Home

So I've been home for a week and a half now and it has been nice. I've eaten all my favorite foods, seen all my favorite friends and family and done many of my favorite home things. It is always a little strange coming home after being away, but one nice thing about my family is that they are pretty reliable. Sure, we all change and grow, but I've found that ever since I've gone away to college they have so far been nice and consistent. That actually makes for a weird phenomenon at times--sometimes I feel that I could convince myself that I was never away at all!

I definitely miss Spain and traveling. I went down to Maryland for a few days and took a bus from NY. I was astounded by how ugly NY is!! (Still my fav, though!) Cities and architecture in America don't even remotely compare to the beauty of practically all of Europe. I mainly miss walking down Passeig de Gracia and seeing Casa Battlo. For some reason, that is what most sticks out in my mind.

One thing that I've noticed about myself is that I definitely need more alone time now. I had a lot of space and privacy in Barcelona. I've never been one for doing things alone, but now I feel myself craving some Nikki time everyday.

I am definitely remembering my time abroad fondly. I am so glad I took pictures and kept this blog. I definitely had some lonely and hard moments, but I have zero regrets. The traveling was truly once in a lifetime and I will never forget it. I think every student that is able to should study abroad. It teaches you independence and shows you so many different lifestyles. I have a new appreciation for America and a new and even more powerful fondness for Europe. This experience has 100% brought out the traveling bug in me and I am eager to continue traveling. I never want to stop! Top on my list includes: Greece, Israel, Argentina, South Africa and Australia.

Until then--thanks for reading!

Berlin

So, I really thought we weren't going to make it to Berlin. On Tuesday night, we went as far as canceling our hostel. But somehow, on Wednesday, everything changed. Finally planes were flying again. It seemed as if everything was back to normal. Still, I was afraid. CEA sent us an e-mail saying that if we traveled it was on us. If we got trapped and couldn't get back and missed our finals, we would get a 0 and fail. Lindsay and Ilana had a really early flight on Thursday, so Lindsay and I decided that if they made it safely, we would go.

I woke up Thursday morning to a phone call from Lindsay. They were in Berlin. Our plans were on! We flew EasyJet for my first time, but it was a fine flight. We took a train from the airport and met Lanz and Re at the hostel. They were pretty exhausted from a long day of touring, so we just go dinner at an Italian place nearby, caught up and went to bed.

Friday morning we got up early. We had decided to do a tour of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. It was five hours long and very intense and painful. It was my first experience of the kind. I have been to Holocaust museums before and seen a lot of movies and pictures, but nothing can prepare you for actually being at a camp...walking the same ground..breathing the same air. Still, I am very glad I went. I was pleased to see a lot of foreigners of all different religions and races on the tour too. Our tour guide, Ben, was great and he gave us a lot of helpful recommendations for the rest of the trip.

After the tour, we went to the East Side Gallery, which is the largest preserved part of the Berlin Wall. It is covered in bright, colorful graffiti and we had a lot of fun looking at all the different art and taking some successful (and some unsuccessful, cough Lindsay cough) jumping pictures in front of it! We had some good Vietnamese for dinner and then set off to find a bar called KPTN, recommended to us by Sherry's friend who studied in Berlin last semester. It took us a long time to find, but we enjoyed walking up and down a fun street full of bars and restaurants.

The next day we got up early again and explored a few different neighborhoods. We walked around a market for awhile, went to a park, and had a good lunch. At night we went to a wine place, where you pay a two euro cover and they hand you a wine glass. You are allowed to drink as much wine as you want and you can also order some small dishes of food off the menu. At the end of the meal, you are supposed to leave what you think is the right amount of money for all that you consumed. Cool concept, but it was our downfall. Unlimited wine=not as delightful as it sounds. We had a bit of crazy night and we ended up getting zero sleep. Lindsay and I had a 7 am flight back to Barcelona, which I thought we would miss, but luckily we made it!

Thus began my final few days in Barcelona, which were unfortunately spent studying for finals. However, I just finished and celebrated by going to the beach! Of course, the weather is finally beautiful here. Tonight I am going out with my roommates for a final dinner and crepes and then going out one last time. I am flying home tomorrow at 10:45 a.m. I cannot believe my semester is over. I am actually quite sad. I am going to miss a lot of the things I took for granted here. Once I am home, I will post my obligatory reflection post. Thanks everyone for reading!

Ken and Susie in Barcelona, volcanoes and more!

Oy. I am sitting here in my apartment in Barcelona with my roommate Lindsay and all I can think about is that I should be on the beach in Nice right now! Unfortunately, my travel plans, along with so many others, were screwed up this weekend because of the volcano in Iceland. So far Spain is still safe and fine, but no one knows what is going to happen or when the volcano will stop erupting. I really hate this feeling of uncertainty, the feeling of being trapped.I know it could be worse. I am so grateful I am safe in Barcelona. I feel terrible for all the people stranded, all the people alone. Still, I am praying my plans to go to Berlin on Thursday don't get messed up, but it isn't looking too good. As long as I can get home to the U.S. okay I'll be fine...

Anyways, I will write about my last week here, which was really great. It started on Thursday when I met Ken and Susie for dinner. They had spent a few days in Madrid (and loved it!) before coming to Barcelona, where they stayed for the next six days. It was lovely seeing them. They are really like a second mom and dad to me and I feel all warm inside whenever I'm with them. On Friday, I went to the Dali Museum and to the city of Girona with CEA. The Dali Museum was unlike any museum I have ever been to! Let's just say that the entire top of the building was covered in giant eggs sculptures! It was so bizarre, but totally cool and worth it. That night, I met up with Sabrina and Denisse and we went to the big L'Ovella Negra and had a great time.

On Saturday, I met back up with Ken and Susie. It was Susie's birthday! I was so touched to be included in the celebrations. Of course, I had to show them the Boqueria, where we began our day before renting bikes. It was the nicest day here since I've been in Barcelona and so refreshing to be outside. We then went to the Cituadella Park, where I listened to music and took a peaceful nap. For dinner, we did it up big at the Majestic Hotel for Susie's birthday. It was the fanciest dinner I have ever been to!

