Here's What's New in My Life
FRANCE | Sunday, 8 May 2005 | Views [447]
So let me give all of you a little recap of what I have been
experiencing in the last couple of weeks...After Sevilla we headed to
Granada for 2 days. This is another amazing city, which I hope to be
able to spend more time in someday. We spent a lot of our time exploring
the dirt and cobblestone roads, which wound uphill towards the best view
of the city. On either side of these streets were little shops selling
tea, insence and other sorts of middle eastern influenced items. We also
went to a tea room there and probably one of my favorite experiences of
the trip so far was attending flamenco dancing in the gypsy caves in
this city. Next we were off to Barcelona, a city that I did not find to
be as exciting as the other places we had visited. Luckily, by the end
of the week I had a better impression of the city. Our hotel here was
only 2 blocks away from the main street- La Ramblas, which is lined with
cafes, news stands, flower shops and even an outdoor pet market! We also
visited the Sagrada Familia in the city, which is a cathedral designed
by Gaudi. It was an amazing work of art and my friends and I are already
planning our reunion trip in 50 years when the cathedral should be
completed, so that we can see the finished work. Some other highlights
from Barcelona were attending an opera of Midsummer nights dream, a boat
tour on the mediterranean and a spur of the moment day trip to a town
called Sitges. Here we lounged in the sun and walked on the beach until
the sun set at night. I dipped my feet in the ocean just so that I could
say I had been in the Mediterranean, but it was still a little bit too
chilly to swim. Oh, I also got to visit the Dali museum, but we had
miscalculated the train time so we only ended up having time to stay for
25 minutes! It was really upsetting, but everytime I feel like I miss
out on something here or I don't get to spend enough time somewhere, I
just tell myself that it is more motivation to come back!
After Barcelona we were off to Paris. It was really sad for me to
say good-bye to Spain because it had been such an amazing country. Each
city was incredible and unique in its own way. Plus, I really loved
their laid back way of life and their late nights and siestas too. In
Paris I often woke up at times, which in Spain would have been the time
I would go to bed! Luckily, Paris was such an amazing city that I didn't
have much time to think about missing Espana. Almost every day we went
to see the Eiffel Tower-sometimes even twice! At night, on the hour it
sparkles for 10 minutes so 2 nights in a row me and my friends took a
blanket down there to watch the show. I also got to see the Arc d'
Triomphe, the famous street Champs d' Elysses, the Louvre, Musee d
'Orsay, Versaille, Giverny (the gardens that inspired Monet's paintings)
and Notre Dame. In fact, on Sunday me and my friends went to mass at
Notre Dame and that afternoon we bought wine, cheese, bread and fruit
and had a picnic for 5 hrs in front of the Eiffel Tower. Probably one of
my favorite days was when I woke up early and went to the cemetary by
myself. It was so much fun to ride on the metro with all of the people
of Paris heading off to work. It was a little scary being in the
cemetary all by myself, but it was still worth the trip. I got to visit
the grave of Jim Morrison, who was the lead singer of the Doors. A few
other famous people are buried at this same cemetary, but I did not have
time to search for their graves because I had to make it to class. That
afternoon I went to the Orsay and saw paintings by Degas, Monet, and
Vincent Van Gogh. That night I attended a ballet of Cinderella at the
Paris Opera house. My experience in Paris was very busy. Each day was
jam packed with stuff to do, but I have many wonderful things to
remember (and lots of pictures to show off when I get home too!)
My latest adventure took place yesterday. We arrived in Vienna on
Friday, after a 16 hr train ride. That night we attended a Vagner opera
entitled "The Flying Dutchman." It was incredible! However, we had to
stand the entire time so by the end of the performance I was having a
hard time staying focused. Anyways, back to my adventure...I woke up
Sat. morning at 5:30 and went with 3 of my friends to catch a bus to
Prague! It was a 5 hour bus ride, but it was definitely worth it! Prague
is an incredible city, and I was really sad to have only spent a little
over 24 hours there. I was so proud of all of us for being so
adventurous and embarking on this trip. It was really quite the
experience because many people there do not speak English or German and
we did not know a single word of Czech. Despite our short time there, we
managed to fit a lot in. We saw the Charles bridge and some of the other
famous landmarks of the city. We also attended a classical concert, went
to the biggest Irish pub in Prague and the biggest dance club in Middle
Europe (5 dance clubs all in one building). Prague is definitely a city
I want to go back to soon. It was so beautiful, I loved the culture and
it was so different from anything else I have experienced on this trip.
Well, I think I have rambled on long enough about what is new with
me. I am having a spectacular time, I feel like all of the students I am
traveling with are part of my family. We are all so close to eachother,
which seems impossible with so many of us. We really are an amazing
group of people-friendly, openminded and ready to embrace new
experiences and roll with the punches.
