Home

Saturday morning, we woke up and met in the lobby at 7:30 with our things to get to the airport and begin the long day of flying home. There isn't much to say about Saturday other than it was very stressful, tiring, and sardine-packed.

Dr. Philibert was headed to Florence, Italy, so we were all on our own after going through security at the airport in Barcelona.
I didn't have a window seat on any flight until the last one from Chicago to Springfield. I traded seats with a couple people in the group for the first two flights so others could be more comfortable. On the first flight across the pond I was in the middle, and since we had TV's on the back of the seats. I watched two movies: Juno and Eat Pray Love. My TV quit working about half way through the second movie so I got to get some sleep, which was nice. The other two flights were just tiring and boring. I was so ready to be home. Springfield was a beautiful view, even if it was late at night.

Walking out of Springfield's terminal was so exciting! Seeing Sam's face and him smiling and waving  at me as I walked out was the most beautiful thing I had seen in two weeks. Did I mention I was ready to be home?

Well, this journey is over.

Closing Remarks:

I apologize that this blog is just now finishing nearly two weeks after I've been home, but as mentioned previously, there's no way I had enough time to write my true emotions while I was there. I also apologize that you've probably missed out on a ton of what I was feeling and thinking because I didn't write it as much while I experienced it, but trust me, I could have written a whole book about this trip if I would've had enough time to write everything I saw, ate, felt, and thought while I was abroad. That's the bad thing about this blogging for me: I love to write and I could do it all day, so having to do this and have time to enjoy Europe just wasn't an option.
For those of you who will be able to see all my pictures and speak with me about my trip in person, you'll understand me a little better as a person, and why this trip was so difficult and emotional. For the rest of you, enjoy the short blurbs and know that I am not completely negative about this entire trip. I appreciated this opportunity more than anyone will ever understand, and I hope to travel more someday; I may even return to these two cities. I just was not prepared emotionally to be so far from home as life here happened without me.

Thank you for following my journey.

Goodbye, friends.

Barcelona - Day 5

Well, today was my last day in Barcelona, folks. Thankfully, it was a free day. Dr. Philibert was headed to a cathedral near Las Ramblas at 10 a.m., which was optional, but I, along with a few others, decided to go along because I wanted to do some souvenir shopping at Las Ramblas anyway. The cathedral was pretty and I enjoyed it, but I was rather disappointed in the amount of Catholic visits we did on this trip, but I suppose Catholicism is a big part of the European culture.

Katie and I separated from everyone else after the cathedral to buy some souvenirs. It was nice to just walk around and look at our own pace without having to please a whole group, but it's almost more difficult when only one other person wants to go to completely different shops. I managed, however, and sacrificed a few things, which is definitely something I learned being in a big group for this trip.

We headed back to the hotel after shopping for a few hours and a decent lunch at Burger King.
Once we were back at the hotel, I had just enough time to start packing a few things before we had to meet the group in the lobby at 4:30 p.m. for our appointment to see La Sagrada Familia, a famous cathedral.

Since Dr. Stebbins left yesterday, it was just Dr. Philibert with all of us. We took the metro to the cathedral. When we arrived, the person in charge of appointments said our appointment was actually at 6:30 p.m., instead of 6 pa.m. like we thought. So, we had 25 minutes to go explore the area and be back by 6:15 p.m. Most of us headed to Starbucks about a block away from the cathedral. I ordered a light caramel frappuccino, which they apparently didn't do light there because they made me a caramel frappuccino and put Lai as the name. Yay. It was pretty funny though, even if I don't look Asian at all.

We were given headphones for an audio tour of the cathedral and its details, which would've been more interesting if we would've followed along better and known where to find the things the audio was talking about. The cathedral has constantly been under construction and will be for the next 20+ years because of renovations to make it even more detailed. 
Here's a link to learn more about it: La Sagrada Familia . 
It definitely was worth seeing. A very beautifully detailed and carved place. 

Afterward, several people were hungry, as was I, but their plan was to find traditional food, so I knew I wouldn't be eating. We walked for quite a long time, and I stopped with Justin at a small bakery so he could try some churros and chocolate, which is a Spanish dessert. They were pretty good, the one I ate cold later. We finally stopped to eat and everyone seemed to really enjoy their food. Brian and Jackie ordered Sangria, which I tried and it was delicious, as usual. However, they were really strong. We spent quite a long time at dinner,, but when we finished, we were definitely lost about how to get to a metro. Thankfully, Brian had a map, but he wasn't the best person to be in charge of it after that Sangria.

