French Riviera/ Côte d’Azur

A couple weekends ago, me and Gloria had the chance to spend four awesome days in the French Riviera, where we visited a few friends that are so lucky to be currently working over there.

So first of all, Thanks to Filippo, Pierre, Antoine and Maxim for the weekend!!

Cannes was not as crowded as I thought, probably because it was right after the Festival was over.

As soon as we arrived, we went clubbing at Le Baoli, a fancy place on Boulevard de la Croisette and it was definitely the right way to start this short vacation.

The next day, still a little exhausted, we stayed at the beach and got as much sun as we could.

Le Baoli

Cannes

Cannes

Cannes

Then it was time to move to Toulon, another city in southern France located in Provence, where Pierre’s family actually lives. They were so nice to host us at their place, make us try amazing authentic french food and bring us sail on sunday which I absolutely loved.

On the way back to Cannes we also stopped in Saint Tropez and spend another day at the beach there, then it was already our last night out in Cannes and, being a Monday with no parties around, we just decide to lose some money at the Casino lol.

Of course the next day I could not leave France without more pain au chocolate….always what I miss the most about France 🙂

Saint Tropez

Saint Tropez

Cannes

Au revoir…Linda

Job seeker in London?

My Master classes will be over soon and it’s time for me to look for an internship and go back to work. Talking a lot about jobs made me decide to write about my past experience in London, how I decided to move there and how I found a job…maybe some of you are thinking of moving there as well and could take suggestions from my story!

First of all: Why London? 

Easy. Amazing city, great life, but most of all, a lot of job vacancies (at least compared to the current situation in Italy), because of the high employees turnover. In my case, I wanted to find a job in fashion retail, just for a short period of time, and London is the perfect place to find it quick. In fact it took me only one week!

Step 1: How I found an accommodation

https://www.spareroom.co.uk

This is probably the best website to look for a room and also where I found mine. I was lucky I had the chance to share a double room with a friend, also there for an internship, and pay less than normal. Rents in London are really expensive (400-700 pounds for a single room), most of all in Zones 1 and 2, which are the most central one, so if you are not going to stay for long, I totally suggest to share one. I lived in Shoreditch, which is just outside Zone 1, pretty close to Notting Hill and well served with the central line (the red tube line).

Step 2: get an english number!

You will need it from the first day, if you want to start hand out your cv. You can get it from every little shop that sells a little bit of everything and I suggest Lycamobile mobile service, that offers cheap plans with internet included. Right now it is mostly used by foreigners and young people abroad like me…I even got it during my semester abroad in France!

Step 3: How I found a job

First rule: your cv needs to be one page, as english speaking countries prefer (NO Europass), and better if it has your picture for this kind of jobs.

I tried to answer some job advertisements already from Italy but it ended up being just a waste of time, since employers want to see you almost immediately. I tried again once in London and some of them called me for an interview. This is the website I used the most:

http://uk.fashionjobs.com

Still, the best way to find a job in London is definitely to go straight to places you are interested to work for and hand out your cv. Also, just to know, do not call it resume or they may not understand you lol.

After one week I had already a few interviews and I got a job for the brand The Kooples, inside Selfridges (the best department store in London). I also got many other calls later on and this shows, as I said before, that there is a continuous turnover of young people in this sector.

Here I leave you with some snaps of my adventure!

Linda

#buymewithaBURGER

I was looking through my photo album and i realized how many pictures of burgers I took around the world during the past year. I guess it’s a kind of obsession lol.

Here I want to show you some of them…I am sure you will start craving for one in a second.

• The Cheesecake Factory, Coconut Grove, Miami: Smokehouse B.B.Q. Burger

http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com

Absolutely the top 1 of my list. I’m in LOVE with this burger. The good thing is that you can find this chain almost everywhere in the US, and the menu is always the same! AMAAAZING

• Miller’s Ale House, Coral Gables, Miami: Ale House Mini Burgers

http://www.millersalehouse.com/index

Of course I had to try them with bacon cheese fries :). The one I went is in Coral Gables, Miami, but this chain is pretty easy to find in Florida, and usually guys love it because it’s also a sport bar.

