Our train ride to Vienna was quite an experience in itself. We got to the train station, exchanged the leftover Czech crowns we had, bought our tickets, and found our platform. The train was running late by around 30 minutes, but eventually it got there and we got on. Turns out, they had overbooked the “second class” (coach) section of the train, so we either had to sit on the floor for the entirety of the 6-hour train ride, or pay a little extra and get bumped up to business class. So we paid the little extra and got our own little room on the train with comfy seats, which was pretty great.
We finally got to Vienna around 7pm and took a bus and a metro to our hostel (which was not nearly as nice as the hostel in Prague, but still acceptable. Even though besides us, it was filled with random families and teenagers, which was kind of weird).
Anyways, we were STARVING after our long train ride where they had RUN OUT OF FOOD somehow in the dining car, so we walked a few blocks from our hostel and found an Italian restaurant and got some delicious pizzas for dinner. We sat for a while, then went back to the hostel, where we decided we were too exhausted to go out, and that instead we would just go to bed and get up early for a day packed with sightseeing.
And so we did! On Saturday, we got up, had our complimentary breakfast at the hostel, and set out to see the city. We started by going to Naschmarkt, which is this huge outdoor market in the center of the city. On Saturdays, they also have a MASSIVE flea market there, so we went and walked around. While we were there, we happened to run into the girls we had met at the bar in Prague that were friends with Carolyn, which was really crazy since the place was PACKED!
After the market (where we spent a couple hours), we went to see the famous opera house and also the Hofsburg Palace, both of which were cool to look at from the outside. The palace had a gorgeous park with fountains that we walked around it. There was also a butterfly conservation house that I really wanted to go in, but we decided it was too much money (ahh, the life of poor college students…).
We were all hungry again so we decided to find a café where we could eat lunch, but the area we were in was very touristy and therefore very expensive, so we decided to take the metro towards our next destination, the Freud museum, where food would be cheaper. It worked out and we found a café near the metro exit where we got a delicious and cheap lunch. After lunch, we walked to the Freud museum. My friend Nicole is a psychology major so she was enthralled with all of the information, and it was really cool to see the place where Freud used to live and work. It brought me back a little to AP Psych from senior year of high school!
After the Freud museum, we hopped back on to the very convenient metro and headed to Praterstern, a amusment park/carnival in the middle of Vienna! We went on the famous ferris wheel and a few other rides, it was so much fun. After that, we were pretty worn out so we went back to the hostel to relax for a little while before dinner.
For dinner, we went to a restaurant that my Europe guide book recommended (thanks again for that book, Mimi! It is wonderful!) that is famous for its schnitzels. We wanted to try some local cuisine, so we decided to check it out. It was DELICIOUS and had a great atmosphere, we sat in an outdoor courtyard at picnic tables. Plus, it was really cheap, which made it even more awesome!
After dinner and couple glasses of wine, we decided to check out another recommendation of my book, a bar/club called Babu. Now, the main nightlife scene in Vienna is a long line of clubs and bars built underneath the arches of one of the Vienna metro lines. Babu was one of these. We found it, and managed to convince the bouncer to let us in for free so we didn’t have to pay the 5 euro entrance fee! We got a table because it was still fairly early and not very crowded, and had a few drinks. We stayed for a while and listened to music and had a pretty good time, then, after some unwanted attention from some creepy guys, we decided it was time to leave.
The next morning, Easter Sunday, we got up and headed to the other palace in Vienna, Schonnbrun. It was BEAUTIFUL! There were gardens and fountains and so many flowers…amazing. We didn’t go inside because there was a long line and we only had a little time before we had to get to the airport, but we walked around outside and in the Easter festival that was going on there. We sampled some apple strudel and took a lot of pictures, and then headed back to the hostel to get our bags and head to the airport.
What an awesome spring break! I am again amazed that I have been this lucky; to be able to travel all over to the places I have always wanted to see has been a dream come true!
I can’t believe I have less than two weeks of classes left, then a week of finals, and then my program is over. There is so much I still want to do and see, so I will be cramming the next couple weekends with all sorts of adventures here in Barcelona!
I hope everyone is well and had a lovely Easter and is having a great week!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Czeching Out Prague
Hello all! Sorry it has taken me a while to post an update, and sorry pictures are still not up from the rest of my spring break. My laptop’s graphics card decided to die and my laptop is currently being repaired, so pictures will be posted as soon as I get it back!
I’ve decided to do this spring break in two separate entries, for the sake of organization, length, and time! This is the first one. Okay, here we go…
After one restful night in Barcelona after my Morocco program, my friends Hillary and Nicole and Nicole’s friend from another program, Carolyn, flew to Prague on Tuesday afternoon. We arrived pretty late in the day, around 5, and then spent an hour or so getting out of the airport, finding the right bus, transferring to a metro, getting momentarily lost, and eventually finding our hostel, The Mosaic House.
This was EASILY the nicest hostel I have stayed in. It was part of a 4-star hotel, so the hostel rooms were basically nice hotel rooms with bunk beds instead of regular beds. The bathroom was super nice and the beds were really comfortable…it was great! There was also a bar downstairs with live bands every night, AND a restaurant. And all for VERY cheap, especially since Carolyn happened to have a discount card that they applied to all three of us (Hillary was staying with friends, so not in the hostel)!
Anyways, we got our stuff settled in, then went out to find a place for dinner. We walked over to the river (everything was walking distance from the hostel, which was also really nice) and found a restaurant that looked promising. And we were certainly not disappointed…we all had HUGE delicious burgers and beers, which were great after a day of traveling.
After dinner, the three of us said goodbye to Hillary, who would spend the rest of the trip with friends in Prague, and went back to the hostel to change. We went out first to a bar called U Sudu. From the street, it looked like an average little bar, one room with a few bar stools and a table. Oh no. It ended up being a series of underground staircases, tunnels, and rooms…there must have been 10 different bars down there! It was CRAZY. We had a few drinks there and met up with some girls from Carolyn’s program, who were also traveling.
Next, we wanted to go find another bar, but instead found ourselves in the craziest club I have ever been in. I forget the name…it’s something very Czech, I’ll look it up later. This club had 5 floors, which all played music from different decades or genres. We had a blast, and ended up getting kicked out when the club closed at 5am! We found our way back to the hostel and passed out.
The next day, we slept in (of course) and then went out to brunch at a famous restaurant, The Globe. Famous expats and authors like Hemingway used to eat there, and there is a bookstore attached to the restaurant. We got a table outside and filled up on some delicious food, then headed out for a day of sightseeing.
We walked across the Charles Bridge (one of the most famous sights in Prague) and saw all of the vendors and musicians along the way. From there, we went to see the John Lennon wall, which is a wall where people paint messages of peace and hope. It is ever-changing, which is pretty cool. We took a lot of pictures of it and in front of it. Nearby, we also came across a lock bridge, like the one in Paris! It was a lot smaller but there were still tons of locks with peoples names and dates carved in (the oldest one we found was from 2007, so they must have to remove them every couple years to make room for more).
After that, we found a café and had drinks and snacks, then walked back across the bridge to see the Old Town. We walked around for a bit and saw the booths and stage set up for the Easter festival and decided to come back the next day for dinner there. Then, we hopped on the metro and headed to the “Baby Tower” on the other side of the city. This is one of the weirdest things I have seen. This tower is some sort of air traffic control or telecommunications tower or something like that, and for an art exhibition a bunch of years ago, an artist sculpted giant, black babies and placed them climbing all over the tower. The Czechs liked it so much that they left the babies there permanently. Real strange, but worth seeing! We sat in the park by the Baby Tower and people-watched for a while, then headed back to the hostel.
We went to dinner at a delicious Thai food restaurant right down the street and filled up on noodles. Still exhausted from the previous night’s adventures, we decided to take it easy and went searching for a bar. We had finished dinner and getting ready pretty late, however, so many of the bars were close to closing. Too tired to brave another club, we just went back to the hostel and went to sleep.
The next morning, we set out for some more sightseeing. We went to brunch at a bagel restaurant. I hadn’t had a bagel in so long, it was FANTASTIC. They don’t have bagels in Barcelona, really. After the bagels, we walked a bit and then went up the funicular (a weird uphill train thing) to Petrin Hill, where there are beautiful gardens, a tower that is a direct rip-off of the Eiffel Tower, and, my favorite, a mirror maze! We walked around for a while, then went back down the hill.
Afterwards, we walked up (up is the truth…it was more of a hike than a walk) to Prague Castle, which was actually more of a cathedral than a castle, but still beautiful. We stopped to sit for a while, then walked back down and across the Charles Bridge again to head to see the old Jewish part of the city. We wanted to see the famous Jewish cemetery, but it was crowded and cost money to go in, so we just peeked through the gates and continued on our way.
We went back to the center of the Old Town to the Easter festival and tried hot wine, a Czech specialty with our dinner. The hot wine was kind of strange at first but actually pretty good (especially once we added sugar!). We ate and then walked around the Easter festival booths for a while, then headed back to the hostel.
We were pretty wiped out, so we relaxed in our room for a while and met our new roommates who had just arrived, three American guys. After a while, we got ready and went down to the bar in our hostel to see the live band of the night (they were pretty good!) and have some drinks and snacks. After a while, we went out to a bar/club called Cross Club, which is an alternative-themed club. It was pretty cool…in one room all the tables, lamps, railings, and everything else was made out of car parts. In other room, the walls were decorated with computer parts. It was not very crowded (apparently Thursday night is not a big going-out night in Prague), but we had a drink and then went to find another club, which ended up being closed. We took a cab home and went to bed.
The next morning, we got up and went to the train station to catch our train to Vienna!
