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Published: October 28th 2007
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In the aquarium
Some things are always the same. We got into Barcelona just fine. We took the metro from the train station, and found our way to our hostel. Barcelona is a huge city. Their metro is really easy to figure out though, and once we got off at our stop we asked someone for directions and checked into the hostel. We dropped off our bags and walked down La Rambla, which is a tourist attraction in itself. The street is lined by stores and restaurants, and when you walk down the middle of the street you're surrounded by tourists, street performers, and pets for sale. There's nothing like seeing pigeons, chickens, and chipmunks for sale across from a woman dressed up like some terrifying statue. We ate lunch at a Hard Rock Cafe, which is one of the very few times we have eaten or will eat American food during these three months.
We made our way down La Rambla to the aquarium, which is supposedly the second largest in Europe. It's got nothing on the Omaha Zoo. It seems I shouldn't bother going to zoos in other places, because it's very unlikely that it will be more extensive than what's in Omaha. Yay Nebraska! We had
Park Güell
Apparently America's Next Top Model was there one season . . . fun though, and there were some English children saying things like "look at all the Nemos" in the cutest accents imaginable. After our time at the aquarium we went back to the hostel, showered, and dressed for dinner. We went out for tapas and then drinks at a different bar. The cities got progressively colder over the course of this week, and we got more and more tired, so we turned in fairly early. The hostel in Barcelona was nice because they spoke English (the amount of English around us increased as the trip progressed); however, our dorm was a mixed eight person room. There were four other boys in the room with us the first night. This was fine, as we were rarely in the room together, but one of their cell phones went off five times between seven and eight in the morning. It was terrible.
We got up around eight thirty and went to Park Güell and the Sagrada Familia church. These were both designed by the architect Gaudì. I really liked the park. It was quite a walk around the whole thing, but his work is reminiscent of Dr Seuss. We spent the morning there,
then had lunch and went to the Poble Espanyol, which is a fake village. We need to look up a little more about the significance of this place, but it was cool to walk around. We were exhausted through most of Barcelona, so we bought some groceries and shared a box of cereal between the three of us for dinner. We chatted for a little while with our new roommates for the night, three boys and two girls, and went to sleep. We had a very early plane to Paris. We had to take a bus to the airport because it was Ryanair and therefore an obscure airport far away. We made it there, and on our plane to Paris all in one piece though. My converter disappeared in Barcelona; I'm not sure if someone else picked it up, or if I just misplaced it, but it's gone. Right now I'm borrowing one of my roommates' and tomorrow I'm going to get a new one. I really liked that converter because it was really useful and usable anywhere, but it was the only thing that we lost the entire trip, so I guess I'm okay with that.
Paris was
The Hamlet
so pretty. incredible. We were so happy to be in our last city, things were beautiful, and Becky got to be in charge of communication. She took French, and it was really helpful having someone who could ask for directions and read signs, though most of the signs also had English on them. The hostel in Paris was quite nice, and the first night we had our four person dorm to ourselves. The first day we just got to our hostel, then went to the Louvre because it's free Friday nights for people under 26. We walked around the top two floors, looking at paintings, and, of course, went down to see the Greek and Roman sculptures and the Venus de Milo. After that we met a friend of Becky's, who is actually from the Twin Cities, and had a mildly expensive and fabulous dinner.
The next day we went to Versailles, which was one of the coolest places we saw the whole trip. On the other hand, I can't believe how many fantastic things we saw this week. Anyway, we walked around the palace and the gardens and went out to where Marie Antoinette had a Swiss village recreated, as
well as their summer homes. It was so peaceful in Marie Antoinette's hamlet. She may have been out of touch with the people, but she certainly had good taste. It was beautiful out there. We probably walked a good five miles that morning, if not more, and were pretty tired anyway. We came back to the city, and went to the Eiffel Tower.
Ann got into Paris yesterday (Saturday) afternoon, and we were in touch via my dying cell phone (I forgot my charger). We played phone tag while Becky, Stephanie, and I hung out around the Eiffel Tower, and when she called me and told me she was there I said "I'll meet you under the Eiffel Tower . . . " It was so exciting. I walked up from where we had been sitting and I saw Ann from behind, looking up at the tower. I started running over to her and she turned around. Stephanie and Ann have pictures from shortly after that moment on their cameras, but I don't. I'll get them eventually. It was so exciting and perfect. We hugged and I almost cried. To think we became friends sharing experiences in eighth grade,
Ann and I
We walked away from the tower to get a picture with the whole building. and all through high school, diff classes and speech . . . and here we are, juniors in college, studying abroad, and meeting for an evening in Paris.
We wandered over to the Musee d'Orsay, but it had just closed, which was quite sad. I think I'll probably be back to Paris someday though, so I'll go back. We went to have crepes for dinner, and Becky headed to the hostel to rest a little and shower. Ann, Stephanie, and I had dinner and talked for an hour and a half, and Becky somehow found us at the creperie where we were eating. It was kind of incredible that she found us there, because she didn't know exactly where we would be, just the metro stop we were close to, and apparently our cell numbers weren't going through. This trip presented challenges to us daily! Anyway, we had a crepes for dinner and dessert, and then met Nicko and his girlfriend for drinks after. She's also here for the semester and is really nice. We found a bar and hung out until one in the morning. Karen accompanied Becky, Stephanie and I back to our hostel, and Nicko made
High school friends
Me, Ann, and Nicko. It was so good to see them. sure Ann got back safely to hers. It was so good seeing Nicko; it's been a long time, and I was overwhelmed with emotion at one point. Those two are such incredible people, and I'm so glad I know them. My high school experience was such a good one, and the people I got to be around are so articulate and interesting. I miss the kinds of conversations that come so naturally to my high school friends, though those conversations happen all the time at Macalester as well. Stephanie really liked Ann and Nicko too, and it's always fun when you get to introduce friends from different parts of your life to one another.
Anyway, we had an early bus to get to the tiny Beauvais airport in the morning, so we only slept for about three and a half hours, and Stephanie and I never bothered showering in Paris. I felt pretty gross today until I got home and into the bathtub. It's night now, my laundry is done and I'm enjoying the warmth of my bed. There are seven weeks left of studying abroad. Next weekend Karly is coming to visit, then Grandma Joan. I'm so excited to show off Perugia! Then I'm going to visit Becky in Sussex, then Ann in Aix-en-Provence, then friends in London, and it will be the weekend before finals. It's been really wonderful, and I'm sure there are still incredible things to come, but I feel right now like I'm just living some incredible life; I love it. Things are good wherever I am, and I'm missing things wherever I'm not. Oh well.
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joan nigro
non-member comment
I am in awe!
I can't believe all the wonderful things you've seen and the great experiences! I am impressed. I am anxious for Perugia and our time together; DC was fun but this will really be special!Love,GJ