10 days. Really 9 if you think about it.
I'll be leaving for the airport in 9 days and 5 hours and 25 minutes. Exactly. From this moment in time. That's scary right?
I'll be leaving this place that I've genuinely fallen in love with. I really have too many emotions for Spain to express in one blog post. Seriously. I already posted something about all of the things that I love about this place though.
Good news is, for those who I've complained to countless times, everything is better now. It's really amazing what some simple communication can do. Really, it solves pretty much every problem ever. I'm convinced it could solve world peace. Woah, look at that, it probably could.
As sad as I'm going to be to leave this place, I really am excited to get home though.
Top 10 things I miss about my city:
1.Family.
2.Friends.
3.Home made food.
4.Challenges. (Scholastic)
5.Knowing where things are. (Familiarity)
6.Having the ability to leave whenever I want.
7.Noises.
8.Taco Bell/Wendy's
9. My animals
10. My bed.
Bed should have been higher on that list, but yeah, there it is. I miss all of that.
Top 10 things I am going to miss about Spain:
1.Friends
2.Spanish
3.Easy classes
4.Freedom
5.Shawarma
6.All of the food really.
7.Walking everywhere
8.Easy traveling from country to country.
9.Host fam.
10.Culture
I'm going to miss all of the things that I've grown to love about this place. All of the people that I've met. I don't know how I'm going to get through the day without seeing my friends and hearing their specific 'isms' to lift my spirits. Seriously... what am I going to do? For real. S, R, help me out. WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITHOUT YOU GUYS?!
Needless to say, certain people here have touched my soul more so than I ever expected or even wanted for that matter. I didn't really want to make best friends here because I knew that we'd all leave at some point... and, well, here we are... leaving.
I love you guys.
At home, I love you guys. I'll see you soon.
That last part went out to all of you. :)
<3
Buenas noches.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
A Face to call Home
This might very well by my last post from Granada. I know, I've written a lot lately, well, today even. But I want to get everything out while I'm here to make sure that I don't leave anything important out. I feel like the second I get back to the US I'm going to lose any sense of validity in this whole "studying abroad" blog.
So here it is:
This is my last week in Granada, and I've fallen in love with this city more times that I could ever express. The whole Spanish culture has kind of seduced me really. Everything is so relaxed, and so laid back. People take two hours to cook lunch and then spend an hour eating. That's why everything closes down for three hours every day. It's fantastic really.
I've fallen in love with the people here. Sometimes the guys are typical Andalician guys who scream out "Ay guapa, vete aqui, ay que hermosa, que bonita, ay!" Cat calling and flattering all day, but it's really only to get you in bed. I've fallen in love with the amable-ness of people here. They're very friendly and very willing to help, well, depending on who you ask. Some of them don't really like Americans, but yeah...
The atmosphere here, though it can be a little superficial at times, is so unique to Granada. You have a down town neighborhood with all of these designer stores right next to the plaza with the local jazz bar, the gypsy stores and the mom and pop restaurants. It's all right there. In one place. Separated by three of four plazas.
There are mountains, rivers, parks, museums, everything. It's a great city, really. I couldn't speak more highly of it. There is a lot of traffic, but this is their version of a city, as in, this is the Atlanta of Granada... which is a really weird comparison to make. Because my city standards consist of Turner Field and the SunTrust building, while here they have Blanco and two or three 10 story buildings that are offices.
It's going to be strange going home, but I'm going to be so happy to be home.
I think what I've learned the most here is that you never really know how good something is until you don't have it with you. I've started to appreciate the little things in life, more than peanut butter. I can now appreciate everything that my parents do for me, I can appreciate the opportunities that I have in Atlanta, I can appreciate how amazing it is that I've even have the opportunity to study abroad for a whole semester and a half.
I think that I've grown here. I have become more independent. I have become more grown up. I have realized that I don't need mommy and daddy, granted it's nice to have them. I'm becoming the person that I'm going to be... and just typing that scares the shit out of me... seriously.
Well, I really don't know what else to say here. If this is my last post, I can't wait to go home and see everything. If it isn't, I can go in more depth later.
But my computer is sucking soooo maybe it will be.
I miss my friends and family, but I already miss Granada. This isn't the ideal ending that I had planned, but life is going to hand you lemons over and over again even if you have cuts on your hands, so I'll just make some lemonade even though it stings.
:)
I'm so fucking poetic.
<3
Buenas Tardes.
Hope to write back from Stateside. :)
So here it is:
This is my last week in Granada, and I've fallen in love with this city more times that I could ever express. The whole Spanish culture has kind of seduced me really. Everything is so relaxed, and so laid back. People take two hours to cook lunch and then spend an hour eating. That's why everything closes down for three hours every day. It's fantastic really.
I've fallen in love with the people here. Sometimes the guys are typical Andalician guys who scream out "Ay guapa, vete aqui, ay que hermosa, que bonita, ay!" Cat calling and flattering all day, but it's really only to get you in bed. I've fallen in love with the amable-ness of people here. They're very friendly and very willing to help, well, depending on who you ask. Some of them don't really like Americans, but yeah...
The atmosphere here, though it can be a little superficial at times, is so unique to Granada. You have a down town neighborhood with all of these designer stores right next to the plaza with the local jazz bar, the gypsy stores and the mom and pop restaurants. It's all right there. In one place. Separated by three of four plazas.