• 5 Napkin Burger, South Beach, Miami: Cheddar and Bacon Burger

http://5napkinburger.com

Although this one is a very good burger, I recommend the “Original”, with grilled onion. The restaurant is located in South Beach, Miami, on Lincoln Road, but they also have a few in NY and Boston.

• The Federal Food, Drink and provisions, Miami

http://www.thefederalmiami.com

This modern American tavern, located in Miami, offers a very complicated menu, hard to describe but AWESOME. Just try it if you have the chance or take a look at their website.

• Mango’s Tripical Cafe, South Beach, Miami

http://www.mangos.com

As I mentioned in a previous post, this place on Ocean drive is mostly known for its dancers and latin atmosphere. Food is pretty good too and even though the menu offers mostly cuban dishes, I had to try their mini burgers.

• Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Florida

People on the East Coast consider it as the best Fast Food ever. I personally think it is overpriced for its burgers’ size and quality and I am definitely a better fan of In-N-out. You don’t find it on the West Coast.

Just to let Europeans know, they just opened one in London!

• In-N-Out Burger, Los Angeles, California

The best, the cheapest, it is the main competitor of Five Guys. California people like to argue with people from the East Coast about which one is better. As an outsider I definitely say: In-N-Out.

The problem: you can have one of this burgers only if you happen to be in California or some other state on the West Coast.

I took this picture last January, when I was in LA.

• Ruby’s Diner, Huntington Beach, California: Bacon Cheeseburger

http://www.rubys.com/index.html

I loved this place! The one I went is on the pier, in Huntington Beach, one of my favorite places in California. If you ever go, you also HAVE to try one of their milkshakes, YOU WON”T REGRET IT.

This was also the first time I noticed they offer free refill of french fries in some places in the States. OMG

• Byron, London, UK

http://www.byronhamburgers.com

A good burger, definitely not in the top list, but I guess London isn’t the US and you have to make do with what you have lol

• Le bouche a oreille, Nancy, FR

http://restaurant-bouche-a-oreille.fr

You would normally get a fondue or a raclette but It’s me and I always go for a burger.

This French burger surprised me in a positive way, with its garlic baked potatoes and a delicious mushrooms sauce.

Now I am definitely craving for a burger…. BUON APPETITO

Linda

Last Trip

It is over for real now. We won’t wake up together and fall asleep talking about our latest news anymore, eat breakfast cereal with Nescafe’ and pan au chocolate and make our “plain not italian” pasta everyday. We will miss all this but we are sure we will still share many experiences together because this was only the beginning of an amazing friendship.

Before heading home and definitively split up, we spent three days with our moms that very kindly picked us up in Nancy. After their arrival, we showed them our university town, and made them try our favorite restaurant “Le bouche à oreille“, that we mentioned already in the previous posts. Later on, we sent them to sleep lol and we had a blast partying with everybody on our last night.

Feuillantine

Raclette

Last night

Last night

In the next days, on the way back to Italy, we visited Strasbourg and Colmar (second time for Giulia), Ribeauville’ and Lucern.

In Strasbourg we slept in an hotel-apartment that we suggest to everyone who is planning to visit this city, very close to downtown and really cozy, called City Aparthotel Adagio Access.

We loved the Christmas atmosphere and the famous markets, maybe just a little too much turist, but still worth to visit. Colmar is definitely our favorite spot but Ribeauville’ was a nice discovery too, whit many picturesque medieval houses and its castle view. Oh and we found out that Colmar is the  city of birth of Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, who designed the Statue of Liberty!

