Bonjour

Back in Barcelona!! Spring break was INCREDIBLE. I'm officially in love with Italy.

(I was in Roma during the earthquake...but, it was at 3:30am and about 50 miles away so I was asleep and I don't think I felt it)

Well, I don't want to get ahead of myself. I could (and probably will) talk about Italy for hours, and I have almost 700 pictures from the week!

But first things first, I also had a wonderful weekend in Paris on the weekend before break. The weather wasn't the greatest, a little rainy and cold, but the city was beautiful. I also could not believe how nice the French people were!! I was not expecting that. My favorite part of the whole weekend was visiting and going to the top of the Eiffel Tower at night. It is all lit up and each hour the lights twinkle!

It was very neat to see. The ride to the top made me a little nervous, but it was an amazing view of the city all lit up.

And the food was so great also! I ate pastries for breakfast everyday, lots of crepes and also creme brulee. These guys had stands on all of the streets in the touristy areas of the city and were so hard to pass up.

On our first night in Paris, we visited the Louvre. It is an immense art museum, almost like a city itslef. We spent a lot of time viewing the collection. This picture is of the Venus di Milo, which is an ancient greek sculpture from around 100 BC! It was beautiful. We also saw the actual Mona Lisa!

We also visited the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Luxemborg Gardens, the famous shopping street Champs-Élysées, and the Arc de Triomphe.

We spent our last day in Vesailles, the huge palace about 20 minutes outside of the city. It was very cool. We took a tour and explored the beautiful gardens. This pictures is from the Gardens of the back of the Palace, however, the front and the inside had such elaborate decoration, lots of gold ornament and bright colors. It was very different from other buildings Ive visited in Barcelona!

Spring Break!

Hey everyone!!

I cannot believe that it is already spring break! There is officially less than one month left of my adventure :(
But I am getting anxious to get home!

I am leaving in about twenty minutes to fly to Rome for three days, then Florence for three days, Venice for two and Milan for two!! I am very very very excited!

I may not be able to access a computer during my trip, so I will be sure to update everyone as soon as I get back to Barca on Tuesday the 14th! ( I still have to do a post about Paris last weekend!!)

I hope that everyone has a Happy Easter! Miss and love you guys

Hasta luego!
Lindsay

Las Fallas en Valencia

Like Mardi Gras in New Orleans or the 4th of July in the US, a lot of cities in Spain have their own annual fiestas that have been going on for decades. One of the most important of these festivals in all of Spain is called Las Fallas, (the torches) and it is a week long celebration in Valencia, Spain (about 3 hours down the coast from Barcelona)

We learned about this festival in a bunch of my classes and all of my professors could not talk enough about how wonderful it was, so when I friend from my Spanish class invited me to go the the finale of the week with him, I just couldn't pass it up!

The locals in Valencia spend the whole year building these elaborate floats and during the week they parade them around the city, always shooting off fire crackers and lighting fireworks. For the grand finale of the festival, the floats are ranked and all but the first place "fallas" are burned! It is very hard to explain, but there is a lot of cultural significance and it was really incredible to see.

We got up early on Thursday the 19th and took the train to Valencia. We arrived around noon and the city was already packed, everyone is just walking around on the streets shopping at vendors, checking out the floats which are positioned in all of the 4-way intersections and eating fried foods like chocolate and churros and bunyoles (like friend donuts)...Of course I tried some of each!

We checked out some of the floats and vendors, grabbed lunch and then decided to head out of the crowds for a little to explore. We walked outside of the center city and found a very nice park and playground and eventually made it to Oceanographic, the largest aquarium in Europe. After just seeing the building we decided we had to go it. We spent about 3.5 hours there, it was so neat!!

After that we continued our walk to the beach. Valencia has a GORGEOUS coast. By this point it was around 6:30pm so we took the opportunity to lay down in the sand for a while and enjoy the sights and sounds of the sea and all of the people hanging out on the beach. New friends from U of Illinois, Ben & Josh

Around 8 we headed back towards the action and met up with some friends of my travel partners for dinner. Valencia is known to have the best paella in all of Spain, so we just had to try it. We enjoyed chicken paella and sangria dinner at a nice outdoor cafe and it did not disappoint!

