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Roma

Hola, here is an article I tweeted last week from Buzzfeed about things you appreciate about America when you've been living in Europe. I would say about 80% of these apply.

My sight seeing around Barcelona has slowed down. Since I've been traveling on the weekends I have been spending Monday to Thursday afternoon on school and Thursday to Sunday on traveling. I will be spending my last weekend in Barcelona, so I will be able to check everything off my Barcelona Bucket List. Also, school is slowing down now until the last week (which happens to be the week of my 21st birthday and the 4th of July), so I plan on hitting the beach, eating lunch in good restaurants, and drinking cervezas, sangria, & some cava. I've decided that I like my house mom's food more than the food in restaurants. When I compare her patatas bravas, tortilla, paella, etc. to that I've eaten in restaurants, her's wins.

On another note, I promised I'd post about Rome 2 weeks ago, and I never got around to it. I have taken a trip to London and Prague since then, but I'll start with Rome. It was a really great experience. I traveled with my roommate, Ben; his sister, Emily; and her roommate, Katie. I am happy I have been able to visit major cities since this is my first time in Europe. Rome was different from other cities in several ways. One is that the metro system is not nearly as developed as those in many other cities. I was told by a tour guide this is because there is so much archaeological history underground that it takes years and years to analyze it and dig out the metro lines.

We flew RyanAir to Rome. If you have never flown with them, then you might want to keep it that way. It was a flying experience unlike any I've ever had before. Here is a pretty good representation of RyanAir.

Deplaning the old fashion way. Not much different
than Wichita Falls Municipal Airport

Once we got there we got scammed out of 20 Euro to take us 2 blocks (lesson learned) to our hostel. We stayed at the Yellow Hostel, which was made for young travelers and was really cool. We met some awesome people there (and some not-so-awesome) and had a lot of fun. There was a bar and restaurant which was really convenient. Our first meal was at a restaurant next door, where I had spaghetti carbonara.

Friday, we started at the Colosseum. I was pretty much enamored the whole time at how huge it was. It was also pretty incredible the Ancient Romans were able to build it in under 10 years. We also walked around the Roman Forum, which was really cool. After a late lunch of pizza we explored some of the other sites Rome had to offer, including the Trevi Fountain. We walked a ton this day, with several gelato breaks, and eventually made it back to the hostel. After a shower, we went to dinner at an awesome restaurant across from the hostel. We drank good wine, ate great pasta, and had interesting conversation. I almost felt Italian. That night we hung out in our hostel and met quite a few people from around the globe.

Panoramic of the Colosseum

Inside arches of the Colosseum

Roman Forum

Crazy & highly entertaining tour guide talking about the
Roman Forum

Trevi Fountain

Throwing in my coin & making a wish

Around 2 a.m. Saturday morning I went with some people on the hunt for pizza. Luckily, there was a pizzeria two doors down from the hostel. Perfect, right? Not so much. The guy working inside was absolutely nuts. I honestly don't know if I have met someone with a personality disorder this bad. One moment he was nice, the next minute he was yelling expletives. He made friends with the girls from California in the shop, kissing them on the cheeks and inviting them into the kitchen to dance. At one point he was standing on the counter where he prepped the pizzas dancing to a Bollywood song. It was so weird. Here are some pictures I took of his erratic behavior when I saw him on the street the next night:

On Saturday we spent most of our day at the Vatican. We purchased tickets online and had reservations for 1:00, but got there a little early. Thank goodness we did because the line was extremely long. I think we heard the line to buy tickets there was over 2 hours long. Regardless, it was worth it. The Vatican Museums were incredible. The detail, especially in the Sistine Chapel, was unbelievable. There were so many pieces of art by famous artists throughout the museums in the forms of sculptures and paintings. The Sistine Chapel had panels that depicted stories from the Bible throughout and was a site unlike any other. Sadly we couldn't take pictures in there.

The ceilings are incredible 

Not a great picture, but this is a mosaic, made out of many
tiny tiles.

Outside St. Peters

Inside St. Peters

After our visit to the Vatican Museums we went over to St. Peter's Basilica. It was another incredible building, both with its architecture and art inside, and it's considered one of the holiest places in the Catholic church. It is crazy how many people of all religions and ethnicities visit the Vatican. There were thousands. We took a quick siesta after the Vatican and went back to the same restaurant as Friday for dinner because we thought it was so good. We went to a few bars in Piazza Campo De Fiorri with friends we made in the hostel.

