South of France...why yes...of course!

Sunset in Nice
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Again...I don't know where to begin...obviously the beginning, but there is just so much to tell! Our original plans were to leave Heidelberg at 6:05pm on Thursday evening and arrive in Nice (pronounced Neese) around 1:30pm on Friday. However, the very first train we were suppose to board was half an hour late, meaning that we had to completely rearrange our travel plans. Well, we came with an alternative route, yet it meant spending five hours in Bern, Switzerland at the train station. Not a big deal...right? Well, let's just say I had a glimpse of what it's like to be homeless...seriously. Thinking that it would be sensible to sleep in this stone archway to keep warm, we curled up for the evening. The police visited us twice making sure we weren’t bums just loitering around. However, the second occasion of police warned us to “watch out for the thieves and the drug people…sometimes they leave their needles in here,” at which one of the policemen pointed to a crevice in the rock of the archway. Just great…drug needles...Regardless, we spent the next five hours shivering in the train station. We survived in spite of it all, arriving in Nice Friday afternoon around 1:30pm. Though the directions to our hotel seemed simple, circumstance proved otherwise. We walked around the city for nearly two hours before finally finding the beloved Hotel Felix. Not all was at loss though, considering we did see a good portion of the surrounding area. After settling in we headed over to the beach, swimming in the super salty Mediterranean Sea for the first time. It was fabulous! We watched the sun set that evening over the beautiful French Riviera.

Nice coastline
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Saturday morning we slept in late to counter the effects of our overnight train sleepover. After some much needed sleep we checked out of Hotel Felix and again headed for the beach, meeting up with Brooke, Alex, Katie and JT from the Florence, Italy program. It was SO much fun to see Brooke and Alex who were in my suite last year-I miss both of them tons! We spent the rest of the afternoon lying on Neptune Beach in Nice and swimming in the glorious Mediterranean.

Swimming in the super salty Mediterranean Sea for the first time

Joe, Nicole, & Pierce
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Around 4:00pm we left to pick up our bags at the hotel and grab a bite to eat before heading to the train station. We decided on crepes…when in France, right? They were a most delicious delicacy! Finally, around 5:45 we regretfully said goodbye to the lovely city of Nice. We boarded our first train, only to find out four hours later that it was running late and again all of our connecting trains would not match up. We once again found ourselves in a sticky situation, and after a little transporting, found ourselves in Chiasso sleeping on a metal bench at the train station around 2am. I can legitimately say that I now know what it’s like to be hungry, cold, sleepless, and basically homeless all at once. Joe summed up the trip on the 5am ride back to Germany saying, “Does this train go to mom?” Haha…while this sounds funny, truth be told, we all wanted our own beds, mom’s and some good home-cooked food. Despite, a barrage of ridiculous set backs and stresses, we made it safely back to Heidelberg, more grateful than ever.

Me, Brooke, Alex, Katie, and Nicole at Neptune Beach
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Highlights of the weekend:

Owner of Hotel Felix, a peculiar, yet extremely nice older man we talked in the most hilarious accent.

The Asian woman dressed in pajama pants, a red sweater and hiking boots, rolling around on the rocky beach making sensual poses while her husband snapped photos.

The man who simply loved dancing on the boardwalk for no money; he especially loved the light pole.