April 8, 2010

I have a lot of updates to work on right now! I'll start with March 12-14, when I went to Extremadura (a region of Spain) with my study abroad program. Extremadura is in southwestern Spain, and borders Portugal. Our program divided the trip into two weekends because there are so many of us and there wasn't enough room for all of us at one of the places we stayed, so there were only about 25 students on my trip. It was nice to be in a smaller group.

We drove from Seville to Merida, a town that was very important in Roman times and has a lot of Roman ruins. There was kind of a cool museum for some of the ruins that was actually built around parts of Roman houses that had been excavated and part of the Roman road (their interstate system that they're so famous for - all roads literally led to Rome!) We also walked on a Roman bridge that was used for cars up until just a few years ago and is still used for foot traffic, and visited a Roman ampitheater and theater. Late Friday afternoon, we drove about another hour and a half to the town of Guadalupe, which is famous for its monastery and church. In the cathedral there, there is a small doll/statue of the Virgen Guadalupe (also known as the Virgin Mary) that people walk to on their knees to pray to. People will walk literally from countries away on their knees to pray to this thing, and we saw a couple people doing that which was pretty cool. We got to stay the night in the monastery connected to the Virgen de Guadalupe cathedral, which was very cool! We got there after dark, and until we saw it the next morning in the light the whole thing looked really haunted and kind of Harry Potter-ish. The monastery served a pretty good five course dinner, and after dinner some of us went to the bar in the monastery because we thought it was so funny to drink alcohol in a monastery!

Saturday morning, we took a tour of the monastery and cathedral. Then, we set out on a ten-mile hike through the mountains, which was pretty intense. The entire way up the mountain, I hated it! But then we got to the top of the mountain and the view was beautiful, as it was on the way down (which was half of the hike) so it was pretty worth it. I'm pretty sure we actually made our own path sometimes, though, which was both funny and a little bit painful when we got caught in tree branches. Once we got to another town, we had just enough time to stop and get a drink (I also had to change because I fell directly into a puddle of mud - actually kind of humorous.) Then we drove about an hour to the town of Trujillo, which is a beautiful little "white" town with white-washed buildings, mazes of small roads, and an alcazaba (fortified castle overlooking a city - I learned that in History of Spanish Art!) We stayed in a very nice hotel in Trujillo, and I'm pretty sure that my roommate for the trip, Kelli, and I got a suite of some sort because we had a really nice sitting area, two showers, and terrycloth robes! It was very nice after the hike to have some luxary like that! We got to sleep in a little bit on Sunday before touring some of the town. My favorite part was going into the alcazaba, because we could look down on the town and surrounding countryside which were beautiful. We then went back to Seville.

The week in between traveling to Extremadura and Berlin was very busy for me because I had mid-terms that I had to study for, so I really didn't do anything but study. But then on Thursday, I took a train from Seville to Madrid and caught a plan in Madrid to Berlin! It was really great to get to Berlin, because I have a friend who studied abroad in Lincoln in high school from Berlin and I stayed with her and got to see her for the first time in five years. I didn't get to Berlin until about 11 pm Thursday night, but Nathalie greeted me at the airport with flowers and then we went back to her apartment where she cooked me a really great midnight snack (she is in culinary school!) Friday, Nathalie had to go to classes for most of the day so I slept in a little bit before exploring some on my own. I took a bus that goes past a lot of the famous landmarks in Berlin (bus route 100, if you're ever there) which was a good, inexpensive way to see the city. I stopped at the Reichstag (the German parliament building) and took a tour of it. It is pretty cool! It also has a really great history, having been built in the 19th century, then almost destroyed when Hitler was in power, only to be restored to the seed of German government in the 1990s when Germany was reunited after the Soviets left. After Nathalie got done with classes, we went to see Brandenburg gate and then walked down Unter den Linden Straße, which is a beautiful street in the old East-Berlin section with many museums and embassies on it. We saw the hotel that Michael Jackson famously held his baby over the balcony railing of, and also went to Checkpoint Charlie. I was surprised with how small and un-intimidating Checkpoint Charlie was. We went into the Checkpoint Charlie museum, which was cool but not well organized. Then we went over to the Sony Center to get dinner. The Sony Center is a big, new center with a lot of shops, restaurants, and offices in it. We were tired, so just went back to Nathalie's apartment and watched a few movies before falling asleep.

