Need Food, Send Money!

a Day in Bruges

2008-05-28T08:41:00.000-07:00

Our first full day in Belgium we decided to take a day trip to Bruges.

First and foremost we had to figure out the train there.....

here is Allison carefully studying the train schedule....
and me being very skeptical that we are going to get there problemless....
Once we got there, we wandered around a bit, looking at the scenery.

now....in Bruges were put out faith (and sense of direction) into the hands of Rick Steves (he writes travel books...) and in this very attractive picture of me, we are LOST and i am very upset at Rick for only putting HAND DRAWN maps in the book!!! (we have a very LOVE/HATE relationship with Rick....)there are chocolate shops everywhere (HEAVEN) and in this shop, this woman was made completely out of chocolate!!!!!
so after we walked into like 20 chocolate shops in AWE we wandered the city and did some sightseeing....

then, we took a canal tour of Bruges, and got soaking wet from the other boats (no one warned us it was like a Disney ride!)

after our boat ride, we decided it was time for a picnic. So we got some fries from a little stand that are apparently very popular and something you HAVE to try (they were very good) but we accidentally finished them before we got to our picnic.....
then we went into a chocolate shop to get Part 2 of the picnic....
and then into a store to get wine...Part 3...and I had to open the bottle in the store (very classy) with the cashier just staring at me with the funniest look on his face...
our wonderful picnic! (does it get much better then wine and chocolate?? i dont think so....)

after our picnic we headed back to Brussels and had a wonderful dinner that Allisons cousin cooked for us.

Our day in Bruges was a great success. and I really liked it there.

Belgium

2008-05-26T02:24:00.000-07:00

What is there to say about Belgium?

the architecture is gorgeous....

and we went on art Nouveau tour - a style of architecture that was very popular in Belgium....

at one of the buildings we saw, there was this gorgeous lake next to it, with a grotto and fountain.

on the last day we were there it was a day where no cars could drive into the center of the city and there was a festival going on! this man was playing music out of his little cart, he was hilarious.

and this is the most popular statue in Brussels. It is a little boy peeing!

there arent a lot of pictures from Brussels. We spent a lot of the time there meeting Allisons family that she had never met and that was very cool.

But Brussels was very pretty and a very nice city.

The time has finally come....

2008-05-26T01:41:00.000-07:00

for me to get my shit together and get updating!!

I apologize for the delay. My internet was not working at my friends apartment. But seeing as I have a few hours to kill at the airport, lets see some cool pictures.

Copenhagen = amusement parks, Coldstone, 7-11, breweries, shanty hippie towns, Little Mermaid, and day drinking. Glorious.

The first night we were there, we took a little trip to the amusement park!! It was so much fun and I ran around the entire time like a crazy person....

there was a pirate ship restaurant, but it was too expensive to eat there. So i had to settle for making pirate faces with a fake pirate and in front of the ship.....

I was the oldest person on this ride by like 15 years. No joke. It was hilarious.
Allison loving on the bumper cars...
Al and I on one of the many rollercoasters
the AWESOME swings we went on!!
a pirate RIDE!! you cant really tell, but I am getting ready to sit down into my pirate ship...
Ok, there was a COLDSTONE!! in COPENHAGEN!! seriously?! granted it is the first in Europe. still....we were like WHAT?!
then, we were sad because there was a sign for Spanish churros, and we miss Spain. (thats my sad face....)
Allison and I curious if we are tall enough to ride all the rides....(dont worry, we were....barely)

pretty tulips....

oh yes. at Coldstone, Milky Way bars are called Yankee Bars. We thought that was pretty humorous.

Day 2 was spent mostly just wandering the city and getting drunk in the middle of the day.

this is Little Amsterdam.
where the queen lives and such.
a cool, famous fountain.

the Little Mermaid statue (yes, like the Disney movie. Hans Christen Andersen, who wrote it, is from Copenhagen and they are very proud of this fact)
pretty.
The day then took an uneducational twist as we ventured to the brewery.
largest beer collection in the world....
impressive, huh?
a fake, little, Little Mermaid statue in the brewery....odd.
some fun quotes decorating the walls....

yes, it was the CARLsburg brewery. I got excited. (Hi Carl!)
Allison enjoying one of her free beers....

Day 3 was more wandering. But we didnt have as much time. So we went and found this really cool church where the stairs wind up the outside of the tower.
then we found Christiana. A little hippie village in the middle of Copenhagen. you couldnt take pictures in there bc of all the drug dealing (serious.) but there was some pretty cool graffiti i got pictures of..

So that, in a nutshell, is Copenhagen. It was WARM and different then I thought it would be. Definently a place I would get back to.

Ok, time to go catch my plane!!
See you sooon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-05-11T16:09:00.001-07:00

so i know im jumping ahead, but something very exciting happened tonight!!!

ok, so here is the rushed, excited version of what happened....

so i got into dublin today (exciting in itself, i know) we landed at like 7, and we came to our hostel, got checked in and decided to head out to dinner

so we were walking past a concert venue and i looked at the sign and it said "iron and wine, may 11" (if you dont know who they are....AUD.....go to youtube and check them out, they are wonderful)

and i turned to Allison and said "IS IT MAY 11?!?!"

and the security guard was like "yes it is" and i said "I LOVE IRON AND WINE!" and he was like "well come in"

and we were like "well....how much is it?"

and they said "free, take these wristbands and come with us"

so were like ok! so we got wristbands and got to go to the front row and see iron and wine!!!
the show was GREAT and wonderful and awesome, and on the way out we asked a girl how much tickets were, just to see and they were 29 euro!!

so far, im OBSESSED with Dublin and I havent even seen anything Irish other then the people!!!

Berlin, Germany

2008-05-10T12:44:00.000-07:00

yes, yes I know, the title is rather uncreative, but hopefully I can make the rest of the post more entertaining....

So Berlin....
i think our tour guide said it best... "The Berlin wall came down only 18 years ago. So in many senses Berlin is like an 18 year old. It is a time for experimentation."

Day 1
It started out much like Day 1 in Munich. We got to Berlin very early in the morning, around 7, and since we couldn't check in yet, we went on another Free Tour.

Brandenburg Gate (on Paris Platz)
The Reichstag (house of Parliment)
Jewish Holocaust Memorial. This memorial was very different from many of the other ones we have seen, there was no sign saying what it was, it was just there....i liked it.

i know this looks like I accidentally took a picture of the street, but under the pavement here is where the bunker that Adolf Hitler killed himself in used to be (morbid, I know)

The Berlin Wall

Checkpoint Charlie - the US checkpoint between East and West Berlin, it obviously isnt functional anymore, its just there for show. Our tour guide also told us some cool stories about how people escaped into west Berlin
a pretty plaza

Again, looks like I took a picture on accident, but this is the plaza where the Nazis did the book burning. The college you can see in the background, they fell so bad that they supported the Nazis and supported the book burning that everyday there are people out front selling books. I think that is kinda cool

Church on Museum Island
That night we went on a bar crawl. It was an interesting night where we met many interesting poeple....and here they are....

this is Dan. Dan is from Canada and we were posing because we were working as a team to get our free shots more efficiently whenever they were given out. Allison and I at the start of the night....I think

This is Jeremy, he is also from Canada

The 4 Canadian boys that were traveling together. I think we might see them in London!
Our room mates from our hostel!!! (2 of them at least)
Miguel and Matt
Allison and I heading toward the end of the night....
a creepy Austrailian man who kept bugging us...
Kevin, a new friend from England
Kevins friend Neil, and Allison

Day 2
Allison sitting in an awesome chair at the place we went to lunch at.