There are mountains, rivers, parks, museums, everything. It's a great city, really. I couldn't speak more highly of it. There is a lot of traffic, but this is their version of a city, as in, this is the Atlanta of Granada... which is a really weird comparison to make. Because my city standards consist of Turner Field and the SunTrust building, while here they have Blanco and two or three 10 story buildings that are offices.
It's going to be strange going home, but I'm going to be so happy to be home.
I think what I've learned the most here is that you never really know how good something is until you don't have it with you. I've started to appreciate the little things in life, more than peanut butter. I can now appreciate everything that my parents do for me, I can appreciate the opportunities that I have in Atlanta, I can appreciate how amazing it is that I've even have the opportunity to study abroad for a whole semester and a half.
I think that I've grown here. I have become more independent. I have become more grown up. I have realized that I don't need mommy and daddy, granted it's nice to have them. I'm becoming the person that I'm going to be... and just typing that scares the shit out of me... seriously.
Well, I really don't know what else to say here. If this is my last post, I can't wait to go home and see everything. If it isn't, I can go in more depth later.
But my computer is sucking soooo maybe it will be.
I miss my friends and family, but I already miss Granada. This isn't the ideal ending that I had planned, but life is going to hand you lemons over and over again even if you have cuts on your hands, so I'll just make some lemonade even though it stings.
:)
I'm so fucking poetic.
<3
Buenas Tardes.
Hope to write back from Stateside. :)
Check List.
I now have 10 days left in Spain. Exactly.
This has been a whirl wind of an experience and before I write my final good-bye, not in a death sentence kind of way, but you get it, I really want to recap on all of the amazing things I did. Partially to brag to my fellow readers, but partially because I don't want to read the entries that got really wordy along the way. Here it goes.
August:
Intensive Month of Spanish classes.
Met some great people that I can now call my best friends (R and S, that's you.)
Strolled around Granada
Saw a Flamenco show
Took fun apartment photos
September:
Classes started
Took a hiking trip with the group
Went to Nerja, beach day trip.
Went to the white city in a pueblo outside of the city of Granada
Ate lots of Churros.
Went to Barcelona
Went out a LOT with the room mates
October:
Went to Portugal
Did Spanish things
Met intercambios through S
Went to Sevilla
Went to Córdoba
Celebrated Halloween Spanish style with the besties + R's room mate
November:
Went to Morocco
Rode a camel
Went to Paris
Went out with a different group than normal, had a great freaking time.
Had a seven course meal with my normal group, then watched soccer.
December:
Went to Italy
Studied my ass off and tried not to die.
That's been my fall semester, in short, a list of where I've been and the things that I've done. :)
Don't turn too green.
<3
Buenas Tardes.
This has been a whirl wind of an experience and before I write my final good-bye, not in a death sentence kind of way, but you get it, I really want to recap on all of the amazing things I did. Partially to brag to my fellow readers, but partially because I don't want to read the entries that got really wordy along the way. Here it goes.
August:
Intensive Month of Spanish classes.
Met some great people that I can now call my best friends (R and S, that's you.)
Strolled around Granada
Saw a Flamenco show
Took fun apartment photos
September:
Classes started
Took a hiking trip with the group
Went to Nerja, beach day trip.
Went to the white city in a pueblo outside of the city of Granada
Ate lots of Churros.
Went to Barcelona
Went out a LOT with the room mates
October:
Went to Portugal
Did Spanish things
Met intercambios through S
Went to Sevilla
Went to Córdoba
Celebrated Halloween Spanish style with the besties + R's room mate
November:
Went to Morocco
Rode a camel
Went to Paris
Went out with a different group than normal, had a great freaking time.
Had a seven course meal with my normal group, then watched soccer.
December:
Went to Italy
Studied my ass off and tried not to die.
That's been my fall semester, in short, a list of where I've been and the things that I've done. :)
Don't turn too green.
<3
Buenas Tardes.
So, italy is my new favorite place.
I know, I'm a Spanish major, therefore I have to do something with it, and I have to go to a country that speaks Spanish, however, Italian isn't so far from Spanish, it's actually dangerously close, as in, I can drop an S from a word, or add a "ch" sound in the middle of it, and BAM I'm speaking Italian.
I just have to learn which words that those apply to.
Anyway, Italy was fantastic.
Our first night we traveled for about 14 hours -- bus, plane, taxi, train. All the way to Florence. :)
Which is a fantastic tourist city with the best pizza in the world, however, I didn't make it to Naples, so I really don't know if it is or not, but to me, jeeze, it was perfect.
So Florence was our touristy spot. We meaning Myself, R and S. (Three Musketeers Status!) It was fantastic. We saw the David, the Duomo with the golden doors, a bunch of art galleries, ate a LOT of good food, mainly pasta and cannoli's, We went to Plaza de Michelangelo, Went tot he ponteveccio bridge, saw a LOT of gold and leather markets, saw a lot of christmas markets, and got some amazing hot wine. :) I love Germans for introducing that to the world, Danka.
In one of the markets they had all of this tourist shaped pasta, one of which was phallic, (ooop big word.) So of course R, S and I burst in to a fit of giggles and the guy running the stand comes over and says in mildly broken english "You laugh because it is Chinese size, but you put it in water it becomes Italian sized." ... with a hip thrust included. God I love Italians. Needless to say we were busting with laughter at that point and walked away blushing like crazy. Then "S from Boston" became Miss Popular because she's so stinking beautiful, all of the Italians loved her... Literally.