Saturday morning I awoke to cheese, cold cuts, honey, jelly, breakfast sandwich bread, chocolate croissants, and yogurt for breakfast! I think Nathalie is the best hostess ever! We went to the Memorial for European Jews who died during WWII after breakfast, which was very cool. I can't really begin to even describe it, so instead I'll just say look at the picture I posted on Picasa. Right next to the memorial was the Jewish Museum, which goes through the history of Jews in Germany (not just the Holocaust, although that is included) and is in a really sweet building. I think we spent about three hours there because it was so cool! We ate lunch and then went to the Berliner Dom, a cool cathedral in Berlin. Nathalie's friend, Micah, met up with us soon after that. She studied in the United States also, in Florida, and spoke English very well which was lucky for me because my German is not nearly as good as it should be, since I took it for two years in college. We were going to take a river cruise, but they had all finished for the day, so instead we took the metro to an area of East Berlin that is known for its diverse cultures and good nightlife. We went bar hopping a little bit, just getting a beer or coke at a couple of bars, and there were really cool bars in the area! We also just walked around the area and people watched, and got Doner Kebab for dinner! Nathalie and I were gong to go out dancing, but I was too tired, so we just went back to her apartment and ate ice cream and watched movies again. Before getting to her apartment, though, we went by a really cool old church that was bombed during WWII. They didn't repair the church but simply left it as a memorial to the war, and it was very moving.

Sunday, after another amazing breakfast, Nathalie and I went to one of the train stations to see an art display of painted bears. It sounds a little weird put that way, but it's actually really cool. The bears are similar to the cows in Chicago that were painted by various local artists and then auctioned off. This is the Berlin version of that, and there were literally bears all over the city. In this train station, though, they had one representing every country in the world, and they were absolutely beautiful. We spent a long time looking at them and taking pictures. After the train station, we went to Schloß Charlottenburg, or the Charlottenburg Palace, which was a Prussian Palace used in the late 17th and 18th centuries. It was gorgeous, and we took a cool tour of the "new wing", though I'm not really sure why it was called new because it was still pretty old! I had to catch my flight back to Madrid and then the train from Madrid to Seville so that I could be in class on Monday morning.

That Monday, the weather was really beautiful so some of my roommates and I went to the river and just sat by it for a while. Eventually we rented a paddle boat and that was really fun - especially because I didn't have to paddle! Susie, Megan, and I sat in back while Matt and Chris (who is not my roommate but lives in the apartment across the hall) paddled. We just drank cokes/beers and ate gummy bears! Very relaxing. We now have plans to rent mopeds at some point before we leave to become a "moped gang" haha!

On Thursday of that week (March 25) my friends Lauren and Hanne (from my program) went with me to the airport and we caught a plane from Seville to Barcelona. We had a break the week of March 29 for Holy Week - called Semana Santa in Spain. Can you tell Spain has a lot of Catholic influence?! In Barcelona, we met up with some other girls from our program, Carolyn, Jacklyn, Carly, Jenni, and Brittany. Not all of them stayed in the same hostel as us, but we did a lot with all of them. I had never stayed in a hostel before going to Barcelona, and from what I can tell it wasn't the worst first hostel experience I could have had, but it also wasn't the best. I thought it was kind of dirty and was definitely very crowded. We were in an 8-person mixed room. The guy who was sleeping on the bunk under me was really weird - we called him Grumpy McGrumps because he always came in at like 5 in the morning and slept until about noon, and got mad when other people were trying to get ready to go out in the mornings even though we all tried to be quiet! He told some other girls staying in our room that he had been living there for a year and a half! I don't understand how he could live at a hostel - I wouldn't have wanted to do that for so long! Anyway, our hostel was in a prime location, so we were able to walk outside and onto Calle Los Ramblas, which is a very famous street in Barcelona, known for its street performers, artists, vendors, and great markets and shops. I really liked that area, although there were times I felt sort of clausterphobic because there were so many people around. On Friday the 26th we walked to the piers, which was a very cool area, ate lunch by the ocean, and then went to the grocery store to buy stuff to make ourselves dinner at the hostel. One of the girls staying with us happens to be a pretty good cook, and since I'm pretty much hopeless I just bought a bottle of wine for everyone and they were happy to let me just step aside instead of cooking. Before we ate, though, we went to this place called the Magic Fountain which is a giant fountain that is choreographed to music with lights and everything on it for a night-time show. I really liked that! It was similar to the one at the Venetian in Vegas, and also to one I saw in Beijing last summer, but I thought it was cooler than either of those.

