Firenze!

We arrived to Florence around 2pm on Tuesday and found ourselves in a huge train station that was really nice but different than we were used to seeing.  We walked out and had a little trouble figuring out the directions to the hostel but we ended up asking someone and finding our way.  The hostel was right next to the Duomo which turned out to be an awesome location and easy to find since everyone always knew where the Duomo was so we could easily get back.  The hostel itself was really nice too.  It was very clean and had a lot of convenient facilities.  They even had free wine and pasta at 6:30 every evening.  The only downside was that the internet was a little unreliable and for some reason my computer refused to connect to the wifi most of the time.  We dropped off our stuff and asked the woman at the desk where we would be able to buy something that would upload pictures from Mackenzie’s memory card.  She was very helpful and told us a couple of places.  We went to one that didn’t have it but told us of a camera store to try that might.  The camera store didn’t have it either so we tried the other place she recommended.  On the way to the third place there was a street vendor with stacks of big paintings that he was selling.  We stopped briefly to look and I saw one I liked and he said it was 15 euro.  I said I couldn’t pay that much and he asked me how much I could pay and I said 5 and he gave it to me for 5!  This all happened in less than a minute and the next thing I knew I was walking away with a painting that I had barely looked at.  I liked the one I got a lot but it was just funny how fast it all happened.  I found out later that someone had gotten some of the same posters 3 for 25 so I definitely got myself a deal!  As for the memory card reader third time was a charm and we found exactly what we needed at the third store for 16 euro which was well worth being able to take pictures the rest of our trip.

After we found our memory card reader we wandered around Florence.  The city was beautiful with really pretty buildings, awesome shops, and a lot of historical sights.  Not to mention the food everywhere looked and smelled delicious.  There were numerous gelaterias around every corner piled high with various flavors of gelato.  We found an outside market where vendors were selling all sorts of leather items (Florence is known for its leather) and souvenirs.  It was fun to look around at all of the stuff.  Everyone in Florence spoke English which was nice because we didn’t know any Italian.  However Italian and Spanish are very similar so we could understand a lot of it.  We found a place to eat that seemed reasonably priced and ended up splitting a bottle of wine and eating pasta for about 12 euro each.  We also found a supermarket and bought some wine to drink that night.

Once back at the hostel Mackenzie got in touch with one of her friends who was studying in Florence named David and we made plans to meet him at his apartment that night and then go to a bar with him where they were having a beer pong tournament.  We got ready and walked down to his apartment wine in hand.  The layout of Florence is very similar to Sevilla with a river running through it.  However Florence is much smaller as we realized when walking from our place to across the river took about ten minutes while in Sevilla it took about 30.  David’s apartment was really nice and he was living with a man who had just retired and was in cooking school in Florence and two indians from New York.  The retired man was really cool and even pulled out his knifes to show us and showed us pictures of some of the food he had made.  We all hung out at the apartment for a bit and drank before we headed over to the bar.

The bar was pretty crowded but it had a nice dance area, beer pong area, and bar area so there was a little bit of everything.  It was fun to experience the nightlife in another city.  When we were about to leave the bar David told us about a secret bakery that we could go to.  He pointed in the general direction but he didn’t know exactly where it was.  Mackenzie and I started walking that way and eventually decided to ask people where the “secret bakery” was.  Surprisingly one guy knew exactly what we were talking about and took us straight there.  Apparently it is a place that bakes pastries and pizza for restaurants the next day and secretly they sell the stuff they are making late at night.  It was literally a glass door that you knock on and then one of the bakers sticks his head out the door and asks what you want.  Then you wait and eventually he brings you out the food and you give him money.  Thankfully shortly after we got there another group of girls got there who were American but spoke some Italian and knew how the secret bakery worked so they ordered our food for us.  I got a cream doughnut and Mackenzie got 2 cream doughnuts and a slice of pizza.  It was all one euro each which was awesome for freshly baked pastries and pizza.  We started walking back in the general direction and I decided I needed some real food after having something so sweet so I stopped and got a kabob.  It was delicious!  We kept walking and eventually ran upon a group of American students who helped point us in the right direction of the Duomo.  After that we found our hostel and I went to sleep as Mackenzie went on a facebook spree.

Wednesday morning we woke up relatively early and went downstairs for breakfast.  The hostel had an amazing breakfast complete with fruit salad, croissants, pastries, cereal, and coffee.  They even had cute little nutella packets.  After breakfast we walked around Florence some more and went back to the market to buy souvenirs.  We also went in some other clothing stores but didn’t buy anything.  For lunch we went to a sandwich place featured in the Let’s Go book that was really good.  I got a sandwich with Tuscan ham, fresh cheese, lettuce, and tomato.  All of the ingredients were extremely fresh and they even cut the meat there.  It was really good.  We also wandered upon a gelato place that was in the same book shortly after and decided we had to try it.  They had a chocolate flavor that was something like 70% coco so I guess dark chocolate that basically tasted like fudge.  It was amazing.  After gelato, we wandered to the river and looked at all the jewelry on one of the bridges that was lined with jewelry shops.  Mackenzie bought a big thing of water at a place but after she opened it she realized it was carbonated water which was gross so we ended up finding a supermarket where she could buy normal water.  After a few hours we went back to the hostel and took a nap.

When we woke up we went to the Ufizzi Gallery which we read was good to go to near the end of the day because the line is shorter.  The guide book was dead on.  We walked right in and even inside there weren’t many people.  My Let’s Go book also had a section that talked about the highlights of what we were seeing in a comical way which was nice.  The art was cool and we had just enough time in the gallery to appreciate it without being bored out of our minds.

When we got back to the hostel after the gallery the free wine and pasta was out along with some watermelon which was really good.  We got in touch with another one of Mackenzie’s friends who studied here and was about to fly back home and made plans to meet her for dinner at one of her favorite pizza places called Gusta Pizza.  We found the place and met up with her friend Brielle.  All three of us ordered pizza margherita which was amazing.  Best pizza I’ve had so far definitely.  We’ll see how it compares to the pizza in Naples which she talks about in Eat Pray Love.  After we ate our pizza she took us to a gelato place which was obviously good.  Then we went back to the hostel, showered, and went to sleep since we planned to get up early the next morning.

Thursday morning we woke up early so we could go see David in the Accademia Gallery without waiting in line for too long.  When we got there around 8:30 there was already a line but we only had to wait for about 45 minutes instead of the hours we would have waited later in the day.  Inside there were tons of really cool sculptures but of course the most amazing was David.  It was crazy how big he was and how detailed everything on him was.  We sat down and looked at him for awhile while I tried to sneak pictures on my phone since you weren’t allowed to take pictures.

After the Accademia we got our stuff and walked to the train station.  The line was forever long to buy our train reservations and it moved really slowly since there were only like two people working.  We bought our reservations to Rome and went ahead and got our reservations to Venice too.  Now we are sitting on the train to Rome and should get there around 1pm.  For every hostel so far the directions have been on the confirmation which I printed out.  Unfortunately I didn’t notice that the directions weren’t on the confirmation for Rome and instead there was a link to a place to get directions.  I’m not sure exactly how we’re going to find it but that should be an interesting experience when we get there.

Cinque Terre!