That night we left for Venice, my favorite city ever.
We arrived in Venice after a slight mix up on the trains at around 10pm which was totally acceptable. Walked the five minutes from the train station to our hotel and then ventured off to find some food. We found a pizza place that seemed legit, so we walked in a knew it was the place for us when there was a pizza labeled "Americano" that was covered with French Fries. PERF. So that's what Shelby got, and it was fantastic. Granted, she couldn't eat fries for a while after that... but hey, you win some you loose a lot.
The next day we explored through the tiny streets of Venice, over every canal ever made, to find St. Marks Basilica... Holy Crap. It was BEAUTIFUL. I couldn't even believe it. The outside is fantastic, but the inside, Holy Moley.It was epic.
After oo-ing and aw-ing over the place we wandered around to find a Gondola to take a spin in. This was one of my favorite things because "S from Boston" found a novio, and it was hilarious. He kept telling her that he had this special place where you could see all of the stars, but you could only get there with his gondola... Right.
Venice wasn't as touristy as the rest of the places, but it was still fun. We wandered a lot, ate a lot, and talked to a lot of people. We heard a lot of random things in English such as "if you're into that kinda thing, which I am" from a grown man who was passing a lingerie store with his friends. And some Irish guys saying funny things about Justin Bieber and the Gangam Style guy. It's great to make friends in foreign places.
Milan was great too, but more commercial. We walked by all of the designer stores, through the Duomo in Milan (WAY BEAUTIFUL) and through every market ever.
So, really, Italy was the best trip of my life. I went so many places this fall, but Italy, by far the best.
<3
Buenos Dias.
I just have to learn which words that those apply to.
Anyway, Italy was fantastic.
Our first night we traveled for about 14 hours -- bus, plane, taxi, train. All the way to Florence. :)
Which is a fantastic tourist city with the best pizza in the world, however, I didn't make it to Naples, so I really don't know if it is or not, but to me, jeeze, it was perfect.
So Florence was our touristy spot. We meaning Myself, R and S. (Three Musketeers Status!) It was fantastic. We saw the David, the Duomo with the golden doors, a bunch of art galleries, ate a LOT of good food, mainly pasta and cannoli's, We went to Plaza de Michelangelo, Went tot he ponteveccio bridge, saw a LOT of gold and leather markets, saw a lot of christmas markets, and got some amazing hot wine. :) I love Germans for introducing that to the world, Danka.
In one of the markets they had all of this tourist shaped pasta, one of which was phallic, (ooop big word.) So of course R, S and I burst in to a fit of giggles and the guy running the stand comes over and says in mildly broken english "You laugh because it is Chinese size, but you put it in water it becomes Italian sized." ... with a hip thrust included. God I love Italians. Needless to say we were busting with laughter at that point and walked away blushing like crazy. Then "S from Boston" became Miss Popular because she's so stinking beautiful, all of the Italians loved her... Literally.
That night we left for Venice, my favorite city ever.
We arrived in Venice after a slight mix up on the trains at around 10pm which was totally acceptable. Walked the five minutes from the train station to our hotel and then ventured off to find some food. We found a pizza place that seemed legit, so we walked in a knew it was the place for us when there was a pizza labeled "Americano" that was covered with French Fries. PERF. So that's what Shelby got, and it was fantastic. Granted, she couldn't eat fries for a while after that... but hey, you win some you loose a lot.
The next day we explored through the tiny streets of Venice, over every canal ever made, to find St. Marks Basilica... Holy Crap. It was BEAUTIFUL. I couldn't even believe it. The outside is fantastic, but the inside, Holy Moley.It was epic.
After oo-ing and aw-ing over the place we wandered around to find a Gondola to take a spin in. This was one of my favorite things because "S from Boston" found a novio, and it was hilarious. He kept telling her that he had this special place where you could see all of the stars, but you could only get there with his gondola... Right.
Venice wasn't as touristy as the rest of the places, but it was still fun. We wandered a lot, ate a lot, and talked to a lot of people. We heard a lot of random things in English such as "if you're into that kinda thing, which I am" from a grown man who was passing a lingerie store with his friends. And some Irish guys saying funny things about Justin Bieber and the Gangam Style guy. It's great to make friends in foreign places.
Milan was great too, but more commercial. We walked by all of the designer stores, through the Duomo in Milan (WAY BEAUTIFUL) and through every market ever.
So, really, Italy was the best trip of my life. I went so many places this fall, but Italy, by far the best.
<3
Buenos Dias.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Thanksgiving can be December 1st right?
Welp, it was for me! Traditionally speaking at least.
My friends and I went out to a food tasting along with a dinner... Well, I guess you can call it a narrated 6 course meal... if you wanted to.
There were six of us, A, K, M, S and KT. (K2... yeah whatever, using initials is hard.)
So anyway, we're all sitting down waiting for everything to start, come to find out, everyone in this small little, 16 person restaurant speaks English as a common language, and only my group and one lady from another spoke Spanish.
The man (cool Spanish grandpa) is narrating everything twice, once in English for the group, and then came to our table personally to narrate in Spanish for us. It was really great because we learned new words and everything with the translations.
Highlights from the evening:
Four wines, two of which were sherry's. The aren't my favorite, but hey they're good.
Three olive oils.
Lots of olives.
Orange, fish, onion things that were AMAZING.
Some soup that tasted like jamón.
(lots of jamón... my faaave.)
