Barcelona: Una Reflexión

It's been a little over a month since I've been back from being abroad and not a day has gone by where I haven't thought about it.  It has been a big adjustment getting back into my old life style and accepting that the fairy tale life I lived in Spain was only a short time commitment.  I spent the first few weeks recalling my stories to all my friends back home and with each account I felt myself falling deeper into my Alice in Wonderland tales.  People kept asking me if it felt good to be home and while I'll admit that it did, there was still a big part of me that was wishing that I had never left.

When I went back to Redlands to finish up a course for may term I greatly dreaded going back to school but it ended up turning around to be a good thing.  I took this class called Making Magazines and on the first day the teacher told us to pick a topic to elaborate on.  You can guess the first place my mind went to.

I used the class to cope with the severe home-sickness I was feeling for my spanish life and made a magazine about Barcelona.  The best part about it was that I wrote the entire thing in Spanish, which helped with the gap I was feeling from not speaking Spanish anymore.  It proved to be great therapy writing about a culture I had come to be so passionate about and expressing my feelings in the language I had grown so fond of and by the end of the course I finally felt a little closure.  When I finished it all I finally felt like I could accept being back in the U.S. and what's more is that I was left with this amazing little piece of my life I could flip through whenever I wanted.

It's crazy to think how big of an impact such a brief period in my life could have on me but that's the most beautiful thing about studying abroad.  It gives people the opportunity to really experience  different cultures, meet so many different people, and learn even more about themselves than they thought.  It's almost as if you get the chance to live a second life.

For me, the biggest thing I think I learned from it all is to roll with the punches.  Breaking my ankle and traveling impaired made for a high-intensive course in that lesson but also a powerful one.  Things don't always go your way, especially when you're in a foreign country trying to fit into a different lifestyle but the quicker you adapt, the easier life gets.

It's sad to think that this amazing experience has all just become a picture on my wall but it has also become one of the veins across my heart.  What ever happens next, I will always have Barcelona as a keepsake in my pocket to help me embrace the punches that roll ahead, whatever and whoever they may be.

For those of you thinking of traveling or studying abroad my advice is don't think twice about it and do it.  It will be one of the best things you will ever do and if you pick a place that is perfect for you, you may never leave.  If you're considering Barcelona, my magazine on Barcelona may be able to help you decide.  It's all in spanish but there are some great pictures and that is what google translate is for!

http://www.blurb.com/b/4352174-the-looking-glass-en-espanol

It's safe to say I have become addicted to traveling and I know these past months were only the beginning for me.  I look forward to the many adventures that lie ahead.

¡Hasta luego!

Last stop: Italy

The final trip of my travels abroad ended in the gorgeous city of Venice, Italy.  After a brief stop in Rome for a night, I took a train the following morning to visit the city on water.  The weather was gorgeous, the sites were impeccable, and I couldn't have been happier with the place I had chosen to end it all.

Coming to Venice from the 5 day party I had had in Dublin made for the perfect relaxing vacation that I needed.  I checked into a hotel where I had my own room, bathroom, and private balcony and reveled in the luxury I had given up before by traveling through hostels.  I took a bus to the city center every day, checking different sites on the island each time, and spent my breaks eating italian food every meal time.  It took me a day and a half to order something other than pizza but after I had finally had my fill I expanded my cuisine to lasagna, spaghetti, ravioli, risotto, and gnocchi.  I had had it all and then some, and by the time I left venice I'm pretty sure I had eaten enough food to feed all the starving children in Africa.  Not something I'm looking forward to working off when I get back to the states.

The first day in Venice I spent roaming around the city, climbing over various bridges that hung over the canals and meandering around aimlessly.  I walked without a plan admiring the luminous canals and the old ruble homes that had been so eloquently put together.  The whole city was out, and as I ventured deeper into the neighborhoods I ran into several children out kicking the soccer ball around or balling around on the basketball hoops.  The whole friendly neighborhood scene engulfed me right from the start and I felt like I was in a movie.