Sunday we finally got to Cinque Terre after three train rides a little after four.  From the train we had seen the gorgeous views of the water so we had a taste of what laid ahead.  When we left the train station there was one main road that was seriously uphill surrounded by colorful buildings on each side.  Thankfully the office of the place we were staying was near the bottom of the hill.  We checked in and were put in a four person dorm room which was basically an apartment complete with a small kitchen, table and chairs, and a bathroom.  However to get to the apartment we had to walk up a serious set of steps which was a struggle with our bags.  The guy showing us our room didn’t even offer to help.  I managed to make it by myself and thankfully a guy who was walking up at the same time offered to carry Mackenzie’s bag for her.  When we got to the room the guy that carried Mackenzie’s bag happened to be one of our roommates.

After we took a breather and set our stuff down we wandered around the town.  All the food smelled so good!  We couldn’t wait for dinner.  The lady who checked us in told us about a spot that had free wifi because someone didn’t have a password for it but nobody knew whose it was.  If you sat in a small square next to the church at the top of the hill though you magically had this pretty fast wifi.  After that we wandered back down the hill and into a wine store where the owner was describing some of the wines to someone which we listened to very interested.  It also had pesto which Cinque Terre is also known for in addition to wine.  We went to a few more shops and I bought a post card and we bought breakfast for the two mornings we were staying.

We dropped off our breakfast and walked down to the beach.  It was sooo gorgeous!  There were cute, colorful little boats, gorgeous rocky cliffs, and a pebbly beach.  It was a scene straight from a painting.  We ended up sitting down and watching the sun start to set.  In the process we met two guys who were cliff jumping which was fun to watch and we decided we definitely had to do it the next day.  After about an hour we headed back to the hostel briefly and went to find something to eat.  We sat down in a little cafe and ordered Cinque Terre’s signature wine which was a sweet dessert wine and was really good.  We split bruschetta for an appetizer that had pesto, mozzarella, oregano, salt, olive oil, and tomato which was probably one of the best things I have ever tasted in my whole entire life.  One bite and I was in another world.  For our main course we each got a class of red wine and a pasta with pesto on it.  It was really good but not quite as amazing at the bruschetta.  After dinner we headed back to the hostel to organize our things and get in bed early so we would be well rested for our hiking adventure the next day.

Monday we woke up around 8am and got ready for our hike.  We decided to put our bathing suits and towels in one backpack and then alternate who carried it.  We bought our pass to the park and walked the first trail connecting Riomaggiore and Manarola which was really easy.  It was called “via del amor” and there was a tradition to close a lock around the various gates with your significant other and then throw away the key to symbolize everlasting love.  I thought it was a cute tradition.  The views from the path were gorgeous and it was right along the coast.  We arrived to Manarola and it was cute and small like Riomaggiore.  I got a scoop of gelato because I heard it was really good there even though it was only like 11am.  We started on the next trail and then realized it was closed.  We found a map and it turned out that 2 of the 4 trails were closed that day which was kind of disappointing.  There was another trail that was harder and a little bit longer that also connected Manarola to the next town Corniglia and we decided we were up for the challenge.  The first 30 minutes of the hike were hell.  Completely uphill in the sun with a very unstable/unclear path.  However, when we got to the top of the climb we were rewarded with gorgeous views of the countryside and the water.  We continued walking and the views got better and better.  Eventually there was a part in the shade which was nice but some of the paths were literally a couple feet wide with a cliff on the other side.  We felt extremely adventurous to say the least.

After our hike we explored Corniglia which was a cute little town on the top of a cliff.  We walked around and even met some people from Charlotte.  After we were done walking around we walked down over 300 stairs to get to the train station since the next trail was closed and we didn’t realize there was another trail we could have taken.  We waited what seemed like forever for the train but eventually made it to Vernazza.  It may have been because we got off the train with a bunch of other people but it seemed a lot more busy and touristy than the other towns.  It was pretty and had a nice beach but it just seemed crowded to me.  We ate lunch there but not very cheaply because Mackenzie was set on eating mussels while we were there and only the more expensive places had them.  I ordered spaghetti with tomato sauce which was really good and Mackenzie enjoyed her mussels.  There was a 2.50 euro service charge each which seemed a little much but there was nothing we could do about it.

We started the next hike after lunch to the final town called Monterosso.  It was pretty difficult but not as hard as the second one we did.  It was also a lot more crowded than the others had been which was difficult since the paths were so small and it was hard to let people pass.  Eventually we got into a spot where there weren’t quite as many people.  The hike was nice and the views were gorgeous as always but my favorite part was near the end of the hike there was a cute local farmer with a lemonade stand right off the path.  He made fresh lemonade with the lemons from his garden so we decided it was worth the 2 euro to get some.  It was amazing.  I could have drank it all day long.  He also had bottles of homemade limoncello which is a strong lemon drink that is a specialty of the region that we had been meaning to try.  A lady who stopped at the same time bought a small cup of it and let us taste it.  We really liked it so decided to get a bottle of that too.

When we finally reached Monterosso we headed straight for the beach.  We were soaked in sweat and covered in dirt and my running shoes that were extremely white when we started were then brown.  We changed behind towels on the beach and then jumped in the water which was extremely refreshing.  After swimming around a bit we swam over to where a group of people were jumping off rocks.  We each jumped off one of them that looked a lot higher when you were up there than when you looked from the water.  It was really fun though and definitely worth it.  We spent about an hour at the beach relaxing and enjoying the water before we decided to go.

We took a train back to Riomaggiore but Mackenzie didn’t have time to buy a ticket and the train was coming so we ran to the train and jumped on hoping they weren’t going to check for tickets.  Thankfully they didn’t and I was a little pissed off I had spent almost 2 euro on mine.  Oh well at least I was a good citizen.  Back in Riomaggiore we dropped off our stuff and then tried to go get free wifi at the church but it wasn’t working.  We stopped by a wine shop and bought souvenirs and then got take out pizza which my guide book said was delicious.  There was a cafe that you could get wifi at if you bought something so we took our pizza there and bought drinks.  The pizza was amazing, especially the slice I got that had cheese, pesto, and tomato.  I also got a white wine from Cinque Terre which was really good.  She gave us the password before we ate our meal and then we tried to use the wifi.  It wasn’t working and eventually I asked her and apparently it expired 30 minutes after we bought something even though she said nothing about that beforehand.  Overall the staff at the cafe were the only rude people we have met since we have been traveling.

We took our souvenirs and laptops back to our apartment and our roommate was there.  She was an older lady from New Zealand who had just retired and was traveling.  She was extremely nice and sweet and we really enjoyed talking to her.  When I was talking about Rome and Florence she even pulled out her maps of the cities to show me and gave me some pointers.  Then we told her about our camera problems and she had some kind of device that let us but the memory card in it and then upload the pictures to my computer.  Finally we could upload pictures!  We aren’t sure exactly what we are going to do the rest of the trip but it was nice to get those loaded and have more room on the memory card.  We tried one more time to get internet that night but it wasn’t working.

