Writers Retreat, France (03/06/2014 - 08/06/2014)

We arrived in Limoges at 9.30am and collected by David & Michelle at 10.00am. The ride back to the Lambert's house took approximately an hour and a half. I slept for most of the journey (oops), but I managed to catch a few drowsy-eyed glimpses of beautiful French landscapes. We spent the day exploring the house and surrounding areas as the week flew by. Most of the time was spent relaxing in the sun beside the picturesque countryside house. 

On the second day, Daniel, Aaron, Jess and I ventured out to the surrounding areas where we found various fields and ponds along the way.

Most days I spent writing inside the house in my shared room or in the garden seeking inspiration from the warm countryside air and greenery that surrounded. 

On Thursday we travelled to a market, and rested in a coffee shop before heading to a restaurant for lunch. The food was delicious and we all sat outside around a table soaking up the sun. That evening I felt a flush of sunstroke and went to bed early whilst everyone workshopped their writing in the lounge downstairs. 

I perked up the next morning and read out my story in the worshop session on the last day of the retreat. I'd like to thank the Lambert's hospitality and culinary divinity. I had a great week at Le Verger, relaxing in the sun, with charismatic company and plenty of wine! 

Day 3: 29/01/14

Today I visited unmistakably the most beautiful landmark I've ever visited; The Trevi Fountain. The sound echoed throughout the narrow cobbled street as we approached the fountain from around the corner. My initial thought was that it is much bigger than I imagined, too big to capture the whole thing in one photo but I took a few close up pictures:

I tossed a 50 cent coin over my shoulder as I made a wish before spending the remaining time gawping. 

I've never been a huge ice cream fan but I ordered a Nutella and Haselnut ice cream cone as the ice cream was laid out like a work of art:

Jess and I then took the tram to the river before walking to a restaurant to eat. 

After eating we spent the rest of the day wandering around various pretty buildings along narrow cobbled pathed roads. 

Day 2: 28/01/14

It's safe to say early starts are a great deal easier on holiday in a beautiful city (8.30am in student time is 6.30am for everyone else). Today we went to the colosseum; stopping as we walked to gaze at various pretty landmarks. The colosseum was stunning, I took photos from the outside:

And here is Adam, Jess, Daniel and I on the inside: 

After staring in awe for a considerable amount of time and my reenaction of the song 'what dreams are made of' from The Lizzie McGuire Movie, we headed toward The Forum where a huge area of ruins were displayed. 

I took a beautiful picture of the view from the top of a building in The Forum.

You can see all the ancient ruins below which we then walked through before finding a pub to eat in. 

We ended the first day getting drunk in an Italian bar, student style. 

Day 1: 27/01/14

THE DAY HAS COME! 

I decided to stay up the whole night before travelling from Cambridge to Rome at 8am. I knew if I slept there would be a high chance of me missing the train and I was way too excited to sleep anyway. I struggled to keep my eyes open as the time got nearer although staying awake allowed me to sleep on the train, plane and coach as I was exhausted for the whole journey. 

We arrived at the hotel named Hotel Noto at approximately 6pm (Rome time) and headed out to seek Italian cuisine a few hours later. After aimlessly strolling around we eventually decided on a restaurant. Whitebar was the name of the restaurant we chose, and the access to free wifi connection may have been a high factor of choice as there's no wifi access in the hotel (which I am very disappointed about). The food was extremely filling, I had margarita pizza with a beer; both highly decent. 

Day 1 was a sleeping success! Now in bed and ready for the 7am wake up tomorrow!

Wanderlust

I'm hoping to travel a lot in the future, in fact my main desire in life is to travel. 

In a few weeks I will be heading to Rome - one of the most romantic cities in the world! I'm beyond thrilled as it has been somewhere I've always wanted to go. 

I shall be documenting my visit on this blog as a scrapbook-type documentation. I hope to do this with other places I travel to in the future also.

I leave for Rome on the 27th of January 2014 - to whoever reads this, I hope you enjoy sharing my journey!