We went to a Jewish Museum (yes I am getting quite the Jewish education)
this is the coolest memorial in there.....
my little feeties walking on it like the sign says to do....

This was a tree in the museum where you write a wish on an apple and hang it on the tree. My wish was rather long and no Im not telling what it is because I want it to come true!
having fun in the museum (Dave, Steve, mustache just for you....)

After the museum we climbed the Reichstag, there was a killer view, but I didnt take pictures of it, and I havent stolen the pictures from Allisons camera yet so......this is what the inside looks like at the top....

So I feel like I am missing a lot of things.....but Day 3, we woke up at 5 am to go catch a train to Copenhagen.

About 4 hours into the trip, there was an announcement for everyone to get off the train and go upstairs. We got off and were very confused, I assumed we were in a station or something like that.....But....we walked upstairs and realized we were on a BOAT on our way to Denmark, it was AWESOME!!!!
Allison and I looking dark and tired and dirty (give us a break!)
my first view of Denmark!
This is a picture out the window of the train, there were these fields just FULL of yellow flowers. It was so gorgeous, this picture really does nothing to show you what they looked like, but I couldnt get a good picture of the fields....so here is my best effort.

So Berlin was great. I think I am missing a lot of things, so maybe I will come back and edit tomorrow!!

For now, we are still in Brussels, I am catching up on updating this and hopefully Copenhagen will be up soon!!

Night!

2008-05-06T14:40:00.000-07:00

So I figured out where my German ancestors are from.

Munich.

The land of leaderhosen, beer halls, singing and just plain rowdiness. My kinda place.

Day 1.

We got into Munich around 7 am, and after a good breakfast at our hostel, we decided to kill some time before being able to check in by taking an AWESOME free walking tour.

We started in Marienplatz, where we saw the world famous (but anticlimactic) Glockenspiel

after that we went to a church where we heard a story about the Devil, this is apparently his foot print....
pretty view of Marienplatz
May pole!!!
Allison's FIRST bratwurst!
beer lion....
the world famous Hofbrauhaus.... (greatest place on earth....better then DISNEYLAND!)
statue of Little Red Riding Hood
this is Dodgers Alley...one place I thought was very cool. A little down the street from here, when the Nazis were in power, there was a place where every person who passed had to stop and give the Nazi salute. People who didnt support the Nazis, would walk down this alley to avoid this spot, so it became known as Dodgers Alley. Unfortunately, the Nazis caught on, and guards were placed there to take down names and times that people went down this alley. Anyone who was suspected of going down this street too often could be beaten and even killed. There is a small memorial on this street, it is a line of gold bricks on the ground, showing a path that people would take. It is a memorial to people who did small things in their every day life to oppose to Nazis.
statue in Marienplatz

Night 1 at Augustiner....(a beer hall)
our great waiter who kept saying things like...
"Make-a-me happy, high five!"
"When I see you something in here goes up, and down and left and right!"
"My lady!"

We also met some fun snowboarders from New Zealand, Austrailia, and England

they threw the rest of my marzipan in my beer, it was very gross.

Day 2.
Allison and I took a day trip to Dachau. I took more pictures but I decided to only put up the pictures of the memorials. I really only took the other pictures for myself to remember where I had been and that something like this can never happen again.

Memorial of the Unknown Prisoner

Never Again.
"Work will set you free"

Day 3.
We went to Olympic Park.... here are some gorgeous pictures from there.

we also climbed St Peters Chruch (view from the top)

Allison and I at the top
we also saw some cool kids playing the cello in the park...

then we walked to another park......

and sat there for a few hours listening to some guys play in a drum circle.

allison and I on the walk to dinner...

we ate dinner at the Hofbrauhaus. (this room, incidentally, is where the Nazi party was formed)
Allison drinking round 3 of giant liter beers (thats 2 pints)
a little proud that its Round 3
fun boys singing and wearing leaderhosen....

so we met these old men, and they kept buying us shots (yes it was 7 at night)
This is Heinz. He didnt speak English and he kept saying to Allison "Opa Opa" which means "Grandpa". We were like "....umm?"
William and I
So then these boys were starting to leave and I asked them if I could get a picture with them since they were dressed AWESOME. They got REALLY excited and all of them wanted to get pictures with Allison and me...

when i asked one of them to take a picture of me and one of their friends...this is what I got...
then, the boy in the sweater, decided he wanted me to come with them to the next bar. So he picked me up and in broken English said "you come with me!" so as i was carried out of the Hofbrauhaus, Allison just waved (she knew I was coming back.) We got to the door only to be stopped by security. The security guard said something to me and I responded "I dont speak German!" he laughed and tipped me back, caught me and set me on the ground. After a few more attempts to get me to come with them, the guard sent me back inside and the boys on their way. It was very funny.
Some more fun people we met.
Then we met some fun people having a Bachelor Party!
the groom-to-be
Allison and the groom-to-be
i borrowed this guys glasses because they were AWESOME!

Allison and I with some lovely (dying) flowers we were given
We finally had to leave because we had a train to catch (trying to get a train with all our luggage, a little drunk was very fun)

Ok this statue is of Juliet. Apparently if you put a rose in her arms she brings you good luck in your love life....

Allison getting good luck...
me entrusting my love life to a statue....
she now holds our futures in her arms....
Munich was wonderful, and this blog did NOT do it justice! We had so much fun at the beer halls and the city itself if full of history!

Loved it and I cant wait to go back one day!

More to come soon!
love from Belgium!

2008-05-02T07:51:00.000-07:00

Budapest was gorgeous, and I am really happy we stopped there....

Pictures..

my crazy cottage cheese pizza I had for lunch....
we took a bus tour around the city, and here I am, looking a little tired, on the bus...
Hero's Square...

this statue stands for work
this one represents war
represents peace
represents knowledge
view of Budapest...
aww..
castle in Buda

Marzipan Museum.....
our wonderful cake, and the little marzipan friends that I bought for Al and I
Al and her crazy little gnome.....
me and my piggy....it was the first time I had ever had marzipan...it was interesting....
castle...

Budapest has the CREEPIEST statues!!! this one was looking at us...i SWEAR
and we had NO IDEA who this little boy statue was....
boat tour we went on, on the Danube
the first synagogue I have ever been in!! Its the second largest in the world!

eternal seats....

Memorials outside the synagogue.

the prettiest square in Budapest, we had lunch here and it was gorgeous.
the Castle.

indoor baths...we cant read Hungarian so we werent sure if we could go in and look at the baths, so we got as far as the front entrance and left....
statue in the front lobby of the baths....
All in all I really loved Budapest and the overnight train to Munich wasnt near as bad as we thought it would be....

I wish I could write more, but my head is killing me from the liter beers I was drinking last night....I think its time for a nap!!!