We woke up today (Tuesday) around 7:15 so we could start making our way to Florence.  We got to the train station and figured out that there was a train to Pisa so we waited about 30 minutes for that.  The train ride was only about an hour and a half and we got off where we saw a stop that said Pisa.  However the building was not open and it looked deserted.  We wanted to lock up our stuff and go take pictures with the leaning tower but we couldn’t get inside the building to find lockers.  We ran into two other girls trying to do the same thing and decided to roll all of our luggage with us to the tower.  The tower wasn’t too far away and it was pretty cool.  I didn’t realize there were other cool buildings around it I thought it was just the tower.  We took the typical holding the tower up pictures and some other ones and then decided to head back to the train station.  Back at the station I couldn’t figure out how to go to Florence.  Our timetable said Pisa Centrale and we were at another station.  I ended up asking somebody and it turned out we had to go to the main station in Pisa to get the train to Florence.  Thankfully there was a train going to Pisa Centrale about 5 minutes after I figured that out.  The train ride was short and as soon as we got there we saw that there was one going to Florence in 3 minutes so we ran through the station and hopped on the train which was thankfully near the platform we got off at.

We are now sitting on the train to Florence ready for city number 3 of our journey.  This trip is already going by so quickly.  Hopefully in Florence we will be able to find an answer to our camera problems.  Everyone we’ve talked to says Florence is lovely so I’m sure we will enjoy it.  Mackenzie thinks one of the wheels on her bag is broken so hopefully it will still work or that is going to cause some major problems.  We have looked a little ridiculous trying to get our bags around everywhere.  In Pisa we even resorted to carrying them across the railroad tracks instead of taking the stairs down and then up the subway.  If I ever travel like this again I’m definitely going to do it backpack style.  We just couldn’t really do it for this trip since we spent 6 weeks studying abroad beforehand.  But anyways we should be in Florence in about 30 minutes and hopefully we don’t have too much trouble finding the hostel.

Nice! ... "so chic"

So I’m writing this blog from the train on the way to Genova where we are going to get a bus to where we are staying in Cinque Terre.  We have successfully started our eurail passes and I think that makes us officially European travelers.  So anyways last time I blogged I was packing in Sevilla...

After I was basically packed Sara and I walked to Plaza de España so I could finally see it.  Somehow I managed to go six weeks without seeing this gorgeous plaza.  I’m not sure about the history behind it but it was so pretty.  There was a fountain in the middle and then this huge building surrounding it.  There was pretty tile everywhere too.  The plaza was surrounded by a park which was also really pretty.  We stopped at a water fountain to drink some “magical” water and Sara stuck her toes in a small pool.  We walked along the river to the churros stand so we could finally taste “churros con chocolate” which were amazingly good.  It was some kind of fried dough that you dip in hot chocolate.  We walked back and picked up some mixers on the way back so we could finish off the alcohol we had left/make ourselves going away drinks.

Back at the apartment we made our drinks and I finished packing.  The lemonade I bought to mix with was really good and on the side it recommended using it to make cocktails which was very appropriate.  We had our last dinner together which was so much food Sara stuffed some in a napkin to save for later.  After dinner we told Charo we wanted a picture with her but she was in her pajamas so she put on clothes and touched up her makeup just for our picture.  Her husband Antonio took the picture of us in the living room.  Our internet wasn’t working so we couldn’t get in touch with anyone and we didn’t know what to do.  Finally we asked Charo why it wasn’t working and all she had to do was flip a switch to turn it on.  If only we had known that the whole time we were there!  We got in touch with Tyson but nobody else and I was worried how I was going to find Mackenzie.

Tyson, Sara, and I walked to Plaza de España because we wanted to take pictures in front of it at night.  Sadly it was closed and we couldn’t get in so we decided to walk to the torre where everyone usually pre-games hoping that we would find everybody else there.  Thankfully when we got there we found everyone including Mackenzie and Caroline.  Mackenzie and I made a pact that if we got split up we would meet at the bus stop at 4:20am.  We spent awhile at the torre taking pictures and drinking with everyone and then decided to walk down the street to one of the clubs.  The line to the club was forever long but we decided to wait.  When we got in we literally walked around once and decided to leave.  We stopped at the burger stand outside the club and Mackenzie split a hot dog with Kirstie.  It was getting late so we decided to head back to my apartment first to get my stuff.  Sara, Mackenzie, and I walked in, ate some bread, used the bathroom, grabbed my luggage and off we went.  Well Sara stayed there and saying goodbye was really sad.  Next stop was Mackenzie’s apartment where she was smart enough to change.  She said goodbye to her señora and we walked to the bus stop.

We waited at the bus stop until the airport bus came around 4:30am and took us to the airport.  At the airport we sat down and waited for about 20 minutes until we could check our bags.  The weight limit was 20kg and thankfully when I put on my bag it was 18.5kg.  However Mackenzie’s was 24kg so we had to go through it and throw away her spanish book and put some heavy stuff in her backpack.  When she tried again it was 21kg and the guy let her go.  We went through security without any problems and went to the airport cafeteria for breakfast.  The flight to Marseille went smoothly and we had a row of three seats to ourselves.  However mackenzie was still pretty drunk, I wasn’t feeling too good from staying up all night, and I still had on my dress and shoes from going out.  Since my dress was navy I decided to wear my uncomfortable silver shoes so I was having trouble walking to and from the plane.  As soon as we got off and walked (slowly) to baggage claim I had to sit down and Mackenzie grabbed our bags.  Just to give us a scare our bags came out near the end (Mackenzie’s was dead last).  After I got my bag I changed into more comfortable clothes and put on my running shoes which felt much better.

We knew we had to get to the train station somehow so we followed the signs saying bus/train.  When we got to where the bus was all we saw were self-serve ticket boxes in French which we obviously didn’t know how to use.  We decided to ask a group of girls that we decided were American and they showed us where the ticket desk was.  We got tickets just in time to get on the bus that was about to leave.  The bus ride was relatively short but when we got to the train station we had to figure out where to buy tickets.  We found it and thankfully there was a guy that spoke English.  We could get on a train leaving relatively soon for 50 euro or wait about 2 hours for a train that cost 22 euro.  Needless to say we waited.  Shortly after we got our tickets we smacked right into the language barrier.  We decided to get McDonald’s and didn’t understand anything the cashier was saying.  I gave up at first and then decided just to get a Big Mac meal and wipe off what I didn’t like since I didn’t know how to say plain.  I kept thinking if someone didn’t speak English they spoke Spanish so I kept accidentally trying to use my Spanish to talk to people.

We figured out where our train was and got on the train to Nice.  We got our own little compartment on the train which was really nice.  Once we got to Nice we went to the tickets area to buy seat reservations to Genova on Sunday.  Thankfully there was someone that spoke English who was extremely helpful.  She validated our eurail passes and we bought seat reservations for the second train (to get to Genova we had to connect at Ventimiglia at the Italian border).  We walked out of the train station and there was a tourist information building right next door so we went in there to get a map and directions to our hostel.  Our hostel was only a 15 minute walk away so we walked down the main road and found it easily.  The hostel was in a perfect location.  It was really close to the beach and the historical district that had a lot of cool restaurants and shops.

