April 23, 2014 – Spring Break

The week after Granada was the worst week of the semester school work wise because all of our projects and essays for every class ended up being due at the same time right before spring break.  Even though we had so much work we found time to make it out during the week.  Monday the 4 roommates made it out.  Tuesday after running clubs second to last meeting and run to the top of Montjuic, my Entrepreneurship team had a celebration after we finished our final project.  Wednesday Jeremy and I had to finish our Video Project for Sports and Society and I had to finish writing an essay on the Catalan Independence/Secessionist movement.  We didn’t leave for Nice until Friday evening so we had the option of going out on Thursday night to kick of Spring Break.  We went to Taverna and then Bling Bling until they turned the lights on and had an after party at the apartment until 8 so we made it to sunrise once.  Mike, Cam, Max, Jeremy, Zach, and I groggily landed in the waterfront Nice airport around 8 pm.  We took a cab to Hostel Smith where we met Zach’s friend who would be hanging out with us for the week and checked in.  This was definitely the worst Hostel we have stayed in so far.  The beds were dirty, smelly, damp, and very thin and the bathrooms were not clean and there was no space to walk around in our room.  Other than that the people were extremely nice and our location was right in the middle of the Old Town and a five minute walk from the beach so all in all it worked out because we weren’t in the Hostel much anyway.  Our first night I had to skip going out to dinner because I had to take care of transfer application business so I ended up getting sushi to go after meeting up with everyone else.  We walked around for about an hour and called it a night.  Our roommate came stumbling in at 5 and snored 2x louder than my dad for a couple hours waking us all up.  He disappeared in the morning and was replaced by 3 Irish ladies the next day.

We woke up around 9 which would become a theme for the trip as we didn’t really sleep past 10 any day of break.  We started out looking for breakfast and me and Jeremy split up from everyone else and got quiche, pizza, and some strawberries at the market that popped up that morning.  We all met up on Nice’s rocky beach and chilled there all morning.  The water was extremely clear and turquoise and Nice’s beach has no sand on it instead it’s made up of fist sized rocks that can be a little tough to get comfortable on.  It was pretty nonetheless but after a couple days on it you just wanted it to be sand.  After napping and just hanging we jumped in because the weather was warm enough and ended up being warm enough all week for us to swim just about every day.  The water was refreshing but cold enough that you only wanted to stay in for a couple minutes.  We eventually got lunch at a café and hiked up to a park on the top of a mountain overlooking the city.  It was a really pretty vantage point and there was a tucked away waterfall that we made our way to as well.  We went back to the Hostel and assessed our burns which were pretty bad and then went to dinner at a nearby pasta place.  Being in the old town meant everything was a 2 minute walk from us including over 100 different restaurants so it was hard to figure out what would be good but dinner on Saturday was great.  After we brought some beers to the beach and enjoyed the stars and crashing waves and eventually tried to find a bar to go to.  There was a place called Wayne’s that was selling 8 euro beers and you couldn’t even walk around inside so a couple of us bounced and Max Zach and Cam decided to stay.  Jeremy Mike and I just explored the streets some more and eventually called it a night. 

Sunday we were out by 10 and Mike Jeremy and I decided to rent roller blades.  It was the first time I ever roller bladed so I looked like a fool but it was awesome.  I managed to only fall completely once with a couple close calls that came with laughs from passersbys.  We went up and down the length of the boardwalk and then went through the giant park cutting through the center of the downtown.  The park had water jet fountains all throughout it so we bladed through those for a good half hour before returning the skates.  By the end I felt a lot more comfortable and definitely started getting the hang of it.  It was a fun way to explore the city and a new experience for me which is always fun.  We sat outside and got lunch at a café afterwards before meeting up with everyone else at the beach.  One thing that was awesome about the trip was how laid back and friendly everyone was that lived along the coast of the Mediterranean.  There was definitely a different outlook on life and vibe these people gave off and you could tell the difference between a Parisian and someone who lived along the Riviera and between a Barcelonan and a person from Costa Brava.  After some more sun Max Mike and I went for a run along the coast.  We went the opposite way we had been exploring and found a completely different part of the city.  The weather was perfect and we ran past the harbor and other multi-colored buildings up an extremely long hill all while we were along the coast and the views got better and better.  Every corner we turned and as we got higher up we revealed another hidden cove and the views of distant towns and Nice behind us were amazing.  The run was surreal and put into perspective exactly where we were and how amazing and beautiful of a place it was.  In all it was my favorite run of Europe between the amazing view, exploring a new place and it was a great workout.  For dinner we went to a takeout pizza place whose boxes we kept seeing everyone eating.  We picked up some wine and brought the pies out to the beach and enjoyed them as the moons light began reflecting off the sea.  Sunday night we hung out in Jonas’s much nicer and spacious room before going out and trying to find some night life which we were never really able to find in Nice. 

Monday afternoon we took a train to Monaco after a long and confusing morning in the train station.  When we finally arrived our group got split up.  Mike Jeremy Cam and I waited outside of the train on the platform while Max Zach and Jonas went out the exit going up while we eventually went through the downward exit after waiting.  We spent the entire day thinking they forgot to get off the train and since me and Jeremy were the only ones with working phones we couldn’t contact them.  But after that our first stop was a café for lunch.  The weather was perfect and we spent most of the day just walking around exploring the city and taking in all the Ferraris, Porches, and Royles Royces that made up 90% of the cars you would see.  It was almost gross to a point the amount of unbelievable cars you saw and the amount of money you knew all these people had and how they wanted to show it off in this place.  However it was fun entering this delusional and beautiful world for an afternoon.  After lunch we walked up a hill to the top of a castle and to an awesome vantage point.  Looking over the city you could see how beautiful all the buildings were, the massive yachts, tennis stadium, soccer stadium, the Formula 1 race track built into the city’s streets, and the aqua water with cruise ships parked off shore.  It was definitely a unique place in the world and I’m glad I got to experience for it a day.  After the castle we wandered around for an hour trying to find our way to these apparent awesome gardens but due to the hilly outlay of the land and our inability to navigate, we never made it.  Instead we walked along the Formula 1 track that was straight out of Iron Man and surreal to walk on and up to the center of the city.  In the center the famous Paris Hotel and Monte Carlo Casino are located.  Outside of each people back in their Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Aston Martins and tourists come around and take pictures.  It was crazy, absolutely crazy.  To walk in the casino there is a charge and you are only allowed to walk through a roped off section of the Hotel.  We kind of gawked at everything and all the opulence and then walked to the beach.  The beach was amazing and we each got a beer, sat in the sun, and enjoyed life.  We spent a few hours there and walked back to the city center as the sun was dipping behind the mountain Monaco is built into.  We ran into Zach Max and Jonas there and we got dinner at a nearby place.  Our final stop had to be a casino since we were in Monaco so we went into the next door Paris Casino that had .50 euro roulette and wasted an hour and 10 euro there but it was fun.  After we bought a couple Cuban cigars and took the train back to Nice.  Monday night we had a pow wow in our Hostel room with Max’s friend who we met in Monaco and our Irish roommates and then went out.  Everyone went to Wayne’s but Jeremy and I refused so we went back to the beach and smoked the Cuban and chilled for a while enjoying our last moments in Nice. 

Before heading to the train station we got breakfast at the market again and then walked to the station.  We took a 4 hour train to Marseille and had awesome views along the coast.  We passed tons of small Riviera towns sitting right on the clear blue water along the red rocky coast with rolling green hills on the other side.  Really pretty!  We took a taxi to Hello Marseille Hostel and were pleased to see it was much nicer than Smith in Nice.  The lady working the desk, Noelle, was super nice and helpful and found a way to squeeze Jonas and Mike into our room because they had separate reservations.  She gave us the spiel and then some recommendations of what to do, most of which we never used but helpful nonetheless.  We left the Hostel to walk around and explore the port which was 3 minutes from our Hostel.  The old castle that acted as the gate to the port still stood in the distance.  We tried to use the public bike system because we thought it would be easier and more enjoyable to see the city like that but contrary to what Noelle said we couldn’t rent the bikes because we needed bank cards with chips in them.  Our next stop was the inner city beach that was pretty gross and filled with cigarettes and pencils and balloons and anything else you could imagine.  It was the closest beach and it was getting dark so we waded in the water and enjoyed the last of the days sunlight.  Some little French kid, Felix, came up to us and started yapping away even though we knew nothing he was saying.  He kept rambling for 20 minutes about who knows what and all we could do was nod and splash him.  We kicked around a soccer ball we found on the beach after Felix left and then eventually made our way up the Cathedral on a massive hill to watch the sunset.  We couldn’t get into the main because it was closed at that time of day so we found a spot on a hill beside it and hung out up there for an hour watching the sun set right over the water and the light and shadows move over the city below and island in front of us making a nice end to the day.  After dark we walked back to the Hostel and passed a burger place called Moon and one look inside and we knew it was going to be amazing.  We all pigged out and swore we would be back to the tiny burger shack the next night for dinner.  Tuesday night we didn’t do much other than watch the Purple Wedding episode of Game of Thrones and get some rest. 

Wednesday we woke up early and headed out to the Colonques.  We had a 15 minute walk to a bus stop and on the way we stopped at a fruit vendor and got some of the best strawberries I’ve ever had.  They weren’t the massive mutant ones we usually eat but small, natural looking, and super sweet.  The bus was about 15 minutes to a University on the outskirts of the city and the last stop of the bus.  We walked through the campus and to the entrance of the National park where we had about a 30 minute walk down to the Colonque.  The park was awesome and filled with pine trees and surrounded by beautiful mountains and it was great to get out into nature for a day and away from everything.  The Colonque we made it down to was called Sugiton and was a spot where the cliffs peel back and form a sharp little cove with rock islands and crazy clear water.  It’s really beautiful and hard to explain without pictures.  There wasn’t really a beach so we plopped down on the rocks and jumped in the frigid water.  There was an island very close to where we jumped in so we swam out to it and did some cliff jumping.  It was awesome and everyone was cheering everyone on and more people came out and joined us.  Everyone on the “beach” was super friendly and sharing what they had with each other.  It started getting chilly and windy so we headed back to the city.  On the way back we stopped at an overlook of multiple Colonques which was awesome!  We got back as the sun was going down and after showering we went back to Moon as promised and enjoyed the best burgers in Marseille again.  We grabbed some street beers and walked to a bar to watch the Copa del Rey between FCB and Real Madrid.  We found a bar with an outside TV and super pricey drinks and it was filled with Madrid fans so we moved at halftime to get out of the cold and hopefully find cheaper drinks but the next bar we went to was just as expensive but not that many people inside.  Barcelona was really outplayed and after Neymar missed a late opportunity to tie it up the game was over and Real was the champion.  We walked back to our Hostel and tried to find somewhere to go but nothing was really happening and we headed back. 

Thursday we had a long travel day back to Spain in Lloret del Mar.  We took a train to Perpignan and had a 2 hour layover so we bought some wine and subway and enjoyed a little picnic.  Thankfully we made our train to Girona and then took a 7 person cab to Lloret.  In Lloret we had a condo/apartment setup all to ourselves with a balcony that overlooked the water.  It ended up being cheaper than either hostel because we were out of season but it was an awesome place.  We had 3 bedrooms a pullout couch and 2 bathrooms along with the porch that we spent most of our time on drinking beers and enjoying the view.  We walked towards a giant neon sign to get pizza for dinner and after headed to Parata bar but like I said it was in the offseason so we were literally the only people in there and the place was dead.  We called  it quits and did some late night swimming and headed back. 