Cologne (the calm before the storm)

2008-04-29T15:26:00.000-07:00

I have to say, I even disappointed myself this weekend. Allison and I were so tired from our last weekend in Barcelona that we really were lame when we saw my dad in Germany. None-the-less it was really good to see him, and we had a great time seeing Cologne.

Here was our weekend.

my first dinner in Germany (i ate more saukraut in 2 days then any person should in that short amount of time....love it.)

The Dom (church in the middle of Cologne)

painter on the street...
another thing she had painted that I liked a lot....
Allison and I in the square we kept going back to for dinner and drinks
Chocolate factory...!!!!!
there was a room that was extremely humid, to simulate the rainforest, here is a picture of Allison baking in the heat...
and Dad baking in the heat....

chocolate fountain!!!!!!
Allisons future job....(kidding)
working the old cash register in the chocolate factory....

apparently all my wildest dreams had come true and ice cream was falling from the sky...

Dad and I on the boat tour we took on the Rhine...
pictures from the boat tour....

roomies...

Cologne was fun, the best part was definently seeing my dad....and the sauerkraut!! Al and I cant wait to see the other places we are going in Germany to see how they compare....

guest starring Aud, Kris and Aunt Claudia

2008-04-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

Ok this is very long coming, so I am not going to put a lot of writing in this one... mostly just pictures....

So here it goes, the wonderful weekend when Mom, Kris and Aunt Claudia came to visit (Molly is hiding in there too) **for those of you I don't know very well, Aud = Mom**

the first time I saw Aud and Kris in 3 1/2 months....we were very excited!

me, Kris, Aud and Aunt Claudia
me and Mom
one of my favorites, a little blurry though - headed to Chupitos
in Chupitos about to get crazy....
first shot of the night.....
Allison was the first to Find Nemo......i demand a rematch as we are 1-1

nice closed eyes kris...After Chupitos we took everyone to Razzmatazz (a full on night club)

another of my favs......hahaha

some guy that kept dancing with Mom....hahaMontjuic.....just a pit stop for coffee on the way out for the day

GIANT sangrias that the waiter brought us at dinner....Aunt Claudia and I proudly showing off what champs we are...

aww sisters.so happy.

one word for you...Classy.nice Aud. (really...did you think this one WASNT going on here?!)

wine country (and interesting place to be when your feeling a little hungover)the last night Aunt Claudia was here I took them to my favorite gelato place and we good gofres. they were wonderful!
I had a great time when they came to visit and I am glad that they got to see where I have been living for the past four months.....maybe Mom wont be so mad when I dont come home in May now.....(kidding)

for Kristen (let's see if she reads this...)

2008-04-28T05:50:00.000-07:00

It all started with a sign....

We were on a cruise of the Mediterranean, and we were in Monaco for the day. We took a trip to Nice and on the way back stopped at an old forted town called Eze. On the way to the top of the fort, there was this sign. Kristen and I could not get over how funny it was.

So this trip, I have been collecting pictures of signs that I thought were kinda funny for Kristen. Here they are (where I took them is written above)….

Amsterdam...
Switzerland.....

Prague....

Cologne (this is a close second for my favorite, next to the Barcelona one)....
it says..."Our fish don't like money. Therefore please do not throw coins into the pond. Thank you"

And last but not least, my personal favorite....Barcelona.....

So Kris (and everyone else), I hope you enjoyed these pictures I took for you, I’m sure there are many more to come!!

sad to leave, happy to go

2008-04-25T04:25:00.000-07:00

Last night was like the last party with all your high school friends the summer before you leave for college your freshmen year. Everyone is trying to have a really good time, but they are all just really sad because they know that the more time that passes, the sooner they have to say good-bye to everyone.

Yea, it was like that.

I am really going to miss Barcelona. All the people I have met, the things I have grown the appreciate there. To be honest, I really don't want to leave. I could live there much longer then I have been.

I am excited to start traveling, but the more places Allison and I go, the closer I get to coming home. And no offense Mom, Dad, Kris and everyone else, but I am just not ready for that yet!

I'm trying not to be sad, and be excited, but so far its just an awkward mix of both.

So in the spirit of optimisim, here is a quote of the day, or for the next three weeks...

"I don't know what tomorrow brings,
It's alive with such possibility
All I know is I feel better when I sing,
Burdens are lifted from me
That's my voice rising..."
bye, bye.

it was the best of days, it was the worst of days....

2008-04-23T11:16:00.001-07:00

So yesterday was one of the Top 3 best days I have had in Barcelona! The reason it was the worst of days is because it is one of my last days here and I really dont want to leave. I really like living in Barcelona and I really love all the people I have met and I am sad to have to leave them all!!

Here is a snapshot into a wonderful day of living in Barcelona

it began as a lazy day...I stayed in bed until around 1, then got up and got some emails taken care of, updated this bad boy, and around 4 o'clock I met Jess at the Metro and we headed to the beach to meet our friends....
Jess and Jake (or Yessica and Yake as we like to call them...)
This is Adam, a friend I just met from England (a place called Derby). Adam, Welcome to my blog.
<3 onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_FI4zsDT21lk/SA-BLuODLiI/AAAAAAAAA4s/_MBAwjSlMzA/s1600-h/8+am+009.jpg">me, Yess and Corbin. Corbin goes to IU with Yess and I, and this picture pretty much sums up his excitement about that....haha
Pretty view and Yess in the background and George the photographer. George is another English friend I just met, he is from London. Welcome George.

Once it started to get a little cold Jess, Adam, George and I decided to find another bar and keep the day going....so we walked through the city a little til we found a cute little bar.....
the sky looked gorgeous....

After a drink, the boys went to watch the "futbol" game and Jess and I went home to shower. That night, I met Jess at the Metro (again) and we headed to a bar called Pippermints to meet up with some people.....
Diana, Yess and I drinking our 6 liter drink (dont worry, we had 4 boys helping...)

Yess looking all innocent holding the giant 6 liter

Adam and I
Ok Yake was holding Yess's purse , and a discussion sparked between him and George about which way was better to hold a purse...in a more outspoken, overt manner, like Yake...or....the more casual, nonchalant way, like George... I think its personal preference....

After Pippermints we headed to a "discoteca" called Up and Down and danced the night away...
Davis, Diana, George and Yess
George in deep thought at the club
aw.
yea for new friends
i love this girl - haha

aw..cute boys.
Adam and Diana
Yess and I thinking we are cute...when really....what IS that FACE?!?!?!
Around 4 (I would guess) we hopped into cabs and headed toward the beach. Near the beach there is an after hours bar (bars have to close by a certain time in Barcelona, so there are bars that have their metal gate down like they are closed, but you knock and a man will let you in and it is a bar in full swing once you get inside)....
I was taking a little nap on the table...it was like 5 at this point...

After the after hours bar we decided to make a full circle and to go watch the sun come up on the beach.....
adam, diana, yess and yake (i am laying my head on yess's lap, falling asleep)
cute, if i do say so myself...
now, i took this picture, and i would just like to marvel at the beauty of it. the sun coming up right over George's arm, i should get a medal or something....
nice view....
then the boys had a contest to see who could throw a rock farther into the ocean....
apparently George won, he claims it was his large guns...
Yake, looking concerned over the verdict from the rock throwning contest (he still thinks he won..)

Yess, very sad that we have to leave Barcelona soon.
as we were leaving the beach we turn around and Adam and George are missing, we hear yelling and look up into this giant tower to see them sitting up there...