After we put down our stuff in the room and changed we walked down to the beach.  It was sooo pretty.  There were mountains in the distance and cute little houses on the hills.  The water was Gatorade frost blue and instead of sand there were small rocks which wasn’t the most comfortable thing but was really cool.  We had arrived to the French Riviera!!  Everything was really stylish and there was a place where you could buy day beds which was expensive but very cool looking.  After a couple hours on the beach we went back to the hostel and showered and changed.  On the way back to the hostel we went inside the ironman expo.  Apparently there was an ironman being held the Sunday we were there which was kind of cool.  We saw runners, swimmers, and bikers everywhere.  Back at the hostel, I read my “Let’s Go Europe” book and found a place that had socca (a traditional dish in Nice and other nearby towns, it’s on wikipedia) and other fried food for cheap.  We walked around the historical district and couldn’t find it so finally I saw people looking at a map and speaking English so I asked them.  They helped us find it on the map and then we had no trouble finding the restaurant ourselves.  We sat down at one of the tables outside and a waiter came up to us.  He didn’t speak English and we couldn’t figure out what he was saying to us and then finally he said “self service” and we looked across and saw where you order your food.  Thankfully the person at the counter spoke some English and could tell us what the food was in English.  We got socca and fried white fish.  I normally hate fish and refuse to eat it but I was feeling adventurous.  We sat back down and looked at the wine list.  We didn’t know what anything meant but we saw “blanc deux” for 1.80 and we knew blanc meant white so we went for it.  It was extremely good!  We both loved it.  Looking in my phrase book I found out that deux meant sweet.  The socca was also good and even the fish was good!  I put lemon and salt on it but I was very impressed with myself.

After we ate we walked down to a gelato place I had also read about in my book and got some gelato.  It was really good and made us look forward to Italy.  After ice cream we walked around the cute streets of Nice.  Everything was really cute and clean and we found a little market that we walked up and down a few times.  After that we were exhausted and decided to go back to the hostel to sleep.  The beds were amazing!  The pillows were foam, the mattresses were extremely comfortable, and I think the comforter was some kind of down.  Needless to say we fell right asleep.

The next day we woke up early so we could get a good amount of beach time before our day trip to Monaco.  We had cereal, toast, juice, and coffee and the hostel for breakfast which was really good.  Then we walked down to the beach and dozed on the beach for awhile.  It was really hot and sunny so the water felt really good.  Around 1:30 we walked back up to the hostel and stopped by a supermarket on the way back where I bought some bars that were kind of like nutrigrain bars to snack on.  We showered and got ready at the hostel and then walked to the bus stop where we got right on the bus which was only one euro.  The bus ride was breathtaking.  We traveled right alongside the French Riviera and saw gorgeous beaches, ports, houses, and mountains.  When we got to Monaco we didn’t know exactly where to get off the bus so we chose a random stop.  There were a lot of people climbing up these steps so we decided to follow.  As we got higher and higher the view became better and better.  We finally got to the top and could see all of the country.  All of the expensive houses, nice cars, yachts, and shops.  We spent awhile looking out in awe and taking pictures.

After that we walked around the top for awhile where we found the palace, the cathedral, pretty gardens, and all sorts of cool buildings and gorgeous views.  There were pictures of the prince and his fiance everywhere which reminded us of the royal wedding in London.  Eventually we wandered back down in order to find Monte Carlo.  We walked next to the harbor and saw huge yachts and expensive cars.  Eventually we found our way to Monte Carlo and went inside.  We didn’t want to pay to go inside the actual casino but we saw the rest of the inside of the building.  There was a line of extremely nice cars parked out front and a pretty garden scene complete with flowers and a mirrored ball where you could see the reflection of the casino.  Walking back from the casino we passed countless designer shops including Cartier and Louis Vuitton.  I couldn’t afford any of the sit down restaurants for dinner so I stopped by one of the sandwich stalls instead and got a panini with tomato, basil, and cheese.  After that we walked back to the bus stop and hopped right on a bus back to Nice.

Back in Nice we went back to the gelato place and Mackenzie got a crepe with ice cream, chocolate, and banana for dinner and I got a scoop of gelato.  After we finished eating we walked back along the same market and I bought a small painting that was really pretty.  We then sat down and had a glass of wine outside where there was a man singing which was nice.  After drinks we walked alongside the beach and saw a bunch of really cool buildings including a casino and a huge hotel.  Eventually we wandered back to the hostel and went to sleep.

The next morning we woke up and had breakfast and walked out to the beach for a nice long beach day.  I spent the day laying out listening to music and occasionally going in the water when I got too hot.  There was something going on but we never figured out what because there was a helicopter constantly flying over, a police boat, and a scuba diver that came out of the helicopter.  They had to be looking for something but as I said we never figured out what.  After a long day at the beach we went back to the hostel to shower and get ready for dinner.  I was burnt.  I had applied sunscreen regularly but I had missed some spots and the sunscreen I was using that I bought in Spain was not very good sunscreen.  It literally was anti-waterproof.  But anyways I put on a dress and we went to a restaurant that we read about in my book.  It was 18.50 for an appetizer and a dessert and well worth it.  We both got a glass of wine and our meal came with bread and water.  For our appetizer we got tomato and mozzarella which had pesto and  vinegar on it which was delicious.  Then for our entrée we got a filet which came with a sauce that was amazing, french fries, and some other side that tasted kind of like potatoes.

For dessert, as usual, we went back to our favorite gelato place.  We walked by the market again and then decided to explore the chateau we had heard about which we knew was some kind of park on this big mountain/hill/cliff thing.  We headed over towards it and walked up all the stairs just in time for the sunset.  The view was breathtaking.  You could see all of Nice.  There was also waterfalls and other pretty things in the park that we saw and took pictures with.  We heard music coming from the top so we continued walking.  Once we got to the top there were tents everywhere with food and other stuff and a stage where people were playing music.  We walked around and I found a place were they were serving crepes.  I decided to get a chocolate one since I hadn’t had a crepe in France yet.  Then we passed a place where they had punch that I decided to get to drink with my crepe.  It was really good and kind of tasted like a piña colada.  We went and sat down in the grass behind the stage so I could eat and we could listen to the performance.  Mackenzie took a picture of me with my food and then I took a picture of the band.  I then ate my crepe and drank my punch and eventually we decided to head back.

We got half way down and decided we wanted to take a picture of Nice at night.  It was all lit up and looked beautiful.  I opened my satchel to get out my camera and it wasn’t in it.  My stomach sunk.  I decided I must have left it where we were sitting in the grass so we ran back up and looked everywhere including the trash can where I threw out my plate and cup from my crepe and punch.  We asked everyone sitting around where we had been sitting and no one had seen it.  I decided it must have been in my lap and I hadn’t noticed.  We looked everywhere for it and went back to that same spot to look at least three times.  Eventually we gave up.  I couldn’t believe I lost my camera.  I am usually so careful with my things especially my camera and it is so unlike me to do something like that.  Mackenzie’s computer got a virus on it in Spain and when it was fixed they put in in Spanish and it wasn’t reading her memory card so we decided to take all of the pictures on my camera.  So when we lost my camera we lost every single one of our pictures from Nice and Monaco.  My camera also had the picture Sara and I took with our señora that I was supposed to email to her.  I was the only one that had that picture and now it’s lost.  We took so many gorgeous pictures and nobody will ever see them.  It makes me extremely sad just thinking about it but I guess there is nothing I can do.  It wasn’t that nice a camera it was just all the pictures on it that I wanted.  We’re going to try and figure out if we can make Mackenzie’s memory card start working but if not we are just going to have to use her camera in Cinque Terre and then when we get to Florence see if it is cheaper to buy a cheap digital camera or just a bunch of memory cards to fill up using her camera.