Fish things in this safron sauce. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG. DELISH!
Cheese platter with fig sauce. Have you ever had goat cheese and fig marmalade? Holy balls, it's fantastic. (bringing some home)
Turrón, which is this amazing desert that I'm pretty sure is exclusive to Andalucia, (the province I'm in.) but I could be wrong.
Everything was soooo good! We were all SOOOO full by the end of everything, then it dawned on me that we were going to watch a game after. IT WAS THANKSGIVING! :)
We were all a little "en rosada", when your face gets a little pink/red from drinking, and full, so it was a great feeling. (how thanksgiving should be.) Then we went to go watch the Madrid game, and I got to see my future husband... Casillas. :) AH he's so handsome.
So that was my thanksgiving. I spent it with some great friends, we ate some great food, had some great wine, drank some great beer whist watching a game in a bar. It was really great. One of the best nights in Spain thus far.
I'm happy to be ending all of this on a high note.
P.S. I'm heading to Italy on Tuesday. :))
That's gonna be a long blog post, soooo hold on to your undies.
<3
Buenas Tardes.
My friends and I went out to a food tasting along with a dinner... Well, I guess you can call it a narrated 6 course meal... if you wanted to.
There were six of us, A, K, M, S and KT. (K2... yeah whatever, using initials is hard.)
So anyway, we're all sitting down waiting for everything to start, come to find out, everyone in this small little, 16 person restaurant speaks English as a common language, and only my group and one lady from another spoke Spanish.
The man (cool Spanish grandpa) is narrating everything twice, once in English for the group, and then came to our table personally to narrate in Spanish for us. It was really great because we learned new words and everything with the translations.
Highlights from the evening:
Four wines, two of which were sherry's. The aren't my favorite, but hey they're good.
Three olive oils.
Lots of olives.
Orange, fish, onion things that were AMAZING.
Some soup that tasted like jamón.
(lots of jamón... my faaave.)
Fish things in this safron sauce. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG. DELISH!
Cheese platter with fig sauce. Have you ever had goat cheese and fig marmalade? Holy balls, it's fantastic. (bringing some home)
Turrón, which is this amazing desert that I'm pretty sure is exclusive to Andalucia, (the province I'm in.) but I could be wrong.
Everything was soooo good! We were all SOOOO full by the end of everything, then it dawned on me that we were going to watch a game after. IT WAS THANKSGIVING! :)
We were all a little "en rosada", when your face gets a little pink/red from drinking, and full, so it was a great feeling. (how thanksgiving should be.) Then we went to go watch the Madrid game, and I got to see my future husband... Casillas. :) AH he's so handsome.
So that was my thanksgiving. I spent it with some great friends, we ate some great food, had some great wine, drank some great beer whist watching a game in a bar. It was really great. One of the best nights in Spain thus far.
I'm happy to be ending all of this on a high note.
P.S. I'm heading to Italy on Tuesday. :))
That's gonna be a long blog post, soooo hold on to your undies.
<3
Buenas Tardes.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Success always occurs in private, and failure in full view.
-- Anonymous quote.
It's getting close to crunch time. I have exactly four classes left of every class.... Really three because I'm missing a day of school, and I'm super nervous. But, that's not what I'm really trying to write about today. I'll write that post later.
Successful:
My Spanish has been improving tremendously since I've gotten here. I wrote half of my internship paper and send it to my professor who's helping me write it. She returned my draft to me with her corrections, and there honestly weren't many. She highlighted things in red that were wrong, and she only highlighted about five words per paragraph. It wasn't even a whole sentence... Or anything grammatical really... It's more vocabulary.
I've honestly never been so freaking proud of myself. I'm learning so much here.
Last night I went out with friends to a club because I haven't been out since Halloween, and we just wanted to have fun. A little while after we got there some guy started hitting on me in Spanish of course, and I was able to keep up with him. And! believe it or not, I delivered a line of sarcasm in my attempt to politely tell him to go fly a kite. It was great. Ah I was so proud.
I eventually yelled at him to leave me alone because I was with my friends and he kept asking me to make out with him... What happened to chivalry? Do I have "slutty american" tattooed on my forehead? .... I don't think so? Anyway, I was proud because I got to yell/talk with a guy in Spanish in a club like setting where it's hard to hear, annnnd it was flawless.
Failure:
My internship (prácticas as they're called in Spain) is going well. I'm learning a lot about myself, and learning that I still have a looooong way to go as far as teaching is concerned. I was left alone in the class again and the second the professor left I almost completely lost control of the classroom. I was trying to explain a diagram in English, and it was just.... terrible. Everyone was talking, everyone was doing stupid things.... And the professor, when she came back in, just looked at me and gave me that "you tried" smile.
Yeah, that wasn't my fondest moment.
Days like those make me want to rethink my concentration. I really do want to be a teacher, buuuut I'm starting to realize just how hard it's going to be.... Jeeeeze. What did I sign myself up for?
Success is celebrated for about a week, Failure is stamped on your subconscious forever.
<3
Buenas Noches.
It's getting close to crunch time. I have exactly four classes left of every class.... Really three because I'm missing a day of school, and I'm super nervous. But, that's not what I'm really trying to write about today. I'll write that post later.
Successful:
My Spanish has been improving tremendously since I've gotten here. I wrote half of my internship paper and send it to my professor who's helping me write it. She returned my draft to me with her corrections, and there honestly weren't many. She highlighted things in red that were wrong, and she only highlighted about five words per paragraph. It wasn't even a whole sentence... Or anything grammatical really... It's more vocabulary.