View Over the Grand Canal

I went back to the main land the second day with more of schedule, and took time to see the Rialto bridge and St. Marks square.  It was close to impossible to get lost as there were sides around every street corner pointing me in the right direction and I moseyed along slowly taking my time to stop at the different shops and admire the different masks and trinkets they had to offer.  As I got closer to the Rialto bridge more and more people started to crowd the small alley ways .  There were shops stacked along the bridge and as I perched myself over the edge I admired the view of the grand canal.  There were as many gondolas as there were seagulls in the water and I watched wishing I had an extra 80 euro to splurge on a gondola ride.

Rialto Bridge

When I got to St. Marks square I learned where all the people had come from. There was an entire concert of tourists in front of me and I couldn't spot one who didn't have a camera, myself included.  The plaza was huge and St. Marks Basilica stood tall over everyone.  The architecture was extravagantly decorated with different religious scenes and the floors on the inside were pieced together by a rainbow array of tiles.  I marveled at it all.

St. Marks' Basilica

St. Marks' Square

My last day in Venice I took a 4 hour excursion to the three Islands off of Venice: Murano, Burano, and Torcello, but not before my wallet was taken by surprise by a local market that had planted itself right outside my hotel.  I spent a good amount of money on Italian clothes and fruit, which were just a few of the things it had to offer.  I made it to the excursion an hour later with three new outfits  and 30 euro less in my wallet.

Street Market

While on the excursion  I met a girl from Algeria who had also been traveling by herself and we became excursion buddies.  Our first stop was the island of Murano where we had the privilege of watching the glass blowing process.  Murano dapples in its glory of glass blowing and after being blown away by all the colors we wandered around the canals admiring the various glass shops. The Island of Burano came next, which is famous for its lace.  We visited a local lace shop and then toured around the main square where all kinds of scarves lay out tauntingly for tourists.  I was a magnet for these sales and I ended up buying three.  The designs were so unique and the material unlike anything I had see before, I couldn't stop myself.

Burano

Murano

I hid my wallet after that as we approached the final Island of Torcello where its population count was 11.  People had been driven off of it by malaria and it was now an island filled with grassy walk ways and broken down churches/museums.  I spent time with Aria, my friend from Algeria, sitting along the water and admiring nature.  It was the perfect end to the excursion.  The sun set as we headed home and I left Venice the next morning.

Torcello

Along the Canal in Torcello

I more than enjoyed my time in Venice and was glad I had the opportunity to visit such a unique city.  I found it interesting how the public transportation was made up of water taxis and water busses and loved how every time I lingered outside a restaurant a waiter would pop his head out and ask me, "Pi-zah?" or "Spa-ge-tti?"  It was a great experience that I'll always remember.

With all my travels out of the way it's time to slowly start heading home.  And when I say slowly, I mean slowly.  I've got an overnighter in the airport, 11 hour flight to Texas, a 4 hour layover, and then another 4 hour flight before I'm home again. ¡Mama mia!  This life is a crazy one, but I love it.

Back in Ireland

Oh Ireland... where to begin with you? With every visit to this country I find my heart growing fonder and fonder of it.  From the gorgeous countryside to the friendly locals, there isn't anything I can think of that I don't love about this country.  Granted I have never visited during the winter time when I hear its hell, but hey.  Every country has its downside.

Second time round to Ireland was amazing.  I had just left my Madre behind in Barcelona and was a bit nervous about traveling alone but all my rickety emotions went out the window the second I landed in Dublin airport.  There's something about that airport that puts the goofiest grin on my face every time I get off the plane.  I had smooth sailing all the way to the hostel and once I was all checked in and my bags were tucked away in my room, I set out to explore the city once again.

After a few hours of strolling around temple bar district where all the pubs, restaurants and gift shops were, I made my way to the Mercantile Bar to kick off my first night with a pub crawl through the city. We ended up going to four pubs and a club and I met more people than I could keep track of that night.  Highlight of the night, and probably my entire trip was at the club ( I can't remember the name of it for the life of me) where I met people from all over the world.  There was a group of people visiting from Portugal, a girl from Sweden, a local from Ireland, some guys from France and more who all spoke different languages and even though we couldn't communicate, we could all jump up and down together with our arms wrapped around each other belting out every lyric to "Don't You Worry Child" by Swedish House Mafia. I definitely reveled in that moment and went home that night more than satisfied with how my break had kicked off.