Friday we got up early and did some shopping because we had a kitchen and cooked breakfast.  After we got some beach toys and chilled on the beach all day.  Lloret’s beach was made of tiny pebbles which was the closest thing to a sand beach we had all week.  It was a nice place but it reminded me of the jersey shore in Spain.  The types of people there, the shops, and the fact that people go there for a party and beach weekend reminded me a lot of home.  But that was what we wanted for a couple days at the end of our trip after having a really chill first 6 days in France.  Mike and I went for a run around the coast later in the afternoon.  We ran on a path that wrapped along the side of the cliffs that sat along the water.  The run was beautiful and in a really unique place it just sucked because the trail was made of mostly stairs and a lot of tourists.  We cut it short because of how beat we were from climbing so many stairs but enjoyed it a lot nonetheless and decided to come back the next and chill on a secluded beach tucked in between the cliffs.  We got durum for dinner and then went back to Parata again because the owners were so nice and welcoming.  This time there was 2 old British dudes in there so weren’t the only people at least.  We eventually headed down to the main street of Lloret lined with clubs, arcades, casinos, and everything else you would see at the shore.  We all went to Tropics together and then split up.  Jeremy went home, Mike and I went to Aztec our personal favorite, and everyone else went somewhere else.  There was no one in Aztec so brought the party and had some laughs and a fun time with some French people we met. 

Our last full day we got up and cooked breakfast again and met Sheila and Lela at the beach who came up for the day because Lloret is only an hour from BCN.  We chilled with them for a bit and then got a tapas lunch and spent our last hours on a “secret beach” we saw the day before.  Although there were some other people on and they asked us to move because we were apparently too close to them.   We all passed out and played Pokemon on our phones.  Zach started a fad and it spread like fire.  All of a sudden we were all playing Pokemon and no one said a word for a couple hours.  For our final dinner we found a great place that made the best paella I’ve had yet here and sat outside on the sidewalk.  The waiter was really nice and the dinner was great.  Our last night we had to rally because everyone was so tired but we made it out to a club and of course Aztec again.  We got home really late after a run in with some angry Spanish dudes.  Sunday morning was spent cleaning the mess we made for the past couple days.  After checkout we walked to the bus station where for some reason the ticket booth wasn’t open until after our bus left so we had to sit there for 2 extra hours.  We eventually made it back to BCN and spent Easter doing absolutely NOTHING and watching Game of Thrones and Cosmos.  Spring break was an awesome and relaxing break and we got to see and be in some really cool places I never thought I would get to explore in the world.  It was a great trip and we all enjoyed our time together and made the most of it. 

Monday I woke up really late after needing to catch up on rest from break and it hit me that this was the beginning of the end.  Monday marked the end of traveling and the last stretch in Barcelona.  It’s pretty surreal how fast it all went and I can’t wrap my ahead around it right now and I’d rather not think about it.  Monday was a bumming around day like Sunday and Tuesday I had class for the last time for Spanish and Contemporary Spain.  It was sad saying goodbye to some of the coolest and most enjoyable teachers I’ve ever had.  Tuesday night we had our last Tuesday running session and planned a run on Saturday morning at 11 up to Tibidabo for our last ever meeting that I hope I wake up for.  Today is Sant Jordi day and is the Catalan version of Valentine’s Day.  The streets are lined with book sellers and rose vendors because it is tradition for the men to gift women roses and women to gift men books.  It’s a cool tradition and another example of the Catalan Identity and I love seeing all the Catalan flags.  After finals this week it’s my final weekend in Barcelona and Europe and then it’s time to start packing.  I can’t believe it!      

April 22, 2014 Berlin + Granada

The Wednesday before we left for Berlin Jeremy Zach and I went to a soccer game against another outmatched Spanish club whose name I can’t remember.  The game was a blow out but the atmosphere was amazing nonetheless.  No matter the circumstances everyone is shouting every minute of the game.  After we walked home and met back up with Max before going out for the night.  Thursday was spent in class and packing for our trip.  Our flight left around 8 so we headed to the airport pretty soon after class ended.  When we(Jeremy Zach Max and I) landed in Berlin we were told the best way to get into the city from the airport, that was a decent distance away, was to use the train system so we tried to make our way into the city.  We got lost a couple times and were mixed up by the maps they had posted.  We eventually made it to the Wombat(Same chain hostel we stayed in in Budapest) around 12.  We got the best durum we’ve had yet from the kebab place next door.  Their pita bread they used to make the durum with was filled with seasonings and meat and it was sweet.  We wanted a full day on Friday to explore so we headed to bed after eating. 

We got out of the Hostel at a good time and our first stop was the Berlin Cathedral on Museum Island.  The Cathedral was a big green copper domed building that was old and rugged but beautiful from the outside.  When we walked around inside we got to sit and listen to about 10 minutes of a mass and take in the ornate decorations from its massive organ and dark wooden details to everything else that was seemingly covered in gold.  It was a beautiful church and its style was very different compared to the other cathedrals I’ve seen in the more western parts of Europe.  Before leaving we were able to walk around the rim of the dome up top and take in some views of the historic city and the walk down into the crypts where there were some eerie coffins of old Kaisers and even some of babies.  After seeing the Cathedral we headed to the nearby Pergamon museum.  This was a really unique and awesome museum filled with rebuilt massive ancient structures.  The Ishtar gate was a giant blue and gold gate from Babylon that was reconstructed to scale in the museum and was mindblowing.  There was also an old middle eastern Greek town’s market gate that was preserved and reconstructed as well as an ancient altar surrounded by an amazing sculpture of the Greek Gods in battle against demons.  It was awesome to see such giant structures in a museum and it was like getting to visit land marks of the past all in one building.  After the museum we headed to part of the remaining Berlin Wall and the Brandenburg Gate.  The history of Berlin is crazy and it was amazing to see how progressive and forward of a place it was after having been through so much.  After the gate we walked through a massive nearby park and came out near the Tiergarten which is an old Soviet War Memorial.  Nearby there were signs explaining the post WWII transition and subsequent division of Berlin and it was very cool to see the effects and still present soviet tanks sitting in Berlin.  Until traveling to Europe I never really knew a lot about the Soviet Union or how powerful and influential they really were over the rest of the world but to see a collapsed empires still standing buildings, memorials, and cultural influences throughout a democratic and world leading nation in today’s Germany was fascinating.  From the memorial we walked to the Reichstag where Germany’s Parliament meets and where a lot happened in the past from being destroyed several times to the massive rallies, concerts, and social demonstrations held on its massive front lawn.  It was a very cool place to be able to not only stand in front of but also walk around inside.  Our tour led us up to the top of the building where we walked up and around the giant glass and mirrored dome of the Reichstag.  We had audio guides that told us the history of the building and its significance in German history.  After seeing so many historical sights we headed back to the hostel and grabbed some beers to drink in the streets on the walk back and got ready for dinner.  We went to a gigantic beer hall that sat around 1000 people and had a live band playing.  The waitresses were dressed up in traditional outfits and the tables were huge and wooden and you shared them with however many other people could squeeze in.  We got huge beers and pork knuckle for dinner and although it was a huge tourist thing to do it was still a lot of fun.  Friday night we walked around and explored our area more with some beers.  We ended up at an Americany club before heading home.

Saturday we headed to the Brandenburg gate to meet up with a tour of the nearby concentration camp named Sachsenhausen.  Sachsenhausen was an earlier camp and its layout and policies were used to set a standard for future Nazi camps.  After meeting with our group we took two trains and a bus that took about 40 minutes out to the site.  We walked along a dirt road and eventually into the central steel gate with the main watchtower overhead.  The gate had a sign on it reading “work makes you free”.  After stepping inside and looking around at the 10 foot walls staggered with watch towers and topped with barbed wire set behind electrified fencing with a path for a guard to patrol in between, and at the thought-out layout of the camp, trying to imagine what Holocaust victims went through seemed more real than ever and so much more horrible and disturbing.  Standing where so many horrible things happened and where so many people suffered   you could sense a grayness over the place.  The tour was very informational yet very strange because never before had I been on a tour where everyone is somber and silent and in a sense in a state of mourning.  Our guide was great at explaining what happened and why exactly it was able to happen and how Sachsenhausen fit in with the history of the Holocaust and after how it was reused by the occupying Soviets and how some prisoners were sent there under both the Nazi and Communist regimes.  The tour took us through prison cells, torturing areas, barracks, kitchen, morgue, hospital where experiments took place, and the extermination area where ovens and an area for execution by firing squads were located outside of the rest of the concentration camp.  Each area and subsequent explanations just added more and more to the unfathomable history of the place.  It was a very somber day but I learned a lot of very interesting and important things there and it was definitely a day and place I will never forget.

We headed back into Berlin after about a 5 hour tour and went to the West side gallery where the more of the wall covered in some really great graffiti stands.  Nearby we wandered into a Rasta shanty town and watched the sunset.  After we went to a place called white trash for dinner.  It was a multi leveled restaurant with a pretty awesome live band performing in the basement that we went down and watched after eating.  Saturday night we wanted to experience a real German club so we went out to a giant warehouse with a club inside with several huge rooms.  We went down to the bottom floor in a room playing the weirdest music completely filled with fog from fog machines.  It was a bizarre yet really hilarious and cool experience and we had a lot of fun. 

Sunday we checked out and walked to the Jewish Holocaust Memorial.  It was a giant field of concrete slabs some 15 feet high and others 2 feet high that you could walk through.  It was an eerie yet beautiful monument and below it was a museum that detailed how the treatment of Jews progressed throughout the 30s until post WWII.  It was another emotional yet very informative reminder of what happened.  Berlin was an awesome place and it was great to see first-hand just how much the place had been through and even so how great of a country Germany is.  The constant reminders of the past although haunting have been used by Germany to accept what happened and admit and learn from everything that happened to move forward and prevent anything from the past from happening again.  The policy of owning up to the atrocities that happened in the past is one a lot of other countries could learn from. 

Sunday night we were back home in Barcelona after another awesome adventure.      

Monday was Will’s birthday so after class we went to see Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel at a theater in Gracia.  The movie was awesome and I loved it but it was in English with Spanish subtitles so for most jokes you could hear the majority of the Spanish speaking audience let out a delayed laugh after either reading the joke and processing it or translating what they heard, just a funny observation.  Tuesday Max Evan and I had tickets to the Champions League Atlectico Madrid v FC Barcelona game.  It was a huge game and one of the biggest of the season so definitely the biggest game I’ve ever been to or ever will get to go to.  The energy was unlike any sport game I have ever been to, regular or post season.  At game time 17:14 everyone breaks out their Catalan flags and begins chanting for independence which is amazing to see and be a part of.  This happens because 1714 is the year Catalonia lost their independence when Barcelona fell to Spain on September 11.  We trailed the majority of the first half 1-0 and at half the entire stadium pulls out tin foil wrapped Bocadillos from their coats and starts munching down.  It was like clock-work and you could hear the crumpling and then look around and see EVERYONE eating a sandwich.  About 10 minutes into the second half Neymar put in an awesome goal and the place went freaking nuts!  We were all so hyped and enveloped by the energy.  The next 15 minutes after the goal were a completely different game as no one stopped screaming or cheering and the players had a new energy and 100,000 people behind them.  The game ended in a tie but it was absolutely amazing. 

Wednesday was a normal day as was Thursday which I spent packing for my trip to Granada in southern Spain with IES and Max, Zach, and Jeremy left for Rome. Friday morning we had to meet at the airport by 6 am.  I planned on taking the train but I was 5 minutes late so I missed it.  Luckily, I ran into Wit at the train station who also missed it so we split a cab to the airport.  There were 50 students and 4 IES instructors on the trip.  I “knew” about 20 people going in but by the time we left we were all a family it was great.  Especially because it was later in the semester so we all had at least some friends going but got to meet and branch out and hang out with such a diverse group of kids it was a great trip.  From the airport we took a bus to our 4 star Hotel in down town Granada.  Me and Will shared a sick room.  We had a “family room” type setup with a couch and table and sitting area and we each had some damn comfy beds.  Our day started with a tour of the city.  We were split into two groups and I went with the Spanish speaking guide.  We had some time to get breakfast so we sat outside and ordered bocadillos in the main square.  Our tour took us by the historical monuments in the city and then up and through the winding streets built into the side of the hill overlooking the Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada in the distance.  We had beautiful weather and the city was even better.  It was the Spain you would imagine seeing in a movie or on TV.  It was really chill tour as we would leisurely stroll along the streets soaking in the sun and the city and stop every now and then for a talk and a longer stop to enjoy the view of the Alhambra and mountains behind it.  The vibes of the city were completely different than Barcelona.  It was a much chiller place and no one was in a rush to do anything and everyone had a smile on their faces.  We stopped at the end of our tour and had a tapas lunch on IES at a restaurant with everyone.  After we headed back to the hotel for a nap break and then the running club met up.  We had about half the crew there and some new people showed up which was great.  We went around the city and up on a trail where we got turned around a couple times on the hilly terrain and ended running along the canal that runs through the city.  It was a fun and laid back run and we had a lot of laughs.  We finished off by going on the roof of our hotel and doing a push-ups and abs.  After our run we had a buffet dinner in the hotel and then about 15 people came into our hotel room because we had the family room space to hang out and have some beers.  There were people I have hung out with before and other people who I had yet to meet and we originally planned to go out and experience some night life but we were all having so much fun we just stayed in all night.  We wandered up to the roof of the hotel after a bit and ended the night at burger king. 

