It's been awhile, I know. But I can't deny that writing blog posts has been a little tough lately. Although I'm surrounded by amazing things and have so many incredible experiences, they constantly serve as a distraction from the tragic loss of my friend. As some of you know, the weekend before last I was supposed to go on a trip with Mackenzie. The whole weekend I couldn't get her off of my mind and nothing really seemed to help the pain. It's this moment that made everything real for me. I was finally confronted with the horrible truth, and I wasn't ready.
So I had to do something. Something for Mackenzie. Something for myself. I needed something to help me get past what I was feeling this weekend.
For a long time, I had debated getting a nose piercing (not like a bull's ring, just a little stud) but my mom always told me she would pull me out of college if I chose to do so. I would say this was a fairly good reason NOT to get a piercing, but I got to thinking, what would Mackenzie tell me to do? First, she would probably make fun of me for how cliche a nose stud is, but once the teasing was over and she knew it was something I really wanted to do, I can hear her voice telling me, "just do it! Hell ya!" Suddenly I felt compelled to do it in honor of her. Some people get tattoos, but I decided to get a piercing, in honor of my friend. I know it might seem weird, but in some strange way I think this is my little tribute to her, because I know she would be standing by my side cheering me on.
SORRY MOM! Please let me stay in school.
So I had to do something. Something for Mackenzie. Something for myself. I needed something to help me get past what I was feeling this weekend.
For a long time, I had debated getting a nose piercing (not like a bull's ring, just a little stud) but my mom always told me she would pull me out of college if I chose to do so. I would say this was a fairly good reason NOT to get a piercing, but I got to thinking, what would Mackenzie tell me to do? First, she would probably make fun of me for how cliche a nose stud is, but once the teasing was over and she knew it was something I really wanted to do, I can hear her voice telling me, "just do it! Hell ya!" Suddenly I felt compelled to do it in honor of her. Some people get tattoos, but I decided to get a piercing, in honor of my friend. I know it might seem weird, but in some strange way I think this is my little tribute to her, because I know she would be standing by my side cheering me on.
SORRY MOM! Please let me stay in school.
Disneyland Paris
The weekend of my scheduled trip with Mack, the other students on my program decided to go to Disneyland Paris which is a short metro ride outside of the city. It was the weekend of Halloween, so the park had a theme of villains. Claire convinced me to dress up as a villain and in the 15 minutes I had to get ready, I threw on all black, red lipstick and poofed my hair in an attempt to be ursula. I tried to sprint to catch the train but was rudely interrupted when my metro pass expired - cause that's a thing on November 1st. I went to the desk to ask the staff member to help me buy a new monthly pass. At 10 AM, it's a little strange when a girl comes to your window wearing bright red lipstick and all black, so he gave me an interesting look. He then proceeded to tell me how beautiful I was in french. When I finally suffered through the awkward interaction and got my pass, he blew me a kiss goodbye. When I finally found a seat on the train, the woman across from me had to do a triple check at my outfit before she could look away. So lesson in life: never wear red lipstick at 10 AM on a Saturday morning. When we arrived at the park, Maleficent appeared to announce that the villains had taken over the castle as they stormed out from the drawbridge. I think the 10 year old girl in me got way too excited, and my friends and I started screaming in a silent crowd (I'm still not sure what it takes to rile up french people, other than soccer). We spent the day riding rollercoasters (WHICH IS REALLY BIG FOR ME AND I RODE ALL OF THEM - except tower of terror heck no) and meeting disney characters. I gotta say, I didn't think much of Snow White's Evil Queen back in the day, but she was probably the coolest character I've ever met. We spent the entire saturday at the park and completely wore ourselves out, but it was a nice little getaway for a day.
Barcelona
This past weekend was our "fall break" for my french classes. Believe me, those quotation marks are completely necessary because my normal 5 day schedule had the ENORMOUS break of no school monday and tuesday! Sarcasm is oozing out of me. But this was the longest weekend we were given the entire semester without skipping any class. After some serious debate on where we would spend the weekend, we finally decided on Barcelona, which I couldn't have been more excited about because it was definitely on the top of my list. The cheapest flight option had us leaving friday morning and returning monday morning, giving us ample time to explore the city. Luckily, I had some awesome friends who gave me great recommendations on what to do, what to see, where to go and what to eat, so it made the trip pretty easy to figure out (shout out to everyone for the help).
