Monserrat!

Stairway to Heaven

After arriving from Paris Sunday afternoon, Michelle and I headed to Monserrat, a multi-peaked mountain located near Barcelona. I was exhausted from our trip, but we needed to knock another thing off my “to-do list.” We took a train there and a cable car up to the mountain. Monserrat is beautiful and comes with an amazing view. On the mountain, there are a few shops, a museum, a monastery/basilica and my favorite, “the stairway to heaven.” It was nice to get away from the city and enjoy some peace and quiet.

View from Monserrat 

Paris!

To conclude our international trips during our study abroad experience, Michelle and I decided to save the best for last, Paris, France. We left Barcelona at around 6:30 a.m. and arrived in Paris two hours later. From the Beauvais Airport, we took a bus to the city, and once we put our bags down in our hostel, we began our sightseeing. Of course, the Eiffel Tower was the first thing on the list, but before we did that, we passed by the Arch of Triumph and took a few photos. As we stood in line to buy our tickets for the Eiffel Tower, it began to rain. If you know me, you’d know I never wear a jacket, so do you think I was wearing one? I wasn’t. It was pouring, windy and I was freezing. I was so upset because being that high up on the Eiffel Tower gave us an incredible view of the city, but it was so cloudy and ugly that I didn’t even take out my camera. After the Eiffel Tower, we went back to the hostel to reschedule our itinerary for that day. We were suppose to visit the catacombs and Lachaise cemetery, the largest cemetery in Paris but instead, we grabbed lunch at Chipotle, went to the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur and then the Place de la Concorde to take photos of the plaza. Since the weather didn’t clear up, we just went back to the hostel and called it a day, hoping for a better tomorrow.

Arch of Triumph

Basilica of Sacré-Cœur 

On Friday, we took a day trip to visit the Palace of Versailles. It was an hour train ride to and back, but it was worth it. Not only was the entrance free, thanks to our student visas, but the palace was beyond beautiful. I was amazed on how big it is, especially its gardens. Michelle and I walked around the gardens, going inside Marie-Antoinette’s Estate, the Grand and Petit Trianons and lastly, the Palace. Walking through The Hall of Mirrors, and seeing the King and Queen’s Grand Apartments left me breathless, truly amazing. After the Palace, we headed back towards Paris for a little photo shoot by the Eiffel Tower. Luckily, the weather was better than the day before, so we got good shots. Also, we grabbed crêpes of Nutella and banana, and oh my god, those were the best crêpes I’ve ever had!

    

        Palace of Versailles Gate

Palace of Versailles

                        

                               Marie-Antoinette’s Estate 

   

Hall of Mirrors

     

       Palace Gardens

Palace Gardens

 

                                                

                                                             Eiffel Tower

Nutella and banana crêpe

Mona Lisa

Louvre Museum

Saturday was our last full day in Paris and we started it off by going to the Louvre Museum, where I got to see the Mona Lisa! Obviously, we saw other important artwork too, but I was super excited to see the Mona Lisa, I even took a selfie with it, haha. After the Louvre, we went to Notre Dame and then walked to the Lovelock Bridge. Unfortunately, we didn’t go inside the cathedral because there was a huge line. On our way to the bridge, I bought a lock, wrote my name on it and placed on the bridge, along with the other thousands of locks.

Locklock Bridge

After the Lovelock bridge, we went back to the hostel and waited until it got dark. At around 10 p.m. we were at Eiffel Tower and I’ve never seen anything so pretty. It was lit up against the dark sky, and every 50 minutes, blinking lights would flash from it. I teared up as I sat and watched it, knowing that this was my last trip of my study abroad experience. I loved all the countries I’ve been to, but I must say, I’m glad we saved the best for last. Paris was amazing, I can’t wait to go back.

Eiffel Tower

Casa Vicens!

Casa Vicens 

After class, Michelle and I visited Casa Vicens. Casa Vicens is another house designed by none other than, Antoni Gaudí located in the Gràcia district of Barcelona. Built for Manuel Vicens during 1883-1889, it's known to be one of Gaudí's first important work. The house is made out of stone, red bricks, and colored ceramic tiles in checkerboard and floral patterns.  I spotted the beautiful house a block away, I automatically saw Gaudí’s name written all over it, it’s simply amazing. Since Casa Vicens is a private residence, it cannot be visited but I can only imagine the interior.

Casa Vicens

Close Up of Casa Vicens

Barça Game!