Saturday we had to be up early to head to the Alhambra for our tour.  We had breakfast in the Hotel and then took an army of cabs paid for by IES to the Alhambra.  We went with our groups from the previous day and started our 4 hour tour.  We walked from the castle walls to the interior palace and surrounding gardens.  It was mindboggling how huge and how much detail went into creating the place.  It was at one time a Muslim leader’s palace so its design and architecture resemble that culture however it was later taken over by Spain and preserved.  The Alhambra is the most visited place in Spain and it is easy to tell why.  Our leisurely pace and exploration of the entire place was so relaxing and it was a wonderful place to spend the morning and afternoon.  Just strolling through the gardens hanging out with everyone and learning about the history of the place made it into a perfect day.  To be honest I don’t remember too much about the smaller details from the tour because I was so busy just hanging out with everyone and laughing.  After our tour we got free time to get lunch where we sat down and got tapas.  We got sucked into a tourist trap and didn’t really get a good lunch experience but we made up for it on Sunday.  After lunch we met up for an optional tea tasting where we went into a tea shop and hung out for an hour.  It was a really cool little building and the tea was amazing.  Another thing making Granada so cool and unique was the influence from the Muslim population that has lived there longer than the Spanish because of the fact the two cultures decided to avoid war and live side by side when the Spanish took over southern Spain.  After the tea tasting we had free time so a couple of us just wandered around the streets exploring.  We came upon some street performers in a tiny square playing flamenco surrounded by cafes with tables and chairs outside filled with people.  We found a seat on some steps and enjoyed the local flamenco and the sun.  It was an awesome experience of southern Spanish culture and a great and relaxing afternoon, in true Spanish style.  Unfortunately we couldn’t sit there forever and had to head back to the hotel and get ready for a soccer game against IES Granada.  We painted our faces with the colors of the Catalan flag to rep Barcelona and walked to the indoor court.  We got rowdy and my voice was gone before the half.  Everyone who wanted to play got a chance to go in so I put in an embarrassing 10 minutes on D but it was a fun and lighthearted game. (I enjoyed cheering more anyway)  We ended up losing 7-6 but everyone was a good sport and left with a smile and the Granada kids agreed to show us a night out in Granada. 

We returned to the hotel for dinner and then got ready to go out.  Everyone came to our room again to start the festivities but we eventually tried to go back to the roof which ended up being locked so we moved into a section of the hotel where 3 people had rooms next to each other.  We were hopping from hotel room to hotel room as a huge group and pretty much all of us went out as a mob together.  We went to a shot bar whose drinks were very similar to Chupitos but cheaper and with a better layout.  Then we made our way to a nearby club before walking home and having a rap battle in the hotel room.  It was an awesome night and we all went out together as a big family.  I was hanging out with people I never would have otherwise in Barcelona and we all had a great night. 

Sunday we had to check out and then headed to an indoor Spa/Arab Bath which was perfect.  It was a dark cave like building with candles all around and 3 different temperature pools.  We each got to get a 20 minute massage which I got before going in the baths.  It was the only massage I’ve ever gotten and it put me in ultimate relax mode.  After I just chilled in the baths for a couple hours and added to the theme of relaxation of the weekend.  When our time was up and we had to switch with the other group we went back to the hotel and got changed in the luggage room.  About 10 of us went and got tapas and sat outside.  We sat at the table for 2 hours and just ordered 4 beers each throughout the course of the meal.  With each beer the policy in Granada is you get a free tapa so we didn’t even bother ordering food and just drank and got free food.  It was an awesome afternoon and we spent it in good company and with good food.  After lunch we met up with the larger group again and went on another tour.  This one was of the church containing the bodies of the first king and queen of Spain, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.  We got to look at the tombs of the first king and queen of Spain with their crowns and scepters which was pretty mind blowing and amazing.  In between tours we had to switch buildings and wait an hour to get in to the next one so we got gelato from a well-known place nearby and sat on the street next to a girl playing guitar and singing.  She had a beautiful voice and it was a pleasure listening to her sing in Spanish and English.  People were gathering around her and complimenting her as she went by.  It was such a chill place and everyone and every moment was so relaxing and enjoyable there.  Our final meal in Granada was Kebab on the streets and then we left for the airport.  We got to the tiny airport pretty early so we all went outside and sat in the grass and played an iPhone game heads up.  It was another great group activity and we all had a lot of fun enjoying our last moments in Granada.  Our flight was quick and easy and I was back in Barcelona, after probably my favorite weekend of the semester, and for the first time I was wishing I was somewhere else. 

    

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March 25 2014

Thursday morning I flew to Geneva and then took a train from the airport to the main station near the city center.  I got in around 11 and the sky was clear and blue and the sun was shining.  I wandered down near the lake and had 3 hours to kill before I could check into the hostel I was staying at.  I stopped at a café in a park with outdoor seating and ordered a beer.  I enjoyed the weather and the giant fountain in the lake I could see from my table for about an hour and then walked towards to the edge of the water.  I spotted a tram that looked like it was driving around giving tours so I got closer and ended up hopping on.  The tour went through the business district of Geneva and explained all of the buildings and organization HQs that were there like the Red Cross, UN, a couple labor rights organizations, and tons of others.  The tour was boring and I wanted to hang out in the sun by the lake so I when we stopped briefly I hoped out in the cobble stoned Old Town District.  I walked around there and enjoyed the layout and buildings and the fact that I was in Switzerland and I saw dozens of people eating paninis out of these white and green bags and I eventually saw the food truck they were being served from.  I asked the server what he recommended and then took my sandwich down by the water and ate on some steps with all kinds of people from business men to students hanging out enjoying lunch.  After eating I wandered some more to a nearby park where I came across life sized chess boards filled with old men smoking cigars and scratching their chins over the game in front of them.  It was a lot of fun to watch and funny to watch the guys go back and forth at each other.  I hung around there until I could check into the hostel which was in the middle of the city and a 5 minute walk from the lake.  My roommate was an old French Canadian named Dave who was visiting some family.  He was an odd but nice guy.  Although I didn’t want to waste the beautiful day I needed some rest and took a nap.  When I got up I went back to wandering around Geneva.  I walked to a park further up the lake than I had been yet and got a better view of the downtown than I had before.  Geneva was a small city of only about 400k people  and with not much to do so I’m glad I only stayed a day but I’m glad I stopped by because it was so beautiful and a great place to enjoy a couple of nice days by the water and I wanted to just chill and relax this past weekend.  I walked the length of the park that ran along the lake’s edge and eventually sat on a bench , turned on some music, and took in the mountains in the distance, the surrounding hills covered in homes, and the city that was slowly starting to glow as it got darker.  When it got dark I wandered around looking for dinner and eventually walked into a mall with a huge food court on the bottom.  I had a really great salmon burger.  After dinner I walked back along the lake and walked along the docks and eventually back to the hostel.  I put on a movie when I went back before heading to bed. 

Friday I had to check out by 10 and wanted to catch a 10:15 boat tour of the lake.  When I got down to where the boat tour was leaving I found out it was not running that day so I got on a public water taxi and road it around the lake for a couple stops.  After I had some time to kill before the train I was taking to Zurich was leaving.  I walked out onto a pier that was very close to the geyser/fountain in the middle of Lake Geneva and laid in the sun on a bench.  When it was time to go I walked to the train station I arrived at on Thursday and hopped on the Geneva-Zurich train.  Geneva was great and very relaxing and I was lucky enough to be there when the weather was oddly warm.  A day was perfect and I didn’t leave feeling like I wanted to leave/wanted to stay I was satisfied when I left. 

The about 3 hour train ride to Zurich was one of my favorite parts of the entire trip to Switzerland.  I had a few beers and some lunch watched Switzerland go by.  It was almost surreal riding through the rolling hills scattered with houses and surrounded by beautiful snow-capped mountains.  I had a lot of fun on the train and I wanted it to go longer so I could enjoy more scenery.  I arrived in Zurich around 3:30 and walked from the train station to the hostel I was staying at.  It was very warm when I arrived the city was a lot like Geneva on the tip of a lake running into a river but was definitely larger and had more churches/historical buildings.  The majority of the city’s streets were also cobblestone and it was a very old looking yet modern place.  Just really cool and pleasant to be in and explore.  I took nap and when I woke up it was dark out.  I talked to the lady working at the desk of the hostel and she helped me book a countryside tour for Saturday.  I left to find dinner and got an awesome sausage and beer and ate them by the lake.  It was interesting to notice the differences between the French part of Switzerland in Geneva and the German part in Zurich apart from solely the language differences.  I walked along the edge of the lake after eating and past a bunch of people hanging out and drinking on the edge of the lake because drinking outside and is legal the “boardwalk” type area turned into a giant party.  After seeing more of the city I headed back and went to bed.

My tour of the Heidiland was scheduled for 11 am Saturday.  Saturday was the end of the nice weather and it was supposed to rain all day but we were lucky to have mild overcast throughout most of the trip. I got to the bus and met the tour guide and fellow passengers all of which were 40+ Indian couples which was cool with me.  We drove through Zurich getting information from the guide sitting in the front next to the driver talking into a mic.  “on your left…etc”  Our first stop was at a small town on the north end of the lake with ancient castle.  We were able to walk around and explore for an hour after which we had to meet at the bus.  I went up the thousand+ year old castle and enjoyed the amazing views and beautiful setting.   After I went to the restaurant that was recommended and had their savory cheese pie which was the best thing I ate over there and washed it down with a beer.  Every beer in Switzerland was very tasty and even the cheapest were leagues better than the crap we get here.  After lunch back on the bus we went for some more driving through the beautiful country side which was very enjoyable.  Our second stop was at a very tiny country of 34k people between Austria and Switzerland, Lichtenstein.  We had an hour there too and apparently that is the place to do some shopping for coo-coo clocks and buy stamps.  I let my fellow tour-mates to do that and I walked up to Dukes castle over looking pretty much the entire country.  It was a very average place but at least I can say I’ve been to Lichtenstein now? and it was definitely interesting to learn something about this tiny random country.  We were back on the bus again and to our last stop of Heidi’s original house used to film.  The scenery there was the most beautiful I had seen yet and would see in Switzerland.  We got to hang out up there as it got cooler and the rain came in.  As soon as we got on the bus the rain really started coming down and we were on our way back to Zurich where we passed a really beautiful lake.  The tour was really fun and proved to be an enjoyable and relaxing day to enjoy some of the beauty Switzerland has to offer.    Back at hostel I met 2 kids from NY who I got dinner and some beers with at a bierhaus.  We ended up buying some cheap beers from a grocery store and bringing them back to the hostel because it was raining and hanging out there.  We met some other young travelers and an older Irish woman and ended up drinking and talking in the hostel until around 3 when I went to bed.  It was a fun night and always great to meet new people especially other travelers.  Sunday I checked out and did my last walking around in Zurich in the cold rain.  I eventually had to find a McDonalds and get some wifi and get warm to kill time before my flight.  I got one more sausage before heading to the airport and saying goodbye to Switzerland.  It was a perfect trip and I enjoyed being free to doing whatever I wanted to do when traveling.  I think Switzerland was a good choice of places to go by myself because the nightlife isn’t too crazy that I was missing out on going out to bars/partying with friends and I could sit by myself and enjoy nature, the lakes, and the scenery that was everywhere.  When I got home Jeremy was here and Zach was still in Sevilla and Max in Dubai.  I cooked and did homework and got ready for the week ahead.  We also watched Barca beat Real Madrid in el clasico 4-3!

