City of Love

Wow! Can't believe I'm actually getting to write this blog about this place. This trip was just the icing on the cake of what has been my time abroad. It's one of those things you only hope you will be able to say, “That one time, when I was in Paris...” Now I have this very ability to speak these words and have true honesty behind them. My friend, Samantha, and I booked this trip within our first month in Spain. Clearly we were excited about this opportunity to go to Paris. Our flights were booked to leave in the afternoon of a Friday. Technically our plane landed outside of Paris, about an hour away to be exact. When we arrived it was so foggy it was hard to see anything. We hopped on the bus to Paris and hoped things would clear up on the way.

Moving vehicles always put me to sleep so very soon I was out. When our bus arrived we had no idea where we were except that we were in Paris and had no idea of how to get to our hotel. Yes, I said hotel. When we were looking for where to stay we actually found a hotel that was close to the Eiffel Tower and was fairly cheap considering the location. So not knowing where we were and being afraid to ask because clearly neither of us spoke french and Spanish was no help here we got the courage to try and ask. There was a little coffee stand next to the bus stop so, since it truly was cold, we ordered coffees and asked where we were. The man was very kind and directed us towards the metro.

Once we were walking away and were taking sips of our coffee and talking of how nice that man was, I said, “You know what? This might be the worst cup of coffee I've ever had in my entire life.” We both started laughing so hard cause we both knew it was true! It literally tasted like warm water. But the man was so polite and we really were cold so we chugged it and continued to look for the metro. Eventually we found it and figured out how to work the machine to get us one ticket. Of course we spent a good amount of time looking at the map and looking at the metro map over and over to make sure we were going to the right stop on the right train. While we were on the metro it came above ground for the last part of our time on it and when it did we got our first view of the Eiffel Tower. Just wow.

Luckily our hotel wasn't very hard to find after we were walking and looking for it. It was so nice. We were very proud of ourselves for having gotten such a good hotel for the price. Granted I'm sure there were some things that could have been better but over all we were very happy with what we got. Samantha had a friend from high school who was studying in Madrid and he and his friend were also staying in the same hotel. When we arrived they weren't there and we had no way of contacting them while they were out. We decided not to wait for them and just to meet up with them either later that night or the next day. So we headed out to find the Lourve!

To save time we took the metro again, since clearly we were experts now. We got off at the Lourve stop but had no idea what direction to head and were afraid to ask for directions. So we started walking along side what we thought was the Lourve since we could see statues inside through the windows, but we wanted to find the main entrance with the pyramid. So we figured it would be on the end of the building and figured we'd start at one end. Once we got to the end we discovered we choose the wrong end. So we walked around up the other side. This took forever and day and it was freezing cold outside. Finally we rounded a corner and saw what we thought was the Arch de Triumph, this was just a miniature version of it. It was amazing, then we turned our heads and saw the entrance to the Louvre.

We went picture crazy, the best we could since it was already dark at this point. Since we still had time and we were so cold we decided to get some real coffee and warm up before we went inside the Lourve. If I thought it was stressful being in Spain those first few weeks, and even at this moment, with the language barrier I had no idea. I literally know nothing of french and this made it very stressful to have to try and order something in a language I don't know. We managed and got our coffee and warmed up and headed to the Lourve.

Our friends had told us that international students get for free and we clearly did not want to pay. While we were trying to figure out which line to get in to get our tickets a girl about our age came up to us and asked if we were going in. We replied yes and she gave us her two tickets and told us they don't check and we could just go in. Shocked and grateful we took then and decided it was worth a shot to try it. It worked and we were in the Lourve on our way to see the Mona Lisa in no time! Sadly this was one of the only things we really knew of to be in the Lourve. So afterwards we started aimlessly walking around and trying to admire the different artwork that was there when we stumbled upon the Venus sculpture  Eventually we were tired and had to use the restroom so we found our way out. This took a lot longer then we thought it would because we somehow manage to get trapped in a mall that is below the Lourve.

Finally we were out and decided to walk back to the hotel so we could pass the Eiffel Tower. At this point we could see it and thus it gave the illusion of being close. It wasn't. We walked the river and kept getting wonderful views of the tower and would stop to take pictures or just admire it. At one point we saw it, and this is the only was I can describe it, sparkle. It did not seem real that we were actually there at that moment. Then we were right upon the tower and it was breath taking. We walked along were the friendship bears were but decided to take pictures of them later when it was daylight. Hunger started to find us at this point so we tried to find a place to cheaply satisfy it. This turned out to be no easy task. Eventually we found a nice crepe restaurant and after some language confusion I had ordered and tried my first crepe! It was really good too, with ham, cheese and egg. We called it a night because we wanted to get up early the next day to get a start on the day.