Behind one of Las Fallas

After dinner is when the real fun began. Around 10pm they burned the smaller floats so that the children could watch. Everyone was walking around and gathering in the squares by the huge floats. At midnight, all of the large floats were lit. The floats had fireworks on the inside that went off once they started burning and there were sparklers and firecrackers hanging across the streets. It was amazing so see, and we had a great vantage point. It was HOT!! We watched the third place float burn...

Before and After

Third place Falla, my favorite...

and then started wandering around to look at the smoldering remains. The firefighters and street cleaners were already hard at work. This is when we enjoyed some churros and checked out some local cafes. We couldn't catch the train home until 5:15am but we had a blast!! The day flew and it was an unforgettable experience that I am thrilled I had the opportunity to see.

It is so important to jump at these once-in -a-lifetime experiences and I'm so happy that I have such wonderful people to share my adventures with!!

Viva Espana!

After spending three days in the cold and snowy north of Spain, it was time for some fun in the sun! So, for the next weekend, two friends and I headed south!

This was my favorite weekend so far! We visited the two pretty well-known cities, Granada and Sevilla. It was beautiful, exotic and relaxing but at the same time I feel like I saw so much.

We flew into Granada on Friday morning and after checking into our hostel, headed straight for the Al Hambra. You must check out this place online, it is incredible (if you don't feel like reading at least check out some pictures...)

Ceiling in Nazarine Palace at the Al Hamabra

It was a 70 degree cloudless day, so needless to say I was in heaven... and also in the most beautiful place I've seen in my entire life. I'm not exaggerating. Because of designated tour and entrance times, I ended up exploring most of the area on my own, and there were a few times that I was nearly brought to tears by how awesome the architecture was and by the natural tranquility of the gardens and fountains. (I have about a hundred pictures from here, so I will make sure to have them with me all the time over the summer!)

There is a lot of Moorish influence in Granada, lots of loose-leaf tea shops and open air markets. I can't really compare the look and feel of the city to any other place I've ever been. For dinner, we ate in a Moroccan restaurant with candle light and bright colorful couches and wall-hangings. It was a delicious and unique experience (the best humus I've ever tasted!)

On Saturday we did a little more sight-seeing in Granada and had another very cultural experience. A trend unique to Granada is that around midday, if you go to a cafe and order any drink, they bring you a tapa (a typical Spanish, small appetizer-like dish) for free. It is the coolest thing. We sat outside in the bright sun and ordered some sangria and got croquettes on the house!

After our meal we headed to the station and got on the train toward Sevilla. The landscape during the train ride was another experience itself. The southern Spanish countryside is full of olive orchards, small villages and farms. When we arrived in Sevilla is was already pretty late, so we grabbed a bite to eat and head to a very traditional Flamenco show. It was nothing like what I was expecting, but so cool!

(Outside of the palace in Sevilla)

On Sunday, we got up early and spent all day exploring Sevilla. We toured the Alcazar (a HUGE palace) with beautiful gardens, extravagant tapestries and peacocks in the courtyard, and the Cathedral which was also very impressive. It is the home to the tomb of Christopher Columbus.

We also climbed about 30 flights of stairs to the top of the bell tower and had a wonderful view of the city. I was surprised to see how many rooftop restaurants and terraces with swimming pools there were! Then in the evening we got some gelato and walked along the river.

We also had another very nice and very Spanish dinner. It was about two hours long and complete with vino de verano (a summer drink that is like wine mixed with sprite)bread, paella, Spanish omelette (the most delicious I've ever had) and flan for dessert. It was the perfect and to a truly wonderful and authentic Spanish weekend!

I Take Too Many Pictures!!

I'm getting so overwhelmed with the amount of pictures I have that I still haven't posted!

