My last trip in Europe...for now!

Hello for one of the last times from Barcelona!

Yesterday I returned from the beautiful beaches of Mallorca....well to be honest, we opted to stay at our gorgeous hotel more times than we visited the beach! When originally deciding on where to stay when going to Mallorca, we decided to splurge a little and make our last trip feel more like a vacation (as if we needed a vacation from Barcelona!) and looked into hotels instead of standard hostels. Well we lucked out because we found a 4 start hotel resort for only 46 euros a night. That means with 3 people in each room, we only ended up spending 15 euros a night! That's an even better price than some of the hostels I've stayed in over these past four months.

The hotel was gorgeous! It had multiple pools (outdoor, indoor, one for kids, one for people 18+) and great views of the national park behind it. We spent most of our time at the "chill out" pool for 18+ because it had these amazing cabana beds and massage jets in the pool.

I wish I had more exciting things to tell you about our trip, but we literally relaxed the entire time! It was a nice change of pace from the Barcelona lifestyle and I feel well rested and very tan now! Today I'm headed to the Picasso Museum since I still have not been and then am going to walk around and souvenir shop. Tomorrow I am going to take advantage of the Bus Touristic pass Erica and Holly bought me when they came to visit and going to see my city for the last time before I leave! Should be a lovely two days in Barcelona :) Friday morning I finally head home back to the States and I am so excited to see my family again! It's such a bittersweet feeling though... I don't want to leave this amazing city and all the amazing friends I have met behind! Thank you Barcelona, and everyone who helped me discover it, for the most incredible past 4 months of my life :)

Coming to the end...

Believe it or not, my time here in Barcelona is winding down. In one week and one day I will be back in the States and at home in New Jersey. I cannot believe that 4 months have passed by so quickly. I can remember my first day here so vividly - Me, Marcus, and Tyson entertained ourselves by playing Spanish monopoly!

Since Semana Santa I've been wrapping up my school work and enjoying what time I have left here in Barcelona. I am very happy to say that I passed (I think! It will probably be months before I get a grade here!) my one and only exam of the semester and I am currently waiting to present my final presentation at 5pm for my last class! After that I'll be off to Mallorca to enjoy some R&R on the beach (so well deserved after this exhausting semester, right?).

I've enjoyed these past couple of weeks thoroughly. I went out to a very Spanish, late-night dinner with Adar and got to practice my Spanish with some other permanent international students. I also got to witness FC Barca win the Clasico against Real Madrid. I had a fabulous farewell dinner with all the exchange students. And finally, I got sick! Wait, that part is not so fun, but hey that's what happens when you lead a Barcelona-lifestyle. I spent all of yesterday in bed but I am on the rebound and cannot wait to enjoy my last days with some of my favorite new friends. Saying goodbye will not be fun either, but here's to our Vegas Decemeber 2011 reunion! LOVE YOU ALL :)

Until I return from Mallorca...

My Semana Santa Travels

So it's been a while since I've updated, but that's because I've been traveling around Europe for the past 10 days! In Spain, "spring break" is actually Semana Santa, or Holy Week. I spent my 10 days traveling to 6 cities in 3 different countries! My trip included a mini-tour of Italy (Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre, and Rome) and then visits to Berlin and Prague. I will post my favorite picture from each city.

I traveled to Italy with such a great group - 5 other girls from my program: Adar, Amanda, Carli, Claudia, and Jasmine. We landed in Venice Friday morning and spent the afternoon roaming the tiny winding streets and walking over the many bridges hovering the canals. It was exactly what I had pictured Italy to be like! After indulging in our secound round of pizza and gelato, we hung out at a bar in Sant Margarita Square.

Venice

Saturday morning we got on a train to Florence, only to realize that the tickets we booked were for the next day! With Adar's amazing fake tears, we were able to convince the conductor to let us stay on despite the fact that we didn't have valid tickets. Once in Florence we had lunch at the most delicious place inside a local market called Nerbone. Skeptically we all picked a beef and potatoes dish, but it turned out to be amazing! It reminded me of my mom's cooking from home. One of the workers came up to us afterwards and handed us all postcards with the restaurants name on it because we were such a "beautiful, multinational group". (<-- Haha actually very true!) Later that night we took bottles of Italian wine to the top of Piazza San Michelangelo and looked at over the beautiful city.

Florence

The next morning we were off on another train to Cinque Terre  - 5 coastal cities situated on the side of a mountain. We stayed in the first town, Riomaggiore. Stepping off the train was absolutely unreal. The city was literally next to the beautiful ocean. Our first day there we hiked the coastal path, Via dell' Amore. Just like in Paris, there were many love locks along the way. The next day we decided to hike one of the inner paths from Manarola to Corniglia. The hike was just under 3 hours and the trail literally took us through the little towns higher up in the mountain, across vineyards, through forestry, and along the side of a mountain. The view was stunning the entire way and every picture I took was as beautiful as the one before it. After a long hike, we hung out on the beach Monterosso until the sun started to go down.