We wrapped Rome up on Sunday with a visit to the Spanish Steps and caught our flight back to Barcelona. It was funny how much it felt like I was headed home as I was on my flight back to Spain. It was really growing on me at that point. My first trip to Italy proved to be a success though, thanks to great sites, great food, and great company.

Bottom of the Spanish Steps

View from the top

Back to Reality

It's Monday, and I have a serious case of the Mondays this week. I got back from Rome last night. After a flight delay, I made it to my apartment around 11:30. Maria had sandwiches waiting for us, so I ate dinner and then did some homework. I was talking with the group I traveled with yesterday, and flying back to Barcelona was almost like coming home. No, I'm not going to cancel the flight to my actual home on July 6th, but I've definitely been getting more accustomed to the culture here and it is nice to be back for a few days before my trip to London.

Rome was fun, but exhausting. So many things to do and see. I will try to post a recap of that journey after school this evening. In the meantime, I'm going to finish my international marketing presentation about Starbucks' cultural adaptation in Europe. Sounds fun, huh?

Busy

Sorry I haven't had much time to post this week. I teased to the future in my most previous post and have failed to deliver. My apologies. I have been busy with school and that sort of thing. Today I actually went on a run, which was the first time I have set out to exercise since I've been here. I know I'm walking a lot but I felt better after actually working out.

Tomorrow I'm going to get up, study, prepare a presentation for international business, take a quiz, and then head to Rome for the weekend. I'm looking forward to it. Expect a post once I return, as I won't have a computer or iPad with me.

Trip to Tarragona

My second weekend in Spain is halfway over. Time is flying. Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. This week I spent quite a bit of time at school and working on homework. I know part of the reason I'm here is to go to school, but IES doesn't make it too hard on us. Yes, we have tests, presentations and quizzes, but the workload is pretty conducive to traveling, seeing the sites, and going out.

It looks like I'll be going to Rome next weekend, Prague in a few weeks and hopefully 1-2 more trips, either to London, Paris, or Madrid. This weekend the entire IES program went to Tarragona which is about an hour away from Barcelona. The city is located on the Mediterranean and has about 130,000 people. We toured the Roman ruins in the city and a monastery nearby. We also learned all about the Human Castells that are built in Spain and even made one for ourself. Our tower was four levels, but some have been as high as 11. The hotel IES put us up in was really nice, and we ate well for the most part.

Roman Amphitheater on the coast of the Mediterranean in Tarragona.

Roman Circus ruins (that have been restored) in Tarragona.

Here is our Human Castell. I was part of the
support team on the lower level. Photo: Sara Abrams

Outside the monastery we visited 

Outside one of the buildings that helps make
up the monastery.

Inside the chapel within the monastery.
A weekly church service and weddings
are still held here today.

Sunset over Taragona

I didn't see as many sites as I would've liked to this week. The eating schedule is pretty weird here. I eat breakfast between 9-10, have class from 1-5, and dinner is usually around 8. It makes fitting lunch in pretty confusing. Sometimes it's before class and sometimes it's tapas after class. Just depends on the day I guess. I was going to go to La Sagrada Familia on Wednesday, but went to eat tapas after class instead.

I made sure to eat lunch before class Thursday, and ended up making it to Sagrada Familia that day. It was unbelievable. This basilica is massive and another one of Gaudi's designs. I was surprised when I arrived because it is still under construction. However, many critics say there is no piece of architecture like Sagrada Familia, and I would probably have to agree.

Sorry for the poor photo quality, but here you can see
the cranes working outside La Sagrada Familia. It has been
under construction for decades.

This is the ceiling inside Sagrada Familia.
It is absolutely incredible, and this photo
doesn't capture the magnitude and detail
of the arches.

Some of the stained glass windows in Sagrada Familia. Not all
of the windows are painted, but it looked like they were
beginning to paint some.

I'm looking forward to watching the Barcelona futbol game on TV tonight, visiting Park Güell tomorrow, and heading to Rome at the end of the week. Coming up this week I'm planning on posting more about the city of Barcelona. about where and with whom I'm living, and more about the program I am in. I might even break out a video blog at some point. Stay tuned.