vintage – L'ensemble du jour

March 8, 2020 – Luxembourgeois (OOTD #619)

Published on December 28, 2020December 28, 2020 by lensembledujour1 Comment

It wasn’t until my second day in Luxembourg that I actually visited Luxembourg City.

Luxembourg is a somewhat confusing place — it’s the name of both a country and a city. The city, Luxembourg, is sometimes called Luxembourg City to distinguish it from the country, but more often, it’s just called Luxembourg. I suppose it’s something like New York City versus New York State in that you could call either just “New York” and, depending on context, people would understand you to mean either the city or the state.

Because Emma and I spent most of our first day in Luxembourg in Vianden, a town about an hour outside of Luxembourg City, it wasn’t until our second and final day that we actually made it into the city to explore.

Luxembourg City has much fewer things to see than a city like, say, Paris or London. If you ever visit (the country or the city), I would probably only devote two or three days, with only one of those days for Luxembourg City itself.

It’s possible as well that my opinion is swayed by the fact that we were there on a Sunday, when relatively little was open. I’m not necessarily sure I would’ve gone into very many shops or restaurants or museums even if they were, but it did feel very quiet in town as we were walking around, even for a Sunday morning.

We visited the Grand Ducal Palace, the official residence of the Grand Duke and the royal family, which, to us, as visitors on a Sunday morning when nothing was open, was ultimately just a cool work of architecture to look at from the outside. There was also a Notre-Dame Cathedral (yes, another one — I really ought to start keeping a list of all of the Notre Dames I’ve been to) that we poked our heads into for minute or two.

I think the best part of Luxembourg City was the giant Adolphe Bridge across the Pétrusse valley. Luxembourg, like many cities, is a city in parts, with a bridge connecting the different sections. Most cities, like Budapest or Paris, have massive rivers running through them, sectioning off each partition. Luxembourg, on the other hand, is split not so much by a big river (though it does have one), but by a big valley.

It’s like Luxembourg is a city of two massive hills, with a deep chasm in-between the two. That’s where Adolphe Bridge comes through, which allows you to walk between the two halves. You can also take the stairs and venture down into the valley, which is home to both a lovely park and a small neighborhood of expensive-looking homes. It was something of a hike to get down into the valley, but I would say it’s absolutely worth it. It’s quite something to look up at the bridge towering above you with the two halves of the city on either side.

Luxembourg ended up being my last excursion while I was in Paris. Just a few days later, I got the email informing me that I was being sent home by my university. I think Emma and I both saw it coming, though of course, we didn’t want to believe it could be true. I thought for sure I would at least have a few more weeks — I definitely didn’t see it coming so soon.

That’s about it for today. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life during my semester abroad in the Paris, France. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest,Instagram, Facebook, Bloglovin, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Coat: Thrifted (Free’p’star Paris)

Skirt: Thrifted (Free’p’star Paris)

Blouse: Express

February 22, 2020 – Those Red Tail Lights Heading for Spain (OOTD #615)

Published on December 14, 2020December 14, 2020 by lensembledujourLeave a comment

Sciences Po winter break: day 8.

My final destination on my whirlwind week-long backpacking tour of Europe was a country I’ve actually never been to before: Spain.

It’s not that I haven’t been interested in visiting Spain. But each time I’ve visited Europe for a significant period of time (that is, the summer after my sophomore year and my junior spring), most of my travels have taken me in an eastbound direction, towards Central and Eastern Europe. Spain has just not ended up being a convenient stop, and it’s been too far away for a weekend or a day trip.

And there actually wasn’t anything significantly different now from those previous trips about the direction of my travels; the meaningful difference ended up that I had a free place to stay in Spain. My friend, Emma, was studying abroad in Toledo and living with a host family, which meant I had free lodging that I could take advantage of.

But it wasn’t just me who was going to make the most of a study abroad living situation — Emma was also planning to come visit me in Paris and stay in my apartment. Long story short, it didn’t end up happening — but I’ll get to that later.

Toledo was one of the most unique European cities I’ve visited — which is saying something, considering I had just come from Venice, which was also one of the most unique European cities I’ve ever visited. For one, Toledo was geographically different — it was hilly, with twisty roads that wound their way back and forth up and down the landscape. It reminded me of some of the scenes from Lord of the Rings — maybe not the Shire, but perhaps Minas Tirith, with the way the towers and roads seemed to be a part of a mountain. It wasn’t the most fairytale-esque of anywhere I’ve ever been, but it was the most fantasy-esque.

And Toledo was warm! It was probably 65 degrees and sunny in February, and even though the winter in Paris was milder than what I was used to in South Bend, I was still shocked with how beautiful the weather was.