Vienna entry to come tomorrow! I need to go home and do laundry and go grocery shopping, since I am out of both food and clothes.
I’ve decided to do this spring break in two separate entries, for the sake of organization, length, and time! This is the first one. Okay, here we go…
After one restful night in Barcelona after my Morocco program, my friends Hillary and Nicole and Nicole’s friend from another program, Carolyn, flew to Prague on Tuesday afternoon. We arrived pretty late in the day, around 5, and then spent an hour or so getting out of the airport, finding the right bus, transferring to a metro, getting momentarily lost, and eventually finding our hostel, The Mosaic House.
This was EASILY the nicest hostel I have stayed in. It was part of a 4-star hotel, so the hostel rooms were basically nice hotel rooms with bunk beds instead of regular beds. The bathroom was super nice and the beds were really comfortable…it was great! There was also a bar downstairs with live bands every night, AND a restaurant. And all for VERY cheap, especially since Carolyn happened to have a discount card that they applied to all three of us (Hillary was staying with friends, so not in the hostel)!
Anyways, we got our stuff settled in, then went out to find a place for dinner. We walked over to the river (everything was walking distance from the hostel, which was also really nice) and found a restaurant that looked promising. And we were certainly not disappointed…we all had HUGE delicious burgers and beers, which were great after a day of traveling.
After dinner, the three of us said goodbye to Hillary, who would spend the rest of the trip with friends in Prague, and went back to the hostel to change. We went out first to a bar called U Sudu. From the street, it looked like an average little bar, one room with a few bar stools and a table. Oh no. It ended up being a series of underground staircases, tunnels, and rooms…there must have been 10 different bars down there! It was CRAZY. We had a few drinks there and met up with some girls from Carolyn’s program, who were also traveling.
Next, we wanted to go find another bar, but instead found ourselves in the craziest club I have ever been in. I forget the name…it’s something very Czech, I’ll look it up later. This club had 5 floors, which all played music from different decades or genres. We had a blast, and ended up getting kicked out when the club closed at 5am! We found our way back to the hostel and passed out.
The next day, we slept in (of course) and then went out to brunch at a famous restaurant, The Globe. Famous expats and authors like Hemingway used to eat there, and there is a bookstore attached to the restaurant. We got a table outside and filled up on some delicious food, then headed out for a day of sightseeing.
We walked across the Charles Bridge (one of the most famous sights in Prague) and saw all of the vendors and musicians along the way. From there, we went to see the John Lennon wall, which is a wall where people paint messages of peace and hope. It is ever-changing, which is pretty cool. We took a lot of pictures of it and in front of it. Nearby, we also came across a lock bridge, like the one in Paris! It was a lot smaller but there were still tons of locks with peoples names and dates carved in (the oldest one we found was from 2007, so they must have to remove them every couple years to make room for more).
After that, we found a café and had drinks and snacks, then walked back across the bridge to see the Old Town. We walked around for a bit and saw the booths and stage set up for the Easter festival and decided to come back the next day for dinner there. Then, we hopped on the metro and headed to the “Baby Tower” on the other side of the city. This is one of the weirdest things I have seen. This tower is some sort of air traffic control or telecommunications tower or something like that, and for an art exhibition a bunch of years ago, an artist sculpted giant, black babies and placed them climbing all over the tower. The Czechs liked it so much that they left the babies there permanently. Real strange, but worth seeing! We sat in the park by the Baby Tower and people-watched for a while, then headed back to the hostel.
We went to dinner at a delicious Thai food restaurant right down the street and filled up on noodles. Still exhausted from the previous night’s adventures, we decided to take it easy and went searching for a bar. We had finished dinner and getting ready pretty late, however, so many of the bars were close to closing. Too tired to brave another club, we just went back to the hostel and went to sleep.
The next morning, we set out for some more sightseeing. We went to brunch at a bagel restaurant. I hadn’t had a bagel in so long, it was FANTASTIC. They don’t have bagels in Barcelona, really. After the bagels, we walked a bit and then went up the funicular (a weird uphill train thing) to Petrin Hill, where there are beautiful gardens, a tower that is a direct rip-off of the Eiffel Tower, and, my favorite, a mirror maze! We walked around for a while, then went back down the hill.
Afterwards, we walked up (up is the truth…it was more of a hike than a walk) to Prague Castle, which was actually more of a cathedral than a castle, but still beautiful. We stopped to sit for a while, then walked back down and across the Charles Bridge again to head to see the old Jewish part of the city. We wanted to see the famous Jewish cemetery, but it was crowded and cost money to go in, so we just peeked through the gates and continued on our way.
We went back to the center of the Old Town to the Easter festival and tried hot wine, a Czech specialty with our dinner. The hot wine was kind of strange at first but actually pretty good (especially once we added sugar!). We ate and then walked around the Easter festival booths for a while, then headed back to the hostel.
We were pretty wiped out, so we relaxed in our room for a while and met our new roommates who had just arrived, three American guys. After a while, we got ready and went down to the bar in our hostel to see the live band of the night (they were pretty good!) and have some drinks and snacks. After a while, we went out to a bar/club called Cross Club, which is an alternative-themed club. It was pretty cool…in one room all the tables, lamps, railings, and everything else was made out of car parts. In other room, the walls were decorated with computer parts. It was not very crowded (apparently Thursday night is not a big going-out night in Prague), but we had a drink and then went to find another club, which ended up being closed. We took a cab home and went to bed.
The next morning, we got up and went to the train station to catch our train to Vienna!
Vienna entry to come tomorrow! I need to go home and do laundry and go grocery shopping, since I am out of both food and clothes.
Monday, April 18, 2011
The most amazing experience of my life (for real)
I don't know how to begin this blog post other than by saying that Morocco was easily the most amazing experience of my life. Putting into words exactly what I experienced is impossible, but I will try my best!
We (the 15 American students studying in Barcelona, 3 of us were from my program) arrived in Morocco on Friday afternoon after a pretty non-eventful flight. We were met at the airport by Colleen, our guide from the Morocco exchange program. We were immediately ushered onto a bus, driven by the smiley but quiet bus driver, Mohammed. We drove for a little under two hours to a small village called Amizmiz (pronounced ahs-meez). We went to the house of Latika, one of the more wealthy women in the village. That house was our meeting place for the time we were there. We met up with our host families at the house. Hillary and I were assigned to Sanaa (pronounced Sen-uh), a girl in her last year of their equivalent of high school. Sanaa lived with her mother.
We could tell by their house that they were very poor, and it was definitely a culture shock. They had no shower (they go to a public shower house once a week), and the toilet was, I kid you not, a hole in the ground. It was a little unnerving, but I told myself that it was all part of the adventure! Sanaa spoke some English and some French, which Hillary also speaks, so we were able to communicate fairly well. Her mother, however, only spoke Arabic and the local dialect, Bourbour, so Sanaa had to translate.
They were wonderful and caring people. Sanaa's mother (we never figured out her name) cooked an amazing meal that consisted of a "tajib," which is a clay dish with a sort of conical top that has some mixture of meat, broth, and vegetables in it, tons of bread, Moroccan salad (which is basically salsa - all peppers and tomatoes!), and beets. It was delicious.
After dinner, it was very late and we were exhausted from traveling, so we went to bed on the couch-bench things in Sanaa's living room (I even managed to make myself use the squat toilet before bed...I was very proud). I fell asleep for maybe 2 and a half hours before their rooster started cock-a-doodle-dooing at THREE IN THE MORNING and continued to do so every 20 minutes until we got up at 7:30. I dozed a little, but barely got any sleep.
I think I was so excited the next day that it made up for my lack of sleep, though. We met up at Latika's house again, and then took the bus up a mountain. We hiked down and around the mountain through some beautiful countryside and farms, and then through the nearby village. We also got to ride a donkey to cross the river!
In that town, we went to an association where old, widowed women work making couscous. We got to watch them work (very tedious!) and ask them questions with Latika translating. One of the things that moved me was when they were asked what they thought about Americans, and they said everyone was equal. One of the women said something along the lines of, "We are all going to die eventually, whether we are rich or poor. We might as well spend the time we have being kind and generous with everyone we meet." Truly unforgettable.
There was also the funny moment where we were asking the women about their lives, and we asked one of them, this tiny REALLY OLD lady, if she would marry again. She said, "Well, if I did, I'd marry him!" and pointed to Ryan, one of the guys on our program. It was hilarious...they posed for pictures together later on.
Afterwards, Mohammed met up with us with the bus, and we rode back to Amizmiz for lunch with our host families. My stomach wasn't doing great, as usual, but I had a little of the green bean, chicken, and olive tajib and a lot of bread. After lunch, our host siblings took us through Amizmiz. We saw the market, the place where they make the clay tajibs and other pottery, the blacksmith, and some other local places. On the way back, we walked along a river, since it was the fastest way back. Problem was, sometimes we were actually walking THROUGH the river since there was not enough space to walk on the sides! Our Moroccan friends found it pretty hilarious how we were attempting to not get wet.
We went back to Latika's and spent a couple hours talking, singing, and hanging out. We learned that for some reason, Moroccans LOVE the movie Titanic, so we all sang Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On." It was great. A bunch of the girls got henna tattoos (mine looks amazing!), as well. Somewhere along the line, our Moroccan friends thought it would be hilarious to put on a fake Moroccan wedding, so they grabbed my friend Hillary and Will, one of the guys in the exchange program. They got all dressed up and put on this whole fake wedding. I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe! It was so much fun.
