Vanessa Neag and Montserrat

I lied! I promised that my next post would be after Morocco, but I had a pretty cool weekend and I wanted to show you guys some of the pictures that I took! To start off the weekend, Vanessa was visiting Barcelona! We did some of the essentials here like looking at the Gaudi buildings, going to the open air market, and visiting Montjuic at night! It was an awesome time and I am definitely glad she stopped by. I realized
while she was here that I am definitely ready to go home and visit friends and that I am DEFINITELY in love with this city and not sure how I am going to cope when I get back haha.

Vanessa left on Sunday which was the day that I decided to head off to Mt. Serratt which is this giant mountain an hour outside of Barcelona with a Monastery on top of it. It was definitely a breathtaking view from the top. I was supposed to go with my roommate and another friend, but they chose sleep! haha its ok, it was an early morning after a late night. Anyway, I spent the afternoon on top of the mountain by myself. I took a gondola ride to the top over a giant drop -like any good gondola ride- and then hiked around for two hours. It definitely reminded me what it felt like to smell that fresh Tahoe air. It felt awesome to literally be in the clouds and watch the mist fly by. Also, what good mountain doesn´t have mountain goats? A herd of goats ran by on the side of the cliff...you would not believe how fast those guys can go on such a steep slope!

I made a video on top of the mountain that I plan on posting once I have an iternet connection that can support that option!

El Día de Acción de Gracias

Coming into Thanksgiving, I had very low expectations here in Spain. I have already written a few posts mentioning how I am not that wild about the food here. So when I signed up for the ISA dinner on Thanksgiving (which was free) I was definitely expecting a hodge podge of Spanish tapas, some use of jamón, which the Spanish love, and an incorporation of a bocadillo into my meal! I could not have been more wrong!

Thanksgiving day felt like any other day in Barcelona. I woke up, walked to school, went to class, walked home, watched some Walker Texas Ranger in Spanish, went over to a friend´s apartment, and got ready for dinner. ISA told us it was going to be at a restauraunt on the water which was the first surprise because those restaurants are usually pretty expensive. When we walked over, we found out that it was indeed at one of those nice restaurants and we had a section of it reserved just for us. There were about 60 people there in total and believe it or not, we were served a traditional Thanksgiving dinner (no green been caserole or yams with marshmellows though!). We were served a salad, individual Turkey portions, mashed potatoes (no gravy though), this weird mixture of onions (low point), and for desert APPLE PIE! Sometimes its good to be catered to as an American as much as people complain about it. By the end of the meal, I was very full-the mark of a good Thanksgiving dinner- but still looking forward to coming home to a better Thanksgiving.

My next post will probably be about Morocco which I am leaving for on Wednesday and staying for an entire week. Yikes!

DD

A cold night and El Día de Acción de Gracias

During the first weeks that we came to Barcelona, Brent and I saw this bar on the beach and we knew that we had to go. The Ice Bar, or Ice Barcelona, is exactly what you think it is...and then some. At this bar, you are given a jacket and gloves when you arrive that you have to wear while you are inside. Of course in the outdoor terrace-which is ironically on the beach-they were screening the movie Ice Age in what I think must be a never-ending loop. I am sure the people working there know every line haha. In the actual bar, you are only allowed to stay for 45 minutes because it gets so cold(-8 C). ¡We payed 7.50€ to get in and get one drink! Not bad. Inside the actual bar, it is very small haha, but there are giant ice sculptures and a curtain made out of ice balls hanging on strings. It was pretty cool. The cups that we got our drinks in were made completely out of ice. One of our friend´s glasses was melting while we were in there! As far as Ice Bars go, I would reccomend them...but I would NOT recommend an ice hotel! After 45 minutes we were ready to bounce!

Amy and I being cold!

Roller Blading and Pumpkin Pie

This last weekend, I stayed in Barcelona as the majority of my "crew" was heading to Amsterdan to do you know what! However, it was a great weekend. The highlight was definitely Friday night. Every Friday, this rollerblading troupe goes in a 100-200 person mass through the city. We decided to join up with them through our program. Little did we realize that it was an 18 kilometer route or that everybody in the troupe would be going super fast. I will just put it this way. Our group lasted 1 minute as we had one person who had never bladed before and 3 girls that ran into eachother causing a massive traffic jam right at the start. Afterwards, we made our own route and still ended up blading pretty far. It was super fun!

O ya...and I found a giant palm frond and stuck it in my back so that I could lead the pack easily haha.

Additionally, as you all know, Thanksgiving is tomorrow! Because I cannot celebrate with pounds of turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, and family, my mom sent me my own pumpkin pie mix in a box. I told Conchita that we were cooking it so yesterday the plan went into effect. The first thing that I needed to do when I went to work was to pull the pie crust out of the tin. Let´s just say that the airplane flight did not do it any justice and within seconds I had a pile of grahm cracker pieces. Nevertheless we trecked on forward and made what I would have to call a pumpkin cake. WHATEVER! It was still good because my love for pumpkin pie triumphs all.