It was a perfect day for a hike, which is how I ended up seeing so much of the surrounding countryside. I would have loved to have been able to spend more time there exploring the hills and valleys and some of what looked like ancient ruins scattered along the path.

We even took a little picnic of wine and cheese and bread up to the overlook, which is where I got these beautiful pictures of Toledo looking like Minas Tirith. It also felt lovely to stretch my legs and get some actual physical exercise in. I wasn’t able to workout at all the whole week (not that I was necessarily keeping to a strict regimen while I was at Sciences Po), and it was great to get my heart rate up a little.

After our hike, we took the zipline across the river to get back to town. Then, we took a short break for some food and to rest up before the night’s festivities.

After having spent a day celebrating Carnevale in Venice, Italy it was time to celebrate El Carnaval in Toledo.

Once again, I dressed in my red dress, blue coat, and sparkly mask, exactly what I had worn while I was in Venice. Unfortunately, I didn’t really have another costume, and though I did have a leopard print shirt that I could’ve feasibly used as a cat costume, I thought my masquerade ensemble was more suited for the occasion.

I’m glad I got to go out for a night during Carnival since my friends and I were too tired to go out in the evening when we were in Venice. Toledo may not have been as famous for their Carnival festivities as Venice, but it was still a lot of fun! There was live music, a parade, drinks, and dancing — though I do wish I could’ve understood some of the Spanish to have at least a little bit of a clue what was going on.

I think my favorite part of the night was watching people in their costumes go by. It was a different kind of a costume than what I saw in Venice. In Venice, everyone was dressed in historical gowns and wigs and Phantom of the Opera-style masks, while in Toledo, people were wearing essentially Halloween costumes. I saw plenty of Elsas and Darth Vadars and Hulks. I also saw a few people in blackface, which I could’ve done without.

And thus ended my eight day tour of Europe. I was actually there until the following day, Sunday, and then flew back to Paris in the afternoon. This was the last photo I took before I headed for the bus station to take me back to Madrid to hop on the metro to take me all the way through the city and back to the Madrid airport to take a plane back to the Paris Beauvais airport to take a shuttle back to Paris to take the metro back to my apartment at the Porte d’Orléans. It was a suitably long day of traveling to conclude a long week of traveling.

Outfit 1:

Turtleneck: Vintage (thrifted, Street Scene Vintage)

Trousers: Express

Outfit 2:

Dress: Express

Turtleneck: See above

Coat: A vintage shop in Budapest (thrifted)

February 21, 2020 – Venetian Carnevale (OOTD #614)

Published on December 13, 2020December 12, 2020 by lensembledujourLeave a comment

Sciences Po winter break: day 7

On my final day with my Sciences Po travel crew, we woke up in an AirBnB apartment in Venice, Italy during Carnevale season.

Of all the places I visited on our week-long whirlwind tour of Central Europe, Venice was easily the most visually unique. I mean, it’s arguably one of the most visually unique cities in the world — there’s a reason it’s a popular tourist destination. Each city we visited had its own style in some way — for example, Frankfurt had the charm of both old town Germany and a modern city of skyscrapers and Ljubljana had the most beautiful scenery with mountains in the distance. But at the same time, to some extent, they all ran together in my mind.

Venice, on the other hand, was completely different. You could never confuse Venice for Budapest or Prague or Vienna.

I think being there during Carnevale season also helped its case. Not that I’ve ever been to Venice at any other time of the year, but if I had to suggest a time to visit, I would definitely suggest Carnevale. The weather is perfect, for one: Italy during the wintertime is still fairly mild, and there are fewer tourists than there are in the summer. Apparently the canals can get somewhat smelly in the summer as well, which was not an issue I noticed at all when I was there in February.

Carnevale season is meant for partying — and even if you’re not a party person (or, if you were like my friends and me, you were too tired for partying after six days of night buses and walking tours), you can enjoy watching the partygoers in their elaborate costumes and masks.

I did my best to replicate the Carnevale style of fashion with my purchased masquerade mask and my vintage velvet coat, but what I was wearing was nothing in comparison to the elaborate ball gowns and hats and coats that I saw people wearing. If our only destination was Venice, and if I’d been planning this trip for more than a few weeks, I would’ve bought myself a costume.

I suppose the elephant in the room is that while we were there, Carnevale weekend, was when the first COVID-19 outbreak in Europe occurred. We left on Saturday, just a few days before the first cases began being reported, so we had no clue what was ahead of us in the coming weeks and months. At that time, COVID-19 was still a news story for Asia, not Europe. That was probably one of the last times I was in a large crowd with strangers, and one of the last times I existed in a world where COVID-19 wasn’t on my mind.