That night we were so excited sleep did not come easily to us. Therefore, in the morning wake up did not come easily either. When we were finally up and ready Sam knocked on her friends door and that's when I first met Dave. Him and his friend, Tom, had gone out the night before and were still sleeping so we all decide to meet at the Arch de Triumphe around lunch time. Sam and I walked to the Eiffel tower but it was so foggy that sadly we could not see the top of it. But we walked the line of friendship bears and took pictures with Spain and the USA. To save time we decide to take the metro next because we wanted to go back to the Lourve to get pictures of the outside during the day time. Since we wanted to get a day pass we decided to ask the man behind the counter instead of using the machine. He was very helpful and even told us about the youth day pass for the weekends that was even cheaper.

After we got off the metro this time we knew where we were going and went and took our pictures, which of course took forever. Then we hopped back on the tram and got off at the Champs de Elyssion and walked the street to look at all the shops. Finally we made it to the Arch but had no idea how to get to it, it's in the middle of a roundabout  Once we figured out there was no cross walk we assumed there must be an underground tunnel somewhere. Which finding this was easier said than done with all the metro stops, but it turned out to be right were had walked up the street. Above ground and below the arch we tired to find Dave and his friend Tom. It seemed impossible and then he came out of no where.

Pictures were taken and then we were off to go get lunch. We found a little restaurant that didn't seem too terribly expensive and all ordered keishes. It wasn't the best things I've ever had in my life but it was food. The birds that were everywhere were very distracting however. Our next goal was to find Notre Dame. After Dave tripped and almost face planted in the street and got laughed at by french girls, we were all on the metro and off to the Notre Dame stop. Surprisingly once we were above ground again we had no ideal which direction to head. We knew we were on an island and therefore found the river and started following it and assumed we would find it soon. Notre Dame was there when we rounded the corner.

Outside pictures were taken and then we went inside the cathedral. It was gorgeous. Then we began to wonder how we got to the tower and started to ask around. We had to go back outside and wait in line. We managed to be one of the last people in line before they closed it. None of us wanted to pay the fee but it was only free for European students so when we went to get our tickets we just said that we studied in Spain and showed our school I.D.s. There were soooo many stairs and they were of course in a spiral staircase. The view however was amazing and we were able to see the bell. Next we headed out to find the Moulin Rouge district.

Our lives at this point seemed to revolve around the metro cause once again that's where we were. Instead of going directly there we went to a hill top where a church was because a lot of our friends had told us to go there for the view. Honestly the view was pretty but you couldn't see the Eiffel Tower so.... yeah. But in the process of finding it Tom realized he had been pick pocketed and had his camera stolen. We assume it occurred when we were leaving the metro and there was a huge crowd of people by the entrance/exit. Somehow we managed to find out where we were and where we were going. Then we kept trying to find the Moulin Rouge and seemed to be going in circles at this point and hunger was setting in.

Rounding the corner we found the Moulin Rouge! This seems to be a common occurrence as well, looking for something and finding it as you round the corner. I was so happy at this point. I love the movie Moulin Rouge and have always wanted to be able to see that area in real life. By now we had put off eating so long that we were extremely hungry. There were a lot of Chinese restaurants in the area and Tom decided to order some food from one of these restaurants. The rest of us thought that maybe there would be something cheaper if we held out, so Sam and I went to look while Dave sat with Tom. We came back with nothing but more hunger so we decided to eat there too. Best. Decision. Ever. It was maybe the best Chinese food I've had ever. This is when one of the most memorable dialogs of the night occurred:

Dave talking to me: “I like that ring. What is it?”

Me: “A ring.”

Honestly, the funniest thing all day.