Thank you mom! And thank you ISA for having a "traditional" Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow...I have no idea what to expect!

If my pie had looked anything like this...it would have been a dream come true.

Cravings

The people of Barcelona are very proud of their food...I am however not so sure what they are that proud of as they lack certain staples in my diet...which are Cheeze ITs...Mexican food...and of course Hamburgers! I cannot wait until I get home and am able to go to the store and buy a box of those crunchy reduced fat cheeze its...they are the best. Thenf for lunch I am going to go to an In n Out Burger and get a double double with grilled onions. After that, for dinner, I am going to go out to ANY Mexican restauraunt and get either shrimp tacos or a chicken burrito...or Enchiladas! No more bocadillos! (the spanish sandwhich)

When in Rome...I had to say it.

On Saturday, we got up a little bit later due to the late night that we had just experienced. We headed straight over to the Vatican museum. If I had to choose one word to describe this place, it would be Overwhelming. It would have been really nice to have hired/found a tour guide in this place...but I am definitely running low on money. I decided I would just have to check Wikipedia when I got back from Rome. After the Vatican museum, we headed over to the Colosseum after eating lunch. We got there too late to go inside which was unfortunate...but we still had some time to walk around. We also found this ruin with a cat in it and Mikel spent ten minutes leading the cat around the ruin with a laser light. It was awesome. That night, we went out to a nice Italian restauraunt for dinner and I got the homemade lasagna which was, of course, magnificent. We all decided to stay in that night due to the havoc that we had wreaked the night before.

The next morning, most of the group headed home, but those of us that remained started the morning off by heading down to the Colloseum and going inside. The most interesting area of the Colloseum is definitely the center where they had all of these trap doors and such that were used to bring tigers and various other animals up to fight the gladiators. The Colloseum was constructed in 80 AD...and we are still walking on it...that is dannng old. Afterwards, we rushed to St. Peter´s square to see none ohther than the Pontificus Maximus himself. The Pope was giving a speech, and St. Peter´s square was absolutly packed. It was awesome to see him in person. He spoke in 6 or 7 different languages and his accent was amazing in all of them!

After that, the group had dwindled to just Kelsey and I as we had the latest flight out of everyone. We went back to the Roman Forum and checked out the ruins. Luckily, we ran into a free tour that lasted over an hour. We learned all about Ceaser´s altar in the ruins, how Rome had been flooded for a thousand of years, about the lives of the Vestal Virgins, and why all roads lead to Rome. It was definitely a great way to end the trip...although Kelsey and I agreed that we wish we would have found that guy sooner.

We had one last gelatto and then headed to the airport for yet one more uncomfortable flight back to Barcelona (there should really be a maximum height requirement for sitting in the middle seat). Barcelona now for the next couple weeks...then MOROCCO!

As far as the pictures go...yes, the one with two people touching is in the Sistine Chapel, where you are not allowed to take pictures. The blue Jesus was in the Modern Catholic Art section. I thought it was very interesting. The beautiful sunset was right outside of the Colloseum and the Forum. The ruined area is the forum, the ruined stadium is the colloseum, the mass amounts of people were there for the Pope´s speech and the ice cream is the best that I have ever tasted in my life.

DD out!

The Long Haul

On the first Friday that we were in Rome, we got up to make a walking tour that started at 11 on the Spanish steps. We of course, like any good group of college students, did not make it in time and were forced to make our own walking tour. We started the day by heading to the Trevi fountain and throwing in our coins so that we would one day Return to Rome...I realized that I had thrown a coin in that fountain before when I was in 6th grade...IT WORKED! Afterwards, we headed to the Pantheon...which was of course amazing. It was crazy to see such a remarkably old building still in tact. I was at first worried about how they managed rain with the giant hole in the ceiling...I quickly realized that it was covered with glass.

After thePantheon, we checked out one of the major Squares in Rome and then headed over to the Vatican. We got there around 2 o clock and went in to check out St. Peter´s Basillica. I definitely felt pretty cool as a Catholic while we were in there. It was remarkable how you could see the rays of light shining through the windows into certain areas of the church as it contrasted with the darker areas of the church around it. The Basillica is absolutely enormous! It is definitely a place that I would reccomend all to visit. We attempted to go to the Vatican museum afterwards, but did not have much success as it closed at 4 o clock. We headed back to our hostel afterwards which turned out to take a couple hours due to metro construction and all of the public transportation being piled full of people.

That night we went out on a pub crawl. I drank a little too much. We won´t get into too many details but I will say that I did win a free shirt!

The Fall of the...Spanish Steps?

