The experience of a lifetime :)

The best four months of my life are coming to a close and I am finding it very hard to believe.  Within the last four months I have traveled to London, Dublin, Madrid, Barcelona, Florence, Sevilla, Ronda, Toledo, Cordoba, Segovia, Nerja and Cadiz.  Also, I have made new friends from all over the world.  The past two weeks in Granada have been by far been the best two.  While finals were not exactly enjoyable, I spent more time with my host family and my friends exploring Granada and enjoying the Spanish life style.  In true Spanish fashion last Saturday night my friends and I danced all night long till the club shut down at 7 am.  It was by far the best night in Granada.  Last night we had our goodbye dinner for our program and I owe so much to my program directors Mark and Maria, they make this program incredible and it would be impossible to imagine without them.  Similarly, I got so lucky with all of the members of my program; it is incredible how close you can get to someone when you are living in a foreign country having new experiences every day together.  I am happy to say that I know some day I will be returning to Granada as I could not imagine never walking down these streets again.  It truly has become my second home and I am not looking forward to leaving it in 5 hours.  I will be back in the US tomorrow, the 22^nd at 4 pm and I am having the hardest time with the realization that I wont be returning to my host family and my friends here for a very long time.  The decision to study abroad was by far the best decision I have made in my life and I will forever value this incredible, breathtaking, phenomenal experience that I have had.  See you all shortly :) 

 Skiing at the Sierra Nevada

 My program directors!

 My host mom and I :)

Rachel and I, I am going to miss this girl!

BBBAAARRRRTTTTHHHHHEEEELLLLOOOONNNNNAAAAA!!!!

This past weekend I went to Barcelona with a group of 15 from my program.  We all stayed at the same hostel and we had an absolute blast.  We left Granada on a bus Friday morning that took us to the airport in Malaga.  Unfortunately, our plane was delayed for two hours so by the time we arrived at our hostel it was around 5 at night.  That night we ate burgers near our hostel and walked the streets.  It was absolutely beautiful because everything was decorated for Christmas.  The main street in Barcelona is called La Rambla and the entire street was lit up with white lights.  We walked along La Rambla all the way to the waterfront then we returned to our hostel to go to bed.  The week before Barcelona my friend Danielle from University of Portland was in Granada and we completed our culture class therefore catching up on some rest was much needed. 

On Saturday we woke up and after having breakfast at our hostel we headed out to La parque Guell, which is a park that was constructed by Gaudí.  It is a huge park that has a beautiful viewpoint surrounded by benches decorated with mosaic tile.  Parque Guell is also home to some absolutely beautiful houses that look like gingerbread houses to me.  When it was originally build Gaudí had the intention of it being where the aristocrats of Barcelona would live.  That fell through as they did not want to live outside of the city, but now the park is free for the public. After Parque Guell we met up with a friend of my friend´s that is studying in Barcelona for a year.  She showed us around the Gothic district of Barcelona and took us to a park named Montjuic where there is an ancient castle and beautiful views of the city.  For lunch we got Mexican food because once you have lived in Spain for 3.5 months, the last thing you want is Spanish food, so instead we ate Mexican!  Saturday night we had the Barcelona vs. Levante soccer game.  We got Subway sandwiches for dinner and headed towards the stadium in our Barcelona gear.  I sat with two of my friends during the game and our seats were roughly 20 rows up from the field at the goal line! It was absolutely phenomenal!!! It was probably the fastest 90 minutes of my life, however, the crowd was surprisingly not quite as rowdy as I expected.  Pretty much everyone in the stadium sat to watch the game and seemed more civilized than the majority of the games that I have been to in the US.  I believe this is because at the stadiums they do not sell alcohol.  At one point during the second half after Barcelona had scored once again (they won 5 to 0) a wave went around the entire stadium five times.  The Barcelona Stadium is the second largest in the entire world holding just under 100,000 fans.  It was an incredible site.  After the game, we hung out around the stadium hoping the metro would clear out a little because the lines for the metro were unbelievable right after the game.  Once back at the hostel we got ready to experience the nightlife of Spain to celebrate Barcelona´s win.  It was a great day!!

