Today is my last official day in Sevilla. I leave this evening for London, Edinburgh and Dublin. Then will finally make it back to the states on December 18th.
As a group last week we were in Madrid for the Thanksgiving break. It definitely took our minds off missing all the festivities going on in the states. We even had our own mock Thanksgiving meal at our hotel. There was spaghetti, scrambled eggs, chili, green beans, fruitcake, and so much more. It was really great!
The capital is really great. It has such a New York feeling to it. It was definitely a lot colder than we were expecting. Sevilla is finally cold now, but Madrid was even more cold.
Two of the biggest things we saw while in Madrid were El Escorial and La Granja. Both of these are palaces for the kings. El Escorial is actually the burial site for all of the past kings of Spain. We got to go into the tomb room and see all of their tombs. It was very moving. Both the palaces are humongous. The library at El Escorial was to die for, as well as the gardens in La Granja.
On our way to Madrid we were also able to stop in the nearby town of Toledo. We were only there for one day, but what parts we saw were great. I would definitely like to go back there. We also got to see the windmills that are mentioned in Cervantes' Don Quixote.
The trip went by really really fast, but we had a blast.
I am sorry that I cannot write more about this trip...but time got the best of me. I leave this beautiful place in only 8 hours, and I am nowhere near ready!! Physically or emotionally!!
I am sure that I will get another post in for yall. Whether it is while I am still in Europe or back in the states...you will hear from me again!!
Thanks so much for reading!
Friday, December 11, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Paris
Sorry for the huge gap between posts. The semester is coming to a close, so I have been trying to cram everything that I can into these last 2 weeks.
A few weeks ago my friend Phoebe and I went to Paris. It worked out great because she had a friend that lived in a nearby suburb, so we got to save money not staying in a hostel.
Paris was everything that I ever imagined it would be! We went to the Eiffel Tower the first day. I always wondered what it would feel like to be standing in Paris, under the Eiffel Tower. And now that I have that feeling, it is just unbelievable. Of course we waited in the hour long line to go all the way to the top. Paris was literally neverending. It just went on for miles and miles. We timed it just right too because we were able to see the tower in the daylight, and by the time we got to the top the sun was setting, and we got to see the city lights. It was the perfect moment.
That same day we visited the Sacred Heart and the Moulin Rouge. The Sacred Heart is a beautiful church on a hillside. It offers another one of the most beautiful views of the city. The Moulin Rouge was....well interesting. It is not of the most appropriate streets, obviously. I just wanted to see it because I am completely in love with the movie Moulin Rouge. We had to try out the local cuisine - crepes. AMAZING!! I ate a chicken and cheese one for the main course and then a strawberry one for dessert. I could live there just for the crepes!!!
The next day we tackled Notre Dame, Arch de Triumph, The Louvre, and shopping on the town. We started in the morning with the Louvre. We knew that we were going to have to rush through it to be able to go to the other sites that we wanted to. But we still stayed there for a little more than 2 hours. We saw Egyptian exhibits, Italian sculptures, and paintings, paintings and more paintings. The Mona Lisa was a little disappointing, as most people say. She is just so little! And you can only get about 30 feet away from her before she is blocked off. I am not sure what thay much space does...but oh well! The Notre Dame was fabulous as well. Once again we went to the top and saw all of Paris. The view never gets old. We saw the Arch de Triumph while we were shopping. It is quite the site. We saw a bunch of other historical buildings and sculptures...but I cannot remember them all :)
One of the best things of the trip was staying with Phoebe's friend. It gave us the opportunity to experience how a French family lives. And we got legit French breakfast, and all the hospitality we could ask for!