Then we took the tram to the Eiffel Tower cause Dave hadn't seen it at night yet. It sparkled for us again and it was breath taking. That night we were going to go to a club that is under a famous bridge but after we met up with Dave's friend who was studying in Paris and were at her apartment we decided we were too tired and had to get up early the next day. This is were Sam and I left the guys to go back to sleep. Our hopes were to wake up early and go see the tower hopefully fog free. But it was raining and we just love sleep way to much for that. So our last glimpsy of the tower was from the metro like it was when we first saw it. On the bus to the airport we slept once again and then next thing you know it we were back in Sevilla. Our wonderful weekend in Paris was over and I wouldn't have changed it for anything, minus the fog and rain ;)

To Visit with Friends

After being in Spain for about two months I was ready to see some friendly faces from home as I planned my trip to Granada. My friends from Georgetown College, Rachel and David, were studying abroad in Granada this semester too. Aside from getting to see people from back home going to Granda would present the opportunity to visit another very popular city in the south of Spain. So I booked my trip through another travel company, the same one I used to go to Morocco to be exact. Once again I had no idea if anyone I knew from my program in Sevilla were going but I knew I couldn't let that hold me back. As it turns out a small group of girls from my program ended up going and we even ended up in the same room as each other.

We had to get up early to make the bus because it was about a four hour bus ride to Granada. After we arrived we had about an hour to get in our hotel, which was really a hostel but they kept calling it a hotel, and get lunch. I had had my senora make me a bocadillo, small sandwich, so I just ate that to save on money. Then we all met and walked up to the Alhambra, a Muslim building that survived the reconquest. This was no easy walk either. Granada is in the Sierra Nevada, a mountain range in the south of Spain. So this walk was all up hill, reminding me painstakingly how out of shape I am right now.

At the top of the hill rest the Alcazar over looking the entire city. We went on an unguided tour of the buildings and gardens. The view was spectacular. Everything was so detail and beautiful. It reminded me very much of the Alhambra in Sevilla that I visited earlier in the semester. Nonetheless it still had it's own individual beauties. It was actually a very nice day and not too cold. For the past two weeks it seemed like it rained every day. When it rains in Sevilla, it rains. Since I didn't have new boots I was glad for this nice day finally.

Next we went on a sort walking tour of the city. There honestly didn't seem like there was very much to see. Granted I was very tired at this point and didn't want to walk up and down hill any more. My knee had been acting up with all the movement. Our group went back to the hotel and we were given free time to explore the city and eat dinner before the program took us to a bar and a famous discotecha that is in a cave. During my free time I met up with Rachel and David for dinner. It was so great to see them!

The three of us went to an Italian restaurant that they had not even been to themselves. It was a very classy restaurant and I felt very under dressed for the occasion. The food was amazing as expected, I just ordered a spaghetti with meat sauce. I love Italian food so I was completely ok with this choice. Afterwards we went to a bar that they normally go to themselves for tapas. Tapas are very famous in Spain and essentially are small meals, you eat about three or more to make a meal. In Granada tapas are served differently than any other place that I know of. There you pay for a tapa and a drink is included in the price, so they say its a free drink with tapas. In actuality though they are paying for it since in Sevilla when you order tapas you have to order drinks separately but the tapas are cheaper for this reason. I like the way Sevilla does it better because that means that I can eat more and drink less. David had me try a beer I had never had before, which isn't very hard to do since I don't drink much, that was from Germany. I liked it a lot.

Once we finished our tapas and drinks I had to head back to the hotel to get ready for going out. They decided they would meet me at the discotecha. In hind sight I wish I had stayed with them some more since the bar that the program went to before wasn't very much fun for me. But I found them at the discotecha that night eventually. I even ran into my friend that I met in Ireland, Carly! It was so great to see people I knew in a strange city. Since I had a lot of free time the next day before I left we decided to meet up for lunch the next as well.

The next morning I slept in a little, as much as was possible before checkout. Then I roamed around with some friends from my program before I had to meet up with Rachel and David. Ironically enough we ended up at another Italian restaurant and all ordered pizzas for ourselves. No before you go thinking I'm a fatty these are very thin crusted pizzas so they hardly count as one whole pizza. I had not had churros con chocolate, not Mexican churros guys, in Spain yet despite the fact that all my friends talked about how they loved them. I just hadn't had the opportunity to. To correct this error the three of us went to a different restaurant afterward to order some. They were soooo good! There was so much chocolate though, and I'm just not a huge chocolate fan; I just can't eat that much of it is all. Once we finished we walked around and got some pictures together and then it was time for me to leave. I really enjoyed to break from Sevilla and the chance to see friends from home.

The Land of My People

When I decided to go to Ireland I was unable to find anyone else in my program in Spain who was frees at the same time as me and wanted to go to Ireland as well. At first I was afraid this would mean that I wouldn't be able to go at all. As luck would have it a travel insurance company based out of Italy that also has a basis in Spain was having a sale on different trips one weekend. Since all direct flights from Sevilla, Spain to Dublin, Ireland were extraordinarily expensive, I decided that if I was going to go to Ireland at this would be the best way for me to do it. Not only would it be cheaper but it would also be safer traveling with a group of people. The trip that went to Ireland through this program was a coast to coast trip. As I explain the trip this will become apparent why.

