Playing Tourguide

This week I did my best at playing tourguide for my friend Cameron who came to Paris for the week of his spring break. Definitely was exhausting to juggle school, friends here, and a friend visiting from back home, but I'm really glad I got the chance to attempt, with my own limited two months of knowledge, to share the city. I definitely saw many things I hadn't before and also relearned neighborhoods, landmarks, and other random facts that I had only been exposed to once or twice.

Cameron got in Saturday night and we went for a very extended walk around Paris and saw most of the major sites by night. The next morning we embarked on a day trip to Versailles, something that I hadn't visited yet either. I really loved the palace and the gardens are incredibly massive!





They are just beginning spring planting which I'm sure will make it even more beautiful. As a "European student" I actually get in for free, so I'm definitely planning on going back when the gardens are in full bloom :)

Monday and Tuesday were jam packed. We basically spent all day out walking around seeing sites and some museums. I got to complete some items that we're on my own Paris "todo" list. I finally went into Sainte-Chappelle, the cathedral famous for its stained glass windows.



Also spent many many hours in the Army Museum where Napoleon is buried. Really a great museum, made even more awesome by the beautiful architecture of Les Invalides, the name of the building that houses the museum.





I finally made the commitment to go up the Eiffel Tower and see the view. To save money, and to be awesome, Cameron and I took the stairs up to the second level of the tower (which I have heard is the best view anyway). Instead of 11.50 we only had to pay 3.50, a much better deal!



Wednesday night, while Cameron decided to take a nap, I went with some friends for a picnic on the Seine. The night ended up being one of my favorite experiences yet abroad. Basically, our evening turned into a jam session with random guitar players, really nice homeless men, and other random people joining us. We ended up with a huge group, singing and eating delicious cheese and baguette and of course drinking some wine. There were so many tourists taking pictures of us and I kind of felt like I was living in the 1960s haha.

On Cameron's last day, I decided to skip a couple classes so I could visit the Pere-Lachaise cemetery with him--another first for me. We finished off his last night here with a proper french crepe dinner and then a performance at the gorgeous opera house!







Cameron left this morning, but left my housemates and I a big bag of pastries. I'm currently enjoying a chaussons aux pommes (apple pastry) while writing up this blog :).

As for the coming week, I am determined to get a start on a term paper so I can enjoy my coming weekend in....BERLIN!!! I am SO excited for Germany--I'm staying with my friend Mohit who's studying there for the semester. Berlin wall, cheap beer, sausages, awesome museums...yesss!! Of course there will be a blog update on that when I return :)

Tourist(ing)

Being back from Spain was a little bit of a harsh nudge back into the semi-reality of life which is study abroad. Unfortunately, unlike many of mes amis from back home, this study abroad program is not a study ABROAD program, its more of STUDY abroad (have to credit Mark with this distinction if he actually reads this haha). I would not say all of my time is dominated by school work, but it is just enough where it is on my mind, and in my calendar, more than I would like it to be at least.

However, I made an effort this week, despite having a midterm paper due today, to be a little more of a tourist in my now quasi-home of Paris. On Sunday, I went to see my friend and "buddy" Hannah in a choir performance with my housemate Julia. She is wayyy to modest and had me thinking it would be a normal youth choir group thing, but it ended up being a legitimate opera/orchestra/choir/theater compilation. It was also in this really awesome circus type building appropriately called Cirque d'Hiver. It was quite a treat, especially with some candy brought along from the grocery store :)



The last few days in Paris have had INCREDIBLE weather; we're talking 18 degrees on Tuesday!! Translation, about 65 degrees :). NORMALLY back in Berk at 65 degrees I would be cold, but my body has definitely adjusted to the climate here.

On Monday, I took advantage of the weather with quite a long walk by myself in the mid-afternoon when I wanted a study break. I hadn't seen the Mouffetard neighborhood properly during the daytime, which is basically an old cobble street area of Paris, so I made that my destination.

I also decided not to use my map, and just head in the general direction I knew I needed to go. However, I realized that the neighborhood to my right actually gets a bit sketchy once you go a bit farther in. Luckily, I still had brought my map and, after a few sketchy men hitting on me, made my way to the main roads.

Mouffetard is a really cute neighborhood, and is also pretty close to other famous attractions such as the Panthéon and Luxembourg Gardens, which explains why my hourish walk turned into almost three.



The next day, I joined some fellow Sciences-Po students for a lovely picnic at the Eiffel Tower for a few hours in the afternoon before taking off to rock climbing. As a side note, my rock climbing skills are definitely improving haha.