Monday was a usual school day as was today.  The weather has been in the high 50s low 60s with sunny days but a lot of cold wind.  Thursday night we are flying to Berlin which I am very excited for after experiencing some German culture and beer in Zurich.  

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March 19, 2014

Wow! wow! Wow! Wow! The last 3 weeks have been an absolutely awesome blur of family and friends and no sleep.  It started with meeting my parents in Paris on Thursday then entertaining them in Barcelona Monday-Wednesday then Budapest Wednesday-Sunday and Dylan was here before my plane landed on Sunday and he left this past Sunday morning!! These past weeks have definitely been some of the most memorable experiences of my trip so far. I’ve been so busy having fun this is the first chance I have gotten to write since the 24th of February.

Ok so I forget what I did the week leading up to my flight to Paris but Thursday evening I took a later flight to Paris after my last class.  I had a meal on the flight and everything went great.  I was excited to see my parents after not seeing them for a couple months and to experience Paris.  I got picked up by a car at the airport by some dude from Sri Lanka.  I asked him a bit about his life and how he ended up in Paris and he gave me a tour of the monuments and streets we were driving by.  I got to the Westin we were apparently staying at which was amazing and overlooking the Louvre, Tourlerie Gardens, and had an awesome view of the Eifel Tower.  It appeared from the start my parents were going over the top for the weekend.  Everything was crazy nice and awesome! TOO AWESOME! 

Pops greeted me in the lobby and I went up to the room as he went out for a cigarette.  I got in and they had the place all decorated for my birthday and a bottle of champagne and room service waiting.  I couldn’t help but let out a huge smile and hug my mom.  It was great to see them and I knew the next couple days were going to be awesome.  We spent the night talking and I opened some gifts and remained in awe of how awesome our room was. 

Friday I got up around mid morning and went down to the gym and then we met in the room around noon and went down to Sant Germaine where we had lunch at Cafe le deux Magot.  Apparently my parents had been there with Ev, Sam, and Chris and Uncle Sam took a picture of some French dude and he was unhappy about it.  Wish I was there to see that!  The place was great and lunch was likewise.  After we walked around a bit and got to enjoy the Parisian architecture and get a bit of a feel of Paris.  I thought the buildings were all beautiful and the city had a certain almost elegant feel to it while walking around.  Truly a special place!

Our first stop was at St. Chapelle.  This quaint little chapel with some amazing stained glass.  After we went to Notre Dame which was awesome as well and I thought the fact that it was on an island in the middle of the river was awesome.  Also the river running through the middle of the city was just another awesome aspect of the city.  We walked around some more and found a bridge covered in locks placed by passing couples.  We then stumbled upon a WWII memorial for Parisians killed in concentration camps.  It was a very eerie monument.  After we went to the Eiffel Tower and craned our necks to see it.  I walked a couple blocks away to get a better view.  I thought it was beautiful but pointless.  Still awesome to gawk at.  Next we headed to Sacre Coeur basilica overlooking the city.  It reminded of a Tibidabo type location in Paris with the beautiful hilltop church and an astounding view of the city to put things into perspective.  We ended our busy day at the Hotel bar.  Now that I’m writing this I can’t believe how much we saw in our first day in the city.  Some things I noticed on my first day were that French was completely foreign and a mouthful to try and speak(and a headache), the French were all very nice contrary to what I had been told, Paris is a very expensive city to hang out in, and my parents were some badass tour guides!

After relaxing for a bit we got ready for Dinner and went to L’ami Jean.  We got a 7 course tasting menu of some more traditional countryside Parisian dishes.  It was so awesome and I didn’t think it could get any better.  They put some pork turrine on the table to start and I thought it was a loaf of bread so I cut myself a piece and had a few hunks before realizing it’s used to spread on bread like butter.  I still enjoyed it >.<.  But the meal was amazing and we were having a blast.  After dinner we went to the hotel bar to hang out for a little and my parents were feeling young and wanted to go to a popular bar they had been to the night before.  We walked over to this place called Costes.  The bar was filled with models in Paris for fashion week and other beautiful people all in their late 20s-late 30s and here comes me and my 2 parents strolling up.  It was one of the the most bizarre, fun, and hilarious experiences I’ve ever had.  I had never been in a situation like this with my parents going to a bar so it was all new and then add that to to us looking like a bunch of freaks strolling in.  Dad slipped the bouncer a few bucks to let us in and we just sat down and people watched and hung out for a little.  It was interesting but when in Paris!

 

Saturday morning I slept in a bit and we started the day with lunch at a cafe on the street near our hotel.  After we walked through Tulerie Gardens to the Louvre.  This entire area was beautiful and we were truly lucky to be staying in the heart of this area.  We spent a good couple hours in the Louvre and still only saw about 1/4 of it.  It was a fascinating place and had so much to offer and teach.  The Mona Lisa was pretty awesome but my favorite was between the sarcophagus and the huge Italian paintings from the 1500s that had so much detail.  One was a party in heaven going on and another a painting of hundreds of paintings in the Louvre, all detailed to the point.  After the Louvre we walked along the River Seine and ended up back at the Hotel getting ready for dinner. 

 

We went to Sergent Recruteur where we were escorted to the basement where another table was located filled with some fashion week people and a couple meat lockers with some aged delicacies.  It was an awesome layout and dining experience we had.  We did another tasting course.  This one was 5 courses and AMAZING.  I thought the dinner from the night before couldn’t be topped but this was probably the best meal I have ever eaten.  I can still taste the white wine we had and the main course of 90 day aged beef was unbelievable and no steak will ever compare until I forget about this one which hopefully I won’t.  The waiters were all awesome and pumped up about the food which made it even better.  We were advised to breathe out through our noses while chewing the beef to reveal and experience the deeper flavors it had.  It gave you this earthy rich beef taste that’s hard to describe but my mouth is watering as I type this.  It was a perfect meal and I am so grateful for getting wined and dined by my parents in Paris. 

 

Sunday was a very short day.  It was a beautiful day and I gladly spent it outside running through Tulerie and around the Luvre.  After my run I packed and we got lunch at a cafe down the street and said goodbye to Paris.  Paris was an amazing time and my parents spoiled the hell out of me! I left feeling satisfied, fat, with a new appreciation for a new place, and excited to show my parents Barcelona!

 

Our flight landed in Barcelona around 4:30.  We split ways so I could get my work straightened out and they could check into their Hotel on Passeig de Gracia.  They came over around 8 and saw the apartment and met my roommates.  We left the apartment early and took a cab down to Parc Ciutadella and walked around for a bit before our dinner reservation at Llamber.  My roommates met us there and we had a delicious and fun Tapas dinner.  Vidal took care of the ordering and everything was delicious and it was fun interacting with my parents and roommates.  After dinner we split ways.  I tried to give my parents suggestions of things to do during the day and I would meet them periodically between classes when I had the chance and I think it all worked out in the end and they got to see a lot. 

After my 9 am Monday I met with my parents in Barcelonetta and we walked down to the beach area.  I showed them around and we stopped at a place on the beach for Paella.  I had class at 2:35 again so we split ways and they went up to Montjuic and did Guell after.  After class I met up with them at a restaurant called Boca Grande.  We were eating with my parent’s friends Victor and Blanca and a translator they hired at the restaurant.  Victor and Blanca speak minimal English and my parents speak almost no Spanish so it was an interesting dinner.  The food was great and the company was even better.  They were such nice people and it was fun to communicate with them and use some of my Spanish and learn from them and teach them some English.  It was an awesome night!  They invited me to Madrid to stay with them and I would love to but I’m not sure if I’ll have the time.  We parted ways after dinner and I met up with my parents Tuesday morning.

I met them at their Hotel on Passeig de Gracia and we walked over to the Gaudi House.  Basa Batillo was beautiful and gave me a further appreciation for Gaudi’s work after seeing Sagrada and Guell.  It was like stepping into a Dr. Seuss book and into the guys imagination.  He uses such tedious detail in every aspect of EVERYTHING from the ventilation to manipulating the light to the curvature of door handles.  It was unbelievable.  After we walked down to La Boqueria and walked down Las Rambla.  We walked through the open market and ate at a tapas bar in the back corner.  This was the first time I had eaten at a place in the market and it was awesome.  We all loved it.  The food was awesome and it felt like an authentic experience unique to where I was in the world.  Perfect Barcelona experience.(I took Dylan back to the same spot).  We walked through the Gothic District for about 20 minutes and then I had to get back to class.  I ran with Josep after class and we talked about his upcoming marathon.  It was nice to get some exercise after doing nothing but eating/drinking the last couple days!  I had my last dinner with my parents at Tragaluz.  We sat up in the rafters and had another delicious meal.  I was truly spoiled by them and it was great spending time with them and sharing this city that I have a developed a love for.  It brought up some feelings of homesickness when they left but I am so glad they could come out and spend time with me.  They moved onto Seville and Madrid and I left for Budapest Wednesday morning as we did not have class.

Budapest:

Jeremy and I met Naamah and Will at the airport around 9? I really don’t remember.  We flew Ryan Air into Budapest and took about a 30 minute cab ride from the airport to our Hostel, The Wombat.  The drive in was the start of the adventure.  It felt like a very different place from other European countries I had been to.  Everything just seemed very Eastern from the buildings to the cars to the landscape.  Our cab driver even looked like he’d seen too many winters in Russia. 

We got to our hostel around 2.  It was in the perfect location and the Hostel was great.  It was very big, had a bar, great front desk that was happy to help, kids our age from all over, and had the perfect central location near bars, restaurants, and the river.  We threw our bags in the room and headed to a restaurant across from The Wombat(which we would find out is pronounced the Vombat by locals).  It was a little burger/pub type place.  We asked the waitress what she recommended(which would be a trend for the weekend) and we ordered some apparently traditional Hungarian meal and got some local Hungarian beers to wash it down.  The food was great and cheap and the beer was better so we stayed for another one.  After lunch we met up with Joe and Witt who were staying in Budapest from Tues-Friday then heading to Vienna.  We walked across the main bridge to Budda(we were staying in Pest) and up to the Palace on top.  We tried some hot Hungarian wine and enjoyed the views of the city.  The palace on top was immense and beautiful and we learned it was built a few hundred years ago and destroyed and rebuilt 5 times through Buddapest’s difficult history.  The sun started to dwindle and we walked back to our Hostel and did some shopping for toiletries.  We got ready for dinner and headed out to a place the Hostel recommended that was alright.  After dinner we went to a bar built into the ruins of a few old buildings.  A few travelers bought up some old abandoned half destroyed buildings and transformed them into massive bars and the bars became immensely popular and then others followed and these Ruin Bars were all over Budapest, mostly in our area.  They were crazy awesome and it was like exploring an old mansion littered with bars in each room walking around in there.  We explored the bar and then got a hookah and a table downstairs and hung out for a while.  There was a lady walking around selling giant carrots and Will gladly bought one.  We asked her why she was selling carrots in a bar and she replied “I have no fucking clue, it’s so random”.  Random was definitely a good word to describe what we did in Budapest but awesome as well.  On our way home from the bar Joe Will and I saw signs for a taco place so we wandered in there and had some munchies.  At the Hostel there were still some people hanging out at the bar so Will and I challenged a couple Germans to a game of pool and we crushed them and went to bed victorious. 