I had one more destination ahead of me than my friends, so I bid them all farewell in the afternoon to catch a plain off to Madrid, Spain. Madrid, however, wasn’t actually my actual destination: Toledo, a smaller town about an hour bus ride away from Madrid, was. Toledo was where my friend, Emma, was studying abroad and living with a host family.

I left Venice shortly after lunch, and I ended up getting into Madrid past sundown. From there, I had to take the metro for an hour, from essentially one end of the city to another. Then, it was another hour to find my bus and wait for it to arrive, and then yet another hour to actually get into Toledo.

Emma and one of her friends met me there, and we walked back to her host family’s house. It was dark, about 10 pm, so I couldn’t see clearly, but even in the dark I got the sense that Toledo was yet another visually distinct town. For one, there were more hills than I had seen in any of the other cities I’d visited in the past week. It was quite a hike.

At that point, I wouldn’t have minded to have just taken a shower and gone to bed, but Emma had made plans with some of her Notre Dame friends to go bar hopping, and I couldn’t resist the invitation to go out in a new country.

I thought 11pm-ish was somewhat late to be heading out for the night, but according to Emma, for Spanish people, it was early. She and some of her friends remarked that one of the clubs we went to wasn’t as energetic as it usually was, which they figured was due to it being too early.

For me though, by around 1am, I was feeling dead on my feet, and I suppose Emma was starting to notice, so we said our goodbyes to her friends and headed home. At that point, I’d been backpacking for a whole week, sleeping on buses and walking all day, and within 24 hours I’d celebrated Carnevale in Italy, flown to Spain, rode a train from one end of Madrid to another, and taken a bus to Toledo. With one mixed drink and a shot of vodka in my system, my body was ready to sleep.

Dress: Express

Turtleneck: FreePeople

Coat: A vintage shop in Budapest (thrifted)

February 20, 2020 – City of Dragons (OOTD #613)

Published on December 12, 2020December 12, 2020 by lensembledujourLeave a comment

Sciences Po winter break: day 6

I technically made my way through probably four separate countries on February 20.

The first was Hungary, where I caught a night bus late in the evening. I slept for most of the journey, so I’m not actually sure how many hours of the wee morning that I was in Hungary, but I’ll wager it was a few. The second was Croatia, where we had to wait out a several hour layover (is that what it’s called when it’s a bus?). Funnily, I’m pretty sure the bus we took from Budapest to Zagreb was the exact same one I took the previous summer. I think we took the same route and went through the same checkpoints and everything.

We only spent a few hours in Zagreb as we waited for the next bus, but I honestly remember almost nothing of it. I spent most of it unsuccessfully trying to sleep in a hard plastic chair. Eventually, as some of the bus station shops began to open up, I bought one of the most disgusting sandwiches I’ve ever had in my life and barely finished half of it.

From there, it was a few hours on until our main destination, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Like Frankfurt, this was just a day trip — less than a 12 hour stay before we had yet another bus to catch.

After finding a place to store our luggage (something I got very good at — who knew luggage storage facilities would become my new best friend?) we headed towards downtown.

Ljubljana is a very small city, though it’s the largest in Slovenia. If you’ll remember, I’d actually been to Slovenia once before, for a brief stop in Brežice while my friend’s cousin picked up medication. Ljubljana reminded me in many ways of Brežice: a small but quaint town nestled in even more beautiful mountains.

Slovenia is known as the “city of dragons” but other than the famous Dragon Bridge, I’m not sure if there’s any history or mythology that goes along with that reputation. We didn’t do a tour or visit a museum at this location, which meant my actual knowledge of the sites I was seeing was scant.

After doing a brief overview of the Dragon Bridge and the iconic pink Franciscan Church of the Annunciation, we decided to take the hike up to Ljubljana Castle. Or at least, that’s what I wanted to do. After having spent the previous 12-ish hours sat in a bus, sat in a bus station, and then sat in another bus, I was eager to stretch my legs, and a hike — that is, a walk through somewhere other than a busy tourist street — sounded wonderful to me.

But it didn’t sound wonderful to some of my friends, so instead, we took the funicular lift, which pleasantly surprised me. I thought it’d be lame to just ride up to the top of the hill, but being in the funicular car actually allowed us some really beautiful views of the landscape and the city below.

At the castle, we met a lovely British man who agreed to take our photo and also gave us some recommendations for lunch options. I wouldn’t have been against trying something else authentic, especially having indulged in sushi and humus in Vienna and Budapest, but my friends weren’t feeling it. Instead, we went to a Mexican restaurant. Because you know, those Slovenians are so known for their authentic Mexican cuisine.