I knew that trip had been too good to be true. Nothing had really gone wrong yet, so it was only a matter of time. On Sunday when Phoebe and I left for a flight we got extremely lost on the metro and train. We asked directions and got back on track, so we thought, only to find out that they sent us in the wrong direction. So we had to back track and get on the right train in the right direction. So our flight leaves at 5:20 pm and we get to the airport at 4:45pm. We go to check-in and the lady at the desk says that we missed our flight. I said, "what?" We still have at least 30 minutes!" She said that we wouldn't have enough time to get through security, even though security was literally like 100 feet away from us. She said we would have to buy another flight. A COMPLETELY new flight. They wouldn't just "penalize" us and make us pay a little fee, we actually had to book a whole new flight. So we go to the information desk to find out what our options are. They lady there spoke a little English, but we could tell she didn't want to have to speak to us. There was another flight back to Seville that night so I asked her how much it was, and she said that we would have to call Vueling, the airline company. She started to give me their number when I told her that we only had Spanish phones and that they don't work here in France. She replied with, "I'm sorry about that." And wouldn't help us any further. To make it even better our new flight was at the OTHER airport in Paris. So 20 euros for the bus to the airport and 150 euros for the flight later, we were finally on our way back to Seville. It nearly ruined my trip to Paris. It is really sad when just the attitude of the people in a country can change your whole view of that country. I loved Paris don't get me wrong. But I will not be going back to France for a while. I had given the French the benefit of the doubt to be nice to me, and they failed miserably.
But I am glad that I got to mark Paris off my checklist
A few weeks ago my friend Phoebe and I went to Paris. It worked out great because she had a friend that lived in a nearby suburb, so we got to save money not staying in a hostel.
Paris was everything that I ever imagined it would be! We went to the Eiffel Tower the first day. I always wondered what it would feel like to be standing in Paris, under the Eiffel Tower. And now that I have that feeling, it is just unbelievable. Of course we waited in the hour long line to go all the way to the top. Paris was literally neverending. It just went on for miles and miles. We timed it just right too because we were able to see the tower in the daylight, and by the time we got to the top the sun was setting, and we got to see the city lights. It was the perfect moment.
That same day we visited the Sacred Heart and the Moulin Rouge. The Sacred Heart is a beautiful church on a hillside. It offers another one of the most beautiful views of the city. The Moulin Rouge was....well interesting. It is not of the most appropriate streets, obviously. I just wanted to see it because I am completely in love with the movie Moulin Rouge. We had to try out the local cuisine - crepes. AMAZING!! I ate a chicken and cheese one for the main course and then a strawberry one for dessert. I could live there just for the crepes!!!
The next day we tackled Notre Dame, Arch de Triumph, The Louvre, and shopping on the town. We started in the morning with the Louvre. We knew that we were going to have to rush through it to be able to go to the other sites that we wanted to. But we still stayed there for a little more than 2 hours. We saw Egyptian exhibits, Italian sculptures, and paintings, paintings and more paintings. The Mona Lisa was a little disappointing, as most people say. She is just so little! And you can only get about 30 feet away from her before she is blocked off. I am not sure what thay much space does...but oh well! The Notre Dame was fabulous as well. Once again we went to the top and saw all of Paris. The view never gets old. We saw the Arch de Triumph while we were shopping. It is quite the site. We saw a bunch of other historical buildings and sculptures...but I cannot remember them all :)
One of the best things of the trip was staying with Phoebe's friend. It gave us the opportunity to experience how a French family lives. And we got legit French breakfast, and all the hospitality we could ask for!
I knew that trip had been too good to be true. Nothing had really gone wrong yet, so it was only a matter of time. On Sunday when Phoebe and I left for a flight we got extremely lost on the metro and train. We asked directions and got back on track, so we thought, only to find out that they sent us in the wrong direction. So we had to back track and get on the right train in the right direction. So our flight leaves at 5:20 pm and we get to the airport at 4:45pm. We go to check-in and the lady at the desk says that we missed our flight. I said, "what?" We still have at least 30 minutes!" She said that we wouldn't have enough time to get through security, even though security was literally like 100 feet away from us. She said we would have to buy another flight. A COMPLETELY new flight. They wouldn't just "penalize" us and make us pay a little fee, we actually had to book a whole new flight. So we go to the information desk to find out what our options are. They lady there spoke a little English, but we could tell she didn't want to have to speak to us. There was another flight back to Seville that night so I asked her how much it was, and she said that we would have to call Vueling, the airline company. She started to give me their number when I told her that we only had Spanish phones and that they don't work here in France. She replied with, "I'm sorry about that." And wouldn't help us any further. To make it even better our new flight was at the OTHER airport in Paris. So 20 euros for the bus to the airport and 150 euros for the flight later, we were finally on our way back to Seville. It nearly ruined my trip to Paris. It is really sad when just the attitude of the people in a country can change your whole view of that country. I loved Paris don't get me wrong. But I will not be going back to France for a while. I had given the French the benefit of the doubt to be nice to me, and they failed miserably.
But I am glad that I got to mark Paris off my checklist
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