It was another gorgeous day on Sunday, so we decided to spend it at Sitges. It was probably only about 70 degrees, but that didn't stop hundreds of people from sunbathing in their bathing suits (or topless) on the beaches. I was pretty surprised, because while it was incredibly nice, I didn't think it was beach weather. I think everyone was just so thrilled that it was sunny and warm after such a long and rainy winter. We had a great paella lunch and then headed back to Barcelona where we ate some cake on the roof of the hotel for Susie's birthday. What a great backdrop! After that, we did some exploring. It's funny that although I feel I walk and see so much here, I guess I usually walk the same few paths. With Ken and Susie, we walked in different directions and on all these new streets that I've never been on. This city is so big. I swear you could find something new every single day. We ended up going inside and up top of La Perdera, another one of Gaudi's fabulous works. They never cease to amaze me.

On Monday night, Lindsay and I went to the opera. It was both of our first experiences at the opera. Her dad had gotten her two tickets for her birthday and she chose me to go with her! I was very flattered. Thank you! It was a German opera and was four hours long. We had incredible box seats. The opera was divided into three acts. The first act we just watched and listened to in German, before Lindsay discovered during the first intermission that there were little screens in front of us that provided us with the English subtitles! Oh how the subtitles helped. It was quite long, but I ended up really, really enjoying it. I loved the message of two wrongs don't make a right. Otherwise, a bad cycle will just continue on forever. I hope this will not be my last experience at the opera.

Tuesday I met up with Ken and Susie for one last dinner. I was sad to see them go, but so happy and honored that they came. Wednesday, Sabrina and I went to the Champagneria which was a ton of fun, and full of Spanish people. A very authentic experience! On Thursday, I got coffee with Melissa and dinner with Barrie. I was supposed to leave early Friday for Nice, but seeing as how that didn't happen, Lindsay and I had an enjoyable day that consisted of going to a Labyrinth Park and exploring gardens that reminded me a lot of the Alcazar Gardens in Seville that I loved. Who woulda known? No one ever talks about this park. It is a hidden gem. Haha. I did get a little lost in the labyrinth though. We then went to the movies to see Up in the Air, which I very much liked. Today, I met Barrie for brunch at Milk and had some blueberry pancakes. I didn't realize how much I missed pancakes. Tomorrow will be a lazy day full of work and rest and possibly the Cituadella park.

Please everyone pray that this volcano mess passes and that everyone's plans can continue on!

Holland with Denice

I had an amazing time visiting Denice in Holland. It is so special to see and old friend and I am so happy that I was able to see her twice while I was abroad. I've now seen her four times in the three years since she's moved--not too shabby.

I arrived at the Amsterdam-Schipol airport on Sunday night at around 8:30 and Denice was there waiting for me. We drove back to her house and I got to briefly catch up with her sister and her parents. It was so nice to see them. I was pretty close with them when they lived in the U.S. and I really did miss them too!

Monday morning we woke up and had a nice Easter breakfast with the whole family. Oh how I missed my sprinkle bread! Denice and I played a little pool and some other Dutch game at her house before driving the hour to her boyfriend, Bryan's house. Bryan was incredibly nice and friendly and his English was very impressive. I found his house beautiful. It was full of bright and colorful artwork and furniture and in the back of his house was really pretty water. The three of us drove to beach near his house (only about 10 minutes away) and had a drink. We talked about our futures, Obama, America and just our lives in general. Then we went to a big dinner with around 20 of Bryan's friends. Everyone was really nice and welcoming and I had a great time.

Tuesday was a warm and sunny day, perfect for our planned shopping outing in Haarlem. Haarlem is full of cute shops, boutiques, cafes and restaurants. We had a full day of shopping and I found some really great stuff! In one of the stores I bought a flowery summer dress and while I was trying it on I played around and started matching it with all different things. I put a white shirt and my leather jacket over it to make it look like a skirt and the salesgirl loved it so much, she said she was going to make that her next window display! That night we went back to house and watched a little of the Barcelona game with her family. I had a great conversation with Denice's sister Desiree and her father about what life was like for them in America. Desiree talked about some of the hardships she went through coming to the U.S. as a sophomore in high school, speaking little English, at a time where most people already had their established groups of friends. My experience here is obviously different, but I still felt that I could understand and relate to what it's like coming to a foreign country without any friends from home, not speaking the language. I really have new respect for Denice's whole family for making it in America.

I miss Denice already and am trying to get her and Bryan to come to New York this summer. It is about time that Denice comes back to the U.S. again for a visit!

Seville and Barcelona with the family

I had a very fun week with my family, even thought it was a little hard at times. I couldn't help thinking that I wanted to go back home with them to the U.S. when they left. However, I know that it is not my time yet. I still have a few more exciting weeks to live out here.

Last Friday, I met my family at the airport and we flew all together to Seville, Spain. Seville felt very different from Barcelona. All the streets were lined with bright yellow and blue and orange houses and that combined with the sunny weather made it a very festive and joyous place. Our hotel was a bit odd, but very cool. We had to walk for about five minutes through all sorts of gardens and underground rooms to get to our rooms. It was a big maze and I never quite learned how to navigate it myself. After we settled down for a bit, my mom made the family do one of those very touristy bus tours. I am actually glad we did it, because we got to see certain parts of the city that we never made it back to. After the bus tour, we split up and my mom and I went to the Alcazar Gardens. I absolutely loved it there. It was incredibly gorgeous, full of beautiful flowers and and ponds and fountains. I had a very peaceful moment on my own there, taking in the beauty.

On Saturday, we got up early and took a van to Cordoba, Spain. We got to see the Great Mosque, which was huge. We were supposed to be on a tour, but the tour was in English and Spanish and we got bored having to sit through the Spanish part so we ended up just exploring on our own. We had a great lunch on the rooftop of a restaurant with great views of the city. Back in Seville, we stopped in Plaza D'Espana for awhile to look around. A lot of it is under construction.

