Life in Barcelona

Okay, people, I am a terrible blogger! I can't tell you how busy I've been since spring break, and I probably should be studying or writing some of my papers...oh well. Anyway, it's been a whirlwind the last three weeks or so! Just after spring break, my best friend Lauren from home came to Barcelona and I got to see her for a night. Then my good friend Kelly O'Connor came, and we had an amazing weekend! That same weekend, March 29-30, the program took us on two trips - on Saturday we went wine tasting, and on Sunday we went on a boat trip to Costa Brava - so pretty! I don't have a lot of time, so pics will be minimal, but you can see them all when I get home in only 13 days...I can't believe it!

Penedes for wine tasting was so much fun. We first went to Cordoniu where they make cava (champagne in Spain- you can only call it champagne if it's made in France), took a tour of the factory (if that's what you would call it), and got to taste some! Then we took a bus to Sitges, where they dropped us off for lunch for three hours (big mistake- we drank and danced on the beach!). After the beach, we finally went to Penedes and took a wine tasting class, where we learned about smelling and tasting the wine correctly. I couldn't really tell you what I learned; I never smelled the right things, and our guide commented on the fact that we were very talkative and giggly (that's what happens when you drink wine all day, hello!). But it was a great trip and a great bonding experience for the group.

Saturday was the boat trip... it was actually kind of boring and longggg, but the scenery and weather were beautiful and we plugged our ipods into the boat speakers and had ourselves a dance party on the boat! Lots of people (not me!) got into the water which was FREEZING and swam around a bit, but that was really the extent of it.

The next weekend (April 4-6), my sorority sister, Katie, and I went to Florence to visit three of our other sisters who are studying there. Our other sister who's in Madrid also joined us, so it was really special. We had such a great time together, and even though I had already been to Florence, I was really excited to go again because I really love it there! We walked on the Ponte Vecchio, walked up to Piazza Michelangelo to get a beautiful view of the city, sat in Boboli Gardens, and did a lottt of shopping!! It was sooo good to see them- it gave me a great feeling of home and rekindled my love for Europe (I had been getting a little homesick), and made me really excited for the last three weeks of Barcelona.

Unfortunately, last weekend I came down with the flu and wasn't able to get a lot of work done, so this week has been really stressful. My senora has been so great taking care of me, though- I'm going to be so sad to leave her. I've already had two presentations this week and now I need to get down to business because I have two ten-page papers and two exams Monday and Tuesday next week!! So, this will probably either be my last or second-to-last entry. I can't believe my last weekend here is coming up. The semester has gone by sooo fast, but it feels like forever since I've been in America. This has been such an amazing experience, but I am looking forward to coming home and eating a cheeseburger!!

Love you all and see you VERY soon!

Hola everyone! I’m so sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written. I imagined I’d be soo good at keeping this up, but I guess not! Anyway, I have been so busy with midterms, projects, and lots of traveling, so this is a long one!

On March 1st, the program took us to Valencia for the day. It was a beautiful day, and Valencia is a gorgeous city, but to me, the trip wasn’t really worth it. It was a three-hour train ride each way, and I had so much work to do that weekend! But, it was still a nice city. We took a walking tour which included a church that claims to hold the actual Holy Grail (see picture), but I find that hard to believe! After the tour, we went to a place called La Ciudad de las Ciencias (Science City) where there was an aquarium and a museum. We didn’t go to the museum, but the aquarium was pretty legit (also in the pics).

The next week consisted of a lot of tests and papers (starting again this week and next week)! Then March 6th-9th, a bunch of us went to Amsterdam. I really loved the atmosphere there! We saw the Anne Frank House, the Van Gogh Museum, and went on a boat tour of the canal. We also had lunch at a great falafel place called Maoz that Christine suggested! Overall, it was a really great trip!!

On March 12th, I left very early (on a Wednesday!) with my friends Katie M, Jen, and Dave for Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands for part 1 of our spring break! Our other friends, Katie S, Molly, Stephanie, Kayne, and Dan arrived Thursday night. We were pleasantly surprised by our hotel (we hadn’t had a lot of luck with hotels up until this point)! It was really nice and all-inclusive, so we got drinks all day, three meals, and two snacks! So amazing! There were like three or four different pools and it was only about a five-minute walk to the beach! We basically spent most of our six days laying by the pool after breakfast, eating lunch, walking to the beach and playing around there, coming back to the hotel to shower and get ready for the night, eating dinner, sitting outside watching the entertainment at the hotel, and more than likely going and doing karaoke, our favorite activity of the week! Haha, the boys were sooo funny, especially our friend Dave who is normally extremely introverted but really took to that mic… we had so much fun!!!! A highlight of the trip was riding camels – seriously!! I don’t have any pictures but will send some as soon as I get them from my friends. It was so gross and so weird, but definitely a good experience! There is a video of me somewhere that shows the camel behind me kind of resting his head on my shoulder – soooo disgusting – and me saying, “oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, I HATE THIS!” Pretty comical. Anyway, the Canaries were amazing, always at least 80 degrees and sunny, and so relaxing!