The next day I decided to join a free three hour walking tour through Dublin. My guide was a local and over the course of the tour she taught us a lot of history about the city while giving us the chance to see a bit of Dublin. The city isn't big at all so not much walking was involved.  While on the tour I ran into two girls I had met at the pub crawl the previous night.  They were two friends who had been studying abroad in Paris for a year and had come to Dublin for a long weekend. We reminisced over the pub crawl and after the walking tour decided to get lunch together.  After that we fell into being travel buddies and spent the next two days exploring the city and going out to the pubs together.

We met up for drinks with some friends I had made the previous night and all sat around together enjoying the live music at some of the pubs.  It was an enjoyable night in good company and the following day I met up with the girls to visit the prison in Ireland.  We joined a tour and learned about how the Irish had designed the prison to be torturous to its prisoners with no windows, individual rooms etc.. and learned about some of the famous people who had been prisoners there.  It was a bit creepy if you ask me but that's prison life I guess.

After the prison tour, we goofed around in downtown Dublin, took a stroll down Grafton Street and through temple bar once again.  I met up with them one last time for drink that night and after listening to the live band we parted ways.  I had more than enjoyed their company and was glad to have met them but now I was going to explore on my own for a bit.

I woke up the next day in the wee hours of the morning to go on an all day tour that took me up along the east coast of Ireland to the Giants Causeway and to visit Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland. Once again I had my breath taken away by the ocean side view from Ireland.  I love how green everything is and when the sun reflects off the hills the world looks as if it is made of gold.  I enjoyed Belfast as well.  It was a cute town with a bit more of a city feel to it than Dublin.  Overall the trip was incredible and I had been blessed with gorgeous weather again, aside from the strong winds.  Walking anywhere was a workout with the force of the wind blowing me every direction except the one I wanted to go but it died down towards the end.

I ended my last night in Dublin at a pub where I met yet again more people.  They were locals from Dublin and happily invited me to hangout with them for the night.  I went back to my hostel in good spirits and left Dublin the next early afternoon.  As I got ready to board my plane to Rome I thought about my time in Dublin and all the people I had met.  I'm grateful for the incredible opportunity I had to meet people from all over the world and I love that after a few hours of chatting you can be considered friends. I'm leaving Ireland behind with a whole new perspective on the world, and with all the friends I've made, there's no doubt in my mind that I'll be back some day.

Temple Bar District

Live Music

Kilmainham Prison

Inside the Prison

Giants Causeway

Hills of Ireland

View over the Causeway

Belfast

Spring Break in Bilbao & San Sebastian

I ended the last weekend of March with a trip to Bilbao and San Sebastian.  My roommate and I had decided long before that we would want our Spring Break to be a relaxing one, so instead of planning multiple trips to different cities we stuck with two where we could break up our vacation.

 The first place we went to was Bilbao, which we had to catch a 6am flight for.  It was our third early morning flight and you’d think from how much we hated the other ones I would have known better than to force us to take one but thankfully it was our last.  When we got to our hostel in Bilbao I passed out on a bean bag in the lounge while Kim read about meaningful things in the city. 

Once we were allowed to check in, we took time to explore the city a bit.  Bilbao is a smaller city with all the alleys and street ways squished together.  It was super green with all the trees and was surrounded by fields and the cloudy overcast made it feel a little like Seattle.  We discovered a little fruiteria by our hostel and made it our daily breakfast stop.  Fruit in Spain is ridiculously cheap and also tastes amazing, it made it hard to leave that fruit stand when the time came.

While in Bilbao we had the opportunity to experience a little bit of the Basque culture by visiting a local museum and reading about their traditional dances.  Later that night we got to see it first hand as the entire city of Bilbao got together to celebrate Semana Santa with a holy parade and music festival.  My roommate and I stumbled upon the music festival quite by accident as we turned left into a square to find tons of town folk prancing around happily in cirlces.  The music echoed off the walls and after a couple of dances I found myself being dragged by one of the locals into the dance.  

"It's easy, just follow me," she said.  Which it wasn't too hard and I caught on quick but as the rhythm of the music started to pick up I found myself lost.  My roommate chuckled when I came back after the dance and I laughed off my awful basque dancing.  We had both had our hand at a foreign dance now.