Sunday was the beginning of Santa Semana and we got trapped in the procession. We saw hundreds of people in all white wearing these huge, long pointy white hats that covered their entire faces. It was very creepy. We went back to the Alcazar Gardens as a family and read for awhile. At night, we went to the Arab baths. These baths are an ancient tradition. You rotate between a warm bath, a hot bath and a cold bath. There is also a salt bath, a jacuzzi and a steam room. You are not supposed to talk. It was very relaxing. On Monday, we shopped for a bit and then I found a yogurt place called Yogurtlandia. So good! Oh how I miss Yogiberry!

On Tuesday morning we flew back to Barcelona. I took my family to the Boqueria and to El Born. It felt good to be able to show them around and they loved matching up some of the places they went with the pictures of mine that they've seen.

Wednesday was my favorite day of the trip. We went inside Gaudi's Casa Batllo on Passeig de Gracia, something I had been wanting to do since I got here. I highly recommend this to everyone. It is quite a sight to see. We also went to the Ciutadella Park, which I have officially decided is my favorite place in Barcelona. Thursday we rented bikes and rode along the water, which is always enjoyable and then we went to the movies.

Friday was the last day so I took the family to see La Sagrada Familia. After buying some beautiful art there, we went to Montjuic and sat and listened to live guitar outside of the MNAC building. I had wanted them to see the fountain show too, but since Daylight Savings Time just occurred, it was too light out for the colors to show. We had a lovely last dinner and then they got up early Saturday morning to go home.

Overall, I had a great time and I really got to bond with my brothers. I think back to our last European trip to Italy and France and I can see how much we've all grown and changed. My brothers and I fought a lot on that trip, but on this trip we got along so well. We had some really deep talks and it made me so happy because I really feel like we are friends now.

Today I am off to Holland to visit Denice until Wednesday. On Thursday, Ken and Susie are arriving in Barcelona and I will spend the weekend with them. The following Friday, I am meeting Jamie in Nice for the weekend and the Thursday after that, I am going to Berlin with Re, Lanz and Lindsay. I am coming home April 30, which is in just under four weeks. That is hard to believe. While I know I will definitely be ready, I am really pushing myself to try and enjoy my last few weeks here. I still have a lot of fun stuff coming up and I know I am so lucky to be able to experience these adventures.

Barcelona and Paris with Jon!!

Wow, I have so much to catch everyone up on. Sorry it has been so long--I was busy having one of the best weeks of my life :)

Ask anyone here and they will tell you that I was anxiously counting down the days until Jon would get here on Friday, March 12. I woke up early that morning and went to meet him at the airport. I got such a rush when I saw him and it was just so wonderful to be reunited after so long. We caught up and he rested for the next few hours and then we went to Plaza Espana to see the magic fountain show. This is a beautiful show that occurs every Friday and Saturday nights. The fountains light up with all different colors and change frequently to the classical music playing in the background. I highly recommend you see this if you come to Barcelona.

In January, before I left, I had gotten Jon soccer tickets to see a FC Barcelona soccer game. I ordered these tickets online TWO MONTHS in advance. On Thursday afternoon before he came, I got an e-mail saying that unfortunately my tickets had been cancelled. Apparently, there was some loophole saying that the tickets weren't guaranteed. I don't know. I did get a full refund but I was livid. Luckily, I e-mailed someone in CEA who told me that there are sometimes still tickets available at the box office, so on Saturday morning, Jon and I woke up to go to the box office, where I managed to purchase two tickets for the game against Valencia on Sunday night. After we go the tickets, we went back to Plaza Espana and went to the MNAC museum. This is located in a stunning building that requires you to walk up hundreds of steps. For dinner that night, I took Jon to Bubo for tapas and then we split a gofre. Yum! Later that night, we met up with Jamie who was in Barcelona for her spring break. We went to Elephant and had a lot of fun dancing the night away.

We woke up late on Sunday and went to the soccer game! It was awesome. The stadium is gigantic--it houses 90,000 people. I expected the game to be rowdy and loud and was shocked to see how reserved and quiet everyone was. After almost every play, the crowd politely clapped--even if a Spanish player screwed up! In America, fans constantly groan and boo at their own team if they make a bad play and I thought it was rather nice that they do not do that here. We ended up winning 3-0! Messi scored all three of the goals in the second half and it was super exciting. I'm so glad I got to experience a game watching one of the best teams in the world and it was great having Jon to explain a lot of the background to me. After the game, we met up with Lindsay and went to Pim Pam burgers for dinner.

Monday was one of my favorite days. We took a quick stop at the Boqueria and got some fresh fruit smoothies and then we rented bikes for two hours and had a blast biking along the water. It was a perfect sunny day and the water was a beautiful backdrop. I really like bike riding. I want to start biking more when I get home. That night we went to Chupitos and a very, very crowded Otto Zutz!

Tuesday was pretty uneventful. I went to class and then Jon and I went to Basillico for dinner. Delish! On Wednesday, I showed Jon La Sagrada Familia and then we went to the Parc de la Ciutadella.I can't believe I haven't been there before. It is my new favorite spot in Barcelona. Everyone should look at my pictures on Facebook to see just how pretty it is! We rented a boat for a little while and had a picnic on the green and it was just a quintessential relaxing day.

I went to class again on Thursday, which ended at 4:15. We had a 7:05 flight to Paris that boarded at 6:25 and planned on leaving my apartment at 5, but we got a little delayed doing some final research and eating dinner. We didn't end up leaving until 5:25 and didn't get to the airport until 6:10. At this point, we were running because Jon hadn't been able to print his boarding pass. He was able to get it quickly and so we ran to security. The line was endless! We knew we wouldn't make it on time so I showed one of the security guards our boarding passes and he let us cut the entire line. We got soooo lucky and made it just in time to catch our baby plane to Paris.

I am so happy I went back to Paris. I got food poisoning during my first experience there with my family four years ago and that really tainted my experience. Our hotel was in Bastille and that ended up being a perfect location for us because it was close to our favorite street full of bars and crepes!