We came back to Barcelona Tuesday night, the 18th and stayed there for the night. March 19th, we flew into Rome. It was my first experience in a hostel, so I was a little worried, but it ended up being pretty good! It was four of us – me, Katie S, Molly, and Jen in one room and we also had our own bathroom. That night, we just had a glass of wine at the bar in the hostel because we had a big day ahead of us! Thursday, we ended up taking a guided tour of the Vatican Museum to skip the three-hour line. (Why we went to Italy on Easter weekend, I’ll never know!) The Vatican was obviously beautiful, but I unfortunately got sick and barely made it to the Sistine Chapel before I needed to go back to the hostel. So, I missed the majority of the day, which I’m really disappointed about, but I guess I’ll just have to go back someday!... Friday, we did the Coliseum and the Foro Romano. All of it was really cool, and now I need to learn all about it (maybe after finals!). We also went to Plaza España in Rome and sat on the Spanish steps (also a picture) before we rushed to the train station to head to Florence. We took the slow train there to save some money, which was a good decision because we were in definite need of a nap! Once in Florence, we were again surprised by our hostel, but this time it was because they gave us pretty much a whole apartment to ourselves – seriously, there were two rooms with four beds each, a living room, a small kitchen, and a bathroom! It was a little weird, but we took it. We took it easy in Florence. Molly’s best friend is studying there, so we hung out with her a lot and Saturday she took us on a walking tour of the city. I loved it there.. it’s the only other place I could imagine living! I’m excited that my sorority sister, Katie M. and I are going back with our other sister Katie from Madrid to visit the other girls in Florence the first weekend in April!! Saturday night, Jen and I attempted to go to Mass at the Duomo (so pretty), but it was in Italian, obviously, and we were very confused – I think we went to half a Vigil and half a Mass, but we tried! Sunday morning, we left really early for Pisa, saw the tower and flew back to Barcelona, and I am so happy to be back and to get back into a semi-schedule.

Tonight, I’m taking a final, so one class will be finished! My best friend Lauren (the one who’s really good at Catch Phrase!) is coming from Florence on Thursday, and Kelly O’Connor, my good friend from high school is coming on Friday. Saturday, the program is taking us to a wine tasting in Penedés and a boat trip on Sunday, so I have a busy week and will have lots to write about, if I find the time! Until then, I love you all so much—only five short weeks until I get home!!!
Love, Kara

We went to Paris last weekend, and it was so amazing! (At least the days were, the nights were a little dramatic. Tip: Don't put five girls in one hotel room.) We left Barcelona Thursday afternoon and arrived in Paris in the evening. The girls and I (the boys were not nice this weekend, so we're not planning any more trips with them..they hold us back anyway) went straight to the Eiffel Tower, which was so beautiful at night. We went to the top, which was so cool because the whole city was lit up.

Friday we woke up early and had a full day. We went to the Louvre in the morning and saw the Italian art. I have a slight obsession with DaVinci, so for me, that was pretty cool. We had lunch outside by the pyramid- also very cool. We then strolled through the gardens by the Louvre and walked around the city until we hit the Arc de Triomphe. After, we headed back to the Eiffel Tower to get some day pictures. While we were there, there was a movie being shot, so we checked out the set for awhile. We decided to go back to the Louvre to explore another room and randomly met the boys in our program on the way. Back at the Louvre we saw the Egyptian art, but it was pretty late and we were getting tired and cranky (hence the drama) and went back to the hotel.

Saturday we slept in a little bit and headed out to the Notre Dame Cathedral at about noon. It was so beautiful and so much fun. We had lunch in a park near Notre Dame. After, we walked to the Basilica, which was SO PRETTY. It was probably the most gorgeous day in Paris ever: blue skies, sun shining.. At the steps of the Basilica, there was a band playing, so we sat and listened for probably two hours. It was so much fun. We then walked around the city for a long time. I went back to the hotel and some people tried to go shopping, but the stores close there a lot earlier than in Barcelona.

We woke up early Sunday to get to the airport, but it was such an incredible weekend. I love Paris, and I definitely want to go back A LOT later!

All my love,
Kara

Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written, but internet is a no go most days, and I’ve been sooo busy with class and projects and trips!