We finally found the metro by the cathedral probably 30+ minutes later and headed back to the hotel. I finished my packing, then we had our last European wine with some of the group before heading to bed to wake up and fly home.

It was an enjoyable day. Adios, friends.

Barcelona - Day 4

Thursday was beach day! I was pretty excited actually. Although, the weather wasn't as warm as we had all hoped. The temperature was mid 60's around 11 a.m. when we left the hotel and only rose to be around 70 for the rest of the day.

We took the public bus again to get to the beach. It was way overcrowded though and most of us didn't get to sit until we were almost there. About ten minutes after we got on the bus, Dr. Philibert was in an uproar about a pickpocket. The guy behind her had unzipped her backpack where our used tickets from Versailles had been and was working on unzipping the pocket with her sunglasses. Before he could she smacked his hand, and he looked at her dumbfounded. Thankfully, he stepped off the bus at the next stop to try someone else, I suppose; Dr. Philibert gave him a shove on the way out. She was telling all of us about it and making sure we were watching our purses and bags on the bus after that. We were all pretty paranoid, enough so that I was holding Justin's bag after awhile since it was in the way anyway. It was crazy to think that I saw the guy, and watched her smack him.

After all that chaos, we finally arrived at the beach. I think we all thought there were more people than we expected because of the weather. It was also super windy because of the water, nonetheless, gorgeous. Dr. Philibert warned us that the Spanish people are typically less clothed than in the States. The women are often topless, and the men wear speedos. I didn't see this too much, thankfully, but I did notice that it was mostly the older generation who had less on. That was almost worse.

Several of us found a spot on the beach and decided to lay out for awhile. I laid in the sand, since I didn't bring a towel, but it wasn't too bad. Although the sand was a lot more gritty, hard, and gravel-like than I had hoped. I was honestly expecting soft beach sand. That's okay though, it didn't stick as badly when I got my feet wet in the water. It did scratch some when I was trying to get the sand off, though.

After a little while, we all decided we were hungry and went to find some lunch. We walked a few streets before we finally decided we were just going to have to pick something. We ate at a Chinese place called Wok, which was very similar to the States. I ordered fried rice with chicken, cashews, and teriyaki sauce. It wasn't too bad, actually. I rather enjoyed it. My only negative was that the egg wasn't cut up in the rice, it was huge pieces; the same was true for the vegetables. The huge onions made me think of Sam. I missed him, but it was nice because this was one of the few places that we were able to get Wi-Fi access. I was able to text him and my mom through Facebook for a few minutes anyway, which I really appreciated. Another positive about the Chinese place was that they let us pay separately. NO ONE else in Europe let us do that.

When we were finished with lunch, we headed back to the beach. We decided to walk further down, closer to the pier this time. That was a bad idea. With the pier close, the wind seemed to only be stronger. So now as we laid in the sand, the wind would pick it up and it would sting when it hit. With that, everyone was pretty much done with the beach for the day. We walked down to the huge fish sculpture at the end of that section of the beach, and then several people walked down to the end of the pier. I just took pictures on the rocks at the back of the pier, since there was a sign saying that people weren't allowed past a certain point. Did I mention the Sea was beautiful?!

After that, everyone else was ready to head back to the hotel, but I wanted to go back to Las Ramblas since we were in walking distance (regardless of my complaining about walking the whole time). Although, I did wear sandals for the beach, which weren't the best on my feet for walking, but I dealt with it because Justin and I were on a mission.

Thankfully, Justin agreed to accompany me back to Las Ramblas because he saw some Sangria for sale in the fresh food market on Monday, and when he told me about it, we both agreed after that Sangria in Paris, we needed to buy some.
Once we finally meandered our way back to Las Ramblas, we found the market fairly quickly. We walked up to the Sangria and decided we needed to buy small one to try and ensure that it tasted as good as the other. So we bought one, went around the corner and opened it, decided it tasted delicious and we needed to buy some to bring back.
When we got back to the table, the lady said, "You're back already?! You tasted?" When we answered yes, she said, "Oh, no you have to put sugar and fruit in there to make it much more sweet," and she proceeded to tell us exactly what to do. We just laughed and told her it was still pretty good the way it was. She told us she'd give us two wine-sized bottles for $20 and we took it.

