skipping stones, refracting the incoming light.

The Via Francigina was the ancient road for pilgrims and merchants leading from France down to Rome and many cities were formed along this road, including Siena. This Friday morning we started our walk at this small town near Colle Val d'Elsa taking the old path the pilgrims took across valleys and woods, passing archeological remains such as old Roman baths and Etruscan burial grounds. This stretch of the path was around 13 kilometers and though my legs were definitely tired afterwards, the views of the countryside were worth it!

Last week was definitely a whirlwind, getting back from spring break on Sunday, field trip to Florence Wednesday and IES trip to Umbria Friday and Saturday. Getting to Perugia our first stop was our hotel, the Etruscan Chocohotel, where all the decorations were chocolate themed. After we went on our tour of Perugia, seeing all the main churches and buildings. The part that stuck me most was the mix of styles within the churches, as parts or even the entire interiors have been redone since their initial construction.

So to get the most out of my spring break abroad I tried to go to as many places as possible and with our 10 days of vacation my friend Allie and I decided on these wonderful cities. While it was a lot of traveling and we were definitely more tired at the end than we were when we started, it was worth it!

Prague, Czech Republic