Our last stop before we got onto our bus to our final destination of the day was the Metelkova neighborhood. From what I gathered from my friend, Ebba, who was the one who suggested that we go, Metelkova is a lot like Freetown Christiania in Copenhagen in that it’s a small artist community within the city bounds that has its own autonomous status. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to look around much. There was a group of men playing soccer who didn’t seem interested in having tourists walking around taking pictures, which, you know, I get. I don’t think they would have given us any trouble if we’d kept walking, but my friends didn’t want to risk it, and besides, we had one final (!!!) bus to catch.

Our last country of day was Italy. We got to Venice after sunset, and by then, we were really so tired from walking around and taking buses all day that we weren’t interested in doing much sightseeing. We ended up getting much more of a tour than we bargained for that night, though, as our AirBnB ended up being on what seemed like the exact opposite side of town from where the bus stop was.

It was a Thursday night during Carnevale, but I was too exhausted to really pay close attention to the colorful costumes and loud music. I think there may have been a parade going on somewhere in the city while we were hunting for our AirBnB and trying not to get our bridges confused or fall into a canal, but I’m really not sure.

Once we finally made it to our apartment, we crashed for about an hour to decompress and relax before we dragged ourselves off the floor and crawled to a restaurant for dinner. After dinner, I think I could’ve had enough energy to venture out again and see if we could discern where all those costumed people were heading earlier, but we ultimately just went home and went to bed. We figured we’d have (yet another) big day ahead of us.

Blouse: H&M

Jeans: Altar’d State

Coat: A vintage shop in Budapest (thrifted)

February 19, 2020 – My Heart’s (Still) in Budapest (OOTD #612)

Published on December 10, 2020December 10, 2020 by lensembledujour1 Comment

Sciences Po winter break: day 5

If it were entirely up to me, I might not have gone back to Budapest. I might’ve stayed another day in Vienna or tried to visit another Central European city that I’ve never seen, like Bratislava. It was really my friends’ interest that brought me back to Budapest rather than mine.

It’s not that I didn’t love Budapest — it’s a really lovely city with some absolutely fascinating history, and I’ve written and done research on it before. I spent a whole week there my previous summer visiting my friend, Bilal, who had been studying at Central European University. That’s part of the reason why I didn’t really want to stay. I figured I’d already seen everything there was to see, and there wasn’t any sense in going back so soon.

But ultimately, I think I was wrong. Budapest was really quite wonderful to see again — I think especially so soon. I was able to act like something of a tour guide to my friends, most of whom had never visited or never spent a significant amount of time there. I was familiar with the public transport system, I knew the major sites worth seeing, and, to my surprise, I even remembered some of the walking directions, especially on the Buda side, where I had spent a whole afternoon exploring by myself during my previous trip.

I took my friends to see the Parliament Building, St. Stephen’s Cathedral (where we even got to meet Jesus himself (?)), the Holocaust memorial on the Danube River, Fisherman’s Bastion, and Buda Castle, which I’d really only walked past before. I think my favorite stop on our tour was Freedom Square, where I got to recount my research project on their eclectic collection of statues and the significance of each statue’s presence (or absence), including Ronald Reagan, the Soviet Union’s Red Army, Hungary’s Jewish population, and (not) Imre Nagy, who, since my visit in summer 2019, has now been replaced with an ugly anti-communist statue of a muscular figure strangling a snake.

There are many reasons why I think Nagy’s absence from Freedom Square is tragic, the most pressing of which is that it seems to represent Viktor Orbán’s overarching attempts to revise Hungary’s history and remove insurgent figures from their collective memory. His replacement with the anti-communist statue as well is just weird. For one, it seems odd to me in 2020 to imply that the entire philosophy of communism needs to be strangled out of existence. Also, it’s ugly and completely lacks the beautiful symbolism of the Nagy statue that gazed contemplatively towards the Parliament building atop a bridge.

Apparently, there’s now a George H.W. Bush statue next to the Ronald Reagan one, though we didn’t get to see that while we were there. I guess that gives me yet another reason to go back.

In the evening, after the sun went down, we went to the first site that I had never been to during my previous week in Budapest — one of the famous thermal bathhouses. We didn’t go to Széchenyi, which is perhaps the most famous of the baths, but instead, a smaller place on the banks of the Danube called Rudas.

I’d never been to a thermal bath house, but it was an experience like no other. For one, the actual complex was huge — I thought maybe there’d be one or two pools, and that’d be it, but there were literally three or four floors plus a rooftop tub. It was massive. We didn’t even get to go to some of the pools that night because they were closed to men only (I guess they switch out different days that different groups of people can use which pools?).