So basically what that means is that as soon as I get home everyone needs to get together for a full slide-show that I can personally narrate!

I've been having more and more amazing experiences here. I keep thinking how neat it would be to share the things I'm seeing with you all.

So, since Geneva there have been quite a few major updates...

My high school friend, Lauren, came to visit during her spring break. I was so nice to see a face from home and we had a great time together. We didn't get much sleep, but we saw a lot of Barcelona, ate some great meals and met a lot of new people.

That Sunday evening was the first time that I walked around the Old City and Gothic neighborhood after dark. I never realized how crowded the streets are and how much is going on at that time. I was really fun, we saw a full brass band playing for groups of locals performing a typical Catalan dance in one of the squares! All of the shops were open and there was a really great nightlife that I hadn't yet discovered.

Sunday nights are Karaoke night at a local Irish Pub called the George Payne. We went along with my roommate and friends from PSU and had a blast! It was a very international crowd (we met people from all over Spain, Argentine, Germany, Canada, and the US)

We visited the typical tourism sights in the city, most of which I'd already seen. I didn't have classes during the day because it was study week.

This fountain is located at one end of Las Ramblas, a walkway full of shops and restaurants. There is a plaque that says, "Those who drink from this fountain will always return to Barcelona"

I'll be back baby!!

Even though the weather wasn't the greatest, we walked along the port and sat at the beach for awhile.

The sound of the waves was so nice and relaxing, even though we were in pants and sweatshirts.

From Thursday to Saturday my program took a "Journey" to a region in Northern Spain called Navarre. We stayed in Pamplona, the city famous for Ernest Hemingway and the Running of the Bulls.

Although it was pretty cold ( I saw some snow!) and about a 6 hour bus ride away, I had a wonderful time on the trip. Since I'm here with a very large program, we were split up according to our Spanish classes so I was able to get to know so new people. I got a lot closer with some of the people I had just me and our bus and Spanish class really bonded, which was probably my favorite part of the trip.

We saw and learned about a few different cities, all along the religious pilgrimage called Camino de Santiago. We took walking tours of the Palace in Olite, Irache Monastery and Irache Vineyard, a cathedral in Puenta Reina, and Castle Javier.

We also took a walking tour of Pamplona that included the run of the bulls, a bullring and some famous sights of Hemingway.

It was a long weekend, but very educational and fun (who knew the two could go hand-in-hand)!

What Do Watches, Chocolate and Banks Have in Common?...

A large group of friends and I spent the last weekend of February in Geneva, Switzerland! It was my first opportunity to really travel and it was an unforgettable experience. (I feel like I've been saying that a lot while I've been here!)

We flew in on Thursday night and it was an adventure in itself to find our hostel. Luckily, since we had a big group, we got a whole 12-bed room all to ourselves. Since we arrived late, we did not see much of the city on Thursday, but we woke up very early on Friday and headed to the station to catch a bus to the nearest ski slope.

For those of you who are wondering if you missed the part of my life where I learned how to ski, you didn't.... Before this trip, I had only skied once before, and no lessons were involved. When I found out that everyone I was going with was either an avid skier or snowboarder, my best option looked like tagging along for the day.

We ended up taking a very scenic, hour-long bus ride to the French Alps. I was not sure what to expect given my circumstances, but I decided that rather than spending a day sitting in the lodge, I would give skiing a shot, hoping that I would remember a little something from my first experience.

You only live once right?

We were able to rent all of our gear at the mountain and then we headed onto the slopes. I had a pretty rocky start, I think that I was more nervous because of the height and how steep the slope looked rather than the actual act of skiing. After a lot of help and motivation from Danny, I was able to make it down for my first run. (Not without a good number of wipe outs...)

After another sloppy run down the same trail, I split off from the more experienced skiers and spent some time with some other beginners on the bunny slopes. This was exactly what I needed. It was so funny to watch the lines of 3-6 year olds flying past me following their instructor.