After the long flight on Vueling airlines (avoid at all costs), I arrived in Rome on Thursday afternoon. We checked into Allesandro´s Palace and went out for some Italian food. The place we stopped at turned out to be one of our regular stops...I am not sure of the name, but it advertised Pizza, Kebap, and Sushi...munchies dream come true. Anyway, it is true. The food in Italy rocks. I will try to leave it at that and not dwell on the amazing Pizza, Pasta, Gelato, and Rizzotto that we had for the rest of the trip...because I don´t want you all getting jealous...Seriously though, coming back to Spain´s jamon bocadillos has proven to be a little bit difficult.

The first night, we went to the Spanish Steps because we wanted to people watch. We ended up running into a giant exhibit for the fall of the Berlin Wall because we were there 20 years after it was torn down + a few days. It was super cool to run into this bit of history and to realize that it was not that long ago that people still lived in the fear of the Cold War. After that, we met up with one of our friends who was studying abroad in Rome and checked out a local bar area. The bar had the most random mix of music-everything from techno to 50s music to aretha franklin haha. Also...we found the Triton Fountain...repping UCSD´s mascot of course!

Very good Wednesday

Before I get to my Rome trip, I have to point out how great last Wednesday was. During the day, I went to this really popular restauraunt for lunch called Champagneria. The restauraunt prides itself on its bottles of cava. They were sooo good, and they also have really cheap food. We went at one or so, and then later I had class at 3. It was definitely a little bit hard to keep focus...but that is the price you pay for having cava at 1 in the afternoon!

The best part of the day happened later when I got to see KARM!!!! Karm decided to come visit Barcelona for the weekend...unfortunately she decided to come one of the weekends when I was travelling, but nevertheless I was able to see her on Wednesday because my flight left on Thursday morning. Hanging out with Karm and Brent that night was super fun. It was awesome to just give her a hug and talk about school and everything that we had missed. We were supposed to make a video for everyone back home...but Brent was busy doing "hardcore pardcore" and we didn´t get to it. I just wish I could have spent a little more time with Karm!

Love ya!

Dublin´s final chapter

I Know I know. There was no jumping off of cliffs or waterfalls in this trip. There was however, beautiful sights and friends. On the next day of our trip, Brent, Cassie, Max, and I went out to a seaside village a half an hour outside of Dublin called Hoath...i think. It was fun to see such a small town feel. There were maps everywhere despite the very small size of the village. We walked through an old Irish Graveyard, took pictures by a lighthouse and watched some torusits feeding fish to some walruses that hang out by the port waiting for a delicious snack. We got soup by the ocean with fresh fish and then headed back into town.

That night, we were planning on going on a haunted tour of Dublin but after realizin that the tour was sold out, wound up at a pub. The Stag´s Head was the best pub that I have ever been to. In the basement, we listened to an authentic Irish band spouting off about their hate for Elizabeth I and playing a bunch of different songs. It was a lot of fun...especially when we got to watch this really drunken Irish guy dancing around and spilling beer all over the place!

The next morning, we took at stroll through St. Patrick´s Green, had our last meal and headed out to the airport...and saw part of an authentic rugby match!

Today is Wednesday by the way...and yesterday I went to a Barcelona game where they blew the other team out of the water 5-0! We got to the stadium an hour early because we didn´t know when the game was supposed to start! woops!

The genius of Guinness

The next morning after Brent had arrived, Cassie decided to have class again...way to go Cassie. Brent and I took this opportunity off to the fabled Guinness factory of Dublin. Of course on the walk over, I did not bring my umbrella because I was told by a reliable source ·cough Cassie cough· that in Dublin it only rains for 5 minutes at a time and then stops. Needless to stay as we got closer to the factory, it rained more...and more...and more, until right before we got there we practically had to swim to the entrance of the tour area. Once we got inside though, it was definitely a light at the end of the tunnel.

We walked through the entire Guinness brewing process, tasted fresh barley, saw the waters of Guinness, tasted a fresh brew, and then headed up to the Gravity Bar at top of the factory to receive our complimetnary pint of freshly brewed Guinness. Let me just say that I used to hate Guinness and now it is hands down my favorite beer. It was practically a milkshake up there. Brent and I spent a romantic 45 minutes looking out on the city of Dublin and drinking Guinness before heading back down to the city center. On the way down, we made the most random connection...Guinness book of World records. Apparently, the Guinness book of World Records was started to settle bar arguments, the first of which revolved around what the fastest flying bird in the world is...some kind of duck in case you were wondering.

Brent and I trekked home and stopped at a pub called Legends for lunch...the french fries -chips- are soooo good in Dublin despite their high price tag. That night, Cassie, Max, Brent got fish and chips to go and then went out to a local pub...it was super fun and I of course ordered a Guinness.

We found my saw that I had been looking for at the factory by the way haha.