The most unique pool I tried was the hot-cold contrast bath, which involved sitting for a minute in cold water, followed by a minute in hot water, followed by several minutes in warm water, followed by a shower before you repeat it all over again. I almost didn’t do it because the cold water was so cold and the hot water was so hot. I’m normally not afraid of new experiences, but this one had me psyched out. Ultimately, we all went through the process a few times — and I think it was worth it? I felt refreshed and tingly afterwards, and I do think it helped to relax my muscles after several nights of sleeping on buses. I’m not certain I feel like I need to do it again any time soon — but then again, that’s what I’d said about visiting Budapest to begin with, and I was proven wrong about that.

For dinner, we got — you guessed it — more Asian food. I guess we were all just kind of tired of variations on beef and potato stews. From there, we hiked back to the bus station to await our next night bus on to Ljubljana.

Turtleneck: FreePeople

Skirt: Pull & Bear

Coat: A vintage shop in Budapest (thrifted)

February 18, 2020 – Vienna Waits for You (OOTD #611)

Published on December 9, 2020December 10, 2020 by lensembledujour1 Comment

Sciences Po winter break: day 4

Actually, on the contrary, I’d argue that Vienna doesn’t really wait for you, considering they close up most of everything when the sun goes down. Vienna waits for you at least until dusk, and then you’re on your own.

On day two in Vienna, we did allow ourselves a late start to the day. One of my friends wasn’t feeling well (was it coronavirus or just a cold? I guess I’ll never know), so we took our time getting ready in the morning. I probably would’ve preferred to head out earlier, but looking back, it was probably good to allow ourselves a slower morning. We basically didn’t have any others for the rest of the week.

Our AirBnB apartment this time wasn’t really anywhere near the City Centre, so it was a solid 30 minute walk to get to any of the tourist sites. It was interesting to see Vienna during the daytime this time, walking the same streets as I’d walked the night before in the dark. Vienna feels like a relatively laid back city, at least in comparison to Paris, which can at times feel somewhat stuffy, or even another Central European city like Budapest, which can feel a little cold and unforgiving.

At the City Centre, we saw the famous St. Stephen’s Cathedral (an interesting name, given that there’s a St. Stephen’s Basilica in neighboring Budapest) and Hofburg Palace. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a walking tour this time, unlike in Prague, so I couldn’t really tell you the historical significance of any of the buildings we saw.

Then, we went for what I think was my favorite dining experience of the trip — a snack at a Viennese coffee house.

I mostly didn’t bother planning for this trip beyond organizing AirBnbs and buses. I figured I’d go with the flow and figure out what to do each day on the fly. But I did know that Viennese coffee was something I wanted to try.

The place we went was called Café Central, in case you ever want to check it out. I would definitely recommend — the building itself is beautiful, with high vaulted ceilings and colorful paintings, and the food was delicious. I got an iced coffee and goulash (again), and my friends got desserts.

After our meal, we floundered around for a bit trying to decide what to do. By then, the sun was going down, which meant everything but restaurants was closing up for the day. We had wanted to go to the Schonbrunn Palace, but that, like everything else, was closed by about 5pm. We weren’t ready to just call it quits and head home for the night, especially since we’d only really gone out in the afternoon, but there didn’t seem to be much left to do other than eat, and we’d literally just done that.

Finally Margo managed to find a museum that was open called the House of Music, a tribute to the many famous composers and musicians from Austria, such as Mozart and Haydn and Mahler. A lot of the exhibits kind of went over my head, as I don’t really know much about classical composers, but I loved looking at some of the handwritten pieces of sheet music and sitting and listening to the video of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra concert. If I ever go back to Austria (which I really hope I do), I think getting tickets to the Vienna Philharmonic would have to be at the top of my list.

After spending a few hours at the music museum, we were hungry so we treated ourselves to an authentic Austrian feast: sushi and potstickers.

Of course, I’m being sarcastic — we got Asian takeout. We were all feeling a little exhausted from trying new foods in every city, and the heavy Central European stews and sausages were growing old. I probably liked the food the most of everyone — I think fondly of the goulash I had in Prague at least once a week — but my friends were sick of it. In truth, I was also craving some comfort food myself, and nothing reminds me of home quite like stir fry.

And that’s the story of the cover photo for this post, which is probably one of my favorite photos of me that’s ever been taken. Ebba shot it while Megan, Margo, and me were gazing hungrily at the menu. I love the soft lighting, the way my hair falls, and how excited I look to be ordering noodles.

