Charcuterie 

I spent my first full week in Dijon this week and it was a long one. My grandfather passed away on Thursday so it was hard to be alone and not with my family through that time. I'm hanging in there and am very thankful for the time I got to spend with him before coming abroad.

Yesterday I went to Beaune with the girls for tapas and wine. The day turned out to be beautiful and the restaurant was the cutest place.

Now, it's trip planning time because my parents arrive in 27 days and I couldn't be any more excited. I'm ready for my last three weeks of class to end so I can travel, relax, and go home. I wouldn't say I am homesick but I miss everyone more than words can express and the language barrier is just an annoyance at this point. I'm ready to go home talk loud, eat big, and drive my car. 41 days! Lookout world!

Prowein

It was a bit overwhelming attending the largest wine convention in the world but it was such a great experience being new to the wine sector. Over 5000 vendors from countries around the world attended the convention and it was meant for business purposes. But it was neat as a student to talk business with industry professionals and learn about how they got involved. We had a really nice introduction to the convention by talking to a representative from Jacobs Creek in Australia. He was such a sweetheart and we tasted about 8 wines first up at 9am. Around lunch time we tasted small plates from a chef in California who was originally from New England so it was nice to have a piece of home and familiarity. We had amazing sliders, chowder, ribs, pulled pork, and sirloin. What an inspiring guy to because he was going straight to Stuttgart after the convention to cook for the troops. I also got to talk to a General Manager of a Family estate in Cali who used to live in Dover, New Hampshire (right next to UNH) so it was really really cool hearing his story. He let us taste his $200 bottle of wine too! The tastings continued for three days and I probably tried over 100 wines. Needless to say my taste buds were shot. 

We were so lucky to be able to explore Dusseldorf while we were there. It was the cutest city and we are amazing food and drank lots of beer! I ate a LOT of sausage, pigs knuckle, sauerkraut, weener schnitzel, and pork medallions. By far my favorite country I have cisited and I am already stoked to go back and travel Germany with my family. 

On our way back from ProWein we stopped at a family estate in Germany to do another wine tasting. The owners daughter actually graduated from the Wine Program at the Burgundy school in Dijon. She was so nice and we had probably 6 different wines and they were all absolutely delicious. She also prepared lunch for is and I even tried blood sausage! 

Ahh until next time Germany! 

Co op tasting in Alsace. 

Jacobs Creek 

Joe, previous student at Esc Dijon providing us with a chocolate wine tasting

Cali Chef 

Hello sliders <3 

Geoff from Mondavi wines Cali 

Dusseldorf 

Pork medallions 

New favorite wine. Mom, Please find!! 

Sausage. Nothing went to waste. 

Even Barefoot was at Prowein. They were the cutest reps ever! 

The beer house 

Good friends. Good beer. Great memories. 

Road Trip

Was up at 4:45 this morning for our trip to Germany for the Prowein wine convention that is taking place until Wednesday! Tough life huh? ;) It was a long day to say the least. They said to meet at the school at at 6 since the bus was leaving at 6:15, we walk out of our apartment and it was pouring rain. I also fell on my face so that was fun. And obviously we didn't leave until almost 7am because nothing is ever easy and no one is ever on time. The bus was hot and smelly so that made for a nice 14 hour day haha. But then we made a stop in Alsace, a popular wine region for producing Reisling, to do a wine tasting. I tried 5 different wines and then got to explore the town which was absolutely gorgeous despite the rain. Don't worry mom, I picked you up a nice Riesling :) 

Huge barrels in the cellar 

A clock in the museum made out of a wine barrel top.. If it were for sale it would have been mine! 

Tasting 

The weather has continued to be beautiful and spring is finally here. I have somehow gotten motivated and have been going running every morning. It is so calming running through the parks and by the water. Now to enjoy the next 3 days before heading out for the Prowein fair in Germany ! 

