The best food of study abroad!

As I continually tell anyone who will still listen to me ramble on about my study abroad experience, one of my favorite parts of country-hopping around Europe was the chance to try some of the regional cuisine. I’ll focus on French food in its own post, because I had so much more time to explore different dishes, so this post will show the delicious meals that stuck with in during my travels to Spain, England, Germany, Austria, Italy, Czech Republic, and Hungary. Bon appetit!

England: Fish and chips

England is known for a lot of things: rainy weather, the Royal Family, accents, rainy weather…but food is not generally one of them. However, an English specialty is (fried) fish and chips (French fries for the Americans), and as I’m never one to pass up trying local cuisine, my friend Katie and I headed to Garfunkel’s Restaurant in Trafalgar Square. It had the appeal of a diner and the fish and chips dish that we shared really made me appreciate that English classic!

Fish and chips at Garfunkels!

9 months: 11 countries, 29 cities.

My wonderful, amazing, cliche life-changing study abroad year is at an end, and I find I’ll like to remember all the places I’ve been lucky enough to visit. So for one blog post let’s explore the trips I’ve managed to take since I arrived in Montpellier on August 17, 2013.

1. France

Cities I visited: Aix-en-Provence, Annecy, Arles, Avignon, Carcassonne, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Narbonne, Nice, Nimes, Paris, Perpignan,  Rouen, Toulouse

Christmas markets of France…(and Germany and Austria)

One of the best things about studying abroad during the fall semester (and the full year!) is the array of Christmas markets than you can enjoy. Europe really does it up for Christmas, and French Christmas markets are spectacular, along with those of other nations’! Here’s a roundup of the Christmas markets I was able to attend in 2013!

Update: Christmas market additions from 2015!

Montpellier

Of course, the that I knew the best is the one near which I lived! The Christmas market was located within the Esplanade Charles de Gaulle- or park at the end of the Place de la Comédie. The two main passages were lined with chalets selling chocolates, jewelry, scarves, Christmas tree ornaments, decorations, hot wine, or food. A big attraction was the ice skating rink located at the front of all the boutiques, with both French and American Christmas carols playing for the skaters. This first Christmas market was where I- along with all the study abroad students- developed a taste for vin chaud, or mulled wine. You can learn more about the Montpellier Christmas market here.

“Les Hivernales”: the name given to the Montpellier market