Thursday started out around 11.  Will and I went on a free walking tour that you pay for in optional tips at the end.  Our guide was Szuszi and she was very nice and happy to answer questions.  We walked from the nearby cathedral across the river to the palace we were at the night before and over to another church and monument called the Fishermen’s Bastion.  We got a lot of great information from Szuszi about Hungary and Budapest.  She was just one of the very friendly locals we got to talk to throughout our stay.  Some cool stuff we learned was that 2 million of total 10 million Hungarians live in Budapest with the second largest city being somewhere around 50,000, Hungarian is the second hardest language in the world to learn(thankfully pretty much everyone we came across spoke English), and Hungary had been tossed around by the Ottoman Empire, the Nazis, and the USSR.  So the tour was enjoyable and informative and after we walked back across the river and got a quick lunch.  We went back to the room and napped before going out to dinner.  We went to a nice restaurant called Zeller Bistro that sourced all of their ingredients including homemade wine from their local farm and their menu changed weekly based on freshness and availability.  The wait staff was extremely welcoming and we pretty much asked them what they recommend we eat and drink and the dinner was extremely tasty and turned out to be really cheap.  After dinner we went to another Ruin bar and got a table in the back of the place.  We played some bubble hockey and just hung out.  After we went to a more club type place that was in run down basement playing some crazy fast Zoolander brainwash esque music.  It was bizarre and impossible to dance to but an experience and we left there after a short time.

Friday morning Joe and Witt left for Vienna and Will Naamah Jeremy and I went to a “trap” house.  We got locked in some mummy/Egyptian themed room and we had to find clues and solve hidden puzzles and escape.  It was another really weird and random thing to do but we saw it online and said why not give it a try.  It turned out to be really fun and creepy at points when it had us crawling through dark hidden passages.  After we got lunch and then met at the train station to meet with our caving group.  We took a few forms of public transportation to the outskirts of the city where these caves were located.  First we were on a trolley and then took a bus attached to electrical wires hanging over the street(like it was on a track) and then finally a separate bus that drove us out into the country.  We went into the caving with limited knowledge and more or less expecting a leisurely stroll through some caverns.  We realized there was more in store for us when they had us suiting up in full body jump suits with some padding and putting on helmets with built in headlights.  We headed to the caves with about 8 other people and our badass guide.  We started climbing down about a 20 foot latter into the system and then weaving up down around under and through little holes.  We had to army crawl through a good portion of the cave and squeeze through tiny holes that didn’t look like we could fit through.  It was another random yet awesome experience.  It was one of the coolest and most unique things I’ve ever done.  We got to have 10 minutes in complete darkness which was an indescribable sensation and were crawling around 50 feet underground for about 3 hours.  It was such an unexpected surprise and we all loved it after getting over some initial fears.  After we got out we went to dinner at a Bistro where we showed up an hour early for our reservation but they gladly took us and moved some tables around.  We did the usual “what do you recommend?” thing because we really had no knowledge about Hungarian food.  Again the food and people were great!  After dinner we went back to the bar with the Tacos that we had Wednesday night and met up with some kids studying abroad in France that were on our caving excursion.  I talked to the bartender for a while and got his views on the Ukrainian conflict and his views on Hungary’s current government.  He was happy to talk and I gathered he was leaning more towards Eastern influence in Ukraine and Hungary and emphasized the amount of corruption in his own government.  We hopped back to the ruin bar we were at the night before and after a fun night said goodbye to our new friends who were leaving in the morning. 

Saturday started out a shooting range about a 20 minute cab ride from Budapest.  We booked a time slot at this place run by ex-police and ex-military dudes who had a bunch of automatic and semi-automatic pistols and assault rifles.  They gave us a brief intro and each of the workers had a pistol on their hip, an extra clip of ammo, and a sizeable knife.  We started with by shooting 6 different pistols from a glock to the massive desert eagle.    We moved into a different room to shoot the assault rifles.  M4, G36, AK47 were on the list as well as a 12 gauge shotgun.  It was a helluva time and definitely another memorable experience in Budapest.  After a nap we walked through the city to Hero’s Square which was absolutely amazing and beyond there to a giant Geo-thermal spring fed bath spa.  There were 40 different kinds of hot tub/baths inside the building and 2 giant outdoor “pools” all fed by mineral rich naturally heated water located in pools beneath the city.  Apparently there are positive health benefits from the water and there were people ranging from American tourists like us to local kids to the older locals taking their daily soak.   It was another completely unique experience and super fun and relaxing.  Each pool had different jets and one had a whirlpool we spent a good amount of time messing around in.  There were also saunas and steam rooms inside that we tried out.  After the baths we went to another building in the massive complex and got a foot-fish-massage.  They have you put your feet in a fish tank filled with these little Turkish fish that eat the dead skin and bacteria off of your feet.  It tickled so much at first it was hard to keep my feet in the water.  We laughed and were kind of baffled about what we were doing but it was so cool and it felt great afterwards.  When we got back to the Hostel I went for a run and the entire city was lit up.  I ran north to another bridge crossed into Budda and came back down to the main bridge near our Hostel so I was able to see pretty much the entire city from both sides of the river lit up and it was beautiful and the weather was perfect.  One of the most enjoyable runs I’ve ever been on, the entire time I was in awe at how pretty the city was and I didn’t want it to end.  That night we got a quick dinner at a take-out place and Will and I went to the bar in the Wombat for a little while and played some pool but got to bed early.

Our last day in Budapest Will and I walked to the House of Terror Museum and Naamah and Jeremy walked around a different part of the city.  This museum is definitely my favorite that I have been to in Europe so far.  I left with more knowledge about the countries difficult history than I thought was possible.  It was a moving and educational museum.  The building where the museum itself was located was the old HQ for the Arrow Cross(Nazi Party) who persecuted threats to them and killed them in the basement and then was later the HQ for the communist party controlled by the USSR who imprisoned and killed people in the basement as well.  The museum went through the WWII to the fall of the USSR history of Hungary.  The Nazis took over the country in the early 40s and started by eliminating and sending Jews and dissenters to concentration camps or killing them in the streets.  Then when the Nazis lost WWII the USSR “liberated” the country and established a puppet communist government in Hungary.  Some of the same people who were sent to concentration camps and got to return home after WWII were then rounded up and sent to suffer in Gulags in Siberia.  It was shocking to learn how harsh the country’s history was just in the last 60 years.  I really did not have a good grasp of the atrocities the USSR was committing and committed up until its fall in 1991 against innocent people and I had no idea just how many lives they destroyed  until after seeing this museum.  The museum leads you into the basement for the final part.  This is where executions took place and prisoners were held.  We got to walk through the old prisons with horrible living conditions(just a wood plank and concrete walls) where people were kept for months and tortured and you could see the scratch marks and dents left by prisoners banging on the doors for help.  It was a moving memorial and great museum that accepts Hungary’s past and aims to educate about it.  After the museum we walked to a memorial for people killed during WWII by the Nazis.  There were about 40 pairs of metal shoes lined up on the edge of the river as a memorial for people who were told to take off their shoes and then face the river and were shot in the back and their bodies fell into the water.  It was eerie but beautiful in a way with the shoes covered in flowers and surrounded by people reflecting on their significance.  We eventually met back up at the Hostel and headed to the airport to end our adventure in Budapest.  It was truly an ADVENTURE and an amazing trip.  I went in with no expectations and was blown away!  We did so many random, unique, and amazing things.  I learned so much and had so many new experiences and got to talk to so many interesting people who have led such different lives than my own.  Traveling has given me an unimaginable appreciation for my own country and the life I was lucky enough to be born into.  My own problems and those of the US seem so small and insignificant when compared to the hardships the rest of the world is going through. 

When I landed back home in BCN Dylan had already been here since 8 am.  I met up with him in Gracia where he was staying at the Sant Jordi hostel from Sun-Wed and showed him the metro and we went back to my apartment.  I gave him the tour and we went to a nearby burger place.  After we came back here to chill and talk.  It was so great having a friend here and almost surreal when I met up with him on a random street across the world in Barcelona, just awesome!  I knew it was going to be a great week and I was pumped to share the city and what I knew with an old friend.  Dylan headed back around 12 and I had to study and prepare for a project the next day. 

After class Monday morning I met with Dylan at what would be our “usual spot” in Placa Catalunya.  We walked down Las Rambla and into La Boqueria.  I took him to the same spot I took my parents for tapas.  We had beers and a tasty meal and after walked around the Gothic District and to the Barcelona Cathedral and onto the roof.  We took in the sights some and swapped stories about our semesters.  We walked back through Placa Catalunya and got coffee at Farggi.  I had to go back to class and Dylan did his own thing for the afternoon at Guell.  We met at my apartment after class and I cooked some dinner and got some studying in for a midterm on Tuesday.  The week Dylan came I had a presentation and 2 midterms so I ended up being busy every hour of every day but it was a great week.  We went down to Oriols for a bit and then went down to the Room at the beach and then to Opium.  Dylan ended up seeing a couple kids from his college at the bar and I thought it was crazy he’s here for a day and has seen more people from home than I have in almost 3 months.  Me and Dylan got split up from my roommates and the friends Zach had visiting for the week so we went out on the beach after breaking it down on the dance floor and chilled for a little and headed back. 

Tuesday Dylan came to the apartment after a late start and he was craving burritos for some reason so he found a place called Che’s nearby where we went for lunch.  It was great having him here because he was doing his own research for places to go in the city and he ended up showing me a lot of new places and exposing me to more of Gracia than I ever knew about which is a great little neighborhood I will be taking more advantage of.  Tuesday morning pretty much only consisted of burritos.  After class we did Montjuic.  We started in Placa Espanya and walked by the palace that Dylan was in absolute awe of.  We walked up to the castle at the top which inspired a long in depth Game of Thrones discussion.  From there we walked down to the beach and got Paella at Salamanca.  I ordered some pescadito fritos that Dylan wasn’t crazy about and the meal was alright.  I wanted to do my best to have him experience everything I thought was worth-while and unique in Barcelona.  We went straight from dinner to a friend’s apartment and played some poker.  We were both playing well but I had a midterm the next day and the kids wanted to play a tournament so I got screwed and had to dip out early.  Dylan stayed behind and ended up taking second. 

I slept through my first class on Wednesday because I needed to get some much coveted sleep sometime!  We went to Sagrada Familia and I loved it just as much the second time I went in.  You are absolutely overwhelmed with feelings of peace and awe when you step inside.  Dylan really appreciated it after seeing the Gaudi House and Guell which let him appreciate the master Gaudi was.  I had to head out early to get some studying in and Dylan finished up his tour and did some more exploring after.  Wednesday night was the FCB Man City game.  All of us met up on Sarria at 7 and got out of the apartment as fast as we could to get down to George Payne’s to watch the game.  Barca won 2-1 and it was a good time watching and cheering in the bar especially with all the hype around the game.  After Payne’s we went to Ovella Negra where me and Dylan foolishly challenged some Spanish dudes in a game of foosball.  These guys were insanely good, insanely.  We had 12 balls to play with and they put up 11 on us and Dylan somehow scored one late in the game.  They had crazy handling skills and seemed to know what they were doing in a game that I thought had very little skill/strategy behind it.  After that we went to HotBar and Sutton across the street.  Dylan and I ended up getting separated and he wound up leaving a lot earlier than I did without telling me so when I went to leave with my roommates and noticed he was gone and not answering his phone I got really worried.  I hoped he would answer in the morning or that he was asleep at his Hostel that he said he might stay at or he was thinking of coming back and staying on our couch.  I got up at around 9 and tried calling him and texting him and he wasn’t answering.  I was freaking out thinking he got kidnapped or died and what I was going to tell the police and worse mine and his parents.  I decided before I would file him missing I would check his hostel.  I had sprinted about halfway down to the Metro station and Dylan called me all cheery saying he was walking to my apartment.  Apparently his phone died and just neglected to tell me he was leaving early and staying at his hostel.  Scary shit.  I was glad he was alive. 

After getting no sleep on Wednesday we went down to the Picasso museum which was OK.  We both agreed we liked his earlier stuff but his freaky abstract stuff was sometimes just too much.  The museum was informative but had limited works.  I left for class and Dylan went off on his own.  We met back at my apartment and got pizzas from a place downstairs for dinner.  We went to Cyrano Thursday night for about 3 hours and had a great time hanging out and bullshitting.  After we went to the club Bling Bling across the street and laid down the boogy on the dance floor.  One of my teachers was at Bling Bling and it was a very strange and uncomfortable experience.  We got back around 4 and just stayed up in the kitchen until 6 singing Billy Joel and hanging out. 