After all of those shenanigans, Hillary and I went back with Sanaa to her house, and she cooked us some dinner (delicious omelets! My stomach was relieved to have something familiar). That night, there was a festival in the village because their soccer team had won some sort of local championship. There was music and awards and dancing...I barely understood any of it because it was all in Arabic, but it was fun nonetheless! One of the host brothers who spoke English very well even got up on stage and read a speech he had written for his "gorgeous and wonderful American friends." It was the sweetest thing ever, he talked about how much he loved us and would miss us when we left. Many of us were moved to tears.
It was really depressing to leave Amizmiz the next morning, because we had grown so close to our new Moroccan family in such a short amount of time. We took a ton of pictures and exchanged many hugs and kisses before we finally got on the bus to head to our next destination.
These people were flat out AMAZING. They knew us for approximately 48 hours and yet welcomed and loved us like we had been around for their entire lives. They were the friendliest and most charismatic and inspiring people I have ever met. They have so little, and yet so much to give. They also gave me a new way to look at Muslim people...some of the things we see in the media are so stereotypical, prejudiced, and just plain wrong. I am thinking about starting some sort of awareness program at RWU when I get back to the states about how the negative images of Muslim people are so unlike who they actually are. I was so touched by the people I met that I can't imagine people thinking negatively about them just because of the actions of a few individuals or their government.
Anyway, we then headed to Marrakesh, a large Moroccan city. We were staying in a hotel with real toilets and showers (hooray!). We had a bit of time to finally shower, which was good because riding in that little bus with 15 other unwashed college students was not exactly a pleasant experience! After that, we went for lunch at a restaurant, which was delicious, and then with a tour guide to see the palace (which used to be used for the head of the Moroccan version of Parliament) and the mosque (from the outside).
Later in the afternoon, we were divided up and shown around the city by Moroccan university students. They were very eager to practice their English with us. I had a long conversation with one girl, Dunia, about movies (they watch TONS of American movies!). They thought our accents were funny because they learn the British version of English from a Moroccan teacher, so the way we spoke was new for them! They took us through a huge covered market and taught us how to bargain with the shopkeepers (the best technique is to barter to the price you want, then when they say no, just say okay and walk away, then they chase after you and say its fine because they don't want you to go to another shop for the same item!). Afterwards, we went to a rooftop café and had a long conversation about the differences between relationships and marriages in the US and Morocco. It was really interesting seeing the viewpoint of people our age from a totally different culture.
We went back to the hotel and had dinner at the hotel restaurant with some of the Moroccan students who had time to stay, then we had another couple hours to go explore the city on our own. It was SO CROWDED! Everyone was out and about, even on a Sunday night! I went out with Hillary and three other girls and the most terrifying thing was trying to cross the street. As pointed out by our guide earlier in the day, the crosswalks are basically "just decoration." We got some delicious ice cream, did some more shopping, and then headed back to the hotel.
Our group had a reflection session about our experiences up on the roof of the hotel with the sounds and lights of the city all around us. We talked about how amazing and friendly all the people we had met were, and reflected on the moments that were most striking for us. It was a good way to end the night.
I slept very well in the hotel (no rooster!). We got up early to have breakfast and then head to the airport for our flight back to Barcelona. I wish I could have stayed in Morocco for longer, it was the most incredible place I have ever been!
I leave for Prague tomorrow in the early afternoon, so I just have tonight to recuperate and repack!
My internet is not being very cooperative with posting pictures to this blog, so just check them out on Facebook!
Look for updates on the rest of my spring break adventures early next week (I get back from Vienna on Sunday night).
Miss and love you all!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Life's a Beach (with a little Dalí thrown in)
Hello everyone!
I had a nice, relaxing time this past weekend in Barcelona. It was good to just spend the weekend hanging out and catching up on sleep! Last week was tough after my mom left, I was very homesick for a couple days. But all is well now!
On Friday, my program had our final day trip. We went to the Salvador Dali Musuem in Figueres (2 hours north up the coast from Barcelona, almost of the French border). I have always been really intrigued by Dali's work...he was one weird dude. His museum certainly proved it! Much as I am not a fan of guided museum tours, I actually enjoyed learning about some of the reasons behind Dali's supposed craziness. One of his most famous paintings is of a piece of bread in a basket...kind of nuts. Dali is also buried in the museum, which I found kind of odd, but I guess that makes sense because he was odd.
After the museum, we hopped back on the bus for an hour ride to Cadaques, the coastal town where Dali's family had a summer house. We ate lunch at a restuarant right on the beach, and then spent a couple hours soaking up the sun. It was 75 degrees and sunny out...fantastic!
Other than accidentally wading in to far and getting my shorts wet so that the 3-hour bus ride home was less than comfortable, it was a great trip!
On Saturday, I went to the beach in Barcelona for the first time. It was a gorgeous day...it got over 80 degrees! The beach, naturally, was packed with a mix of tourists and locals. There were a lot of topless women, which was a bit of a shock at first even though I had been warned. And there were a lot of Asian women walking around offering people massages for 5euro. It was a little odd, and nothing like the beaches at home, but it was great nonetheless!
On Saturday night, we were pretty worn out from being in the sun all day, so Caroline and I invited a couple friends over and we relaxed and watched a movie, then went to bed.
I spent Sunday sleeping and doing homework, as usual. I have been getting an obnoxious amount of homework this past week. I guess it's that time of the semester when professors are starting to realize that they are behind and need to pile work onto us to make up for it.
Thank goodness spring break is next week! I leave for Morocco on Friday. I am really excited but at the same time pretty nervous about it. It's going to be a totally different environment than anywhere else I have ever been.
I will try to update my blog on Monday night when I get back, so there will not be one huge long entry about my entire spring break after Prague and Vienna!
I hope that everyone is well, I can't believe it's already almost mid-April! Crazy!
Oh, and happy birthday to my mom! :)
Monday, April 4, 2011
A Visit From Mi Madre!
[Note: There are some pictures in this entry, there should be more, but as usual my Internet is not cooperating so I'll upload them tomorrow!]
This past week was fantastic for many reasons, the best being that my mom was here in Spain visiting me! I loved having her here and I know she loved being here, so naturally we had a great time.
She arrived on Tuesday morning, and we headed over to the hotel she booked in the Old City section of Barcelona. The hotel was really nice, and I had decided to stay there with her and take advantage of the time with her and the shower! We spent most of Tuesday sightseeing. I took Mom to see the Gaudi houses, Sagrada Familia, and Park Guell. We also wandered around the Old City and saw the Cathedral as well as some other churches (there is a church every two feet in Spain, or so it seems) and the Roman ruins. We also walked all the way up and down Las Ramblas. For dinner, I took her to my favorite tapas restaurant, where we pigged out. We both slept great that night in the hotel...it was nice and quiet.
On Wednesday, we found a great little pastry shop/restaurant just a few meters from the hotel and had a delicious breakfast. I had to go to class, so Mom walked Las Ramblas and did some exploring. After I got out of class, we met up at the hotel and went to the Chocolate Museum, which was really interesting. We learned all about the history of chocolate and of course sampled some delicious dark chocolate. Afterwards, we walked around the old city a bit more, then went back to the hotel for a quick nap.
That night, I had bought concert tickets for Mom's birthday to the finale of a piano competition at Palau de la Musica. We went over early to pick up the tickets, then had to wait to go into the main theater. I snuck a couple pictures (photography wasn't allowed inside the building) before the security guard caught me. Once we finally were allowed into the concert hall, we found our seats and took in the beauty of the room. It was so cool. The concert was great, too! There were three contestants in the final, one from Poland and two from Russia. They played backed by a whole orchestra. It was beautiful! The guy from Poland ended up winning, and he was the youngest contestant at only 22, so that was pretty neat.
After the concert, we went to dinner at La Rosa Negra, an absolutely delicious Mexican restaurant right around the corner that I had been to a couple times. It was pretty busy for a weeknight, but once we finally ordered, the food came pretty quickly, and was as delicious as usual! Full and happy, we slept great again.
Thursday I had class in the morning again, so Mom went to the Picasso Museum (which she loved). We met up afterwards and brought all of our stuff back to my apartment, as we were leaving for Valencia that night. I had another class in the late afternoon, so Mom went up to Montjuic and looked around until I came home. We packed and went to an early dinner at Toscana, a great restaurant near my apartment. We drank an entire pitcher of sangria and ate some yummy pizzas, then headed to the airport!
Our adventure began when our 11:15pm flight was canceled. There were only 12 people on our flight, so the airport got us a bus to Valencia, which 8 of the 12 decided to take. It was a tiny little bus! After the four hour bus ride, we finally arrived at the hotel. Thank goodness we had booked a hotel near the Valencia airport for that night...we slept for 7 hours and then checked out!
We took a bus into the Valencia city center and then decided (stupidly) to walk to our hotel, which ended up being further outside the city center than we initially thought. Once we finally got there, we dropped off our bags and then walked down to Valencia's City of Arts and Sciences. It was really different than anything I have ever seen. The buildings looked straight out of Star Trek! We didn't go in, because the only one that was open had a high admission fee that we did not feel was worth it, but we walked all around and took a ton of pictures.
After that, we decided to walk through the old riverbed, which is now a huge garden and park. The river in Valencia had to be rerouted because they were having so many problems with flooding. It was a long but beautiful walk before we reached the city center once again.
We checked out Plaza de Toros and the train station, as well as the Cathedral and some other churches and sights including the Lonja, an old building that used to be used for trading silk. We also sampled some Horchata, which is apparently a popular drink in Valencia and other parts of Spain. I did not like it at all, and Mom wasn't really a fan of it either (though she drank her whole glass!). We were pretty exhausted but it was still too early for dinner, so we decided to go find the bus stop we would need to get back to the hotel. We couldn't figure the bus stops out at first but eventually found the one we needed, and by then it was a somewhat reasonable time for dinner.