We had a super long day on Friday. We got up early to go on a free three-hour walking tour of the city. On the tour we got to see and hear the history of all of the main sights in Paris. We saw the Notre Dame, Pont Neuf, the Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe and so much more. It was great. After the tour, we caught a train to Versailles where we saw the beautiful palace and got some coffee and people-watched. I really loved Versailles. I found it very quaint, low-key and relaxing. All of the buildings were just so French! The Louvre is free after 6 for students, so after getting a little lost in Versailles, we headed there to see the Mona Lisa and a few other works of art. Then we had a typical and delicious French dinner.

I didn't feel great on Saturday so we just walked around in the morning and then went to Musee d'Orsay and a picnic lunch. We went to the Jardin du Luxembourg afterwards and sat there for a few hours talking. Finally, we went on a pretty boat tour at night. The Eiffel Tower lights up every hour on the hour at night and this is a sight to see. The boat ride was an hour and a half and it was very romantic. We ended our time with a great Italian dinner and went to sleep early because we both had early flights on Sunday.

I forgot to mention how amazing the bread and croissants were. We only spent about 5 euro total on breakfast each day and would stay full for the next six or so hours! And the pastry shops are everywhere. This is how breakfast should be.

Sunday was a rough day. It was so hard to say goodbye AGAIN, but I know I will be home soon. I am so thrilled that Jon came to visit. The week really flew by.

On Friday, spring break begins and I will be meeting my family at the Barcelona airport to fly to Seville together for four days. After that, we will all come back here and spend four days together in Barcelona. At this point, it will be April! Absurd. I am so happy my family is coming. I didn't realize how much I missed them.

San Sebastian

I just got back from a great weekend in San Sebastian, Spain. It is a quaint beach town and it is beautiful! It would make for a great honeymoon spot. I went with my program, CEA. We took a bus there at 10 a.m. on Friday morning and didn't arrive until 4 p.m., which was kind of a bummer, but we still managed to do a lot. Friday night we walked with our friends Maggie and Raquel to Old Town and had a delicious dinner of pintxo. Pintxo are kinda like tapas except that they are already cooked and are displayed all along the table. Each one has a toothpick and you can take as many as you like with. Once you finish eating, they count how many toothpicks you have to charge you. One of my favorites is the tortilla, which is a really a potato and egg omlette. Yum!

After dinner, we wandered into a random bar and met a few Belgian guys who were studying in San Sebastian for the semester and their friends. They actually worked as promoters for a different bar down the street, so they invited us to come there with them. Fun night, except I really can't take the smoke in the small bars.

Saturday we got up pretty early and CEA arranged for us to take the funicular to the top of the mountains. We got a spectacular view of the water. It was almost exactly the same as Tibidabo, old amusement park and all. We had a mini bus tour and walking tour afterwards before we set off to do some exploring of our own. Unfortunately, almost everything in the city shuts down between 2 and 4 p.m. so we just sat on the beach and napped and relaxed. I so wish it were warmer! At 4, we got up and rented bikes for an hour. This was a great way to see a lot of the city. I can't wait to rent bikes in Barcelona and ride along the water. After biking, we shopped for a bit and then went back to our hotel for a quick siesta. We had another late dinner of pintxos and then bar hopped for a bit.

Today we got up bright and early and got back on the bus for our six hour journey back to Barcelona. The time is starting to fly by! I can't believe my experience abroad is already half over!! This week I have a lot of work before Jon gets here on Friday. On Sunday, we are going to the soccer game vs. Valencia. According to him, it should be really great game. Hopefully it will make up for missing the Duke game. I did manage to stay up until 5 a.m. watching it though. What an epic game! GO TERPS!

London

I absolutely loved London! Or maybe what I realized is that it truly isn’t where you are or what you’re doing—it is who you are with! It was really wonderful to see my friends and to relax and let them plan the agenda! I’ve also come to the conclusion that I will avoid flying British Airways at all costs. This was my second bad experience with the airline. I was supposed to fly out Thursday night, arrive in London at 10 p.m., and take the tube to the apartment to meet Lindsay and Ilana. Our flight ended up getting delayed four hours, two of which I spent just sitting on the plane and didn’t get to London until 2 a.m. At this point, the tube had already closed so Lindsay, Rikki and I were forced to split a taxi. The taxi costs 60 pounds total! Ugh. Thank goodness we were able to split it. I was supposed to be able to see the boys from school and Erica that night, but they had all already left for their trips. What a bummer. Still, I was so happy to see Lindsay and Ilana. Re and I had a bit of PT and then we went to bed.

Friday morning we got up early and went to the Borough Market. Jamie met up with us and it was really fun to see her! The Borough Market had a ridiculous amount of samples and I took complete advantage of it. I basically ate a breakfast and lunch of samples. After filling up on these samples, we walked to find a good view of the London Bridge and then we walked across the Millennium Bridge. After, we went to Platform 9 ¾. What a day of Harry Potter! Jamie recommended getting a Ben’s cookie so I got a chocolate chip one and it was divine! Then we went to Harrods. Harrods is crazy big and has the most exquisitely gorgeous clothes I have seen. We grabbed some light food there and sat outside eating it. At this point we were tired, so we went back to rest for a bit before heading out to Chinatown. Oh how I’ve missed Chinese food! After a delicious meal we headed over to The Rocket, one of Lindsay and Ilana’s favorite bars. It was a good time and I realized how much better I like the nightlife in London. I am pretty much over the clubs. They can be fun occasionally, but I prefer when my nights end at around 2-2:30, not begin then.

Saturday morning began with the Changing of the Guards. It was a cool experience but very crowded, which made it difficult to be able to see anything. Too bad my cousin Lee wasn’t with me! Last time I was in London I sat on his shoulders and got the perfect view! Still, we stayed until the end and enjoyed the music before moseying our way over to Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Trafalgar Square. We took some great pictures and then headed over to Abbey Road. We tried countless times to get the perfect Abbey Road picture and we ended up getting a pretty great one!

One of the main highlights of my trip was going to High Tea at the Kensington Palace. We were seated in a gorgeous room. I got a fruit scone with clotted cream and jam and tea and it was amazing. I could eat a scone everyday. After tea, we had dinner at a pub called The Volunteer, which is literally right below the boy’s apartment. We met up with Lindsay’s friends and went to a few bars. We had another chill, but great night meeting some interesting British characters. I adore the British accent.