After the music festival we joined the crowds of people to watch everyone in the holy parade.  People were dressed up in suits similar to that of the KKK but with different colors and small patches on their chest.  It was startling to turn around and see one directly behind you but it wore off after awhile.  I left Bilbao feeling very cultured and content with the way things were kicking off.

We ended our break in San Sebastian where we were greeted with rain and friendly locals.  As we tried to figure out how to get to our hostel from the bus stop one of the locals over heard us and decided to guide us all the way to our hostel.  It was a welcoming start to the city.

We spent our time in San Sebastian climbing hills to see the view over the city and the beaches and made several visits to local gelatto stores (there were hundreds) to enjoy a nice chocolate waffle and some coffee.  My sweet tooth controlled my wallet that weekend as I ended up buying one or two chocolate waffles everyday!

It turned out to be a very laid back vacation which was very much needed.  We took a couple nights out to enjoy a casual beer with a tapa and get lost in the busy night life.  San Sebastian was crowed with people at all hours of the day and when we came back to our hostel one night we ran into a party in our room.  Four girls from Mexico had cans of Red Bull and bottles of Jager open everywhere.  Happy Easter to us.

They left a few hours later and weren't a bother after that and we ended our last day roaming around the city.  When it came time to leave I set my alarm early the next morning to catch my seven am bus, which I ended up missing.  I exited the hostel to pouring rain outside and a long line of drunk people waiting in line for a taxi.  I thought, no way will I be able to get a taxi in time, so I decided to run with a very large suitcase you could fit three small dogs in.  After running 2.5 kilometers in the pouring rain and pushing my suitcase on wheels, I arrived 15 minutes late and sopping wet.  I took the easy way out and bought a plane ticket back so I would get to school on time the next day.  It cost me an arm and a leg but I tried not to think twice about it.

It felt good when I finally made it back to Barcelona and I crashed on my bed the second I got home.  We had to wash 6 loads of laundry to clean the wet clothes that had gone through the marathon to the bus stop with me and Madre was not impressed but what can you do.  It was a crazy end to a crazy month and I ended March with enough memories, good and bad, to last a life time.

March Madness Part Three: Family Adventures in Spain

The last two weekends of March kicked off with a visit from my Mom and my Grandma who flew in from Germany to visit me in Barcelona.  I showed them around the city, which after living here for 3 months I've found I know just as well as Seattle.  I showed them La Rambla and the Gothic district and we went to several different tapa bars.  I ate more tapas than necessary that first week.

What I enjoyed the most was my family getting the chance to meet my Spanish family.  My madre, roommate, mother, and grandma all went out to a flamenco show and had a blast.  At the end of the show the dancers pulled my roommate and my madre from our table to join the dance and I watched happily as everyone danced around in their own fashion.  There's a video somewhere back home I'm looking forward to whipping out when I get back.

After my two families got the chance to hangout  a bit, I left with my mom and grandma on our own little vacation around Spain.  We rented a car and drove along the coast of Spain to Sitges and Valencia and got to see a beautiful view of the water.  We couldn't have asked for better weather and the sun reflecting off the green hills of Spain just added to its beauty.

Right off the bat I had to make the adjustment to traveling like a tourist.  Traveling with my family was an experience in its own, and my mom being the biggest tourist ever, runs into every tourist problem possible.  The first encounter we had was at the airport before we even drove off from the car rental place.  We spent what felt like an hour trying to program the GPS and then once we were ready to go, my mom was convinced the car wasn't filled with gas.  I sat in the back of the car listening to music thinking something was wrong with the car but after twenty minutes of sitting around in the car, I finally asked whats was wrong and had to point out to my mom that she had read the gage wrong.  Tourist definition right there.

Our tourist problems continued in Sitges where the city streets are all alley ways and one way streets and when we pulled into a parking lot to turn around a stranger had to get out of his car to drive our own because my mom couldn't figure out how to reverse the car and we were blocking traffic.  There was a long line of cars behind us confused at what was stopping traffic and I sat biting my tongue in the back of the car to keep myself from saying anything as my mom climbed back into the car to drive again.  She was stressed and jokes wouldn't have flown.  We spent the rest of our first night driving around lost in Sitges with a GPS that kept telling us to go the wrong way down one way streets and by the time we got to the hotel we were pooped.

