Besos de Barça - Stories for the Road

This weekend past I took my final trip of the semester & visited Barcelona! My travel companions & I stayed a total of 4 days & 3 nights & saw some of the most fantastic elements of the city. Our first day in we spent a good deal of time walking the city & getting to know the main drag, a street called Las Ramblas. The next day we trekked over to Park Guëll, a beautiful park designed by the famous Catalonian architect Antoni Gaudí with help from entrepreneur Eusebi Guëll. The park was originally meant to be a residential area, but because the buildings were designed so intricately & were priced accordingly, the city forced the duo to stop construction after a lone 2 houses were created. The houses were so pricey that Guëll eventually suggested Gaudí & his family take up residence in 1. Unfortunately, the first day we visited Park Guëll we were unable to get tickets to enter at a convenient time, but were enthused about seeing the area the following day. The afternoon of the first day we had the pleasure of seeing another of Gaudí's works in another area - La Sagrada Familia. This is an absolutely awe-inspiring church, totally massive & colorful & just amazing. Construction of the church began in 1882 & has not ceased to this day, although there is much to see & marvel at when visiting. Gaudí was so afraid someone would try to sabotage his vision of the church that he told his construction workers what was going to be done the day it was to be done, never giving away the big picture of what the church should look like when it was completed. Unfortunately, he died in 1926 before the building's completion. Everything that has been added on to the building since then is a guestimate of what Gaudí intended the building to look like. How cool is that? The church is ridiculously tall, & has towers visitors are able to climb. We were taken by elevator ride up to a decent height of 1 of the towers, & from there had the option to either walk down or take the elevator yet again. Naturally, I joined the party that chose to walk. The tower steps were very narrow, & at 1 point my friends & I reached a point where not only was it narrow but there was no railing on the inside, a person could fall right through! This was intended to give the impression of the spiral of a snail's shell, & needless to say, I was descending it at a snail's pace. But never fear, I did eventually make it to the bottom, & am here to blog about it today. Our third day in we decided to visit el Castillo de Montjuïc, located a little ways outside of the center city where we were located. Fun fact: Montjuïc means "Hill of Jews", & was actually named so pre-Spanish Inquisition, simply because this is where Sefardi Jews chose to be buried. Upon arriving at what we thought was our destination on Montjuïc, we were surprised to find the castle we had come across was not the one we had been searching for & whatever is formerly was had been converted into a museum. However, the museum's interior was beautiful, if not a bit empty, & it's roof offered a breathtaking glimpse of the whole of Barcelona. We also had the opportunity to visit one of Barcelona's most famous markets, La Boqueria. It was chockfull of people & delicious food, & lucky for us it was located near our hostel so we were able to visit on numerous occasions! We returned to Valencia for our last class today, a send-off dinner tonight, & tomorrow we travel to Madrid to catch our planes home. This semester abroad has been such an incredible experience, & I'm so grateful for the amazing things I've had the opportunity to do here in Europe.

La Sagrada Familia

Descending 1 of the Many Towers of la Sagrada Familia

A View from the Top of Montjuic

 (Some) Castle on Montjuic

Friends & Park Guëll

Park Guëll Minus My Study Abroad Family

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Adventures IN Valencia - A Full Week Without Boarding a Plane

How time has flown in this country! I'm already down to my last 4 days of classes & 8 days abroad - ¡qué deprimente! This past weekend our study abroad program advisors had planned for us trips to La Ciudad de Artes y Ciencias, La Albufera, & Gandia in Valencia, so none of our little family traveled outside the city. After hopping aboard planes these past 2 weekends prior, it was nice to spend some time just enjoying the country I came to Europe to see. La Ciudad de Artes y Ciencias, (which we visited on Friday), is not actually it's own city, as its title would suggest, but rather a large museum comprised of about 3 or 4 very modern looking buildings. While the museum itself might have left something to be desired, the very large zoo attached to it made the trip infinitely more enjoyable. La Albufera & Gandia are destinations located outside of the city of Valencia, but still within the province. Our group took a boat tour of the region of la Albufera, which is chock-full of farms & restaurants & not much else, before heading to the beach in Gandia where we spent the majority of this past Saturday. In Gandia we all had the opportunity to surf, kite-surf, kayak, & enjoy a catamaran ride. Before this excursion I knew next to nothing about surfing, & after this excursion I still know next to nothing about surfing, but all in all it was a pretty great day. Sunday some of my friends & I trekked over to los Torres de Serranos, found in the older part of Valencia, to catch a birds eye view of the city. Los Torres is comprised of 2 towers left standing from the old Valencian city wall, which was created to protect the city from invasion. The towers contain many holes left from cannonballs & such from way back when, & that's probably the most interesting part about them. We pass these towers almost every time we're in old Valencia & had wanted to climb them for a while, but the view from the top just didn't quite do it justice. After visiting el Castillo de Xátiva & the Eiffel Tower I may be a little jaded on the subject, but hey at least it was an adventure(ish)! In the evening we smooshed ourselves into a teeny-tiny bar in old Valencia to watch what has to have been one of the coolest (& only) Flamenco shows I have ever seen. What a night. It has also finally gotten warm enough to spend some quality time at the beach, so after a very lonely 2 months of sitting in my closet (since Jamaica) my bikinis are back in action. (It's beginning to feel a lot like summer...)