On Saturday, we went to Sagrada Familia, which is a cathedral that is still under construction, designed by Gaudi. It was very cool! It is by far the most modern cathedral I have been to yet and looks like it is very inspired by nature. It was probably my favorite cathedral so far. After seeing that, we went to one of the Gaudi museums in an apartment building designed by Gaudi. Way cool! All I can say is look at the photos I am uploading to Picasa, because there aren't really words to describe how cool it is. Saturday evening, I met my third cousin (my dad's cousin's daughter, haha!) Her name is Devon and she lives in Barcelona - she has lived there for the last three years. She was really cool. We just went to get a drink at a place near the main square in Barcelona and talk for a little bit. I hope I get to see her again sometime soon! I went back to the hostel and crashed - not only was I tired but also dehydrated and needed to rest and get some water in me! Sunday morning, we got up and went to Park Guell, which is a park designed by Gaudi. It was also beautiful! We walked up to a really cool lookout point where we could see the entire city. We also just walked around the entire park and saw some houses designed by Gaudi as well as some landscaping designed by Gaudi. Once again, look at the photos on Picasa, you will love it! Then, Lauren and I had to get to the airport and catch a flight to Dublin. We got into our hostel around one in the morning so we just fell asleep right away. This hostel was much nicer than the one we stayed in in Barcelona! It was clean and quiet, and we stayed in a 10 person mixed room but it was never full. In fact, one night we had it to ourselves.

Monday morning, we got up early so that we could spend the day exploring Dublin! It was cold and rainy, but I didn't care. I can't put my finger on exactly what is was about Dublin that I loved so much, but it is absolutely, without a doubt, my favorite city that I've visited thus far. The first thing we found was Trinity College, which is a beautiful old campus. We didn't go to see the book in the old library there, which I think is famous for being the oldest book in Ireland or something like that. But, we got hot chocolate and just hung out. It was very cool. Next, we found the shopping district because Lauren wanted to buy a new pair of boots. I never realized quite how stylish the Irish are (but I'm Irish, so I'm proud of my people, haha!) We went to Christ Church Cathedral after that, which was beautiful. The crypt there was especially cool - very old and also big! Next to the cathedral there was a wax museum that covered the history of the Celts in Ireland. It was actually kind of cool, even though wax museums always creep me out. It was interactive and I had fun there but I think I could have had even more fun if I had been about 10 years old. Before eating lunch, we also checked out Dublin Castle (at least the outside of it, we never really found an entrance to it) and the Dublin City Hall, which is very cool. We ate in a pub - where else would we eat in Ireland? Then we went to the Guinness Beer factory, which was very cool! We spent a lot of the afternoon there. I don't even like beer, but it was really cool. I learned how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness and how to taste test a Guinness to tell if it's good or not. Somehow they made the process of making beer cool, also. We used an internet cafe for a short time before eating at another pub for dinner (yet another good choice) and then meeting up with our friends Matt and Andrew (my roommates) and their friend Max, who were staying in a different hostel. The five of us went over to the Temple Bar area, which is an area with a lot of pubs and bars, including the famous Temple Bar, where there was a really cool live band playing when we went. We went to three or four different pubs and had a really good time!