Saying bye to France was sad but Switzerland welcomed us with a sunny day that made our last stop in Lucern even better than expected. Here we had lunch on the lake, with a wonderful view of the Alps in the background, before moving back home to our old lives…

Strasbourg

Strasbourg

Strasbourg

Strasbourg Petit Venice

Strasbourg

Strasbourg Petit Venice

Strasbourg

Strasbourg City Aparthotel Adagio Access

Strasbourg

Ribeauville’

Ribeauville’

Ribeauville’

Giulia’s apples

Ribeauville’

Ribeauville’

The creator of the Statue of Liberty was from Colmar

Colmar

Colmar

Colmar

Colmar

Colmar

Colmar

Colmar

Colmar

Colmar

Lucern

Lucern

Lucern

Au Revoir France…

Linda & Giuli

Strasbourg & Colmar

The perfect place to get into the Christmas spirit is Strasbourg! I went there this weekend with my boyfriend that came in France to visit me for three days. It’s a super cute little city full of Christmas decorations and little stands everywhere, where we spent hours eating local specialities. There was so much food that I felt like Alice in Wonderland: waffles, crepes, all kind of chocolates (I tried them all), choucroute, a plate with different kind of sausages and krauti, potatoes with cheese etc.., all accompanied with an awesome “vin chaud” (a spiced hot wine) that helped us survive the freezing weather.

The last day we had together we used blabla car to get to Colmar, also called “little Venice” of France. I loved this little town, so characteristic and less crowded and tourist than Strasbourg. The atmosphere there is unique so if you ever find yourself driving close to this place, it is totally worth a visit.

Giulia

Berlin #25fallofthewall

What I love the most about the ERASMUS program is the possibility it gives us to keep travelling and discovering new realities.

Two weeks ago two buses full of people of at least 10 different nationalities was heading to Berlin. It took us 12 hours to get there but it was totally worth it. We happened to be there for the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall; The capital of Germany was full of original different events the entire weekend, and 8,OOO helium balloons were tracing a nine miles line and passing through all the historical locations such as Checkpoint Charlie and the Berlin Wall memorial. The first night we were there, a guy of our group took us to an italian restaurant, where after two and an half months, we finally enjoyed a real italian dinner and drank delicious red wine.

Berlin is famous for its crazy nightlife so we had to try everything out and indeed we went to awesome clubs , like the famous Watergate.

Saturday afternoon Berlin was ready to celebrate the anniversary in front of the Brandenburg Gate, where some singers performed with an impressive lighting choreography accompanied by the releasing of the balloons that flew one by one in the sky. All over the place some little stands where selling german products: beers, gluhwein (which is a hot beverage made with wine and rhum) and of course a lot of sausages!!! We had a blast and the the famous dj Paul Kaklbrenner closed the concert and made us dance until midnight.

The last day of our trip some of us decided to try for the first time the “free city tour guide”. It’s a program that is now common in many cities in Europe; a native guy of the city shows to whoever wants to join him the main attractions of his hometown, but he adds lots of curiosities and shows little corners that you probably wouldn’t notice if you don’t know the place. Our group was pretty big, we did a three hours walking tour through the main monuments and it was really interesting because he gave us lots of information about the consequences of the World War II.

I had never been to Berlin before and I really liked the city even if I felt, walking through the streets and the monuments, this sense of sadness due to the Jewish tragedy that can’t be hidden or forgot.

Giulia

Swiss trip

Last weekend I went on a road trip to Switzerland with a few friends that I met here in Nancy. We did it the “American way”, at least that’s how I would call it. Americans usually want to spend only a few hours in a new place, just to say they’ve seen it, and then visit as many places as they can.

We left on Sunday afternoon, got in Bern at night, where we had an amazing dinner at a place called Altes Tramdepot, which offers an amazing view in front of the river and the famous Bears of Bern!

The next day, after walking around with daylight, we left and on our way to Zurich we decided to drive through Interlaken, were Justin and Lars got crazy and jumped in a freezing lake. Back in the car, we arrived in Zurich where we walked till night before another very Swiss dinner with rosti and spatzle and a stop at the Casino (not too lucky).

On tuesday, after waking up at 7 am, they convinced me to go hike in the Alps…

You can tell from my pictures how cold it was and how soaked our shoes got for walking in the snow. It was a lot of fun though and a lot of play with snow balls lol.

Of course we couldn’t end our trip without a kebab on the road and a bunch of whatsapp texts with giulia (that btw was in Berlin the same weekend) to tell all our stories.

Linda