It has been awhile since my last post because I have had a pretty busy past two weeks. On Friday I made my way to Paris to pick up chad at the airport and we spent the weekend traveling around. It was so much fun taking him around to all the sites. We climbed the notre dame, saw the catacombs, went to the arc, the louvre, and climbed the Eiffel. After a great weekend we spent some time in Dijon and today we were both lucky enough to go on one of my field trips to Beaujolais for class. We went to a distillery at 10am and tasted spirits to start the day off so that was interesting to say the least. But the guy was a sweetheart and have us bottles of the creme liquors he produces to take home. We then got cooked an amazing meal and got to enjoy it outside since it was about 65 degrees out today. I forgot to mention the weather has been unreal this week. Not a cloud in the sky. But anyways we had salad, sausages cooked over charcoal yum, sticky rice, bread, cheese, and dessert. This was all along with over 10 glasses of wine. It was a great time talking with the vineyard owners, my professors and other students who are studying the same passion I have. We then hiked for about 3 hours through the vineyards and my professors are a little bit more adventurous than I anticipated. We hit an area surrounded by fence and my 70+ year old professor decided to hop a barbed wire fence into a cow pen to cross to the road and proceeded to knock down the fence on the other side for us. It was crazy. But we had a lot of fun. I forgot to mention that I ate like a queen this week. Chad and I went to an Australian restaurant (strange I know) and we tried kangaroo. We also ate so many delicious French meals. We had creme brûlée, Angelina's famous hot chocolate which was literally like a liquid chocolate fountain, French macaroons and so much more.  And on my last day he took me to the only chipotle in Paris. Yes, I ate my entire burito 😊

I've been busy busy with homework oh and I had my first French exam which was a treat. But that hasn't stopped me from being a world traveller. My Spain trip is all booked and I'm going skydiving! That's right everyone I'm gunna jump out of airplane. I think I'm gunna throw up 5 times before I jump but I couldn't think of a better time or place for such a once in a lifetime opportunity. 

After having Chad here for a week, I realized how fortunate, lucky, and grateful I am. It was extremely difficult to bring him back to the airport this morning  and now I'm sitting in a cafe waiting to catch my train back to Dijon. But now the countdown back home begins! If you read this chad, thank you. 

Homework

obviously during my busiest week I was given 4 homework assignments. I can't complain that much though because I got to taste these wonderful cheeses and write about them 

I never thought I would be so excited to go back to Dijon. After a 12 hour day of travel I am home sweet home... At my second home that is. This whole trip has been an eye opening experience and it has taught me so much about myself and what I am capable of. Before I left I couldn't even read a map and now I feel like I can do anything in the world. I am very excited to have less stressful travel plans for the next three weeks and be in the comfort of my apartment. Despite the fact that I have the 4 busiest days of the semester this week, I am very excited to get back to reality, especially because Chad gets on a plane to france on Thursday! 

As of today I have travelled to 5 countries and 14 cities! I could not be more appreciative of this experience and opportunityy to see the world. 

Apparently stray animals are a thing here in Greece. We were trying to enjoy a nice hike from fira to oia in santorini until we were about a half hour into the three hour hike and a stray dog started following us. It was very territorial and would wait for us to catch up to it. It was all fun and games until it met up with another two stray dogs, one of which we believe was rabid. It's eyes were extremely red and it had the scariest teeth. Worst part, all the shops were closed because we were on the island in the off season and there was no where to get away from these dogs. And there was also no one to talk to. When the dogs started ganging up we decided to wander off the path and luckily we were at the only bus stop along the way. We managed to catch a cab somehow and got to oia to see the most beautiful view on the island. It was definitely an adventure but at least we ended the day with an amazing dinner. I have eaten so much eggplant and yogurt which is my new obsession. When we got to Athens today we literally had two hours to explore and of course it was pouring rain. I don't even have words to explain today and the challenges we faced. Also there were about 12 stray cats and 3 stray dogs so that was interesting to say the least. All I can say is I am excited to head back to Dijon after a long 12 days of traveling out of a backpack. 

So santorini Greece is absolutely beautiful and we made it just in time yesterday to watch the famous sunset. Now off to go hiking along the shoreline, get a pedi and relax a bit