It was such a good night spent with wonderful people and I am really sad that my time in Barcelona is coming to an end. I ended up in bed around 8 am and woke up for the day sometime before 4. It was well worth it.

These are the times we'll never forget.

Adios.

guest starring Molly Cain

2008-04-22T04:11:00.000-07:00

Molly came to Barcelona and we got a little crazy. It was one of the best weekends I have had in Barcelona!

I dont have pictures from the whole weekend, but here are a few......

We went to a club.....
and met Edward Scissorhands!
its love <3
Me beating the crap out of Robbie (even thought he'll never admit it)
I also met an astronaut

Molly and I being very tired at the bar....
Then Aud, Kris and Aunt Claudia came and we went to Park Guell....

Molly and I taking full advantage of everything Park Guell has to offer....including scaling the walls....

Thats all for now....off to the beach!

2008-04-21T03:24:00.000-07:00

ok i dont even know if I remember everything in Venice. But here are the pictures!!!!

They are actually in backward chronological order...

here I am feeding the rat birds....

it scared the CRAP out of me when it landed on my hand....

store filled with masks, so cooooool
these are from Murano, the island where all the glass is blown (this is made out of all glass..)
(also made of all glass...)

keg of wine!!!

clock in St Marks Square...

St Marks Square

PIRATAS!
respect.

Venice was GORGEOUS and probably one of my favorite places I went. We spent the weekend mostly just wandering the city, and it was GLORIOUS!!!

I start traveling on Fri, I am so sad to leave Barcelona. But hopefully I will get the rest of my posts up from here before I leave.

The itinerary is as follows....
Cologne
Budapest
Munich
Berlin
Copenhagen
Brussels
Dublin
London
then back to Barcelona to fly out!

2008-04-02T11:37:00.000-07:00

Ok, so sorry this took so long....finally, here is Prague.

It snowed.

Everyday.

Spring Break/Easter in Europe, 2008!

But it was gorgeous, there was so much to do and tons and tons to see!

First, there was an Easter fair going on. There was tons of good food and we ate lunch there everyday. They had great desserts, and crafts and souvenirs and all kinds of stuff.

Robbie, Matt, me and Julian
a gaint "chocolate" bunny at the fair

This is St. Charles bridge

there were lots of artists and performers lining the bridge
statue on St Charles Bridge

Astronomical Clock

i dont know if this video will actually work....its nothing too spectacular

Ok this was my favorite thing in Prague (lame I know) its called the Lennon Wall (for the giant face of John Lennon sticking out of it)

what I wrote is hidden somewhere in this picture....
"this graffiti is feeling human contact both of us lost but for a moment we're lost together I wonder who you are..."
"there's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be"
"not all who wander are lost"

these are the stairs that lead up to the Prague Castle....I was definently out of breath by the time I got to the top
the boys taking a break about halfway up the stairs
view from the top

one of those guards who arent allowed to talk or move...he was pretty fun

my astrological sign on a gate around the castle

we went to a toy and Barbie museum....
Cubs barbie
Indiana barbie
and all of our personal favorite....pregnant Barbie, with removable baby
getting ready to go out... Robbie in the back, me, Julian and Matt

Hi!!!

a waterfall at the club we were at....

On the second to last day we were there we went to Terezin. It was a concentration camp, and ghetto during the Holocaust. It was incredible moving and sad.

"work will set you free"you cant see it, but the Star of David is in the background
this is the spot where people were killed. it was the only site of a mass execution - only (in relation to the other camps) people were murdered in this camp

I ended up getting sick on Easter, the last day we were in Prague. But other then that, it was absolutely gorgeous, and really really fun.

Definently a place I would go back to see.

Venice to come soon...
Adios!

Spring Break, Part 2: Paris, France

2008-03-29T15:36:00.000-07:00

I have to say, Paris Round 2 was better then Round 1. I don't know, it could have been that I liked the sights I saw the second time around better, or maybe it was the fact that I got to see my dad!!

The first night I was there, my dad and walked around and went to dinner.

Monday morning, I first went and saw the outside of Notre Dame...

(one of my favorites)

After wandering around and going to lunch, I went and saw the Deportation Memorial for all of the Jewish people in France that were taken to concentration/death camps. It was very cool

"Forgive, but never forget"

That night, I went back to the hotel, got ready, and after dinner in the Latin Quarter (my favorite part of Paris) we went to Moulin Rouge. It was REALLY cool, like a French Vegas show.

Sadly I couldn't take my camera inside.

After the show, we went to an Irish bar to celebrate St. Patricks Day
I think he makes a good Irishman.
To start off Tuesday, I headed to the Orsay in the morning. It is in an old train station, so the building is just as cool as all the art in it....

Monets "Water Lilies"
Ok so this one cracked me up when I saw it... Look a little closer....
I immediately thought of me and 2 of my friends sitting on the bench and the middle one is saying "You are NEVER going to believe what he did next!" haha, just made me laugh
This was one of my favorite paintings in the building, it was huge and I thought the color was awesome

After the Orsay, and another lunch in the Latin Quarter (pictures, see below), I went to the Conciergerie, which is a prison that Marie Antoinette was held in.

So finally....here are some pictures from the Latin Quarter

This is the Paino Bar that I had a drink with my dad at before Moulin Rouge

my EXCELLENT gyro that I got for lunch
**Random pictures from around Paris**

statue of Voltairereally cool dresses in a window I kept passing
INDIANA!!!!!!! thinking about all of you guys in Paris!
and the Arc.

All in all, it was so great to see my dad. Florence and Paris could have not have been better ways to start off my spring break! I was sad to say good-bye, but my mom, Kris and Aunt Claudia will be here soon enough!!

Adios!

PS - Good Luck at Little 50 quals Carl!!!!!!!!!

Spring Break, Part 1: Florence, Italy

2008-03-28T11:13:00.000-07:00

So in fairness to my other 2 legs of Spring Break, I dont want to say that I had the most fun in Florence.....but I had the most fun in Florence. It may have had to do with the fact that 2 of my favorite girls in the world were there and I just got to hang out and be myself all day, everyday.

We didn't do much sightseeing while in Florence. But one thing we did do, on recommendation from my Grandma, was climb the Duermo (I dont know if that is how you spell, but that is how Molly kept saying it.) It is somewhere around 450 stairs to get to the top, but the view is breathtaking.

taking a break halfway up the stairs....

view from the top
wandering around San Lorenzo market drinking a giant bottle of wine
Night 1:

Night 2

dinner.....a wonderful, tasty kabob!! (SO GOOOOOD)
2 of my favorites......

It was a GREAT GREAT weekend.

and i cant wait for Molly to come to Barcelona so we can do it all over again!!!!

Adios
(parts 2 and 3 to come!)

2008-03-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

Spring Break posts are coming soon....I PROMISE!!

But today, I proved what an upstanding citizen I am of Barcelona and I wanted to share.

I was in the Boqueria (a really famous open air market in the middle of BCN) with some girls in one of my classes waiting to do an interview. We were standing next to one of the many fruit stands, waiting to interview a woman when a poorer looking man walked by and slide a carton of fruit under his arm.