The whole camera thing kind of put a damper on our time in Nice and really made me upset but overall we had an amazing time in Nice ... I just can’t prove it with my pictures.  We woke up early this morning to get our train and as I said we used our eurail passes for the first time.  We are officially in Italy now and I’m ecstatic to eat Italian food!  We should get to Genova around 1pm and then we take a bus to where we are staying in Cinque Terre.  I hope this was detailed enough to remember everything from Nice since I don’t have pictures to remember it from.  Hopefully it will be relatively smooth sailing from here.  Now I need to read about Cinque Terre in my guidebook and learn Italian from my phrase book!

London & my last week in Spain

I'm laying here almost packed wondering where the time has gone.  My flight to Nice is at 7:20am tomorrow morning so this is my last day in Spain.  I'm glad I'm done with finals but ahh this is crazy.  But anyways before I get into that I'll tell you all about my amazingg trip to London :).

So Sara and I got to the airport Thursday night to find out that our flight was delayed 45 minutes.  We were surprised because Ryanair prides themselves for being on time but whatever.  We were sitting in the terminal waiting when all of the sudden everyone who had been in there walked out and we were so confused.  Eventually a guard came and told us we had to go out of the terminal to get our passports checked.  In the madness of all of this we met a guy named Kevin on our flight who was also studying in Sevilla and was from Kansas.  We all showed our passports and then got in line to board.  The attendants started boarding us and we walked outside but apparently there was some misunderstanding so we had to walk all the way back through the gates to the terminal.  After more waiting they finally let us through again and this time there was a plane waiting for us.

The flight was about three hours and when we got there we got off the plane and walked to customs.  The line was forever long and was not moving very quickly because there was only two people working.  It took us an hour to get through customs and when talking to the guy he seriously interrogated us like we were doing something wrong.  Anyways after we got through that madness we found a little store to buy some snacks for the hour long bus ride to the center of the city and bought round trip bus tickets and an oyster card for the tube and buses in London.  We found the bus and went to town on some salt and vinegar pringles, coke zero, and twix.  When the bus dropped us off at Liverpool St we would have been completely lost if my mom hadn't told us which night buses to take.  After we figured out what side of the street to be on it was relatively easy to use the night buses with our oyster cards ... and yes they were red double decker buses!  The second night bus we had to take dropped us right next to our hostel so we buzzed down and they let us in.  The staff was extremely nice and there were a bunch of people in the common room still up drinking even though it was 4 or 5 in the morning.  We got to our room and had to use my phone light to get situated and in bed because there was only one major light for the room and everyone else was asleep.

We woke up around 9:30 the next day and barely made it downstairs in time for breakfast.  Thankfully we were able to grab 2 pieces of plain toast.  Since we had gotten very little sleep we walked across the street to Starbuck's and got coffee.  The guy even gave me 2 extra shots even though I only paid for 1!  The friendliness continued at the tube station when we asked at the information booth how to get to the place where our open-bus tour started.  He not only gave us very helpful directions but also gave us maps.  When we got off the tube we went to the Original Tour office and picked up our tickets.  They told us where to go to get on the bus.  A guy from their staff was standing at the stop and was really funny and nice.  Once we got on the bus it took us around London and the tour guide told us about everything.  He had a great sense of humor too.  We could hop off and hop on anywhere we wanted so we stopped and got off at one point when we were across the river from Big Ben and Parliament.  We took pictures in front of that scene and in a telephone booth nearby.  We also found a cute little garden and park to walk through.  We walked across the bridge to get closer to Big Ben and Parliament and after that walked over to Westminster Abbey.  It was all so gorgeous and I couldn't stop taking pictures.

After that we got back on the tour bus until we got to St. Paul's Cathedral.  We decided to get off and take pictures in front of the cathedral and eat lunch.  There was a grocery store that had a bag of 5 chocolate chip cookies for 2 pounds and a ham sandwich for 1 pound so we split the price of the cookies and I bought the sandwich.  Then we walked down to a cute little sandwich shop and I ordered tomato soup to go with my sandwich and cookie.  We saved the other 3 cookies for later.  After lunch we got back on the tour bus and took it across London Tower Bridge and then got off.  We walked back across the bridge and took pictures and then went to look at London Tower.  Our Original Tour tickets included a Thames river cruise so we got on the boat at London Tower and rode it to Parliament and back.  The guide on the boat told us a lot of interesting facts about the bridges and the buildings on the river.

After our river cruise we got back on a tour bus and took it to the Globe Theatre.  We walked around there for a little bit and then found our way to the tube which we took back to our hostel.  We found a small, cheap bagel shop next to the hostel where we went for dinner.  After such a long day of sightseeing and not getting much sleep the night before we decided to go to bed early.  We spent some time talking to one of the guys staying in our room but still went to sleep around 10:30.

We woke up at 8am the next morning and got ready and ate breakfast.  We took the tube to the center of the city and went on a walking tour for the changing of the guards.  It was awesome because our guide new exactly where to take us so we got good places to stand and could see all the action.  We even got to march with the guard down the Mall.  Buckingham Palace was gorgeous and overall it was a fun experience.  We went to find an italian place for lunch I had read about but it was closed on weekends along with a lot of other things in the area so we found a sandwich shop and bought sandwiches, apples, and water which we ate on the tube back to the hostel.  At the hostel we got ready to go see Chicago at Cambridge Theatre.  Then we got back on the tube and walked to the theatre.  The musical was amazinggg!  I love the movie but have never seen the musical and it was everything I expected it to be.

After the musical we tried to go to the British Museum but it was closed so we went to platform 9 3/4 instead.  Kings Cross station was under construction so the original was covered up and instead they had a poster of brick and the shopping cart and the plaque outside of the station.  It was a disappointment but at least they had something.  We ended up going to McDonald's for dinner because it was cheap and close to where we were.  Then we took the tube to the Tate Modern which had really cool modern art.  After that we took the tube back to the hostel to get ready for the night.  We heard Soho was cool at night so we took the tube to Soho after we finished getting ready.  We walked around for awhile but couldn't decide where to go because we were tight on money.  Some promoter tried to get us to pay five pounds to get into a club/bar and get a free shot.  It was tempting but we decided to look around more first.  We found a pub that looked like it had cheap drinks and we split a pear cider which we heard was really good and definitely was.  We talked to an old guy sitting at the bar for a long time who was really nice and we got shots of jager for only one pound each.  Then a guy was passing out cards to get free entry to the same place the promoter tried to get us to go earlier.  We walked over there when the pub closed and danced for awhile.  Sara made friends with a group of French students.

After we got tired we walked back hoping to get cupcakes from a place we saw on the way but sadly it was closed.  We weren't sure were to get the night bus but as soon as we looked confused a guy came over and showed us exactly where to go.  We took the bus back and got muffins at our bagel shop instead of cupcakes.  When we walked back into the room the two guys that were in there had just turned off the light so they said we could turn it back on and we ended up talking for an hour or two before we went to sleep.  When I woke up the next morning around 9 there was a random Asian man lying on the floor of our room which was extremely funny.  We never got the whole story but apparently he knew one of the people in the room.