Yesterday, after arriving at El Prat Airport from Madrid, all I was thinking about was the Barça game that was going to take place at Camp Nou in a few hours. "It's the second to last home game of La Liga against Getafe CF, there’s 19 days left till I go back to the states, I haven’t gone to a game yet, I can't leave Barcelona without going to one, might as well go today if I can", is all I was saying to myself on the metro ride back home. Finally, I came to my senses. I got home a hour before game time, went online, bought my ticket and headed towards the stadium. Once I got there, I was blown away by the thousand canting fans. The stadium is beautiful and although I’m not much of a soccer fan, I purchased last minute tickets, got bad seats, went alone, got there 15 minutes late, missed Messi’s goal, at least I can say I watched Barça play! 

Madrid!

Plaza de España

This weekend, Michelle and I went to Madrid and it was amazing! As soon as we arrived Thursday morning, we began our sightseeing. Not only were there so many attractions we wanted to see, but we were also on a time limit. The first place we visited was Plaza de España, a large square located in the center of Madrid. From there we visited the Templo de Debod, an ancient Egyptian temple that was rebuilt in Madrid, Palacio Real (the residence of the Spanish Royal Family), Catedral de la Almudena (Madrid’s cathedral), Plaza Oriente, Plaza Mayor and Casa de la Villa. At about 1, we headed to the hostel to rest up a little. At 3, we headed out for lunch and then continued our sightseeing. We visited the Plaza de Cibeles, Puerta de Alcala and finished being tourist at the beautiful Parque de Retiro. Before ending our day, we went to the best 24 hr churro spot in Madrid, to obviously, have some churros and hot chocolate before bed.

Puerta de Alcala

Templo de Debod

Plaza Oriente/Palacio Real

Parque del Retiro 

We woke up early Friday morning because we had another busy day ahead of us. The first thing on the list was tour the Bernabéu Stadium, the home of Real Madrid. The tour lasted about two hours and we got to see a panoramic view of the stadium, the trophy exhibition, dressing room, players tunnel, press room and more! After the tour, we did some souvenir shopping, visited the Prado Museum and lastly, attended a bullfight. The Prado Museum was nice, but the highlight of this day was the bullfight. I actually cried watching the fight. Sometimes it’s hard embracing a culture when the outcome is not what you want, but an experience like this only happens once in a lifetime so I had to take advantage of this opportunity. Would I go to another bullfight? Absolutely not. To continue, after the bullfight, we went to the churros spot again then called it a night.

 Bernabéu Stadium

 Bernabéu Stadium

Plaza de Toros

Bullfight

We left Madrid at around 12:30 Saturday afternoon and arrived back in Barcelona at around 1:30 p.m. Madrid is by far, one of my favorite trips, not only because I planned it but because it was everything I expected and more. 

Bunkers!

After class, Michelle and I decided to knock off another thing off my “to-do” list. We grabbed lunch at Wok Street, right by the Sagrada Familia then headed towards the mountains to Bunkers del Carmel. Bunkers used to be a flak bunker during the Civil War, but now it’s used for picnics and a hangout spot because of it’s breathtaking view. Sitting down, overlooking the city was a perfect way to spend my Tuesday afternoon.

Overview of Barcelona

Happy 3 Months Barcelona!

I can't believe it, 3 months down and 25 days to go. As you can see, these three months have been amazing. I've traveled to so many places and experienced a bunch of new things. My time here is almost up, but I'm going to make the best out of my last weeks in Barça.  

Bye Katelynn/Parc de la Ciutadella

Katelynn and I

Today, I had to say bye to my roommate Katelynn. Living with her these past 3 months was great, I couldn't have asked for a better roomie. It's sad knowing her time in Barcelona is up and in 27 days, my time will be up too. Both of my roommates, Katelynn and Shawna arrived a month before I did and that’s why they had to leave before me. When I arrived at Ana’s house, being the sweetheart that she is, Katelynn instantly made me feel welcomed. I bonded way more with her than with Shawna. I'm going to miss Katelynn while I’m still in Barcelona, but luckily, she lives in Massachusetts, so I know we’re still going to stay in contact once I get back to the states. 

On a happier note, since it was nice out, Michelle and I spent our Friday afternoon at Parc de la Ciutadella. The first time I went, it was cloudy and so I wasn't pleased with my pictures. Since it was nice out, I took advantage and got some decent shots.  

Parc de la Ciutadella

Parc de la Ciutadella

Parc de la Ciutadella

Feliz día de Sant Jordi!