Friday morning Me Dylan and Jeremy got up around 12 and went down to the water to eat at Bo Da B.  It was much needed and we sat by the water while we ate.  After we met up with the rest of the gang and headed out to Labyrinth Park.  This is my favorite park I have been to so far here.  It was really isolated and off the beaten path yet massive.  It was a lot woodsier than any of the other parks and more private.  We had beautiful weather and got to walk among the fountains and the large labyrinth constructed from hedges in the park’s center.  After the park we took the metro to Gracia where Dylan showed up around his stomping grounds.  We went to an awesome Gelato place called Gelaterria Cafeteria and ate in a square in the homely neighborhood.  Afterwards we walked through the local market and picked up some burgers and a loaf of bread.  We took a cab home; Dylan cooked me and him dinner, threw on a movie and we all took naps before going out.  Friday night Will Jeremy Dylan and I decided we had been to enough clubs and would just bar hop.  We pregamed in the apartment for a while and played some games and then went down to D’Aribou.  We stopped at Soda Bus, a trendy place where you get a sit down table, for gin and tonics and then to Chupitos so Dylan could try some absinthe, and then Taverna next door before heading down to the beach.  We went to a hookah bar and met a group of Lybian rebels who had fought for the democratization of their country and then later walked out on the beach for a while.  We got back to the apartment and found Max cooking bacon in the dark and hung out for a little longer before heading to bed. 

Dylan’s last day in Barcelona me him and Jeremy met Will down in Parc Ciutadella.  We got food at a gross all you can Japanese buffet.  Very bad.  The weather was great though and we chilled on the grass watching the passerby’s and their dogs.  We got to pet some guys pet pig and this pair of awesome Shibas.  It was a beautiful day to be outside so we walked around the park some more and then took the metro up to Tibidabo.  From the metro we took the scam tram, a 4 euro trolly that takes you about 5 blocks, to a funicular that takes you to the top.  The funicular ride was fun and the top of Tibidabo was beautiful.  We had a great day enjoying the city and the outdoors.  Me and Dylan parted ways with Jeremy and Will and went back to the palace at the base of Montjuic to watch the fountain show.  The fountains were beautiful and I’m glad I made it out there I probably wouldn’t have if Dylan wasn’t here.  We enjoyed them from a distance and then walked around to find a restaurant to eat at.  We found a nice reasonable place and had our last supper.  We came back from dinner feeling wiped out and took naps.  When we woke up we weren’t sure we wanted to go out and decided just to hang in our last night and Dylan had to be up around 6 to catch his flight.  Vidal had some friends over and after hanging out with them and finding out Two Door Cinema Club was playing at Razz Matazz.  We got convinced it was going to be awesome so we changed plans and headed to Oriols and then Razz Matazz.  This club had a line to get inside like you see in movies.  It was crazy huge.  They had 2 terraces on the roof and 5 different clubs all in one huge warehouse.  We wandered around asking where we could see the band we wanted to see but never actually found them.  It was still a fun night and fun experience just being at that huge club.  Later we found out only one member was actually there and he was more or less just DJing.  Anyways we headed back and said goodbye and went to bed.  Dylan left around 6 and made it back to the US safe and sound.  Having him was AWESOME.  It was such a fun, sleep deprived, and action packed week.  We went non-stop and made some unforgettable memories.  I’m so glad he decided to make the journey out here and I know he was glad he did it too.  Hopefully we will have more travelling adventures in the future.  

Sunday I spent recovering from the last 2 weeks of non-stop fun from Paris to Budapest to Barcelona with Dylan.  I took a walk to Parc Guell by myself around 6 and watched the sunset and the shadows move across the city.  Sunday was about a 70 degree day so it was really pleasant and a good time to clear my head.

Monday was back to reality.  Same old same old.  After class I walked through Gracia and went back to the market Dylan took me to, to pick up some groceries.  After I went for a run, the first in about 8 days in an effort to work off all the eating and drinking.  Max’s stepmom Meriam was visiting and she offered to take us(roommates) out to dinner.  We went to a nice place on Passeig de Gracia and she was a really nice and easing going woman.  She shared some business and life advice with us and it was a great dinner. 

Tuesday after class running club was canceled because Josep had run the marathon the weekend prior but we decided to meet up anyway and do our own route.  The weather continued to be awesome and it was another good run down by the beach.  After I decided to book a trip for this weekend because IES gave us Thursday off and I did not want to waste my last opportunity to travel in Europe.  Really no one was available to travel with me so I decided to do my own thing and book a trip to Switzerland.  I leave Thursday morning and should be an adventure and a good personal experience I am looking forward to.

Today after class I came home and finished this giant blog and now I am going to go pack and possibly go out for a few hours. 

I’m still trying to wrap my head around the last few weeks let alone the last 3 months.  I can’t believe how close I am to the end of all this and at the same time I can’t believe how much I have actually experienced and done.  It’s all been better than perfect and I’m excited for the remaining month I have here!

 

http://imgur.com/a/5eUyw

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February 24, 2014

Wednesday I had a field study at the Museum of Catalan Photography for Spanish class.  It was the first time I was in the building near Montjuic and it was a very interesting exhibit with pictures of the population in Barcelona from the 50s-90s.  Wednesday night we went out and saw Wacka Flacka Flame.  He’s some random rapper from the US and for some reason he came here to shoot a music video.  It was a similar scene to last Wednesday and at the same place.  

Thursday after class IES offered a free Flamenco dance/dinner.  Zach Jeremy and I signed up.  We got a traditional dinner and then about a 1 hour dance show.  They were wearing the traditional dresses with long wavy tails and polka dots and the men were wearing tuxedos.  They were crazy good and it involved a lot of stomping with metal based shoes kind of like tap dancing.  Every now and then they would yell “Vamos!” at us and the crowd would shout “Ole!”.  There were three singers, a guitar, and a violin sitting at the back of the stage who performed music for the dancers.  The singers did a lot of clapping and their singing sounded like wailing you hear in the desert(weird but enjoyable).  I never saw any dance/musical performance like it and it was an interactive and fun show as well as a great learning experience about Spanish culture.  After dinner Vidal had some of his friends over and all of us hung out here for the night.  It was a great night and awesome to hang out with college kids from another part of the world and realize how similar/different we are.  

Friday was a very very lazy day.  My most productive moment was getting a haircut down the street.  At night me and Jeremy stayed home because we had to get up early for skydiving Saturday and watched some Star Wars.

Saturday We got up around 8:30 and headed out to Empuria Brava to jump out of an airplane.  We missed our first train due to not knowing where exactly we were going and communication barriers.  We waited an hour for the next train and all it meant was not having some extra time to check out the town near where we were skydiving and just going straight to the facility.  The train was about 2 hours and we took a taxi to the skydiving facility.  When we drove up there were about 12 people parachuting down to the ground next to the run way.  We checked in and hung around waiting to get going.  On the phone they told us the process would take about 3 hours.  After 20 minutes of waiting we were approached by our tandem pairs and they told us we’d be jumping in 15 minutes so it all happened really fast.  I was jumping with Pol, a German with over 12,000 jumps, and Jeremy with Jose who learned to skydive in the Spanish Army.  We got briefed and walked out to the plane and hopped in and suddenly we were 14,000 feet in the sky.  It all happened so fast I’m still trying to make sense of it.  The green light turned on and some one threw the door open and Pol and I stepped to the edge.  To prevent myself from getting scared I went in with the mindset of being super pumped and excited and putting and worries in the back of my mind and I had nothing but fun.  The first 3 seconds were the scariest but after that it was AWESOME.  It didn’t feel like we were falling but rather floating over earth with 100 mile an hour winds hitting us in the face.  It was absolutely beautiful and an unforgettable experience.  Definitely the most intense minute I’ve ever experienced.  After 60 seconds of free fall Pol opened the parachute and we got to enjoy a slow decent while enjoying the view and he let me steer the parachute a little.  After we landed I was laughing for 5 minutes straight.  I was on sensory overload and just so happy and giddy over what I just experienced.  It was an awesome day!!!  We got our videos and got back to Barcelona a couple hours before we had hoped.  At night we went down to Oriols and then down by the beach to the Room and then to Shoko.  We finished the night on the beach but didn’t make it to sunrise like we hoped.  We got home around 6 am and it was a great end to an awesome Birthday.

Yesterday was spent much like Friday, doing homework and watching Netflix.  Today was the same as most Mondays.  On my run this evening there were a couple hundred protesters marching down Passeig de Gracia angry about the price of the Metro.  We’ve seen some vandalism over the issue and 5/6 demonstrations on separate occasions in the metro stop near our apartment.  

Thursday I meet my parents in Paris and then they come here Sunday.  This was my last weekend in Barcelona for a little while and I am very much looking forward to traveling!

http://imgur.com/a/dgo5p

February 18, 2014

Wednesday was a regular day of class.  At night we got tickets to see DJ Rehab perform at Sutton.  Before we went to Pippermints and met some kids from class.  After that we went to a bar across from Sutton.  The DJ was fun and the place was filled with kids abroad.  After we finished the night off with some sandwiches from a late night bocadillo place across the street.

After class Thursday we watched American Psycho with Christian Bale – pretty freaky movie.  At night we went back to Cyrano.  We made sure we got there early enough to get a table.  The place filled up fast and was an awesome time.  After we took a cab down to the beach.  We went to a hookah bar and just chilled and talked.  Then we went back out to the beach to sit in the sand and enjoy the sea.  We waited for the metro open to head home.  Thursday was one of the best nights here by far just hanging out in an awesome spot with good company.

Friday Jeremy Zach and I went to Parc Ciutadella to enjoy the 70 degree weather we got.  We went to a well known sandwich place by the beach called Bo De B.  After we sat in the sand and watched the sunset.  We got gelato on the way back and watched a movie when we got home.  Friday night we met some of Jeremys friends who were visiting from Salamanca at George Paynes and headed home after a little while.

Saturday we got up early and headed out for a hike at Monserrat.  The journey there was a 1 hour train ride then a short Gondola ride up a mountain to where the old Monastery is located.  Montserrat is a geographically unique mountain with old churches and buildings scattered around its various peaks.  When you get off the gondola you get to hike around.  We walked to the top which was about an hour and a half walk uphill.  It was beautiful and gave great views of the surrounding Barcelona area.  We got back to Barcelona around 8 and got burgers for dinner because we were all missing some food from home.  At night Zach had 2 friends visiting who came out with us at night.  We were supposed to meet up with other IES kids too but it never happened.  We went down to Aribau to Taberna to start the night then ended up back at the beach.  Jeremy saw some friends from home who were celebrating a birthday so he went to go hang out with them and I went to hang out with Will and Zach and Max wounded up getting separated so we all went out separate ways which was fine.  I got home pretty early because I had a lot of work for Sunday.  

Sunday I went for a run and then met with my Entrepreneurship group to work on our project.  The rest of the day was spent cleaning and writing an essay which I didn’t get done until pretty late.  It was a drizzly cold day anyways.  

Monday was a long day of class and I had to give a presentation for Marketing which went well.  After school we were craving burgers again so went to a place down the street which was 10x better than the previous place.  I hung out and watched some LOST to end the night

Today I wanted to get up early and walk down by the Catedral and then go to the market for lunch but I wasn’t feeling well so I slept in.  After class I went to running club because I felt some exercise would do me well.  It was a light day which was good and I felt better after.  When I got home I had to take care of some college transfer stuff which has been hanging over my head but I took care of everything with the guidance of my parents and I think everything will be fine.  I made some dope Chicken Piccata for dinner and watched the FCB/Man City game which barca won 2-0.  My plan now is to drink some nyquil and get a good nights sleep after finishing my homework.

Tomorrow my Spanish class is meeting at a museum near Montjuic and this coming weekend is one of my final weekends in Barcelona.  I’m only not traveling for three more weekends including this one.  Time has been flying by as it is but I know its gonna go by even fast after paris, budapest, and france for spring break, especially with people visiting in between.