The next day, being Wednesday and technically yesterday haha, meant I actually had proper class to attend. I was put in a very good mood when I got my grade for my first proper expose...15/20 WHICH is actually really good here--the prof said it was the highest grade he has given so far :).

Last night, was also awesome because I got some close-to-Mexican food. My friend Steph had us over to her apartment and we did our best at making some fajitas. Everything was DELICIOUS, its just rather difficult to make actual Mexican food when they don't sell black or pinto beans, nor the proper spices or guacamole :)



Today, the weather finally took a turn for the worse, buttt today was also a day of many tasks that kept me inside, so I didn't mind too much. Instead of class this morning, I went to a mandatory doctor's appointment to complete my VISA (everyone with a visa in France has to do this). It actually turned into quite a lovely experience since I would say most of the people there were Sciences Po students, many of them at least acquaintances. It really turned the doctor's office into a social event, quite to the doctor's and nurses displeasure haha.

Appointment was nothing serious; they quickly weighed, took height, checked eyesight etc. Probably most random was the chest x-ray they made us do, but now I have a pretty souvenir of my ribs and spine to always remember my appointment :). I got cleared, and I am now OFFICIALLY done with much of my administration annoyances here--at least I hope so.

After the appointment, I grabbed a pastry with one of the girls I had spent the morning with. I got my second almond croissant, just as delicious as I remember it being on my first day in Paris! I then had class where I turned in a 10 page midterm paper--SO happy to have that finished!

This afternoon, Julia and I ran more admin errands. First, we paid rent, which always makes me feel slightly sketchy because it is in cash haha. Then, because I had become officially a legal residence by completing my VISA, I was able to finish my application for student housing assistance from the government. I'm looking forward to some euros being deposited into my banking account soon :)

Whattt else? Today is St. Patty's day, so I will be going to an Irish Pub in a few hours. Class tomorrow, and thennn...Cameron (close friend from childhood) will be arriving in Paris on Saturday. I hope that I can sufficiently entertain and feed him for the week he is here haha. Overall, things are going quite well. Definitely have school work on the too near horizon, but, again, I'm trying to ignore that as much as possible :)

Spain for a week?

PREFACE: If anyone actually reads this entire thing...well thank you for making me feel like my adventures are worth this much time haha. Wayyy to much written below, but I am more using this as an archive for myself for later when I can't remember random details anymore, soo ya. Definitely not an accessible quick entry haha

I just returned a few days ago from an 8 day adventure in Spain for "winter" break (since it's such an early break, it is called winter instead of spring haha). I don't think the trip could have gone much better...

BARCELONA (Days 1-3)

We began our trip with an early morning flight to Barcelona last Saturday. Everyone slept over at my apartment so that a shuttle could pick us up at 3:35am to get to the airport in time--so I guess I should say, everyone napped at my apartment haha. It ended up being more than worth it to get up early. We all just slept on the plain, and arrive in Barcelona around 9am with a full day still ahead of us!

We grabbed some breakfast tapas once we got into town, and then headed to our hostel. This trip was my first experience with hostels, and I think I have been spoiled. Our first was very clean and quiet. We had our own room, an adorable garden/patio, and a workable kitchen. After dropping our bags, we met up with my friend, Mohit, who was already in Barcelona the day before.

For the next three days, the five of us conquered Barcelona. We did all the touristy/food things possible. We hiked up to the top of Parc Güell the first morning.



The park, like really all of Barcelona, highlights the architecture of Antoni Gaudí, which I absolutely loved. It is so playful and fun, while still being absolutely beautiful!



We had tapas and sangria (DELICIOUS) for a late lunch, and continued exploring the Gothic District, Las Ramblas, and other parts of Barcelona.



Afterward, we went to a free fountain light show outside the art museum, best part was definitely when they had a Disney themed segment, with the songs in Spanish. Definitely had fun making a fool of ourselves and singing along :) That night, we ended up taking advantage of the hostel kitchen and cooking some pasta.

The second morning, we got up fairly early, determine to arrive at Sagrada Família when it opened, since the day before the lines to get in were absolutely ridiculous. This is a Gaudí Cathedral that is actually still under construction, the ticket you purchase actually helps pay for the work to complete it.





We also paid a couple extra euros to take a lift for the view at the top, which was definitely worth it!