Dress: Express

Coat: A vintage shop in Budapest (thrifted)

February 17, 2020 – “I’ll Be Back,” Arnold Schwarzenegger, 1984 (OOTD # 610)

Published on December 8, 2020December 10, 2020 by lensembledujour1 Comment

Sciences Po winter break: day 3

I sure would like to go back. I spent about 1.5 days in Vienna, Austria, one of the longest stays in a single city during our trip, but I still didn’t get to see as much as I would’ve liked. For one, I never got around to the Schönbrunn Palace, which I’d really been hoping to see. We also never saw Salzburg, another city in Austria that is home to Mozart’s birthplace, which is still on my bucket list.

After spending a glorious night sleeping in real beds in Prague, we caught a bus onto our next destination, Vienna. Our bus left in the late morning, which allowed us to sleep in a little bit. The real luxury though was that we didn’t have to take a night bus, which meant we weren’t forced to try to get a full night’s sleep on a bumpy bus. It was still a long ride, but it was significantly less miserable than some of the previous ones.

The downside though to taking a daytime bus was that it ate into the time we were actually able to spend exploring during the day. We didn’t have time really to do anything in the morning in Prague, and by the time we got into Vienna, settled into our AirBnB, and did some grocery shopping, things were already beginning to shut down for the night.

And that was my primary complaint about Vienna — there was nothing open past 5pm! If you’ve ever heard the Billy Joel song, “Vienna,” you’ll know it’s all about slowing down and not allowing yourself to get stressed out about work and life. I just thought he was using Vienna as a metaphor because the people there were laid-back. As it turns out, not only are the people of the city laid-back, but their entire city is too, because everything closes down at sunset apparently.

Apart from restaurants and bars, there really wasn’t anything to do on our first night in Vienna. We walked past the Museums District, peered into the darkened windows of some closed thrift shops, and admired the almost completely empty streets. You’ll notice I hardly even have any pictures from this day — there simply wasn’t anything to take pictures of at night. It’s possible we would have found more to do and see had we continued to walk towards the City Centre, but by then, we were tired and ready to head back in order to be well-rested for the following day.

Sweater: Vintage (thrifted, Street Scene Vintage)

Jeans: Hollister

Coat: A vintage shop in Budapest (thrifted)

February 16, 2020 – Czech It Off the List (OOTD #609)

Published on December 4, 2020December 10, 2020 by lensembledujour2 Comments

Sciences Po winter break: day 2

I think Prague was honestly my favorite city that I visited during my week-long backpacking trip through Europe. And that’s saying something, seeing as there was some pretty stiff competition from cities like Venice and Budapest, which were also captivating in their own right.

I think perhaps part of the reason why I remember Prague so fondly (apart from its beautiful architecture and colorful rainbow buildings) is that it was the first night I got to sleep in a real bed after two nights of sleeping on buses. We did the whole night bus gig thing on purpose in order to save time and money, but it certainly took a toll, and by the time we hit Prague, we could really feel the fatigue setting in. I think I was holding up better than most of my friends, partially because I think I was able to sleep the most comfortably on the buses on account of being the smallest, and partially because I think I’m just a generally resilient person.

We arrived too early in the morning to check in to our AirBnB, so we started the day in the train station café for about an hour before calling what was possibly the cheapest Uber I’ve ever taken in my life to get to our apartment. From there, we freshened up, enjoyed the experience of laying in a real bed, and then headed out for another long day of walking.

The one thing I was absolutely certain I wanted to see in Prague was the famous John Lennon Wall. It was on our way to the Old Town Square plaza, which was the starting place of the walking tour we booked, so it ended up being one of the first things we saw.

I guess I was spoilt on the graffiti of the West Bank Border, which is huge and sprawling and stretches all along the checkpoint between Israel and Palestine, because I wasn’t hugely impressed by the John Lennon Wall. Apart from the portrait of John Lennon at the center, there weren’t really any other major works. I did think it was cool how contemporary and diverse the issues represented in the graffiti were though — in comparison to the West Bank Border graffiti, which really only covers the injustice in Palestine, the John Lennon Wall depicted political struggles all over the world. The most recent one I remembered seeing in February was the Free Hong Kong slogan. I wonder what has been added since I was there earlier this year.

Though the landscape of Toledo, Spain perhaps gives it some competition, I think Prague’s Old Town Square and Charles Bridge that leads to it was perhaps my favorite sight of the whole trip. I wish I had photos that did it justice, but I was honestly so in awe of it that I forgot to take pictures. What I’ve included here are actually some of my friend, Ebba’s, photos.

In Old Town Square, we saw the Prague Astronomical Clock, famous for being on the list of the top 3 most disappointing tourist sites in the world. Comment down below what you think the other two on the list might be. I’ll give you a hint — I’ve seen them and have even posted about them on this blog before!