I've honestly never been so freaking proud of myself. I'm learning so much here.
Last night I went out with friends to a club because I haven't been out since Halloween, and we just wanted to have fun. A little while after we got there some guy started hitting on me in Spanish of course, and I was able to keep up with him. And! believe it or not, I delivered a line of sarcasm in my attempt to politely tell him to go fly a kite. It was great. Ah I was so proud.
I eventually yelled at him to leave me alone because I was with my friends and he kept asking me to make out with him... What happened to chivalry? Do I have "slutty american" tattooed on my forehead? .... I don't think so? Anyway, I was proud because I got to yell/talk with a guy in Spanish in a club like setting where it's hard to hear, annnnd it was flawless.
Failure:
My internship (prácticas as they're called in Spain) is going well. I'm learning a lot about myself, and learning that I still have a looooong way to go as far as teaching is concerned. I was left alone in the class again and the second the professor left I almost completely lost control of the classroom. I was trying to explain a diagram in English, and it was just.... terrible. Everyone was talking, everyone was doing stupid things.... And the professor, when she came back in, just looked at me and gave me that "you tried" smile.
Yeah, that wasn't my fondest moment.
Days like those make me want to rethink my concentration. I really do want to be a teacher, buuuut I'm starting to realize just how hard it's going to be.... Jeeeeze. What did I sign myself up for?
Success is celebrated for about a week, Failure is stamped on your subconscious forever.
<3
Buenas Noches.
Monday, November 26, 2012
my dreams are in spanish, my nightmares, in french.
(France was awesome, I'm just not a fan of the language)
Thursday, November 22rd:
I woke up at 6:00 to make it to the bus station by 7:00 to get to the Malaga airport by 9:00. Everything went according to plan, I had all of my things ready to go and I was set. I got to the bus station with plenty of time to spare, got on the bus and we were off.
Everything was going smoothly until the last stop on the bus. Some guy decided to ask the bus driver about a million questions, so we were at a stop for about 20 minutes, putting us way behind schedule.
Needless to say I arrived at the airport at 9:30 to make a 10:05 flight, which according to all monitors was delayed. I figured that was in my favor until I got to the check in gate.
Seeing as how i was 35 minutes "early" for the flight, I figured I'd still be able to check in and get my ticket... but according to madam "i don't freaking think so" that's not an option... even though I'm pretty sure it's a standard procedure.
I went to the EasyJet desk to ask for help and he said he could put me on the next flight, two days later, at 8pm... No way Jose. I asked for a refund of some sort and he said that they can't do that... even though I was not longer able to use EITHER ticket that I'd bought though their services... Oy.
So, I walked around trying to find cheap flights, found a computer and searched for the lowest fare for a flight that day, seeing as how my best friend AD was meeting me in Paris that night.
Eventually I found one that cost less than both of my kidneys and my liver. I went to AirEuropa and the woman gave me a less expensive ticket and was super helpful. However, the flight wasn't until 6pm... and it was only 11:00am... So, seven hours in an airport... Sure.
I wandered around the three terminal airport for about two hours. Then found an empty row of seats and took a one hour nap... Then walked around a little more... Then ate some snacks that I'd packed... Then searched around the Duty Free stores for about an hour... Then sat and watched the plane tables for another hour or so... Then finally my plane was ready for take off.
I landed at the airport 20 minutes before AD and sat by the arrivals board until she got there. It was so great to see her again after not having seen her for about six months. We headed to her friends house, where we'd be staying Friday and Saturday just to hang out before we had to head to our hotel. We were both super hungry, I especially since I'd only eaten two bananas and bread all day. So we ordered food for delivery... my first french meal was Sushi. Yep, sushi. And it was fantastic. :)
After we finished eating, and met AD's friends boyfriend we headed back to our hotel to go to sleep. We were planning on waking up kind of early the next day so that we could get started on our walking tour of Paris. :)
We got to the hotel around midnight or so, checked in without a problem, and got into our room. I told myself that I wasn't expecting much, as it's a two star hotel, and it's what I expected. It was a tiny outdated room, two small beds, a rustic looking bathroom and a flat screen plasma tv?... Yeah I still don't get that. But it was what we paid for, and it was warm, and comfortable, so I couldn't be upset. We both got a good nights sleep then and everything was great.
Friday, November 23rd:
The next morning we checked out with the nice man from the night before and headed out to AD's friends house to drop off our stuff then went out to Notre Dame!
We went to the Cathedral and to our surprise there wasn't a line waiting to get in. Once we entered we realized why... there was mass going on. Neither of us wanted to get struck by lighting so we headed out quickly, taking a few pictures.
We then headed to Pont Neuf -- the bridge with all of the locks on it, and that was mind blowing. They all put the locks on the side that faced the Eiffel Tower and then throw the key in the river to symbolize eternal love or something... Romantic, but cheesy.
After that we headed over to see Pablo Picasso's house, walked down the river and looked at the "green boxes", little side stores, AD got some gelatto, we walked around some more, headed to the Louvre -- which is fantastic. It's HUGE so I'm glad that we didn't go in, but we saw the pyramids and everything which were way more exciting than I thought they would be.