Since there were no direct flights that were cheaper I had to take two separate flights there and two separate flights back. On the way there I flew to Santander, a city on the northern coast of Spain, and caught a connecting flight to Dublin, Ireland. When I landed in Dublin it was already dark but wasn't actually that late since it was the weekend after the European time change. When I was taking the bus to the area where my hostel was I could hardly believe that I was actually finally in Ireland. I've ALWAYS wanted to travel to Ireland. I was also terrified since I was alone and had to manage to find my hostel, though the program gave very accurate directions.

After not knowing what street to turn on only once I found my hostel! It was an extremely nice hostel, especially considering the one I had stayed at in London. Downstairs I met one of the program directors and checked in with him. By the time I got upstairs I had completely forgotten which room number he had said I was in and the card did not have a number on it. At this point I thought I was in trouble since I didn't want to go back downstairs and ask I decided I would just try every door until it worked on one of them. Somehow it worked on the very first door that I tried.

In the room there were two other people already laying down on their own beds. We introduced ourselves, the girl was Carly and the guy was Dave aka “Old Man”. Ironically enough once I started talking to Carly I discovered she was also studying in Spain but in Granada. I told her I had friends who were studying there and told her their names and, small world, she knew them! That night the program didn't have anything planed but was going to walk over as a group to were the main street with food and pubs were for the people that wanted to. I tried to run to market and grab something to eat before then because that was a couple of hours away and I was so hungry. Before I left Spain I didn't with draw any cash from the ATM and I tried to find one that first night and was unable to find one that was functioning. Thus began the theme of this trip.

When it came time to meet to go find food the three of us went downstairs and were not able to find anyone in the program. Dave thought he knew where the area was that they were going so we headed out in search of food. We stopped in a pub and sat down and ordered some drinks, I tried my first Irish coffee and it was sooo good. Then we asked for food menus and they told us the kitchen was already closed for the night. Since they didn't separate our bill I paid for all of our drinks and Carly and Dave gave me cash for theirs. Next we walked and found food district that's open all night. We went to the first one we saw that was open and we all ordered some form of fried chicken. There we met and talked to and English woman from Australia who was in Dublin on Holiday. Since we had to get up early the next day we headed back and went to sleep.

The next day we had our walking tour of Dublin. Our tour guide was a very interesting young Irish woman. I loved hearing the history of Ireland and the struggle she has fought with England for the right to rule themselves. At one point it started raining and it was miserable  I had stupidly decided to leave my umbrella in my room thinking I wouldn't need it. You always need an umbrella in Ireland. At this point I also truly discovered how non-waterproof my boots were. My feet were constantly cold and wet when I was there. I finally found an ATM that worked but I forgot my pin. So I couldn't use my card and since my Spanish phone didn't work in Ireland I had no way to ask back home what it was I had no way to withdraw money. We had lunch at a pub called O'Neils, which is ironic because there is an Irish pub by the same name in Sevilla that I walk by everyday. Luckily they accepted cards here and I could still use my card as a debit. Lunch was amazing. I had Irish stew with potatoes and carrots, and there was so much food.

After lunch we went finished the walking tour off and then went to the Guinness factory. The night before I had tried Dave's Guinness so I knew that I liked it. We opted to do the self guided tour of the factory. I enjoyed finding out about the product, how it's made, and the history behind it all. The factory always talked about the fifth ingredient being belief in the product and Arthur Guinness showed that belief by signing a 9000 year lease on the building. Things have turned out well for the Guinness family because of this bold step. At the end of the tour you arrive at the very top of the factory and as part of the entrance fee you receive a free pint of Guinness. Since I ate so much at lunch I was unable to finish mine before we were ready to leave. Then we had free time before the pub crawl that night. Since I was tired and cold I used my time unwisely and took a nap instead of going out into the city.

That night I decided to do the pub crawl because I had never been on one and thought it would be a good way to see another part of the city. It was a lot of fun, Carly went with me and we stuck together throughout the crawl. We didn't go to get food before we went on the crawl so we were both so hungry. So instead of going to one of the pubs we decided to go to a restaurant that was near it. We ordered breakfast plates and it was amazing. Breakfast in Spain is just toast and coffee and they don't eat 'breakfast foods' during other times of day like we do in the US. The pub craw ended at a dance club but neither of us really wanted to stay so we left pretty quickly after arriving.