Can You Canoe?

Kayaking at La Ciudad de Artes y Ciencias. You can see one of the mod buildings in the background.

Beach Day in Gandia!

A View from los Torres de Serranos

(Old Valencia)

El Flamenco

We Clean up Nice

(Flamenco Night)

Bonus: After enjoying a lazy day lying in the sun my roomie & I shared a(n interesting) meringue cookie in the old city.

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Louvre at First Sight - París Round 2

Paris round 2 was an adventure. The game plan for this trip was to spend a weekend "backpacking" the northern coast (& not the south) of France. (There was no actual sleeping under the stars involved, but we did travel with backpacks on our backs - that must count for something, right?) While we didn't quite make it to all the destinations we had planned to, we did get to do a lot of traveling, which was part of plan. I flew into the city this past Friday morning & spent some quality time in the Tuileries. That afternoon I met up with 1 of our travel-tastic trio, Zoe (Kayton), & together we visited the tomb of Napolean Bonaparte. (Yay dead people!) I should also add that after our morbid fascination with dead Napolean ebbed we stopped for some ice cream & I had my first taste of ice cream-filled crepe - delicious. That night we met up with the third member of our trio, Jillian (Desrosier), & took a quick trip to the Louvre before a wonderful dinner at which we all ordered the same thing. (A common theme this trip.) Day 2 Jillian & I got ourselves up bright & early (not really), & picnicked in front of the Eiffel Tower before beginning our journey to the northern coast of France! (I don't want to say it all went down hill from here, because we all did have a pretty great weekend, but it all went down hill from here.) Getting from the Eiffel Tower to the train station we had intended to depart Paris from was a bit more difficult than we anticipated &, needless to say, we missed our train. (Unfortunate event numero uno.) Being the positive pollys that we are, we found another train & were on our way 2 hours later! (10 points team travel-tastic) We had to cross 1 town off of our list, Mont Saint-Michel, but you know, we needed to save something for next time anyway. Five hours & 3 connections later we stepped off of our train in Saint-Malo, a beautiful port city about 3 hours to the west of Normandy. There we stayed in a quaint little hostel that had been converted from an adorable little french house. Upon arrival, we found our host had left us a list of directions to get into our room not unlike a treasure map - pretty neat-o. We spent the evening eating gourmet burgers, sipping rich wine, & exploring! Day 3 is where the majority of the unfortunate events unfolded (unfortunately). We began our day with a delicious breakfast of crepes - I miss French food already - & then it was time for me to catch my train back to Paris. Me being me, I accidentally booked a train ticket for next Sunday, as opposed to yesterday. (Unfortunate event numero dos.) SO we arrive at the train station & immediately begin frantically searching for other trains. I was able to take a 5 hour train ride with 2 connections, but with no seat on the second train. (Unfortunate event numero tres.) At the time this struck me as odd, & I assumed this must be an error & of course I'd have a seat. My first train ride was no problem; it was packed, but I was able to sit. Upon entering my connecting train, I learned that our tickets contained our assigned seats, & that mine clearly stated I had none. I wound up standing & eventually sitting in the passageway of a rail car for a grueling 3 hours. (Unfortunate event numero cuatro.) While this trip really tried my optimism, it was wonderful seeing 2 of my very good friends a second weekend in a row in France & the northern coast of France wasn't half bad either.