Tuesday morning we were going to wake up early to see if we could get spots on the "P.S. I Love You" tour, which is a tour to the film set of the movie that came out a couple of years ago starring Gerard Butler and Hillary Swank. It was filmed in some really beautiful parts of Ireland, but we weren't able to wake up in time to see about the tour, so we just hung out in Dublin again. I was okay with that, though. I loved Dublin! We met up with Matt, Andrew, and Max again and just walked around exploring the city. We went into one pub and ended up staying there just talking, eating, drinking, and listening to music for more than four hours because it was cold and rainy and we didn't really feel like walking around in that! Surprisingly, I had the best fajitas I think I've ever eaten in my life in a pub called Murray's in Dublin. They were amazing! We had to be out of our hostel by 4:30 am on Wednesday morning in order to catch our ride to the airport, so we didn't stay out too late.

Wednesday, we spent the morning traveling and arrived in our hotel in Paris around 1 pm. Before doing anything else, we ate and showered because we were so hungry and dirty from the planes and buses! Overall, I was pretty unimpressed with Paris. I think I would have much preferred to go to a smaller town or someplace else in France, but at least I can say I've been. Some parts of it were cool. We went to a famous Basilica, the Montmarte area, the Moulin Rouge, the Arc de Triumph, the Louvre, and the Eiffel Tower (at night!) and I'm glad I saw everything. I especially liked the Eiffel Tower and Louvre. However, over the two days we spent in Paris, I felt like the city was too big, too crowded, and full of creepy Parisian men. Literally one night we were eating dinner in a restaurant at a table next to a window, and we looked up and there were some men just standing there watching us eat and winking and waving at us. We were very creeped out and got back to our hotel as soon as possible! I also thought that a lot of Parisians didn't really like Americans, although I was expecting that. I know that a lot of Americans don't like the French and that there is some tension between the two nations, although I don't really understand why. But, nonetheless, I felt that the demeanor of a lot of Parisians toward us was pretty rude. I've heard better things about other parts of France, though. Hopefully I'll get to go to those places at some point! Also, now that I've been to Paris I've checked off one of the things on the list Aunt Susie made for us to do during our lives.

I actually went back to Barcelona for the second weekend of break, straight from Paris. I went mainly because I got tickets to the futbol (soccer) match between Barcelona and Bilbao, which is a really big deal in Spain! But the match wasn't until Saturday night, and I got there on Friday afternoon. My friend Renee, who I was meeting for the match, was already there and doing things by the time I got to the hostel (a different hostel than the first one I stayed in in Barcelona, and much nicer!) Thus, I went to Calle Los Ramblas for a little bit on my own. There were some parades going on for Good Friday with massive floats that between 50 and 100 men stood under to carry. The parade was pretty cool! Then I went and met up with a friend of mine from Lincoln who happened to be traveling in Barcelona at the same time as me. It was fun to see him, and I also got to meet another one of his friends who he was traveling with!

Saturday, Renee and I did our own thing because most of the things she wanted to do I had already done. Thus, I went to the Picasso Museum and the neighborhood around the museum, both very cool! I spent about 2 hours in the museum, which covered Picasso's entire life and had all kinds of his art in it. I had no idea that he started out as a portrait artist before I went there! The area around the museum was also very cool - it had a lot of street vendors and good little restaurants, similar to Calle Los Ramblas, except that it wasn't nearly as crowded, which I really liked! Saturday evening, Renee and I went to the futbol match which was a lot of fun! I sat in the 19th row in a really really good seat! The game was different than sporting events in the United States because the fans are so much more into it - they don't get up for ANYTHING and pretty much only talk to do the chants and cheers, which they get really into! Barcelona won 4-1, so everyone was very happy in the end!

I decided to go back to Barcelona on Sunday even though I wasn't scheduled to go back until Monday, because I was just so tired and dehydrated. I got some tapas for dinner Sunday night with some of my roommates and then just went to sleep. Monday, I had to go to the emergency clinic to get help with my dehydration because my ankles and feet were swollen and in pain due to it. They gave me some medicine and advice, which made me very tired but seems to have worked wonders because I can actually see my ankles again! Also, my feet are no longer in pain. I have just been spending this week going to classes and recuperating, because tomorrow bright and early I am going to Morocco with my program! Africa will make the fifth continent I've been on, and I have a goal to get to all seven, so I'm doing well! I'm very very excited!