While I generally hate tours for the way that a big group of people speaking different languages following a conspicuous leader carrying an umbrella or a flag immediately gives you away as a tourist, I will say, I appreciate actually getting to learn about the various buildings I see when I travel. I think if you can stomach the mild discomfort you feel when a local glares at your group for standing around and clogging traffic, it’s worth it. I’ve done them in Jerusalem and Bordeaux. If you’re a solo traveler (which in this case, I was not) they’re particularly valuable as a way to meet people and make friends.

Our last stop after our walking tour concluded was to cross the bridge and hike our way up to St. Vitus Cathedral. Because a trip to a European city wouldn’t be complete without a visit to a church, right?

Honestly, even more spectacular than the church itself was the view from the top of the hill where the church is located. And that’s quite a statement for me to make, as the St. Vitus Cathedral is perhaps the most spectacular church I’ve ever seen, at least from the outside — and that includes the Notre Dame (though perhaps it’s unfair to judge that one, as I saw it from behind a construction fence), the Sacré Coeur, St. Peter’s in Rome, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

That evening, we tried to go out to an ice bar, where the entire room is supposed to made of ice, but the ice room ended up being closed. We instead headed to a different cocktail bar, which was motorcycle themed, though that wasn’t really any of our styles. I enjoyed my martini though.

Finally, after a long day, we headed home and slept possibly as well as I ever have in my entire life in a foreign country in a bed that’s not my own.

Blouse: H&M

Turtleneck: FreePeople

Jeans: Hollister

Coat: A vintage shop in Budapest (thrifted)

February 15, 2020 – Frankfurt with a ‘U’ (OOTD #608)

Published on December 3, 2020December 4, 2020 by lensembledujour1 Comment

Sciences Po winter break: day 1

Here it is: the first day on my whirlwind week-long backpacking trip though Europe.

I know “backpacking through Europe” normally refers to longer trips — weeks or even months — and it’s probably better that way. I would have loved to have months to travel, to actually get to spend more than 24 hours in each city I visited. But that sort of travel is expensive and time-consuming, and as a student, those are two adjectives that I can’t necessarily indulge in right now. One day, I’d love to go back and really live the nomadic lifestyle for a longer period of time. But for an only one-week winter holiday in the middle of a semester, I made the most of the time I had.

I hit seven countries in total in one week — Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, and Spain. In each country, my friends and I had between 12 and 48 hours. Our shortest stop was Slovenia, with just a half day, and the longest stop was Spain, which I visited on my own at the end to see my friend Emma for two days.

Up first on our agenda, though, was Frankfurt, Germany. Notice the spelling there — Frankfurt, not Frankfort. Once again, as was the case with Versailles, there’s a city in Kentucky with a similar name to a much more famous European city. In this instance, though, the pronunciation is the same but the spelling is different.

I’ve been to Germany only once before, and that was on a day trip to kill time during a long layover. That time, I visited Munich, in what was my first visit to mainland Europe ever. I was there for Christmas Eve in what is possibly the most famous city for Christmas festivities (save, I suppose, for Bethlehem — which I’ve also visited — and the North Pole — which I have not).

This visit to Frankfurt was also very short. My friends and I — Megan, Margo, Ebba, and Garrett — all arrived via night bus from Paris in the morning, and we departed by evening for a night bus trip to our next destination. All in all, that probably means I’ve only ever spent 24 hours max in Germany in my entire life.

Frankfurt really only has one small part of town, Römerberg that looks like “traditional” Germany, with a big church and quaint little houses that look like they’re made of gingerbread and come out of a storybook. The rest of it looks like a modern city, with big skyscrapers and glass buildings. For my friends and, as tourists, this made it perhaps the least interesting city to visit. If I were a young German professional looking for a place to settle, though, I can absolutely see the appeal.

After taking photos in Römerberg (which was practically empty and devoid of tourists, since we were there at 9AM on a Saturday morning in the middle of winter), we stopped for breakfast before making our way across the famous Eiserner Steg footbridge that’s covered with love locks. I know that basically every European city has that — a bridge that’s covered in locks for couples to figuratively represent their love by placing a lock on a beam and then throwing away the key, essentially the European equivalent of carving your names in a heart on a tree — but I think they’re cute anyway.

In the afternoon, we checked out a thrift shop where I almost bought a beautiful dress (only regretfully putting it away because it was slightly big), a food market, and a botanical garden. Then, we tried to visit the roof of one of the tall skyscrapers in order to get a panoramic view of the city from above, but we were disappointed to discover that the line was too long to make it worth it.

