Yesterday at around 11:30 I got into the Nice airport after a quick layover in New York and a 9-hour flight (on which I got to see fireworks all across New York from the plane--stunning). Customs and baggage claim went very smoothly, in fact customs was no more than a woman glancing at and stamping my passport--no arrival form/declaration thing needed. Also there was only one person in line. Crazy and so different from the past few places I've been.
I waited in the airport for my family to pick me up, and after a bit of a struggle trying to connect with them, just when I was about to go buy an Italian simcard so I could call the woman who arranged this, I saw a boy holding a sign with my name on it. This was Nicolo, the 13-year-old son. He took me to his dad, Massimo, who was buying a chocolate croissant to have as a snack. I found out later on that they had accidentally gone to the wrong terminal, but all was well! We drove the 45-50 minutes from Nice to Arma di Taggia, a beautiful drive along the coast through the tiny towns between France and Italy. We also passed by Monaco--maybe I will go there for a weekend!
At around 2:00, we arrived at their beautiful house in Arma. The house is three stories. The second When you come inside, you enter the second floor which is basically a big open space with a kitchen and living room. It leads to the wooden patio outside where we ate lunch. They have a tiny pool on the patio (which they really take advantage of--I feel like a lot of American families have these large pools outside that they rarely swim in, but here the pool is just a few meters wide/long yet someone is constantly taking a dip before/after meals) and an amazing view which overlooks the whole town and the Mediterranean right below them. The bottom floor has a pool table, a couch, a laundry room, another nice porch area, my bedroom, and the bedrooms of Nicolo and the other son, Lorenzo, who is 17. The top floor is Luisa (the mother) and Maximo's room and bathroom, and I think Emma (the daughter) sleeps in their room as well. They live a short walk up the mountain from the beach (very steep on the way back! Similar to the walk to Spars Lodge in Shimla, but longer/at a lower altitude).
Yesterday afternoon I took a short nap and then went to the beach with Luisa and Emma. Luisa showed me the salon that she works at. They had some cousins over for dinner, which consisted of two giant pans of homemade focaccia, one giant pot of handmade pasta with prawns, some Italian wine, and homemade gelato for dessert. I think I'm going to need to run more often...
Anyways, it sounds like I will have weekends off, so today I'm just planning on exploring the town a little bit more, and maybe hitting the beach. Then the real work starts Monday...
Ciao!
I waited in the airport for my family to pick me up, and after a bit of a struggle trying to connect with them, just when I was about to go buy an Italian simcard so I could call the woman who arranged this, I saw a boy holding a sign with my name on it. This was Nicolo, the 13-year-old son. He took me to his dad, Massimo, who was buying a chocolate croissant to have as a snack. I found out later on that they had accidentally gone to the wrong terminal, but all was well! We drove the 45-50 minutes from Nice to Arma di Taggia, a beautiful drive along the coast through the tiny towns between France and Italy. We also passed by Monaco--maybe I will go there for a weekend!
At around 2:00, we arrived at their beautiful house in Arma. The house is three stories. The second When you come inside, you enter the second floor which is basically a big open space with a kitchen and living room. It leads to the wooden patio outside where we ate lunch. They have a tiny pool on the patio (which they really take advantage of--I feel like a lot of American families have these large pools outside that they rarely swim in, but here the pool is just a few meters wide/long yet someone is constantly taking a dip before/after meals) and an amazing view which overlooks the whole town and the Mediterranean right below them. The bottom floor has a pool table, a couch, a laundry room, another nice porch area, my bedroom, and the bedrooms of Nicolo and the other son, Lorenzo, who is 17. The top floor is Luisa (the mother) and Maximo's room and bathroom, and I think Emma (the daughter) sleeps in their room as well. They live a short walk up the mountain from the beach (very steep on the way back! Similar to the walk to Spars Lodge in Shimla, but longer/at a lower altitude).
Yesterday afternoon I took a short nap and then went to the beach with Luisa and Emma. Luisa showed me the salon that she works at. They had some cousins over for dinner, which consisted of two giant pans of homemade focaccia, one giant pot of handmade pasta with prawns, some Italian wine, and homemade gelato for dessert. I think I'm going to need to run more often...
Anyways, it sounds like I will have weekends off, so today I'm just planning on exploring the town a little bit more, and maybe hitting the beach. Then the real work starts Monday...
Ciao!
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