So I yelled to the woman who owned the booth "Excuse Me!!" (for some reason I didnt think to yell to her in Spanish) and in the meantime (of me getting her attention) the guy stepped backwards and slid the fruit back onto the stand.

Never the less, the woman caught him and started yelling at him in Spanish, he kept saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." really slowly. The woman tells him next time she'll call the police, thanks me and we think the situation is over. But no. The man turns to me, very slowly make a huge gesture and gives me the finger. He then proceeds to say (and I quote) "F* you, F* you (and more very inappropriate things)"

I pretty much thought he was going to stalk and try to stab me but he moved pretty slow, so I think I could have taken him. (For all of you who are seriously concerned, it was very crowded, plenty of people around and I wasn't alone, dont worry)

So I stopped un ladron (robber, in spanish) today. Good deed!!!

Adios!

Montjuic

2008-03-11T15:52:00.000-07:00

So Carl and Deno graced Barcelona with their presence this weekend and it was great. It was so nice to see people from home, and I loved having them here.

While they were here we went to Montjuic. I have to say, this is one of my Top 3 places I have seen in Barcelona so far (the other 2 being Park Guell and Hospital Sant Pau)

So here are some pictures from a great afternoon we spent there...

Welcome to Montjuic

Carl and Deno looking studdly

you can slightly see Sagrada Familia (the view from Montjuic)

Where the Olympics were held in 1992 (i think)

Allison looks thrilled to be at the park today

the end.

Pictures from Paris!

2008-03-11T04:13:00.001-07:00

Friday night.....the girls.

Versailles....

pure gold......so cool
Louie's throne...i was taking pictures illegally inside (badass, i know)
Hall of Mirrors, where the Treaty of Versailles was signed

matt, jess, julian, robbie, allison, me, jess and emily

me and Louie, we're good friends
Louie's bed
Marie Antoinettes room
Robbie trying to look like he's sitting on a throne
"gardens" of Versailles, sadly its too cool for everything to be in bloom

walking around Paris
me and Jess (represent IU!)

giant spider......does anyone know why thats in the middle of the park by any chance?
the girls posing with Eve, and yes, I am eating the apple, banning everyone from the garden....
Louve!!!
emily, allison, jess, me and jess
Robbie holding the girls pictures while we took.......
this picture!! yes, i know, I am the only one who looks like an idiot!

the carousal we rode in the park....<3

Robbie pretending the be the Hunchback in front of Notre Dame (how rude and unsympathetic)Eiffel Tower! (in case you didnt recognize it....)

last nminute decision to take a jumping picture
the boys riding a little kid carasoul before the restaurant owner came out and yelled at us
representing in EUROPE!!!!!

Adios!

Paris

2008-03-09T09:29:00.000-07:00

Sorry I took so long to post these pictures. I have midterms all week, and they are finally over. Just one paper and one test stand between me and Spring Break!

Paris started out slow, but got better as the weekend went on. We had a 4 hour delay for our flight and didnt get in to Paris until 5. We went out to dinner for crepes (because thats all you should eat when you go to Paris) and went out to some bars near out hostel.

Saturday we got up early and had a pretty full day. We started out by taking the train an hour outside of Paris and going to Versailles. It was one of the most extravagant places I have ever seen. It was gorgeous.

After Versailles, we can back to Paris and went to see the Louve, we didnt get inside, but the outside is pretty cool.

There is a huge park and at one end there is the Louve, and there is a fountain at the other end, and you can see the Eiffel Tower, and the Arc from this spot. We spent most of the afternoon wandering through this park, and we got to see famous models because it was fashion week (we didnt know who any of them were, but people were taking lots of pictures so we figured they were pretty famous!) I even got to ride a carousel in the park!

That night, after going back to the hostel and showering and getting ready, we went and saw the Eiffel Tower! It was all lit up and absolutely gorgeous! The whole time we were there all everyone kept saying was "Can you believe we are here? Did you ever think you would be standing under the Eiffel Tower?"

I must be one of the luckiest people ever.

[pictures to come, my computer isnt loading them :( ]

Adios!

Switzerland

2008-02-26T09:16:00.000-08:00

This weekend I went to Interlaken, Switzerland.

It is, hands down, one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

We got into Zurich Thursday night and took a train to Interlaken. It was pretty surreal, riding a train through Switzerland, drinking Heineken (yes, I was drinking beer)
on the second train, we all crammed into a little room and had some "get to know each other" time
We got to Interlaken, and went to our hotel....

When we got there, we saw the biggest dog I had ever seen. Her name is Spliff. Thursday night we just played pool in our hostel, and hung out.
When we woke up in the morning, this is the view we saw out our window......
(just a random picture of Swiss Francs, we voted it the prettiest money)
Friday, MK, Kate and Jessica went paragliding, Matt went skydiving, and me Robbie and Julian walked around Interlaken (being the wonderful daughter I am, I spent my paragliding money on sending my mom her birthday gift)

Here are some of the pictures I/my friends took while walking around...

Julian, Kate, Robbie, MK and I (Jess was taking the picture)

That night we went night sledding on the longest sled hill in the world. Before we went, we got to eat cheese fondue (which was wonderful!!)
We got to the sled hill and our guides let us borrow these really cool yellow jerseys, and flash lights on our heads! (in all seriousness though, these were really important because the sled hill just dropped off in some places, so you had to wear the jerseys so someone could find you if you fell, and the lights so you didnt go off the edge.....i did NOT know this going into sledding.....)

(the girls looking tough, Julian ruining the picture)everyone.....Matt, MK, Kate, me, Robbie, Julian and Jess

me looking like a total badass in my jersey and head light!The first time we went down the hill I was a little scared and I came in dead last. The second time though, I took no prisoners, there was no WAY I was coming in last! I was knocking people off their sleds, running people over.....needless to say, I didnt come in last again.
the whole group at the top of the hill for round 2 (you cant really see it, but I've got my game face on.....)

Saturday we got up really early (like 6:45 early...!!!) and went skiing in the ALPS!!!! It was absolutely incredible! I think I almost crashed a few times because I was so distracted by how beautiful it was!!

The first run we went down was a green, so everyone could get back into the groove of skiing...it took us an HOUR AND A HALF!! it was the longest run I have ever been on! It was insane!!

Robbie had only been skiing one other time then this, and this is a picture of him in a display of manliness......he thought the hill was too steep, so he laid down and slid down the hill

this is a picture of the mountain across from the skiing mountains, it has all these little houses all down the side of the mountain, it was like something straight out of a movie
Now this picture was taken at the top of the "intermediate" hills. I decided to go skiing with the girls, who by the way are pretty much all-stars. It was a good decision til the end of the day when the hills were all slushy and "mougaly" as I like to call it, and I almost died....twice. I am still convinced that Kate tricked me and took me down a black hill (kidding Kate), but either way I did it and I was very proud of myself
me and Kate at the bottom of one of the runs. Near the bottom of the runs, you were literally skiing through peoples back yards, it was so crazy! and you would ski right along the parking lot, to the train station, take your ski's off, walk a few feet and get on a train back up the mountain

and pictures dont even do it justice.........

