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!

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!

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!

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!

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.

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!

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

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!

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. :)

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!