Sunday morning we got up and had a quick breakfast before heading to the airport and flying home. I miss my friends a lot but the trip left me feeling really good. Last night I had dinner with Stephanie from school and we had a great time talking about our study abroad experiences and comparing notes.

This weekend I am going to San Sebastian with CEA and then next Friday Jon comes!!! Woohoo.

Prague!

What a wonderful weekend I had in Prague! Lindsay, Rikki and I took the first bus from Plaza Catalunya to the airport at a little past 5 a.m. Everything at the airport went perfectly smoothly--I hope it will stay that way for the rest of my trip! When we arrived at the airport in Prague, however, I found that my Spanish phone was not working. It is supposed to work internationally, and I was counting on it because all Becca and I had planned was to call each other and meet somewhere in the airport. I had written down her address, but had no idea of how to use the metro station or how to get in contact with her at all. Just when I started to really freak out, I saw her beautiful face and all was well again! She helped point Rikki and Lindsay in the right direction to meet their respective friends and then she and I went to meet a bunch of her friends for brunch. They were all really sweet and we had a great time. After brunch, Becca and I went to the Old Town Square and got delicious chocolate and biscuit crepes. They rival the strawberry and nutella ones I get here.

After that, Becca had her last four hours of intensive Czech language, so I got to meet up with Julie , who is also studying in Prague. We wanted to take a tour of the Jewish synagogues, but the tours were over for the day so we just bought tickets and walked around on our own. I actually found it comforting to be around Hebrew. I really haven't seen any of it in Barcelona. After seeing three of the synagogues and the graves, we went back to Julie's apartment for a bit and I got to meet her roommates. She had plans to go to the opera that night, so she walked me back to Old Town Square where I waited for Becca to get out of class. I was on my own for about half an hour and really had a moment by myself just taking in the beauty of Prague and realizing that these types of experiences are why I came abroad. Prague is breathtakingly, stunningly beautiful and I stood there looking around in awe. The first picture I posted is of Old Town Square at night.

That night, we went out to a club called Laverna, which has 80 and 90s music dance parties on Friday nights. It was fun. I don't think I've done the macarena since bar and bat mitzvahs!

Saturday morning we got up pretty early and went with Becca's best friend from home, Alex, to look for bagels. There are no bagels in Barcelona!! We wanted to eat at a place called Bohemia Bagel, but it was absolutely packed so we settled on a smaller place around the corner. After bagels, we headed across the Charles Bridge and onto the John Lennon wall. The wall is definitely a sight to see. I posted a picture of Becca and I in front of it at the top of the blog. After the wall, we went to the castle. It was beautiful but freezing. For dinner that night I had goulash, which is veal in a tomatey sauce with bread dumplings. Typical Czech food and delicious. We decided to have a more chill night, so we went to this small, authentic billiards bar nearby Becca's dorm and hung out, talked and played a really fun game called Nelson with a few of her good friends.

It is easy to imagine a lot of the historical events that took place in Prague because the city is so strikingly different. I obviously know I am abroad in Barcelona, but in Prague it really hits you. While Spanish is still hard for me, Czech is impossible! Not one word is identifiable. I was also not a fan of the snow or cold in Prague, but it should definitely warm up. I couldn't believe Becca and her friends were happy with the weather, but I guess compared to the freezing snow they had last week, it was better already!

Becca's friends were all really sweet and I thought it was great that they are all in the same dorm building. It felt like freshman year again! I definitely do prefer living in an apartment over a dorm, but I also feel really isolated at times. If I could go back again, I would definitely have picked a smaller study abroad program and would really consider living in a dorm. It is a great way to meet people and it is very social.

All in all, I had a great time with Becca and Julie. I am so grateful to Becca for taking me in and being such a great host. It is so nice to see familiar faces. Lucky for me, I am off to London on Thursday!

Yesterday, I got to have coffee with a girl named Denisse, who is in one of my business classes. She is from Mexico and is fluent in Spanish and I asked her if she would like to get together to practice Spanish and English. She happily agreed and it was great. She was very patient with me and really forced me to use Spanish. We set a once a week date on Mondays after class and I am so glad.

I also start my volunteering tomorrow. Wish me luck! I'm a little nervous, but I will just do my best.

Carnval in Sitges!

Last night I went to Carnval in Sitges, which is the beach town I went to on my day trip. It is about half hour from Barcelona and you would usually take the train to get there, but one of the club promoters organized charter buses, so we took those instead. It was insane!!!!! I don't really know how to describe it. I am going to try to post pictures later. It was basically like Mardi Gras x10000. Everyone was dressed up in bright, sparkly costumes. There was a huge parade that went on for hours and it was full of gay men in drag and women in neon feathers and sparkles and glitter. It was amazing. While the parade went on, the party moved to the beach, where a giant rave formed. We watched the parade for about an hour until we met up with some of our friends and moved to the beach. It was so cool to look around and see the water and hear the music and watch the parade. It is an experience I will never forget.

I also had my volunteering orientation yesterday. Starting in a week from today, I will be volunteering every week at the YMCA for a few hours. My orientation was entirely in Spanish!! I probably only understood about 50 percent of what the leaders were saying. It should certainly be an interesting experience. I can't wait to see the cute little kids!

On Friday, I will be waking up at around 4:30 a.m. to head off for freezing cold Prague. Steph sent me a great itinerary for what to while I am there. I will update again once I'm back!

Re and Lanz in Barcelona!

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Today I went for burgers at Pim Pam burgers, a place that uses fresh meat from the market with my roommates and friends Maggie and Raquel. Delish. And of course, crepes. Although Lindsay tried a waffle and that may have changed my life. It was SO GOOD! I just may have to get one next time. Then we went to see the movie Valentine’s Day in one of the English movie theatres around here. It was dumb, but cute. It was weird that the movie was in English, but had Spanish subtitles. I tried to read some of the Spanish and follow along for practice. I noticed that movies definitely don’t translate all that well. Certain jokes and expressions just don’t transfer from language to language. Tonight Jon and I are going to plan our Paris trip. And that is my Valentine’s Day.

