Maddy, Rachel, and I wanted to go to Nice badly for a while, but it was about an 11 hour bus ride so we began looking for alternatives. We ended up deciding to go through Genova, also called Genoa (confusing??) which would split the trip up into two 2.5 hour bus rides. Although we didn’t go in knowing much about Genoa, we all agreed it was one of the coolest places we have seen so far and I would definitely recommend both of these places!
In Genoa, we got there late and literally went hotel to hotel seeing which ones would take us and were affordable. We found a super cute B&B that was affordable, but surprisingly did not include breakfast! The first thing we did was go to Palazzo Reale, which was so beautiful that we had to do a mini photoshoot there.
After that, we went on a hunt for the classic colorful building/beach that you think of when you imagine Cinque Terre or Positano type of places. We were told to go to the ‘fisherman’s market’, which we were pretty skeptical about. But once we got there, it totally lived up to all our expectations. The buildings were beautiful, and the beach was really incredible.
We didn’t do much else in Genoa, but we had an amazing seafood lunch right on this beach, which is always really fun when you are so close to the water. We went on to Nice that evening. Unfortunately, the weather was absolutely horrible so we didn’t get to experience it like we should have. I will say that the market we stumbled upon was probably the highlight for me- handmade soaps, essential oils, meats, cheeses, pastries, you name it. It was pouring rain the entire time but we really loved this market and also went to a cool photography museum that was (yay!) free for students!
After that, we hid from the rain in the CUTEST little shop. Sadly, I am allergic to nuts and couldn’t try the macarons, but they looked like perfection. I also got a hot chocolate there which was exactly what we needed to warm us up.
After that, we were aimlessly wandering and stumbled upon what seemed to be a church and some gardens. We followed where other people seemed to be walking, and got so lucky. The view was beautiful, and even though it was still raining, we really enjoyed it. We also went to a dock kind of area to see the view, which wasn’t really that cool, but we still gawked at the yachts.
Finally, the best part of Nice was the Carnival we went to late that night. It was only one street over from our hostel, which I highly do NOT recommend, by the way. Long story that is not worth blogging about, but if you want sexual harassment and horrible customer service definitely go there! Carnival was basically an enormous parade with thousands of people in the crowd, and a huge highlight of my studying abroad so far. You can see a lot more in my Youtube video, but here are a few pictures. It featured Trump, Putin, and Kim Jong which was hilarious. There was confetti, dancers, loud music, and it was really cool to be a part of. Make sure to watch the video, and email subscribe for my next adventure!
Xoxo,
G