The next day we got up early and got on a bus for three hours to go to the Cliffs of Moher. It was completely beautiful. Freezing. But beautiful. It was also very very windy at the cliffs. At times it was difficult to even walk straight because it was so windy. The waves crashed up so high up the cliffs at points that they constantly sprayed the walkway. We walked up one side towards the castle/tower and where about halfway up the other way when I could see what looked like rain coming in off the ocean and I really didn't want to get caught in it. As we approached the door to the building, which was built into a hill btw, it started to hail. Straight up hail. Luckily we headed back when we did and made it inside before the worst of it. Cold and wet again we all ordered some soup to warm up and fill up our stomachs.

After the cliffs we went to Galway. This is the city that is famous for making the Love, Friendship, Loyalty rings. I bought one at the Cliffs of Moher store because at that time I didn't know this. Still I am very happy with my purchase. When we arrived it was raining and we had the option to go on a walking tour of the city or to go on our own. I choose to do the tour. Big mistake. It was raining so much and my umbrella was broken at this point so I was getting drenched. The three of us decided to bail and find a pub and order something small just to get out of the rain. Then when the rain let up we walked around the city and looked at shops a bit. That night we arrived back in Dublin and had a little time to rest before we went out to find food again. We managed to make it to a pub before the kitchen closed and had another wonderful meal. The next day I had to get up sort of early to go to the airport. Going back I flew to Palma, an Spanish island of the coast of Spain, and have to spend around 5 hours at this airport before flying to Sevilla. All in all, I loved Ireland and would love to be able to return one day.  

Three Cities in Spain

This post will not be very long but I wanted to give notice to a weekend trip that I took with my program. It was an overnight trip that took us to three separate cities in the Extremadura region, this is equivalent to a separate state in the USA, of Spain. We only spent one night in the second city but we actually were able to see a lot of different things.

The first day we left early in the morning and headed to Mérida  This is the city that had the large Roman ruins. We walked around the amphitheater and were given a tour by a professor in our program. Then we went to a museum that held the fine artifacts that were found when they were unearthing the ruins. Ironically enough, when they were building the museum they found more ruins underneath them that included a burial ground. We were able to go down and see this area as well. I´ve always found history very interesting so to finally see actual things that I have studied about is a surreal experience.

We ate lunch in Merida and I had had my Señora make my a sandwich to take with me. It turned out to be a tortilla (eggs and potatoe) sandwich. But I wanted some warm food so when my friends went to a restaurant I went with them. I ordered a tortilla as well because looking at the price I thought that it wouldn´t be very big. Boy was I wrong! I ended up giving a lot of it to my friends as well cause it was impossible to finish. After lunch we headed out to the next city, Caceres. We had a few free hours when we arrived at the hotel because this was the city we were spending the night in.

Next, we took a tour of the older part of the city that held the Midevil houses. Once again it was great to gain some history and see things I would never have the chance to in the USA. We heaeded back to the hotel after the tour and it was already dark at this point. So I didn´t get very many good photos from this tour because I don´t have a very steady hand for taking night time photos. Our group ate supper at the hotel, and let me just say that it was amazing. Granted it felt like we were starving at this poijn but that didn´t matter. We had a wonderful soup first, followed by a fried chicken with french fries (spaniards always think Americans love french fries), and even had ice cream cake for desert. That night we went out in the city to check things out.

The next morning we got up early to go to Trujillo because it was a good hour and a half away. Once again it was an amazing city. It was so tiny and cute. We talked about the church and some nuns even sold some sweets to some of us. Then we made it to the top of the city where the castle rested. From there I had a great view of the entire city anf a lot of the country side with the mountains in the background. The castle was nothing like I thought it would be. It was smallish, and we were able to walk around the top of the barrier and I got some great photos. The view was so green from what I´d become acustomed to in Sevilla. Sevilla is farther south and more dessert like and the Extremdura region is in the mountains and slightly further north. Overall it was a good trip and a chance to see things I might not have been able to otherwise. 

“The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” St. Augustine of Hippo

Starting that week off I was so sick that Monday that I couldn´t speak. Even not speaking hurt my throat. Needless to say I didn´t go to class. My señora was amazing and made me warm milk with honey constantly and allowed me to make my own tea and everything. I was going to go to the docotors office but had decided I would wait it out, since by the end of the day I was already feeling better. In hind sight I should have just went and gotten it over with but I thought I could fight it off. Plus I had my weekend trip to Morocco that weekend so I was just telling myself I would feel better so I didnt have to deal with the fact that I was sick.