This weekend Lindsay and Ilana came to visit me in Barcelona! We had such a great, busy and exhausting time. It feels so good to see your best friends. I missed Sherry so much though. It truly felt like someone was missing. They arrived Thursday afternoon, while I was still in class, but Rikki met up with them and took them back to our apartment. Then they had lunch somewhere on Passeig de Gracia and I met them at Zara as soon as my class ended. We went back to the apartment shortly after and caught up for a bit. That night we took them to Bubo Bar for delicious tapas for dinner, crepes and then Chuptios and the Dow Jones bar. I thought the Dow Jones bar was cool, but overrated. We decided to save the clubs for Friday because we wanted to do a lot during the day.

That turned out to be a very smart decision because what a busy Friday we had! We got up early and took the metro and Funicular up to Tibidabo an old amusement park that offers some of the best views of the city. Once there, we went on one of the rides that slowly brought you up about a hundred feet into the air. The view was spectacular. After Tibidabo, we got sandwiches, chocolate, cookies and water and took them to eat at Park Guell for a little picnic. I went to the park one of my first days here with CEA, but I was so exhausted that I didn’t fully appreciate it. It really is beautiful and I am excited to spend a day there with a book and my Ipod when it becomes warmer outside. Then we went to show Re and Lanz Sagrada Familia. At this point, we had been walking for hours so we came home for a siesta before dinner. We went to Paella for dinner at Siete Portes, which is located in one of the oldest buildings in Barcelona. It was a great meal. However, at the beginning of the meal the waiter brought a bowl of bread to the table. There were four of us and the bowl contained four very small pieces of bread and some different oils to dip. When we got our bill, we found that we were charged 2.40 euros per piece of bread! How ridiculous. The waiter never asked us if we wanted bread and it didn’t say anywhere on the menu that they would charge us for the bread. We argued with waiter and he finally agreed to only charge us for two pieces, but still. I found that very rude. I knew it was somewhat customary here to charge for bread, but I think that it at least should be noted on the menu. That night we went out to the clubs and Lindsay learned to salsa dance from a local guy there. The Carnival here is starting soon, so the club was all decked out with decorations and these two scary figures on stilts that were very inappropriate! We didn’t get home until past 5 a.m. but we wanted to wake up early again to make the most of their last day.

Friday morning we got up and went to the Boqueria. The gummy man was very nice and gave us great deals! We had been planning on renting bikes for a few hours, but it ended up being very cold and drizzly so instead we walked to El Raval and to the Born area. It is so nice having visitors because it forces me to be super productive and organized with my planning. I kind of liked being the tour guide and think I did a very good job. I was a little sad when they left and now but now I can’t wait to visit them in London! And Becca in Prague

Madrid

Another week gone by. Time is strange. So fast at times and slow at others. Last Sunday I went to the Picasso museum because it's free on Sundays. It was pretty amazing. They have sooo much of his artwork, including a lot of scrap drawings. It was interesting to see how his style evolved as time went on and how the different cities he lived in influenced his art.

Lindsay's friend from Maryland, Ryan, was also here visiting during the week. He is studying abroad for the year in England. His British friend, Will, also joined us for two nights. It was a lot of fun having guests. This week will make it three weeks in a row with friends! Tuesday night we went to dinner with my friend from my teen tour, Sam. I have so many weird connections here, it's strange. We ate at Taller de Tapas and it was very good. I like tapas because you get to try so many different foods.

Wednesday night Ryan and Will kindly took us out to dinner to thank us for having them over. It was very sweet. We went to a place called Mosquito Tapas in the Born district, so obviously we had to have crepes after. Yum. It was an asian fusion tapas place. Delish, but the food took an hour to come and I was starving!

On Friday morning, we left for Madrid for the weekend. It was so much fun. I really, really, really liked Madrid. It felt very different from Barcelona, much more metropolitan. We took a two and a half hour train there with CEA. Met some nice people at lunch and hung out with them for the rest of the day. We just walked around and explored. At night, we met up with Lindsay's friend Emily, who is studying abroad in Madrid through the Syracuse program. We went to a really fun bar/club called Sol and Sombra. I'd like to find that kind of place in Barcelona. It had a much more laid back vibe.

On Saturday, we made three new friends from CEA and we all went to the Parque del Retiro. It was stunning. We took a paddle boat out and had a great time. After that, we went to the Prado museum. It was huge. At night, we went to a pretty big club called Orange Cafe. There were a lot of locals there, which made it fun. I swear we met the Spanish Seth Rogan! I will post pictures soon.

Before we left today I got to meet up with Lara and we had chocolate covered churros. Very good, but nothing beats a strawberry and nutella crepe. Now I'm back in Barcelona, getting very excited for Lindsay and Ilana's visit on Thursday! I am also planning on booking the rest of my trips very soon. Barrie and I are now thinking of going to Budapest, Istanbul and Dubrovnik?! Traveling is exhausting, but I sure do love it.

February and March Travel Plans

My next two months:

2/5-2/7 Madrid with CEA

2/11-2/13 Re and Lanz in Barcelona and Carnival!

2/19-2/21 Visiting Becca in Prague!

2/25-2/28 London

3/5-3/7 San Sebastian with CEA

3/12-3/21 Jon in Barcelona for the week and Paris for the weekend

3/25-4/3 Sevilla, Granada and Barcelona with the fam

Life is good.

Now I need to book some trips for April and the first half of May before I go to Amsterdam for a few days to stay with Denice. I want to go to Budapest, Nice and possibly Turkey? I'm pretty open-minded. I just really want to go to places I haven't been before. Any suggestions?

The Week of Old Friends!