The plan to get there early was definitely smart, we were in and out within 1.5 hours and still had the entire day ahead of us! Next on the agenda was the Montjuïc Castle which required another hike, slightly more intense then the day before. Great view from the top of the ocean and the city! We then hiked down the hill back towards the modern art museum through some really lovely and random parks.

We then put our focus on a mission of great importance: paella. We were determined to have it, but shockingly it wasn't that easy to find a place that was good and actually affordable. Just when I thought we were never going to eat, we ended up settling on a place and got our paella...and it was good.



You may or may not know, but I have really only begun eating fish in the last year and a half or so, it was definitely an intimidating dish for me! However, I was very proud when I actually enjoyed all the random assortment of seafood withing including crawfish, squid, scallops, mussels, and shrimp and also didn't squirm while ripping off the legs and cutting of the heads haha.

Since Mohit was heading back to Germany soon, our next mission also dealt with food: chocolate covered churros. We were told by a local about an obscure location that was suppose to have good, non-touristy, chocolate churros. After quite a bit of walking, we finally found the place which was pretty much literally in the middle of nowhere.



BUT it was, of course, super good AND, since it wasn't touristy, super cheap. I liked the Spanish churros, but they lack the cinnamon and texture of the churros I am use to back home. THOSE in chocolate, is something I'm now desperate to try :)

Mohit then left us to catch his flight and we headed to the Picasso Museum. Picasso grew up in Barcelona, and the museum, despite not having many significant works, was really interesting since it documented his progress as an artist year by year and had a bunch of random sketches and drawings from his early work. I think it was one of my favorite museums yet actually, it really made him more human and accessible to me.

Our last day in Barcelona was much more relaxed, mainly because we had conquered so much of the city in the first two days! We went to a market in the morning I had read about online to grab some breakfast, and then headed down to spend a little time on the beach. The beach in Barcelona isn't the most impressive part of the city, but I'm still glad we went. After, we went to look at a couple cathedrals that are open to the public and really impressive.

We still had a few more Gaudí houses to see, so we took the metro to the top of the city so we could walk downhill and make our way around :)


I'm so glad we did so, because I really enjoyed being out of the center of Barcelona. Barcelona is a great city, but it is full of tourists, even in off season I felt like I didn't I saw reallll locals around. But up north, there was much more Spanish life and we found an awesome three course lunch restaurant for under ten euros.


Food was delicious: wine, Spanish bread, asparagus soup, veal with garbanzo beans, and a chocolate cake for dessert.

After, we walked down the hill, saw the rest of the Gaudí houses, grabbed something to take with us to the train station for dinner, and went back to our hostel to grab our things.


We then departed for an 11 hour, overnight, train ride to Granada.

GRANADA (Days 4 & 5)



The train ride was ROUGH. Non-reclining uncomfortable seats, cold, stops the whole way with people coming on and off---oi! BUT it was a good deal, and that is what good deals get you haha. I was SO happy when we finally got to Granada and instantly felt better when we got to our second, and my favorite hostel. Just the cutest place ever, with free breakfast, and awesome staff. My new goal in life is to one day work there and just live in Granada...definitely my favorite city on the trip.



Granada has an Arab/Muslim influence and is unlike anything I have seen in Europe as of yet. After relaxing a bit in the hostel, I think we all needed some food and recovery time after the train ride, we hike to the top of the city to a point sacromonte, which is where the gypsy's live.





The houses, views, and people on our way up the hill were simply beautiful. We stopped for some pastries on the way and I had this guy...



Kinda like a tiramisu in that the cake is dipped, but also nothing like it haha. We then got deliciousss doner kebabs for lunch before heading back to our hostel to partake in siesta, which unlike in Barcelona, is followed religiously in Granada. Everything was shutting down as we made our way back to the hostel haha.

For dinner, we went tapas hopping, which is when I officially fell in love with Granada. At EVERY bar, when you order a drink, your tapas comes with it. So basically, I pay maybe 2euros at most and get a mini meal. It is incredible, and also just a lovely cultural tradition to partake it.

The next day, we had tickets for the main tourist attraction in Granada, the Alhambra. Another hike up the mountain took us to the palace, which was crazy intricate and also just really calming.



After the palace, we continue to walk around the expansive gardens.



We then had a lunch of mini meals including, for me, a spinich empanada, a beer with fried anchovies tapa, finished off with some random Spanish cake I wanted to try haha. After exploring the nieghborhood for a few more hours, and a small siesta, we finally went to a tetería, tea house. I had a delicious rose, cinnamon, black tea (Persian tea), and we all got amazing Maroccan pastries.