Africa and Morocco

The morning of the trip we met on the other side of Sevilla from where I live so I had to get up a little earler then I planned. But I ran into someone who was going on the same trip on the tram and we walked to the buses together. From the bus we went to Gibraltar. Since I had already been there I opted not to go up the rock again because given the price it wasnt worth it for me. My friends and I just went to a pub and ordered food and then walked around the shopping area for a bit. Then we were on the bus again to go to the boat. Yep. I went on a boat. Not just any boat but a gaint boat that is large enough to hold the cars underneath. It was so spacious and we all sat at a long table with comfy chairs and fell asleep. The ride was aonly about an hour long but it was amazing. 

We finally arrived in Africa! I say Africa and not Morocco because when we first landed we where is a province of Spain still and therefore not actually in Morocco yet, Ceuta. We had to wait a couple of hours to get through customs (we had a group of over 100 between the two buses) while they checked and stamped all of our passports. One more stamp guys! I love getting stamps in my passport. It makes the trip more official in my mind. When we finally made it through it was already dark out but luckily our hotel was in the same city and it didn´t take long to get there. 

When I signed up for my trip I didn´t know who all from my program was going to attend so I did not sign up for a roommate and was asigned a random roommate. She was on the other bus so I had some time to unpack a little and relax in the hotel a bit before she arrive. Eventually she arrived and for the life of me I can´t remember her name, to be fair I couldn´t remember it while I was with her for the weekend either, haha. Shortly afterwards we went downstairs to get dinner. I found my friends and we went our seperate ways. By this point we were so hungry we devoured our bread basket very rapidly. First we had an amazing soupd, I tend to eat a lot of soup in Europe. Then the main course was fish and some other vegetables. I didn´t enjoy the dessert so I didn´t eat it.

The next morning I woke up early, and since Morocco is two hours behind Spain it was even earlier but we kept all times with Spain time to avoid confussion, and I saw the sun rise on the Mediterranean Sea. It was so beautiful. I showered and went down for breakfast with my luggage cause we were staying in a different hotel the next night. From there we went to Chefchaouen. It took a while to get there and the scenery was amazing, seeing all the mountains reminded me of home and hiking with friends. Chefchaouen is the city of blue. All the houses and walls are painted blue for two reasons: 1) to make their white clothes look whiter and 2) to keep the mosquitos at bay during the summer. This city was famous for it´s fabric, specifically it´s silk. Our group went on a tour of the city and also had a presentation given to us on the different type of fabric and were able to see where the weaver was and watch him work. I bought two silk scarves from them because I knew they geniune since I watch others being made there, and they were just pretty.

In this city I bought several gifts for friends and family since it was easy to barter and was expected. Our tour guide on the bus had given us some interesting facts about all of Morocco on the way there. He told us that French was the government language and Arabic was the language of the people. If people had the chance to recieve and education they also know Spanish or English or sometimes both. So impressed and slightly jealous. There are more women then men in Morocco and over 80% of the population is under the age of 20. Clearly a future and current problem for the government. In Chef I bought a doufle bag that is made of leather and silk because I needed a smaller carryon for my future Ryanair flights, as I discovered on my previous trip. But it was a good purchase and was beautiful so I´m happy with it.

Next we went to Tetuan, which is the city know for it´s leather market. We ate lunch here and had a little show with our dinner. As soon as I finished my food there was a woman giving henna so I got some on my hand because I had been wanting to get it while I was there. Afterwards we went to a Holistic Pharmacy. Herbs and different types of Moroccan cures were explained to us. I ended buying some Moroccan oil since it was cheaper to buy it here even though I had no idea if it would be any good since I had never used it before. Then we were taken to the leather market and allowed to explore around again. I was able to purchase a few more gifts here as well. Next we went to Tangier to go to out next hotel. With dinner we had a fantasy show, which included musicians, belly dancers, magicians, along with other proformers. At first it was annoting because we unluckily sat at a table by a speaker and it was difficult to to hear each other talk. But the food was once again amazing and we were able to make do.