We headed to a restaurant that both Mom's travel guide and the receptionist at our hotel had recommended for paella. We were the only ones there for a long time, but the waiter/owner was THRILLED that we spoke and understood Spanish, so he treated us like queens. We had some delicious sangria along with a HUGE plate of seafood paella (which we ate all of!) and a shared plate of flan (Spanish custard-type dish) for dessert. We were eating dessert when an American family came into the restaurant (a mother, father, and son probably around my age). They were the epitome of what we called "ugly Americans" because they spoke no Spanish but expected everyone in Spain to somehow understand them. The poor waiter had no idea what they were saying when they asked if the restaurant accepted credit cards, and I had to step in and help out. Mom and I got out of there before we lost it, and went back to the hotel, where we slept soundly after a LONG day of walking.
The next morning, we had signed up for a tour at the Lladró Museum in a town outside the city of Valencia called Tabernes Blanques. For those of you who don't know, Lladró is a company that makes beautiful porcelain figures and sculptures. My mom collects them, as do both of my grandmothers, so we wanted to see how they were made. It was really cool, we got to see the finished products of most of the pieces in the collection as well as how they are made. The craziest part, which we kept commenting on for the rest of the weekend, was the flower-making. These people literally sit there 8 hours a day and make tiny little clay flowers, averaging a hundred a day. Not only that, but they have to go through three years of school and training to do so! We thought that was nuts...at least the people who hand paint or assemble the porcelain have some variety in their lives. Can you imagine at a desk 8 hours a day making tiny clay flowers for the rest of your life? Wow.
After the museum, we took a bus back to the city center and had some bocadillos for lunch. We then walked over to the Illustration and Design museum, only to discover that it was about to close. Too tired to do any more walking, we went back to the hotel to rest for a couple hours. We then headed back into the city center and went out for gelato, then to the Ceramics museum. We walked around for a bit more, then decided to go back and have dinner near the hotel. Here is where our brief interlude of being ugly Americans happened. We were tired and just wanted a quiet dinner, so we were slightly annoyed that there was a soccer game on and therefore all the bar-restaurants near our hotel were crawling with men. We did not think that as two foreign women we should be going there to eat. We decided to eat at the hotel restaurant, only to find that it was closed because there was some sort of business conference. Annoyed because we had not been told this, we were kind of whiny to the receptionist, who gave us a recommendation for a restaurant a block from the hotel. Grumbling, we set off to the restaurant, which was empty but ended up being delicious. We felt so bad that we had been whiny so we went back and thanked the receptionist afterwards and said the food was great. With that, we went to bed.
Our flight was the next morning, so we got up, got ready, and took a taxi to the airport, where we had breakfast and waited for our flight. I was joking around saying wouldn't it be just our luck that this flight got canceled too, and Mom was not amused. She was even less amused when our scheduled boarding time came and went with no plane in sight. But the plane ended up being there, we just had to get bused to another part of the tarmac. So that was a relief!
We got back to Barcelona and hung out at my apartment for a little while, then went out to tapas at Cuidad Condal, a famous and delicious tapas restaurant on the same road as my school. Mom was dismayed to see that they did not have the tapa she wanted, gambas al ajillo, so we decided to go back to Toscana afterwards, where we knew they had it. Problem was, once we finished at Cuidad Condal, we were STUFFED. So we went to see the outside of my school (it is closed on Sundays) and then to see Casa Batilo again and Casa Mila, the other Gaudi-designed house to kill some time. I also showed her the University of Barcelona, which was also closed, but still pretty magnificent from the outside. Even though we were tired, we decided to walk the 20 minutes to Toscana to work up more of an appetite. It worked, and we got there and downed the gambas and a whole basket of bread. After, we headed back to my apartment where we talked with my roommate Caroline and then went to sleep (which was not very restful...I live on a very busy street where the sounds of traffic go late into the night. Mom was not used to it at all, and after a week of quiet hotels, I was not used to it anymore either).
I was very sad to say goodbye to Mom this morning. I loved being able to share Spain with her, and it was really comforting to have her here. But it's only another 7 weeks until I see her and the rest of my family and friends at home, so I have to make the most of it and enjoy the time I have left in Europe!
Next up in my travel adventures: Spring Break! I will be attending the Morocco program for four days, then venturing with a couple friends to Prague and taking a train from there to Vienna. Should be quite an experience, and it's less than two weeks away!
I am also going on a daytrip to the Dali Museum and Cadaques on Friday, which I am really excited about, so I will update you all after that!
Hope you are all happy and well. :)
This past week was fantastic for many reasons, the best being that my mom was here in Spain visiting me! I loved having her here and I know she loved being here, so naturally we had a great time.
She arrived on Tuesday morning, and we headed over to the hotel she booked in the Old City section of Barcelona. The hotel was really nice, and I had decided to stay there with her and take advantage of the time with her and the shower! We spent most of Tuesday sightseeing. I took Mom to see the Gaudi houses, Sagrada Familia, and Park Guell. We also wandered around the Old City and saw the Cathedral as well as some other churches (there is a church every two feet in Spain, or so it seems) and the Roman ruins. We also walked all the way up and down Las Ramblas. For dinner, I took her to my favorite tapas restaurant, where we pigged out. We both slept great that night in the hotel...it was nice and quiet.
On Wednesday, we found a great little pastry shop/restaurant just a few meters from the hotel and had a delicious breakfast. I had to go to class, so Mom walked Las Ramblas and did some exploring. After I got out of class, we met up at the hotel and went to the Chocolate Museum, which was really interesting. We learned all about the history of chocolate and of course sampled some delicious dark chocolate. Afterwards, we walked around the old city a bit more, then went back to the hotel for a quick nap.
That night, I had bought concert tickets for Mom's birthday to the finale of a piano competition at Palau de la Musica. We went over early to pick up the tickets, then had to wait to go into the main theater. I snuck a couple pictures (photography wasn't allowed inside the building) before the security guard caught me. Once we finally were allowed into the concert hall, we found our seats and took in the beauty of the room. It was so cool. The concert was great, too! There were three contestants in the final, one from Poland and two from Russia. They played backed by a whole orchestra. It was beautiful! The guy from Poland ended up winning, and he was the youngest contestant at only 22, so that was pretty neat.
Thursday I had class in the morning again, so Mom went to the Picasso Museum (which she loved). We met up afterwards and brought all of our stuff back to my apartment, as we were leaving for Valencia that night. I had another class in the late afternoon, so Mom went up to Montjuic and looked around until I came home. We packed and went to an early dinner at Toscana, a great restaurant near my apartment. We drank an entire pitcher of sangria and ate some yummy pizzas, then headed to the airport!
Our adventure began when our 11:15pm flight was canceled. There were only 12 people on our flight, so the airport got us a bus to Valencia, which 8 of the 12 decided to take. It was a tiny little bus! After the four hour bus ride, we finally arrived at the hotel. Thank goodness we had booked a hotel near the Valencia airport for that night...we slept for 7 hours and then checked out!
We took a bus into the Valencia city center and then decided (stupidly) to walk to our hotel, which ended up being further outside the city center than we initially thought. Once we finally got there, we dropped off our bags and then walked down to Valencia's City of Arts and Sciences. It was really different than anything I have ever seen. The buildings looked straight out of Star Trek! We didn't go in, because the only one that was open had a high admission fee that we did not feel was worth it, but we walked all around and took a ton of pictures.
After that, we decided to walk through the old riverbed, which is now a huge garden and park. The river in Valencia had to be rerouted because they were having so many problems with flooding. It was a long but beautiful walk before we reached the city center once again.
We checked out Plaza de Toros and the train station, as well as the Cathedral and some other churches and sights including the Lonja, an old building that used to be used for trading silk. We also sampled some Horchata, which is apparently a popular drink in Valencia and other parts of Spain. I did not like it at all, and Mom wasn't really a fan of it either (though she drank her whole glass!). We were pretty exhausted but it was still too early for dinner, so we decided to go find the bus stop we would need to get back to the hotel. We couldn't figure the bus stops out at first but eventually found the one we needed, and by then it was a somewhat reasonable time for dinner.
We headed to a restaurant that both Mom's travel guide and the receptionist at our hotel had recommended for paella. We were the only ones there for a long time, but the waiter/owner was THRILLED that we spoke and understood Spanish, so he treated us like queens. We had some delicious sangria along with a HUGE plate of seafood paella (which we ate all of!) and a shared plate of flan (Spanish custard-type dish) for dessert. We were eating dessert when an American family came into the restaurant (a mother, father, and son probably around my age). They were the epitome of what we called "ugly Americans" because they spoke no Spanish but expected everyone in Spain to somehow understand them. The poor waiter had no idea what they were saying when they asked if the restaurant accepted credit cards, and I had to step in and help out. Mom and I got out of there before we lost it, and went back to the hotel, where we slept soundly after a LONG day of walking.
The next morning, we had signed up for a tour at the Lladró Museum in a town outside the city of Valencia called Tabernes Blanques. For those of you who don't know, Lladró is a company that makes beautiful porcelain figures and sculptures. My mom collects them, as do both of my grandmothers, so we wanted to see how they were made. It was really cool, we got to see the finished products of most of the pieces in the collection as well as how they are made. The craziest part, which we kept commenting on for the rest of the weekend, was the flower-making. These people literally sit there 8 hours a day and make tiny little clay flowers, averaging a hundred a day. Not only that, but they have to go through three years of school and training to do so! We thought that was nuts...at least the people who hand paint or assemble the porcelain have some variety in their lives. Can you imagine at a desk 8 hours a day making tiny clay flowers for the rest of your life? Wow.