After the Louvre we ran into some arc that I thought was the Arc de Triumf... nope, just another Arc thing... pretty, but just there. We walked through a few parks to get to Concorde where the Rouge de Paris and the (big pointy thing that looks Egyptian) is. Sorrrry forgot what it was called.
After that we kept trekking down the road and found a big Christmas Market. It lined both sides of the street and was filled with places selling warm red wine (which is delicious and VERY strong), deserts (chocolate covered marshmallows), christmas decorations (that were WAY too rich for my blood), and lots of other things. It was a great little market, so we ate there. After the market we went to a pharmacy so that I could get lactose pills so that I could eat all of the FREAKING cheese that they have everywhere in Paris.
While I was at the ATM, someone threw a newspaper in my face and pushed the 300E button on the withdraw page. I turned around and saw a little seven year old kid standing there and almost had the gall to punch his lights out. However, I waited patiently for the ATM to spit my card back out, because I can't withdraw over 200E at a time. Gaw I wanted to kick him in the teeth.
So I left sin dinero and we walked on to the Arc de Triumf. It was huge!!!! We stopped and took a bunch of pictures, ran into some Americans, studying in Sevilla, and then went to get tea so that we could sit down and re-energize.
After that episode we hopped on the metro to get to the eiffel tower. By this time it was about 7pm or so, so we knew that the lights would be on. We walked almost right past it without seeing it because the closer you get to it, the more building start to cover it. But once we found it, oh jeesze, I jumped up and down like a freaking three year old. It was SO great!
We walked up from behind it and at 7:50, and knew that the light show would start at 8:00 so we booked it to the other end of the lawn and tried to make it before the show started. We made it to a prime location just in time for the show and the tower lit up and sparked like a Christmas tree! It was so great! I hear people a lot say things like "How American." but it really is done quite beautifully. I didn't think that I'd like the sparkles as much as I did.
Once the show was over and were done taking pictures we texted AD's friend about dinner and headed to Pont Alexandr III, the pretty bridge with the angels on it. We took pictures because it was in Midnight in Paris, and then hopped on the train to get to where we were supposed to meet AD's friends.
When we got to the metro stop we saw that there was a huge shopping center and strip of restaurants, not unlike Ruta de Tapas here in Granada. Once her friends arrived we walked around a few of the shops while we waited for another friend. We stopped into a restaurant that was a little pricy for my likes, but I figure, when in Paris do as the Parisians do. And they're rich, soooo we had a fancy dinner. ... that was totally worth it.
Dinner:
First course: mushrooms stuffed with jamón
Second course: roasted duckling with some sort of goup that was amazing. (try the grey stuff it's delicious, don't believe me ask the dishes)
Third course: Crembrule with nutella!!!
Drink: Chardonnay (i'm still a fan of sutter home.)
After dinner we headed to ADs friends house and headed to sleep. Our first day was jam packed with activities and the next day was too.
Saturday, November 24th:
The next morning we woke up at 7:00 to make it to Versailles by 8:30 to beat the rush to get in. We left for the metro, and got to trekking. At 7:45 we made it to the RERC, which takes you right to Versailles, so we hopped on the next train, only to find out that we got on the wrong one. So at 8:20 we got on the right one and then we were on our way to the Palace!
At 8:50 when the train stopped at some random station we found out that the route had changed and we needed to find another train... damn french people man. So we made it to the Palace a little after 9 and the place was crowded.
AD and I booked it to get our tickets, and then tried to beat the rush of asian tourist groups through the security check and audio guide lines. We spend the next four hours or so walking through the palace and admiring everything. I was in heaven because I love the history of Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette.
We kept separating a little and then finding each other, but after the hall of mirrors and Napoleon's room I couldn't find her anywhere. It was now, somewhere around 11:45 or 12:00 and that's when Marie's cottages opened. So I waited until Noon for her outside and when I didn't find her I started walking to the cottages. I asked almost every employee on the way if they'd seen her, along with every family who spoke English. I made it over to the second part of the palace where Marie used to "escape" her daily life and ran into a woman who I'd asked earlier where she was. She told me that she'd sent her back to the exit... :l
I quickly walked over to the cottage in the hopes that she'd still be there and there she was. Turns out there'd been a little mix up inside the palace as to the exit and more museums... But alas, we found each other and everything was fine. We toured the house and it was great, not as extravagant as I thought it would be, but it was still really pretty.
After our little mishap we headed back to the city for lunch because AD knew of a great place to eat for relatively cheap. We got to the restaurant sat down and immediately ordered whatever we saw first.
First course: Escargots (BRILLIANT!)
Second course: Steak something -- french sauce, kind of like mayonnaise.
Third course: Apple tart with ice cream on top.
All of it was amazing, and I had lactade so it was great.
After that AD's friend took us around to see pretty Christmas decorations and all sorts of monuments that we hadn't seen yet. We saw something that resembled the Parthenon in Rome at Madeline, Sacre Cours, The Opera House, a tower in Paris that looks over the whole city, and Moulin Rouge... along with the sex district. HAHA It was fantastic. It reminded me of Little Five's.
That night we met up with a bunch of friends of AD's friend and they had a little cook out at their place. It was great because we were just hanging out with French people, but at midnight we both hit a wall of exhaustion and really wanted to go to sleep. However, french people like to go until 1:30 or so. When they finally left I crashed like a sack of potatoes only to be awoken at 7:00 to an alarm telling us it was time to go to the airport.