Once we had our living situation sorted out, Sitges was fine.  We walked along the beach, visited the vendor stands and I bought a few scarves to add to my collection.  Living in Spain has flowered a love for scarves in my wardrobe.  We ate food along the beach and headed out of Sitges in smooth sailing compared to entering.  Our smooth sailing didn't last too long though, because as we came into Valencia we encountered several large roundabouts with multiple traffic lights and no lanes.  I'm pretty sure I left Valencia with whip lash in my neck from all my mom's jerking on the breaks. We would go around the roundabouts several times before actually exiting and when we finally returned the car to the airport I was more than happy to see it go.

Aside from the roundabout madness, Valencia was enjoyable.  The beach was beautiful and had sand castle artists building the most incredible castles I had ever seen.  The weather was beautiful and we ended up taking two different tour busses around Valencia to see the city.  The city felt like a mix between Sevilla and Barcelona, with a city feel but older spanish architecture and countless courtyards.

Sand Castle Art

Beach Front Valencia 

The visit from my family was a whirlwind of adventure to say the least, but definitely enjoyable.  I loved getting to roam along the coast of Spain and seeing other parts of Spain.  Next time we take a vacation in a foreign country, I'll be prepared for the hectic travel that comes with my family!

MM Part Two: Ireland

The third weekend in March the madness continued with a trip to Ireland over St. Patty's day weekend.  I went with my roommate Kim, and we ended up having the time of our lives.  We got into Dublin late Friday night, and after getting lost in the maze that was our hostel we prepared ourselves for the weekend.  People at the hostel were very friendly and also very drunk.  We had a few highly entertaining conversations with the people staying at the hostel before we retired for the night and checked out the next morning to head to Galway.

Before leaving on our bus for Galway, we walked around Dublin for a few hours to see the city.  I loved the old small town city feeling that Dublin gave off and people were also very friendly.  Everyone was walking in the streets in green hats or dressed as leprechauns and the town was decorated in shamrocks.  There was a very happy feeling in the air and also a lot of history around.  

We walked down Grafton Street and saw all the street performers out and visited a museum with a lot of cool exhibits on Ireland way back in the day.  We spent a good majority of our day walking around so when time came around to board the bus we were more than happy to have a seat.

 

Dublin

The drive through Ireland to Galway was gorgeous and as we drove through the green hills of the country during sunset I sat eagerly awaiting what was to come.  We met up with Kim's friend at the bus station and stayed at her apartment for the weekend.  After getting food and determining sleeping arrangements (we got a mattress out and pushed two couches together) we prepared for the evening.

That night we went out to the pubs and ended up meeting a couple of Irish guys who had come from northern Ireland to celebrate.  I met a guy named Hugh and we spent the night dancing and singing to music in the pub.  Later when the pub closed we all gathered around outside on the cobblestone streets and danced to a guitarist while the boys sang their Irish jangles.  Everyone was all in such a good mood and so happy to be where they were that I couldn't help but feel like I was in a fairytale.

It was a night that carried over into the wee hours of the next morning and we woke up three hours later to catch a bus to the Cliffs of Moher.  Though we were tired and my roommate a bit cranky, the trip proved to be more than worth it.  We made several stops along the way through hills greener than I had ever seen and past bodies of water shades of blue that looked like they had been painted in place.  The air was cold but the weather perfect and standing outside we couldn't have felt more alive.  Being submerged in such a storybook nature setting took our breath away.  

On the Cliffs of Moher

Stop along the way

Cliffs of Moher

Dunguaire Castle

Hills of Ireland

We saw castles, waterfronts, and rock canyons that all felt surreal but nothing compared to the breathtaking scene at the cliffs of more.  Being up so high on the grass cliffs, the Atlantic Ocean looked like it spread on forever.  The air smelt the freshest I had ever experienced and being surround by all the colorful nature made life seem unreal.  We left the Cliffs of Moher content, and convinced that nothing could beat that moment in our lives.