Cinque Terre

Early the next morning, Adar, Jasmine, and I headed to Rome. Since Rome was my quickest turn around (I left that evening for Berlin), we got on the move as soon as we got there. Our first stop was Vatican city. We visited both the Vatican musuem and St. Peter's Basilica. It was unreal that I was in Vatican city, much less during Easter. It felt so special that I could be in such an important Catholic location during Holy Week. Afterwards we visited the Pantheon and then Trevi Fountain, where of course I made a wish! We also had the most delicious gelato ever at a place called Giolitti's. I got mango, lemon, and champagne! Eventually I had to head to the airport to make my way to Berlin to meet up with the boys (my roommates and other boys from the program) in Berlin.

Rome

After completing the adventure of finding my hostel in Berlin after midnight, I got a good night's rest and met up with the boys in the morning. We went on the Sandemans walking tour of the city and got to see remaining parts of the Berlin Wall, the location of Hitler's bunker, and Charlie's Checkpoint. Afterwards we went to the Pergamon musueum and saw the Babylonian gates of Ishtar (belive it or not, I actually had to ID those on an archaeology exam before). That night was Gilberto's birthday so we celebrated by watching the Barca-Madrid game. Although a disappointing loss, it was still a good night. The next day I met back up with Adar and Jasmine and visited the DDR Musuem. It was a very cool, interactive musuem that let you see how life was like in Berlin during the time when the wall was up.

Berlin

On Friday morning I hopped on another train to head to Prague. After arriving, the boys and I visited the Old Jewish Cemetery and then went on an Underground City tour - Prague was actually built on top of itself to prevent flooding. That evening we celebrated Marcus' 21st birthday by going on a Pub Crawl. The Pub Crawl ended at a very cool 5 story club that had different music on every floor. The next day we visited the Castle across Charles Bridge and tried goulash for the first time. That night we celebrated MY 21st birthday at midnight! We went to a local bar/restaurant that had the most delicious schnitzel and apple beer. Afterwards we headed to another club with our hostel. Overall, a good evening!

Prague

The next morning we finally headed back to Barcelona. While every city was amazing, it felt great to be back "home". I went to the evening mass for Easter and then out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant called La Rosa Negra. After a few rounds of yummy mojitos and margaritas we headed to the large Irish pub here called George Payne's. Sunday night is karaoke night and I was ready to belt out some Spice Girls for my 21st. Unfortunately the list was too long and I couldn't show the bar my skills, but no worries, before I leave I will sing karaoke!

I truly had a great Semana Santa and wonderful 21st birthday. I now officially have less than a month here in Barcelona and I can't wait to make the most of it. Let's just get through this one more week of class!!



Paris and my upcoming adventures!

Hello, hello!

So it's currently 6:45am and I'm writing this entry in order to complete my pre-departure checklist. I leave this morning for Venice for what will be a 10 day speed tour through 6 cities! After Venice I venture on to Florence, Cinque Terre, Rome, Berlin, and Prague! But that's later...

Last weekend I met up with Amanda in Paris for a lovely weekend together. Amanda has been studying in London this semester and we both wanted to visit each other, but due to the fact that time flies we never actually made it to each others' cities. We knew we had to meet up together while we were in Europe, so we decided to meet in Paris. Originally Paris was not in my travel itinerary for the rest of my trip, but I am SO glad that I went. After spending the day again on the beach in Barcelona on Friday, I left Saturday morning for the equally beautiful weather in France.

After arriving, I had to quickly get my bearings with the metro so I could meet up with Amanda at the train station. My spanish phone does not work outside the country so it was an interesting experience "just meeting up" with someone in a foreign country without any means of communication. It went pretty smoothly and immediately from the train station we went to the Eiffel Tower. Seeing it was so surreal and I think both of us were pretty shocked at how big it actually was. After dinner, we returned to see the Eiffel Tower at night and it enjoyed equally as much.

On Sunday we had a very eventful day, hitting 3 must-dos of the city. Our first stop was the Louvre where I spent a considerable amount of time convincing the ticket worker that I did not create a fake Catalan ID to get into the Louvre for free and in fact that Barcelona (Catalunya) is the only place they speak Catalan so there's no way that you couldn't know the ID was from there. After successfully winning the battle, me and Amanda ventured the many rooms and of course saw the Mona Lisa. Afterwards we walked towards Notre Dame passing very cute bridges and street bridges. After walking through the church and a little lunch break, Me and Amanda dared to climb the 400 steps to the top of the Notre Dame towers. Following our workout of a climb, we hopped on the train to head to Chateau de Versailles. Although we got there about an hour too late to view the inside of the palace, we still got to wonder around the palace gardens. They were absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Not only was the park huge, but every corner was beautifully kept and lush and full of color. I could have easily spent hours wondering those gardens.