Sunday, November 25th:
AD and I split ways at the end of the metro ride to go to our significant airports and it was super sad. We both texted each other to make sure that the other had landed safely and everything was good, but now I know that I won't see her again until December.
I made it to the airport at 9:30, to wait for a plane that came at 11:30, so I slept, read, and walked around the ONE terminal airport there.
After the plane landed safely in Malaga, at 2:30, I waited until 6:30 for a bus that would take me to Granada. Needless to say I finished 3/4 of a Spanish book and wrote in my journal about everything. I tried to sleep but was unsuccessful, then ate some BK and got a little tipsy from the beer there -- which is served at McD's and BK... God Bless Europe.
When I finally made it home I was ready to crash. I'd slept less than 8 hours for the entire trip and needed sleep desperately. I zonked out that night and started today with minimal sleep and am now writing this instead of taking a siesta.
That was my trip in Paris. :)
Fotos up on Facebook now!
<3
Buenas Tardes
Thursday, November 22rd:
I woke up at 6:00 to make it to the bus station by 7:00 to get to the Malaga airport by 9:00. Everything went according to plan, I had all of my things ready to go and I was set. I got to the bus station with plenty of time to spare, got on the bus and we were off.
Everything was going smoothly until the last stop on the bus. Some guy decided to ask the bus driver about a million questions, so we were at a stop for about 20 minutes, putting us way behind schedule.
Needless to say I arrived at the airport at 9:30 to make a 10:05 flight, which according to all monitors was delayed. I figured that was in my favor until I got to the check in gate.
Seeing as how i was 35 minutes "early" for the flight, I figured I'd still be able to check in and get my ticket... but according to madam "i don't freaking think so" that's not an option... even though I'm pretty sure it's a standard procedure.
I went to the EasyJet desk to ask for help and he said he could put me on the next flight, two days later, at 8pm... No way Jose. I asked for a refund of some sort and he said that they can't do that... even though I was not longer able to use EITHER ticket that I'd bought though their services... Oy.
So, I walked around trying to find cheap flights, found a computer and searched for the lowest fare for a flight that day, seeing as how my best friend AD was meeting me in Paris that night.
Eventually I found one that cost less than both of my kidneys and my liver. I went to AirEuropa and the woman gave me a less expensive ticket and was super helpful. However, the flight wasn't until 6pm... and it was only 11:00am... So, seven hours in an airport... Sure.
I wandered around the three terminal airport for about two hours. Then found an empty row of seats and took a one hour nap... Then walked around a little more... Then ate some snacks that I'd packed... Then searched around the Duty Free stores for about an hour... Then sat and watched the plane tables for another hour or so... Then finally my plane was ready for take off.
I landed at the airport 20 minutes before AD and sat by the arrivals board until she got there. It was so great to see her again after not having seen her for about six months. We headed to her friends house, where we'd be staying Friday and Saturday just to hang out before we had to head to our hotel. We were both super hungry, I especially since I'd only eaten two bananas and bread all day. So we ordered food for delivery... my first french meal was Sushi. Yep, sushi. And it was fantastic. :)
After we finished eating, and met AD's friends boyfriend we headed back to our hotel to go to sleep. We were planning on waking up kind of early the next day so that we could get started on our walking tour of Paris. :)
We got to the hotel around midnight or so, checked in without a problem, and got into our room. I told myself that I wasn't expecting much, as it's a two star hotel, and it's what I expected. It was a tiny outdated room, two small beds, a rustic looking bathroom and a flat screen plasma tv?... Yeah I still don't get that. But it was what we paid for, and it was warm, and comfortable, so I couldn't be upset. We both got a good nights sleep then and everything was great.
Friday, November 23rd:
The next morning we checked out with the nice man from the night before and headed out to AD's friends house to drop off our stuff then went out to Notre Dame!
We went to the Cathedral and to our surprise there wasn't a line waiting to get in. Once we entered we realized why... there was mass going on. Neither of us wanted to get struck by lighting so we headed out quickly, taking a few pictures.
We then headed to Pont Neuf -- the bridge with all of the locks on it, and that was mind blowing. They all put the locks on the side that faced the Eiffel Tower and then throw the key in the river to symbolize eternal love or something... Romantic, but cheesy.
After that we headed over to see Pablo Picasso's house, walked down the river and looked at the "green boxes", little side stores, AD got some gelatto, we walked around some more, headed to the Louvre -- which is fantastic. It's HUGE so I'm glad that we didn't go in, but we saw the pyramids and everything which were way more exciting than I thought they would be.
After the Louvre we ran into some arc that I thought was the Arc de Triumf... nope, just another Arc thing... pretty, but just there. We walked through a few parks to get to Concorde where the Rouge de Paris and the (big pointy thing that looks Egyptian) is. Sorrrry forgot what it was called.
After that we kept trekking down the road and found a big Christmas Market. It lined both sides of the street and was filled with places selling warm red wine (which is delicious and VERY strong), deserts (chocolate covered marshmallows), christmas decorations (that were WAY too rich for my blood), and lots of other things. It was a great little market, so we ate there. After the market we went to a pharmacy so that I could get lactose pills so that I could eat all of the FREAKING cheese that they have everywhere in Paris.
While I was at the ATM, someone threw a newspaper in my face and pushed the 300E button on the withdraw page. I turned around and saw a little seven year old kid standing there and almost had the gall to punch his lights out. However, I waited patiently for the ATM to spit my card back out, because I can't withdraw over 200E at a time. Gaw I wanted to kick him in the teeth.