After skiing, we met back up with MK and Matt, who spent the day hiking, and went out to dinner for Thai food. Then we came back, played some drinking games and had a great last night in Switzerland.Sunday, we took the train to Bern, the capital of Switzerland and had lunch before heading to the airport. Bern was cool, but nothing compared to Interlaken.
Some pictures from the train as we rode through Switzerland...
me at the train station in Bern, sadly saying good-bye to Switzerland....
This trip was unreal and it is one that I will never forget!

Adios for now.

Upcoming Events

2008-02-19T13:13:00.000-08:00

2/21-2/24 -- Zurich (Interlaken), Switzerland
2/29-3/1 -- Paris, France
3/7-3/12 -- Carl and Deno come to Barcelona! (FINALLY visitors!)
3/14-3/16 -- Florence, Italy (to see 3 of my favorites!)
3/16-3/19 -- Paris, France (to see my dad!)
3/19-3/24 -- Prague, Czech Republic
4/4-4/6 -- Venice, Italy
4/11-4/13 -- MOLLY COMES TO BARCELONA!!!
4/25 -- I get kicked out of my housing because classes are over.

Plans after classes include but are not limited to Dusseldorf, Greece, Chinque Terre, Budapest, London, and Dublin

And hopefully my mom and sister will get here to visit sometime mixed in there also!!

Thats all for now, just some things to get excited about!

2008-02-17T13:50:00.000-08:00

you are never going to believe what I did.

I cooked.

Yes, you heard me right.

I, Katelyn Schmitt, cooked dinner for my room mates!

and not just that macaroni and cheese/ramen noodle crap, like really cooked! I made fried rice AND chicken!! I was extremely proud of myself, and it even tasted good (and even better, no one got sick/died from salmonella!!)

AMSTERDAM

2008-02-10T11:51:00.000-08:00

I'm in love.

Don't worry, its with a city.

I am absolutely obsessed with Amsterdam! I spent Thursday until Saturday there with 3 other girls, Jessica, Emily and Diana.

Here is a short summary of my trip.

THURSDAY...
I got to Amsterdam around 12 and after getting all situated at the airport we got a cab to our hostel. Our hostel for the first night was a Christian Youth Hostel, with single sex dorms and a 2 oclock curfew in the middle of the Red Light District. We went to sleep shortly after getting checked in.

FRIDAY....
We spent a few hours in the morning getting a new hostel situation all worked out and moved ourselves into the Globe, a hostel with a 24 hour bar underneath it (nice change from the Christian Youth Hostel)

The first thing we did after getting checked in was go to the Anne Frank Huis. It was incredible. No cameras were allowed, but I did manage to get a picture of the bookcase that hid the stairway to the "secret annex".

The musuem was unreal and it was hard to believe that 8 people lived in that small space for 2 years...never going outside, not seeing your friends, it had to have been awful. In the musuem you walk through the whole building, you get to walk through the rooms they lived in, there were videos in various rooms telling about live in this tiny apartment, there were quotes from the book all over the walls, and at the end there was a room that told about the fates of all 8 people. This was the saddest part of the whole thing (obviously) and it was even more sad because Anne died only a month before her camp was libertated.

“One day this terrible war will be over. The time will come when we will be people again and not just Jews! We can never be just Dutch, or just English, or whatever. We will always be Jews as well. But then, we’ll want to be.” – April 9, 1944.

Ok, on to happier things. After the musuem we had lunch and decided to go to the wax musuem!! You can't even believe all the famous people I met....
Now this guy was like our "guide" through the musuem, he told us all about Hollands history and all that, I thought he was a little creepy
I jammed out with Bob (contrary to popular belief, hes alive and well as you can see in the picture)
Me and Michael (yea Steve, I practiced my moon walking with the man himself)
JT. enough said (way cuter in person)
Brad kept hitting on all of us, I kept trying to tell him to stop bc Angelina was right there but he didnt listen
I asked Julia for a picture for you, Ash.
us and Mona
creepy "guide" again
little pirate boy! There was a "haunted house" type part of the musuem, where people jumped out at you and stuff, but it was a PIRATE HAUNTED HOUSE! As you can imagine, i ABSOLUTELY loved it!!!!

After that we got french fries with mayonasie on them (it sounds gross but everyone in Holland eats them!)

and they were WONDERFUL and we went on a canal tour....

A lot of people in Amsterdam live on houseboats! The boats have electricity and plumbing! The canals are lined with houseboats, its really cool
Houses in Amsterdam have such narrow staircases that they have to move everything in through the windows, so every house has a hook at the top that they use to haul everything up
Gorgeous view of the canal

Once the canal tour ended we were exhausted and went back to the hostel to get ready to go out and relax for a little bit. Jessica and I decided to try to wash our hair over the shower, but not get into the shower. This lead to 30 minutes of us cracking up, trying to wash our hair.

Once we were all ready we set out for dinner. We ate at a cute little pizza place, and had dessert at the BEST pastry shop I have ever been too (and trust me, I've been to quite a few in my day). We got a chocolate covered crossiant, DELICIOUS, but it didnt even compare to the waffle, covered in chocolate and carmalized sugar, topped with whipped cream and strawberries, to die for (and healthy, I know).

After dinner we went out and had a fabulous night. We met 2 Irish girls and 8 English boys that we hung out for the night. And at the end of the night a group of about 9 Irish boys who were staying on floor in the hostel came in and hung out.

SATURDAY....
We mostly just wandered around the city until our plane left at night....some pictures from the park we went to...

And some pictures from just walking around.....

And last, just some few pictures from the weekend....
WARNING:::some of the pictures are slightly inappropriate....
my favorite part of the Red Light District...
I was molested by some street performers dressed as death....we had to avoid that plaza for the rest of the day...
EVERYONE rides bikes there, its very dangerous to cross the streets there, you have to watch out for bikers
inappropriate shapes made out of chocolate, it reminded me of inappropriate pasta Kristen and I saw in Palermo.

The trip was amazing, I had the BEST time.

If I don't come home in June, this is where you can find me.

2008-02-06T11:04:00.001-08:00

Here are the rest of the pictures from Carnaval...

three Welsh girls we met who LOVE Americans
the boys....
people dressed a paint swatches! I LOVED IT
2 guys from Clockwork Orange
Tansvestite!!
Jess and I having a show down with our guns.....mines bigger....i won.
Jess and Allison with smurfs!

These are all the pictures I took. All in all it was a really fun night. We saw some crazy costumes

AND!!! (This probably wont suprise a lot of people) I am sure everyone knows that the drinking age in Spain is 18, and I am now 21.... When we were walking around on the streets, we went to walk into a club and the bouncer asked me how old I was. I said "viente uno (21)" and he asked for ID. I told him I didnt have any ID on me but stressed again that I was 21. I was then denied from a club where you only had to be 18 to enter.........It was extremely depressing.

2008-02-05T14:58:00.001-08:00

Carnaval.

Its like Mardi Gras without the boobs, and Halloween without the kids.

Its wonderful.

Last weekend I ventured to Sitges, a town about 30 minutes from Barcelona to celebrate the nationwide holiday of Carnaval. Everyone dresses up and dances in the streets and there are marching bands and parades and TONS of transvestites. Its GREAT!!

Allison and I went together and met up with a few of our other friends, if you know me at all, I am sure you can guess what I dressed up as.....una pirata (pirate!).