On Sunday morning we woke up and had breakfast at the hostel again accompanied by some Starbucks lattes.  After breakfast, three friends and myself rented bikes for two hours to bike around some of the parks in the city.  We had a blast and the weather was perfect.  Barcelona is a very large city and has a population of 1.6 million inside the city limits with another 4 million living outside the city.  Due to its large population size, the city feels so alive at all times of day.  Walking around the streets there are always people walking around and enjoying life.  After biking, we got delicious pizza and warm fudge brownies from a small cafe that we stumbled upon on our bike ride.  After lunch we headed over to La Sagrada Familia, which is Gaudís life work, which is still nowhere near being completed.  Most likely it will take another 40 to 60 years to complete the entire cathedral and I hope that when it is completed I will able to return.  It was beautiful but I can only imagine that once completed with all stained glass windows it will be one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.  After La Sagrada Familia, we walked around the Christmas markets for a period of time.  One of the traditions in Cataluna for Christmas is to buy a ¨Caganer¨, which is a figure that is placed in a Nativity scene that is pooping.  It doesn’t make any sense to me but it is supposed to represent the equality between all human beings.  It was a very interesting site when we first stumbled upon them.  For dinner we went to a place called ¨Wok to Walk¨ and it was essentially a Mongolian Grill that you could take to go.  I am most definitely missing the variety of food that is offered in the US.  That night our group just hung out at the hostel because all 14 of us were in the same room. 

It was all in all a great weekend and a wonderful last trip to my time in Spain.  I come home two weeks from tomorrow, which is very hard for me to believe.  I wrote two blog entries today so don’t forget to read the one right below this about my time is Florence! This week I only have class today and tomorrow I am planning on going skiing at the ski resort near Granada then on Friday my friends and I are going to the Parque de las ciencias. Currently in Granada all of the Christmas lights have been turned on and there are Christmas markets around as well.  Yesterday, two of my friends and I went Christmas shopping then we ate Churros con Chocolate before walking around the city under all of the beautiful lights.  It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Next week is finals and then I come home.  See you all very soon!

 Danielle and I :)

Barcelona

 Parque de Guell

 Barcelona FC

 Bicycle Tour

 La Sagrada Familia

Pooping Nativity Scene!

Thanksgiving in Florence!

I had an absolutely phenomenal weekend in Florence.  My friend Rachel and I arrived on Thursday late afternoon around four and my cousin Sarah met us at the train station.  We dropped our stuff off the hostel and then we headed to her house to make a delicious Thanksgiving dinner of turkey, mashed potatoes, veggies, stuffing, corn bread and PUMPKIN PIE! It was the perfect Thanksgiving away from home! On Saturday morning, Rachel and I, headed out to the Parque de Pinocchio because her great, great, great uncle, Carlos Lorinzini, wrote Pinocchio.   The park is in the small town of Collodi which truly isn’t that far from Florence but when we went to the train station to figure out how to get there we were told that there were not any trains that went directly to the city.  After asking people in the bus station and train station we figured out that we could take a train to a town called Pescia then take a bus to Collodi.  When we got to Pescia we asked someone where the bus stop was and they told us it was two kilometers away from the station.  Then he told us how to get ahold of the only taxi driver in town.  We found him and he took us to Parque de Pinocchio and gave us his number so he could pick us up when we were done in the afternoon.  Unfortunately, once we got the park we found out that it was closed for the winter.  However, two men came out of a gate and one of them motioned us in.  We still had to pay but we were the only two people in the park! It was a blast because we played on the swings and took pictures with all the statues and the giant whale! After spending about an hour in the park we left and bought some souvenirs then we attempted to call the taxi driver so he could pick us up.  Upon talking to him all he told us was “no es posible ahora” aka it is not possible right now.  He then continued to tell us he could pick us up in two hours.  After speaking to some locals we figured out that there was a bus that could take us close to the train station that should come in about 15 minutes.  We got on the bus, didn’t end up paying and the driver dropped us off right in front of the train station! It worked out perfectly!