Home of Napolean Bonaparte's Body - Oh Boy!

Le Celfie

"Backpacking"

Our Treasure Map

Sunset in Saint Malo

Sunset Minus 2 Good Friends

Inside Saint Malo

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Parlez-vous Espagnol? My Tongue-Twisting Weekend in Paris.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of traveling to Paris with three good friends from my little study abroad family in Valencia. I think I may have actually experienced more culture shock in this country than I did when I first came to Spain. I would say about 50% of the people I spoke with this past weekend spoke English, but unfortunately for them my first instinct has become to speak in Spanish. Luckily, my traveling companions were always there to laugh at me, & occasionally help me out, & we all made it through the weekend in one piece. I have to admit, I knew I would be traveling Europe throughout this study abroad program, but I never expected to go to Paris. I've never had a huge desire to go to France because whenever I think Europe I think of Spain as my go-to since I've been studying the Spanish language & the culture for so long. Paris is a whole different world from Spain, & not in a bad way, but I realized as soon as I got there that I knew next to nothing about the city, let alone the country. Every landmark we visited - the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, Sacre Couer - I knew of the majority of them, but not much else. I think by the end of the trip my friends were so tired of visiting new places with me because my signature phrase had become "Why is this significant?" But never fear, we are now Wiki-whizzes & well-versed in the history of all four of the previously named landmarks & a few more. I have also eaten so much bread this weekend I may just turn into bread. All of the flaky croissants, sweet nutella crepes, & scrumptious macarons (my mouth is watering just thinking about them) - the Francía 15 is definitely a thing too. Since Paris is such an expensive city, while we did enjoy the cheaper sweets, we also shared some less-authentic picnic dinners on the beds of our hotel rooms. After a long day of beignets, baguettes, & other delicious morsels, sometimes it's nice to come home to a pre-packaged salad, you know what I mean? The hotel itself was such an interesting set up I have to mention it here. If our hotel had been a home for sale, the real estate agent would definitely have described it as a "gem", very "quaint" & "cozy". There is a teeny-tiny elevator you can smoosh into with maybe one other person to get to your like-sized room in the very compact Hotel Royal Phare. Of course, not only was I situated on the top floor, but my roommate for the weekend was claustrophobic - a match made in heaven. Needless to say, we did a lot of walking up & down 7 flights of stairs, which was actually a great warm up for the Eiffel Tower! And while I did see many amazing things this trip, by far my favorite part was meeting up with two old friends I have known since elementary school, simply because we all realized Saturday night that on Sunday we would all be in Paris. To top it all off, I will be seeing these same two friends again this coming weekend to backpack through the South of France! Until next time (or next weekend) París!

Bonjour!

A View from the Second Level of the Tower

I did take an elevator all the way up to the tippy-top, but by then it was so yicky & rainy the pictures don't do the view nearly enough justice.

Purchasing Macarons from the Famous & Delicious Ladurée

My Parisian Name. 

Pronounced "Joe-Knee", not "Jon-Knee".

Cheesing on the Lock Bridge with Two Girls I Never Anticipated Seeing in París

¡Viva Xátiva! Sometimes I Climb Mountains.

By far one of the coolest things I have done so far this trip/ever was visit el Castillo de Xátiva. The castle is located in the town of Xátiva, about a half hour train ride outside of Valencia. This was the first trip our little study abroad family planned ourselves, so there was a little getting lost involved after we arrived, but obviously we eventually made it to our destination. Xátiva is made up of many small mountains (which are still pretty big), so we had to walk very steep streets to get to the even steeper trails that took us up to the castle. Thankfully, the majority of us decided collectively to take an easy path up the mountain - but boy were some of the others impressively difficult! The castle itself & the views we saw from it were awe-inspiring; I couldn't possibly do them justice trying to describe them. I believe I read the castle was built sometime around 400 AC (anticristo), which absolutely blows my mind. My next adventure starts very early tomorrow morning - ¡Voy a París!

A View from on Our Way up the Mountain

(This is the Roomie)

El Castillo de Xátiva in all Her Glory

One of My Favorite Views from el Castillo

Bonus: the Sunset We Saw Leaving the Train Station in Valencia on Our Way Back

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No Foaling Around in Valencia: Barn-None.