After the museum, we took a bus back to the city center and had some bocadillos for lunch. We then walked over to the Illustration and Design museum, only to discover that it was about to close. Too tired to do any more walking, we went back to the hotel to rest for a couple hours. We then headed back into the city center and went out for gelato, then to the Ceramics museum. We walked around for a bit more, then decided to go back and have dinner near the hotel. Here is where our brief interlude of being ugly Americans happened. We were tired and just wanted a quiet dinner, so we were slightly annoyed that there was a soccer game on and therefore all the bar-restaurants near our hotel were crawling with men. We did not think that as two foreign women we should be going there to eat. We decided to eat at the hotel restaurant, only to find that it was closed because there was some sort of business conference. Annoyed because we had not been told this, we were kind of whiny to the receptionist, who gave us a recommendation for a restaurant a block from the hotel. Grumbling, we set off to the restaurant, which was empty but ended up being delicious. We felt so bad that we had been whiny so we went back and thanked the receptionist afterwards and said the food was great. With that, we went to bed.
Our flight was the next morning, so we got up, got ready, and took a taxi to the airport, where we had breakfast and waited for our flight. I was joking around saying wouldn't it be just our luck that this flight got canceled too, and Mom was not amused. She was even less amused when our scheduled boarding time came and went with no plane in sight. But the plane ended up being there, we just had to get bused to another part of the tarmac. So that was a relief!
We got back to Barcelona and hung out at my apartment for a little while, then went out to tapas at Cuidad Condal, a famous and delicious tapas restaurant on the same road as my school. Mom was dismayed to see that they did not have the tapa she wanted, gambas al ajillo, so we decided to go back to Toscana afterwards, where we knew they had it. Problem was, once we finished at Cuidad Condal, we were STUFFED. So we went to see the outside of my school (it is closed on Sundays) and then to see Casa Batilo again and Casa Mila, the other Gaudi-designed house to kill some time. I also showed her the University of Barcelona, which was also closed, but still pretty magnificent from the outside. Even though we were tired, we decided to walk the 20 minutes to Toscana to work up more of an appetite. It worked, and we got there and downed the gambas and a whole basket of bread. After, we headed back to my apartment where we talked with my roommate Caroline and then went to sleep (which was not very restful...I live on a very busy street where the sounds of traffic go late into the night. Mom was not used to it at all, and after a week of quiet hotels, I was not used to it anymore either).
I was very sad to say goodbye to Mom this morning. I loved being able to share Spain with her, and it was really comforting to have her here. But it's only another 7 weeks until I see her and the rest of my family and friends at home, so I have to make the most of it and enjoy the time I have left in Europe!
Next up in my travel adventures: Spring Break! I will be attending the Morocco program for four days, then venturing with a couple friends to Prague and taking a train from there to Vienna. Should be quite an experience, and it's less than two weeks away!
I am also going on a daytrip to the Dali Museum and Cadaques on Friday, which I am really excited about, so I will update you all after that!
Hope you are all happy and well. :)
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Montserrat, Cava, and Late Nights/Early Mornings
Hola everyone! It's been yet another amazing weekend in Spain...this place never ceases to amaze me.
On Friday, my program had a daytrip to Montserrat and Codorniu Winery. Montserrat is up in the mountains of Catalonia and is absolutely gorgeous! I was freaking out on the bus ride the whole way up because we were driving around a twisty road on the edge of a cliff, slowly getting higher. But, boy, was it worth it once we were at the top. The views were amazing!
We went on a little hike up to a cross at the top of the mountain, which was beautiful. Afterwards, we went to the monastery and walked around, then went into the church to see the daily 1pm performance of the boys' choir there. There is a school for boys joined to the monastery, and the choir there is the longest running boys choir in Europe. The songs were beautiful. After the mini-concert, we went for a delicious lunch at the restaurant next to the monastery, then hopped back on the bus to head to the Codorniu Winery.
The winery and vineyards were amazing. We got a tour of the premises, which included a lot of history about the company, which has been family-run for hundreds of years. We also got to go down in the cellars and see the millions of bottles of cava (Catalonian champagne) fermenting down there. The best part was riding what we dubbed "The Cava Express," a little train that drove through the tunnels of the cellars at shockingly fast speeds.
At the end of the tour, we of course got to taste some cava, which was delicious. We learned the proper way to hold a cava glass, which is using two fingers to hold the bottom of the cup, so that the warmth from your hand does not warm up the cava's perfect temperature!
After that, we headed home to Barcelona and I took an amazing nap on the bus. That night, a bunch of us decided to go out to a club and dance the night away. I was out until 4am, which I thought was bad, only to stay out until 6am the next night! Saturday night we went to a bar called Xix, which is a gin bar that makes a bazillion different kinds of gin and tonics. I'm not a huge fan of gin an tonics, so I just got a glass of wine, but it was still fun to see. Afterwards, we went back to one of my friends' apartments and hung out before decided to try out a club called Elephant. It was a Persian-themed club...they had a lot of outdoor seating in tents with pillows and blankets. It was a great atmosphere but there were not that many people there, so I feel like it could have been more fun than it was. We still had a great time.
I slept all day Sunday and then did homework (I feel like I write this same thing about every weekend!). Tomorrow I have a lot to do to prepare for my mom's visit this week! She gets here Tuesday morning bright and early, and I am so excited for her visit! We're going to be in Barcelona during the week and then we're going to Valencia for the weekend. I'm sure we'll be enjoying some fantastic paella, since Valencia is where it originated!
I'll keep you informed with our adventures, of course. I hope everything is going well in the States. I can't believe I'll be home in less than two months...this semester is flying by! Miss and love you all!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Mallorca: Isla en el Sol
Hola! It was a wonderful weekend on the Spanish island of Mallorca. We were blessed with some beautiful sunshine and warm temperatures (I got to wear shorts in March! It was very exciting), and it was a relaxing weekend after the stress that was midterms week.
We flew to Mallorca VERY early on Friday morning (our flight was at 6:25 so we had to leave for the airport around 4am) and did not get any sleep that night, so the first thing we did upon arriving was check in and take a three-hour nap at the hostel. It was still before noon when we woke up, refreshed and ready to go. We headed into town for a delicious lunch at a tropical-themed restaurant. After that, we headed down to the harbor and walked along the water towards the historic center of the city (about a 20 minute walk from our hostel...perfect!).
We lounged by the water for about an hour, then decided to go to Festival Park, an outlet mall. I wanted to go to see the AMC Theater that was supposed to be there, since that is the theater chain I work for at home. However, I was sad to see that another movie chain had taken over the theater, so it was no longer decorated with the AMC logo. I took a picture in front of it, anyways!
On the way to the outlets, we had taken a taxi with a driver named Rosa, who was really awesome. She gave us her personal cell number so we could call her to come pick us up when we were done, because taxis rarely go into Festival Park and the buses are apparently unreliable. We hit the outlets for a couple hours, then called Rosa and headed back to our hostel for another nap before dinner.
For dinner, we walked down the street by the water until we came across an Italian restaurant with good prices, which turned out to be delicious. We ended up going back there the second night, actually, because it was so good! After a long dinner, we decided we were too exhausted to hit the Mallorca party scene, so we went back to the hostel and went to bed. I slept so well, the combination of the sun, walking, and not sleeping the night before really did me in!
The next morning, we got up and, after a delicious breakfast of croissants and coffee (well, Coke for me), we trekked up to Castell de Bellver ("Castle of the Beautiful View"). The name doesn't lie, it was absolutely breathtaking! It was also over 70 degrees and sunny, which helped.
After spending some time soaking in the view and the sun, we walked back down to the water and took a cruise around the harbor. We made friends with the onboard crew and drank some delicious sangria while soaking in the sun. After our cruise, we walked had lunch at a restaurant right on the water. In many ways, Mallorca reminded me of Florida, especially with all of the yachts and restaurants on the sea!
When we were done with yet another delicious meal, we walked around the city center for a couple hours and had some yummy gelato, then walked back to our hostel. We took a nice nap (naps are the best when you're on vacation) and then got ready for dinner. We looked around a while for an open restaurant that wasn't expensive, but it turns out that a lot of restaurants and other places are closed during the off season, so there wasn't much to choose from. We ended up at the same Italian restaurant from the night before, which was equally as delicious for a second time. We got two bottles of wine, so the waiter gave us free drink coupons for the club next door. We decided to head over there after another long meal. The club, however, was also dead. There are really not that many people around Mallorca during March, apparently! We did see a lot of high school-aged kids frequenting the hot dog place on the other side of the club, which we found really odd. After hanging out and having our free drinks, we decided to just head back and get some rest.
Sunday morning, we went to breakfast and then went looking for the beach. We ended up getting on a bus going in the wrong direction, so we got lost for a little while but finally found our way to the beach. We lounged in the sand and dipped our toes in the FREEZING COLD Mediterranean. It was a little overcast, but still nice enough to eat lunch at an outdoor restaurant on the beach. After lunch, we took a taxi to the airport to fly home.
Mallorca was one of my favorite trips so far, because it was just so nice and relaxing! We didn't spend the whole weekend trying to cram in various sights and must-sees, and instead just took it easy and enjoyed ourselves. It was a much needed vacation after midterm exams!
I can't believe I have only eight weeks left until my program ends, it's going by so fast! I'm looking forward to my mom coming to visit a week from tomorrow and our trip to Valencia. After that, it's only a couple weeks until spring break, when I'll be going to Morocco, Prague, and Vienna! I'm also looking forward to traveling with my friend Jennie from home at the end of the program, we're going to be spending a week in Greece!
I hope everyone is well! I would like to send a proud-sister shout out to my littlest brother, Jeff, who I heard was excellent in his musical production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" this weekend!
