We traveled to Arles, France on July 9th. We took a taxi, a plane, and two trains to get from Prague to Arles. After the train, a taxi took our luggage while we walked to our hostel. It was a long travel day but we made it!

I enjoy seeing the different places in Europe and how each place differs, especially from home.

In Arles, we explored a bit of the city and checked out several exhibits. The exhibits were interesting and eye-opening. Many of the exhibits were photographed by women, and many of their photos were very open about topics from their lives.

We also got to try some great food and dessert places as well. One of the several food places we enjoyed was the crêperie located right next to our hostel. They had yummy crepes for a great price and tasty sangria. We also enjoyed trying many different gelato and ice cream flavors throughout the week. Some of the flavors I tried included tiramisu, Nutella, caramel, coffee, coconut, and Kinder Bueno.

We also found a great place along the river in Arles to hang out, take photos, and watch sunsets. It was just a short walk from our hostel, so we walked there a few times to catch the sunset over the river. There were such stunning views of the sunsets. We also got to hang out along the water and talk, as well as photographing and meeting new people.

Over the weekend, a group of us (Natalie, Hanah, Sophie, Lora, Valentina, Alyte, Alec, Matt, and myself) decided to take a weekend trip to Marseilles. We took a train from Arles to Marseilles on Friday and then walked to our AirBnB, which was a cute little apartment that had a great view overlooking the water. Once there, we settled in and got ready to go out for dinner along the port. We had some great food! I tried beef carpaccio which was pretty good. I was glad I tried something new.

We hung out and enjoyed the rest of our night at the AirBnB. Over the course of this trip, I see many of us bonding after our time together. Some of us have had deep conversations, and living together has also allowed us to get to know each other better.

On Saturday, we went to the beach and stayed there a majority of the afternoon, before going back to the AirBnb to get ready for a nice dinner out. We especially enjoyed our time at the beach and getting to spend time in the sun and in the water. We enjoyed swimming, even though some people got a bit sunburnt.

For dinner, we dressed up and went to a place called Panasia, where I got a California Roll meal. I tried salmon and actually enjoyed it on the sushi I got. I was glad I tried new foods over the weekend in Marseilles, France. We took the train back to Arles on Sunday afternoon.

Over the next couple of days, we explored some more, checked out the local shops, continued working on our projects in Arles, and presented them on Tuesday. My project was based on my rose tattoo, and I included photos in my project that helped tell the story behind it.

Overall, I think my projects are getting better and I think they will continue to do so over more time. It has been a little bit of time since I've really focused on working on photography. This past semester I had mostly public relations courses for my minor and a Spanish course that was almost half of my credits for the semester. I use to work a lot more with photography and photojournalism, and I'm excited to be back focusing on working on my photography skills more.

My study abroad trip has been interesting so far. Now off to Paris!!!