Wow, what a busy but good week it has been. On Monday I had class and then I went to a volunteering orientation. I’d like to volunteer while I’m here, but for most of the opportunities, intermediate to advanced Spanish is required. Hopefully, my low intermediate Spanish will cut it. My first choice is to work with kids through the YMCA. (In Spain, they pronounce this Im-ka) I find that funny. Hopefully, I will be contacted for an interview this week. At 11:30 p.m., Denice’s flight landed and luckily everything went super smoothly. She caught the Aerobus into Plaza Catalunya for only four euros and then took a taxi to my apartment. It was amazing to see her. I think you know you have a good friendship with someone when it feels like you saw them last week, even though it has really been a year and half. We stayed up till 3:30 a.m. just catching up and then went to sleep because I had class on Tuesday.

Tuesday morning we made Toasties for breakfast and I have now eaten one everyday since. I missed them so much. I went to class at 1:30 p.m. and Denice hung with Rikki and then met me after my class ended that afternoon. We shopped around Las Ramblas and just laughed and caught up some more and had an incredible time. That night we went to a club called Shoto with Rikki and Lindsay. We had so much fun. We met guys from the Russian basketball team and they invited us to their game against Barcelona on Thursday, but Denice was leaving at 6:30 a.m. that morning. Too bad, that would have been really cool.

On Wednesday, Denice and I got up relatively early and started our day of exploring. We went to Port Vell, which was beautiful and sunny. Then we went to a big flea market and browsed. After that, we attempted to find one of Den’s favorite stores, Saint Tropez, but we failed miserably. I had looked it up on Google maps, but I think Den had the wrong address. We tried asking a bunch of people for directions, but the language barrier makes it very difficult when the directions are complicated. We just came back to La Boqueria and Denice got some gummies. I have a feeling I’ll be going there everytime I have a guest! At this point, we were completely exhausted from doing so much walking, so we came back to rest. After reloading, we went out for tapas with Rikki and Lindsay in El Born and had delicious crepes once again. We also went to Chupitos again for a bit and then Denice and I went back and had our final catch-up. Luckily, I will be going to Holland for a week in May, so the goodbye wasn’t too hard. Denice woke up at 4 a.m. and took a taxi to the airport. Her visit really brightened up my trip. I’m so happy she came.

Thursday, it was back to routine. Even though I have been doing a ton of walking here, I decided I was also eating so many crepes and gelato and I didn’t want to stop! So, I joined the gym around the block with Lindsay. I am actually really glad. I think my body missed the gym. It felt incredibly good and the gym is super close and convenient. I won’t be able to go on the weekends when I am traveling, so I am aiming to go three or four times during the week.

On Friday, CEA organized a day trip for us to Montserrat and Sitges. Montserrat is a monastery very high up in the mountains. The views are supposed to be some of the best, but unfortunately it was a foggy day and very cold. After that, we had a traditional Catalan lunch, calcotada. It was a humongous 10-course meal. I have never eaten so much food in my life. The Catalan’s favorite part of the meal is the spring onions, which are brought to the table in a huge pile. They are charred are you are supposed to peel off the layers from the bottom and dip them into romesco sauce. I actually found them quite tasty. It was a very interesting experience. After that, we went to Sitges, a gorgeous beach town. I am so excited for the weather to be warm here! The Carnival is also supposed to be topnotch there.

Saturday, I met up with my friend Barrie. We did a summer program together at Penn the summer before our senior years of high school. It was so much fun to see her. We wanted to go to Tibidabo, an old amusement park up on the mountains, but when we got to the tram to take us up, they told us it was closed! We ended up going to El Born, which has become one of my favorite and most frequented places here. For dinner, we decided on Mexican at a place called Chido One. I couldn’t read any of the menu, except for guacamole, so that is what I ordered. It was delicious. I think I was in avocado withdrawal. At night we went to Ribelinos, one of the clubs that was being promoted for the night. It was a lot of fun, but I always miss Jon when I’m out.

I did a lot of catching up with old friends this week, which is something I always like to do. I hope this week is as good as this past one. I am falling more and more in love with Barcelona. The city has so much to offer everyone. I am very excited to show all my guests around.

La Boqueria, Born and Montjuïc

I am going to pick up from where I left off. Overall, it has been a really great week. On Wednesday, I am proud to say that I made it to the Sarria campus all by myself. I have the same professor for both of my business classes. She is Romanian and seems very easygoing. I think those classes will be quite easy.

On Thursday night we went to this bar called Chupitos. Chupitos means shots and they literally had about 500 different shots to choose from with names such as Harry Potter and Bob Marley. We tried a shot called the Boy Scout. The bartender poured the shots, then lit them on fire. Then she gave us a marshmallow on a stick and we roasted them in the fire, ate them, and then took the shot. It was great. We had a lot of fun, but it was very smoky. I hate that people are allowed to smoke inside bars and restaurants.

Friday was my favorite day in Spain so far. We woke up early and went to La Boqueria, which is a huge market full of fresh fruits and veggies, meat, seafood and best of all—chocolates and gummies! The gummies are so beautifully displayed. I took a lot of pictures that I will put up soon. Then we walked to the Born district, which is a great area full of cute shops and restaurants. We shopped a little and then got drinks and sat at an outdoor café and people watched. We were hungry after that but we forced ourselves to wait—most restaurants don’t even open until 8 p.m. for dinner anyway. I bought my first shirt at Topshop. I love that store. We went to sushi for dinner at a restaurant called Komomoto. The sushi was very fresh and good but the portions were very small and it was expensive for how little food it was. As the waiter was clearing the table, he picked up my glass bottle of water (you have to pay for water here—ugh!) and dropped it on the cement table, shattering it all over me. I had huge pieces of glass in my lap and shards all over my arms. Luckily, I didn’t get hurt at all. I was very startled though and a little taken aback. The waiter didn’t speak much English but he helped me brush it off. The manager came over and offered us free cocktails, but we weren’t in the mood at that point. We said we would prefer to have stuff just taken off the bill. He took off about $6 worth of food off our bill, even though the cocktails we were offered were worth $24. We asked for more, but they said no. This was a time where I missed American customer service. I was pretty annoyed at the way they handled the situation, but what can you do. Fortunately, to my immense happiness we were very close to Crepes de Barcelona and I ordered a delicious strawberry and nutella crepe that more than made up for it! The guy working in the crepe store was Polish and had an American girlfriend that he met while she was studying abroad. He was super sweet and smart and we had a nice conversation with him about American politics and current events. It was a really cool night. I felt very happy. It is days and moments like those that are the reason I came here.

