Back in New Jersey...

I cut my trip in Europe early.
I couldn't be happier sitting outside and watching Mokey lying belly-up in the grass with Curious George between her paws.

Roamin' in Rome.

Thursday night I did laundry to prepare for my flight to Rome. In Barcelona, no one has dryers so I had to air dry all my clothes and it took all day. It was good that I had to stay up late waiting for my clothes to dry because I got to chat with Delphine, the host of my apartment. She came in around midnight... a little loud and stumbly but full of great energy. We talked for about half an hour about the Spanish, yoga, my ethnicity, her living situation, and the neighborhood. After assuring me that I would be safe walking to Paul's that night (we had an early flight the next morning), I left with my backpack to walk the 13 blocks to his apartment. On the way, a completely naked man carrying his shoes walked passed me.

On Friday, we got into Rome a little after lunch. We checked into Happy Days hostel and went to find some food. Then, we walk around the Vatican City walls and took the metro to the Colosseum, then we walked back to the hostel. We were able to hit most of the main sites of Rome on the walk home. It starts getting dark much earlie than in Barcelona. It was the perfect time of day to take pictures.

1st Stop: Colosseum & Arco de Constantino




2nd Stop: Roman Forum



3rd Stop: Mercati di Traiano



4th stop: Complesso del Vittoriano



5th stop: Fontana di Trevi



7th stop: Spanish steps



Meals: Ravioli with Ricotta and Spinach & Pizza with egg and bacon

We went back to the hostel where we shared a room with 6 other kids- 2 Australians, 1 English, 3 Mexicans. They were all globe-trotting.

On Saturday, We started our day back at the Vatican. Paul and I both agreed that we didn't want to pay for tours. Where does the money go to?... So we went to the entrance and took some pictures.

1st stop: San Pietro (entrance to Vatican City)



2nd stop: Piazza Navona



3rd stop: The Pantheon



We had unlimited public transportation for the weekend, so we decided to leave Rome to go to a small town outside the city, Ostia Antica. There's a huge complex of ruins. We spent hours wandering around in the sunshine and breeze. The weather was much better near the coast than in the middle of the stone city.



Afterwards, we came back to the hostel for a few hours and then went around the corner for dinner. Out of all the amazing things I discovered this weekend the true gem was our waiter, Mikal. Mikal understood that we were poor kids traveling on a budget, so he chose our meal and provided wine and lemoncello at the "non-tourist" price. After dinner, we met up with Mikal and he tooks us to a bar he frequents. We spent hours sitting outside drinking and talking to him. I learned a lot about Romania (where he's from) and about the Italians (whom he's lived with for years). I found out that the love of Asian women and cougars is universal. He made fun of the clothes I was wearing compared to his Calvin Klein T-shirts and $600 D&G shoes. We shared music- his Romanian rap for my Kid Cudi and as the night went on, he played some Britney Spears and Michael Jackson after spilling a full beer all over my skirt. Good times. We said our goodbyes to Mikal the next day when we stopped in for lunch before our bus back to the airport.



Meals: Fish and shrimp, antipasta, salad, and gelato. Spaghetti.

Skate and Art

Yesterday, I went to take pictures of Paul at a skate spot called Parallel. This plaza is known worldwide for it's ledges. There were also some amazing murals.






The best part was watching a gang of 8 or 9 hipsters, about my age, rollerblading through the park. My camera died at that point.

I went to the market for the first time. No peanut butter in Spain, just Nutella.

Shopping and Walking

Yesterday, Chamberlain and I met some friends at the beach. The weather wasn't great, in fact, it was a bit chilly and it started to sprinkle after an hour. We did some shopping. I had to buy adapters to fit into the power outlets in Spain. We came home for a siesta then headed to the bar to watch the Italy vs. Paraguay game. After stopping at McDonald's for the Euro value menu, we headed home.

Today was Chamberlain's last day in Spain. We spent the day walking through central Barcelona.


We started at Las Ramblas. Las Ramblas in a main boulevard that has many restaurants, shops, and street performers.


We walked through Plaza Catalunya. There are thousands of pigeons. I think pigeons are gross, but there were many tourists chasing them, feeding them, and holding them in their hands.



We passed two Gaudí houses.




Our walk ended at La Sagrada Familia. This cathedral has been in construction since 1882! It's not expected to be completed until 2026. This is what it looks like now.


This is how it's expected to look.

I ended the watching TV online. Did you know that abc.com, fox.com, hulu.com don't work abroad?! I recommend tvshack.net- catching up on all the Breaking Bad I've been missing.

Free and Quiet

Chamberlain and I waiting for the train.