Keep reading and I'll keep writing. Hasta luego!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Singin' AND the Rain
This weekend has been a pretty low-key weekend, relative to the rest of the weekends I have had since arriving in Europe. This partly has to do with the fact that I have midterms this coming week, so I've been attempting to study for those. It also partly has to do with the fact that I am exhausted from the last few weekends of traveling, so it was nice to have a few days to just sit back, relax, and enjoy Barcelona.
On Thursday night, my friend Hillary hosted a dinner party for 8 of us, and cooked us a delicious meal of chicken tiki masala, rice, roasted veggies, chickpea chili, and homemade coleslaw. It was so good, and I ate so much that I thought I was going to explode, but it was totally worth it. Hillary is an awesome chef, and she has a huge kitchen and dining room in her apartment. We're thinking of making a habit out of these dinner parties! Afterwards, Caroline and I were full of food and wine, and not really in the mood to go out, so we came back to our apartment and watched movies instead.
On Friday, I spent a lot of the day sleeping and laying around doing nothing, which was much needed. Friday night, we decided to go on a mission and find a karaoke bar, since a bunch of us wanted to try karaoke. We succeeded, and found a karaoke place that was actually within walking distance of where we live. It was kind of pricey, and they made you buy at least one drink to stay in the bar, but it was so much fun! We sang a bunch of songs (they had a variety of both Spanish and American music to choose from), the crowd favorite being a rendition of Shania Twain's "Man, I Feel Like A Woman" performed by me and two friends. The locals in the bar LOVED it, and were singing along. Pretty hilarious, I must say.
On Saturday I had planned to go run some errands, but woke up to find that it was POURING outside. For a place that, according to locals, usually doesn't get much rain, Barcelona sure gets a lot, at least since I've been here! I had to rewash a load of clothes that were hanging outside because, even with a tarp over them, they got drenched with rainwater. It rained all day, so I got a head start on some homework and worked on some cover letters for internship applications.
We stayed in Saturday night because it was still rainy and nasty outside. Today, I've been trying to study but keep getting distracted...my first midterm is on Wednesday, so I'm not really feeling the pressure yet. Besides, I'm not that worried about any of my midterms being terribly difficult.
I've also started planning things to do in Mallorca next weekend, which is sure to be an awesome trip! I can't wait for midterms week to be over so we can lay on the beach (weather permitting!).
As always, I hope everyone is well! I have been a little homesick lately. Nothing too major, I just miss the little things sometimes. I also really miss having a job, strangely enough. Not having money coming in stresses me out, because I have what I have, and that's it! I've been pretty good about sticking to my budget and I'm trying to save most of my money for trips, but it's tough sometimes, especially when friends have the luxury of spending a lot more than me. But whatever, I'm lucky to have this experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything!
On Thursday night, my friend Hillary hosted a dinner party for 8 of us, and cooked us a delicious meal of chicken tiki masala, rice, roasted veggies, chickpea chili, and homemade coleslaw. It was so good, and I ate so much that I thought I was going to explode, but it was totally worth it. Hillary is an awesome chef, and she has a huge kitchen and dining room in her apartment. We're thinking of making a habit out of these dinner parties! Afterwards, Caroline and I were full of food and wine, and not really in the mood to go out, so we came back to our apartment and watched movies instead.
On Friday, I spent a lot of the day sleeping and laying around doing nothing, which was much needed. Friday night, we decided to go on a mission and find a karaoke bar, since a bunch of us wanted to try karaoke. We succeeded, and found a karaoke place that was actually within walking distance of where we live. It was kind of pricey, and they made you buy at least one drink to stay in the bar, but it was so much fun! We sang a bunch of songs (they had a variety of both Spanish and American music to choose from), the crowd favorite being a rendition of Shania Twain's "Man, I Feel Like A Woman" performed by me and two friends. The locals in the bar LOVED it, and were singing along. Pretty hilarious, I must say.
On Saturday I had planned to go run some errands, but woke up to find that it was POURING outside. For a place that, according to locals, usually doesn't get much rain, Barcelona sure gets a lot, at least since I've been here! I had to rewash a load of clothes that were hanging outside because, even with a tarp over them, they got drenched with rainwater. It rained all day, so I got a head start on some homework and worked on some cover letters for internship applications.
We stayed in Saturday night because it was still rainy and nasty outside. Today, I've been trying to study but keep getting distracted...my first midterm is on Wednesday, so I'm not really feeling the pressure yet. Besides, I'm not that worried about any of my midterms being terribly difficult.
I've also started planning things to do in Mallorca next weekend, which is sure to be an awesome trip! I can't wait for midterms week to be over so we can lay on the beach (weather permitting!).
As always, I hope everyone is well! I have been a little homesick lately. Nothing too major, I just miss the little things sometimes. I also really miss having a job, strangely enough. Not having money coming in stresses me out, because I have what I have, and that's it! I've been pretty good about sticking to my budget and I'm trying to save most of my money for trips, but it's tough sometimes, especially when friends have the luxury of spending a lot more than me. But whatever, I'm lucky to have this experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Paris, quelle magnifique!
Bonjour! What a great weekend. Paris, was, of course, absolutely beautiful, despite the absolutely FRIGID weather there! Again, I feel so blessed that I have this opputunity to see all of these places that I had only dreamed of seeing. Seeing landmarks like Notre Dame or the Eiffel Tower and just walking around the streets of such a remarkable place is so thrilling...all I want to do is see more!
We flew to Paris on Thursday evening. Our flight was delayed a little, and by the time we finally arrived, took a bus into the city center, and then took a cab to our hostel, it was almost 11pm. We quickly learned that the Paris schedule is much different then the Barcelona schedule. 11pm in Paris is not dinnertime, and in fact mostly everything was closed! Despite our desire to experience everything French, we had to settle on the only open restaurant we could find: a Japanese place. It ended up being delicious, but we thought it was funny that our first Parisian experience was Japanese. After Japanese, we figured out that there was nothing nearby open, so we just went back to the hostel and went to sleep so we could get an early start the next morning.
Our hostel was the typical student traveler hostel. It is called "Aloha Hostel" and has sort of a Hawaiian theme, with neon colored paint on the walls and doors. They had a huge downstairs room with free internet and TV, which was nice. Our room itself was pretty standard, 3 bunk beds and a sink, with a shared bathroom down the hall. It was just what we needed, though! And an added bonus: we were walking distance from the Eiffel Tower!
Friday morning we got up and found a cafe for breakfast, where we pigged out on croissants and omelettes. We then decided to walk to Champs Elysees, which is the main road for shopping in Paris, and see the Arc de Triumph at the end. We wandered around for a while and finally made our way there. We walked up almost the entire street (very long!) and hit up a few shops (don't worry, I didn't buy anything! I'm saving my money for trips!). After, we walked back in the direction of the Eiffel Tower. We waited in line for about 45 minutes to go up, then discovered that the top was closed. We decided to wait until the next morning, when they told us it should be open again.
Exhausted from all of our walking, we headed back to the hostel for a nap, then changed and went to dinner at a restaurant nearby. After, we debated going across town to find some open bars, but decided that without a plan it would probably be a waste of time and money. Instead, we went to a bar by our hostel, which ended up being a lot of fun...except when they closed and kicked us out at 1:30am. What?! You mean places aren't open until 6am like in Barcelona everywhere in Europe?! Who knew...
On Saturday we got up early to try the Eiffel Tower again. When we got there, we found out that the top was STILL closed. We decided to just take the stairs to the second level (about halfway up) because that was the best we could do. All I can say about that is: SO. MANY. STAIRS. I thought I was going to collapse, but the view was worth it! The view from the top must be stunning...I'll just have to go back one day to see it!
We also went over to Notre Dame and walked around inside, since we were too late to go up to the top (it closes at 5). We decided to try that again the next day before our flight. We then walked over to the Lourve. On the way over, we encountered a bridge where people had attached hundreds of locks to the railings! Apparently, couples get their names engraved and attach the lock. It was so cool!We didn't have enough time to wait in line at the Lourve and go inside (I feel like you need a whole week to see the Lourve in full), but we took pictures by the glass pyramid and walked around outside.
That night, with the recommendations of some locals we had met, we went to a street called Oberkampf, which is where all the happening bars and restaurants are. We had a delicious dinner at a restaurant (that served tapas...leave it to us to leave Spain to find the one restaurant in Paris with a tapas menu...) and then went to a bar down the street. We had a lot of fun there, despite some very intoxicated and persistent French men!
Sunday we got up and headed back to Notre Dame. I volunteered to wait in the long line for the towers so my friends could get some last minute shopping in. They ended up coming back after 10 minutes because all the stores were closed. I was in line behind a man from Tennessee who was there on business. He has a 19 year old daughter and was telling me all about what a great experience this was and how he wanted his daughter to do the same thing!
After Notre Dame, we walked to Champs Elysees so my friend could check out the Louis Vuitton store (HUGE) and then we took the metro back to the hostel, and headed to the airport.
The plane ride home was pretty uneventful, for once, which was a nice relief! It's good to be back in Barcelona after two full weekends of traveling. I'm in Barcelona this weekend because we have midterms next week (eww) and then we're celebrating the end of midterms with a trip to Mallorca! Woohoo!
I hope that everyone is well! Miss and love you all. :)
We flew to Paris on Thursday evening. Our flight was delayed a little, and by the time we finally arrived, took a bus into the city center, and then took a cab to our hostel, it was almost 11pm. We quickly learned that the Paris schedule is much different then the Barcelona schedule. 11pm in Paris is not dinnertime, and in fact mostly everything was closed! Despite our desire to experience everything French, we had to settle on the only open restaurant we could find: a Japanese place. It ended up being delicious, but we thought it was funny that our first Parisian experience was Japanese. After Japanese, we figured out that there was nothing nearby open, so we just went back to the hostel and went to sleep so we could get an early start the next morning.