Yesterday, we took the Metro to Poble Sec. We then took a connecting Metro to the base of Montjuïc and then a gondala all the way up to the top. We got a breathtaking view of the city. We also got to see the Montjuïc castle. After exploring the area for awhile, we sat at a bench overlooking the city and the water and listened to music. I also read my guide book on Barcelona and thought about next weekend’s adventures! We went out last night but it was soooo crowded. I couldn’t even move. Fail.

Sunday is the lazy day. I did laundry. We don’t have a dryer so I had to put all my clothes on a drying rack. I am also going to practice Spanish, Skype and watch a movie. Denice comes tomorrow night. I am beyond excited!

First Day of Classes, etc.

So, what can I tell you about the last few days. Going out was a lot of fun, but so not conducive to my sleeping schedule. We didn’t even leave until 1 a.m. and we got home past 4 a.m.! We went to a big dance club and met a group of nice British guys who were having a Bachelor party! Since we got home so late, we slept until 2 on Saturday and kind of wasted the day. What we learned is that the best night to go out the latest is Saturday night, because on Sunday the whole city of Barcelona basically shuts down. Most stores and attractions are closed and the whole city rests. Saturday night we went into the Born district and went to a really delicious tapas place called Bubo Bar that Tara had recommended me. They had scrumptious patatas bravas, just like she promised. After, we went to an Irish bar, George Payne, and watched Barcelona beat Sevilla 4-0! I am excited to go to a game for real. On Sunday we practiced the metro. I asked to navigate because so far I have just been following Rikki around. She has a great sense of direction but I’m going to have to get to class on my own, so I figured I better learn. My classes on Monday and Wednesdays are at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona at the Sarria campus. To get there I have to walk 15 minutes to the metro, take a 10 minute metro ride and then walk 10 minutes to the campus! Ah. On the way there, I took us a really long way because I used Google maps to get the directions and since it was driving directions it avoided the one-way only roads. Luckily, on the way back, we figured out a shorter route. I wrote all the directions down. I hope I find my way on Wednesday! I am going to leave very early. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have classes at the CEA Main Campus and the CEA COACB. Both of these buildings are a 10 minute walk from my apartment, so that won’t be too bad. Yesterday, I had orientation for the UAB classes in the rain. What a drag. At night we went to the George Payne bar and met a lot of nice people. A lot of them were doing the API. It is a much smaller program that kind of seems nicer. Oh well. I found out that Denice is coming to visit me in Barcelona next Monday! I am so excited. I haven’t seen her in almost two years. She is staying until Thursday morning. We have so much to catch up on. Today I started class. First I had history. My teacher is British and very adorable. Then I had Spanish. My professor is super sweet but talks so fast in Spanish. I definitely think I will learn a lot that. But I won’t be able to zone out even for a second because then I will be so lost. It actually felt good to have class—it provides structure to the day, which is needed. I want the rain to stop! It has been raining the past three days! What happened to the beautiful weather that was promised?!

Awful Travel Day

Wow, what a nightmare it was getting to Barcelona. My flight to London was great—I slept the entire time, but when I arrived at Heathrow, I was informed that my connecting flight to Barcelona at 11:30 a.m. was cancelled because of snow. By snow, I mean barely an inch of slush on the ground. Luckily, I found one of my roommates Lindsay and together we located a lovely British man who helped us rebook a 4:15 p.m. flight. We decided to make sure our luggage would still be sent on and we got lost going between terminals. We literally went back and forth, up and down, a dozen times before being sent to wait in a line that we thought was about luggage. After waiting for an hour and barely moving, we realized we were in the wrong line. We gave up and had lunch and then just sat for the next few hours. Finally, we went to through customs to go wait for our flight. The screen told us to wait for the gate to show up. We waited. And waited. It got delayed. We waited some more and explored a bit. The airport is ridiculous. There were so many designer stores. Do people really buy that stuff at the airport? Anyways, we finally got to the gate and we had to take a bus to get to the plane. Once we boarded the plane, we were told that we needed to wait because someone who was supposed to be on the plane didn’t show up so they needed to take off all our luggage to find hers to take off. Fine. Another hour goes by. We miss our takeoff time and are sent to the back of the line. Then the girl in front of me lost her passport. We spend the next 15 minutes looking for it before she finds it in between her seat. The flight itself was fine—I slept a little. When we landed we went to go get our luggage. Luckily I found mine right away but poor Lindsay’s never showed up. She just found out they are still in London. We had to wait at the airport until everyone in CEA got their luggage and then we got on our bus to go to our hotels. Rikki, our third roommate was very sweet and was waiting up for us. At this point it was past 3 a.m. I had been traveling for over 24 hours! Woke up the next morning to go to orientation at 9 a.m. We made it to the first one but then napped for the next three hours. It had been a long day. Went on a bus tour around the city, which was nice and had our first dinner out. Barcelona is such a beautiful city.

Now, we just moved into our apartment and it is AMAZING. It is gorgeous and big. Three bedrooms, a nice kitchen, a porch, a washing machine and it is right next to the market. I'm so pleased. Feeling much better. I unpacked and finally feel settled. In a few minutes we are going to buy some extra necessities for our apartment and get groceries and then tonight we are going to go out.

Two Hours Until the Airport!

Ahh! I am hours away from heading to the airport. I have been on and off nervous and excited all week. The last hour of my sleep this morning consisted of nightmares of missing my connecting flight from London to Barcelona. All in all, I am trying to stay optimistic. I realize how lucky I am to have been given this amazing opportunity. I better enjoy it now because next year at this time I will most likely be looking for a job! I sort of want to fast forward and just be settled in my apartment already but I am going to try and enjoy each new experience. One of my goals for the next few months is to really live in the moment. I'm the type of person that always has countdowns and is always looking forward to something. While there are certainly some specific times I am especially excited for, I am going to really try to enjoy each day. I will try to blog often and post pictures and stories from all my adventures. Adios for now!