We both left for our perspective cities on Monday and Amanda leaves London for good this Sunday. I can't believe she is already done her program but it made me realize I only have a little over a month left in mine! I will surely enjoy the next 10 days, but I can't wait to get the most out of Barcelona in that short time afterwards.

Until I return from my 10 day journey.... out of a backpack... ahhh!!!

Ireland: Dublin & Howth

This past weekend was the first time I left Spain during my exchange. Although I've done a bit of traveling, until this point it has only been to Spanish cities (of which I loved every second!)

My weekend trip was to Ireland with just me and the boys! They actually left for Edinburgh on Wednesday and then flew to Dublin on Friday. However, since I had classes on Thursday, I chose to meet up with them in Dublin on Saturday. This gave me all Friday in Barcelona to enjoy the beautiful weather we've been having! For the first time I was able to lay out on the beach in a bathing suit. The sun was much needed because I almost blinded myself with my pale legs as soon as I took my pants off! They haven't seen sunlight in a very long time! On Saturday morning I prepared to leave the beautiful weather for my first journey outside of Spain.

I made it to Dublin in the early evening and was greeted with much different weather than Barcelona. In fact as soon as I got off the airport bus in the city center, it began pouring and hailing. Never before have I been more thankful for packing an umbrella in my bag! It was an adventure trying to read a map and find my hostel while still holding my umbrella up. For those who know how coordinated I am, it was even funnier to watch. I finally made it to the hostel mostly still dry and met up with the boys. That night I got to experience the awesome bar life in Dublin. We went to the Temple Bar area that is known for its strip of bars and lively people. The first one we went to was called Farrington's and it had amazing live music! The guy had a beautiful voice and even played some songs that we knew including Sweet Caroline and Jason Mraz's I'm Yours (of course I was sold as soon as he started singing that one!)

The next day we toured around Dublin and got to walk around St. Stephen's Green and visit the Guinness Storehouse. St. Stephen's Green reminded me how little grass we have here in Barcelona and the Guinness Storehouse showed me how yummy Guinness actually is! In Ireland it actually tastes very smooth and light and goes down much easier than one would expect of a dark beer. Naturally, a pint of Guinness was my drink of choice when we went out. Another delicious discovery in Ireland was Bulmer's pear cider. I never had it before, but it practically tasted just like apple juice!

On our last day in Dublin, we decided to venture outside of the city and visit the fishing town of Howth that is about 25 minutes away. It was absolutely gorgeous and we were lucky to have good weather while we were there. After walking around the marina, we decided to do the cliff walk that literally was along the side of a cliff next to the ocean. Walking along the small path that was only feet from the edge of a cliff was so surreal and so amazing. I have never done anything like that before and it has convinced me that I will return to Ireland one day to visit more of the beautiful country side.

Well I must get back to school work. These next two weeks will actually be pretty busy because just after that I will be traveling for our 10 day spring break! Should be very exciting... until next time!

Catching up!

Well it’s been some time since I’ve written and that’s mostly due to my visitors. As I mentioned last time, Erica came to visit for 10 days. Not only was it amazing to see family, but I also got to explore Barcelona even more.

For my 21^st birthday (which isn’t until next month), Erica bought me a Montserrat and Cava tour with her and her friend Holly.  Montserrat is a mountain right outside of Barcelona with a famous monastery and beautiful hikes. The weather wasn’t the best – it rained for the first 3 days that Erica was in Barcelona – but it actually gave the trip to Montserrat a different feel since we were literally up in a cloud the entire time. We hiked up to La Creu, saw the famous boys choir sing, and visited the small art museum there. Afterwards we drove down to “cava valley” to visit a famous cava maker in Catalunya, Codorniu winery. We traveled 15 meters below ground to see the millions of bottles being stored and how cava today is made. We even got to take a tram through the older caves where they used to manually shift the bottles every so often so that they were properly fermented. Of course, at the end we got to taste test two types of cava and of course both were very delicious.

In front of La Creu

Long, long hallway of Cava!