Our hostel was the typical student traveler hostel. It is called "Aloha Hostel" and has sort of a Hawaiian theme, with neon colored paint on the walls and doors. They had a huge downstairs room with free internet and TV, which was nice. Our room itself was pretty standard, 3 bunk beds and a sink, with a shared bathroom down the hall. It was just what we needed, though! And an added bonus: we were walking distance from the Eiffel Tower!
Our very brightly colored hostel room
Friday morning we got up and found a cafe for breakfast, where we pigged out on croissants and omelettes. We then decided to walk to Champs Elysees, which is the main road for shopping in Paris, and see the Arc de Triumph at the end. We wandered around for a while and finally made our way there. We walked up almost the entire street (very long!) and hit up a few shops (don't worry, I didn't buy anything! I'm saving my money for trips!). After, we walked back in the direction of the Eiffel Tower. We waited in line for about 45 minutes to go up, then discovered that the top was closed. We decided to wait until the next morning, when they told us it should be open again.
On Saturday we got up early to try the Eiffel Tower again. When we got there, we found out that the top was STILL closed. We decided to just take the stairs to the second level (about halfway up) because that was the best we could do. All I can say about that is: SO. MANY. STAIRS. I thought I was going to collapse, but the view was worth it! The view from the top must be stunning...I'll just have to go back one day to see it!
In front of the Eiffel Tower! The lady who took the picture's thumb got in the way...
We also went over to Notre Dame and walked around inside, since we were too late to go up to the top (it closes at 5). We decided to try that again the next day before our flight. We then walked over to the Lourve. On the way over, we encountered a bridge where people had attached hundreds of locks to the railings! Apparently, couples get their names engraved and attach the lock. It was so cool!We didn't have enough time to wait in line at the Lourve and go inside (I feel like you need a whole week to see the Lourve in full), but we took pictures by the glass pyramid and walked around outside.
Notre Dame
Lock Bridge!
In front of the Lourve
Sunday we got up and headed back to Notre Dame. I volunteered to wait in the long line for the towers so my friends could get some last minute shopping in. They ended up coming back after 10 minutes because all the stores were closed. I was in line behind a man from Tennessee who was there on business. He has a 19 year old daughter and was telling me all about what a great experience this was and how he wanted his daughter to do the same thing!
View from top of Notre Dame...gargoyle included!
After Notre Dame, we walked to Champs Elysees so my friend could check out the Louis Vuitton store (HUGE) and then we took the metro back to the hostel, and headed to the airport.
The plane ride home was pretty uneventful, for once, which was a nice relief! It's good to be back in Barcelona after two full weekends of traveling. I'm in Barcelona this weekend because we have midterms next week (eww) and then we're celebrating the end of midterms with a trip to Mallorca! Woohoo!
I hope that everyone is well! Miss and love you all. :)
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
La Vida en Sevilla
Hola!
As you know from previous entries, I spent this past weekend in Sevilla in the region of Andalucia in the south of Spain. I absolutely fell in love with the city. It is so different from Barcelona that I could hardly believe I was in the same country. First of all, the people there are much warmer and more welcoming than here in Barcelona. I also got to practice my Spanish without having to worry about people speaking only Catalan or busting into English when I missed a word. The weather was also gorgeous, in the high 70s with sun and clear, blue skies all week.
About 25 students from my program went on the trip. We set out on Friday morning, only to have our flight delayed for almost two hours. When we finally arrived, we were late for our scheduled tour of the famous Cathedral (the third largest in the world) so instead our tour guide took us to Alzacares Reales de Sevilla, which is a beautiful palace/fort with amazing gardens. We also had a brief tour of the center of the city.
Some pictures of the palace gardens
Later, after some time to shower and change at the hotel, we went to a flamenco show. I don't know how the dancers move their feet that fast, it was amazing! Afterwards, I found a tapas restaurant with a few friends and we had a delicious dinner. That night, we went out to some local bars near the Cathedral. The nightlife in Sevilla is way different than in Barcelona! Everything closed much earlier, so we found ourselves wandering around looking for something to do (it was only 1am, way too early to go to bed on a weekend!).
Flamenco dresses!
Eventually, we decided to just head back to the hotel, but ended up getting very lost. We encountered a bachelor party in progress, and the 10 or so men absolutely INSISTED that they take multiple pictures with "the Americans." They were hilarious! I talked with the groom-to-be in Spanish and he told me that he was getting married in 20 days. Every time he said "viente dias" all of the other guys would yell out "VIENTE DIAS!" It was pretty funny. We eventually made our way back to the hotel and went to bed.
The next day we had a lot of free time, so we slept in, had breakfast at the hotel, and then ventured out to further explore Sevilla. A couple of friends and I wandered around the city center for a couple of hours, and then bought some bocadillos (sandwiches) and had a picnic in the gardens of the palace we had toured the previous day.
During this picnic, my friend Maggie got pooped on by a pigeon TWICE. She even moved to the other side of the circle after the first time and she still got hit again! She was not very amused at the time, but it became a huge joke for the rest of the weekend.
After lunch we found the main shopping area in Sevilla and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around there. We went back to the hotel to rest and change before the dinner that was provided by the program. It was a typical Spanish meal of three courses. I got a pasta dish, seafood paella, and ice cream cake for dessert. It was delicious!
Slightly bloated from dinner but happy nonetheless, we went back to the hotel for some wine and then decided to check out the main nightlife scene of Sevilla: the river. The river is lined with bars and clubs. We went to a couple bars before finding one that we liked. It was PACKED but had cheap drinks, and we met a lot of people. We met some guys who play American football for a team in Barcelona (I know, weird, right?) as well as a bunch of locals. It was a lot of fun, and I was exhausted when we made our way back to the hotel.
The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel again and then sat outside in the sun at a cafe and chatted until it was time to go to our rescheduled tour of the Cathedral. What an amazing place! It is very famous--it is the third largest Cathedral in the world! Every time I see places like this I am awestruck...its hard to believe that places like this actually exist and were created in a world without much technology.
We also climbed to the top of La Giralda tower and got an amazing view of the entire city!
View from the top of La Giralda tower
A bunch of us at the top of the tower
After the tour, we walked down to the river to take some group photos, then headed to the airport. After a very frightening plane ride home (there was one sudden drop that lasted about 10 seconds and scared the living daylights out of everyone, especially since the flight attendants were running up and down the aisle looking panicked), we arrived safe in sound in Barcelona around 10:45pm.
All I wanted to do was go to bed, but, being the procrastinator that I am, I had to do all of the homework I should have done before the trip. Thank goodness I don't have an early class on Mondays!
Next stop on my adventure: Paris! I am so excited! We have a long weekend this weekend, which makes it the perfect time for a trip! I hope to be feeling better for it, though, I have been having (yet again) some stomach issues for the past couple days. Hopefully I'll be good to go by Thursday night.
Hope everyone is well! I miss you all!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Planned Travel Adventures
Here is my weekend schedule for the next month or so:
Feb. 25: Sevilla, Spain
March 4: Paris, France
March 11: staying in Barcelona
March 18: Mallorca, Spain
March 25: daytrip to Montserrat, staying in Barcelona
April 1: Valencia, Spain (with Mom!)
Spring Break (Semana Santa): Morocco for the first weekend, back to Barcelona, then Prague, Czech Republic for two nights and Vienna, Austria for two nights!
Being able to travel for cheap is so amazing...I feel like I am never going to get the opportunity to do all of this again, so I'm trying to see as much of the world as I can while I'm here. We just booked Mallorca today for the weekend after midterms, which will be a nice vacation! The plane tickets, round trip, were 35euro. Insane!
I've been on a strict budget to allow for this much travel. The only things I've been spending money on are metro passes, food, and drinks. But it's totally worth it! I am having the time of my life :)
Feb. 25: Sevilla, Spain
March 4: Paris, France
March 11: staying in Barcelona
March 18: Mallorca, Spain
March 25: daytrip to Montserrat, staying in Barcelona
April 1: Valencia, Spain (with Mom!)
Spring Break (Semana Santa): Morocco for the first weekend, back to Barcelona, then Prague, Czech Republic for two nights and Vienna, Austria for two nights!
Being able to travel for cheap is so amazing...I feel like I am never going to get the opportunity to do all of this again, so I'm trying to see as much of the world as I can while I'm here. We just booked Mallorca today for the weekend after midterms, which will be a nice vacation! The plane tickets, round trip, were 35euro. Insane!
I've been on a strict budget to allow for this much travel. The only things I've been spending money on are metro passes, food, and drinks. But it's totally worth it! I am having the time of my life :)
Monday, February 21, 2011
Ruins, Onions, and Stock Market Bars
Hola todos!
Sorry it's been a while since I last posted, this past week was so unexpectedly busy! My classes are finally starting to get to the point where they actually feel like classes, due to the amount of work I have been getting. Homework should be optional when you're abroad. I'm learning so much outside the classroom that sometimes going to class just seems like a waste of time I could be out exploring. I definitely caught the travel bug.
Anyway, this past weekend was a ton of fun. On Friday, I went on a daytrip with about 15 other people from my program to Tarragona in Southern Catalonia. We couldn't have asked for a nicer day and a more beautiful setting.
First, we went to see the Roman ruins in Tarragona, which were, as most Roman ruins are, very cool. The sky was so blue I couldn't believe it. After seeing what was left over of the walls and forum, we went down to the sea to see the ampitheater. It was literally so beautiful I was speechless. I am so jealous of those people who live in the villas on that shore...it was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen.