Since that was our only mission, we decided to head back to the hotel. When we got back, I spent a little time talking to my family, and then several people were heading out to get some dinner. We went to the pizza place again because we didn't want to walk too far, and Justin hadn't tried it yet. I got ham pizza this time, and it didn't make me feel as bad as the margherita kind, which was nice. We ate quickly then headed back to the hotel for a quick second before we were planning to go see the fountain show.

While they were all in the hotel, Justin and I stopped in a shop that he had been wanting to walk through since we got to Barcelona, and we took the chance since it was finally open and so close to the hotel. It was a small, but really neat shop. He had all kinds of things in there. I bought a couple souvenirs for my family, and we both really enjoyed looking around.

The fountain show was up in the fountain my the art museum, not to far from the hotel. It was pretty, but only one of those things you enjoy if you have your significant other there to watch and hold with you, or you have kids. Both of which, I didn't have. It was pretty, but I was over it after about ten minutes; it lasted an hour.

Because i took all the pictures with my phone today, they had to be attached at the bottom. 

We headed back to the hotel after and I got ready for bed. Tomorrow's the last day in Barcelona, guys. Are you ready?

Adios, friends.

My lunch below; sorry my finger interrupted. 

Barcelona - Day 3

On Wednesday, we had to wake up earlier than normal because we were headed to the Monserrat Basilica on a mountain in Barcelona. It was hard to wake up early, but I had high hopes for an afternoon siesta.
We left the hotel around 8:30 a.m. to head to the Barcelona Underground Railway. We took the R5 train. We rode the train all the way to where we got on the cable cars to go up the mountain. Because the train does come above ground in some places, we were able to see some countryside. One thing I noticed was that even though there was more space, there were still no houses! Everyone in Paris and Barcelona live in apartments because their such big cities, and tightly compact.
I didn't see much else on the way though, because I took a short nap on the train.

Once we arrived at the cable cards, we looked around for a few seconds, then waited in a short line to hop on a cable car and go up the mountain. A few of the group members were able to catch the first car up, but most of us were on the second. Sadly, we were in the back of the line for the second car, so we didn't get the luxury of standing by a window to take pictures of the view on the way up. I couldn't believe how many people they put on the car at one time. At one point when we were almost to the top, several people could see the cable stretching; that was definitely a little scary, but I wasn't too worried. I've found that I trust people, technology, and architecture probably a little too much.

Anyway, the view from the top was beautiful. We met together at the top to discuss the agenda. We were free to split up into small groups and go explore different areas; we just needed to meet back at the cable car spot by 2 so that we could catch the 2:45 p.m. train back to Barcelona, since it only runs there once every hour.

I went with the same small group I had been doing things with in other activities. We walked up and down the main street to just see everything there was to offer. The view was gorgeous; I was able to take several pictures. 

Several of the people I was with wanted to go to the Sacred Cave and walk through it, but it was 3,50 euro to take the trolley there one way or a 40 minute walk for free. They were willing to walk, but by the time we found some lunch and decided to see the "must-see" Mary's Orb, there wasn't enough time. And honestly, I was thankful. I had had enough of the walking after Paris, and we were still walking a lot in Barcelona. I didn't want to add to it for no reason. I guess that's the mindset of a typical American, but trust me, if you had my feet, you'd understand.

For lunch there was another, larger cafeteria inside the gift shop. There was a lot to choose from, but by day 3, I had decided Barcelona was not the place for me to eat. So instead, Jake, Justin, and I decided to get some bread from the bakery. We bought a huge loaf thing of this sugar dessert-like bread called croque. It was really good, but not that filling, which I was used to. The boys bought another one to split, but I just didn't see another 1/ 3 of the loaf making that much difference. After lunch we went into the huge cathedral, which was actually in service at the time, so we had to be extra quiet taking pictures. We only took a few minutes to walk through the back of the catherdral, and then we walked out and got in line to see (and touch) Mary's Orb. Since I'm not Catholic, I didn't really understand the significance behind Mary's Orb. I was told by other people, and there was a sign that said that touching Mary's Orb would bring you the blessing of Jesus. I just found on the website that it is known as the Black Madonna. Here is a link to the site if you're interested in learning more about it: The Black Madonna at Monserrat.