But that was okay because we were hungry and exhausted from walking all day (and from having slept on a night bus — a common theme you will find through all of these retrospectives), and so we decided to get some dinner. After trying one tavern that had good reviews online only to find that it was full, we picked one across the seat and ate a meal of sausages, spaetzle, and beer.

After dinner, we were off to the station to catch our next night bus to Prague. Though a bus is certainly not the ideal way to sleep, I think we were all so exhausted that we crashed almost immediately once we sat down in our seats.

As a final note: here’s the link to the Spotify playlist I created for the whole trip. There are songs meant to represent each country we visited. Give it a listen!

Top: Express

Trousers: Express

Coat: A vintage shop in Budapest (thrifted)

January 28, 2020 – Shakespeare in Love (OOTD #604)

Published on August 1, 2020August 1, 2020 by lensembledujour3 Comments

Wait, this isn’t a restaurant chain in Lexington, KY.

For context, there are some restaurants in my hometown called “Shakespeare and Co.” that serve cute brunch foods. Apparently, they have really good vegan options, so when my vegan friends come to town, I often go.

The real Shakespeare and Co., however, is an old bookshop in Paris. I’m not actually sure where I heard of it first — was it my freshman English class? Was it one of the various French movies I watched for extra credit but never really understood? It’s just one of those things that I know I know, but I don’t know how I know — you know?

On Tuesday, the last day before classes began, my new friend, Hannah, and I decided to do some shopping, with the specific intent of visiting some thrift stores. We’d heard it alluded to by our Welcome Programme leader, and Hannah had actually visited it before, but I hadn’t yet made it there. It sounded like heaven to me — an entire section of town devoted to vintage and thrift shops? Sounds like my cup of tea.

Of all of the neighborhoods in Paris, I think I visited Le Marais the most frequently, after my own neighborhood and the neighborhood Sciences Po is in. Le Marais is the proverbial *bohemian* part of town, akin to Shoreditch in London or Wicker Park in Chicago. It’s home to a thriving gay community, arts community, and of course, lots of wonderful vintage shops.

My favorite was Free’p’star. No, I don’t know why it’s called that. All I know is that it was an amazing store — I don’t like the phrase “happy place,” but that’s probably what I would call it.

There were actually two Free’p’stars right across the street from each other — again, don’t know why. They both had similar stocks — not that that means anything, when I’m pretty sure they sold just about any kind of clothing imaginable. I can’t say they had a very consistent theme, beyond “used French clothes.”

But the thing about “used French clothes” is that they’re much nicer than used American clothes — much nicer than what you’d find at a Goodwill. French people, especially Parisian French people, are a fashionable bunch. When they get rid of clothes, what they get rid of is still pretty nice.

The best part of Free’p’star was the massive 1 euro bargain bin at the back of the store. Everything in the bin was 1 euro — no lie.

You’d often have to fight a crowd just to stand at the bargain bin and sift through its treasures. As soon as someone moved in position slightly, you had to be prepared to elbow your way in — and if you were standing at the bin already, you had to be prepared for someone to sneak next to you as soon as you shifted your feet. It was competitive — people would start stacks to get clothes out of their way as they hunted, and someone else would come along behind them and start shifting through the other person’s stack of refuse, creating their own stack in the process.

But there was some really nice stuff to be found, if you were willing to do some treasure hunting. As it turns out, that’s exactly my kind of thing. My mother, on the other hand, who hates the disorganized nature of even a store like TJ Maxx, would have taken one look inside Free’p’star and turned around and walked out.

After Le Marais, Hannah and I visited the famous Shakespeare and Co. across the river. There were signs requesting that tourists not take pictures inside, which I mostly heeded. I did get plenty of pictures outside though.

To my surprise, Shakespeare and Co., sold almost exclusively English language books. I’m not sure what I expected out of a bookstore named for the most famous English writer in history, but I was hoping for a chance to check out some French books. That was why I was in Paris, after all — to learn French.

Thankfully, Gibert Jaune in the Latin Quarter was able to scratch that itch. There were several Gibert Jaune storefronts at the same intersection, so it took Hannah and I a moment to figure out which store was best for us, as each store was devoted to a different genre of books. After wandering around aimlessly in the nonfiction store and then the science fiction/fantasy store, we finally came across the discount books store.

I picked up copies of L’étranger by Albert Camus and Vol au-dessus d’un nid du coucou by Ken Kesey, a French translation of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I figured I needed something other than Harry Potter et le prisonnier d’Azkaban to read on the Metro on my way to school in order to look like an authentic Parisian.

That’s about it for today. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life this semester abroad in the Paris, France. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Bloglovin, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Jacket: A vintage shop in Budapest (thrifted)

Dress: Francesca’s