When supper was over there was also a club entrance, to a club that was reserved just for our group so it was bound to be safe. By this point I was just so exhausted and knew we had to get up early again, so I opted to miss out on this one. The next day we left to head to the coast to see the invisible line where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean Sea. I was able to cheaply buy a few more gifts here as well so that was a success. Lastly, we went to the cave of Hercules. Now why it is called this I have no idea. But it has an opening to the sea that, if you´re standing in the right place actually looks like the shape of Africa. It was beautiful to look through. Then we headed back to the buses and made our way back to the boats. We had packed lunches provided by the hotel, not the best meal of the weekend needless to say. But then we were home in Spain and all was well.

Sorry this blog seems a little rushed but by this point it´s harder for me to remember the details and while I love Morocco there weren´t many major events that took place while I was there. The exciting event was when I had uploaded my pictures from my camera, including all Morocco pics, and then decided to delete them from my camera because my laptop hadn´t been acting up recently. False. As soon as I finished editing them all and was ready to upload them to Facebook my laptop decided to die and hasn´t worked since then. It can´t connect to the hard drive which means that the pictures might still be there, but that´s the reason I have gotten behind on my blog, sorry guys. Two more to go before this weekend! Pictures hopefully coming soon!

London Baby and the Time I Met the Government!

So clearly it has been awhile since I have been able to post anything. Sorry to anyone who actually has been trying to follow my trips abroad. My laptop decide that it would officially meet its end while in Spain. If I have any hidden rich friends or relatives that want to send my a Macbook to Spain as an early Christmas present, hit me up! Haha, I kid I kid. But because of this hinderence however my blogg post will be more scattered. I´m about four weeks behinf however. YIKES! Today I have a little, very little, bit of free time and will try to write about London in this time period. Her goes nothing...


Well, our, Lauren, Samantha and I´s, weekend had a wonderful start. First I had to check my carryon bag because Ryanair is stupid and it technically the right size but it didnt fit in their stupid metal box thingy, obviously still a little upset with them over this haha, and I had to pay 50 euros to check my bag. Before we boarded the plane we made a friend with another student who was also studying  in Sevilla and was traveling to London for the weekend. We had slightly miscalculated our arrival time in London and the distance from the sirport to the hostel, not to mention the fact that customs in England is a lot more strict than Spain, which is basically none existant. Therefore we officially arrived at the airport around 12AM and then had made it through customs, exchanged our euros for pounds (the stupidest currancy ever, sorry British friends), and bought our round trip bus tickets and were waiting for the bus around 1:30AM. Then the bus took about an hour and we had to get a taxi afterwards Finally we arrived at the hostel, The Steam Engine, at around 3:30AM.

As we went into our room we realized there were 9 beds in one room, with three seperate bunk beds that had three beds a piece. Since it was basically morning and we didn´t want to wake everyone in the room we decided to change in the bathroom, which ended up being the hallway cause it was easier. By the time we got changed and were read to climb in bed we went in the room and we each had specific beds asigned to us that were labeled with numbers. I was the last one to come in the room trying to be quiet as possible when I realized someone was in my bed! They hadn´t been there when I  first looked when we got there but a man had come out of the bathroom while we were getting ready for bed... of course I had no idea what to do. I told my friends someone was in my bed and the other empty bed had definitely been used so I wasn´t crawling in that one.

Once again we all snuck back out of the room to go downstairs and talk to the receptionist about the situation. Luckily he went upstairs and, felt a little awkward about this but, made the man move and changed my sheets. He was very apologetic about the situation and offered coffee or tea, which of course we didn´t want at like 4 in the morning. But he also had a friend, or another receptionist, there as well so we started to talk to him. He ironically enough was Spanish so we tried talking to him in Spanish but he was very unfriendly and wouldn´t humor us in the slightest. That was fun. Well, we finally crawled in bed with the full intention of waking up around 7 so we could be downstairs for breakfast by 8, since it ended at 9.

Well, of course we didn´t wake up at that time, we woke up at 9 and finally got ready and made it downstairs by 10:30ish.With growling stomachs after we ordered coffee and hot choclate we headed out to maybe find breakfast but definitely start our day as tourists off! Lost right off the bat. Go figure right? It turned out to be a good thing because we ended up at a cute little British shop and bought more coffee and some food (that muffin was amazing fyi). Our next mission was to find the metro and figure out how to use it. In this area we actually found some success. It took a while to make sure we were getting the best deal with the metro, luckily for us the man selling the tickets was very nice and helped us a lot. Buying the day pass was a better deal for us since we planned to take the metro more than once that day and it would say us time and money.