Cronuts and Hot Chocolate Date 

Today was a very special day in Barcelona, it was Día de Sant Jordi (St. George’s Day) aka Valentine’s Day. There's a popular legend, all over Catalonia that says, once upon a time, there was a dragon attacking a kingdom, and to satisfy its hunger, the residents would feed it two lambs every day to prevent the dragon from attacking the village, until they ran out of lambs. Afterwards, chosen by a drawing, a person would be sent to satisfy the dragon's hunger. Unfortunately, one day, the princess’s name was chosen by the drawing lots. On her way to the dragon’s cave, she runs into a knight by the name of Jorge and he saves her by stabbing the dragon, and from the puddle of dragon blood, rises a red rose, in which the knight gives to the princess. Therefore, every year on April 23rd, in all of Catalonia, guys give red roses to their women for exchange of a book. Michelle and I wanted to have a little fun with today, so we were each other’s “valentine”. She bought me a blue rose, since blue is my favorite color and I bought her a red rose. We also went to a place called “Chök, The Chocolate Kitchen,” off Las Ramblas to have some cronuts and hot chocolate. The streets of Barcelona were supper crowed, but it was nice to see everybody out with their loved ones, enjoying Sant Jordi.

a crowed Las Ramblas 

Casa Batlló!

Casa Batlló

In honor of our last day of spring break, Michelle and I decided to be tourist and knock off a place off my “things to-do in Barcelona” list. We went to the beautiful Casa Batlló, also known as “House of Bones”on Passeig de Gràcia. The house was built by the famous architect, Antoni Gaudí in 1877 and was bought by the Batlló family in 1990. Then in 1904, Josep Batlló hired Gaudí to redesign his new home, located in the center of Barcelona. Words cannot explain how amazing this house is, Antoni Gaudí was a genius. For the past 3 months, I’ve walk past Casa Batlló every day on my way to school, admiring it’s beauty from the outside, but to actually go inside and see Gaudí’s work up close and personal? Unbelievable. It was everything I imagined and more. If you ever visit Barcelona, Casa Batlló is a MUST see, you’ll love it.

Close up of Casa Batlló 

                       


                    

                          Windows

Chimney 

Wall/Ceiling 

                    

                            Inside

Door

Roof

30 days left

can't believe I have 30 days left in Barcelona...bittersweet feeling.

Granada/Málaga/Valencia!

After spending the weekend in London, Michelle and I continued our spring break vacation in the south of Spain. We arrived in Málaga Monday night, took a bus to Granada and spent all of Tuesday there. Luckily, we were able to get tickets to go to the Alhambra, a palace and fortress complex dating back to the 9th century. The Alhambra is simply breathtaking, it’s unbelievable to think a building that old is still standing and looking beautiful than ever. As we walked through the palace and fortress, we got to see gorgeous overviews of the city. After the Alhambra, we walked around Granada until it was time to head back to Málaga. 

Nazari Palace

Alhambra 

Garden in Alhambra

overview of Granada

Playa de la Caleta

On Wednesday, we were back in Málaga.  Michelle found the perfect hostel for us, right by the beach! So can you guess what we did all of Wednesday? If you're thinking we were beach bums, you're absolutely correct, ha. We literally spent all day at the beach soaking up the sun. I soaked up a little too much sun and got a little sun burn, thanks to Michelle for not knowing how to rub sun block on my back. After the beach, we decided to grab dinner, then went back to the hostel to watch the FC Barcelona and Real Madrid game. As you may know, I'm really not a soccer fan, but there's just some games you cannot miss. Unfortunately, Barcelona lost, 1-2. 

Procession 

On Thursday, we had a walking tour of Málaga.  We got to see some of it’s main streets along with the cathedral and famous market. After our walking tour, Michelle and I grabbed lunch and chilled until it got dark. At night, we walked around the crowed city and were able to catch some processions since it was Semana Santa (Holy Week). I’m pretty sure almost all of Málaga was out watching the processions, they were great. Processions were still happening at 6 in the morning, unbelievable. 

Friday was our last day in Málaga. Before catching the bus back to Granada, we headed to the city center again. We walked around the Alcazaba to get a nice overview of the city. Afterwards, we headed back to Granada to catch a train to Valencia.

Overview of Málaga

Plaza de la Virgen

The last stop of our spring break was Valencia. We arrived in Valencia early Saturday morning, and at 12 p.m. we met at Plaza de la Virgen for our walking tour. We walked around the city, admiring it's beauty. After the tour, we headed back to the hostel to rest up. At about 5 p.m., we went to eat dinner by the beach. We tried the famous "Paella Valenciana", a typical Spanish rice, it was delicious. At night, we went out for some churros and horchata.

Paella Valenciana

Sunday was our last day in Valencia. We had until 2 p.m. to enjoy and walk around the city again, so that’s what we did. We went to the Plaza del Ayuntamiento

Plaza del Ayuntamiento

and the Plaza de Toros to see the bull arena. Afterwards, we ate lunch, grabbed our things and headed to the train station. About 6 hours later, we arrived back in Barcelona. Spring break was amazing, probably the best spring break I've ever had. I really enjoyed myself and I'm glad I got to experience it with good company. 

           

           Plaza de Toros