Pictures of the hike: http://imgur.com/a/NvzXg

February 11 2014

I haven’t written a blog entry in over a week because school work has started to pick up and its been hard for me to find time to sit down and do this but here I am.  

Tuesday was an average day at school and then another fun running club outing.  I cooked almost every night last week so I guess I did Tuesday too.  I can’t really remember what I did that night probably just homework and hung out.  

Wednesday was another long day at class and Wednesday night Zach had some friends from school who are with another program that wanted to meet up.  They hadn’t been to Chupito’s yet so we met them there and ended up getting home pretty early.  Once you go there once it’s enough and that was our third time going so we had seen enough of Chupito’s.  

Thursday was class and then Jeremy Zach and I hiked up to Montjuic at night.  It was kind of creepy at night walking up there around the old Olympic grounds but it was beautiful to overlook the city at night and be by the castle lit up at night.  It was their first time there and my second.  We got lost on the way down and ended up walking for about 4 hours but we had a fun time.  Thursday night we went to a bar Cyrano where you pay 4/5 euro and they give you whatever mixer you want and a tall glass with two icecubes and the bottle of liquor you order.  You can fill up your glass however much you want and then give them the bottle back.  This place was awesome and not just because of the drink deals(but mostly the drink deals).  It’s constantly packed with locals and study abroad kids and there’s a little old woman who owns the place that stands outside on the sidewalk and acts as a “bouncer”.  It’s only open Thursday-Saturday.  They also give out tons of free popcorn and encourage the throwing of popcorn.  On the way out they either give you a free bottle of water or a free shot depending on your current state.  After the bar we went to a club called Bling Bling across the street.  It was an awesome night.

Friday we woke up around 2 and headed to Tibidabo the mountain in Barcelona that has a Church on its highest point.  We took a train to the base of the mountain and then hiked up for about 2 hours.  The train let us out in a beautiful part of the city – way north of most of the city and streets lined with very nice houses.  The hike was filled with laughs and at the top the view was breathtaking and the church was very special as well.  Tibidabo is the highest point in Barcelona.  You could see every bit of the city; Montjuic, the Sea, surrounding smaller towns, and the mountains to the west.  it was a great day and we ended up taking the bus back down.  

Friday night we tried to go back to Cyrano’s because of how much we loved and how awesome it was.  It was overcrowded and we just said screw it and left.  We went down to the beach and went to a bar/club called the room.  They had beer/sangria towers like Ovella Negra.  After we went to a giant club called Opium.  The place was packed and going crazy.  It had an outside terrace and you could walk out on the beach and hang out there.  We took advantage of it and went down by the water for a bit.  

Saturday we all slept late and did pretty much absolutely nothing all day.  We went to a conveyor belt Japanese buffet.  You sit around this long conveyor belt that has various sushi dishes, dumpling, crab, rice, noodles, desserts, and other random stuff just comes to you and you take whatever you want and however many of them you want.  It was a fun place to eat and pretty good.  The food comes to you and you have unlimited selection.  Friday night we didn’t go out and just stayed in and watched Star Wars Episode VI.

Sunday we got up around 11 and Vidal took us to the celebration of the feast of the patron saint of Barcelona.  We went down to the old city near Las Ramblas and there were bands playing traditional Catalan music and people dancing traditional dances.  There were also giant puppets conducted by people prancing around and after a little ceremony local castelling groups came into the square and put on a show.  It was SO cool seeing these people do their thing in person after learning about it in Taragonna.  I’m very glad Vidal took us and it was an awesome cultural experience.  The rest of the day Sunday was spent doing homework and chilling.  

Monday was a long day back at school and Monday night we went to Ovella Negra for a couple hours.  Today I had class and running club.  Standard weekly grind.   

I’ve just been doing the Barcelona thing the past week and been enjoying it.  My running is getting better but I’m not going to be able to do the Half Marathon because Milan set me back a bit.  However I did run the furthest I ever have yesterday afternoon.  We will definitely be here this coming weekend and we still have more to experience here.  I’m glad I’m getting to hang out here now and learning more and more about the city each day.  It’s going to help when my parents and Dylan come to show them around.  I’m very happy and enjoying every day as best I can and trying not to let any opportunity pass me by.  It’s mindblowing how fast time is moving.

I’m going to attach another album in a link like last time.     

February 3 2014

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Wednesday was a long day in class but after we went to a bar before the soccer game.  The place was called George Payne’s.  It’s a giant two story Irish pub with tons of TVs and sports games on all over the place. About 50 IES kids were going to the game on Wednesday and most of them went there before.  We took the metro over to the stadium.  Right when we left the bar it started raining.  When we got off our stop it was pouring and it didn’t stop for a couple hours.  The first day it really rained hard and of course it’s the day we choose to go to a game.  

Our tickets we’re behind one of the goals on the lower level.  Because of the rain the stadium was nearly empty and because the opponent was so bad.  Half of Barcelona’s starters didn’t even play.  So the few people that stuck around were all under the awnings on the first and second levels.  The game was still a lot of fun and I get the chills thinking about the intensity in there for a great game.  Even with the poor weather, poor turnout, and the lack of competition the section we were in did not sit down or stop chanting or singing for the entire 90 minutes.  Only for halftime did these guys stop yelling.  Literally non-stop beating 4 or 5 drums in rhythm shouting chants in Catalan.  It was crazy to see for such a crappy game.  Your lucky to get MetLife Stadium on its feet for a third down against the Pats and these guys were just going crazy for their team.  It was awesome to see 100 people doing it and I can’t imagine 100,000 people doing it together at a good game.  

Thursday after class we packed for Milan and cleaned up the apartment.  We had to be up by 3:45 to head to the airport so we went to bed early.  Our flight to Milan was on time and easy enough.  We took a bus from the airport to the city center.  From there we bought 2 day metro passes that ended up lasting us an extra couple hours for some reason.  We took the metro to the northern outskirts of the city where our Hostel was located.  The Milan metro made me appreciate how quick easy and clean the Barcelona metro is.  

Our Hostel was in a small neighborhood near some ghettos and a university.  The hostel used to be a mental insitution and it had a creepy vibe going for it.  There were some old people living there with disabilities now so I think the downstairs is like a group home and the top is used as a hostel.  Our room was nice and the people were really nice.  We had a couple bunkbeds and a German girl on her winter break was staying in our room too.  

The weather in Milan was the worst we’ve had yet.  It was high 30s/low 40s and it didn’t stop raining the entire time we were there.  We maybe saw 20 minutes of sun on Sunday.  The grey weather coupled with the graffiti EVERYWHERE in the city gave it a kind of dirty feel but the city definitely has many beautiful spots just not where our Hostel was.  It would have been nice to have some sun but the weather didn’t impede on our trip.  

After we checked in we took a couple hour nap to recharge from getting up early and traveling.  After the nap we took the metro to the Duomo.  We got our first Italian food which was the fried dough pockets filled with mozzarella and tomato and then gelato next.  Both we’re from well known tourist spots a block from the square.  Both places were cheap and really really awesome.  The gelato place had some awesome flavors and filled the bottom of your cone with melted chocolate from the fountains they have.  

After eating we walked around the Duomo and the plaza and then bought tickets to walk up onto the roof.  We spent about an hour or two up there and it was awesome to be on top of the marble building overlooking the city and plaza.  After some exploring and hanging out we headed back to the Hostel to get ready for dinner.  

We thought we found a pasta place close to a metro stop but we ended up wandering around asking people for directions for a good hour and when we finally found the place it was a brewery that served burgers.  We didn’t care so we went in and had a great dinner.  The food was good and we had some good cheap beer they made in the same basement we were eating in.  It was Jeremy’s 21st birthday so we wanted to celebrate.  We headed down to the street with the most notable bars and clubs on it after dinner.  The clubs were all 20 euro to enter so we said screw that and found the cheapest bar to go to.  We found a cool spot and hung out there all night buying Jeremy drinks. 

Saturday got a late start.  We planned to walk to a little pizza place near our Hostel.  When we walked out the Hostel’s gates the entire street was transformed.  There was a market about 2 football fields long set up on the street we were staying on over night.  There were numerous cheese, meat, vegetable, fish, and fruit stands as well as flea market type deals.  It was an awesome surprise and we walked around enjoying it for a little.  We finally made it to the pizza place which was an alright to-go place.  

After lunch we went to the Leonardo da Vinci museum of Science and Technology.  This place was really cool.  They had models of a lot of Leonardo’s sketches and ideas and explained them all.  The guy was probably one of the most curious and smartest people ever as he tried his hand at and was a master of so many different aspects of science, invention, and art.  The museum also had a submarine a few planes and 2 warehouses with gigantic steam power trains and a display of ships from the 1800s to WWII vessels.  It was a great place and fun to spend a couple hours at.  There was also the original personal Mac and IBM computers and cell phones from the 90s on display.

On the way back to the Hostel we stopped in a bakery and got some pastries.  I don’t usually eat dessert but I went all out because I was in Italy and the food there just doesn’t compare to anywhere else.  For dinner we did a good amount of research and found a traditional northern Italian cuisine restaurant and made sure we knew where it was.  We had to make a reservation so I wrote down what I needed to say and some other phrases I might need for the conversation to use when I called.  I at least tried to say “Hello I don’t speak Italian but I wanted to know if you have any tables available for tonight.”  The lady on the other end started laughing and responded in English so we were good to go. 

This restaurant was awesome!  The lady who I talked to was the sister of the owner and the daughter of the chef(her mom) and she was the only one that spoke English there and she took great care of us.  It was like eating at your Aunt’s house it was great.  We asked her what she recommended and how to go about ordering.  She explained you order a first course dish like pasta or antipasti and hang out for a while and then we can order a second course like meat if we are still hungry and everything is made fresh when you order it and the meat is all cooked on a grill in a fireplace right in the center of the dining room.  I had pasta with broccoli rabe and anchovie and then shared sausage with someone.  We all got dessert two.  I opted for a canoli which was the greatest thing ever.  The cook came out and told us how she made the filling that morning herself and wanted to make sure we were happy.  The entire meal was just an awesome authentic experience with delicious food and was a lot of fun.  It was exactly what we all wanted to experience while in Italy.  After dinner we just went back to the hostel and went to bed early.

Sunday we checked out and went to the park in the city where the arch and the Sforza castle was.  We had the entire day because our flight wasn’t until 9pm.  We wandered around there for a couple hours and enjoyed the massive building and decorative arch.  I forgot to say before going to the castle we walked around the downtown streets which were much nicer than the area our Hostel was in and they all had train tracks on them.  We found a bakery with endless amounts of breads pastries and pastas.  Lunch was awesome and we found another local authentic spot and it was just awesome. We talked to the head baker and he recommended his chocolate cake which was so goooooood.  I went all out eating in Italy and it was worth it. 

After the castle and lunch we walked around more of the city trying to find canals we heard about.  The canals were dried up/under construction/covered in graffiti so that was a failure but we ended up walking around the city for 4/5 hours which was great because we got to see so much of it.  Before heading to the airport we went back to the Duomo one last time and got gelato one last time. 

We took the bus back to the airport and left rainy Milan.  We got to our apartment by midnight and it felt great to be back in Barcelona.  It felt like coming home and it was refreshing hearing Spanish.  Italian was really hard to try and understand and it was overwhelming at times.  

We went to the bar downstairs for the Superbowl but ended up leaving by halftime because the game wasn’t much of a game.  Today is going to be a long day of school work but Milan was very worth it and a lot of fun.  I’m excited to be in Barcelona for the next 2 weekends and Dylan is also coming in early March!!! 

I’m attaching a link of pictures. 

http://imgur.com/a/MTFtC

January 28 2014

Friday night was spent at “The Dow Jones Bar” where each drink has a price and they fluctuate according to how frequently they are ordered.  So the more a drink is ordered the higher the price will go and the less it’s ordered the lower the price will drop and every 30 minutes or so there is a “crash” when all the drinks fall to their lowest prices and then end up building back up again.  