We arrived on friday and headed directly to the hostel, which was a pleasant surprise. It appeared to be clean and have a lot of good amenities for the price that we paid. Yasmeen went up to find someone in her bed and after getting a room change, discovered she had been placed in a co-ed room instead of female only dorm. Later we came to find out that one of Ashley's roommates believed that she had gotten bed bugs from the night before and had terrible red dots all over her body. So yeah... the things they say about hostels are real. But don't worry we all made it through the weekend bed bug free and comfortably in a bed.
The first day, we walked down Las Ramblas, the main strip, and found a delicious restaurant to eat at. It was a tapas bar situated on the terrace of a building and the weather was perfect. We ate and headed down to the market located on Las Ramblas. It was completely filled with different stands from candy to gelato to butchers with VERY interesting cuts of meat to seafood to incredible looking smoothies for only 1 euro. We continued down Las Ramblas until we reached the pier. We arrived just at sunset and had a beautiful view of the water. We decided to go back through some side streets and discovered some cute little shops before heading back to the hostel. Later, we went to a bar that had been recommended by many friends, Ovella Negra, and ordered a 5 liter cooler of sangria for 30 euros total. Not only was the sangria delicious, but it was a completely different world than the expensive Paris that we were used to. While at the bar, we noticed that there were a lot of native french speakers. With a little liquid courage, we started a conversation with the people next to us. After talking with a girl for awhile in french, she actually complemented my speaking skills!! Hands down a highlight from this trip.
We arrived on friday and headed directly to the hostel, which was a pleasant surprise. It appeared to be clean and have a lot of good amenities for the price that we paid. Yasmeen went up to find someone in her bed and after getting a room change, discovered she had been placed in a co-ed room instead of female only dorm. Later we came to find out that one of Ashley's roommates believed that she had gotten bed bugs from the night before and had terrible red dots all over her body. So yeah... the things they say about hostels are real. But don't worry we all made it through the weekend bed bug free and comfortably in a bed.
The first day, we walked down Las Ramblas, the main strip, and found a delicious restaurant to eat at. It was a tapas bar situated on the terrace of a building and the weather was perfect. We ate and headed down to the market located on Las Ramblas. It was completely filled with different stands from candy to gelato to butchers with VERY interesting cuts of meat to seafood to incredible looking smoothies for only 1 euro. We continued down Las Ramblas until we reached the pier. We arrived just at sunset and had a beautiful view of the water. We decided to go back through some side streets and discovered some cute little shops before heading back to the hostel. Later, we went to a bar that had been recommended by many friends, Ovella Negra, and ordered a 5 liter cooler of sangria for 30 euros total. Not only was the sangria delicious, but it was a completely different world than the expensive Paris that we were used to. While at the bar, we noticed that there were a lot of native french speakers. With a little liquid courage, we started a conversation with the people next to us. After talking with a girl for awhile in french, she actually complemented my speaking skills!! Hands down a highlight from this trip.
The next morning, we headed to Park Guell which is famous for Gaudi's architecture. We came to find out that you have to purchase a ticket for a specific time to visit the Park, but it was totally worth it. I had never seen anything like Gaudi's architecture before and it was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't as pleasing and the Parisian rain decided to follow us all the way to Barcelona. After Park Guell, we headed to the Sagrada Familia that we had heard was incredible. When we got out of the metro, the church was behind us and just the first look alone was absolutely breathtaking. We decided to get some food before heading to the church because we hadn't had the chance for a real meal yet that day. We had wanted to avoid touristy food and tried to find some authentic and delicious places. The location near the sagrada familia gave us some trouble deciding where to eat, and with 6 girls, it can be difficult to all agree. After the hanger was getting to our heads, we stumbled upon a burger place that ended up being exactly what we needed. Although I was in Barcelona, I had the best burger I may have ever eaten. When we returned to the sagrada familia around 5 PM, they were already closing off the line and we were told to return tomorrow. A little bummed, we headed to Monjuïc and the Font Màgica. We decided to take public transportation to Monjuïc which dropped us off in the middle of a poorly lit, wooded park close to night time. It was a bit weird, and we had no idea where we were. When I was stupidly attempting to decipher a catalonian bus sign, a nice catalonian man gave us instructions on how to reach the fountain. Right around the corner, was an incredible display of fountains continuing down the road. Ashley had told us earlier that the fountain lights up and changes patterns for a little show and we had noticed a small crowd forming so we decided to wait it out until the top of the hour. The small crowd quickly transformed into thousands of people and the fountain came alive. First, the fountain changed colors and morphed to a Barcelona anthem, then it began a mix of popular songs - mostly american. The show was incredible and we couldn't help but sit and watch the whole thing. It was absolutely beautiful!