Riding the Underground was an amazingly easy experience. It was so easy to navigate the tube and find out where we were going. We got off near the London Tower and started our walk along the Thames. Starting with crossing the London Tower bridge, and stopping for a million pictures, we walked along the river to the Globe Theater. If there is one thing I regret about our trip it was that we didn´t have the time to go to a show, at the Globe or any where else... next time. Any who, we continued our walk and came accross some great smelling street venders in an area along the river, but we kept treking along. Finally we made it to London Bridge, which actually isn´t very exciting itself surprisingly. The most exciting thing about it was that you could see London Tower bridge from it.

Next we found ourselves at the walking bridge that has a great view of both Big Ben and the London Eye. The bridge itself was also an achritectural beauty. Since it wasn´t to bad of a day weather wise, for London, and we didn´t know how the rest of the weekend would hold up, we decided to go ahead and go up the London Eye. It was such an experience. I loved getting to see the entire city from the Eye. My friends and I were obsessed with Big Ben. So after the Eye we walked over to Big Ben. By the time we made it to the bridge it started sprinkling. We were starving them and found a place that served food and it was pretty amazing. Then we made our way to Buckingham Palace and stopped at the Wellington Arch, which by this point it was pouring rain and we had out the umbrellas. So all those pictures were a little depressing. Afterwards we took the tram to Oxford street and went shopping a bit, aka window shopping for me. It was pouring rain at this point and we took the tram back afterwards.

We went back to the hostel then to get ready to go out for dinner. By the time we were ready it was about 9PM and we thought that was a good time. Wrong. London night light is different that Spain for sure. No food is served after about 9:30PM so we wound up back at our hostel since we knew that served pizza still. While we were ordering our pizza a man, later to be known as Spencer, came up to us and asked if he could hang out with us while his friends took a smoke since he didn´t smoke. It seems like everyone in Europe somkes. yuck. Since we had no objections to having company while we ate we agreed.... if only we knew. haha just kidding.

Eventually his friends came back and joined our little group as well. Our food came and we pigged out cause we were starving at that point. There never was a dull moment that night that´s for sure. Too many things occured for me to even mention but lets just say we had to change subjects a lot. It turns out that our new friends all worked for the British Parliament so the running joke became that we met the government. Eventually we discovered that we had been thinking that London was in the same time zone as Spain only to fins out that it was an hour behind... Spencer chastised us for looking at the worlds most famous clock all day and not reading it... our excuse was we had no reason to with our wrist watches and all. Still slightly embarassing however.

Saturday we woke up with a mission. We caught  the tram out to Abbey Road after breakfast to see the famous Beatles crossing. We all signed our names and the wall and had a grand old time trying to get our pictures in inbetween other tourists and the everyday traffic. Afterwards we headed to Platform 9 3/4. Yes. I am that nerd who has to do that when she goes to London. Don´t care. It wasn´t very exciting but it was something to say you have done and that´s all that matters to me. Then we went to Camden Market, which just made me wish I was rich haha. So many cute things were there. We ate lunch in this area at an Oxford pub and I got a grilled chicken salad because they aren´t served in Spain and i had been craving one.

Next we took them tram to Portobello Street Market and did some more browsing. There was so much to see in this area as well. Lauren had left us at this point to grab supper with her uncle and family that lived in London. Sam and I ate at an Italian place, Da Maria, that had been suggested by a Spanish friend who studied in London for 6 months in the past. It might have been he best Italian i´ve ever had. After we tried to make it back in time to meet Lauren. Of course we had to pee, and of course we wanted to walk by Big Ben and the Eye at night, so of course we were late. But she was too so it worked out. We went out and found a pub, that was actually far away and just ordered a single drink and headed back to the hostel. London is expensive.

Sunday was our last half day in London and we wanted to make the best of it. We got up early and packed up and put our luggage in the storage lockers. To save money we walked, which took time and caused some strains in the dynamics of the group but we finally made it. The Birtish Musuem! First thing up. The Rosetta Stone! How cool is that? I loved just walking around the musuem and seeing the different things. I love history so I was right at home. Sadly we didn´t have much time because we had to go back to the hostel and then make it the bus pick up in time to make it to the airport. Dispite all our stress we made it in time and even had time to relax at the airport. I bought a white chocolate mocha and pumpkin bread! yes. London has pumpkin bread! It was great, since Spain doesn´t have it and all. I made it home a little late and felt bad for my señora since she had made food for me. But I had forgotten to tell her what time I would be arriving home so it was my own fault.

Sadly that day was the beginning of me being sick.... but more of that next time! Hope to add photos later.