View over the Atlantic

Cliffs from the Castle

St. Patty's day ended with an attempt to master the pubs as we had the night before, but this time the pubs were packed with ten times the amount of people.  Trying to get a drink was impossible.  The sea of people dressed in green between us and the bar tender made it a challenge and trying to find somewhere to stand consisted of humping random strangers as the crowd pushed and squeezed us in directions we didn't want to go.  We ended up ditching the pub scene and landing in a burrito joint for a late night snack which proved to be just as fun.

A huge crowd of drunk people came in and started singing and dancing as they ordered burritos.  Some even attempted handstands and cartwheels miserably and it suddenly felt as if the bar had found us.  Needless to say we more than enjoyed the night without a pub and as we headed home for the night we were more than pleased.

I left Ireland with a change of heart and have never felt more alive in my life.  Being around such great company and seeing nature as I had seen it made everything else in life seem so different, in a good way.  I loved it so much that I have booked one more trip back to Ireland before I head back to the states.  

St. Patty's day weekend proved to be a success, and maybe one of the best weekends of my life.  Cheers to March Madness.  It has only continued from there.

March Madness Part One: Sevilla & Granada

March turned out to be the craziest month of my life, and when I say crazy I mean it in the best way possible.  It kicked off with the loss of my crutches and the boot, which I had no regrets with shoving them in the back of my closet, and from there the fun began.  I managed to visit several different cities across Spain and a few in Ireland and came back to Barcelona with a life time of memories.

The madness began with my first trip the first week of March, three days after being released from my boot.  I took a ten hour train ride to Granada with a friend of mine from the program and we later took another over to Sevilla.  Granada proved to be a real test on my foot, as the city was all on a hill and we had to walk everywhere to get anywhere.  After struggling through a ten hour train ride (we had some wine to help us through it), walking proved to be much needed.

The city was quite old and small, with a very picturesque feeling to it.  I almost felt like I was in one of Monet's impressionist paintings, the way the shrubs and trees were decorated in the hills.  Everything was so green and the weather couldn't have been more perfect.  We dumped our things off in our hole-in-the-wall hostel and spent the day touring the city.  We ended up taking a visit to the Alhambra, which took one hell of a walk to get to, and had our breath taken away by the prestige of the palace and hillsides.  I couldn't stop taking pictures and by the end of the day the battery in my camera had died.

View over Granada

Streets in Granada

Alhambra

Later that night we went tappa hopping, which consisted of walking from
tapa bar to tapa bar to sample different tapas and ended our night in a hooka bar.  The tapas were all amazing and proved to be the perfect dish with beer.  After dinner, we treated our self to gelato, which is to die for in Spain, and then called it a night.

The next day we took off on a train to Sevilla which turned out to be my favorite city in Spain.  It had a very southern feeling to it and people were incredibly friendly.  We took time to visit Plaza España, the Plaza de Torros, the gardens and other parts of Sevilla.  The town wasn't too big so two days was plenty to tour the city.

Row Boating around Plaza España

Our first full day in Sevilla we enjoyed a nice row boat ride around Plaza España, that is until it started pouring down rain, and we had to frantically paddle back to the dock.  People huddled together underneath the Plaza to keep dry and cheered for us as we rowed back.  By the time we were out of the boat the rain had stopped and were left sopping wet.  It was a bit unfortunate, but I enjoyed the adventure nonetheless.

Flamenco Dancers

I had an incredible time our first night in Sevilla.  Marisa and joined our hostel in a trip to a Flamenco show at a private showing and watched a male and female dance flamenco.  Their passion and agility was amazing and we stayed after to get our picture taken with them.  Afterwards, we made our way to a bar along the river that had a live band and the whole bar was dancing flamenco.  Women and men stood together happily on the floor clapping their hearts out and I could feel the Andalusian culture in the air.  It was a night to remember.

Plaza de Torros

We ended our time in Sevilla the following night with a tapa tour through our hostel where our guide told us about the meaning behind tapas and how they are a part of the Spanish culture.  We were joined by two other couples from different hostels, one from Canada and the other from Germany and ended the night with a two hour conversation about each others hometowns.  It was interesting to hear about the way people live in different countries and I left Andalusia feeling very cultured.

My foot was sore and achy after I got back, but I regretted nothing.  I had some great adventures in the south of Spain and from there only more were to come.