That weekend Erica and Holly went to Ibiza while I went to Las Fallas in Valencia. Las Fallas is a very unique and exciting festival held every year in the south of Spain. Each community in Valencia builds these large fallas – large sculptures made of paper mache and cardboard that are painted elaborately -  in the center of a plaza or street corner for everyone to come see. At the end of the festival they light the falla on fire and burn it. The largest “crema” or burning is in the city center where fireworks go off at 1am. After the spectacular firework show, they burn the huge falla by lighting the attached fireworks. The sculpture was completely gated off at least several meters around all sides, but you could still feel the heat from the blazing fire. It was unlike anything I had seen before. Although the falla was amazingly beautiful, it was just as beautiful to see it burning and glowing in flames.

Una Falla

Fireworks

La Crema

When Erica and Holly returned they still had plenty left of Barcelona to see. I decided there was no better way to show them around the city than on a bike tour. Many people from my program had gone before and said they loved it, but I never went on one myself. Although we were all a little hesitant when we first got on the bikes, we eventually got the hang of it and enjoyed our ride through the city on a beautiful day. We rode along the beach and then all the way up to Sagrada Familia and back. Seeing the city in the beautiful weather made me fall in love with Barcelona all over again. I know that I will love this city even more as it starts to get nicer and nicer!



A Week of Visitors

This past week has truly been a wonderful one. Not only did I get a taste from home from my visitors, but I was also able to explore Barcelona just a little bit more!

Katie was the first to arrive last Friday from Madrid. One of the very first things we did was visit the beach since she doesn't get to see it often living in Madrid. Afterwards we walked around to get a feel for the city and wondered around the Gothic quarter and down Las Ramblas (a well-known pedestrian street with "human statues"). We went to La Boqueria, the famous fresh-food market off of Las Ramblas. There were many delicious things available like candied fruit and freshly squeezed fruit juices, but there were also many...interesting... things such as freshly killed "conejos", or rabbits. I guess that's what makes it a famous fresh-food market! The next day Katie and I took advantage of the beautiful day outside and explored La Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell. Although I have been in Barcelona for 2 months now, I had still yet to go inside the famous Gaudi church. Despite the admission fee (which is discounted if you have a student ID), the trip inside was well worth it. Although technically not a Cathedral (it recently was classified a basillica minor), it is undoubtedly as large as one. It was interesting to compare the church to the Barcelona Cathedral that I attend every Sunday for mass. It is much less ornate and detailed, but it is very beautiful in its own way, especially in its architecture. Afterwards we visited Parc Guell (another Gaudi masterpiece) at the top of the city. The combination between nature and architecture is truly a beautiful sight and the views of the city are stunning.

On Sunday Katie and I went to mass at the Cathedral and then walked around Barcelona some more until it was time for me to pick up Chris from the airport. Although he had to take 3 transfers to get here, everything went smoothly and he arrived in Barcelona safely. There was no time to waste when he got here becuase soon after he got here Katie had to catch her flight back to Madrid and we had to start preparing for Carnival in Sitges! Sitges is a beach town right outside of Barcelona and they hold a large Carnival celebration on Sunday night and Tuesday night. Everyone dresses up in costumes and it reminded me of Halloween on Franklin Street. We got home from Sitges around 6am the next morning!

On Monday Chris and I went to Parc Guell. Even though I had already been with Katie just two days before, I still had a great time. It really is a beautiful park and I recommend it to everyone who tells me they're coming to visit. It surprised me how low it was on lists in travel books because it provides such a great view of the city. That night we went to Cerveceria Catalana for dinner and Chris tried tapas for the first time! We got all of the traditional ones including patatas bravas, tortilla espanola, croquettas, and pan con tomate. The next day we visited the Sagrada Familia and then headed down towards the beach. We had lunch at this little hole in the wall called Xampeneria where you stand and order your food at the bar. We got a bottle of cava, burgers, and a plate of chorizo. It was absolutely delicious...and cheap! Afterwards we hung out at the beach until (unfortunately) I had to go to class.

Parc Guell with Chris



Wednesday was Chris' last day in Barcelona so we made sure to explore as much as we could of Barcelona. After walking around the Gothic quarter, we visited La Catedral and then headed to Las Ramblas and La Boqueria. After getting some fresh fruit juices from the market (yes, I'm obsessed and will take every visitor there just so I can get some fruit juice for myself) we headed to Montjuic. We took the teleferic cable cars up to the mountain and explored the Castle on top. Afterwards we headed to La Pedrera (Gaudi's Casa Mila house) and finally ended the day eating Chocolate con Churros at a little restaurant in Born. The next morning I had to take Chris to catch the bus for the airport at 5:30 and I was definitely sad to see him go, but I hope he had a good time while he was here.

Well my round of visitors isn't over just yet because Erica lands in Barcelona tomorrow! It's so nice to have reminders of home here in Barcelona. It is unbelievable that I have been here for 2 months now and that I only have 2 more left!

Until next time...