Mary's Orb below

After the Orb, we went on a small, quiet trail on one side of the mountain. Since I didn't want to walk much, I was thankful that it was a short path. I was thankful I went though because the view was beautiful, especially because it was quiet. 

Then, we headed to the gift shop, which was the biggest one I had seen. I loved looking at all the little trinkets even though I didn't buy anything since there were mostly things with the Black Madonna on it, and I knew I couldn't appreciate it in the same way as the Catholics who understood it more than I do.

We all met back by the entrance to take the cable car back down, but sadly, they were on break or lunch or something and the next car wasn't running until 2:34 p.m.; it was only 2 p.m.  We waited in line for that thirty minutes, which didn't seem like that long at all actually. However, we were worried that we were going to miss the 2:45 R5 train. I did get a window spot on the way down, but it went more quickly than I expected; I guess gravity helped us.
We made the train just in time thankfully, but it wasn't as enjoyable because kids were getting out of school and people were getting off work so the train was more crowded. When we arrived back at the hotel, I was able to enjoy a nap before several of us were going to head out to a jazz club.

A few of us decided to go get some quick dinner at 6:30 p.m. before going to the jazz club, since we weren't exactly sure what to expect from there. We went to a pizza place on the corner of the block the hotel was on. Since the only kinds available is whatever they had made at the time, I just got a slice of the margherita (cheese) pizza. The slices there were huge! That's something I definitely didn't expect while being in Europe. We took them back to the hotel and ate in our room. Even though I took two Lactaid with the slice, it still really upset my stomach. The cheeses are too strong here!

We met in the lobby to go to the jazz club at 7:30 p.m., but after Jake finished asking the hotel desk staff for directions, we found out through him that the jazz club just happened to be on strike because of high taxes that day. It's probably terrible, but I wasn't too disappointed since going would've only involved more walking. Instead we walked across the street to a super cheap place Jake found, since a couple people hadn't eaten yet. I didn't order anything, but they brought us some free pork rinds that Justin insisted I try because they were apparently stale; they were. Then, I tried a sip of his Sangria, which we both agreed wasn't as good as the pizza place in Paris, but it was still good, just stronger. After dinner, we decided to walk around awhile, and then several people wanted to go back to Las Ramblas. So we hopped on the metro and went that way. Sadly, after walking around for a little while, we realized that everything was closing, even though it was only around 9 p.m.

We decided to head back to the hotel and several of us enjoyed some wine together. I got to FaceTime Sam on Wednesday night since I stayed up late, and it was definitely worth staying up until 2:30 a.m. I honestly couldn't wait for the trip to be over so I could get home. Plus,
the next day was beach day and we didn't have to be ready until 11 a.m, so I still got a decent amount of sleep.

Until next time, adios friends.

Barcelona - Day 2

Did I mention the whole Barcelona visit of our trip was much more relaxed?! I couldn't believe how great it felt not to constantly be rushed somewhere. There's just too much to see in Paris, and if you want to see it all, you should definitely plan a longer trip than five days, or plan on going back.

On Tuesday, we woke up with enough time to eat breakfast, which was a little different in Barcelona. I had something similar to a powdered sugar croissant, an apple, some chocolate chip-like bread, with fresh peach juice. It was pretty good, but definitely not as filling as Paris. Plus, the lady running the breakfast area had like assigned seating and wanted us to sit in certain places, sometimes separating the group. It was weird, but I didn't mind too much. Except here, she insisted we pick up our dishes when we were finished and hand them to her next to the dishwasher. In Paris, we just left our dishes at the table like any other restaurant.

Then, we went to the Castell de Montjuic, basically the Jewish Mountain Castle. We rode public transportation bus to the top. Today was the first time we actually used the above ground bus station, and it seemed very similar to the States. You had to scan your ticket (the same as the Metro) to ride. However, it was more crowded, simply because there was less room and 17 of us to find a spot to sit or stand. We passed the old Olympic Stadium on the way up, and then later decided to stop and see it on the way down.

Once we arrived at the top of the mountain we were able to see beautiful views of the gardens, the cargo ship harbor on the sea, and other artifacts, like cannons. We looked around outside while we waited for Dr. Philibert to buy our tickets to go inside. Once inside, there was a museum of old stones, some labeled as being from the first century. Sadly, I dropped my iPad in one of these rooms, which echoed ridiculously loud and cracked my screen protector (I'm hoping; I still haven't taken it off to see if it hurt the actual screen). The view from the top of the castle was beautiful. There was a Spanish elementary school field trip there also, so it was rather loud with all the kids running around, but nonetheless, a neat place.