We packed up and ate breakfast and paid for a locker at the hostel because we wanted to go check out the huge mall across the street.  On the way there were Italian food tents set up and one of the tents had pastries.  I asked how much it cost for one and he said we could have one for free which was awesome.  We then walked to the mall to find that it didn't open until 12 which was a let down.  We decided to go back and get our bags and go to the city instead.  In the city we found another place to shop and I ended up buying a really cute dress from Mango.  We walked back to where the bus was supposed to pick us up looking for something to eat for lunch.  We ran into the same guy who we met flying over and the three of us got lunch at a breakfast place.  We were tight on time but ate really fast and made it to the bus stop just in time.

At the airport we had to wait in line to get our tickets stamped and then Sara and I got some snacks at the  store we had the night we got there.  We went through security which was insane.  Someone puts your bags through for you.  My bag got stopped and I stood there as he completely destroyed everything in my bag when the only reason was because my ziploc of liquids was too big and I needed to put them in a smaller ziploc which I had in my bag.  We literally stood there for 30 minutes as they went through my whole bag and then put it back through security when all that was wrong was the size of my ziploc bag.  We had to rush to the gate and got there about ten minutes before they started boarding.  We got back to Sevilla without any problems and our señora made us dinner.

Looking back on the trip I'm so glad we decided to go.  It was such an amazing city and I definitely want to go back one day.  It was cold and rainy the whole time we were there but we still loved it which I think says something.  I could definitely live there.  The day after we got back was our last day of classes and then I had my Spain Today final yesterday (Tuesday) and my Literature final today.  It feels good to be done with classes.  I'm packing now and hopefully I'll be able to fit everything and it won't weigh too much because Ryanair charges crazy fees if you go over your weight limit.  Since it is our last night here and we haven't been able to go out this week because of finals Mackenzie and I are going out tonight and have decided we just are not going to sleep.  Our flight is at 7:20am and we have to check baggage so we have to get there 2-1.5 hours ahead of time.  We are going to try and catch the 4:30am bus to the airport.  We are flying to Marseille and taking a train to Nice.  When we get to Nice I guess we can sleep on the beach :).  I'm so excited to start traveling around Europe but it's crazy how time has flown by.  I'm going to try and keep up with my blog between cities while we are on the train.

For my last 12 hours in Sevilla Sara and I are going to go see Plaza de España, buy some last minute souvenirs, and eat churros.  Then we are going to eat dinner at the apartment for the last time and go out with everyone.  I'm sad to leave Sevilla but sooo excited for traveling.  ¡Hasta luego!

...p.s. blogger is being lame right now and not letting me add pics so I will do it later when I have time/it is working

"10 Points for Gryffindor!" ... Lagos, Portugal

Wow where to begin.  It's been over a week so this is going to take some mad memory skills.  Last week in Sevilla I was mainly busy with homework and classes I think so we only went out one night.  Mackenzie and I tried to go book train tickets for our travels after but apparently we can't book trips outside of Spain at the Sevilla station so it was kind of a waste of time.  Our Lagos group went to the bus station to buy our tickets but between Sara and me that is all we can remember.  I feel like I'm always busy but that sounds like a pretty uneventful week so maybe I'm forgetting something.  Oh well our Lagos trip makes up for it.

picture of Portugal from the bus

Thursday night everyone in our group went out except for Mackenzie, Caroline, and me because we valued our sleep and our bus left at 7:30am Friday morning.  I was there to wake Sara up, Kerry magically woke herself up, Harrison woke Danielle and Stephanie up, and then there was Tyson.  We waited for him at our meeting spot but he never showed up.  The night before he had gotten sick and apparently gave Stephanie and Danielle his phone so there was no way to call him.  Everyone who had gone out that night had little to no sleep and were still drunk so to say the least it was an entertaining walk to the bus station which was a good 45min walk.  When we got to the bus station we got coffee and I got a croissant at the cafeteria and then we found our bus.  The bus left right at 7:30 and one guy had to run to get on as the bus was pulling out.  I was looking out the window as we started to pull away and saw Tyson running through the bus station looking for the bus.  I told the others and all of us started yelling at the driver to stop and starting banging on the windows.  Danielle ran to the front of the bus and begged the driver to stop pointing to Tyson and thankfully he agreed.  When Tyson walked on the bus everyone on the bus started clapping and one of the guys behind us yells "10 points for Gryffindor!" ... hints the name of the title.  We were all so happy he made it and it started the beginning of an awesome trip.

Lagos!

The bus ride was 5 hours long and when we got to the border the police looked hard at all of our passports.  When we finally got to Lagos I had directions to the hostel that I got from the hostel that was seriously like a treasure map.  It only talked about landmarks we would see as we were walking.  We found the hostel and when they realized we were a group of 8 instead of a group of 6 and 2 separately like we had booked it they offered us our own apartment.  We agreed and it was literally a minute away from the hostel so we could use all of their facilities.  The staff was sooo nice and one lady we were told to call "mom" because she was there to look after us and cook us crepes every morning.  She even gave us our keys without requiring the deposit that usually is required and locks for the lockers that normally you have to rent.  Our apartment had 12 beds, our own kitchen, 3 bathrooms, 2 showers, and a deck on the roof!

After we got settled in we put on our bathing suits and headed for the beach.  The beach was gorgeous.  There were huge rocks and caves everywhere and the water was so pretty.  After laying out for a bit and testing the water Caroline and I took our cameras and went on an adventure through the caves to different beaches.  We eventually got to a point where we couldn't go any farther with our cameras because we had to swim to the next place.  On our adventure we met a guy from Wake Forest named Gerson who knew some of her friends which was really cool.  We walked back to our towels to drop off our cameras so we could explore farther.  Mackenzie and Sara joined us but Mackenzie brought her camera even though we warned her not to.  When we got to the spot Caroline and I stopped at Sara and Gerson joined us on our adventure while Mackenzie had to stay behind.  I started swimming thinking the water was pretty deep but suddenly I swam on top of a rock and scraped myself up.  It was well worth it though because it was amazingly beautiful and I was sad I didn't have my camera.  Eventually we decided to head back but to put a twist on things we decided to swim all the way back to the first beach instead of climbing through the caves.  It was a long swim but we made it and afterwards we felt like champions.

After a nice long day at the beach Caroline and I headed back to the apartment first.  On the way I stopped at a souvenir shop to get a postcard.  It said you could get a stamp too so I decided that would be the easiest way.  However when the man gave me a stamp it wasn't a sticker and didn't say the price.  I decided there was no way it was real and went back and said it wouldn't work since it doesn't have a price and could I just get my money back.  He gave me one that did say the price and I asked how I was supposed to put it on.  He said glue and I said I didn't have any glue so he gave me some.  I kept asking are you sure this is going to work and he told me 3 times "you are so stupid" which I don't know if what he was trying to say was lost in translation or what but I was shocked.  I ended up walking away with my glued-on stamp pretty sure it wasn't going to make it back to the US.