It was a rough night for some of us yesterday, so we didn't start our day until after 4pm. We met up with friends and headed to Museo Picasso. It's free on Sundays after 3pm. The museum doesn't hold the more recognized paintings, but it displays the growth of Picasso's artistry throughout his life. No pictures allowed though.



We passed this fountain in Catalunya Plaza.



There are many small streets that look like this, if you were a fish.


After the Picasso Museum, we took a bus to Park Guell. The park was designed by Guadi. We hiked to the top of the hill for the best view of Barcelona.





Part of the "architectural elements" of the park.





We relaxed at the top of the hill and waited for the sun to set.


Night doesn't come until around 10pm here. After it got dark, we headed home. We have a day at the beach and shopping planned for tomorrow :)

Futbol!

I visited the Barcelona futbol stadium today. The Spanish take their soccer seriously, which is what inspired me to follow my friends. I don't know too much about soccer, but I thought the atmosphere would pump me up for the US vs. England match. Tickets to tour the stadium are expensive, but they make sure you feel in awe of their fanaticism.




A view from the stadium.

We toured the visitor's locker room, the field, the press box, their museum, and the huge merchandise store. We were there for almost 2 hours.

After that, we took a much needed 2 hour siesta.

We went to an American bar to watch the game at 8pm. At Dow Jones, they base the prices of their drinks on the demand. Every hour the siren goes off and the stock market crashes... cheap drinks for about 3 minutes.
My friends from GWU met us at the bar to wander around with us for the rest of the night. We walked down Las Ramblas, to the port, ate some great sandwich wraps, and got sang to twice (a futbol chant in honor of Paul's new Barcelona jersey and a girl on the metro singing Selena) before the night had ended. Another late night with great company.

Barcelona: The first 18 hours

Getting off the plane in Madrid.

4pm:
I arrived in Barcelona an hour late, but thankfully Paul and Chamberlain were still waiting for me outside the security exit. It was awesome to see familiar faces, especially from San Marcos!
The Barcelona airport is the nicest airport I have been to- modern, clean, swanky and spacious (I have to take pictures the next time I'm there... next weekend when we depart for Rome).
We took a cab to Paul's apartment on Mallorca, a few blocks from Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia. Then I headed out into the city to find an ATM.

5pm:
The ATM claimed my debit card was expired and spit it out. I tried another ATM, and it ate it. IN BARCELONA WITH NO MONEY.

6pm:
I went to pick up my keys to the apartment on Carrer Valencia.

7pm:
Discovered how amazing Skype is after I was able to call Bank of America through my computer. My credit card is good to go, but I am not getting my debit card back until I get back to New Jersey. Banks are closed Saturday and Sunday.. so I'm euro-less for the weekend.

9pm:
We met up with some kids in Paul's study abroad program. Our group for the night consisted of 7 kids from San Marcos, Texas
:)



Meet Chamberlain and Paul.


10pm:
Barcelona's Magic Fountain of Montjuic
We caught the last bit of the show. The fountains change colors and shape to 80's music!





At night, Pakistani men sell cold cans of Estrella Damm (Barcelona's staple beer) all over the city. We were able to get a 6-pack + water for 5 euros- got that deal a few times and that's how we started our buzz for the night.

12am:
Las Ramblas- street full of bars, shopping, and club promoters



3-story KFC.

My Summer Begins!

I feel like I've been racing through life since graduation. Here's what I've been up to these last two weeks.

May 18th-25th: Texas with Leah


\

I spent a lot of time near the river. Met this guy's pet goose. His goose rides in his kayak :)




Leah and I went to Corpus Christi (Home of Selena) for a few days and met up with Carrie. My friend, Conner, was having his bachelor's party and so it was a long three days of celebrating.



My tattoo artist had a booth at the tattoo convention in Corpus, so I was able to get more work done on my back piece. Should be completed by the end of this summer :)

May 25th-31st: Last days in DC



These 6 days were spent wandering around DC, saying good bye to old friends, meeting some new ones, and packing. I visited Meridian Hill (Malcolm X) Park for the first time. I saw some parkour in action.

May 31st: New home in New Jersey with Alex

I'm so lucky to have gained a new loving family! Mokey is pretty happy to see me too. She's been at home in New Jersey for a few weeks now.

June 2nd-3rd: Back in DC to buy my first car!



It's a 1995 Jeep Cherokee Sport. 4 WD. 2 doors. AND it came with a CB radio.

June 3rd-June 10th: At home in Midland Park, NJ with Alex and Mokey.

I got to start doing my research for my trip to Spain with Paul and Chamberlain. ONE MORE WEEK.