Ok… here we go, for all you procrastinators on the other side of the Atlantic (and this side for that matter), buckle your seatbelts… Nice was a trip for the books.
So this trip was probably one of the most random things I have ever done in my life… why you ask?
I essentially was flying solo; I knew no one in the city, had a vague idea of what it would be like and chose it based on the cost of the trip (50 Euro roundtrip by train to get to France… jigga what?!) In short, the master plan was to not have any plans… All this to say that in the end it was the makings of a good trip.
The train ride to Nice was probably one of the most beautiful train rides I have ever taken in my life as the route crosses the mountainous and coastal region of Italy called Liguria hugging the coast along the Italian and French Riviera all the way to Nice. You’re flanked by snow capped mountains to the right and the Mediterranean to the left for a good portion of the ride…I was, of course, staring out the window the whole time leaving awkward breath marks and a little bit of saliva on the glass, sighing every time there was a scenic view (essentially every two seconds…ok that’s embellishing the story a bit, but it was amazingly beautiful…)
To give you an example of what its like for that matter.. imagine this:
Tunnel… BAM! MOUTAINS AND THE MEDITERRANEAN… Tunnel… PALM TREES AND SMALL TOWNS BUILT INTO THE HILLS… Tunnel…MONACO….Tunnel…ORANGE AND LEMON TREES…Bonjour, Nice!
Overwhelming….huh?
Arriving in Nice, I rushed down to the hostel to check in mainly because I wanted to get down to the beach before the sunset (see photos). As you’ll probably see it was totally worth it… this was it, I was in France, Nice, the Côte d’Azur…. Palm trees and beautiful beaches everywhere and an amazing sunset to boot.. could I get any luckier (and dorkier for that matter)?
YES.
Just when I thought this trip couldn’t get any more random, fate stepped in and decided to mix it up a little more. Arriving back from the supermarché (after of course making the cultural faux pas of NOT weighing my fruit before paying for it and having to be explained in English how it all works… grr… apparently French supermarkets don’t render this service) I walked into my dorm. There were two new guys, both Americans, named Mike and Eric… Mike, from Brooklyn, came up to me introduced himself and basically was like “Hey I’m Mike, you wanna come out with us tonight?”
I honestly don’t know how I end up in these situations, so don’t ask me. Keep in mind that this was just the first day…
Pivotal decision time… go in and make this dinner by myself and essentially be alone all night…. OR go out with a random group of people and see what becomes of this evening… You guys, know me well enough to realize the choice was pretty obvious. It turns out there were a number of students (shout out to all you guys) doing an exchange at a French university in Nice who were staying in the hostel that were all going out to meet the whole group at a bar that night. I tagged along. It was pretty funny explaining how I ended up there, but given the randomness of these exchange experiences for everyone, I was in good company (thank you so much, everyone, by the way). After drinking a considerable of wine and doing an insane amount of talking, it was time to head back to the hostel.
Great day? I think so.
Global Opportunity: A Definition
The title and contents of this blog were largely inspired by an exhibition at the Biennale di Venezia. The theme was architecture and the purpose was to discuss who architects would be designing for in the future.
The [global opportunist] was defined as the following:
WORKS on remaining a student for as long as possible
LIVES where his studies take him
CELEBRATES freedom
BELIEVES one day he will settle down. Maybe.
As this seemed like a fairly adequate description of my life at the moment, I took it on as a project to document [global opportunity] in all its forms and hopefully say a thing or two about people, places and life for a new generation in a world of opportunity.
Since obviously I can't presume to speak for everyone, this is meant to be an open forum for discussion, hence the plural [opportunists]. If you are interested in posting your experiences and consider yourself a [global opportunist] as well, give me some time and I'll figure out how to make Blogger do this for all of us.
In the mean time, if you have a story, experience or observation that you wish to share in WHATEVER language, please write to me at:
matthew.arancio@gmail.com
and I will be sure to post it.
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