On Saturday, February 2, a bunch of us from the program went to Sitges for Carnaval. Unfortunately, it was raining, so we didn’t spend a lot of time outside or at the beach, so I really want to go back when it gets a little warmer. But Carnaval was a lot of fun. Sitges is about a 30-minute train ride from Barcelona. We rented a room, but too many people ended up wanting to be there, so I came back on the 3:30am train with about 15 people. Sitges was crazy. The streets were PACKED with people dressed up in everything you can imagine. We didn’t really dress up because it was going to be kind of expensive/we didn’t have a lot of time to prepare, but it was still a lot of fun. After everyone arrived, we all got ready together in the room and then went to dinner and out. We really just wandered the streets looking at everyone’s costumes. Fun times.

Last weekend, our whole program went to Madrid, which was amazing, but I’m still really happy that I chose Barcelona. It was weird because while I was there, I missed Barca, but while I’m in Barca, I miss home. Our program director says it’s because Barcelona is starting to feel more like home, which is true, because it’s getting harder and harder for me to accept that I have to go back to real life at IU in a few short months.

We left for Madrid Friday morning at 9am and the train ride was five hours – not bad. We had some free time and then went on a walking tour of the city. We lucked out with the weather – normally it’s a lot cooler there than Barca, but this weekend it was 65 and sunny! Plus, our tour guide was AMAZING. She was soo smart and so good at her job. I learned so much and was really enthralled the whole time. After the walking tour, we had more free time, rested, got ready, and went to dinner. The nice thing was that the trip was included in the program, so we got food vouchers and didn’t have to spend a lot of money. Friday night, we went to a bar called the Cave, which looked like a cave inside. It was pretty fun..I even ran into one of my sorority sisters, so that was nice.

We barely slept and then took a tour of the Museo Prado Saturday morning and saw works by Velazquez, Goya, and El Greco. Again, the tour was incredible, and I finally found some art that I like!! After the museum, we went to El Retiro, a beautiful park, and walked around before lunch. The park also a Crystal Palace, which was really just a building made of glass, but it was really pretty. After lunch, we went on a tour of el Palacio Real, where the Spanish Monarchy used to live. We unfortunately weren’t allowed to take photos inside, but the outside is still incredible, and I have plenty of that. I seriously learned so much, and it already helped today in my art class! That night, we went to a 7-story discoteca called Kapital. It was fun, but soo overwhelming, a little too much and too expensive for my taste. I’m glad I had the experience, but I can’t imagine going somewhere like that again.

Sunday we had a free day, but still had to wake up early to check out. (I slept about a total of 8 hours in three days in Madrid.) After checkout, we spent most of the day at a flea market..they had some cool stuff – I got a scarf and some sunglasses. Afterward, we hit Plaza Espana which had a really pretty fountain and then headed back to the train station to go back to Barca. I was soo tired and then put some face time in with my senora until like 11pm so Monday and Tuesday I was dead to the world, but it was worth it with such a good weekend.

My sorority sisters Julie, Heather, and Cara who are in Florence this semester are coming to visit this weekend, so I’m getting really excited about that. And next weekend, a bunch of us are going to Paris, so it’s our first big trip. We’ll see how well we handle it.. That’s all for now. Hopefully I’ll be able to update sooner than last time. I miss you and love you all dearly!!

Love,
Kara

Well, the highlight of the last week has definitely been my trip to Montserrat, which means serrated mountain. It's about an hour outside of Barcelona and home to a monastery and boarding school. We took the metro, a train, and a cable car to get up about 4,000 feet. As you probably know, I am deathly scared of heights and clung for dear life to my friend Eric for the whole trip up. Once we got up there, there was so much to see that I almost forgot my fear.

The church was absolutely beautiful, but unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures in there. There is a little city on the mountain with shops and everything..the students at the boarding school (boys training to be monks??) live there full time. We walked around all day and took tons of pics- both my and my friend Marla's cameras died, but I did all the photography with Eric's, and we'll upload them tomorrow! I really don't think there is a more beautiful place..definitely the best place I've been to so far.

As we were walking up the paths higher and higher up the mountain, the others decided to trailblaze and climb a little. I definitely hesitated at first, but eventually gave in, which I'm so happy about. We were above the clouds and could see the whole city. I can't wait to post these pictures-- it was such an enlightening and amazing experience.

We have more Spanish tests this week, and we are in the middle of planning our trips to Paris and Amsterdam! This weekend the girls and I are having girls-only festivities because even in Barcelona, I can't seem to escape the drama But everything is good and my friends are still amazing.

Miss you all like crazy- Have a good week!!
Love, Kara