The view of the mountains was especially breathtaking from the top of this slope. I could have spent hours just admiring the natural beauty. After a few practice runs and a lunch break, we finally felt confident enough to tackle the real slope again.

A few more tries later I made it down without falling at all and eventually was even able to pick up some speed.

The adrenaline rush, perfect skiing conditions and beautiful scenery created an unreal combination and an amazing day!

That night, upon returning to Geneva, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and hung out at the hostel for awhile. You can have a lot of fun with a big group of crazy people! Then we headed to a close bar and met some locals, it was a very cool atmosphere.

We woke up early again on Saturday to check out of the hostel and then spent the day walking around the city. We lucked out and had beautiful blue skies and sun all day. The most fun was a boat tour of Lake Geneva. The town and surrounding mountains were gorgeous from the lake. It was a relaxing way to see a lot of sights.

After the tour we walked around old city, saw a lot of watch shops and Swiss banks.

We sat down for lunch at a cute side-street cafe where we had cheese fondue that was incredible! It was a delicious lunch.

headed to the UN headquarters and the Red Cross museum. Unfortunately, by the time we found the museum it had closed. We were all very tired, so we decided to go to the hostel, pick up our stuff and head to the airport. In the airport everyone stocked up on Swiss Chocolate (which even I thought was pretty delicious) I bought a bar of white chocolate with almonds for myself, any kind of Swiss chocolate can be very dangerous!!

Even though it was a great trip, we were all very happy to be back in Barcelona. I'm very excited to do more travelling though, the more you do it, the more addicting it gets!!

Catching Up!!

I cannot believe that is already the end of February!! Time really is flying. I'm pretty behind on posts, but pictures from my weekend in Geneva, Switzerland will be coming soon...

I've been spending a lot of time with friends that I've met here who also go to Penn State. Earlier in February, we all got together at an apartment before going out to find that we were all wearing blue! It must be that Penn State pride!




Later that night, we went to a club that is right on the beach called Opium Mar. It was a lot of fun, great music and dancing. We ended up meeting Dee Brown, a basketball player who graduated from Illinois, played in the NBA and is now playing internationally. The boys recognized him and were pretty excited. We talked to him for a little while, he wasn't very talkative but seemed like a pretty nice guy.








On Saturday, Val and I did some more sightseeing. We walked around La Sagrada Familia and then down a pedestrian-only street called Avenida Gaudi. It connects La Sagrada Familia with La Hospital de San Pau, which is in this picture. I had actually studied the architecture in one of my classes because the architect was from the Modernismo era, the same as Gaudi. The hospital takes up four city blocks and all of the buildings are very beautiful.





The class where I learn about the Modernismo period and Spain's famous architects is called Modernism in Architecture; A Comparative Perspective. We get to go on a few field studies throughout the course and a few weeks ago we visited a Gaudi house called Casa Batllo. We got to take a tour and it was really neat on the inside. Gaudi had a very distinct style that is mostly characterized by his use of curved surfaces and the organic feel of his work. The interior of the house always feels like it is alive and moving, it's a really cool effect. He designed everything on the inside of the house, from the furniture to the door knobs stair railings.







Last week my roommates and I treated ourselves to lunch at Crepes de Barcelona. I had a strawberry crepe and it was SO BIG! It was very yummy and a very cute restaurant. Later that day, we found a cafe that serves crepes along with a full menu that is right across the street from our apartment. I think that will be dangerous!

The weather has been great this whole week and the forecast for tomorrow is 64 and all sun! I'm very excited and hoping to spend a few hours on the beach.
Next week we don't have any classes. On Thursday until Saturday we are going on a study trip to the Navarre region of Spain and staying in Pamplona, the running of the bulls city. I am looking forward to it! The week-long break will be very nice. Right now I'm planning two more trips, one to Paris and another to two cities in southern Spain, Granada and Sevilla. I'm really looking forward to some crepes in Paris!!
If plans work out I will be visiting all three in March!
I really cannot believe how quickly the program is going, I will be back in the States before you know it!