It blows my mind that I've already been in this country for over a week. It's gorgeous & wonderful & I never want to leave. The tours have finally stopped for a bit (finally) & I've completed my first week of classes at the University of Valencia! (All of 3 days.) I have one professor from the university here & one from UF. Classes aren't so bad, but they're each two hours long & that's kinda killer for a girl who's gotten very used to 50 minute classes. But it's ok, for Spain I can roll with the punches. Between classes mis amigos y yo have had ample time to explore this city - & what we've found is pretty darn cool. There is a bakery in old Valencia that makes the most delicious horchata I've ever tasted, (also the only horchata I've ever tasted, but that's beside the point.) Lucky for us, though it's no longer wintertime this horchateria also serves chocolate con churros, which are also pretty tasty. (Is the España 15 a thing?) Not so lucky for us, or perhaps still lucky, we get lost a lot, & in doing so have come across some beautiful areas like the Puente de Las Flores, (flower bridge), & Los Jardines de Real, (gardens). My personal favorite is El Puente de Las Flores. The bridge is lined with many many flowers that serve no practical purpose, but are switched out periodically making the connection between new Valencia & old Valencia as vibrant as the city itself. Also beautiful is the little farm called Barraca Toni Montoliu our little study abroad family visited today just outside of the city to cook some paella! I think we were all a little weary of the idea of going to a farm, physically picking ingredients, & cooking our food, but it turned out to be a blast. We helped to make the biggest pan of paella I have ever seen - & I've been in Spain for over a week now, I've seen some pretty big paella pans. We did get the chance to pick some vegetables & Valencian oranges, but it was all in good fun. After cooking & wandering the farm we sat down to what I believe was a nine course meal, but I couldn't tell you for sure. All I can say is it was so incredibly good, & I've now had my first taste of both rabbit & snail! Tomorrow some of us are going to visit a neighboring town called Xátiva, home of el Castillo de Xátiva, or the Castle of Xátiva. While I was very excited to make my first trip to Africa next weekend, my parents were not so enthused, so I will now be traveling to Paris, which is also exciting! 

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My Home Away from Home 

Chocolate con Churros

Los Jardines de Real

El Puente de Las Flores

Barraca Toni Montoliu

El Cabbage Patch

Cooking Paella

I'm Jewish, What's your Excuse? Touring (the Churches of) Madrid & Toledo.

These past few days have been such a whirlwind. I can't even remember what day I arrived in Madrid, but I was awake and delirious for a grueling 48 hours. I have seen so many churches, (of which I knew almost nothing about, i.e. where the priest sits, what a confessional looks like - hence the title of this post,) all of which were absolutely gorgeous. Fun fact: in Toledo we visited the oldest synagogue in Spain, which was actually built by a Muslim community for the Jews. Because of this, the synagogue looks much more like a mosque than a temple. Of course, during the Spanish Inquisition the temple became a church, so the building has been through all kinds of religious experiences. We have been staying in some teeny-tiny hotel rooms, with teeny-tiny elevators and very confusing lighting fixtures. It's safe to say maybe just a little bit of culture shock has set in. Yesterday our little group traveled to Valencia and now we are all settled in with our host families! I am staying in an apartment very close to the University of Valencia, which is great because this is where my classes are. I share a room with another member of the group, Jen, and we have decided that our little room looks like something straight out of Ikea. It's pretty neat. We are staying with a family of five (Five!!) comfortably (really, this apartment is amazing): a host maj, a host paj, a younger host brother of 16, and two younger host sisters of 10 & 13. The youngest daughter is very fond of host students, and she loves to make impromptu visits to our room. We've been surprised more than a few times in just the past two days, but hey it's all part of the experience right? Last night our host majpaj took us to a festival called "La Festival de la Virgen," the Festival of the Virgin. It was so cool! There was a parade with many people in traditional Valencian attire, a couple of different bands marching, and the President of Valencia even made an appearance. Today we met our professor from Valencia and had the opportunity to tour the city & get lost, but all in good fun. A couple of us have already booked a trip to Morocco for next weekend, myself included. I never even imagined being able to visit Africa this trip & I am more than a little excited! There's also a trip to France in the works, but nothing concrete just yet. Tomorrow starts classes &, of course, another tour.

La Sinagoga de Santa Maria la Blanca - the Oldest Synagogue in Spain, Located in Toledo

La Festival de la Virgen 

Wandering Valencia