So I left sin dinero and we walked on to the Arc de Triumf. It was huge!!!! We stopped and took a bunch of pictures, ran into some Americans, studying in Sevilla, and then went to get tea so that we could sit down and re-energize.
After that episode we hopped on the metro to get to the eiffel tower. By this time it was about 7pm or so, so we knew that the lights would be on. We walked almost right past it without seeing it because the closer you get to it, the more building start to cover it. But once we found it, oh jeesze, I jumped up and down like a freaking three year old. It was SO great!
We walked up from behind it and at 7:50, and knew that the light show would start at 8:00 so we booked it to the other end of the lawn and tried to make it before the show started. We made it to a prime location just in time for the show and the tower lit up and sparked like a Christmas tree! It was so great! I hear people a lot say things like "How American." but it really is done quite beautifully. I didn't think that I'd like the sparkles as much as I did.
Once the show was over and were done taking pictures we texted AD's friend about dinner and headed to Pont Alexandr III, the pretty bridge with the angels on it. We took pictures because it was in Midnight in Paris, and then hopped on the train to get to where we were supposed to meet AD's friends.
When we got to the metro stop we saw that there was a huge shopping center and strip of restaurants, not unlike Ruta de Tapas here in Granada. Once her friends arrived we walked around a few of the shops while we waited for another friend. We stopped into a restaurant that was a little pricy for my likes, but I figure, when in Paris do as the Parisians do. And they're rich, soooo we had a fancy dinner. ... that was totally worth it.
Dinner:
First course: mushrooms stuffed with jamón
Second course: roasted duckling with some sort of goup that was amazing. (try the grey stuff it's delicious, don't believe me ask the dishes)
Third course: Crembrule with nutella!!!
Drink: Chardonnay (i'm still a fan of sutter home.)
After dinner we headed to ADs friends house and headed to sleep. Our first day was jam packed with activities and the next day was too.
Saturday, November 24th:
The next morning we woke up at 7:00 to make it to Versailles by 8:30 to beat the rush to get in. We left for the metro, and got to trekking. At 7:45 we made it to the RERC, which takes you right to Versailles, so we hopped on the next train, only to find out that we got on the wrong one. So at 8:20 we got on the right one and then we were on our way to the Palace!
At 8:50 when the train stopped at some random station we found out that the route had changed and we needed to find another train... damn french people man. So we made it to the Palace a little after 9 and the place was crowded.
AD and I booked it to get our tickets, and then tried to beat the rush of asian tourist groups through the security check and audio guide lines. We spend the next four hours or so walking through the palace and admiring everything. I was in heaven because I love the history of Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette.
We kept separating a little and then finding each other, but after the hall of mirrors and Napoleon's room I couldn't find her anywhere. It was now, somewhere around 11:45 or 12:00 and that's when Marie's cottages opened. So I waited until Noon for her outside and when I didn't find her I started walking to the cottages. I asked almost every employee on the way if they'd seen her, along with every family who spoke English. I made it over to the second part of the palace where Marie used to "escape" her daily life and ran into a woman who I'd asked earlier where she was. She told me that she'd sent her back to the exit... :l
I quickly walked over to the cottage in the hopes that she'd still be there and there she was. Turns out there'd been a little mix up inside the palace as to the exit and more museums... But alas, we found each other and everything was fine. We toured the house and it was great, not as extravagant as I thought it would be, but it was still really pretty.
After our little mishap we headed back to the city for lunch because AD knew of a great place to eat for relatively cheap. We got to the restaurant sat down and immediately ordered whatever we saw first.
First course: Escargots (BRILLIANT!)
Second course: Steak something -- french sauce, kind of like mayonnaise.
Third course: Apple tart with ice cream on top.
All of it was amazing, and I had lactade so it was great.
After that AD's friend took us around to see pretty Christmas decorations and all sorts of monuments that we hadn't seen yet. We saw something that resembled the Parthenon in Rome at Madeline, Sacre Cours, The Opera House, a tower in Paris that looks over the whole city, and Moulin Rouge... along with the sex district. HAHA It was fantastic. It reminded me of Little Five's.
That night we met up with a bunch of friends of AD's friend and they had a little cook out at their place. It was great because we were just hanging out with French people, but at midnight we both hit a wall of exhaustion and really wanted to go to sleep. However, french people like to go until 1:30 or so. When they finally left I crashed like a sack of potatoes only to be awoken at 7:00 to an alarm telling us it was time to go to the airport.
Sunday, November 25th:
AD and I split ways at the end of the metro ride to go to our significant airports and it was super sad. We both texted each other to make sure that the other had landed safely and everything was good, but now I know that I won't see her again until December.
I made it to the airport at 9:30, to wait for a plane that came at 11:30, so I slept, read, and walked around the ONE terminal airport there.
After the plane landed safely in Malaga, at 2:30, I waited until 6:30 for a bus that would take me to Granada. Needless to say I finished 3/4 of a Spanish book and wrote in my journal about everything. I tried to sleep but was unsuccessful, then ate some BK and got a little tipsy from the beer there -- which is served at McD's and BK... God Bless Europe.
When I finally made it home I was ready to crash. I'd slept less than 8 hours for the entire trip and needed sleep desperately. I zonked out that night and started today with minimal sleep and am now writing this instead of taking a siesta.
That was my trip in Paris. :)
Fotos up on Facebook now!
<3
Buenas Tardes
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)