When we got to the apartment we discovered there was no hot water so we both took freezing showers.  It was humorous how horrible my shower was because not only was it cold but the shower head wouldn't stay on the wall so it kept falling and spraying everywhere.  It was nice to be clean though.  When the others came back they went to the front desk and they sent someone over to turn on the hot water so after that we had hot water.  For dinner we went to a famous burger restaurant called Nahnahbah's that was featured on "Man vs. Food" and was voted one of the top 50 burgers in the world.  They have a burger that is a kilo of meat that you have to order 24 hrs ahead of time and if you finish it then your meal is free.  We didn't do that but I helped myself to an amazing burger, homemade chips, and a sex on the beach.

After dinner we went over to the hostel for trivia night.  It was 5 euro and you got to play and have unlimited sangria and beer.  The sangria was good and had a good amount of wine in it instead of fruit juice.  We also met a lot of people in the hostel and had a lot of fun playing trivia.  After trivia the hostel had a free bar crawl.  At the first bar some of the people we met bought us all shots that the bartender set on fire which was really cool.  Then at the second one they had fishbowls full of drinks that you drank with really long straws.  We met some of the girls from our program there that we had seen earlier on the beach.  Our group split up into smaller groups after that but in the end we all made it back safely to the apartment.

The next day we woke up at 9:30 for mom's crepes.  She cooked us as many crepes as we could handle until we literally had to say stop because we were so full.  There was jam, chocolate, chocolate swirl, and she gave us money to buy fruit even though usually you're supposed to bring your own fruit.  My favorite crepe was chocolate and strawberry.  She also served magic drink which is basically lemon rinds boiled which is then a yellow liquid and when you mix it with lemon juice it turns clear.  It was really cool and tasted good too.  We went to a different beach Saturday.  We just walked farther up the main road and found another one that was extremely pretty.  It was more secluded than the other one.  We laid out and cooled off in the water and then decided to go to a really good Mexican restaurant for lunch.  I had a burrito that was so big I couldn't finish it!  We also got chips and salsa which were good.


After lunch Tyson, Caroline, Sara, Mackenzie, and I went on a small boat tour of Lagos which included going in the caves and stuff.  It was pretty and our driver pointed out how some of the rocks looked like different things like elephants.  There was a booze cruise with our hostel that was longer and had unlimited beer and sangria but it was 40 euro so I was more than happy with our 8 euro tour.  After the boat tour Mackenzie, Sara, and I went back to the beach for a little bit.  Sara left to get in the water as soon as we got there and found herself some Portuguese men to talk to the whole time we were there (typical).  She got information on where to see the sunset that night though so it was time well spent.  Danielle had also gotten information on where to see the sunset so after we got back from the beach and showered off we walked to Ponta da Piedade.  It was a pretty long walk but when we got there we realized it was well worth it.  We had a perfect view of the sun setting over Lagos and we were near a bunch of huge rocks and gorgeous ocean views.  We even saw someone standing on top of one of the rocks fishing which looked really scary.  Even though it was cold from the breeze this scene was breathtaking and probably one of my favorite moments since I have been in Europe.

After the sunset we all went back to the apartment, sat on our deck, drank, and talked.  It was nice and relaxing to just hang out with everybody.  Eventually we decided to go out to bars but after awhile Tyson, Mackenzie, Caroline, Stephanie, and I were tired and ready to go to sleep.  We stopped at a pizza place on the way back to get late-night which was so good.  Then we went back and got in bed.  Mackenzie and I woke up at 8:45 so we could get breakfast at 9 and spend a couple hours on the beach before our bus left at 1:45.  The crepes and magic drink were amazing again.  I had bought a banana so I had chocolate and banana crepes.  We went to the same beach we did the first day which was nice and eventually other people from our group came down to join us on the beach.

Sara and I left to meet Tyson and Caroline for lunch at 12 and I hopped in the shower quickly before we left.  By the time we got to the restaurant it was about 12:30 and our food wasn't coming very quickly.  It was a cute little place and I wish we had time to enjoy it.  They served breakfast and all sorts of other things.  I got a strawberry milkshake and a toasted ham and cheese sandwich.  We got our food around 1 and since I wasn't packed yet and they were I had to literally grab it and eat it as I ran back to the hostel to pack up.  I threw my stuff in a bag and thankfully the rest of the group was back by the time I was ready to go.  Someone from the hostel also showed up right when we needed to leave which was nice because we didn't have to go back to the hostel.  We quickly walked to the bus station and made it with 10 minutes to spare.  The whole thing was extremely stressful though.

The bus ride home was long and uncomfortable.  I watched "The Wedding Date" on my ipod which is one of my all time favorite movies but even it didn't make the ride seem shorter.  We got back to Sevilla around 8 and didn't want to wait for dinner from our señoras so Tyson, Sara, Kerry, and I decided to eat dinner at Domino's.  When we walked in there was no one at the counter and the bathroom was locked.  Kerry found the keys on the counter and went anyways and we stood there trying to figure out how to order.  Eventually someone came and I ordered a medium pepperoni pizza that was on special for 7 euro.    I ate the whole thing by myself and it was amazing.  I was so stuffed afterwards though that I couldn't get the churros con chocolate that I had wanted before we got pizza.  When we got back to our apartment we unpacked and did a little bit of homework and went to sleep.

Monday was a normal day of class and I found out that since I didn't send my postcard with the glued on stamp in Portugal I would have to buy a new one in Spain.  So all that struggle was for nothing except a good laugh.  Today for my Spain Today class we took a field trip to the Andalucía Parliament building which is one of the biggest buildings in Spain.  We were kind of left to fend for ourselves and Caroline and I had to figure out the bus system.  We knew which line but didn't know when to get off so we literally held the map out the whole time watching where the bus was going so we would know when to get off.  We made it there 20 minutes early so spent the time hanging out in a really nice hotel where we were all supposed to meet.  Once everyone got there we went to the building and had to go through security which was a lot like airport security.  Then we had a tour guide take us around but no one understood him because he had a really thick accent.  Even our teacher said he had to pay close attention to understand what he was saying.  It was a cool building though.

After our tour our teacher took us to Rayas which is the best ice cream place in Sevilla that serves gelato.  I got something with caramel in it and something else with a type of cake in it.  It was really good but a little bit pricey (4.50 euro).  Caroline and I then found our way back but we kept seeing random old, pretty buildings which was kind of cool.  We've been here for a little over a month but there is still so much to see.  I wish I had more time to explore but I'm really busy with school and then this weekend Sara and I are going to London.  I'm extremely excited for our trip ... especially to see platform 9 3/4!

I have a 5-6 page paper due in my lit class the day of the final (Wednesday) that is about my time in Sevilla but it has to be in a certain style that is like really descriptive and has a lot of imagery which should be interesting to do in Spanish.  Thankfully I have this blog so I can remember what happened.  For my Spain Today class I have a presentation Thursday on Cataluña and Catalán nationalism that I'm almost finished preparing for.  Other than those 2 assignments basically all I have are my finals Tuesday and Wednesday.  It's crazy how little time left I have until my Europe adventure with Mackenzie.  I literally have 5 days left in Sevilla since I'm going to be in London this weekend.  I started making a list of things I need to do in Sevilla before I leave which includes eating churros and going to see Plaza de España.  I don't know if I'll have time for another blog until after London but I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories from that!