For dinner, went to my favorite tapas place (at least that we tried) at La Bella y La Bestia--of course the name helped win me over haha.



They just give you ridiculous amounts of food with your drink--ham and cheese sandwich, rice, and chips; kind of makes you feel like you're stealing.



MADRID (Days 6-8)

Took another train out of Granada the next morning and arrived in Spain around 1pm. The hostel here was definitely my least favorite, not so clean, kitchen not so great, and veryyy noisy (definitely a party hostel). But, we kind of new what we were getting into, and all wanted to have a more rough and real hostel experience on our trip. Joycerine took us on a lovely historical tour of Madrid where we stopped at the Palace to go inside.



This was my first palace experience in Europe, which almost made me cry--particularly when we saw the grand dining room. There are just some things that I have always wanted to see, and now that I am, it just feels a little surreal.

After, we grabbed chocolate churros again. However, they do chocolate churros a little differently in Madrid than Barcelona. Here they serve you churros with hot chocolate puddinglike deliciousness to dip them in.



For dinner, we made pasta in the hostel, which was definitely a challenge with the kitchen situation, but it worked haha. We ended up even using the toaster oven for a makeshift macaroni and cheese attempt with left over pasta and cheese--actually really good haha.

On suggestion from the hostel, we walked north in search of a bar, and found the perfect little place. It was a little bit hipster, complete with bookshelves, random decoration, and you artsy looking people. Cocktails were cheap, and good. I treated myself to a pina colada :)



The second day in Madrid began with the same place we had lunch when we got in the day before, Museo del Jamón. This place...is awesome. For only 1euro, you can order off a menu with a bunch of different sandwich choices. For me, I stuck with the croissant mixto (croissant with ham and cheese). Only took one to fill me up, I will NEVER find something that good and that cheap in Paris haha.

We went to a museum and further explored the queer/artsy/youth district in northern Madrid, same are we got drinks the night before. Definitely ended up being my favorite part of the city and actually had one place that served tapas like they do in Granada where we stopped for lunch :)

We finally had to retreat to the hostel because the rain was picking up. That evening, we went to the Prado Museum, which is simply massive. It has tons of really famous works, which, if I had more art history skills, I would begin naming off in an impressive way. However, I don't, and I am took lazy to look them up haha. That night, our hostel had a party which wassss good...except for the dirty bathrooms after. Definitely got to meet some fun people from random places.

Thankfully, the weather on our last day in Madrid was beautiful, which allowed us to explore the city more fully. I started the day with a Spanish pastry I wanted to try.



Its covered in candied fruit haha--healthy way to start the day I know :)

Our first destination on our last day was another major museum in Madrid, Reina Sofia, and afterward walked around the gigantic, 350 acre park.





After, Mark and I separated from the other two in our group while they went to a museum, and went jumping from plaza performance to plaza performance around Madrid haha.



The main plaza in Madrid,pictured above, is called Sol, but there are a bunch of other with tons of people and random and occasionally really impressive performers. My favorite part was this older women dancing with probably her daughter to a mariachi group...so precious.







We also found this random chocolate shop on our walk that had probably the best hot chocolate I have ever had, and a man who looked like he was straight out of the 1800s haha.



Our last night, we decided to avoid the hostel as much as possible. We grabbed delicious food from a random pizza shop we had seen again and again over the last couple days and really wanted to try. I had a really yummy veggie stromboli. We then spent more time in our favorite northern part of the city, and finally gave in and went back to the bar we had found a few nights before, this time I got an incredibly lemony margarita--you may or may not know, but I like my lemons haha.

After such a perfect trip, it was inevitable that something HAD to go wrong, but luckily it didn't happen until our return flight home which ended up getting delayed 5 hours. The plane we were suppose to take came in damaged and there wasn't another option until 3 pm. It was slightly painful since we were all pretty tired, but we made the best out of it. Lots of laughing, singing, and attempts at sleeping in the airport cafe.

I would have written this blog right when I got home had it not been for two presentations I had today (Wednesday). I definitely completely ignored my work over break, and I'm very glad I did. I don't think I could have had a better week off. I am also thankful for having an early break, because it made me realize I have been taking for granted being in Paris. Paris is an incredible city, but I think I have gotten too comfortable, and too caught up in school, that I haven't been taking advantage of where I am. New goal: start being touristy again, though it may have to wait until my midterm paper is turned in next week haha.