After our tour, we went to lunch and I got to experience "calcots" firsthand. I had been hearing about this supposedly-delicious green onion and magical sauce combo, and I have to admit, I was pretty skeptical. I was even more skeptical when they brought the calcots to the table. They were onions, alright, but they looked like they had been set on fire! We had to peel off all the charred outer layer...it was a HUGE mess! We had to wear bibs (I stole mine as a souvenir, by the way) and my hands looked like I had just gotten out of drawing class because they were covered in charcoal.
But, oh my gosh, it was so worth it. They were DELICIOUS. The next course consisted of a bunch of sketchy-looking meats, beans, and artichokes. I tried some of the pork and the sausage and wasn't really a fan of either. The beans were good, though, and so was the artichoke. The next course was desert, some delicious custard dish, almond cookies, and sugared oranges. Needless to say, I felt like I had a food baby in my stomach once we were leaving the restaurant.
Full and happy, we headed to the town of Santes Creus, where we toured an absolutely beautiful old monastery. The tour was unnecessarily long due to the fact that we had to use a translator (I actually understood the tour guide's Spanish better than the translator's English), but I took a million pictures!
We were all pretty exhausted after that, and everyone took a nap on the bus ride home. That night, a bunch of us met up at a bar called La Oveja Negra (The Black Sheep) for drinks, then went to a club called Shoko. I was not a fan of the music, but it was fun nonetheless. We didn't get home until close to 4:30am, so I slept most of the day on Saturday and then spent the evening relaxing.
Saturday night we went out to a bar called "Dow Jones." It was stock market themed--the drink prices went up and down with popularity! It was hilarious...sirens would go off when the prices "crashed" and everyone rushed the bar! We got there kind of early (here, 11pm is considered early) so we made friends with one of the bartenders, Tatiana from Mexico. A lot of people from my program showed up (that seems to happen all the time, somehow) and it turned into a really fun night!
I spent Sunday doing all the homework I hadn't done all weekend and working on internship applications for the summer (so much fun!).
I am getting very excited for the Sevilla trip this weekend, Paris the weekend after, and my mom's visit just a few weeks after that! I can't believe I have already been here for almost a month!
Hope everyone is well, I miss and love you all!
Sorry it's been a while since I last posted, this past week was so unexpectedly busy! My classes are finally starting to get to the point where they actually feel like classes, due to the amount of work I have been getting. Homework should be optional when you're abroad. I'm learning so much outside the classroom that sometimes going to class just seems like a waste of time I could be out exploring. I definitely caught the travel bug.
Anyway, this past weekend was a ton of fun. On Friday, I went on a daytrip with about 15 other people from my program to Tarragona in Southern Catalonia. We couldn't have asked for a nicer day and a more beautiful setting.
First, we went to see the Roman ruins in Tarragona, which were, as most Roman ruins are, very cool. The sky was so blue I couldn't believe it. After seeing what was left over of the walls and forum, we went down to the sea to see the ampitheater. It was literally so beautiful I was speechless. I am so jealous of those people who live in the villas on that shore...it was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen.
But, oh my gosh, it was so worth it. They were DELICIOUS. The next course consisted of a bunch of sketchy-looking meats, beans, and artichokes. I tried some of the pork and the sausage and wasn't really a fan of either. The beans were good, though, and so was the artichoke. The next course was desert, some delicious custard dish, almond cookies, and sugared oranges. Needless to say, I felt like I had a food baby in my stomach once we were leaving the restaurant.
Full and happy, we headed to the town of Santes Creus, where we toured an absolutely beautiful old monastery. The tour was unnecessarily long due to the fact that we had to use a translator (I actually understood the tour guide's Spanish better than the translator's English), but I took a million pictures!
Saturday night we went out to a bar called "Dow Jones." It was stock market themed--the drink prices went up and down with popularity! It was hilarious...sirens would go off when the prices "crashed" and everyone rushed the bar! We got there kind of early (here, 11pm is considered early) so we made friends with one of the bartenders, Tatiana from Mexico. A lot of people from my program showed up (that seems to happen all the time, somehow) and it turned into a really fun night!
I am getting very excited for the Sevilla trip this weekend, Paris the weekend after, and my mom's visit just a few weeks after that! I can't believe I have already been here for almost a month!
Hope everyone is well, I miss and love you all!
Monday, February 14, 2011
When in Rome...
Bon giorno!
This past weekend was one of the most incredible weekends of my life. Rome was absolutely amazing. You are just walking down the street, and then BAM! there's something you've been seeing in textbooks your entire life. While we didn't actually go inside every building due to the limited time we were there (I would have loved to go inside the Colosseum and the Sistine Chapel, but they both had three-hour lines), I was thrilled with the amount we did get to see.
Caroline and I got to Rome early Friday afternoon after almost missing our plane! The bus that goes from Barcelona to Girona airport is supposed to run every 15 minutes. Our flight was at 11:30, so we got to the bus station at around 8:35, knowing it was a one-hour bus ride. However, there was a random break, so there had been a bus at 8:30, and the next one wasn't until 9:30! We freaked out the entire way to the airport that we were going to miss the plane. Thankfully we got there fast and the airport was practically empty, so we made it with time to spare!
Our friend Dara and her friend from home Jennifer were already there, so they came and met us at the bus from the airport and brought us to our hostel. It smelled REALLY bad, but other than that it was fine. We were barely there, anyways.
We went to see the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, and a couple other sights then found a restaurant for dinner (which was delicious, of course). That night we hit up a couple of bars the girl at the hostel had recommended, which were really fun.
The next day we were planning on getting up early to go to the Vatican before it got really crowded, but that didn't happen as we got home after 3am. So instead we slept in and went to see St. Peter's Basilica, which had much shorter lines. Good choice, because it was absolutely AMAZING.
After that, we went to lunch and walked around for a bit. We had signed up for a tour that afternoon where we saw a bunch of the piazzas, Trevi Fountain again, the Pantheon, and some churches. I really liked learning the history behind everything, especially about the sculptor/architect Bernini. He was really smart and really crazy!
We went back to the hostel after almost 8 hours of walking and took a nap before dinner. I had the most delicious pizza ever! We then went out with this group called the Colosseum Team who organize parties for international students in Rome. They took us to a bar and two clubs and we met a lot of other students (some from Spain, the States, South Africa, Poland, and Italy of course) and it was SO much fun. We got home at 5am and I passed out right away.
We flew back to Barcelona Sunday morning, where I spent the afternoon taking a long nap and doing homework. It was so much fun, I really want to go back one day! Although according to what people say about the Trevi Fountain, I will! If you toss in one coin, you will be there again someday. If you toss in two, a wish you make will also come true. If you throw in three, you will also find a Roman lover. I threw in two...I figured that was safe with everything I have learned about European men ;)
This next weekend I'm staying in Barcelona, but the adventure continues the following week when my program goes to Sevilla. The week after that, I'm going to Paris! I love being able to travel for really cheap!
That's it for now, don't forget to check out the rest of my pictures on Facebook. Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day!
This past weekend was one of the most incredible weekends of my life. Rome was absolutely amazing. You are just walking down the street, and then BAM! there's something you've been seeing in textbooks your entire life. While we didn't actually go inside every building due to the limited time we were there (I would have loved to go inside the Colosseum and the Sistine Chapel, but they both had three-hour lines), I was thrilled with the amount we did get to see.
Caroline and I got to Rome early Friday afternoon after almost missing our plane! The bus that goes from Barcelona to Girona airport is supposed to run every 15 minutes. Our flight was at 11:30, so we got to the bus station at around 8:35, knowing it was a one-hour bus ride. However, there was a random break, so there had been a bus at 8:30, and the next one wasn't until 9:30! We freaked out the entire way to the airport that we were going to miss the plane. Thankfully we got there fast and the airport was practically empty, so we made it with time to spare!
Our friend Dara and her friend from home Jennifer were already there, so they came and met us at the bus from the airport and brought us to our hostel. It smelled REALLY bad, but other than that it was fine. We were barely there, anyways.
Our room in the hostel
We went to see the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, and a couple other sights then found a restaurant for dinner (which was delicious, of course). That night we hit up a couple of bars the girl at the hostel had recommended, which were really fun.
Me at the Colosseum
In front of some Roman Ruins
The next day we were planning on getting up early to go to the Vatican before it got really crowded, but that didn't happen as we got home after 3am. So instead we slept in and went to see St. Peter's Basilica, which had much shorter lines. Good choice, because it was absolutely AMAZING.
After that, we went to lunch and walked around for a bit. We had signed up for a tour that afternoon where we saw a bunch of the piazzas, Trevi Fountain again, the Pantheon, and some churches. I really liked learning the history behind everything, especially about the sculptor/architect Bernini. He was really smart and really crazy!
The Spanish Steps
Trevi Fountain
The Pantheon
We went back to the hostel after almost 8 hours of walking and took a nap before dinner. I had the most delicious pizza ever! We then went out with this group called the Colosseum Team who organize parties for international students in Rome. They took us to a bar and two clubs and we met a lot of other students (some from Spain, the States, South Africa, Poland, and Italy of course) and it was SO much fun. We got home at 5am and I passed out right away.
We flew back to Barcelona Sunday morning, where I spent the afternoon taking a long nap and doing homework. It was so much fun, I really want to go back one day! Although according to what people say about the Trevi Fountain, I will! If you toss in one coin, you will be there again someday. If you toss in two, a wish you make will also come true. If you throw in three, you will also find a Roman lover. I threw in two...I figured that was safe with everything I have learned about European men ;)
This next weekend I'm staying in Barcelona, but the adventure continues the following week when my program goes to Sevilla. The week after that, I'm going to Paris! I love being able to travel for really cheap!
That's it for now, don't forget to check out the rest of my pictures on Facebook. Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day!
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