Our last full day in Barcelona, we got up and headed directly to Cuidad Condal, a restaurant recommended by Michael's housemate. We ordered a bunch of different tapas, included patatas bravas, fried potatoes covered in garlic aioli and served with a red dipping sauce. I swear these things were like heaven in your mouth and I probably could have devoured 12 plates of them. Did I mention this meal was only 10 euros? Yeaaaaa pretty incredible. Next we went back to the Sagrada Familia and waited in line for a short while to get a ticket inside. This place was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in real life. We spent a significant amount of time in one grand hall completely mesmerized by the architecture around us. The church started construction over 100 years ago and it still is not completed. My camera did a great job, but this is one of those things you just can't capture in a photo.
After the sagrada familia, it was time to head back to the hostel in order for Lily and her friend, Haley, to grab their flight back to Dublin. We decided to spend our last hour together hunting down churros. Unfortunately, 5 PM on a Sunday afternoon is probably the worst time to run around looking for an open spanish restaurant. Each place we tried was either closed or didn't sell churros, and everyone was tired and grumpy. FINALLY the last place we tried informed us that they did IN FACT have churros (PRAISE THE LAWWWWD). We told them that was what we wanted and they gave us a seat. Little did we know that they translated that to "every single person wants their own plate of churros" so low and behold 6 plates of churros were brought to our table. Can't say I was mad to have a plate of spanish donuts with hot melted chocolate to myself though...
Barcelona was an incredible adventure and I feel so lucky that I had the chance to explore it with some awesome people. Friday, I'm heading to DUBLIN, IRELAND to again reunite with my love, Lily! I absolutely cannot wait and I know it will be a great weekend.
AR!
Our last full day in Barcelona, we got up and headed directly to Cuidad Condal, a restaurant recommended by Michael's housemate. We ordered a bunch of different tapas, included patatas bravas, fried potatoes covered in garlic aioli and served with a red dipping sauce. I swear these things were like heaven in your mouth and I probably could have devoured 12 plates of them. Did I mention this meal was only 10 euros? Yeaaaaa pretty incredible. Next we went back to the Sagrada Familia and waited in line for a short while to get a ticket inside. This place was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in real life. We spent a significant amount of time in one grand hall completely mesmerized by the architecture around us. The church started construction over 100 years ago and it still is not completed. My camera did a great job, but this is one of those things you just can't capture in a photo.
After the sagrada familia, it was time to head back to the hostel in order for Lily and her friend, Haley, to grab their flight back to Dublin. We decided to spend our last hour together hunting down churros. Unfortunately, 5 PM on a Sunday afternoon is probably the worst time to run around looking for an open spanish restaurant. Each place we tried was either closed or didn't sell churros, and everyone was tired and grumpy. FINALLY the last place we tried informed us that they did IN FACT have churros (PRAISE THE LAWWWWD). We told them that was what we wanted and they gave us a seat. Little did we know that they translated that to "every single person wants their own plate of churros" so low and behold 6 plates of churros were brought to our table. Can't say I was mad to have a plate of spanish donuts with hot melted chocolate to myself though...
Barcelona was an incredible adventure and I feel so lucky that I had the chance to explore it with some awesome people. Friday, I'm heading to DUBLIN, IRELAND to again reunite with my love, Lily! I absolutely cannot wait and I know it will be a great weekend.
AR!