Allison me and Jess
The girls with some boys dressed as Scottish men
Robbie the Viking......drinking out of one of his horns.....
this is one of the bands that stopped to play in the street....you cant see it very well
Hans the other Viking

more pictures to come tomorrow, my computer isnt liking me too much right now!
Goodnight!

Parc Guell

2008-02-01T10:29:00.000-08:00

Today we ventured to Parc Guell, which was designed by Antoni Gaudi

It was gorgeous!!
a sign we saw on the way to the top of park, it says "Why call it tourist season if we can't shoot them"

a cactus that said "take your time, Enjoy"

we stopped to have a picnic and Robbie made friends with a dog (he shared his sandwich with him, it was cute)

This is at the top of the park

view from the top.....
in the center of Parc Guell

Hayley, me and Jess

Hayley and I sitting on the bench by Gaudi, its the longest bench in the world
everyone!! (jess, lauren, hayley, me, allison, jessica, kate, mk, brick, robbie, julian and matt)
just a little part of the bench, moasic
different part of the bench
two houses designed by Gaudi
Hayley and I by a fountain
some of the girls with a really nice American woman who offered to take a lot of pictures for us. She was traveling alone and she was from DETROIT!! (we chatted)
everyone by the moasic dragon
the girls in the alcove in front of the park
the picture taken by our detroit friend

me and Jess in front of an awesome fountain at the park!

Robbie and I
another cool fountain

The park was so cool and I definently want to go back when it is warm out.

I hope you enjoyed the picture! Leave a comment so I know who is following along! (maybe ill even take some cool pictures specifically for you!!)

Adios!

Favorite bar....

2008-02-01T10:17:00.000-08:00

I know I know, its been awhile....but don't worry, I have a few posts coming at you pretty quick!

So we went to this bar called Chupitos ("Shots" in English) and they serve mostly shots. There is a list of about 300 different shots on the wall, and you just pick one and hope that it is not too embarrassing! The best part? No shot is over 2 euros!!! Now, the reason I say hope its not too embarrassing is because at Chupitos you don't just take the shot, there is normally something else you have to do with it.

For example the.....

boy scout - you are given a marshmallow on a stick, they light the bar on fire, and you roast your marshmallow, then you dip it in your shot, eat it, then take the shot.

lollipop - take the shot and you have a lollipop as your chaser

Harry Potter - your shot has an orange sitting on top of it, they light the shot and the orange on fire and throw sugar (?) into the flame so it looks like sparks going up, then you eat the orange then take the shot

unknown name - (dont try this at home) you dip your thumb into your shot, then the bartender lights your thumb on fire, you put it in your mouth (to put out the flame) and take your shot
(Jess being nervous about setting body parts on fire....)

pirata (pirate!) - nothing too exciting, just a normal coconut flavored shot

etc etc

There were also shots with inappropriate names and actions associated with them, for example, we made our friend Robbie take a shot called "vaginal anatomy" and he make the girls take shots called "viagra". they were pretty gross.

All in all, I am going to have to go back many time to try all the fun shots they offer!!

Adios!

Valencia

2008-01-22T09:59:00.001-08:00

So finally, here are the pictures from Valencia.
On Friday, we got there and had lunch and then went on a tour of Valencia. Our first stop was a cathedral.

(above) a thing they bring out during special holidays and stuff, made out of all gold!

(above) this is what the Catholic Church considers the real Holy Grail
the Holy Grail, again

The following pictures are just cool things we saw when we were walking around Valencia.

Friday night we went out and didnt get home until 5 am!!! So Saturday was a LONG day. First we went to Aquarium
Hayley is Dutch, and there was a hole in this wall shooting out water, so I told her that she should put her finger in the hole like the little Dutch boy who put his finger in the dam!! (I thought it was pretty funny)

I found Dori from "Finding Nemo"!!!

my favorite animals from the whole day, the seahorses
this is giant beluga whale, you cant really tell in the picture!! but he kept staring at everyone!
a scuba diver cleaning the windows in the shark tank

After lunch we basked in the gorgeous 70 degree weather.
Molly, Hayley and I
Hayley and I

After that we went to the Science Muesum, which was really cool because it was hands on!

Us outside the science muesumoutside the "eye", this place looked like it was from out of the future, it was really cool

At the muesum, we got to climb a climbing wall (yea Steve, we are that hard core)

and learn about tennis (i took more pictures of the old school rackets for you mom)
and saw little chickies hatching!!
AND I got to be a pirate RIGHT when we got into the museum, I knew i was going to like it right away

Saturday night we went out to dinner and then went home. We were all way too tired to go out!!

Sunday we headed back to Barcelona and on the way back we stopped at Taragona and saw the Roman ruins
Hayley, me and Jessica at the top of some of the ruins
a really cool tree that I liked a lot

Romus and Remulusa church in Taragona

And that, in a nut shell, missing about 60 pictures, was my weekend in Valencia! It was a great city and it was refreshing to be able to be "touristy".

Classes started yesterday and they are going well so far. So I am headed to bed soon for a good night sleep!

Adios!

2008-01-20T13:01:00.001-08:00

Ok so I have a lot of catching up to do!! Last Thursday I went to La Sagrada Familia! I was with my orietation class, so I didnt get to go inside, but I will go back eventually I am sure.

I am just going to write a little about La Sagrada Familia and then post all the pictures together instead of commenting on individual pictures since I have so much to update.

La Sagrada Familia was mainly designed by Gaudi, until he passed away after being hit by a trolley. There is a lot of construction being done to it right now, which is highly controversial in Barcelona because the new stone is a different color then the old stone (which you can see in some of the pictures) and the arcitecture is STARKLY different.

The "front" of it is all representative of the birth of Jesus and his early life. This is the popular side and is Gothic and gorgeous!! The "back" is called the "Door of Death" in Spanish. This side is modern and very cubist. On this side, near the middle, there is a man dressed in a robe, facing the left - this is supposed to be Gaudi.

Here are the pictures of La Sagrada Familia

Isnt it gorgeous??
Well, the same day I went to the place that I think is the prettiest place in Barcelona. Oddly enough, it is a hospital! It looks like a little town, each "wing" of the hospital is located in a different building and all the buildings are connected by underground tunnels so that people who are sick do not need to go outside.
(It is right up the street from La Sagrada Familia)

Enjoy!
(one of my favorites!)

Last but not least, that night Hayley and I went to Las Ramblas, just to walk around and get some gelato (ps. I am going to put on 20 lbs from all the great gelato there is here!!) Anyways, walking back to the Metro, I saw my FAVORITE street performer I have seen yet, so I had to give me a few cents and get my picture taken....
(For those of you who don't know who that is, it is the character from "Nightmare Before Christmas")

Pictures from Valencia to come later tonight!
Adios!

2008-01-16T13:08:00.000-08:00

ok so against Auds wishes and orders I went to my first "futbol" game!! It was excellent!! They played Seville and although it is a rivalry, there were no riots, tramplings, stabbings or the like (much to my disappointment, as long as it wasnt me). We went in a group of 12, and had a great time. We tried to "tailgate" before the game and played beer pong at a friends apartment before we went, and ate burgers and hot dogs, it was a lot of fun!

We tied 0-0, but it was still awesome!!!

Allison and I before the game, playing some beer pong

me and my room mates!

at the game.....Go FC Barcelona!!!