Once back in Florence we went and got some lovely sandwiches on focaccia bread then we decided to go visit the Duomo and climb to the top! The climb up is incredible because at the very end you climb stairs that take the shape of the dome. At the beginning it feels like you are going straight up a ladder then slowly the incline lessens as you reach the top of the dome.  The view from the top was absolutely breathtaking! You can see the entire city and I truly believe that Florence is one of the prettiest cities I have ever been to! I next got my hair cut (exciting) and then Friday evening we went out to dinner with Sarah and Matteo to a place called The Three Benches.  It is called that because it is a very small restaurant with only three tables. The food was absolutely amazing! Probably some of the best that I have ever had in my life! The first course was pasta in a Bolognaise sauce, then we got fresh spaghetti with fresh artichoke hearts, then we had delicious steak and deep fried veggies.  For dessert we had cheesecake but it was warmed and I have no problem saying it was my all time favorite dessert! Aw… it was an incredible meal!

            On Saturday we woke up early and went to an American bakery and got bagels for breakfast! They were absolutely delicious! We then walked around Florence passing the Ufitzi, the Ponte Veccio and many other things.  After meeting up with Sarah we went and got pizza for lunch and man do those Italians make good pizza! There is just nothing that can even touch how good it is.  The remainder of the afternoon we went to the leather market and continued to explore Florence.  For dinner that night we had another Thanksgiving dinner at one of Sarah’s friends house and it was wonderful to be included and yet again the food was amazing.  The best part about that night is that I ate apple pie, which has been sounding good for weeks! YUM! 

            Sunday morning we woke up and got ready to head back to Spain.  Sarah, being the amazing hostess that she is, packed Rachel and I lunches to eat on the plane; therefore, we had another Thanksgiving meal! All the turkey and American food was exactly what the doctor ordered after three months in Spain.  We had a few hick-ups getting to the airport in Pisa because the majority of the trains were not leaving Florence due to strikes but after switching trains twice and taking a cab we finally made it to the airport with just enough time to spare to go to the bathroom before getting on our flight.  It was most definitely cutting it a little bit close.  We spent the flights home and our lovely layover in Barcelona doing homework and studying! I had the absolute perfect weekend and I am absolutely in love with Florence because it is such an amazing city.  There is just this ambiance about the city that makes me want to spend more time there exploring all the streets, eating all the food and meeting new people. 

            Love you ALL!  Another post to come later today about my time in Barcelona! Sorry I am a little behind on my blog… oopsies! 

 Rachel in Parque de Pinocchio

 The Duomo

 Dinner at the Three Benches

Weekend Trip to Sevilla!

This past weekend I went to Sevilla with my program.  We left Granada early Saturday morning and after a short three hour bus ride we arrived in Sevilla.  Our first stop was to visit the Alcazar, aka the royal palace in Sevilla.  The Alcazar was absolutely beautiful as its architecture has a lot of hispano-musluman influence.  The walls are covered in intricate carvings and hand cut tile.  I am attaching photos but they hardly do it justice.  After our visit to the Alcazar our program went and got lunch at a very nice restaurant.  We had salad, fresh tuna, potatoes, and flan for dessert.  Our program really takes care of us! 

            After lunch we had free time.  I went with some of my friends took the time to walk around Sevilla.  Our first stop took us to the Plaza de España, which was absolutely beautiful.  The next stop on our tour was a Starbucks where we got peppermint hot chocolate and it has never tasted so amazing.  We next went to a modern structure that we could go to the top of to see a view of the city.  The structure slightly resembled a cluster of mushrooms.  The view of the city was absolutely beautiful.  The rest of the night we walked around the city attempting to see as much as possible.  We had dinner at a lovely Italian restaurant and finished the night by eating a ton of chocolate and having a girls night of sorts watching movies. 

            Sunday morning we got up and after having breakfast at the hotel we went to Italica, which is a Roman Ruin just outside of the city of Sevilla.  Only 25% of the city has been exuviated.  Next we went on a short bus tour of the city that concluded at the same restaurant that we ate on Saturday.  Yet again we had a great meal of salad, tortilla española, pork with sautéed mushrooms and some form of cheese cake.  After lunch we went on a visit to the Cathedral of Sevilla.  The Cathedral is the third largest in the world and absolutely beautiful.  Take a look at the pictures because the gothic architecture is breath taking.  We made one last stop at Starbucks then we went to the bus to dead back to Granada. 

            It was a great weekend and now I am on my way to Florence tomorrow morning to spend Thanksgiving with Sarah.  I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving! Love and miss you all!

Alcazar

Plaza de España

The weird modern architecture that we visited

Italica- The Roman Ruins

 The group of students studying abroad with me

 Catedral