After we were done looking around in the Castle, we got back on the bus and headed down the hill to see the Olympic Stadium. Once inside, there wasn't much to see because it was small compared to the stadiums we see today. It almost just looked like a big high school or college football stadium. It was still really cool though. We also looked around in the gift shop, and ate lunch at the little cafeteria place inside, which wasn't much except sub-like sandwiches and chips. Because the subs were cold and I couldn't really tell what kind of meat was on them, I didn't get anything. I just ate a granola bar and sat with the rest of the group.

When we were finished with lunch, we walked down the hill the rest to the way, towards the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, which was a huge art museum. It was hard to appreciate and enjoy much of the art in here because I was pretty done with looking at art after all the museums in Paris, but nonetheless, I looked. We slit into smaller groups and were basically on our own for the rest of the evening, so Justin and I took about an hour or so to go through the Romanesque art area and the Modern art. There was also a Gothic art area, but we were both ready to leave and decided not to go through it. When we stepped outside, it was pouring down rain. We stood under the awning of the building for awhile with several other crowds of people waiting for it to subside, I had my raincoat on, so I wasn't too worried, but Justin didn't have anything. While we were waiting, we saw Dr. Stebbins waiting as well. We waited with him for a few more minutes, then we all decided it wasn't going to let up anytime soon, so we would just go out in it. It was kind of fun to walk in the rain, and on the way down the hill back to the hotel, we were able to stop and take a few pictures of the fountains running in front of the museum.

When I got back to my room, the other two girls weren't back yet, so I decided I'd do some typing on this blog that I still haven't finished. I wrote a few sentences and changed my mind. It was too quiet not to enjoy a little siesta, before dinner with the group at 6 p.m. The girls came back shortly after I laid down. Thankfully, I wasn't asleep yet. I had a pretty great nap and woke up a little before my alarm to freshen up for dinner.

The group met in the lobby for dinner and Dr. Philibert was talking with the hotel front desk staff about decently priced traditional Barcelona restaurants. He recommended one not far from the hotel and gave us a coupon for free drinks (which means free wine in Europe). The guy was right, it wasn't too far from the hotel and when we arrived, he seemed a little surprised that there were 15 of us. They made room, however, and it was a pretty cute looking place. Since the drinks were free, Dr. Philibert ordered both red and white wine for whoever wanted it. The menu wasn't as inexpensive as several of the group members had hoped, but that's because it was mainly fish and other seafood. I, again, ordered a Caesar Salad, trying to be on the safe side. Our food came out one by one, and the first of which was two of the group members' seafood platter that they were sharing. It was probably a little too fresh though considering there were a couple maggots on one of the clams. Yuck! That nearly ruined several of our appetites. Waitress service just isn't the same as in the states either because they don't work for tips. The two group members showed her the clam and she simply gave a sour face, took the clam, and never offered any sort of consolation.
When my salad arrived, there was a slimy fishy thing on top of it rolled up as decoration that people were trying to get me to try, but I refused. I found out a couple days later that it was a fresh anchovy. Eww... I took that off and then took a bite of my salad. The "Caesar" dressing tasted like sour mayonnaise. I was not impressed. I didn't eat anymore, either. On a positive note, the white wine was good, a little stronger than I expected though. And the people who ordered steaks were brought hot stones to finish cooking their steaks on their own to their individual preferences. That was really different.
The waiter took forever to bring us the bill because the restaurant was really busy by the time we were done, and as I've said previously, they don't expect you to leave right away.

When we left the hotel, it was still lightly raining. Several people went out for dessert since dinner wasn't too appetizing. I walked back to the hotel with Justin so he could get his rain jacket, then we headed back out. We didn't do much, just walked the local small streets in the rain. I thought it'd be more peaceful at night, like any other place, but the lights and the fun seems to just start with all those who call Barcelona home. Although there were less people out, it didn't seem any more quiet. Justin and I even saw two men with shopping carts full of things running down the street. That was a little nerve-wracking to me. It was also the first time I had seen shopping carts; I didn't know they existed in Barcelona.

After we grew tired of being outside in the wet streets, we came back to the hotel and headed for bed. It wasn't the best day.

Adios, friends.