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! :)

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. :)

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!