Saturday morning we were up by 8 and at the train station that is two metro stops away from us by 845 to catch the 9 am train.  We arrived in Valencia by 12 and took a bus to just outside the City of Arts and Sciences.   The bus ride was about 20 minutes and went around the outskirts of the main town of Valencia which reminded me of a bigger Tarragona.  It had very tight streets with old buildings and cathedrals scattered throughout with an old moat with several bridges running completely around it.  The outskirts of the city were more spread out apartments and shops and the City of Arts and Sciences and a beautiful beach.  Outside of the city we got lunch on a patio in a small square.  We got the menu of the day and they brought us 4 or 5 courses and a drink for a fixed price.  

After lunch we headed to the City of Arts and Sciences to explore.  It has several huge modern buildings that have some very unique architecture.  One is a park that is underneath huge arches and lined with palm trees.  There is also a modern technology museum and the Europe’s largest aquarium.  First we went to the museum to buy tickets for the museum itself and the aquarium after.  The layout of the buildings was beautiful and there were these aqua blue pools next too many of them that looked especially awesome when contrasted with the stark whiteness of all the buildings.  

The museum was like a grown up version of the New Jersey Children’s Museum with a plethora of hands on exhibits to demonstrate certain scientific phenomena.  We strolled around there for about an hour and headed to my second aquarium in two days.  The aquarium had several outside exhibits like penguins, seals, and a bird house where you could walk right up to and feed tropical birds face to face and then several massive tanks and tunnels that you had to walk down stairs to get to.  It blew the Barcelona Aquarium out of the water.  

As we were leaving the aquarium we noticed a movie set that George Clooney was apparently filming a movie at according to someone so we joined the crowds and stared at people in funny white suits being told where to stand against a giant blue wall(green screen like thing) and never saw Clooney.  

The bus in Valencia was 1.50 a trip so we took that to our Hostel.  It was awesome! The beds were about a foot longer than in Barcelona and 5x softer and the blankets actually covered your entire body and then some!  I think it was called the River Hostel(Good location too).

We got ready to go out but we went out too early so all the restaurants were closed.  I went shopping for a shirt and pants for an hour while everyone else got a drink and watched a soccer game at a bar.  Dinner was at an overpriced paella place.  After we went to an intersection with bars all over.  We were pretty early so we just hung out and watched whatever soccer game was on.  After a few hours we realized we were in the old people part of town so we decided to get out.  We asked our cab driver where the jovenes hang out and he took us to this really cool tight street packed with bars and clubs and people walking up and down the street and African dudes trying to sell you hats and sunglasses(at night?).  I made it my goal to buy a hat from one of them for 1 euro but they wouldn’t budge from their 5 euro original price.  I did find out that they were all immigrants from Senegal after talking to one of them for a little and somehow he knew Chris Christie was the governor of NJ when I told him where I was from.  We went to a couple different places and saw some other kids from IES who were in Valencia this past weekend too.  We ended up back at the Hostel around 3:30.  Everyone went to bed but I heard some people hanging out in the kitchen so I went to check it out and there were 3 Mexican dudes hanging with 3 chicks from Barcelona.  We spoke some Spanglish and they all turned out to speak really good English and were really nice kids.  They invited me to come to a club with them in a little while so I said sure.  One of my roommates came downstairs and ended up coming with us too.  We wound up at the City of Arts and Sciences after a cab ride only now it was a huge outdoor/indoor club.  It was filled with Spanish people and Max and I stuck out terribly.  We tried to dance with our new friends(these people are all actually good dancers) for 45 minutes and eventually lost everyone else and then just headed back to the Hostel by around 530.  It was a fun experience and I’m excited to meet other people at our future hostels and find out about places we otherwise wouldn’t.  I also learned I gotta learn how to boogy to be able to hang with the locals.

Sunday we got up at around 10 and we’re out of the hostel at 1030.  We walked around the tight streets of the inner city for an hour and got Subway(Ha!) in a square in front of the cathedral with a beautiful fountain.  

After we headed to the beach and people watched and enjoyed the 72 degree weather we were lucky enough to have.  The beach was about 2 football fields wide(wider than anything I’m used to) and about 2 or 3 miles long.  It was a beautiful day on a beautiful beach and we got some much needed relaxation.  Our train back to Barcelona was at 3.  It’s funny because we leave our vacation spot for the weekend and come back to this awesome city with even more to do and experience.  Life is good!!

Sunday night was spent recovering from the weekend and getting ready for the week ahead/homework.  

On Monday class started at 9 am and it sucked.  I came back to the apartment and napped for 2 hours between classes.  After class was over for the day Vidal took our apartment and the 3 homestays he oversees out for a Tapas dinner in Grasseig.  It was one of the cultural activities he is obligated to take us on as an RA.  Dinner was fun and we got to meet some more people and have some good food.  Afterwards we walked through the neighborhood and back to the apartment to do homework.  I went for a run at midnight and then planned stuff for Milan for another hour or two and went to bed.  

Today I got up at 11 and took the metro to Park Guell by myself.  I don’t have class until 2:30 on Tues/Thurs so I have time to do stuff during the day.  

Guell is another Gaudi work in Barcelona.  The park is huge and is very high up.  It’s built into the side of a hill and overlooks all of Barcelona and the Sea and features some unique buildings and mosaics you have to pay to see which I didn’t do.  I walked around for about an hour and a half enjoying the trees, the amazing view, and the street performers playing violins, pan flutes, and one dude who looked like he should have been in Vegas or Hollywood was dressed in cheetah print leggings and a cowboy hat and 3 dollar sunglasses who was just moaning and grunting at people as he played an Elvis like melody. 

There were several overlooks but the highest one was at a point with 3 crosses where you had a 360 view of everything below you.  I took some pictures I’ll attach and some Swedish guy took my picture.  All in all Guell was awesome and I’m sure I’ll be back for a run or to chill and I’m ashamed it took me this long to get there.  

After class I had running club this evening and we ran over by Montjuic.  We ran through a cactus garden from the early 1900s and some new neighborhoods I have had yet to see.  Every week we are exploring new places and it has been great!

I did some shopping at Dia % on my way home and have been doing homeworking/cooking/planning Milan/planning other destinations since I got home.  It’s late and I’m tired so this is poorly done.  I sliced my finger pretty good on a glass that broke in my hand and used some scotch tape to fix it up.  Tomorrow we are going to the FC Barcelona game which I am extremely excited for.  We got cheap tickets as its not a big game but the team is such a big deal here especially during this time as it is a symbol of Catalonia and the people love the team to death so I’m sure the energy will still be there.  We also leave for Milan early Friday morning.

Pictures: Train Station in Valencia, City of Art and Science, filming at the City of Art and Science, Plaza from Sunday morning in Valencia with fountain, Beach in Valencia and then Guell(NOT IN ORDER)

 

 

 

 

January 24 2014

Sunday evening was spent watching football and most importantly watching the patriots lose.  I didn’t make it to the Seahawks game because class started at 9 Monday and that game started at 12:30 am here.  

The first day of classes went well.  My first class is with Dawn who teaches Sports and Society in Spain.  She’s from the UK and loves soccer.  She can talk and talk and talk and she has a lot of energy for 9 in the morning but she keeps your attention.  Her class is going to be interesting and we will be learning about the importance of football to people here and the effect the 1992 Olympics had on the city and country.  My next class was a film class that I ended up dropping because every Tuesday there is a viewing session at 5:30 making the class essentially 5hrs a week instead of 3 and although I love film I don’t want to do that and that means I would have to sacrifice running club.  I had a 4 hour break after Sports class so I came back and went for a run down to the beach.  It was more exploring and I’m slowly getting my bearings more and more every day.  There was a huge gathering of old people dancing in the street that I ran by and on my way back I wanted to stop and check it out but by the time I was heading back they had dispersed.  I had to be back at school by 230 for Spanish which is going well and then after that I have Entrepreneurship which is going to be my toughest class.  Some middle aged pissed off Spanish business woman teaches it.  She asks tough questions and then rips apart your answer with constant questions.  She keeps you on your toes and the way she responds to you I think is to force us to be confident in our answers and really think about what we are saying.  I feel like I’ve already learned a lot about the mindset needed and this class should be interesting.  After that I have Int’l Marketing with a semi-retired business dude with a masters from Harvard.  He is really smart and his class is going to be awesome and a challenge.  I feel more excited about the business classes I am taking here than any class I ever took at Clemson.  These professors are all very smart and I want to be in their class to learn from them.  They know how to light a fire under us and at the same are all understanding of our desire to travel and not be overwhelmed with work while we’re here.  

I was out of class by 7pm and we got dinner at a pizza place around the corner.  It was okay.  After we went to Oriol’s for 45 minutes just to say hi.  He promised us that he would have the Super Bowl on for us in 2 weeks and stay open late for us.  Good Deal.   

Tuesday I didnt have class till 230 but I went in early to drop Film.  I picked up Contemporary Spain: Politics/Society.  After I met with my advisor I met up with my roommates and we went for a walk to the Barcelona Cathedral.  Another Gaudi building that is absolutely awesome.  I had to head back to class but my roommates went for a tour and got to walk on the roof.  I’ll be back.  Contemporary Spain was interesting.  The teacher is kinda lame(the only one I have any complaints about so far) but she is really smart and her class is going to be interesting.  Understanding how Spain got to where it is today and a little more about the whole Catalan Independence movement is going to be enjoyable.  Grafitti/Vandalism has been more and more noticeable every day here.  People are passionate about this Independence movement and you can definitely tell.  

After class running club had its first meeting.  We ran really freaking slow and there were too many of us but it was fun.  We ran past sagrada familia and more of the uptown area of the city as opposed to the beach area we were in last time.  The hospital we ran by is a giant red brick castle that and other beautiful buildings we ran past made it worth it.  We also ran by a huge protest marching through the streets with cops all around.  Catalans pride themselves on being peaceful as opposed to the Basque protesters who are also calling for Independence but they have a pretty active terrorist group in that region.

Tuesday I did homework and got to bed early for 9am on Wednesday.  My schedule is set up so MW are the same and TTH are the same with no Friday classes.  Wednesday I had a 5 hour break between classes so I went for a run in the area.  I like how my schedule is set up because it gives me the option to nap/run/get lunch/go somewhere during the day in between or before classes.  Classes are also nice because I know about 4-5 people in each class just from going out and from Taragonna.  

Wednesday night we went to Oriol’s again for a couple hours and then came back by 1.  Thursday I got up did laundry and went for a run.  I’ve been running a lot and I am considering signing up for the Half Marathon the 16th but I’m not sure if I’ll be in shape by then.  If I had another month I could definitely do it but we shall see.  Thursday night we hit up Oriol’s of course and then hopped around to about 4 different bars.  We didn’t have a plan which sucked so we kinda ended up wandering the streets most of the night trying to find the bar we were looking for.  

Today has been spent booking flights.  We have tickets for Berlin at the end of March and Milan for next weekend.  Tomorrow we are taking a train south the Valencia just for one night.  Budapest, Switzerland, Paris with the parents maybe? 😉 is also there, and possibly Amsterdam.  After spending the day doing itineraries Jeremy and I went to the Aquarium down by the water.  It was 20 euro and woulda been a dissapointment if it wasnt for the octopuses that were going crazy.  We came back here after and I cooked myself eggs with peppers onions tomatoes and garlic.  I think ive made that about 4 times this week but whatever.  

So tomorrow brings another adventure!!  The first week of school went well.  All my classes are interesting and I have some really great professors and my schedule worked out well so I have opportunities to run/go somewhere during the day.  Everyday I think more and more about where I want to go to school next semester.  Clemson seems terrible at this point.  Being in a city is a world of difference and I love having so much at my disposal.  I’m thinking transferring is a definite at this point and my fingers are crossed for NYU.  IIll put up a picture of the Catedral in Catalunya we visited Tuesday and one of the sunset by the water tonight and one of some pro-catalonia graffiti on the sidewalk by our place.  I think we are seeing a lot of graffiti because a university is right next door.