Córdoba y Granada

I just got back from my trips to Córdoba and Granada and overall had an awesome weekend!  Saturday we met at Hotel Alcazar at 8:15am and drove about 2 hours to Córdoba.  We got a tour of the Cathedral which was originally a Mosque and it was beautiful.  Every time we get tours they are extremely interesting and I learn a lot about what I am seeing but after the tour is over I don't usually remember what I learned.  However they are definitely helpful so I know what I am seeing.  After the Cathedral we went through the old Jewish quarter and to the synagogue.  All the streets in Córdoba are very small and cute.  There are a lot of tourist shops but overall its a nice little town.  We tried their specialty wine which tasted like honey but was interesting.  They are also known for their silver so we went in a few jewelry shops.  We got back on the bus around 3pm and arrived in Sevilla around 5.  Since I had to get up early again Sunday morning for our Granada trip I didn't do much Saturday night.

our hotel

Saturday morning we drove to Granada which was about a 3 hour drive.  We got to our hotel first to drop off our stuff and it was really nice.  It was a four star hotel with a pool and spa.  The beds were super comfy and we even had our own balcony.  After we dropped our stuff off we went to get a tour of la Alhambra which is a Moorish palace/fortress that is HUGE!  It is one of the most visited places in the world.  It was gorgeous and from the top of one of the towers you could see all of Granada.  After the tour we drove back to the hotel and had some free time.  A small group of us went to get drinks and tapas.  It is a custom in Granada to get free tapas when you buy a drink so I bought a glass of wine and we got a tapa that was pork on a stick in a pesto sauce with bread which was really good.  We also got some ice cream.  Later that night we had dinner at the hotel which was amazing.  They had a buffet for appetizers, we chose between two main courses, and they gave us ice cream for dessert which was really good.  After dinner one of our instructors took us on a walk to a place overlooking the city.  It was really pretty and you could see la Alhambra lit up too.  We were exhausted by this point (around midnight) so we went back to the hotel after our walk and went to sleep.

the cathedral

We woke up Sunday morning and got breakfast at the hotel.  They had all kinds of fruit, pastries, and some hot dishes that looked kind of questionable.  The coffee was just okay but everything else was really good.  After we got ready we left our stuff on the bus and went on tours of the Royal Chapel and the Cathedral.  We couldn't take pictures at all inside of the Royal Chapel or in some parts of the Cathedral which was kind of sad.  The Royal Chapel was really cool because it had the tombs of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.  It also had Queen Isabella's crown, jewelry box, and some of the clothes they wore.  The Cathedral was really tall and pretty.  After our tours we shopped, ate, and bought gelato which was sooo good!  Then we walked back to the bus and drove back to Sevilla.

Now I'm back in Sevilla and getting everything sorted out.  We are going to Lagos this weekend which I'm really excited for.  I need to go reserve train tickets for my travels afterwards sometime this week.  I also need to plan what I'm doing next weekend.  We want to go to London but we will see.  I can't believe the program is over in 19 days!

Barcelona!

As usual I've been super busy and haven't been able to keep up with this blog so I'll just hit the highlights from the last week.  Last Thursday we went on a trip with the program to Reales Alcázares de Sevilla which is basically an old palace where the king stays when he visits Sevilla.  It was gorgeous!  Other than that I don't remember anything very exciting happening.

our awesome hostel

La Sagrada Familia

Friday we left for Barcelona!  We flew on ryanair and got there around midnight.  We had no problems with the flight or finding our hostel.  When we got to our hostel it took awhile to check in but afterwards we started to look around and it was awesome.  They had a kitchen, computers, and a lounge area.  Everything was really clean and seemed new.  Our room was nice and we all got our own lockers.  We dropped off our stuff and went down the street for a few drinks before bed.  Saturday morning we woke up and got coffee and muffins.  We then walked to la Sagrada Familia because it was really close to our hostel.  It was huge and so pretty.  The Barcelona vs Manchester United playoff game was that night so we bought things to wear for the game.  I bought a barca scarf.  Some of us then went to see the hospital sant pau which was under construction so we couldn't see much but it was still cool.  We walked back to the hostel and took a nap to prepare for the game.



Our hostel got us free entrance to one of the biggest sports bars in Barcelona right near the plaza de catalunya.  We walked in a big group to the bar and it was packed.  The atmosphere was insane and every time Barcelona scored the whole bar went crazy.  Barcelona won 3-1 so we rushed the street.  We stopped at the plaza to take pictures by the fountain but then we ran into the madness.   There was fire, people climbing up lamp posts, fireworks, and just plain craziness.  It was like Franklin Street after UNC wins a national title only times 1000.  We stayed there for awhile until we decided to return to the hostel and go to sleep.





Sunday we took the metro to the beach and had a gorgeous beach day.  The beach was pretty and the Mediterranean water was awesome.  The only annoying thing was the vendors walking up and down the beach constantly screaming "masaje" ... "tatuaje" ... "colaaguacervezabeer"... and other things.  We all split a pizza for lunch and then went to the picasso museum which was pretty cool.  When we got back to the hostel Caroline and I made spaghetti and marinara.  We bought a pack of spaghetti and a jar of marinara when we got there and it lasted us the whole time.  Also there was a shelf for left over food that people left because they couldn't take with them that we took advantage of.  That night we went to ice barcelona which was a bar made completely of ice including the cups.  We had to pay 15 euro but they gave you a jacket, gloves, and a free drink.  It was smaller than we expected and freezing but overall a cool experience.  We went to a club called Opium afterwards but didn't stay too long.  Everyone then wanted McDonald's so we asked people where one was and walked there.  The drive through was the only thing open so the girls who wanted food had to make friends with people in a car to order their food for them.  After they got their food we walked back to the hostel and went to sleep.

Monday we got up and went to the beach but it was cold and rainy so we decided to eat while we waited.  It eventually cleared up and we had a few hours on the beach before it got cloudy again.  On the way back we walked up the Ramblas which was interesting.  Then Mackenzie, Caroline, and I decided to go to park Grüel which was designed by Gaudí.  It was really high up so we had a view of the whole city and the park itself was awesome too.  The architecture was so colorful and cool.  We walked back to the hostel and ate dinner.  That night we went to a bar called Chupitos which means shots in spanish.  They had a huge list of names of shots and you can't know what is in each one you just have to pick a name.  First we tried a Harry Potter which was really cool because they lit it on fire and it tasted good too (almost a pumpkin kind of taste).  Then we tried a boy scout which consisted of them creating a fire on the bar to roast marshmellows and then use the marshmellows to chase the shot.  It was really good.  There were a bunch of other really cool ones too.

Tuesday we had to get up by 10 to check out and then we went to our favorite cafe to get coffee.  We then got a bus to the airport and flew back to Sevilla without any problems.  We got back around 3 and I made it to my class at 5.  Wednesday morning Caroline and I had to take our midterm for our literature class and then had a paper due in our other class.  We also had two papers due today.  So now I finally have time to breathe for a bit.  Sara and I went out last night to a really cool club.  We knew one of the promoters so we got in for free and got free shots which was nice.  Tonight I'm going to catch up on sleep because my throat is a little sore and I'm pretty congested.  This weekend I have trips with the program to Córdoba and Granada.  ¡Hasta luego!