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.