Robbie and I in our seats...enjoying the game, looking normal....

Robbie and I enjoying the game with our drunk faces on....haha

Haley and I (we had to wear our coats, it got really cold last night!!)

"more then a club" after the game, this is what the seats spelled out, it is kind of the slogan of FC Barcelona, its really cool

Haley and I after the game with the field behind us

Allison and I after the game, in our matching outfits that we bartered all day for!!

The game was a great time, but I think everyone had more fun picking out what they would wear so that we didnt get in any fights!!

Adios!

A Day in El Born and the Gothic Quarter

2008-01-16T10:56:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, my spanish class went on a tour through Born and the Gothic neighborhood of Barcelona! It was gorgeous and we got to see all kinds of neat things.

One of the first things we did was see el Catedral and although there is construction being done on the outside of it, the inside was GORGEOUS! All around the outer ring of the church were stations with different saints you could pray to. There were candles lit every where and a giant, beautiful area in the center for the choir to sit. Here are some pictures I took, they fall incredibly short of showing how beautiful it really is inside.

This station is St Francesc D'assis, and our professora told us that you pray to him for "un novio" (a boyfriend) (above is the statue, below is the sign from in front of it)

this is a statue that is in the courtyard of the Catedral
This is a famous spot in Barcelona with a sad history, a bomb was dropped here during a Spanish war and around 10 children were killed, but it is very pretty.
this is in another courtyard in the Catedral

and this is one more picture from the inside....
this is a mailbox from Roman times, and if you rub the tutrle it is supposed to bring good luck and keep your mail from coming too slow.

Another thing we saw was the Roman Wall, it is so crazy how this gorgeous old building is just hanging out in the middle of Barcelona!!
(these were taken at night on a different day, but are still the Roman Wall)

All in all I think the Gothic neighborhood is my favorite part of Barcelona. Tomorrow I am headed to La Sagrada Familia!

Adios!

2008-01-16T08:50:00.000-08:00

Monday night my room mates decided it was our turn to make dinner for some of our friends. We bought a fondue pot, and made a feast! It was my first attempt at real cooking and it went over really well! We had 9 people in total, and even Ms Erin Lauer (who just got done studying Cairo and is now headed to Jordan) graced us with her presence.

We have a lot of fondue chocolate left over and its a struggle not to make it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!!

Adios!

2008-01-13T11:49:00.000-08:00

Hola,

So apparently Barcelonians dont need to sleep. They have the craziest schedules here that are pretty hard to get accustomed to. For example, even when they wake up at 9 am, they dont eat dinner until 9, go out until 12 or come home until 5 or 6!! It is pretty weird to get used to, but luckily on the weekends, i have time to sleep. The late dinner is the hardest part to get used too. I feel like i am hungry all the time!! But i am sure soon it will be weird to eat any earlier.

Last night we went to a discoteca (thats club in Spanish) called Duvet. It was really fun, it was a huge dance club, and i love to dance. Before that we went to Haley's friend, Alexs' house, who is a club promoter. It was ok, but both Haley and I were ready to get to club by the time we left there.
Here are some pictures from last night and the night before.....

Friday night....
the girls that went out....me, Haley, MK, Lauren and Danielle

this is my other room mate, Haley
Robbie and I
this is Julian, he was guarding the coats so he tied them around his neck
this is Danielle, she lives across the hall from Robbie and Julian

Saturday....
Haley and I in our new dresses! we went shopping in the Gothic neighborhood yesterday (GREAT SHOPPING!!)
this is Mallory, she goes to IU and recognized me as I was coming out the bathroom at the apartment we were at last night!! small world....

those were all the pictures I took last night, but we had a great time!! (and my dress was only 6 euros!!!)

well thats all for now....
Adios!!

2008-01-10T05:10:00.000-08:00

Hola!

I think I finally figured out the Metro system. I got lost on it a few times with my room mate but for the most part I think I got it down....which is nice.

Orientation is still going on, I started Spanish class today and I can understand most of what they are saying.

Last night I went out for the first time and felt like a Barcelonian (if thats what you call it) as I didnt get home until 4! It was a lot of fun, unfortunately i didnt take any pictures, but I do have pictures of my apartment!

step into my tiny elevator and come on up. i live on the seguro (2) floor, but in Spain that means i really live on the fourth floor (its weird, i know)

Welcome to apartment 4, come on in.
here is the hallway you see when you come in. my RAs room is behind us, the first bathroom is to your right, and my room mate, Allison, lives to the left

if you go a little farther down the hall on the left, you can see the kitchen (the fridge is behind the door)
come out the kitchen and keep going down the hall, on the left you will find my room and on the right you will find the other bathroom. this is my room, with Allison on the bed getting mad at our wireless for not working even when she is sitting directly next to the router..
come in, take a closer look......this is my desk. it folds out from the wall and it is too close to my bed to have a chair so i just sit on my bed with my computer on the desk and use it (its rather nice)

this is the only other storage i have other then my closet so i have to make due. luckily everything fits nicely
here is my closet and where i keep my luggage

Next, come out my room and directly at the end of the hall we have the door to haleys room on the right and the living room on the left equipped with a nice table for dinners and all (the blue thing outside is a tarp, there is construction going on outside)

this is the living room from another angle, its a little boring but its really spacious and the couch is comfy!

if you look out the window, you can see we have a walk out porch that is the length of apartment, it overlooks a main street and is pretty cool except we cant get the shades to go up, haha

now, if you are looking to do some laundry, dont worry. step out onto the little porch we have in the back of the apartment and you will find our washer and dryer....
washer...
dryer.....
Also, I forgot to point out my window when we were in my room. it is a big window, but sadly no light comes through it....in fact, this is my view, down....
and up....

needless to say, when i wake up i really have no concept of what time it is!!

last but not least.....this is my room mate, Allison playing on here computer in her room.... (the one that goes to maryland)

so that is my apartment....i will take pictures soon of my other room mate and friends and will put them up!

Adios!

2008-01-08T11:55:00.000-08:00

Today I finally arrived in Barcelona!!! After an eight hour flight to Frankfurt, a 2 hour flight to Barcelona and an hour of luggage hunting, I finally made it, luggage in hand to where I needed to be. I am living in a nice sized apartment with 2 room mates and my 22 year old RA. The apartmant has 4 bed rooms, 2 bathrooms, a living area and a kitchen. It is way bigger then I pictured (but I still got assigned the smallest room!! haha oh well!) My room is really small, but I dont really need a lot of room. I have a bed, a place for my clothes and a small desk for my computer so I am happy.
I have only met one of my 2 room mates, Allison. She has friends studying here also and we ventured to meet them on the Metro. We got on the wrong line and it took us more then 20 stops to get there when it should have taken us 4, but hey now we know where both lines go!!
Right now we are showering and then we are headed back to her friends, Julien and Robbie's apartment, who are going to make us dinner (!) but I think I am going to make it an early night.
I am a little homesick, I think part of that is the language barrier, so hopefully it will get better, but so far I am really happy and excited about being here.
I will post pictures of my apartment soon.

Adios!

2008-01-06T15:45:00.000-08:00

hi steve.

T - 5 days

2008-01-02T20:09:00.000-08:00

Skype name = pirate.named.kate